Research Proposal on Women Education in Iraq

This research proposal aims to understand the condition of women education in Iraq and the role of socio-political development in influencing it. It explores the international factors responsible for the decline in women education rate in Iraq.

Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Name of the Student:
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Executive summary
In the aftermath of the Operational Iraqi Freedom in 2003 the educational practice has been
deteriorated drastically in the region and the women are identified as the most vulnerable groups
amidst the political turmoil. In this context, this research is going to find out the exact scenario of
the women education in Iraq and the role of the socio-political development in influencing the
women education. As a matter of fact, the purpose of this research is resembled with the
development of women education in Iraq despite of facing series of threats both domestically and
internationally. The literature review, methodology and research analysis further support the
objective of the research and help to get success.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Problem statement.................................................................................................................4
1.2 Research question..................................................................................................................4
1.3 General expectations..............................................................................................................4
1.4 Social and scientific relevance...............................................................................................5
1.5 Originality and/or innovative elements of the topic..............................................................5
2.0 Theory........................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Review of the relevant literature............................................................................................5
2.2 Current status of the topic......................................................................................................7
2.3 Relationship between the literature and problem statement..................................................7
2.4 Specific expectations/hypotheses..........................................................................................8
3.0 Method.......................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Research design/data collection plans...................................................................................8
3.2 Justification of research design..............................................................................................8
3.3 Description of population and sample...................................................................................9
3.4 Description of main variables/questions................................................................................9
3.5 Proposed analysis of the data.................................................................................................9
3.6 Originality and/or innovative elements of the research design...........................................10
4.0. Implications and Limitations..................................................................................................10

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4.1 Research impact...................................................................................................................10
4.2 Future implementations.......................................................................................................10
5.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................11
6.0 References................................................................................................................................12

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1.0 Introduction
Education is considered to be one of the mainstays of development for a country and also
identified as the driving factor in order to bring the social equality based on gender. In Iraq,
during the regime of Saddam Hussein the education rate for the women was increased
significantly. Many modern schools were founded for spreading education across the country.
Women were also got the opportunity to educate themselves. However, the intervention of the
US troops in 2003 and the aftermath cost deathblow for the Iraqi women. The fatigue rate of
women education has been worsened after ISIS took the control over the region. From that point
of view, this research is going to understand the condition of women education in Iraq and
illustrate some possible measures that can be useful to make the situation better.
1.1 Problem statement
The education of the Iraqi women has been declined in a rapid pace since the US
intervention in 2003.
1.2 Research question
What are the international factors responsible for the decline of women education rate in
Iraq?
1.3 General expectations
The general expectation and motive of this research is to figure out the international
responses and the global impact on women education on Iraq. There are subtle elements that are
directly responsible for the decline in women education. Moreover, it is also to be expected that
the research will get success.

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1.4 Social and scientific relevance
In this context, this research topic has close affinity with the social and scientific
relevance. From the social perspective women are the target samples where as throughout the
research the scientific and logical analysis are also taking into consideration in order to
understand the theme of the research.
1.5 Originality and/or innovative elements of the topic
The previous literatures have done a lot of discussion on the war between Iraq and US.
There is abundant literature also that argued about the emergence of ISIS in the Middle East soil.
Pointing towards an impact towards Iraqi culture and society no such researches ever covered the
impact on the decline of women education in Iraq. From that point of view, this research is
unique and relevant.
2.0 Theory
2.1 Review of the relevant literature
According to Pfiffner (2018) the impact of the US operation on Iraqi soil in 2003 has
long term and short term impact. From the vision of optimism, it can be argued that the
Operation Iraqi Freedom successfully ended the autocratic regime of Saddam Hussein and at the
same time the US military was able to stop the inhuman practices that the autocratic regime in
Iraq was alleged with. However, despite of all those efforts and achievements Green and Ward
(2017) asked a pertinent question about the long term impact on the Iraqi occupation of US
military. In other words, it can be stated that the long term impact of the war devastated the
socio-cultural nexus that was profoundly established during the reign of Saddam Hussein. In his

