Books / Book Chapters

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The books and book chapters authored by SLIIT researchers are included in this community. Access to full texts may be restricted depending on the access and licensing terms.

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Addressing Academic Stress: Implications for Female Students in Saudi Arabia
(IGI GLOBLE Scientific, 2024) Rajapaksha, W
Saudi Arabia's higher education policies have propelled a surge in female enrollment, mitigating female unemployment and bolstering the Saudization initiative. This surge in national education has curbed reliance on foreign institutions and facilitated access to higher education for local high school graduates. However, despite these advancements, student dropout rates and academic underperformance persist. This study investigates the influence of stressors on academic performance among female students in Saudi Arabia. Findings indicate that academic stress and stressors related to personality significantly affect academic performance, while stressors linked to career paths do not exhibit a similar impact.
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AI and Inclusive Democracy: Transforming Governance for Equitable Societies
(CRC Press, 2026) Harasgama, K. S.; Arora, V; Singh, M; Qureshi, T
The interaction of artificial intelligence (AI) and democracy today is a confluence of opportunities for advancement around foundational values. The development of AI technologies, by leaps and bounds, holds the promise to enhance democratic processes by increasing efficiency in decision-making, streamlining governance, and stimulating civic engagement. Concerns are raised in issues of data privacy, algorithmic bias, and concentration of power in technology corporations, situations that call for very robust regulatory mechanisms if democratic values are to be upheld. The fact that AI can, therefore, lead to increased socioeconomic inequalities, manipulate public opinion, and threaten democratic institutions directly requires a proactive stance toward grappling with ethical, legal, and social implications. Governance of the various issues arising from the intersection of AI and democracy is a complex task that requires the cooperation of policymakers, technologists, ethicists, and representatives of civil society. They should strive to find the right balance between innovation and responsibility. Effective governance models need to ensure that AI systems retain and operate on the principles of fairness, transparency, and human rights. This paper discusses the challenges of AI and democracy considering electoral politics, cyber threats, psychographic profiling, and its regulation.
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AI Applications for Sustainable Development Goals
(IGI Global, 2024-01-01) Herath, S.K; Sodige, D.S; Kalupahanage, D.P
The emergence of artificial intelligence and the pursuit of sustainable development are two major forces shaping our world, The need to reorient the existing socioeconomic systems towards sustainability has never been more prescient. The United Nation identified ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, more conveniently known as SDGs, in 2015 as a guideline to fashion a new world that is quite equitable, prosperous and environmentally sustainable by the year 2030. AI can be applied to energy systems in enhancing the use of energy resources, in risk assessment and mitigation of natural occurrences, and in creating new clean technologies. Artificial intelligence is influencing many sectors of society and reshaping numerous industries. This chapter will explore specific examples of how AI is being used to address critical challenges related to the SDGs, discuss the potential benefits and limitations, and examine ethical considerations for responsible AI development and deployment in the context of sustainable development.
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Analytical hierarchical process in decision making
(IGI Global, 2023) Jayawardena, S; Gopura R.A.R.C
In the introduction, what decision making is and the significance of the decision making was introduced. Few popular decision-making techniques were listed out and three rational techniques were discussed in a nutshell. Then Professor Saaty's seminal work, Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) was described, starting with the evolution of AHP and moving towards its practice through a four-step process. The AHP generates weights on a relative ratio scale with an input of measurements on a standard scale and due to the normalization process linearity of the results was destroyed. Finally, the four-step analytical hierarchical process was illustrated through an example of the selection of a job. During the progression, outcomes of the key theoretical aspects have been touched on without providing proof.
