Ford Pinto Product Liability Case Research Paper - 1

Ford Pinto Product Liability Case - Research Paper Example This was after the Ford Pinto car model by the Ford Company was involved in the death and serious injury of two persons in Indiana State. Consequently, this paper undertakes a review of the product liability that was held against Ford Motor Company. In 1970s, Ford Motor Company introduced a new car model on the market to compete against the Japanese and German imported vehicles that were on a rising popularity in the market. The new car model was known as the Ford Pinto which designed as a viable substitute to the fuel efficient and regularly smaller imported cars in the American market (Leggett, 1999). Indeed, the new model was able to sell over three million units throughout its production period. Unfortunately, the growing demand of Ford Pinto car model was hit hard due to an accident that happened on 1972 May. On this day, Lily Gray and a thirteen years old boy Richard Grimshaw were travelling in a Ford Pinto car when they were hit from the back by another car that was at a speed of 30miles per hour. Unfortunately, the impact caused an ignition of fire that killed Lily and caused serious burns on Richard. Consequently, a legal case was brought before the trial court by the Grimshaw family popularly known as Grimshaw vs. Ford Motor Company civil case to seek for compensation of the death and injuries suffered by Lily and Richard respectively (Leggett, 1999). The California law court found the defendant guilty of the death and injuries suffered by the victims. Thus, the defendant was instructed to award $560,000 and $2.5 million to Gray family and Grimshaw respectively. Furthermore, the court ordered the defendant to pay $125 million for punitive damages. This was arrived at after the court was informed of the design failure of the organization in manufacturing the car. The fuel tank of the Ford Pinto car had the weakness of exploding if it was

Currency trading experience Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Currency trading experience - Research Paper Example platform the company has made available for willing financial institutions and investors; I was offered resources and efficient tools in accessing currency information that are kept up-to-date; the company also made available to me and others secure currency transfer services; and also professional consultancy and daily market reports. My strategy while there was to focus on online trading processes as it was faster and more convenient. The secret is to monitor existing trends in the market and take advantage of favorable situations. By such one is able to not any future currency value change. Such is beneficial as it enables you to avoid any losses and to make as much as possible from the shift in trading currency value. This ensures higher profit probability as once trends are over then unexpected losses are made by a trader. Another strategy is to avoid scalping where one decides to exploit delays as the trading is done online. This is also became a lesson as it is advisable to stay in the trading market as long as one desires contrary to what happens. Fortunately Oanda does allow one to extend their time in the trading market. Currency traders are individuals who take part in the buying and selling of world currencies in a bid to earn profits from the ever changing currency values. Successful currency traders make considerable profit margins contrary to unsuccessful traders who make losses. Such successful traders are characterized by excellent forecasting skills on the shift in currency values. Such an ability enables them to avoid any future losses and also enables them to approximate the profit made from trading different currencies. They are able to interpret market trends as per their trading processes and make quick and appropriate decisions. Such quick decisions enables them to stay focused and determined while trading regardless of the stresses and pressures experienced while trading. Such traders are also able to quickly recover from any losses

Non Experimental Research Design Psychology Essay

Non Experimental Research Design Psychology Essay This chapter details the methodology that will be used to conduct this study. Methodology is an approach, or method used to conduct a research. The aspects that will be discussed in this chapter include the researchs design, approach, sample, instrument, procedure, and also data collection and analysis. 3.2 Researchs Approach and Design 3.2.1 Researchs Approach There are two types of approaches used in research, which are quantitative approach and qualitative approach. According to Blaxter, Hughes and Tight (as cited in Hughes, 2006) Quantitative research is a study that concerned with the collection and analysis of data in numeric form. It emphasizes relatively large-scale and representative sets of data, and is often presented or perceived as being about the gathering of `facts. Qualitative research is concerned with collecting and analysing information in as many forms as possible, mainly non-numerical form. It focuses on exploring smaller numbers of instances or examples which are seen as being interesting or illuminating, and aims to achieve `depth rather than `breadth. In this study, the data collected by researcher will be in numerical form, which obtained from the questionnaires. Thus, the approach used in this study is quantitative research. 3.2.2 Researchs Design According to Chua Yan Piaw (2006), there are three main designs in research, namely true experimental design, non-experimental design, and quasi-experimental design. True experimental design studies the relation between the independent variables and manipulated variables, manipulates the independent variables and observes the changes on manipulated variables. Non-experimental design is used when the treatment is not possible as the independent variables naturally exist, and the respondents will be randomly distributed into every group. This design studies the relation between independent variables and manipulated variables without manipulate the independent variables. Besides that, quasi-experimental design normally used to evaluate the effectiveness of certain program when then the randomly distribution of the respondents in the study is not possible. It studies the relation between independent variables and manipulated variables (Chua, 2006). Non-experimental research design According to Chua Yan Piaw (2006), there are a lot of non-experimental designs, including survey, field research, case study, action research, ethnography, and so on. Survey is one of the most widely used non-experimental research design, which used in different form of media, such as magazine, newspapers, and television to collect data from subjects who respond to a series of questions about behaviors and opinions regarding to certain issue, or to survey the effectiveness of a product or plan. Normally interview or quetionnaires will be used in collecting data. Field research refers to gathering primary data from a natural environment without doing a lab experiment or a survey, where the researcher must be willing to step into new environments and observe, participate, or experience those worlds by themselves. Case study is an in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual, where the researcher examines existing sources like documents and archival records, conducts in terviews, engages in direct observation, and even participant observation, to collect the information in depth regarding to individual behaviours and social conditions. Action research refers to the research initiated to solve an immediate problem or a reflective process of progressive problem solvin lef by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a community of practice to improve the way they address and solve problems. Survey 3.3 Sampling According to Gay and Airasian (2003), sampling is the process of selecting a number of participants for a study in such a way that they represent the larger group from which they were selected (p. 101). Selecting a sample is a very important step in conducting a research study, particularly for quantitative research. The goodness of the sample determines the meaningfulness and generalizability of the research results (Gay Asian, 2003, p. 103). 3.3.1 Population The first step in sampling is to define the population. A sample comprises the individuals, items, or events selected from a larger group referred to as a population. The population is the group of interest to the researcher, the group to which the results of the study will ideally generalize (Gay Airasian, 2003, p. 102). The location of this study is Sabah, and the populations of this study are all the upper form students in secondary schools in Sabah, who are 16 to 17 years old. Initially, the researcher will obtains the information about the upper form students from all the secondary schools in Sabah, and then determine the samples which are involved in this study. The researcher will get the information about the total number of upper form students in each of the schools, because it might influences the outcomes of the study. 3.3.2 Sampling Method According to Chua Yan Piaw (2006), there are two main sampling methods, which are probability sampling and non-probability sampling (p. 189). According to Gay and Airasian (2003), probability sampling, which also known as random sampling, methods are possible for the researcher to specify the probability, or chance, that each member of a defined population will be selected for the sample, and these sampling are all based on randomness in the selection of the sample (p. 103). Non-probability sampling, which is also known as non-random sampling, methods do not have random sampling at any stage of sample selection, it is used when the random sampling is not possible, such as teachers or administrators select students or classes as the samples (p. 114). In this study, random sampling method will be used to select the sample. Gay and Airasian (2003) states that there are four basic random sampling techniques or procedures, namely simple random sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling, and systematic sampling, which are also referred to as probability sampling (p. 103). Simple random sampling is the process of selecting a sample in such a way that all individuals in the selected population have an equal and independent chance to be selected for the sample, where the randomness in sampling takes the selection of the sample completely out of the researchers control by letting a random, or chance, procedure select the sample (p. 103). Stratified sampling is the process of selecting a sample in such a way that identified sub-groups in the population are represented in the sample in the same proportion that they exist in the population (p. 106). Besides that, cluster sampling randomly selects groups, not individuals; all the members selected groups have similar characterisics, and it is most useful when the population is very large or spread out over a wide geographic area (p. 108). Lastly, systematic sampling is the sampling technique in which individuals are selected from a list taking every Kth name (p. 110). Although the instrument of students national identity is designed to be applicable to all students in Malaysia, the secondary school students will be selected to test the instrument in this study. The rationale of choosing upper form students as the target population to test the instrument is they might be more mature if compared to the lower form students who are only 13 to 15 years old. They might have a better understanding on the items stated in the questions, and perhaps they will give their response seriously. So, the outcomes which obtained from the upper form students might be more reliable and trustworthy if compared to lower form students. All upper form students from the secondary school in Sabah are over sampled. Two random samples of 200 students and 2500 students will be purchased for the two survey studies by using cluster sampling method. A number of schools will be randomly selected from each of the districts in Sabah as the representatives of those districts. The secondary school students in Sabah are eligible to receive the mailed survey. In the first survey study, the questionnaire will be initially sent to the random sample of 200 students to examine test-retest reliability of the instrument and its subscale. Then, a repeat mailing survey will be sent to the respondents from the initial mailing again. The test-retest reliability of the instrument will be examined using the data from the remaining surveys returned from both the initial and repeat mailings. In the second survey study, the sample needed to be large in order to conduct factor analysis to test the construct validity of the instrument. There is a general agreement among measurement methodologists that large sample sizes are required for the stability of results of factor analysis, the use of larger sample sizes in applications of factors analysis tends to provide results such that sample factor loadings are more precise estimates of population loadings and are also more stable, or less variable, across repeated sampling. The researcher will send the refined questionnaire to the second random sample of 2500 students in order to perform factor analysis, and then to test construct validity and internal consistency reliability of the instrument. 3.4 Researchs Procedures This study will be conducted in two stages. Stage one is the instrument development, and stage two is the instrument testing and refining. Stage one consists of three steps and stage two consists of five steps. Each of these steps is described in the following section. 3.4.1 Stage One: Instrument Development The instrument development stage has three steps: (1) developing conceptual and operational definitions of the construct of students national identity, (2) generating item pool, and (3) determining the format for measurement (or selecting a scaling technique for the measurement). All the three steps in this stage involved determination of content validity of the instrument of students national identity. a. Step 1: Developing Conceptual and Operational Definitions of the Construct. The first step in developing this instrument is to determine clearly what the concept of students national identity is. The definition of the construct, students national identity, is based onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (need more information from chapter 2) b. Step 2: Generating an Item Pool for the Instrument The focus of second step is to generate a large pool of items for all the dimensions of the construct of students national identity. In the beginning stage, it is better to generate more items. Thus a 60 items scale might be evolve from an item pool over a hundred items. The instrument of students national identity is designed to measure the degree to which a student à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Wording of the items is very important and should reflect this goal of the instrument. Appropriate wording can accurately capture the essence of the construct. The items are evaluative in nature and can reflect respondents views about the desirability of something. Moreover, the researcher developed several negatively worded items with careful wording that examine students à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ besides developing positively worded items that measure students national identity. The purpose of constructing several negatively worded items is to detect respondents with acquiescence bias by their response pattern if there is any. Those respondents will not be included in the data analysis to avoid or minimize the influence caused by acquiescence bias. The issues related to acquiescence bias were discussed in detail in Chapter 2. After a large pool of items that measures students national identity is established, the dissertation committee will be first critique all the items before sending the item pool to the expert panel for content validity review. The researcher will revises the item pool based on comments of the dissertation committee. The items which are repetitive, inappropriate or poorly worded, confusing, or irrelevant to the construct will be eliminated or revised. After this revision, 84 items were retained in the instrument. c. Step 3: Determining the Format for the Instrument The researcher considers the format simultaneously with the generation of items so that the two are compatible. The Likert scales with five responses options is chosen to develop the instrument measuring the students national identity. Each item is presented as a declaration sentence, followed by the response options that indicate varying degrees of agreement with the statement. The five response options are: (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) either agree or disagree, (4) agree, and (5) strongly agree. These five points Likert scales are ordinal scale level. Each item in the instrument is classified as two broad categories, which are favourable (positive) or unfavourable (negative). Scoting is reversed for negatively worded items such that disagreement with a negatively worded resulted in high score. At this step, the development stage is completed. Then, the researcher will moves on to the next stage, which is instrument testing and refining. 3.4.2 Stage 2: Instument Testing and Refining The instrument testing and refining stage includes give steps: (1) establishing content validity of the instrument, (2) developing directions for responding, (3) preparing a revised draft of the questionnaire, (4) examining test-retest reliability and pretesting internal consistency reliability, dan (5) testing construct validity and internal consistency reliability. All steps in this stage involve refining the instrument and testing the psychometric properties of the instrument. a. Step 1: Establishing Content Validity of the Instrument Determining the number of experts needed has always been somewhat arbitrary in content validity determination. According to Lynn (1986) (as cited in Wynd, Schmidt, Schaefer, 2003), a minimum of five experts (rates, observers, or judges) and a larger number of categories for data assignment yield greater absolute agreement and increase the risk of chance agreement. The use of more experts may therefore contribute directly to chance agreement (pg 511). The use of only two judges is not only statistically unjustifiable, but also it places the instrument developer at great risk of an erroneous conclusion that content validity has been achieved when it actually has not (Bu, 2005, pg 73). In this study, five experts who either have conducted research related to students national identity or have interest in students national identity will be asked to review the instrument as the content experts. A delineation of the full content dimentions of the construct of students national identity with specific instructions pertaining to the content relevance of each item are provided to the experts by mail or email for review. The five will be asked to return the instrument and their comments within four to five weeks. This review serves multiple purposes related to determining and maximizing the content validity of the instrument. First, having experts review the item pool, confirm or invalidate the definition of the phenomenon of students national identity and the content validity of the instrument is quantified. The experts will be asked to rate how relevant they think each item is related to what the researcher intends to measure. The instrument of students national identity includes three subscales. The general objective of the subscale of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is to measure the degree to which the studentà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Under the broad objective, more specific objectives that are assumed to measure relevant items will provided as well. The intensity of students national identity can fluctuate over time but they are considered stable during a certain period of time, typically three to four weeks. These objectives will be sent to experts along with the instrument. The experts will be asked to rate the content relevance of each item to its general objective and its more specific objective. Content validity index (CVI)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. In addition, the experts will be asked to clarify reasons and provide suggestions if they disagree with some items included in the instrument. Second, the experts will be asked to evaluate the items clarity and conciseness. Sometimes, the content of an item may be relevant to the construct but its wording may be problematic. This yields problems on item reliability because an ambiguous or otherwise unclear item, to a greater degree than a clear item, may reflect factors extraneous to the latent variable. Third, in addition to judging each item, the experts will be asked to identify phenomena that were omitted from the instrument as a part of the content validity assessment. Thus, by asking experts to review the instrument in a variety of ways the researcher could capture the phenomenon of interest, and the expert reviewers help the researcher maximize the content validity of the instrument. The researcher will be paid careful attention to all suggestions from these content experts then made an informed decision about how to use their advice. The instrument will be revised to enhance content validity with the consensus of the dissertation committee. b. Step 2: Developing Directions for Responding The procedures for responding to the statements, as well as the meaning of the anchor points on the continuum, will be carefully develop and then reviewed by the dissertation committee chair and colleagues to avoid confusing respondents. Dillman (1978) (as cited in Bu, 2005) proposed some ideas about providing directions to subjects on how to answer questionnaires. He states that the encirclement process results in fewer ambiguous markings and should be encouraged. It is important that the same marking procedure be used throughout the questionnaire. Lower case letters are preferred for directions because of their greater readability (pg 76). The researcher will apply these suggestions when developing directions for responding. c. Step 3: Preparing a Draft of the Questionnaire. This step involves constructing a draft of the questionnaire and assessing the questionnaire. Three activities will be completed in this step. First, a section of questions for gathering demographic information from participants will be designed and included in the survey along with the instrument of students national identity. The purpose of developing this section of questions is to gather information that would be used to describe characteristics of the participants. Second is the issue of ordering the questions in the questionnaire. In this study, items that are measuring the same dimension will be grouped together. The questions that request demographic information are put at the end of the questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of two parts. Part one is composed of a series of items pertaining to students national identity. Items represented à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.dimensionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. The form of the instrument of students national identity looks like the following sample. Item Strongly disagree (1) Disagree (2) Either disagree or agree (3) Agree (4) Strongly agree (5) Item 1 1 2 3 4 5 Item 2 1 2 3 4 5 Item 3 1 2 3 4 5 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Part two of the questionnaire consists of the demographic questions and includes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as well as characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, geographic location. Third, the questionnaire is distributed to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. For the review of clarity of directions, ease of responding and time needed to fill out the questionnaire. d. Step 4: Examining Test-Retest Reliability and Pretesting Internal Consistency Reliability After questionnaire is produced, the researcher conducts two survey studies to gather data to examine construct validity and reliability of the instrument. Step 4 is to examine test-retest reliability of the instrument, preliminarily test internal consistency reliability of the instrument, and perform item analysis. It is assumed that the construct of students national identity does not change in subjects within two to three weeks. The researcher initially mailed the questionnaire to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. In two to three weeks, a repeat survey will be mailed to the respondents from the initial mailing. The test-retest reliability of the instrument of students national identity and its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..subscales are examined among the subjects responding both the initial and the repeat mailings. Cronbachs alpha of the instrument and its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Subscales is calculated using the data from the questionnaires returned from the initial mailing to pretest internal consistency reliability of the instrument and itsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.subscales. In addition, an item analysis for each subscale will be performed using the data from the returned questionnnaires from the initial mailing for the purpose of refining the instrument. An item needed to meet Likerts criterion of internal consistency in order to be retained in the scale. A given item whose score significantly correlated with the relevant scale score, which is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥ 0.3 is considered to meet the criterion of internal consistency and is retained in the instrument. An item whose score does not significantly related to the scale score, which is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 0.3, is rechecked and determined for retainment, elimination or revision depending on theory, content of the item, function of the item in the instrument. e. Step 5: Testing Construct Validity and Internal Consistency Reliability In this step, the refined survey will be sent to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. to collect data in order to examine the construct validity of the instrument using factor analysis and the internal consistency reliability of the instrument using Cronbachs alpha. Factor analysis is performed using data from the returned questionnaires. Factor analysis is used to determine construct validity of the instrument of students national identity and select items for inclusion in the instrument. Factor analysis is a broad category of approaches to determine the structure of relations among measures (Nunnally Bernstein, 1994). Factor analysis can be used to determine: (1) grouping variables, (2) which variables belong to which factor and how strong their relationship, (30 how many dimensions are needed to explain the relations among the variables, and (4) a frame of reference to describe the relation among the variables more conveniently. There are two major approaches to factor analysis: exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. In exploratory factor analysis, one seeks to summarize data by grouping together variables that are intercorrelated. The variables themselves may or may not have been chosen with potential underlying structure in mind. Exploratory factors are defined to achieve a mathematical objective such as maximizing the variance accounted for. In confirmatory factor analysis, factors are defined directly, which incorporate the properties such as the number of factors and content (or variables) of each factor that have been hypothesized and then determine how well these fit the data (Nunnally Bernstein, 1994). According to Tabachnick Fidell (1983), exploratory factor analysis is usually performed in the early stages of research to consolidate variables and generate hypotheses about relationships in a reduced data set. Confirmatory factor analysis generally occurs later in the researc h process, when a theory about structure is to be tested or when hypothesized differences in structure between groups of research units are tested. Variables are specifically chosen to reveal underlying structural processes. Data used in confirmatory factor analysis, then, might be different from those used in exploratory factor analysis. Cronbachs alpha will be calculated in this large sample to determine the internal consistency reliability of the instrument of attitudes toward patient advocacy and its three subscales. Up to this step, the instrument of students national identity will be established. 3.5 Data Collection Schedule and Procedures There are some differences between the data collection schedule and procedures for the test-retest study and the construct validity study. For the test-retest reliability study, surveys with the cover letters will be mailed to the 200 randomly selected subjects. A stamped returning envelope will be included in the mail for return of the survey. A code number will be attached to the 200 subjects, and those respondents from the initial mailing survey will be identified and sent a repeat survey within two to three weeks after the initial mailing in order to examine test-retest reliability. Thus, anonymity of respondents is not ensured in the test-retest reliability study for the purpose of the repeat mailing to those who returned the survey. Considering budget limitation for the dissertation, the researcher will makes only one contact with the 2500 randomly selected subjects. In this contact, a mailing that included the survey, a detailed cover letter explaining the nature of the study and asking for response and a business reply envelope will be sent to the 2500 subjects. Since only one contact was made to the 2500 students, anonymity of respondents is ensured in the study. A codebook for data entry will be developed and reviewed. A data entry program will be set up to facilitate inputting data. Data will be entered as responses to the questionnaire are returned. Entered data will be verified to check for errors in data input by going over 25% of the returned and entered questionnaires and running frequencies of each item of the questionnaire. Any differences between original data entry and verification required checking the raw data and correcting the entered data. Data analysis will begins after completion of data entry and involved statistical consultation with the dissertation committee members. 3.6 Data Analysis and Interpretation Three types of data analyses will be conducted in this study, which are analysis related to reliability, analysis related to validity, and descriptive statistics. First, the content validity of the instrument will be determined by CVI. The CVI was the proportion of items given a rating of 3 (relevant and needs a little revision) or 4 (very relevant) to the objectives of a measure based on 4-point ordinal scale by at least six out of the seven experts (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥86% agreement) in this study. Second, data from the respondents returned from the initial mailing in the test-retest study will be used for the analysis of Cronbachs alpha to pretest the internal consistency reliability of the instrument. Data from the questionnaires that are returned from both the initial and the repeat mailings will be used for examining the test-retest reliability. A total score for each of the subscales and the whole instrument will be obtained with the initial mailing, and a second total score for each of the subscales and the whole instrument will be obtained with the second mailing. The test-retest reliability coefficient of the instrument and its subscales will be obtained by correlating the initial mailing scores with the second mailing scores using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. High correlation coefficient indicates high stability or test-retest reliability of the instrument. This reliability coefficient above .70 is considered satisfactory. Third, item analysis will be performed using data from the questionnaires returned from the initial mailing. Correlations among items within each subscale and between each item with the total subscale score will be examined. Items with low correlations with the relevant subscale score ( Fourth, factor analysis will be performed using data from the questionnaires to determine the construct validity of the instrument of students nationasl identity. Factor analysis is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦() In this study, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis approaches will be used to examine the construct validity of the instrument. Exploratory factor analysis will be first performed to extract factors from the instrument of students national identity and determine the items to be included in the instrument. If evidence for construct validity exists, the number of factors resulting from the analysis should approximate the number of dimensions assessed by the instrument, and the items with the highest factor loadings defining each factor should correspond to the items designed to measure each of the dimensions of the instrument (Waltz et al., 1991). Exploratory factor analysis consists of two stages: extract factors and rotating extracted factors (Nunnally Bernstein, 1994). The analysis first condenses the variables (items) into the smallest number of factors that explain the most variance. Principal component analysis (PCA) and principal axis analysis (PAF) are two most popular ways to condense data. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Then, three most common statistical rules were used to determine the number of factors. First, the Kaiser-Guttman rule retains factors with absolute eigenvalues of 1.0 or greater. However, this rule tends to suggest too many factors. The second rule is scree test that uses relative changes in these eigenvaluesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Since the unrotated factors are usually difficult to interpret, the second stage of exploratory factor analysis is to rotate these factors to make them more meaningful or more interpretableà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Orthogonal and oblique rotations Results of the exploratory factor analysis will also be used for identification and selection of indicators (items) for the instrument. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validateà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦In confirmatory factor analysis, the researcher specifies which items load on each factor according to preconceived theory to test the theory. The result of this analysis indicates how well the empirical data actually conform to these specifications, that is, whether the items actually form the theorized constructs. In order to test the fit of the model to the data, multiple fit indices that reflect somewhat different facets of model fit are suggested à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI) Comparative Fit Index (CFI) Adjusted Goodness-of Fit Index (AGFI) Root Mean Square Residual (RMR) Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) Finally, Cronbachs alpha will be calculated using the data from the returned surveys to determine the internal consistency reliability of the instrument and its subscales. High Cronbachs alpha indicates that the instrument has high internal consistency. Nunnally and Bernstein suggest that, for the newly developed instrument, the Cronbachs alpha with .70 is acceptable. Also, descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean, and standard deviation will be used to describe the characteristics of the sample in both the test-retest reliability study and the construct validity study. Test-retest reliability, item analysis, descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and Cronbachs alpha will be performed using SPSS version 20.0.0 for Windows. AMOS 5.0 for

What Are Blogs? :: Definiton Internet Blogs Paperes

What Are Blogs? When I decided to write about blogs I thought I would use a traditional and simple method of arrangement: what is a blog, where did they come from, what are people doing with them as far as writing instruction goes and then say a bit about what I’ve done with them and why I think they are a promising form of writing pedagogy. But I quickly discovered that people have yet to fully agree on a single definition of a blog. I also discovered an intense amount of hype and gripe. There are those who think the blog will take over the world, and others who think that will be a bad thing. You’ve no doubt heard these arguments before regarding other online phenomenon—that because blogging requires no technical skill and is free, anyone can instantly publish anything and therefore either A) it will democratize information flow, liberate the repressed, illuminate the shady, discredit the liars, and save the world from SARS and terrorists or B) it will fill people’ s minds with the sort of un-edited, un-checked, un-educated crap that your average person thinks about stuff he doesn’t really understand going on in places he can’t locate on a map. Like you, I’m guessing, I want neither to leap on this bandwagon nor to snap at its wheels. I just want to figure out what a blog is and how I can use it to help my students learn more about writing. To that end I would like to share my current working definition of a blog, and talk a bit about what I’ve done with them so far and why I think blogging is a good way to teach and talk about writing. I’m actually more interested in hearing your take on blogs than I am in my own, so I won’t ramble on. For my purposes, a blog is a single authored, regularly updated, minimally edited, publicly viewable website consisting of links and commentary presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs function as content filters. Blogs also encourage and facilitate comments from readers and thus offer the opportunity for interactive communication. When defined in this way, blogs are different from similar forms of online writing. An online diary, for example, would have the same chronology and single author but would tend to focus on the life of the writer rather than on websites of interest to the author and her intended audience. What Are Blogs? :: Definiton Internet Blogs Paperes What Are Blogs? When I decided to write about blogs I thought I would use a traditional and simple method of arrangement: what is a blog, where did they come from, what are people doing with them as far as writing instruction goes and then say a bit about what I’ve done with them and why I think they are a promising form of writing pedagogy. But I quickly discovered that people have yet to fully agree on a single definition of a blog. I also discovered an intense amount of hype and gripe. There are those who think the blog will take over the world, and others who think that will be a bad thing. You’ve no doubt heard these arguments before regarding other online phenomenon—that because blogging requires no technical skill and is free, anyone can instantly publish anything and therefore either A) it will democratize information flow, liberate the repressed, illuminate the shady, discredit the liars, and save the world from SARS and terrorists or B) it will fill people’ s minds with the sort of un-edited, un-checked, un-educated crap that your average person thinks about stuff he doesn’t really understand going on in places he can’t locate on a map. Like you, I’m guessing, I want neither to leap on this bandwagon nor to snap at its wheels. I just want to figure out what a blog is and how I can use it to help my students learn more about writing. To that end I would like to share my current working definition of a blog, and talk a bit about what I’ve done with them so far and why I think blogging is a good way to teach and talk about writing. I’m actually more interested in hearing your take on blogs than I am in my own, so I won’t ramble on. For my purposes, a blog is a single authored, regularly updated, minimally edited, publicly viewable website consisting of links and commentary presented in reverse chronological order. Blogs function as content filters. Blogs also encourage and facilitate comments from readers and thus offer the opportunity for interactive communication. When defined in this way, blogs are different from similar forms of online writing. An online diary, for example, would have the same chronology and single author but would tend to focus on the life of the writer rather than on websites of interest to the author and her intended audience.

Operations Strategy and Sustainability Essay

LensCrafters operations strategy is to provide high quality eye care services to customers throughout the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. LensCrafters is known for the ability to perform eye exams, prescribing sunglasses and eyeglasses, and production of the glasses on the premises for each customer. To maintain economic sustainability, LensCrafters goal in 1983, was to be the only optical eye care retailer to guarantee eyeglasses in less than an hour. Now, after 30 years, LensCrafters is considered one of the leading optical retailers known for their impeccable customer service, excellent products and some of the biggest names such as Armani, Coach, and Prada in frames (LensCrafters, 2014). They show a high degree of commitment to performance excellence by continually providing their customers with new technologies to improve eye care, customize prescriptions, and assist their customers in selecting the right frames. LensCrafters also offers expert care for their customers with proficient optometry doctors at every store. Through resource management they manage their assets effectively and efficiently being able to â€Å"Give the gift of sight† to millions of people all over the world through their OneSight charitable organization where they partner with local communities to provide permanent access to affordable eye care and eyewear in both the developed and developing world. Included in their sustainability initiatives they piloted a self-sustaining vision center in a school located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Cincinnati, Ohio. In doing this, LensCrafters has put vision care right where people need it. In this school, getting an eye exam is as easy as walking down the hall instead of missing half a day of class or, for parents, missing half a day of work. Another way of maintain economic  sustainability is that LensCrafters love eyes and care about the people behind them. LensCrafters’ customer benefit package includes providing goods and services that meet the needs of individual customers. They have conveniently located branches, professional employees, the latest eye-exam equipment and eyewear accessories to meet the different tastes of their loyal customers. LensCrafters portray their commitment through honest care for their customer’s eyes and constantly are determined to improve the experiences of their customers. LensCrafters associates receive training in personalized service to ensure their customer’s experience is valued. LensCrafters will continue to put their customers first to maintain their competitiveness and customer loyalty. For social sustainability, LensCrafters have their branches conveniently located in highly populated areas like shopping malls. This ensures that they reach their target market faster. The stores designed with economically to provide the best customers service from the initial exam to the final fitting of the glasses. They have on-site fully equipped laboratory with the latest machinery and encourage their employees to interact with their customers in the eye-exam rooms and â€Å"fitting stations† (Collier & Evans, 2013). The walls of their stores have the certificates and degrees of their optometrists and technicians demonstrating to the customers that competent staff is serving them. Communication is consistent between the customer and staff throughout their eye care purchase. Operations Management and Challenges The operations management at LensCrafters has a strategy that staff follows in order to provide their customers with high quality service and products. LensCrafters requires their employees to possess the required skills and knowledge for optimal work productivity by utilizing their time with the customers effectively and efficiently. Laboratory technicians have the needed certifications for their line of work and all other employees undergo training before and during their period of employment. The employees at LensCrafters offer unsurpassed services because they are well motivated with rewards and employment recognitions from the operations management team. One of the challenges of that face operations management at LensCrafters is the changing of customer expectations. Many want designer frames that they have seen on other people this could be a discontinued style or require  additional time to acquire the glasses. Another challenge is changing technology. The operations management at LensCrafters stays aware of the newest technologies and takes the time to research the equipment to determine if it would make a substantial change in their work processes and customer service. Value Chain The value chain at LensCrafters begins with the gaining the customer through preproduction services such as the Customer Benefit Package that includes providing goods and services that meet or exceed the needs of individual customers. LensCrafters also provide their customers with impeccable customer service, excellent products and some of the biggest names such as Armani, Coach, and Prada in frames (LensCrafters, 2014). LensCrafters accepts vision plans from numerous insurance companies that major companies offer to their employees. If customers do not have insurance, LensCrafters can set up a payment plan with the customer. LensCrafters offers promotions such as buy one pair of glasses and get the second one-half off. Following the preproduction phase is the primary production processes. Once the customer makes the decision to come into LensCrafters, the employees provide high-quality services. Once the eye exam is completed, an associate helps the customer select the frames that they like the best. The associate accompanies the customer to the appropriate station for their frames and selects various frames in all shapes and colors. An associate will capture pictures of the customer in their selected frames using LensCrafters own â€Å"myLook† camera application LensCrafters, 2014). Once this is completed, the associate and customer compare the photos side-by-side. Once the customer has selected the frames, the associate gives the customer’s prescription and frame selection to the lab to create the customized glasses. Value is created with the customer by the high quality customer service, customized prescription glasses, and convenient location. Once the glasses are ready for the customer to pick up, the customer comes in and the associate shows them the glasses. The associate adjusts the frames to fit the contours of the customer’s face. Then the associate attaches LensCrafters unique â€Å"FitSensor† (LensCrafters, 2014) that creates clear guide points for the AccuFit Digital Measurement System. The FitSensor software measures the location of the customer’s pupils and spacing of their eyes relative to  their frames. Using these measurements, the associate is able to determine the best placement of the customer’s eyeglasses with five times the precision of manual eyeglass measurements. Performance Measurements Performance measurements that can be used to measure LensCrafters’ service-delivery system design include business location and servicescape. Location is imperative when it comes to accessing the target market. LensCrafters has branches in the most convenient places for the sake of their customers. LensCrafters’ needs to ensure that they are located near their customers to continually increase their sales and strengthen customer relations. Every LensCrafters has the same or similar store layout, job design, services technology figures and delivery services. LensCrafters has up-to-date technology in their equipment in laboratories, technicians, optometrists, eye examination areas and fitting station. A service process leads to an outcome which results in the customer being either happy or unhappy with the service experience. It is the role of ‘delivery’ to ensure that the expected service outcome is received by the customer. The service delivery design for LensCrafters includes facility location and layout making the customer experience more efficient, and keeping in step with the newest technology, including designing their own technologies to make the experience at LensCrafters unique. The servicescape of LensCrafters is designed to provide the customer with the sense of quality and professionalism. The store layout is open and uncluttered. It store is carpeted and has professional frame display areas for men, women, and children. Modern furniture adorns the retail area and up-to-date equipment is seen in the laboratory. The store is brightly lit to attract attention to the display cases. The store display cases, eye examination area, and fitting stations are placed in the areas where the customers and service providers inter-act frequently. Types of Technology Technology allows LensCrafters to stay committed to providing innovative eyewear technology. They have developed several new technologies of their own with their AccuFit Digital Measurement System that takes measurements to fit the eyeglasses to the customer’s face. They also developed the LensSimulator that allows customers to view and compare a broad variety of  lens choices. Another unique technological advancement of LensCrafters is the â€Å"myLook† camera application that allows the customer to seem themselves in several pairs of frames to see which looks best on their faces. LensCrafters provide their customers with unique and innovative technologies that give them an edge over their competition and keeps the competition anticipating the next innovative process. References Collier, D. A., & Evans, J. R. (2013). OM4. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Print. Lenscrafters (2014). Retrieved May 5, 2014 from http://www.luxottica.com/en/retail-brands/lenscrafters LensCrafters (2012). About LensCrafters. Retrieved May 5, 2014 from http://www.lenscrafters.com/eyeglasses/7/about/company-history-about-lenscrafters LensCrafters (2014). