Technological Change and Economic Growth 1750 – 1900

We can start from sentence that Great Britain with whole confidence was the country which technology dominated on international market in the time of first and second Industrial Revolution. There is no doubt that economical growth of it definitely made it superior to other countries. Why it happened to be like this? We can mention right away few reasons for that state, namely geographical localization and communication made it not only independent from Continental problems but also derived fresh ideas and solutions.Moreover political system made government to care deeply about property rights of Britain citizens, what encouraged them even more for being innovative. In economical and social perspective dominating factors are practical skills of labour force and openness for foreign technical abilities despite of inventors social and religious status. Nevertheless it is not enough, so in further part of this essay there is enclosured explanation for that situation. We have to treat tec hnology as a phenomenon determined by many factors, not only ability of human for being creative and practical.Following this thought it is crucial to start from trying firstly to understand technology in general, elaborating topic by factors which made Great Britain economy dominating to other European countries, finishing with specified innovations which made Britain economy grow. We can say that statements like â€Å"necessity is the mother of invention† do not have really sense in this context. On the contrary we can say that â€Å"invention is the mother of necessity† given the fact that new technologies often give rise to unrecognised desires.The demand for technology is derived because it depends on demand of goods and services that technology helps to produce. Technology change is principally produced because of new ideas that are born in a way that is difficult to predetermine and completely understand. It can be that demand focuses the direction of these new ideas, but is sure that it does not determine the creativity of societies. Cannot be said that demand is not important in this context, but that there are not going to be a symmetry between supply and demand in the production of technological progress.By 1700 Europe was already richer than non European countries, one explanation of that is technological progress. Technology influences a lot the income of the states and its success. Technology and its development is a really complex thing to explain and understand. This complexity derives because of the cultural influence. For existing technology development we need a cultural predisposition and preparation that does not occur in all societies. Investing in technology is also expensive.In the period of the Industrial revolution there were a lot of things that make this kind of research difficult, such as, high costs, a groups of individuals willing to absorb large risks and wait a lot of years for the pay off, etc. Risk aversion and leisure preference are thus what determine the rate of innovation in a particular society. The total cost of adopting a new technique consists of two parts: private costs paid by investors and the social costs paid by society as a whole. Social costs usually exceeded the private costs. There is nothing natural and inevitable about technological progress.Most societies experienced that , but only the West was able to transform it in a mechanism of continuous expansion. Technologically creative societies in the past and in the present create â€Å"free lunch† benefits. At the end, it all depends on the combination of luck, brilliance and perseverance. Nevertheless in every society exists a need of stability. The sentiment more representative of this is â€Å" if it ain't broke, don't fix it†, the arch-enemy of technological progress. Technological conservatism refers to the tendency to adopt a certain technique only because it happened to be used in a previous period.On the collective level it is possible for societies to be conservative even when individuals are not. This happens when well organised interest groups in a society have a stake in maintaining the status quo in the face of superior alternative. Technological conservatism produces an economic inertia; pervasive influence of the status quo, tradition, custom, routine, and adherence to precedent were powerful obstacles to innovation and advances. Technological changes is like a game against nature. Invention occurs at the level of individual creativity.What makes them implement, improve and adapt new technologies in the way that they carry out their daily work, depends on the institutions and the attitudes around them. It is this the way that the level of technological changes is transformed from invention – a game against nature, to innovation – â€Å"positive-sum game with many players and very incomplete information†. Mokyr makes an analysis of which factors help d etermine the prosperity of the member of the society to invent and which factors make others want to adopt his or her inventions.There are many things that influence technological progress and if it is going to be realised, how, in which kind of societies, culture, and conditions. Mokyr explains that life expectancy is an important factor for technological progress. People who live short have little time or incentive to generate new knowledge. Another important thing is the nutrition. It is reasonable to expect that in societies in which hidden hunger is rampant, initiative and ambition, necessary for economic progress will be harder to find. Willingness to bear risks also affects society's ability to produce innovative individuals.In the past the risk was bigger than today, experimenting new techniques or crops might well have entailed a risk of starvation. Also geographical environment is important, few of the environmental factors are either strictly necessary or sufficient, they are permissive rather then causal in direct sense. Another factor is â€Å"path dependency† in which the views, that technological change depends primarily on, is past. Technological change tends to be local, that is, learning occurs primarily around techniques in use, and thus more advance economies will learn more about advanced techniques and stay at the cutting edge of progress (David, 1975).High wages and labour scarcity stimulated technological creativity (Habakkuk thesis, 1962). Religion can see at this kind of changes like something that goes against nature and what God creates for us. To make technological changes effective and sustainable, the authorities must relinquish their direct control over the innovative process and decentralise it. This is the opportunity for successful innovators to enrich themselves. It is difficult to determine what kind of political structure is most conducive to technological progress.Strong centralized governments may have been able t o resist the pressures exerted by technological status quo. It is equally possible that a weak government leave the decision to market forces. Another reason politics matters is that technological changes is notoriously subject to market failure, that is, the free market system left on its own is unlikely to produce a desirable level of innovation. So for making technological changes we need openness to new information and adaptation.Wilkinson proposes an original theory connecting population, the physical environment and the rate of technological change (1973). Such theory says that technological changes occur when the ecological equilibrium between population and resource is disturbed. When population growth occur â€Å"society will try to find ways of developing its technology to increase the yield from its environment† The British Industrial revolution, in his view, was the result of acute resource shortages resulting from the resurgence in population growth in the last t hird of eighteen century.This interpretation does not really have connection with reality, because technological innovation simply had nothing to do with ecological pressures and occurs in societies in which population was in fact more or less stagnant. So let take a look on the other factors which determined the situation. After 1750 the Industrial Revolution was initially concentrated primarily in Britain. In this period a deep gap between Europe and Great Britain had existed. In this part of essay we are trying to find an answer why the Industrial Revolution had appeared in Britain, comparing all process of technological changes in Britain and the rest of Europe.Technological success depended on both, the presence of positive elements and on the absence of negative ones. Among the positive factors, the generation of technological ideas and the ability to implement them seem a point natural enough from which to start. The generation of ideas was often an international effort. The British were prominent in providing techno-Britons. Yet Britain’s relative role in invention was smaller than its corresponding role in implementation. Many important inventions that can be attributed to Continental inventors found their successful implementation in Britain.There are many difference between Britain and the Continent that helped Britain to establish its head start. It needs to be divided for few parts: geographical, economical, political, social and technical aspects. Let’s start from geographical situation – location of Great Britain is perfect for sea – trade development. Also having a lot of colonies almost on over the world, favors to create a ideal conditions for big technological changes. Because of Britain’s location Britain alone among the large European economies constituted a comparatively unified market in which goods and people moved easily.Compared to the European Continent, Britain had excellent internal transportation , canals and roads provided it with a network unequalled by any Continental nation, with the possible exception of the Netherlands. As the technology of building roads and canals improved in the 18th, Britain became an integrated market system, in which size and integration is very crucial. Market integration has a more profound effect on the diffusion of new techniques. British political system is also cause of the Industrial Revolution.Perhaps the most distinguishing feature of Britain was that its government was one of, by, and for property owners. Very important issue here is effect of patent laws on inventive activity. If we compare patent law in Britain with the rest of the Continent we’ll see deep gap between them. British patent law dates from 1624, whereas France did not have a similar law until 1791, and most other European countries established patent laws only in the early 19th century. Generally, property rights allowed the inventor to capture a larger part of th e social benefits of his invention.Also crucial factor was its endowment of skilled labour at the onset of the Industrial Revolution. By the middle of the 18th century, Britain had at its disposal a large number of technicians and craftsman who could carry out the mundane but indispensable construction details of the â€Å"new contrivances†. This skills rested on an informal and antiquated system of apprenticeship and on-the-job training – they had little to do with schooling. They had got more practice skills. The best example here is clock- and watchmaking and also shipping sector.By contrast with France, Britain welcomed men of technical ability whatever their religious persuasions. Landes wrote that France had been â€Å"crippled by the exodus of some of its best practitioners fleeing a wave of anti-protestant bigotry†. Besides this two sectors also mining helped to prepare the skills and dexterity necessary for the Industrial Revolution. Pumps and transport equipment were crucial to mining, and both the steam engine and the iron rail were built first for use in the mines.By the end of the 17th century, British mining and metallurgical technology was still ‘between a hundred and hundred and fifty years behind the best practice techniques of the Continent’. By 1760, it was at the forefront of Europe in these areas, giving it a technological advantage. Furthermore, in Britain the number of engineers and mechanics was sufficiently large to allow interaction with each other – interaction among engineers, scientists and businessmen created a total that was larger than the sum of its individual components.Technological change and the creation of new information are processes that do not obey the laws of arithmetic. On the other hand, Britain did not have a significant scientific advantage that would explain technological leadership: as Kuhn notes, the traditional view that British science was predominantly experimental an d mechanical, whereas French science was largely mathematical and deductive seems to have withstood the test of time.Thanks that a lot of inventions was coming into existence in Great Britain. Which are described in the next part. There are some conditions to have a technological change, first of all an opportunity for improvement owning to the inadequacy of prevailing techniques or a need for improvement due to an autonomous factors price increase, the new technique must also pay sufficiently to cover the costs of the change.The technological change focuses on tree principal sectors: energy, cotton spinning and iron making; in this part we are just trying to report those changes which have had enormous consequences in the production system of this period. One of the most frequent symbols of the industrial revolution is the steam energy, stem energy is probably one of the most revolutionary invention ever made and allow a controlled conversion of heat in work, any way it’s im pact before 1850 on the industry productivity was limited.Before 1830 the use of steam energy could be substitute by alternative sources, especially water power, which technique improved also a lot during this years, an example of this came from the Swiss production of iron before 1830,based on water energy and caracole, the Swiss iron was more expensive but can compete with the British one by saving transport costs and because of his quality. A second industry which also were protagonist of lots of important changes in the production is the cotton spinning industry, we can connect this change to tree names, first: Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the throstle†, this technique allow a faster production ( from 6 to 24 time faster) and at the same time a high quality product. The second name is James Hargreaves, the inventor of the â€Å"spinning jenny†, this technique twisted the yarn by rotating spindles that pulled the rowings from their bobbins, with metal draw bars playing the role of human fingers. The spinning jenny is a quite small machine but made the spinning process about 100 times faster.The third inventor is Samuel Crompton who combined the â€Å"throstle† and the â€Å"jenny† technique crating the mule, a machine able to produce with the â€Å"jenny† speed a high quality product like the one of the â€Å"throstle†, with this invention Britain can definitely compete with the Indian fine quality yarn. A third sector characterizing the industrial revolution is the iron sector; this is probably due to it’s nature of general purpose material, which had no substitute at that time. The first type of iron was the â€Å"pig iron†, produced with a high carbon level that makes it rigid, hard and fragile.In 1710 were introduced the coke smelting iron, but until 1750 this new product was not widely used; the reduced costs of pig-iron allowed the use of cast iron in many more applications, especially in co nstructions. In this case the innovation is not due to the costs of the material but to his resistance to fire hazard, caused by an increase in the use of steam energy in the textile mills. In 1785 Henry Cort introduces the puddling and rolling techniques, Cort combinate the reverberatory furnaces used in glass making with groowed rollers and start using coke as fuel.Reassuming in few sentences, important is to remember how big role had played urbanisation, demographical growth and a little bit to colonialism. We cannot concentrate only to already mentioned issues, but nevertheless they are those which dominate along whole situation, according to specification in topic of technological development. All in all Britain’s domination was the effect of multiply variables which strengthen its position for few centuries.