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Analytical network process in decision making
(IGI Global, 2023) Jayawardena, T.S.S; Jayawardena, C.S
Analytic Network Process (ANP) is a generalizedform of the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP). AHP is an objective theory of deriving the decision makings on absolute scale values starting from subjective relative measurements perhaps on tangible or intangible or a mix of both rated by the experts. A consistency measure of the relative ratings is verified with a consistency ratio to assure the ratings of the experts are consistent. The clustering of criteria/sub-criteria with inner and outer dependencies as well as feedback is taken into account in ANP. In ANP rather than a hierarchical process, a network structure is assumed and all nodes in the network are treated equally with interaction between nodes and grouping into clusters. A supermatrix is constructed, then normalized it to get weighted super matrix and raised it to a sufficient power to converge this into a unique eigen vector representing the final weights in limit super-matrix. Step by step iterations of ANP was demonstrated with a selection of car example.
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Case Studies: Use of Low Strain Transient Dynamic Response Method for Rock Socketed End Bearing Bored Piles
(ASTM Compass, 2018-05-28) Kodithuwakku, T. H; Thilakasiri, S; Rathnayaka, A
The transient dynamic response (TDR) method has been introduced to pile integrity testing over several decades. The TDR method requires measuring both pile top velocity and force induced at the pile top by a small handheld hammer. Force and velocity information can be used to determine the pile condition near the top of the pile and the stiffness of pile-soil-rock system. It has been suggested by researchers that the dynamic stiffness at low frequencies obtained from the TDR method relates to the static stiffness of a pile. The static stiffness determines the initial linear region of load-displacement behavior of a particular pile. However, little attention has been paid to developing a correlation between the dynamic stiffness obtained from the TDR method and the static stiffness of a pile head. Therefore, systematic field tests were performed on rock-socketed end-bearing bored piles to determine both dynamic stiffness and static stiffness. The piles were tested using both high-strain dynamic load testing and low-strain pile integrity testing. Based on the field testing results, this paper suggests a correlation between dynamic stiffness and static stiffness. Furthermore, successful implementation of the TDR method on rock-socketed end-bearing bored piles is verified through case studies. In addition, the case studies show that dynamic stiffness and first resonant frequency could be used to identify the doubtful piles having low toe stiffness.
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Designing a Compensation Strategy
(IGI Global, 2025-01-01) Rajapakshe, W
This chapter provides a comprehensive analysis of compensation design as a strategic lever for organizational success. It examines strategic compensation planning, highlighting the alignment of pay systems with business objectives to motivate desired behaviors, enhance productivity, and support long- term goals. Factors affecting employee compensation—including internal equity, external competitiveness, performance, skills, experience, and market benchmarks—are explored to inform effective pay decisions. The chapter distinguishes job evaluation from performance appraisal, emphasizing its role in establishing fair, transparent pay structures. Key features and methods of job evaluation—ranking, classification, point- factor, and factor comparison—are discussed, offering practical guidance for designing compensation systems that attract and retain talent, reinforce performance, and sustain competitive advantage in evolving business environments.
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Determinants of dividend policy in the financial sector in sri lanka: A GMM approach
(Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., 2024-05-13) Tharanga, T.M.N; Banda, Y.K.W; Dewasiri, N.J; Peiris, T.U.I
Introduction: Why companies pay dividends and the determinants of dividend policy are considered an unresolved dividend puzzle. To reach a consensus over the puzzle, researchers must investigate the factors affecting dividend policy by incorporating all the determinants into a single research effort. Purpose: We examine the dividend policy determinants of Sri Lankan firms, explicitly focusing on the banking, finance, and insurance (BFI) sectors. Methodology: This study uses the quantitative approach applying the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) system to examine the dividend policy determinants by obtaining secondary data from 51 listed BFI organisations in Sri Lanka. Findings: The analysis disclosed that the variables of changes in revenues, firm size, liquidity, corporate tax, business risk, and profitability have a positive relationship with dividend yield, whereas investment opportunities, leverage, change in revenues, corporate tax, and firm size impact positively on the propensity to pay dividends in BFI organisations in Sri Lanka. Our findings opine that managers in the BFI industries should prioritise changing their dividend policies by paying close attention to factors, such as dividend yield, changes in revenue, firm size, liquidity, corporate tax ratio, business risk, and profitability because the dividend policy is critical to retaining current investors and luring new ones.
