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Television has recently experienced unprecedented expansion in Bangladesh. Given its popularity and influence, and with more people using it for their information, research on the credibility of TV news is warranted. Perceived independence of TV channels, their social role, source expertise, objectivity, and audiovisual quality were hypothesized to influence credibility perceptions of TV news. Based on factor analysis and multiple regression analysis, four of these five factors had a significant effect. Implications of TV news credibility in Bangladesh's development efforts are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a study on the political leadership and legitimacy among the urban elite in Bangladesh. Datas from the Democracy Watch survey indicate that upper and middle class residents of Dhaka City hold the political leadership in astonishingly low regard. This is in itself of considerable interest. Moreover there is a believe that the experience of Bangladesh opinion polling confirms that perceptions regarding "politicians" have a greater impact on political legitimacy than factors beyond the state's control such as enduring poverty, natural disaster, and ethnic identity. Because Bangladesh lacks long-established political institutions, a consensual foundation myth, or abundant natural resources, perceptions of "politicians" do not compete with alternate sources of state legitimacy.

Presents a study which identified several barriers that developing countries will have to overcome to be able to engage in international market transactions. Development of an analytic framework for analyzing and overcoming the barriers; Discussion on the factors that developing countries need to consider in international market transactions; Strategic choices for developing countries in order to achieve effectiveness in international market transactions.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the contribution of remittance income and emigration on the socio-economic condition of Bangladesh, the update on readymade garments and the women economic empowerment.

A response by the author is presented to several letters to the editor on the article "Religious Affiliations and Consumer Behavior: An Examination in Hospitals," from the Winter and Spring 1993 issues.

Purpose: The disparities faced by women, especially in Bangladesh, have a long and contentious history. From education and employment to health care and other social products, the marginalization of women has been stark. This paper aims to examine whether women experience poorer services than men in the hospitals in Bangladesh., Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted in both public and private hospitals in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. The sample comprised 305 randomly selected respondents. Using statistical and data mining techniques, the authors test the hypothesis and identify interesting data patterns., Findings: Surprisingly, very few differences were found between the service experiences of male and female patients. While the literature would predict differently, given the disparities that women generally experience, on most service quality attributes female patients were at least as well-served as male patients., Research Limitations/implications: The findings may be unique to the sample from the capital city where hospital users may be more affluent and are provided better service without gender inequity., Practical Implications: The findings raise intriguing questions. Among the various possibilities the authors surmise the following: there may be deeper systemic changes underway that are reflected in service providers' attitudes toward women. It is possible that women have lower expectations from the service providers; thus, their ratings are at par with those of men even if they actually received poorer services., Originality/value: This is probably a unique study in that it focuses on gender effects on perceived service quality in a hospital setting in Bangladesh.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to propose a doctors' service orientation (DSO) scale and uses it to compare the services received in public, private and foreign hospitals in a developing country from the patient's perspective., Design/methodology/approach: The scale was derived from the service quality literature and qualitative research. A questionnaire was designed next. Data were collected from patients who had used the services of doctors in a hospital., Findings: The scale demonstrated appropriate psychometric properties. Two clear patterns emerge from the study results: on 10 out of 12 measures of doctors' service orientation, there was no significant difference in their perceived behaviors between public and private hospitals and foreign doctors were "always" rated significantly higher., Research Limitations/implications: This study focused on one major city because of time and resource constraints. The findings are thus not generalizable to hospitals across the country. Also, because of translation and retranslation issues, the scale ought to be further tested for wider use., Originality/value: The scale may be used periodically in a comprehensive quality assurance program to exhort doctors to become more service oriented and to improve their performance over time.