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report, Tønnessen (2015) showed that the Iraq war ushered a new paradigm in the modern
warfare where cultural subordination played a significant role. The research also stated that after
the end of war, US troops still presented into different regions of Iraq and in the name of
maintaining peace and prosperity across the country the US government intentionally
demolished mosques and schools by bombing randomly. For an example, bombing on the Al-
Askari mosque and Shrine complex in February 22, 2006 was purely an act of attack on religion
and culture (Barzilai, Klieman and Shidlo 2016). Moreover, it can be asserted that the impression
on the social strata of Iraq was also damaged quite heavily in the aftermath of the 2003 war.
After the decline of the Saddam regime there was a power vacuum in the country and no one was
there to guide the country on the right track. As a result of that sectarian and separatist groups
emerged and endangered the peace and tranquillity that once established in some extent (Haines
and Fox 2014). Health and food condition was so disastrous that the country had to sign an
agreement with United Nations in the name of UN’s Oil for Food Program (Kanat 2014).
According to Patel (2015) cholera and epidemic spread the Basra are due to lack of clean water.
It seemed that the entire health sector turned into zero due to political turmoil. Acute
malnutrition among the children was a chief concern for the interim government but there was no
support in terms of infrastructure or financial support from the concerned countries and
international organisations (Shaver and Shapiro 2015).
In an article, Guo et al. (2015) opined that during the Saddam regime there was certainly
a number of political crimes and human rights violations. People feared to counter the oppression
of Saddam. However, the international intervention did nothing but creating more war and
sectarian discords. In the words of Dodge (2017) the Operation Iraqi Freedom was a political
irony that might ended the authoritarian regime of Saddam Hussein but in place sowed the never

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ending fragmentation and oil politics. On the other hand, Kriner and Shen (2014) pointed
towards the growing decline in the educational sector. The Saddam regime and the decade of
1980s was the best part for the education in this region where nearly 100% of the population had
access to the local schools (Mhamdi 2017). However, after the intervention of the allied forces
and the emergence of sectarian groups like ISIS most of the schools were closed and issues like
brain drain also cost a lot for developing a better educational facility in Iraq.
2.2 Current status of the topic
From that point of view, it can be argued that there are high needs to change the decaying
practice in the educational sector. Putting an emphasis on the women population in Iraq and their
educational qualification will facilitate better understanding on the process of condition of the
education in the region. The purpose of choosing the women is that they are the most vulnerable
groups and had become a subject of deprivation. From that point of view, it is pertinent to make
some in-depth investigation on the women education in Iraq and compare it with the post-war
scenario for a clear depiction of progress.
2.3 Relationship between the literature and problem statement
The literature review tries to pinpoint the post-war shock in both cultural and social
fabrication of the Iraqi society. In course of the discussion, both the political and economic
exploitation after the war was clearly chalked out in order to investigate the background in
decaying women education in Iraq. Moreover, the literature review also tries to pursue a
comparative study on both the pre-war and post–war scenario and thus supplemented a support
for further research into the educational sector in Iraq. It can be argued that the literature review
successfully creates a background for further research and understand the condition of the
women education in the post-war scenario.

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2.4 Specific expectations/hypotheses
The research underlines a serious threat for the development of Iraqi women. It is
relevant in the context of the development of the country both economically and socially. Putting
more emphasis on the human resources irrespective of gender will formulate a clear perception
regarding the women empowerment and international responsibilities to safeguard the process.
3.0 Method
3.1 Research design/data collection plans
The research will be followed a hybrid method of both primary and secondary sources.
According to Crano, Brewer and Lac (2014) the hybrid research is very helpful for the social
themes. It can deal with both primary and secondary research so that the researcher gets enough
details and information related to the topic (Pluye and Hong 2014). In this context, the primary
sources of this research are identified as the government and international organisations’ reports
and the survey on the Iraqi women whereas the secondary research will be comprised of relevant
literatures and empirical information. Moreover, the survey will be based on quantitative
research with close ended questionnaire.
3.2 Justification of research design
The intention behind choosing the hybrid or mixed method of research is to access as
resources as the research deserves (Fox and Alldred 2015). As a matter of fact, Palinkas et al.
(2015) mentioned that for a research the mixed method helps to analyse and evaluate the
outcome very easily as the secondary resources provide enough background of the research.
Moreover, using the survey with quantitative framework will foster better understanding of the

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entire scenario of women education in Iraq. In addition to this, there are also the government
reports that can facilitate preliminary depiction of the situation of entire educational framework.
3.3 Description of population and sample
The sample size will be not more than 100. It is comprised of both the urban and rural
population. However, for the rural women the questionnaire will be more discrete and easy to
understand. The purpose of putting some extra care for the rural sector is to get clear insights of
the condition of women and proper educational environment. Moreover, there will be a
segregation of age. So that the survey can differentiate between the age barriers and properly
evaluate the psychology of the Iraqi women.
3.4 Description of main variables/questions
The questions will not be limited to the education related questions. There are some
questions related to the politics, society and the economy of the country. It will foster an in-depth
analysis of the general IQ and the adaptability of the Iraqi women.
3.5 Proposed analysis of the data
It can be argued that the extracting data will be segregated as per the age. For an
example, the first segment will be based on the 5-12 with a preliminary education. Next will be
identified as the 13- 19 which was the end of teenage. After that, the third section will be
identified as 20-35 with middle aged women who are expected to have enough understanding of
this survey. Then the women of above 35 ages considered being the part of the fourth segment.
Through the survey it is very important to put some emphasis on preparing the question and
those questions should not hurt the sentiments of the people.