Assess Different Sociological Explanations of SuicideAnomie Essay

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess different sociological explanations of suicide. (21 marks) Suicide is the  intentional  taking  of  one’s  own  life and sociologists over the years have tried to put forward various explanations for why someone may do this. Within sociology there are many different views on suicide on the causes and explanations for it, these come from two main methodologies which are Positivists who believe that sociology is a science and they should aim to make causal laws on suicide rates, compared to Interpretivists who believe that they should look for meaning behind occurrences and certain individuals experiences before the suicide. Other perspectives also put in their views on what they believe to explain suicide for example, Realists. Item A references to Durkheim’s Structural Functionalist view on suicide, as stated Durkheim believes that due to sociology being a science with the topic of suicide it is very easy to make causal laws or as said in Item A ‘social facts’. Due to the fact Durkheim believed that there were a number of causes behind suicide he form four types of suicide from a Positivist viewpoint. Egoistic suicide which is when individuals are not integrated well enough into society for example people who live alone compared to those who live with family. Secondly Altruistic suicide which is when individuals are felt to be too integrated into society causing suicide, for example members of the armed forces were said to have greater suicide rates than civilian personnel as they were too strongly integrated into a united body. Durkheim also put forward the idea of Anomic suicide, this is when the norms and values in society become unclear or confused in times of great social change and an individual is not taught to adapt to changes well enough. For example an unexpected death of a family member is sudden social change which can cause Anomic suicide. Lastly, he suggested Fatalistic suicide. Fatalism is the thinking of the individual that they can do nothing to affect their situation and individuals find their future blocked and oppressed due to society over regulating them. For example slaves and prisoners may have this mindset when they take their own lives. Durkheim said that his work on suicide had several merits as it correctly revealed that suicide is a social rather than psychological occurrence and proved his methodology that you can establish laws and show that sociology is a science. However his theory on suicide has been met with some criticism. Douglas claimed that Durkheim’s work relied too heavily on the use of official statistics on suicide and he incorrectly assumed that these were representative of the real truth. Douglas notes that official statistics are socially produced and can be distorted in many ways, for example via concealment and varying definitions of suicide by coroners meaning that the validity of the statistics is doubted. So Douglas himself put forward an explanation for suicide. Douglas adopted a Symbolic Interactionist perspective, along with a interpretive methodology which is opposite to that of Durkheim. Some would argue that Douglas selected to look at suicide as an area of investigation as he thought it would illustrate the beliefs of Interactionists and highlight the short comings of the Structural Functionalists positivist approach. Douglas used psychiatrists reports and newspaper accounts to come up with his four patterns of social meaning for suicide and within his study he took a very subjective approach looking at meaning and motives. In Douglas’ view suicide could be due to four reasons, the first to gain release from the cares of the world to find happiness, to change the opinion of others in the suicides favour, to achieve a state of fellow feeling creating a climate of sympathy or to simply get revenge towards those who are causing pain towards them. Douglas believed that his work highlighted that suicide is a rational act rather than an automatic response to the environment as people are active not passive, and also to show that sociology is not a science and we should look into meanings over statistics. Obviously this was highly criticised by Structural Functionalists such as Durkheim who believed that Douglas’ work was too unscientific and that he incorrectly assumed that the nature of man is active rather than passive. Another sociologist who takes an Interpretivist methodology is Atkinson, believing that social meaning and context is more important in finding root causes. However unlike Douglas, Atkinson is a Ethnomethodologist which has a central belief of showing that each individual use their own members methods to work out what they see. This is why Atkinson decided to study suicide, also to show how official statistics are not enough. Atkinson focused on a Coroner’s report and underwent participant observation at an office to see what methods they used to decide whether a death was suicide or not. Atkinson stated that they used ‘common sense’ theories of suicide so if certain information were to fit the theories it would be called a suicide. They would look at clues to help decided, Atkinson named a few to which he believed was important within their decisions. Firstly was there a suicide note left, this clearly is a big clue to whether or not the individual meant to kill themselves. Secondly how did the individual die as certain ways such as hanging point towards suicide, also the location of the body, usually if it is hidden away out of sight then the person is indicating that they did not want to be found. Finally did the individual have any past mental illnesses or life history that could lead them towards suicide. Atkinson therefore stated that a suicide verdict reflects the assumptions and interpretation of the clues by the coroner rather than reality and facts. Atkinson’s study was said to have some merits as it did identify what clues coroners use to arrive at a suicide verdict, but also shows that positivists use of quantative data such as official statistics is not valid as they are produced by coroners who base the label of suicide on their own social assumptions. Hindess put forward a criticism for both Douglas and Atkinson, arguing that although Interpretive researchers have maintained that suicide statistics can be misleading they haven’t stated to what extent they distort people’s ideas, so therefore it may only be slight and still be possible to make accurate causal laws from a Positivist viewpoint. Taylor has put forward his view on suicide, taking a Realist approach which is very different from the explanations already stated. Taylor has tried to combine both Interpretivist and Positivist methodologies to come to a verdict on suicide. Taylor underwent a study on the London Underground and people who had died from falling underneath a train asserting that causal factors are important in considering suicide especially that of significant others such as family. In his investigation over half of the 32 who had died were said to have committed suicide although they were no actual evidence, coroners just based this on history of mental illness. Ignoring such factors of suicide and focusing on coroners is unrealistic, so looking at causal factors is from Taylor’s view a valid approach. But it is also important to gain a fuller understanding of suicide by finding a synthesis between the causes of the occurrence which is the Structural Functionalist side but also the exploration of the social meanings behind it, showing the Interactionist approach. Taylor therefore identified a category for suicide which is Sacrifice suicide, where it has occurred by the conduct of other people towards the suicide, for example family members have made the individuals life so unbearable this is the only way out. An advantage of Taylor’s approach to suicide is that it attempts to show how both positivist and interpretive methods are useful in trying to understand suicide, however certain sociologist have criticised it for being too one sided. It has been stated that Taylor focused more on the Interactionist failing to achieve ‘Structuralism’. Another criticism from Durkheim is that Taylor’s cause of suicide that he put forward seems unimportant compared to the large scale of the structural causes central concern such as sudden social change which is a more widespread reason. To conclude many sociologists have differing views to try to explain suicide and why they think individuals do take their own lifes, however these are just theories because no one will ever know the real root cause of why someone has ended their lives unless they leave a note explaining why and in many causes this does not happen.

In What Ways Did Religion and Economics Influence the Development of Medieval Europe and Japan?

God’s laws told them that they were equal to the King. The archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls were freeman that could not be taken or imprisoned, outlawed or exiled or ruined unless by lawful judgments. General of injustice’s would cause the souls of them and the souls of their ancestors and successors to burn in all eternity. 2) How did the Magna Carta limit the power of King John? According to the Magna Carta: the king could no longer collect taxes from the English people unless the Great Council agreedany free man who was brought to trial for a crime had the right to be judged by his equals, rather than the king or his officials; this is what we know as a jurylegal decisions were also now influenced by the judges’ interpretation of previous court decisions; this made rulings more consistent so that the same crime couldn’t be punished in two different waysthe king himself now had to obey the laws of England; this was a brand new idea: that even the king was not above obeying the law3) How did the Magna Carta lay the foundation for democracy? Many of the ideas first written in the Magna Carta would later form the basis of modern democracy. It was the first document to limit the powers of the monarchy. This would influence the democratic idea of a system of checks and balances to keep one pie ce of the government (such as the president) from having too much power. It also established rights for everyday people and influenced the content of other documents that protect the rights of citizens, such as the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution Another result of the Magna Carta was the establishment of the first English parliament. It created the Great Council, a group of 25 barons that the king was supposed to consult when he made a decision. This planted the seeds of a parliamentary government where the power was shared between the ruling monarch and the people, and the people had a voice. Later, Philip IV of France would use a similar idea in 1302 to establish the Estates-General. This was an assembly of noblemen, clergy, and townspeople that was also useful in uniting France under one national identity.

Journalism and Publicity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Journalism and Publicity - Essay Example To ensure that it effectively reaches out to its target audiences MTV Base broadcasts, music that the target audience can relate to or rather understand, for instance, in South Africa the channel will air music either in English or Zulu which is a predominant indigenous language there. In Nigeria, it will broadcast music in English or Igbo as these are the traditional languages there. In the East Africa region, the standard music that is played is either in English or Swahili with Buganda being common in Uganda (Haig, 2007). Culture is yet another aspect that is commonly emphasized to ensure the target audiences get programs or rather music that they can relate. Case in point the Afro genre of music is predominant in Nigeria thus a significant amount of airplay will be dedicated to artists from that genre likewise in South Africa Kwaito is the type of music that aligns with the local culture thus it will receive massive airplay than any other type in that country. That notwithstanding, the interest of the audience plays a significant role in determining the kind of programs that are aired, for instance the Hip-hop genre of music that is Western by origin and cultures tends to have a huge following in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania thus the program airs this kind of music to appease the interests of the people that are huge followers of that genre (McLeod and Kuenzli, 2011). Free to air channels can be accessed by the general public without any form of subscriptions thus they entirely depend on the commercials that they run to foot their bills. I’ll choose NTV in Kenya as an example of a free to air channel for the purpose of this analysis. Evidently, most free to air channels have a substantial fan base given the fact that they can be accessed without paying any amount of money (Cramerotti, 2009). These channels tend to come up with all sorts of innovative programs so as to command a huge following to entice more companies to advertising with them based on the fact that they have a vast audience.  

Capital asset pricing model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Capital asset pricing model - Essay Example The market indices of the securities market may not always diversify well. The capital-pricing model will not explain investors’ behavior and the beta might fail in capturing the risk of investment in real life practice due to these factors. Therefore, the model fails to act as a uniform and efficient valuation model in a real practical situation. The model only works in a generalized situation that is when dealing with a portfolio but fail if the investment is broken down into single forms of securities. The capital asset pricing model assumes that the higher the risks the higher the return and that all the investors are risk averse. The model assumes that securities are highly divisible into small parts. The model further, assumes that all investors access information at the same time and that investors make decisions based on a single period horizon. The capital asset pricing model is practically difficult to validate. Empirical validation of the capital asset pricing model has to establish that beta has ability to measure the risk of a security (Szyszka, 2009). It also has to show that there is a significant correlation between beta and the expected rate of return. The empirical results have however, being of mixed outcomes. The results have shown that the relationship is not as strong as the capital asset pricing model indicates. The results also have also shown that the expected returns are also related to other measures of risk, which includes firm’s specific risk. Other factors such as market value and book value ratios relationship with returns were found to be significant. In order to test capital asset pricing model empirically researchers need to use data on expected prices. However, the data available is historical information only. This therefore, will result to biased empirical results. The capital asset pricing model assumes that the market portfolio consists of all the assets in all the markets. The market portfolio according to t he capital asset pricing theory must include every marketable asset (Khalaf, 2010). The assumption behind the market portfolio is that market index performance is impacted by every factor in the economy. The use of proxy portfolio is very controversial and this leads to the questioning of the validity of the Capital asset pricing model. Capital asset pricing model measure of a security future risk (Beta) is constant. In a real security market, investors do not have future information about the market to estimate beta. Investors only have past information about the market portfolio, performance of different organizations and prices of shares. Therefore, investors can only estimate the measure of a security future risk using historical data. The use of a historical beta is only applicable in case the beta is stable over time. Research has shown that betas for different securities are not constant over time. Therefore, historical betas are poor indicators to determine future risk of se curities. B) Describe Roll’s critique of the early empirical tests of the Capital as

Sentiment in financial markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sentiment in financial markets - Essay Example But if you have no feel for what the expectational environment is, you're kind of flying blind. You might have a good feel for the fundamentals and the technicals, but very often it's the expectational backdrop that makes the difference. For example, many investors are frustrated because they own a stock and the stock's earnings meet or perhaps even exceed expectations. And lo and behold, the stock goes down and people are at a loss to explain why. But for other stocks, the earnings come in and exceed expectations, and the stock skyrockets. Why the difference The reason is sentiment. Very often, the sentiment had been excessively bullish before the positive earnings report. In the days before the announcement, there may have been a heavy accumulation of call options. So there is a lot of anticipatory buying of the stock, which then pretty much has run its course when the earnings come out. But with these and other measures, you must wait until they get to some kind of extreme level before they carry contrary implications. For example, when everybody who could potentially be bullish is already bullish, then essentially most of the buying power in that particular market has been dissipated. At that point, the market becomes very vulnerable to selling because there isn't enough buying to offset the selling. Similarly, if only a very, very smal... Perhaps they have even shorted the market. That means the market has become more primed to move upward because if buyers should come in they will not encounter much selling pressure because the selling has already occurred. So imagine a poll today that says 80 percent of futures traders are bullish. Remember that people, whether futures traders or individual investors or market-letter writers, tend to be trend followers. Their opinion tends to be a reflection of what's going on in the market. So if 80 percent are bullish that doesn't mean that the market is at its peak. No. 1, you would expect them to be bullish, and, No. 2, they can always get more bullish. I think this points out a trap that the bears have fallen into. They've noticed signs of bullishness, namely the amount of money that's flowing into mutual funds, the investment clubs, the Beardstown Ladies' books and so on. You get into trouble when a market is in a powerful technical trend and you analyze it without reference to the fact that you expect people to be bullish in a bull market. When a stock rises on positive earnings, which also occurs often, there may have been a lot of concern about the earnings report and investors may have bought a lot of put options, or shorted the stock. Without a measure of sentiment that is accurate, you can go down all kinds of blind alleys. Some of those who have been bearish on the stock market will tell you that there are many more investment clubs than there were 15 years ago, or that mutual funds now outnumber the stocks on the Big Board. These are all good cocktail-party things to talk about, but they're not really measures of sentiment that have parameters associated with them. They're just anecdotal. Academic

Accreditation of City College of San Francisco Research Paper - 1

Accreditation of City College of San Francisco - Research Paper Example Besides that I have incorporated pathos since there is an element of persuasion in argumentation and what better way to persuade than to appeal through the emotions of your opposition. The use of pathos has been juxtaposed with the use of logos since the opposition is one of the high intellects. Juxtaposition, therefore, is my second rhetorical device. The largest community college in California seems to have landed itself in big trouble. It faces the daunting prospect of losing its accreditation, a decision that would mean no more financial aid for its students and possibly the closure of the institution itself. The reasons for these are mainly fiscal trouble and mismanagement. Evaluators are not happy with the way City College allocates its budget, nor with the fact that it has a very few administrative staff, most of which, is untrained. According to Roberts, 92% of City College’s budget is spent on salaries and benefits with retirement benefits spiraling out of control, much of its one-time working capital is used to fund operational expenses and has a small number of administrators who are too inexperienced to run a big institution such as City College (Roberts). The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges has given its verdict based on these reasons, the President of the Commission, Barbara Beno said, â€Å"Only accredited colleges can receive public funding under state law. However, City Colleges failure to fix serious, long-standing problems of leadership and fiscal planning means that the accrediting commission could vote as early as next June to yank the schools all-important certification† (Asimov). Losing accreditation would therefore mean no more public funding for one of the largest institutions in California, no chance of financial aid for its 90000 students and the dire prospect of closure. In fact, City College will also not be able to transfer credits,

Working Capital Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Working Capital Management - Essay Example Gross Working Capital: It refers to the firm's investment in current assets. Current assets in year 2006- 2000000 and in 2007- 2470000. It increased significantly instead of dip in cash because of nearly 71% increment in debtors and 58% increment in inventory of finished goods, but cash reserve dipped by 96% and tightens the liquidity position of company by the end of 2007. Net Working Capital: It refers to the difference between current assets and current liabilities. In year 2006, NWC-1300000 and in year 2007, 1490000. Net working capital has been increased YoY but it's difficult to assume that how much Working capital is required by the company in the existing business as no industry standard or benchmark standard is not provided. Even the trading cycles are not mentioned regarding finished goods, creditors and debtors, therefore assuming the different cycles is difficult and so does the prediction of working capital. If we checkout the current asset to fixed assets ratio as it helps in determining the optimum level of current assets so that the wealth of shareholders is maximized. As the firm's output and sales increase, the need for current assets increases. Generally, current assets do not increase in direct proportion to output; current assets may increase at a declining rate with output. This relationship is based upon the notion that it takes a greater proportional investment in current assets when only few units of output are produced than it does later on when firm can use its current assets more efficiently. For year 2006, CA/FA ratio is 0.55 For year 2007, CA/FA ratio is 0.58 Company has nearly same ratio in both the years that means company increases its assets as per the requirement. That can be analyzed by taking ratio of working capital requirement as a percentage of turnovers, which is nearly 27% in 2006 and nearly 23% in 2007. Therefore it can be said requirement of current assets has been increased proportionately. It's difficult to assume how much is required to run the business as any standards are not given and it's difficult to presume for an industry. But it can be said that Adorama net working capital has been increased even though company might face problem in quick solvency (which includes mainly within a week convertible current assets) but if we see overall situation of working capital needs company is in sound position even it has overdraft problem but sound position of debtors and inventory can sort it out, certainly company might face liquidity problem as company has very less to meet immediate demands but money can be raised by mortgaging debtors to meet immediate requirements. Overtrading is mainly matching sales and production cycles, it takes place when a business accepts work and tries to complete it, but finds that fulfillment require greater current assets or working capital. Overtrading is a common problem in businesses and it often happens because of some mismanagement or any unprecedented cause. If you see Adorama has net working capital of 1490000 in 2007, which is enough to meet the requirements but in its cash kitty it has only 20000. Therefore, passing a judgment is difficult and highly depends upon the nature of business, position of different cycles( debtors and inventory mainly) but still I would like to say that there is certainly problem of cash crunch or current

Consultant view of business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Consultant view of business - Essay Example While there are advantages to directly working with employees in their training, say, to achieve better customer service, the practicality and long-term benefits of working with the leadership team could certainly outweigh them. It is helpful to remember that training and development is aimed at improving employees’ skills and abilities. According to Pride, Hughes and Kapoor, training should be a continuing process. (p. 264) The constant employee training could be delegated and localized to their immediate managers because: 1) it is part of their responsibilities; 2) the manager would understand his staff better than Emma who must consider and understand the employees of all her stores; and, 3) managers should take increased responsibility if Emma wants them to be more committed to the company. Dealing with the managers is like involving them in the decision or policy-making process, which could address several factors including the managers’ resentment and frustration of being left out; the opportunity to become a stake holder in the organization, which allows for the cultivation of deeper commitment and loyalty to the organization; and so forth. All in all, Emma had to work hard in order to facilitate and motivate the managers’ commitment and their change and adoption of her vision. She must constantly create and sustain conditions for success of the change she wants or the vision that she wants her people to imbibe. I will definitely advise against the buyout by HIW company. Clearly, Emma likes what she does and she left her previous work in order to setup the business. Emma’s problem is that her company is growing fast and she must work hard to keep pace with it. Here, it is clear that the answer is definitely not HIW – selling her company to it and returning to work for it again. There are many options available to her besides this prospect. She could, for instance, improve and add on her human

2-3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

2-3 - Essay Example The notable features of the product include the GPS chip-set that would capture satellite signals to give precise locations; and the cell phone unit with a digital map on its screen. Furthermore, the device will also provide the user with a voice over for actual location with bearings also sent as text messages. The major advantage with this product is that it is cost effective and can easily be integrated with current manufacturing process. Since it relies on existing technology, it offers new opportunities to cell phone companies for extending their market. The most significant benefit is that it would align multiple requirements of GPS technology in a single device. It will be highly useful in rescue operations and other activities like sailing, hiking, and biking. Finally, its ability to identify location will help investigators to trace stolen cell phones. The process is simple as putting an additional chip-set inside the cell phone units. However, buildings and mountains can block signals from being sent or received. But worldwide coverage and entirely free access to technology will be an

What factors prohibits youth from re-entering juvenile detention Research Paper

What factors prohibits youth from re-entering juvenile detention centers - Research Paper Example It has also been seen that 88% of the children re entering the community are either 15 years old or more. However such is not the situation in all the cases and many of the juveniles are successfully absorbed back in the society. The reasons behind the repetition of offenses by the juvenile delinquents have interested the clinical psychologists. A study of the factors that successfully help the juvenile delinquents keep away from the detention center is necessary for the development of the community and this may reduce the number of cases of juvenile delinquencies (Youth Reentry, n.d). Review of current research A number of studies have been conducted to explain the offenses done by a child. Understanding the reasons behind the actions of an offender can help the psychologist eliminate the reason. One of the significant features of juvenile delinquencies has been gang behavior. The juvenile offenders often belong to a gang and commit crimes in the same. According to Roberts and Sprin ger (2007, p 200) the members of a gang have a sense of belonging to the group with feelings such as ‘looking out for each other’ and ‘staying together’. The gang works like a family where the other members deal with any threat posed to a gang member. Sometimes the older members of the gang pass on the traditions of the same to the new members. For a child from a disturbed family, getting included in a gang becomes a natural option in order to fill up the void created by the absence of a properly functional family. It also helps to nurture self-esteem within a child who is suffering from low confidence. Under such a situation the authors have advised to work on the strengths of the child. Sometimes the counselor may need to work on the strengths of the family...Introduction The Juvenile Act of 1973 declared that the children who were not suitable to return to their family were to be kept in a detention center that was separated from the adult delinquents. T hese out of the home facilities are called the juvenile detention centers. The juvenile criminal offenders are often separated from the community when they are perceived to be a threat to the society by placing them in these juvenile detention centers. In this way the detention centers offer a protection to the community as well as the juvenile delinquents. In these detention centers the children are supervised and structured programs are offered to them in order to reduce the ill effects of their confinement. The programs usually consist of educational aspects, recreational aspects and other developmental aspects to develop the social skills of the child with a view to help him return to the community after the release (Juvenile Detention Facility, n.d.). For successful rehabilitation in the community of the youths after their return from the detention center a number of measures must be taken.

Pollution Effects and Counter Measures Essay Example for Free

Pollution Effects and Counter Measures Essay The impact of human activity on our environment cannot be denied. Many aspects of today’s environmental problems are only now coming to light as scientists explore the causes and effects of human impact on the world around us. Today’s generation has seen both unwarranted skepticism and exaggeration on both sides of the debate on how close we are to an environmental catastrophe. Although, as Frederick Buell wrote, as of today our world â€Å"has not ended; eco-apocalypse hasnt happened. Yet people today also accept the fact that they live in the shadow of environmental problems so severe that they constitute a crisis† (xii). While it is easier to understand the problems we face today by classifying human activity and its consequences into neatly defined, cause-and-effect relationships, it is important to realize that all of these causes and effects interact in a complex web to bring about an environmental crisis. That said, pollution is one of the most widespread results of human activity, encompassing a broad range of substances with pervasive effects. The effect of pollutants on our environment is one of the most widely publicized factors contributing to its degradation. And deservedly so; pollutants are diverse, and pollution takes many forms, but the effect of unchecked pollution is rapid, extensive, and often dramatic in its visual manifestations. Finally, in many cases pollution defies geographical and political boundaries, making it an international concern, and controlling it will require the involvement of citizens and organizations from all levels of society. Pollution involves the introduction of pollutants into the environment, and it is commonly organized into major categories – air, soil, and water – based on which component of the environment is affected. Other forms of pollution are classified based on the nature of the pollutant, and these include radiation pollution, biological pollution, and noise pollution. Scientists have developed many ways of gauging the level of pollution, or of a specific pollutant within the environment, but when one considers the direct impact of pollution on human health, it is exposure that matters more than the concentration of pollutants. In the environmental pathway, exposure to a certain concentration of a pollutant is what determines the actual dose of the pollutant in the exposed individual, and this is what leads to possible health consequences (Akbar et al., 62). In many cases, pollution is an occupational hazard, posing the greatest danger to people who suffer the most exposure as part of their daily lives. With some pollutants, however, the effects are indirect, not affecting an individual’s health, but impacting a society’s resources and economy in subtle ways. Even with the increased environmental awareness in modern society, it is surprising how many people still see nothing wrong simply because they are not directly affected by pollution. The purpose of this research is to give an overview of the different classes of pollution, how they affect society on different levels, and some of the measures that can help to prevent or reduce its spread. When one thinks of air pollution, perhaps the first image that comes to mind is that of a smog-filled skyline of a major city, through which a hazy sun barely shines. However, exposure to the outdoor smog in a polluted city is not the main source of pollutant dosage. Most of the actual human exposure to air pollution occurs indoors, simply because that is where most people spend most of their time (Akbar et al., 61). Just as the health risks of polluted water can be minimized by treatment, the risks posed by polluted air (namely, cardiovascular and respiratory disease) can be lessened by using proper filters within homes and offices. While it is possible to keep the indoor air quality under control, improving atmospheric air quality will require a collective effort on a much larger scale. Major sources of worldwide pollutant emissions are industrial operations, power plants, road vehicles, forest fires, and the incineration of refuse. Vehicular emissions are not only limited to exhaust, but also include emissions from the wear of tires and brakes and the road surface itself, which makes it difficult to come up with an accurate estimate of total vehicular emissions. Many of these sources of emissions are similarly difficult to quantify, but the overall statistics show that air pollution trends are higher in developing countries, and above the national average in megacities (Akbar et al., 36). This reflects a general trend of better environmental awareness, and environment protection programs that have been implemented for a longer time in well-developed, industrialized countries. For some pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide – a product of the combustion of fossil fuels – the global trend shows a decrease, but for other emissions there is no such evidence (Akbar et al., 49). Clearly, although industrialized countries like America have been consciously reducing some emissions for a longer time than other countries in the developing world, there is much that still needs to be done on an international level. Former United States Vice President Al Gore sums up the nature of the problem regarding the public attitude: †¦Our continued dependence of imported oil†¦is connected to the same pattern that leads us to put 70 million tons of global warming pollution into the earths atmosphere every 24 hours around the world, as if it was an open sewer. And pretending that that doesnt have consequence, when theres signs to tell us it definitely does†¦that’s really the essence of this problem. But because its so pervasive, in order to change it, we really have to have a sea change in public opinion in this country and around the world before the politicians and the government leaders in every nation will have the courage to do what really is necessary. (Interview with Al Gore, 2007) The second major category of pollution is soil pollution. The composition of soil is an important factor in an ecosystem, affecting what types of vegetation are able to take root and survive, and by extension, what species of animals will thrive in the area. Soil also retains water, and pollution of the soil often spreads to ground water tables. When soil is contaminated by pollutants – usually in the form of heavy metals that disrupt the balance and composition of the soil – it is often harder to detect, and difficult to determine the extent of the pollution. Such contamination typically results from direct deposition of pollutants into the soil. Landfills and waste heaps contain pollutants which gradually leach into the soil, and some of the particles in polluted air fall to the ground, where water runoff and seepage can spread the pollutants and lodge them into the soil. Operations in the mining industry, when improperly managed, can cause long-term damage to the soil, and to the environment as a whole. Jared Diamond cites Montana as a case study of the damage that the mining industry can do to the environment, saying it has â€Å"about 20,000 abandoned mines, some of them recent but many of them a century or more old, that will be leaking acid and†¦toxic metals essentially forever† (36). In most cases, these mines have no surviving owners, or the owners are financially unable to reclaim their property and manage its wastes. The relationship between the soil and the rest of the environment is complex, and much remains to be understood before a standard set of indicators and benchmarks can be used to monitor the quality of all soils. While these subtle relationships and interactions are being actively studied by scientists, land management can be improved and better implemented to lessen the impact of activities such as agriculture and mining, by regulating waste disposal and promoting sustainable agricultural practices. As an example, many farmers practice plowing their fields close to the edge of rivers or streams, and letting their livestock graze at the edge. This practice actually contributes to the erosion of riverbanks and diffusion of agricultural wastes into water. Careful management of land and soil resources can prevent soil erosion, which in turn will lessen the deposition of silt in freshwater areas that may be important habitats or breeding sites for species like salmon. (Environment Agency). Public pressure is necessary for the government to pass laws that will enforce mining companies to take charge of cleaning up their mines; the main responsibility lies with the American public, to be more active and vocal in protecting the environment (Diamond, 38). Water’s properties as a solvent are familiar to everyone, thus it should not be surprising that water is particularly vulnerable to contamination. The flow of bodies of water, as well as water runoff from precipitation, can disperse a high volume of pollutants over the course of a year. Water’s cycle in the environment has unique implications for the spread of pollution, and the various pollutants and contaminants of water comprise the third major category of pollution. Bodies of water can be polluted by point sources, such as sewage treatment plants, or they may be polluted through diffusion. Diffuse pollution can come from misconnected drains in households, leaching of surface wastes into groundwater, or runoff of toxic substances that have been deposited on land. Inland precipitation (in the form of rain) creates water runoff, which drains into larger bodies of water, carrying with it some deposited pollutants from the atmosphere and many untreated wastes that have been improperly disposed of. Oil from roadways and motor vehicles, excess agricultural fertilizer, and assorted litter from the land, can be washed into rivers and out to sea, where the scale of dispersal makes it very difficult to treat the pollution. In fact, the volume of pollution deposited by water from runoff can exceed that of an oil spill. In Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, for example, each year from 2000 to 2006 roughly 22,580 metric tons of oil and petroleum products are deposited by runoff, compared to less than 1,000 metric tons from direct oil spills (Dodge). The deterioration of water quality leads to obvious consequences for human consumption. Freshwater with excessive levels of certain pollutants becomes unsafe to drink, and seawater can lose its ability to sustain biodiversity, negatively impacting the fishing industry. Agricultural runoff contains nitrates and phosphates, which are important nutrients for many organisms, but in excessive concentrations in bodies of water they lead to explosions in the population of certain microorganisms (a phenomenon sometimes known as â€Å"algal blooms†). This leads to an overall decrease in dissolved oxygen content in the water, which harms other species, mainly fish, by disrupting spawning and breeding patterns, and can lead to massive deaths in certain species when oxygen levels are depleted (Environment Agency). Thermal pollution of water can occur when a large volume of water is used for cooling purposes in processes that release large amounts of heat. Electrical stations use water for this purpose, and subsequently release it into the environment. This water is considerably warmer than the rest of the water in the environment, and brings a corresponding rise in temperature to the entire body of water where it is released. This again reduces the capacity of water to hold dissolved oxygen, with the same effects described above (Lourenco and Neves). With most point sources of water pollution under regulation, the biggest source of water pollution is diffusion. If the source of pollution cannot be pinpointed, the processes that create or contribute to diffuse pollution have to be more strictly managed. Since 2003, European legislation has created a Water Framework Directive (WFD) to actively assess the standards of water usage with chemical, biological, and physical tests. The WFD monitors all bodies of water (including ground water reserves and artificial reservoirs) with the ultimate goal of reducing water pollution in the United Kingdom and all EU member states by 2015. The United Kingdom’s Environment Agency summarizes some of its recommendations: Key policy issues, such as the control of diffuse water pollution, land-use planning, the designation of heavily modified water bodies and the role of wetlands†¦must be addressed by relevant authorities. Particular emphasis should be placed on the diverse sources of diffuse pollution†¦These include discharges from agriculture and also from other land-uses such as urban developments, transport infrastructure and abandoned mineral workings. Those who manage the land may have to do things in a different way to ensure that they do not cause water pollution. (1) Some forms of pollution are not classified by the sphere of the environment that they contaminate, but by their nature and properties. Our planet is constantly bathed in radiation originating from outer space, and there are trace amounts of radioactivity scattered throughout the earth’s crust. These do not constitute radioactive pollution; typically, this form of pollution originates from nuclear power processing, or from equipment used in nuclear medicine and radiography, although nuclear fallout from bombs and disasters, such as the 1986 Chernobyl incident, is perhaps the most striking example of nuclear pollution. In the case of Chernobyl, flawed design of the nuclear reactor, combined with personnel errors, led to an explosion which released around 5% of the reactor’s core of radioactive material into the atmosphere. The wind carried fallout composed mainly of the radioisotopes iodine-131, cesium-134, and cesium 137, from the reactor across the former Soviet Union. Among the most heavily affected countries were Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The radioactive pollution’s immediate effect resulted in the death of 30 people, injury to over a hundred other individuals, and the immediate evacuation and relocation of over 200,000 