The Bidayuh community’s perception of their quality of life: A comparative study between participants and non-participants of the People s Welfare Development Scheme in Serian, Sarawak

The main focus of this study is the relationship between the perception of the quality of life as conceptualised at macro levels by the administrative and government agents with that constructed at the micro levels by the world views of the Bidayuh community themselves. The difference between the two perspectives represented the theoretical gap explored in this study by means of an interpretive methodology which featured abductive logic based on ontological idealism and social constructionist epistemology. The sample size was determined by the theoretical saturation technique and the data accumulated through indepth interviews and informal group discussions with the subjects. The findings confirmed the existence of a worldview divergence between those subjects living close to town and those living in the outskirts. Those living close to town ranked in descending order ability, participation, empowerment, safety and security, psychological and physical wellbeing, family relationships, and resources and the environment. In contrast, respondents living in the outskirts ranked safety and security as most important, followed in descending order by community categories, resources and the environment, physical and psychological wellbeing, family relationships, participation, ability, and empowerment. Despite this apparent divergence, the respondents’ interpretations of the various themes and categories encompassed in the study remain similar.