Open Access
Development Plan as a Tool to Improve the Disaster Resilience of Urban Areas
(Springer, Cham, 2017-03-22) Perera, R; Khaimi, D; Khailani, B
This chapter argues for the mainstreaming of disaster resilience attributes in local development plans as an overarching adaptive measure with regards to urban areas facing climate related disasters. The chapter is based on empirical research involving a group of professional urban planners and managers who are responsible for formulating development plans for local urban areas in a developing country. Using the key-informant technique, the research investigated the ideas of a set of professional planners and managers regarding the suitable urban planning strategies to improve the resilience of local areas against a common hazard (e.g., flooding) that has a tendency to intensify due to climate change. In the next step, the common attributes of more frequently suggested strategies were identified using the principal component analysis technique. In the last step, the extent to which the local development planning system has responded so far to the vulnerability reduction and resilience improvement needs of the civil society. The findings indicate that local planners are sensitive to the flood risks faced by people. They have incorporated policies and strategies in the local development plan to minimize exposure of the people and property to flood hazard and improve the adaptive capacity of the urban settlements. However, the sector-based organization of the plan prepared by the federal level planners was found to be a hindrance to improving mainstream disaster resilience attributes in development planning. Therefore, the paper calls for strengthening the participatory planning and development capacity of the local authorities to enable more resolute mainstreaming of disaster resilience in local development plans.
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Doing Social Research and Publishing Results: A Guide to Non-native English Speakers
(Springer Nature, 2023) Saliya, C.A
This book provides a guide to such budding social researchers, who are non-native English speakers drawing examples from literature to show how to conduct a research, present research results, integrate with existing literature to draw conclusions through real-world examples. Existing English books teaching research methods and philosophy of academic research are written in ‘academic English’ and, it is hard for non-native English-speaking budding researchers to study and understand those books. Also, this book uses examples to show how to communicate with journal editors and peer reviewers to get published the research results as journal articles, book chapters or conference papers. This book connects different quantitative techniques, qualitative methodologies (case studies, phenomenology and ethnography and Grounded theory) as well as Mixed methods methodology through a single example. This book attempts to describe a holistic approach introducing a 10Ps model that incorporates the essential elements of the research process. The process focuses on combining philosophical framework and arguments from research results. This book focuses not only on conducting a research project, but also on the approach and procedures to be followed to achieve higher marks for course work assignments and publishing research articles in international journals. This book shows how to create many papers from one research/data set to increase number of publications and citations. This book has fewer words and more illustrations, tables, figures, pictures and YouTube tutorial links. This book outlines how to present test results in APA style for all the statistical test used in this book, using examples.
Open Access
Drawing in or ruling out “Family?” The evolution of the family systems approach in Sri Lanka
(Springer, Cham, 2019) Ekanayake, E. S; Abeysinghe, N
This chapter traces the baby steps of family systems approaches (FSA) in Sri Lanka. It captures some of the early known discussions about FSA held between academics, development workers, practitioners and grassroots counsellors and shares with the reader their genuine questions, doubts, cautious enthusiasm and joyous discoveries. The chapter also provides insights into the sociocultural realities within which counselling services are offered, the nature of the mental health and psychosocial services (MHPSS) in Sri Lanka, the diverse players and the specific limitations and challenges that proponents of FSA would need to navigate. The reader is invited to experience two real-life events in which the authors have explored the adaptation and use of FSA together with their students, co-workers and trainees. The first is in a classroom where masters-level students of counselling experience FSA as a practical learning experience. The second shares explorations with field counsellors working directly with vulnerable family members of migrant workers. These two scenarios highlight the reasons for and the manner in which FSA has been chosen as a robust, flexible and powerful tool capable of addressing the demands of evolving family systems and a changing Sri Lankan society.
Open Access
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE POOR ASSESSING SPATIAL DISPARITIES
(South Asia center for policy Studies, 2009-02) Tilakaratna, G; Tilakaratna, A; Jayatilaka, R; Perera, R
Sri Lanka enjoys a remarkable progress in terms of its basic education indicators, compared to many other developing countries in the world. By 2004, it had an adult literacy rate of about 92.5 per cent, and a net primary enrolment ratio of 98 per cent. The primary completion ratio for Sri Lanka is also relatively high, with only about 3 per cent of the students dropping out before reaching grade 5. Moreover, Sri Lanka has achieved significant progress in gender equality in education. The adult literacy rate for female is 96 per cent of that for male while youth literacy rate for female is as high as 101 percent of that for male. In addition, net primary enrolment ratio for female is about 97 per cent and is at the same level as that for male students. However, it is interesting to note that the combined ratio for all educational levels for female is about 102 per cent of that for male, implying higher enrolments among female students
Open Access
Educational opportunities for the poor in Sri Lanka: Assessing spatial disparities
(Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2008-11) Jayathilaka, R; Tilakaratna, G; Galappattige, A; Perera, R
This study was carried out as a part of the project on “Economic and Political Empowerment of the Poor: Sri Lanka Country Studies” which will be published in a monograph as a part of the publication series originating from Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)/South Asian Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS) project on Eradication of Poverty in South Asia. The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge SACEPS for their financial assistance to carry out this study.
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An Empirical Study on Paddy Harvest and Rice Demand Prediction for an Optimal Distribution Plan
(wiley, 2022-03-04) Rankothge, W. H
This book provides the state-of-the-art applications of Machine Learning in IoT environment. The most common use cases for machine learning and IoT data are predictive maintenance, followed by analyzing CCTV surveillance, smart home applications, smart-healthcare, in-store ‘contextualized marketing’ and intelligent transportation systems. Readers will gain an insight into the integration of Machine Learning with IoT in various application domains.
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Employee performance management for improved workplace motivation
(IGI Global, 2024-08-24) Rajapakshe, W
In the dynamic landscape of organizational management, the challenge of effectively evaluating and enhancing employee performance stands as a pivotal obstacle to maximizing workplace productivity and motivation. Traditional performance appraisal methods often fall short in providing meaningful insights into employees' contributions and fostering a culture of continuous improvement. This gap between outdated evaluation techniques and the evolving demands of the modern workforce presents a pressing dilemma for Human Resource Management professionals and organizational leaders worldwide. Employee Performance Management for Improved Workplace Motivation emerges as a definitive solution to this critical problem, offering a comprehensive guide to revolutionizing performance management systems. This book meticulously explores the intricacies of performance evaluation, from planning and monitoring to reviewing and rewarding. By integrating theoretical frameworks, practical case studies, and strategic insights, the book equips HR professionals, managers, and scholars with the tools and knowledge needed to implement effective performance management practices that drive employee motivation and organizational success. The book identifies common challenges in performance evaluation and addresses global cultural differences and ethical considerations inherent in the process. By providing actionable strategies and best practices, this book serves as a beacon of guidance for those seeking to optimize performance management systems and cultivate a culture of high performance and engagement within their organizations. Whether utilized in academic research, staff training programs, or executive consultations, this book offers a transformative approach to redefining performance evaluation and enhancing workplace motivation.
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Exploring Public Perceptions of COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Effects Through Social Media Analysis
(IGI Global, 2023) Nimanthika, S; Kuhaneswaran, B; Wijeratne, A.K; Kumara, S
This study examines social media content to identify adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccination as perceived by the public. Existing studies did not categorize tweets on vaccine adverse effects as personal experience, informative, or advice-seeking. Authors manually classified tweets into categories and used the data to train four machine learning models. LSTM algorithm yielded the highest accuracy of 90.13%. The LSTM model with GloVe embedding was determined to be most suitable. This research aims to fill a research gap and increase public awareness of COVID-19 vaccine side effects. The study highlights the importance of analyzing social media content to better understand public perception of vaccines.
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HemoSmart: A Non-Invasive Device and Mobile App for Anemia Detection
(John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2021-04-06) Jayakody, A; Edirisinghe, E. A. G. A; Lokuliyana, S
The Hemoglobin concentration in human blood is an important substance to health condition determination. With the results which are obtained from Hemoglobin test, a condition which is called as Anemia (a low level of Hemoglobin) can be revealed. Traditionally the Hemoglobin test is done using blood samples which are taken using needles. The non-invasive Hemoglobin level detection system, discussed in this paper, describes a better idea about the hemoglobin concentration in the human blood. The images of the fingertip of the different hemoglobin level patients which is taken using a camera is used to develop the neural network-based algorithm. The pre-mentioned algorithm is used in the developed non-invasive device to display the Hemoglobin level. Before doing the above procedure, an account is created in the mobile app and a questionnaire is given to answer by the patient. Finally, both the results which are obtained from the mobile app and the device are run through a machine learning algorithm to get the final output. According to the final result patient would be able to detect anemia at an early stage.
Open Access
Improving the understanding of safe-sex behaviours with the use of two models in Health Psychology
(Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Abeysinghe, N
Health psychology, which is a branch of psychology, aims to understand human health (wellbeing, illnesses, and vulnerabilities) from a biopsychosocial perspective that takes the biological, psychological, and social aspects of life into consideration. This sub-discipline broadly emphases its role in health promotion and maintenance of health, prevention and treatment of illness, detection and focus on causes of illnesses, and overall improvement of the health care system. Health psychologists utilise a broad range of psychological theories and models developed within the sub-discipline for the above functions. This paper outlines how two theoretical models in Health Psychology, the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), and the Health Belief Model (HBM), contribute to the understanding of safe-sex behaviours. Unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are noticeable problems around the globe. Almost one million adolescent women aged 19 or under become pregnant each year in the USA alone (Ventura & Freedman, 2000), and the number of adolescents acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STI), including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), approximates to 3.5 million (Chambers, & Rew, 2003). In the UK the number of new diagnoses for STIs has increased from 63% over the last ten years (Health Protection Agency, 2008). In relation to homosexual relationships, there is still a high incidence of unsafe sex, mainly in the form of unprotected anal intercourse, despite the long number of years of health promotion and education aimed at this population (Crossley, 2000).
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Integrated-flexible research methodology: An alternative approach
(IGI Global, 2023-03-10) Saliya, C.A
The research process is not a smooth process that moves from one stage to another, or a sequential process growingfrom the roots of ontology and epistemology towards the data collection and analytical techniques and interpretations. The existentialist position of the interpretive / reformist paradigm is that reality is subjective and multiple, that it does not exist independently in the human mind. Their epistemological stance is that the available knowledge depends on the researcher's thoughts and desires. That is, "knowledge" is created by the seeker and deploying a specific methodology which is not necessarily a sequential set of "stages", a "step-by-step" course or a "layer-by-layer" peeling activity like peeling-off an onion.
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Intelligent Vision Impaired Indoor Navigation Using Visible Light Communication
(Springer, Cham, 2020) Jayakody, A; Murray, I; Hermann, J; Lokuliyana, S; Dunuwila, V
Recent statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that over 253 million of the world’s population to be visually impaired. Most of these individuals use the white cane as an assistive tool or are often accompanied by caretakers or voluntary helpers as indoor navigation is particularly challenging for them. This chapter describes a substitute vision system designed to assist vision impaired individuals through the use of visible light communication and geomagnetism. Furthermore, the use of database optimization increases the speed and efficiency of data retrieval thus reducing system response time. Though navigation systems that support the visual impaired are readily available, there have been no systems that use both visible light communication and geomagnetism capable of providing accurate and secure indoor navigation assistance, which in turn would increase the overall satisfaction of the system users.