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3.6 Originality and/or innovative elements of the research design
The research incorporates both the primary and secondary sources in such a way that can
help to enrich each other. Moreover, creating age based segregation will help the primary
research to develop effective research outcome.
4.0. Implications and Limitations
4.1 Research impact
The research has a great impact in understanding the educational policy of the Iraqi
government and compares it with the previous practice so that the gaps and drawbacks in the
existing system can be highlighted. However, the research is not limited itself in the educational
sector but it can cast some light on the lifestyle and the social status of the Iraqi women in the
aftermath of the war. Moreover, the role of economy and politics will also be identified
indirectly so that the vitality and vulnerability of the present Iraqi society can be depicted.
4.2 Future implementations
There are some future implementations regarding this research such as the drawbacks in
the present educational policy of the Iraqi government and the research outcome pave the way
for further investigation and formulating some additional model educational framework that can
help to make the women education possible. In addition to this, the social cohesion in the present
situation of Iraq is also considered to be a subject of further research that can facilitate more
accurate picture of the post-war Iraqi society.

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5.0 Conclusion
The above research tries to point out the condition of women education in Iraq after the
Operation of Iraqi Freedom by US. In course of the discussion, the research intends to make a
comparative study between the pre-war scenario and the educational policy after the war. The
literature review helps to deal with this comparative analysis. Moreover, mixed method of
research is also followed in order to gather more information regarding the women education in
Iraq. The survey questionnaire segregates not only the demographic differences but also
encapsulate a great deal of perception based on age differences. From that point of view, this
research is relevant and effective enough to justify its theme and objectives.

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6.0 References
Barzilai, G., Klieman, A. and Shidlo, G., 2016. The Gulf crisis and its global aftermath.
Routledge.
Crano, W.D., Brewer, M.B. and Lac, A., 2014. Principles and methods of social research.
Routledge.
Dodge, T., 2017. Iraq–from war to a new authoritarianism. Routledge.
Fox, N.J. and Alldred, P., 2015. New materialist social inquiry: Designs, methods and the
research-assemblage. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 18(4), pp.399-414.
Green, P. and Ward, T., 2017. The transformation of violence in Iraq. In The Criminology of
War (pp. 123-141). Routledge.
Guo, L., Chen, Y.N.K., Vu, H., Wang, Q., Aksamit, R., Guzek, D., Jachimowski, M. and
McCombs, M., 2015. Coverage of the Iraq War in the United States, Mainland China, Taiwan
and Poland: A transnational network agenda-setting study. Journalism Studies, 16(3), pp.343-
362.
Haines, D.D. and Fox, S.C., 2014. Acute and long-term impact of chemical weapons: lessons
from the Iran-Iraq war. Forensic Sci Rev, 26(2), pp.97-114.
Kanat, K.B., 2014. Diversionary Foreign Policy in Authoritarian States: The Use of Multiple
Diversionary Strategies by Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War. Journal of Strategic
Security, 7(1), p.3.

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Kriner, D. and Shen, F., 2014. Responding to war on Capitol Hill: Battlefield casualties,
congressional response, and public support for the war in Iraq. American Journal of Political
Science, 58(1), pp.157-174.
Mhamdi, C., 2017. Framing “the Other” in Times of Conflicts: CNN’s Coverage of the 2003 Iraq
War. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 8(2), pp.147-153.
Palinkas, L.A., Horwitz, S.M., Green, C.A., Wisdom, J.P., Duan, N. and Hoagwood, K., 2015.
Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method implementation
research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services
Research, 42(5), pp.533-544.
Patel, D.S., 2015. ISIS in Iraq: What we get wrong and why 2015 is not 2007 redux. Middle East
Brief, 87, pp.1-8.
Pfiffner, J.P., 2018. Did President Bush mislead the country in his arguments for war with Iraq?.
In Intelligence and national security policymaking on Iraq. Manchester University Press.
Pluye, P. and Hong, Q.N., 2014. Combining the power of stories and the power of numbers:
mixed methods research and mixed studies reviews. Annual review of public health, 35, pp.29-
45.
Shaver, A. and Shapiro, J., 2015. The effect of civilian casualties on wartime informing:
Evidence from the Iraq war. Journal of Conflict Resolution.
Tønnessen, T.H., 2015. Heirs of Zarqawi or Saddam? The relationship between al-Qaida in Iraq
and the Islamic State. Perspectives on Terrorism, 9(4), pp.48-60.