affected citizens. One of the most studied long term effects of the disaster is a significant increase in the number of cases of thyroid cancer among generations of exposed individuals, due to the accumulation of radioactive iodine-131 in the thyroid gland (International Atomic Energy Agency). It should be noted that Chernobyl was a rare nuclear disaster that is not representative of the more common forms of radiation pollution; rather, it serves as an example of the potential scale and duration of pollution’s ill effects. Much more commonly encountered are the radiation-related risks in the medical field, where exposure to X-rays and radiotherapy practices can lead to an increased risk of developing certain cancers among some groups of patients. However, for the most part, properly observed medical standards will ensure that the risk of developing cancer from medical radiation is low – an estimated 0.05% per rem of radiation. The amount of exposure depends on the medical procedures involved, and although the increase in the risk of cancer induction is small (from zero to one percent), there is no threshold of radiation exposure below which it is absolutely risk-free. Thus, all procedures involving radiation exposure should be decided on the basis of risk versus benefit to the patient (Classic). Homo sapiens is the only species that has succeeded in domesticating other species, and with the spread of human civilization, we have carried our pets (and pests) to new lands. Introduced species constitute a form of biological pollution – when a non-native species establishes itself in an ecosystem, displacing certain native species that play a vital role in that ecosystem, and possibly causing economic damage, they are considered invasive. In ecology, the â€Å"rule of tens† states that one in every ten introduced species becomes invasive (Boudouresque and Verlaque, 1). The most significant direct consequence of biological invasion is the extinction of native species that are not adapted to compete with invaders. Such is the case with the Nile perch (Lates niloticus), a popular commercial fish species that was introduced to Lake Victoria in East Africa around the year 1962. The Nile perch disrupted the lake’s ecosystem by predatory activity, feeding on many native fish species, and spreading parasites which it carries in its gills. An estimated 300 fish species native to Lake Victoria were driven to extinction by the 1980s (Blake). While the Nile perch and some other invasive species have at least had some marginal economic benefit (a boost to the commercial fishing industry and local employment), in many cases the effect of biological invasion has been a complete economic disaster. Australia’s plague of introduced European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) has not only threatened native animals as the rabbits outcompete them for food and shelter; the rabbits have threatened the ecosystem itself by decimating vegetation, causing the soil (arid and fragile over much of Australia) to erode. This in turn has greatly reduced the available land for sheep and cattle grazing – two of Australia’s major industries. Efforts to reduce rabbit populations have only increased the economic cost of the rabbit invasion, as Australians have tried to use poison, traps, dynamite, and expensive biological control agents in the form of diseases such as myxomatosis and the calicivirus (Diamond, 392). Managing an invasion is very difficult once the invasive species has become established. As noted by Oregon State University biologist John Chapman, â€Å"Unlike other contaminants in the world, introduced species dont have a half-life, they can spread from a single point source, and they have a potentially infinite life span† (qtd. in Reiber). An introduced species becomes established when conditions in the new environment are favorable, and it has little to no competition, and natural predators are lacking. Too often, strategies devised to control populations of invasive species backfire – the myxomatosis disease used to exterminate rabbits in Australia did succeed in bringing down the rabbit population by 90%, but the survivors then developed a resistance to the disease (Diamond, 392). Biological or chemical control agents used to eradicate invasive species often are detrimental to native species as well. In most cases, the safest way to remove invasive species from the environment is manually, which can be highly labor intensive and needs to be organized at the local or community level. Increased sound levels in our surroundings can constitute a form of noise pollution. While some people would classify certain genres or styles of music as noise, the most common form of noise pollution comes from transportation and industrial activity. Extreme levels of noise pollution can lead to a deterioration and eventual impairment of the auditory function in humans and other organisms. Noise pollution also affects individuals in other ways that may be less easy to measure or quantify; increasing levels of stress and annoyance, for example, or disruption of normal sleeping routines. States such as Maryland have implemented some form noise control; in Maryland, the Noise Control Program was passed into legislation in 1970, to provide technical assistance and enforcement regarding noise related issues across the state. It has been de-funded since July 2005, as the duty of regulating noise-related issues has been passed down to local government. There are many other forms of pollution that do not fit neatly into this broad classification, and to fully understand the effect of every pollutant would often require time-consuming research into various case studies. The interaction between different types of pollution often contributes to a complex effect acting on a larger scale, such as global warming, which is a phenomenon created by the interaction between the increased levels of various gases (known collectively as greenhouse gases). Pollution affects us on a global scale, but it can be reduced or remediated by efforts at the local and personal level. The easiest way to start contributing to the effort to reduce pollution is to minimize one’s own pollution of the environment. It is this diffuse type of pollution which is much more difficult to catch and trace. Individual citizens not disposing of their wastes properly, or households with misconnected drains, all have a small effect on pollution levels, and collectively this adds up to a large increase in pollution if unchecked or unreported. This is the pollution whose source is often unnoticed, and it is up to each individual to eliminate himself or herself as a source of this anonymous, unaccountable pollution. Many nonprofit organizations and agencies concerned with the welfare of our environment are engaged in activities to counter pollution and its effects. Participating in local community clean-up events can help to not only reduce the level of pollution in a community, but also heightens the awareness of people regarding pollution issues, especially if the organizers have invited an environmental expert to deliver a talk about problems relevant to the community. Recycling gadgets instead of throwing them away is a solution that helps both the consumers and the manufacturing industries. Sony Electronics, Inc. has a recycling program that accepts old or non-working Sony branded products free of charge, and even products of other companies for a small fee (On a higher level, government environmental agencies monitor the major point sources of pollution such as wastes disposed by large factories and industrial companies. With pollution’s far-reaching consequences, nations must help each other to remediate the worst polluted areas. An estimated 1 billion people are affected by pollution issues, and a majority of those people are in the developing world, where a general lack of awareness and local regulation of pollution has reduced the overall life expectancy and quality of life (Hanrahan et al., 2). With minimal financial investment, a number of remediation measures can be carried out in some of the worst polluted areas in the developing world. These measures will help save lives, particularly of children, at an estimated cost of only one to fifty US dollars per person each year. However, implementing such measures often takes a back seat to the basic needs of education and primary health services that local governments often must prioritize (Hanrahan et al., 2-4). This is why it is important to have international intervention and cooperation, not apathy and the selfish attitude summed up by ‘it’s someone else’s problem, let them take care of it’. In dealing with pollution it is important to keep in mind that many of the sources contributing to pollution are industries upon which modern society is dependent. Mining and agriculture are two examples of ancient activities that have helped men to develop their civilizations. Mining enabled us to build better shelters and construct the tools and implements that we use in everyday tasks. Agriculture and the potential to store surplus food has taken us from the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers and brought humans together in the first settlements, which eventually grew into cities and states. Pollution is a byproduct of these activities, and the effort to reduce or prevent pollution is not trying to destroy major industries or cease the production and development of new technology. It is an effort to make the producers and consumers responsible for the regulation of wastes created by these activities, and their proper management and disposal. We live in an age of awareness, and thanks to our awakening and gradual realization of how we affect the world around us, today’s environmental crisis has increasingly become a fact of life in the modern world. Modern governments should no longer be intent on debating the validity of environmental concerns, but focused on finding and implementing solutions. The root of these problems – human degradation of the environment and exploitation of its resources – has been at work ever since the dawn of the civilized age. The environmental crisis of the present, on both the global and local levels, is not a burden that we have borne for only a few generations; it is a result of centuries, even millennia, of human exploitation of available resources without the guidance of modern environmental science, accelerated by the industrialization brought about by developing technology, and abetted by attitudes and sensibilities that have developed in ignorance of how we impact our surroundings. The inertia of these outdated attitudes and accelerating industrial processes is huge and cannot be so easily stopped; it may take decades to realize the full extent of the damage we have done to the environment in every aspect, and perhaps longer to reverse the trend. But for many of us, the fundamental error in thinking has, at least, been corrected. Environmental problems elsewhere in the world are no longer just someone else’s concern. With modern globalization, what we do in our part of the world affects everyone else, and if we continue to act and think with that in mind, the environmental problems facing all of society will be managed by society as a whole. Works Cited â€Å"A slow-moving oil spill.† Ed. John Dodge. 01 December 2007. The Olympian. 04 December 2007 http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/5/7/101611775.html Akbar, S. et al. World Health Organization. Air Quality Guidelines Global Update 2005. Germany: Druckpartner Moser, 2005. Boudouresque CF, Verlaque M. Biological pollution in the Mediterranean Sea: invasive versus introduced macrophytes. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2002 January; 44(1):32-8. Buell, Frederick. From Apocalypse to Way of Life: Four Decades of Environmental Crisis in the U.S. New York: Routledge, 2003. Diamond, Jared. Collapse. New York: Penguin Books, 2005. Environment Agency, 2003. The Water Framework Directive – not only a question of quality. Bristol: Environment Agency. Environment Agency, 2004. Soil, the hidden resource. Bristol: Environment Agency. Environment Agency, 2007. The unseen threat to water quality. Bristol: Environment Agency. Hanrahan, D. et al. Blacksmith Institute. Cost Effectiveness and Health Impact of Remediation of Highly Polluted Sites in the Developing World. 2007. International Atomic Energy Agency. Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-economic Impacts and Recommendations to the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Austria: IAEA, 2006. â€Å"Interview of Al Gore.† Larry King Live. CNN. 05 July 2007.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Invasion Biology Introduced Species Summary Project.† Ed. Jennifer Blake. 10 January 2005. Columbia University. 02 December 2007 http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Lates_niloticus.htm John, E. M. et al. Medical radiation exposure and breast cancer risk: findings from the Breast Cancer Family Registry. International Journal of Cancer: 2007 July; 121(2):386-94. â€Å"Link Between Climate Change and Biological Pollution could Harm Northwest.† Ed. Derek Reiber. 02 July 2001. Sightline Institute. 02 December 2007 http://www.tidepool.org/derek/invasives.html â€Å"Noise Pollution Control.† 2007. Maryland Department of the Environment. 05 December 2007 http://www.mde.state.md.us Path: Programs; Multimedia Programs; Noise Pollution Control. â€Å"Pollution and its effect to the environment: Interview with Ricky Clancy of Sony Electronics Blog.† 27 September 2007. 05 December 2007. http://bdpollution.blogspot.com/2007/09/interview-with-ricky-clancy-of-sony.html â€Å"Risk/Benefit of Medical Radiation Exposures.† Ed. Kelly Classic. 04 December 2007. Health Physics Society. 04 December 2007 http://hps.org Path: HPS Publications; Articles. â€Å"Thermal Pollution.† Ed. Silvia Lourenco and Rute Neves. 05 December 1996. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 04 December 2007 http://www.rpi.edu/dept/chem-eng/Biotech-Environ/Environmental/THERMAL/tte1.htm United States Environmental Protection Agency. Noise: A Health Problem. Washington, 1978

Trauma in Adjudicated Youth and Treatment Strategies

Trauma in Adjudicated Youth and Treatment Strategies Morgan Carella Abstract Research indicates there is a high prevalence of trauma in adjudicated youth (Brown, McCauley, Navalta, Saxe, 2013; Ford, Steinberg, Hawke, Levine, Zhang, 2012; Davis, Sheidow, McCart, 2014; Rosenberg et al., 2014; Stimmel, Cruise, Ford, Weiss, 2014). It is possible that effectively addressing trauma could reduce the probability of recidivism. youll need a statement tying youth with a Hx of trauma to probability of recidivism, not just prevalence in adjudicated youth. Aggressive behavior, trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are highly prevalent in juvenile offenders (Stimmel, Cruise, Ford, Weiss, 2014) Keywords: juvenile-justice-involved youth, trauma, PTSD Prevalence of Trauma in Adjudicated Youth Rosenberg et al. (2014) surveyed the incidence of trauma in juvenile-justice-involved youth and the psychiatric impact of that trauma. Rosenberg et al. hypothesized that there would be higher rates of trauma exposure, PTSD, depression, and substance abuse in juvenile-justice-involved youth compared to the general population. Rosenberg et al. gathered data from 350 juvenile-justice-involved youth; 269 in New Hampshire and 81 in Ohio using a customized, online survey. The authors combined and modified a number of tests in order to create the web-based Stress and Resources Survey used for this study. Ninety-four percent of the youth from the sample reported at least one trauma, 45.7% screened positive for PTSD, 49.4% for depression, and 61.2% for substance abuse. In addition, trauma exposure (total trauma) was significantly correlated with PTSD, depression, and substance abuse (Rosenberg et al., 2014). The results of this study confirm the high incidence of trauma in juvenile-justice-involved youth and the need for psychological intervention. Early psychological intervention among juvenile delinquents could lead to more appropriate treatment strategies and decreased recidivism. Rosenberg et al. (2014) created an online screening tool that could be easily replicated and used for subsequent studies. The Stress and Resources Survey measures a broad range of items in a consolidated, simple tool. The online, self-report survey allowed for uniformity of administration across the testing sites. In addition, by using an online survey, there was no chance for altering how questions were asked, or what order they were asked in. The survey also provides the opportunity for youth to answer survey questions honestly, instead of conducting face-to-face interviewing, where youth may be more prone to lying. One of the possible concerns about The Stress and Resources Survey created by Rosenberg et al. (2014) was that it abbreviated many existing surveys without necessarily providing enough information on whether or not it is a reliable or valid measure. Rosenberg et al. combined parts of other measures in order to more succinctly measure the information they were trying to obtain. It is not possible to tell whether the customized Stress and Resources Survey used for this study was a valid or reliable measure because there was no pre-test. Types of Trauma in Adjudicated Youth Stimmel, Cruise, Ford, Weiss (2014) investigated the relationship between exposure to different specific types of traumatic events, PTSD symptoms, and aggression. Stimmel et al. were interested in answering the following research questions: Will juvenile offenders who endorse multiple types of traumatic events exposures endorse greater levels of PTSD symptoms and aggression compared with juvenile offenders who endorse a single type of event exposure? Among juvenile offenders who endorse multiple types of potentially traumatic events, does PTSD symptom severity account for the relationship between violence exposure and aggression? (p. 185). Over an 8-month time period, self-reported trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms and aggression were assessed among 66 detained 12-16 year old boys from two juvenile detention centers in a northeastern state. Results indicate that 57 youth experienced at least one potentially traumatic event, 47 youth experienced at least two potentially traumatic events and the average number of potentially traumatic events endorsed among the sample was three. Participants who experienced multiple types of traumatic events scored three times higher on PTSD symptom severity than the participants who experienced a single type of event (Stimmel et al., 2014). Types of traumatic event exposure and the event that participants found most-troubling were recorded. This data was further analyzed to see if the event identified as the most-troubling met overall Criterion A for PTSD in the DSM-IV. Nearly fifty-percent of participants (16/33) selected learning about the violent death or serious injury of a loved one as the most troubling event, and of these 16 participants, more than 80% met Criterion A for PTSD. Similarly, when community violence (witnessed or experienced) was recorded as the most troubling event experienced by participants, 54.2% (13/24) met Criterion A for PTSD. Participants who met Criterion A endorsed more severe PTSD symptoms than those who did not meet Criterion A. In addition, results indicate a significant relationship between reactive aggression and total PTSD severity. Stimmel et al. (2013) define reactive aggression as â€Å"acts that occur in response to being provoked or threatened by others.† Reactive aggression was found to be significantly related to endorsement of PTSD Criterion B (intrusive re-experiencing) and Criterion D (hyperarousal) symptoms (Stimmel et al., 2014). These results support the view that it is important to screen for amount and types of trauma exposure in juvenile offender populations. All data collection occurred in a private room in the detention center, which increased the internal validity of the study. Ninety-one-point-seven percent of the parents and 91.6% of youth with whom contact was made agreed to participate in the study. Self-report measures were used in this study and are subject to state-dependent reporting, as well as under-and over-reporting. Complications involved in obtaining consent from parents reduced the sample size and lowered the generalizability of the results. The sample used for this study was a convenience sample, rather than a random sample, which also lowers the generalizability of the results. Types of Treatment Some treatment modalities have been proven more valuable than others. Ford et al. (2012) conducted a randomized clinical trial on the effects of an emotion regulation therapy (Trauma Affect Regulation: Guide for Education and Therapy, or TARGET) and a relational supportive therapy (Enhanced Treatment as Usual, or ETAU) on delinquent girls in the community. Ford et al.’s primary study hypothesis was that TARGET would be more effective reducing the severity of PTSD and enhancing emotion regulation skills. Ford et al.’s secondary hypothesis was that TARGET would also be more effective at reducing symptoms and cognitions associated with PTSD and increasing optimism and self-efficacy. Participants were recruited by announcements and presentations throughout the Hartford, Connecticut metropolitan area. The sample consisted of 59 delinquent girls (ages 13-17) living in the community. A baseline assessment interview was conducted and then participants were randomly assigned to either the treatment condition (TARGET), or the comparison condition (ETAU). Participants then completed a posttest interview at the conclusion of treatment (12 sessions), and 4 months after the baseline interview for individuals who did not complete treatment. Results indicate that TARGET was more effective than ETAU in reducing intrusive re-experiencing of traumatic events and symptoms of emotional numbing and avoidance. The number of participants assigned to the TARGET treatment group who met full criteria for PTSD dropped from 21 (baseline) to 9 (post-treatment) and those who met partial criteria for PTSD reduced from 12 (baseline) to 7 (post-treatment). The number of participants assigned to the ETAU treatment group who met full criteria for PTSD dropped from 16 (baseline) to 10 (post-treatment) and those who met partial criteria for PTSD reduced from 10 (baseline) to 3 (post-treatment). Results indicate TARGET was associated with reduction in PTSD symptom severity, as well as clinically significant changes in PTSD. Whereas ETAU only achieved small effect size changes, TARGET was associated with medium effect size reductions in anxiety and posttraumatic cognitions. However, individuals assigned to the ETAU treatment group scored higher on gains in optimism/self-efficacy and reduced anger (Ford et al., 2012). The small sample size and attrition limited the study’s ability to detect statistically significant differences between the therapy interventions. All measures were self report, thus subject to possible expectancy or other biases for which other data sources could offer a valuable counterpoint. One female assessor conducted all pre-and post- therapy assessments and therefore could not be blind to treatment type or phase, which is subject to bias between-group differences and may have inflated the estimates of pre- and post-change. Despite its limitations, the results of the Ford et al. (2012) research suggest TARGET may be a viable treatment approach for delinquent females. Trauma Systems Therapy (TST) Trauma Systems Therapy (TST) is a clinical and organizational model for treatment of traumatic stress in children and adolescents. TST was originally created as an outpatient and home-based treatment model, however, providers in residential settings saw its utility for their programs. TST acts to facilitate communication and shared goals among direct care providers, youth and families. TST also emphasizes the importance of functioning among direct care staff, who acts as the youth’s immediate caregivers during residential treatment. Individual, private practice therapists are likely to follow their own approach based on their individual experience and training. In contrast, TST can provide a uniform, systems-based approach and framework agency wide and across staff. TST has been implemented in three residential programs and different sets of outcomes have been tracked in each. The Boston Intensive Residential Treatment Program (Boston IRTP) is a 20 bed residential treatment center that provides long-term, intensive treatment to children and adolescents with SMHC. â€Å"Most residents have had repeated unsuccessful inpatient and residential care treatment before they are admitted to an IRTP setting† (Brown et al., 2013, p. 698). TST was initiated at Boston IRTP in September 2000 and data on total seclusion, restraint and injury episodes was collected until December 2007. Results indicate the number of incidents of seclusion; restraints and staff injury reduced substantially and sustained reduction following the implementation of TST. The Children’s Village (CV) provides short-term residential care for more than 1,200 youth per year in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y (Brown et al., 2013). In 2007, The Children’s Village implemented TST in two residential cottages and after one year, TST became the program treatment model for all 15 residential settings . The Children’s Village has not completed a program evaluation; however, they have tracked clinical outcomes over the course of treatment and used the data to develop treatment. The Child Ecology Check in (CECI) was used to track the child’s emotional regulation capacity and stability of the social environment prior to, and after, putting into place the TST intervention program. Prior to implementation of the TST model, the participant scored high in emotion dysregulation when the environment was distressed. Results indicate that as the environment became more stable post-implementation of TST, participant’s emotion regulation became significantly more stable. A subpopulation of youth from the Prairie Ridge Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility in Kansas City received out-of-home services in TST from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. â€Å"The overarching goal of the project was to ensure that youth leaving residential care received the same, consistent, child-specific TST services in the community upon discharge† (Brown et al., 2013, p. 699). By the end of the first year, levels of functional impairment scores dropped from 120 to 56 (high scores = lower level of functioning), placement stability for youth increased from 48% to 89%, the average number of placement moves per child dropped from 3.4 to 1.4; and the use of seclusions and restraints within the residential program dropped significantly (Brown et al., 2013). Multisystemic Therapy for emerging adults (MST-EA) â€Å"The peak years of offending in the general population and among those with serious mental health conditions (SMHC) are during emerging adulthood †¦ individuals with SMHC have greater justice system involvement than those without SMHC, both as juveniles and emerging adults† (Davis et al., 2014). Davis et al., (2014) modifies Multisystemic therapy (MST) for use with emerging adults (ages 17-25) with SMHC and recent justice system involvement. â€Å"Multisystemic therapy for emerging adults (MST-EA) targets MH [mental health] symptoms, recidivism, problem substance abuse, and young adult functional capacities† (Davis et al., 2014). Participants were recruited from individuals receiving case management through child welfare or mental health services or receiving juvenile or adult justice system supervision services (e.g., probation) in an urban/suburban region of a Northeastern state. â€Å"MST-EA was the clinical intervention provided to all participants. The state agency charged with treatment of justice-involved adolescents and emerging adults contracted with a private nonprofit provider to offer the MST-EA intervention †¦ Of the 41 participants who enrolled in the study, 21 (51.2%) fully finished the intervention, with 36.5 (range=14.7-64.8) weeks of intervention.† There was a significant reduction in mental health symptoms, with the median number falling considerably from 20 symptoms to between 5 and 6. The number of criminal and juvenile charges in the 6 months post-intervention (29%) was less than those in the 6 months prior to baseline (12%)à ¯Ã†â€™Ã… ¸ (Not statistically significant). â€Å"Recruitment rates into the research were high, and research retention rates were also very strong, as were interview completion rates. Selected measures showed good variability with results generally detecting change. The final fidelity measure captured adequate variability and participants expressed no confusion about final items.† â€Å"†¦study limitations include the absence of a control group, and the absence of examining the feasibility of randomization of a control condition. The absence of a control group limits understanding the relative strengths or weaknesses of the outcomes; however, that would be the main goal of a larger randomized controlled trial. The absence of employing randomization procedures limits the ability to specifically predict recruitment and retention issues that may arise as a result of either randomization or being assigned to a control condition† Discussion References Brown, A. D., McCauley, K., Navalta, C. P., Saxe, G. N. (2013). Trauma systems therapy in residential settings: Improving emotion regulation and the social environment of traumatized children and youth in congregate care. Journal of Family Violence, 28, 693-703. Davis, M., Sheidow, A. J., McCart, M. R. (2014). Reducing recidivism and symptoms in emerging adults with serious mental health conditions and justice system involvement. Journal of Behavioral Health Services Research, 1-18. Ford, J. D., Steinberg, K. L., Hawke, J., Levine, J., Zhang, W. (2012). Randomized trial comparison of emotion regulation and relational psychotherapies for PTSD with girls involved in delinquency. Journal of Clinical Child Adolescent Psychology, 41(1), 27-37. Rosenberg, H. J., Rosenberg, S. D., Ashley, S. W., Vance, J. E., Wolford, G. L., Howard, M. L. (2014). Trauma Exposure, psychiatric disorders, and resiliency in juvenile-justice-involved youth. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 6(4), 430-437. Stimmel, M. A., Cruise, K. R., Ford, J. D., Weiss, R. A. (2014). Trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder symptomology, and aggression in male juvenile offenders. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 6(2), 184-191.

Definition of marketing research and processes

Definition of marketing research and processes The European Society For Opinion and Marketing Research identify market research as the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information for improving decision-marketing related to the identification and solution of problems and opportunities in marketing.(Malhotra. N and Birks. D 2000) In the book marketing research an integrated approach, Alan Wilson also point out marketing research is about to provide information which should focus on customers, markets and competitors. That information will be used for making marketing decisions. Those information should be collected by wide range of sources and techniques, and then analysis, developed and applied. Marketing research also involves communication and dissemination, which will affect the decision makers and interested parties. Marketing research process There are seven steps in marketing research process: define the research problem, determine the research design, choose the method for collecting primary data, design the sample, collect the data, analyze and interpret the data, prepare the research report. Though those steps, marketers will make conversant decisions or reduce the risk of their decisions. Define the research problem In this step, the target of marketing research should be clarified. Research problem definition involves expressing the general problem and discovering the detail constituent of the general problem. Alan Wilson mentioned six issues must be considered in this step, the market environment, competitors reaction, organizations own plan, the effectiveness of companys previous marketing activities, the nature of new products and customer behavior. Define the research problem has been considered as the most important step in a marketing research project. Research can only be designed and carried out if the research problem has been clarified. Joselyn considered nothing is more important to satisfy customers requests than identify the correct research problem. All the following steps of marketing research process would be wastes if the beginning of the research, define the research problem, is misapprehended. A good metaphor of identify the research problem is compared to doctors give patients medicine and treatment. Illness can only be cured when right medicine has been given, wrong medicine sometimes is even more dangerous than the illness, and the most important thing for a doctor is to identify the illness. That is the same situation as marketing research process. Define the research problem also can be seen as a communication between decision makers and marketing researchers. Researchers offer research supports as the decision makers require. Determine the research design After the problem has been clarified by marketers, to design the research is the next step of the whole research process. A research process is a blueprint for managing a marketing research process. It provides details of information for figuring out the research problem. There are two general research design categories, secondary research and primary research. Secondary research is collecting secondary data which is some information collected before for some other problems, not directly for the current research problem. There are two ways to collect secondary data, internal data and external data. Internal data is information inside organization, which collect from sales report, consumer information. External data is the informations resource from outside company; the resource could from public newspaper or other organizations report. Secondary research is widely used in marketing research process, the main reason of that is secondary data is easily collected and also the low cost of the research process. Malhotra mentioned in his book there also seven advantages that secondary data can help marketers. First it can help marketers to identify the research problem. Second, it can develop an access to the problem. Third, it also helps marketers to create a sampling plan. Fourth, it will explicate a suitable research design. Fifth, research questions can be answered by using secondary data. Sixth, primary data will be interpreted by secondary data with more penetration. Last, it can improve qualitative research results. The disadvantages of secondary research are also very obvious. Too many data have been collect during research; most of them are not even related to the research problem, so it will take marketers a lot of time to select and analysis these data. Primary research is using observation, qualitative or quantitative research to collect primary data. Primary data is defined as a kind of data originated by the researcher specifically to address the research problem. Three methods mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph are quite different from each other. Observation research Observation research collects data without any questions been asked to research targets. Researchers become the witness of targets behavior, such as childrens behavior with a new toy, or TV viewing patterns. The observation research can be divided into several categories, 1, natural versus contrived observation. 2, visible versus hidden observation. 3, Structured versus unstructured observation. 4, mechanized versus human observation. 5, participant versus non-participant. Qualitative research Qualitative research is a less structured research process, which involves small samples of individuals. The purpose of qualitative research is to understand targets, not to measure them. Malhotra considered qualitative research is based on at least two intellectual traditions. One of them is building up ideas and combining methods from psychology. The other is the set of idea and associated methods from sociology and anthropology. Both of these two traditions are related to the development of communication between researchers and those been researched. Researchers chose qualitative research for four reasons. First, in some research, questions are involved privacy or negative feeling that the research target unwilling to give answers to them. Qualitative research question are not full structured questionnaires, by giving these kind of questions can avoid the issues that people dont want to be asked. Second, subconscious feelings have huge affect on responders answers. Such as emotion , motivation or ego, these could always drive the thoughts, when responders try to answer the questions. Third, complex phenomena. With full structured questions, respondents sometimes have difficulties to find out the main propose of those questions, or they could just describe the situations but can explain the reasons to them. Last reason to use qualitative research is the holistic dimension. For example, a restaurant is doing a research about the satisfaction when customers having meal in the restaurant. The atmosphere that the consumers feel is the key issue to the research. And atmosphere can involve the music in the restaurant, the style of the furniture, other customers, serves been provided. One question cant cover all these points, but with small individual questions each part of the atmosphere can be asked, by join all these qualitative questions, the holistic view is build up. Alan Wilson described several types of research most suited to qualitative research in his book. Qualitative research is commonly used in three areas: exploratory research, new product development and creative development research. Exploratory research Exploratory research always been used when a company decide to improve the understanding of consumer behaviors, emotions, attitudes and preference. For instance, more than one characteristic that the researchers would like to understand though the exploratory, they are: consumer perceptions of a product field, identifying service or product improvements, the decision making process, dimensions that differentiate brands, product usage patterns and behavior and customer segments. Using qualitative research in exploratory research will help the organization with object or information defines. New product development In the new product development stage, qualitative research is also quite useful. It is effective to use qualitative research to find out the reaction of customers about the new product concepts and designs. In the stage of developing the concept into a communicable form, it is the time to use qualitative research to determine if the concept is developable, or guide the designers to improve the concept. Later stage of product development can also use qualitative research, such as stage of design the paradigm of new product, or their packaging. Using qualitative research can help researchers build up confidence that the new product is developing though the right way. Creative development research Qualitative research is very important in creative development research; it can assist in creating execution of advertising and promotion. Advertising agency uses qualitative research to know the relationship between customers and products or brands. As same as advertising, in an organizations promotion plan, qualitative research can help the organization to achieve the communication objectives. Not only promotion but also the integrated marketing communication plan (IMC plan), which contents promotion and four other steps. Feedbacks, which could test the effectiveness of the IMC plan, are received though qualitative research. Quantitative research Quantitative research is a full structured research approach, which involves large sample of individuals. The purpose of quantitative research is to measure the widespread of same attitudes and behaviors. Choose the method for collecting primary data In this step marketers will choose their method to collect primary data. All the methods can be divided into two kinds, survey method and observation method. Survey method. Survey method always involves three things, question, interviewer and respondent. The survey method can be divided into four categories by how does the questions been asked by the interviewers to the respondent. Postal survey In postal survey, selected responders will receive a mail with questionnaires, covering letter return envelope inside. Although the postal survey is a very important survey method and has been used for long time, the response rates are not high; it is between 20% to 50%. There are some advantages and disadvantages been list out by peter chisnall Advantages: Nation and international coverage Low cost No interviewer bias Respondent convenience Good for ongoing research Piggybacking Disadvantages: Low response rate Biased response Long respond time Inflexible questionnaire Unclear of who is responding Telephone survey The majority of telephone surveys are taken for customer-type research and business to business. All interviewers stay in a same place call centre location, all the calls are made though the phones in centre location, this makes the interviewers been easily controlled. Fast and low cost are the other main advantages of this survey method. On the other hand, the disadvantages also very obvious, for example, short interview time can make a lot of misunderstandings to the question, sometimes customers do not answer the call, and consumers who do not have a phone cant be interviewed. These days more and more marketers pretend doing telephone survey but in fact trying to sell their products to the responders. This situation makes customers more unwilling to pick up phones to do telephone surveys. Face to face interviews There are three types of face to face interviews, in-home or doorstep, executive and street. They all share same advantages, such as; it is easier for interviewers to motivate respondents to complete the survey; long questions can only be used through this kind of survey; interview can easily tell if the responders have difficulties in understanding of the question; the interviewer can use different materials to help with the survey. To the opposite side, the major disadvantages are the high cost that the interview could take and the interviewer bias a problem. Online questionnaires This is a new kind of survey method compare to the three methods analysis above. The keep increasing number of internet users makes online survey more and more popular. Like the telephone survey, the online survey also very fast and lost low. It is not like face to face interview because there is no interview bias but also different materials can be used during the survey. Observation method Observation method is quite different from survey method. It does not communicate with the people; interviewers only have to record the respondents reaction, behavior and attitude. It could happen in a natural or contrived environment. Compare observation method to survey method, the major advantage is; there are no reporting bias and potential bias in observation method. And the main disadvantage of observation is, it is only useful to measure or record behavior and attitude. Design the sample Sample is a subgroup of the elements of the population selected for participation in the study (Malhotra, N. 1999). Design a sample in fact is a process of answering five questions: What type of people is going to do this study? Where those people are coming from? How to select these people? How many people are here in the study? How to represent the information collected from the study? By answering the five questions, the sample design process can be divided into six steps: Define the population Determine the sampling frame Select sampling techniques Determine the sample size Execute the sampling process Validate the sample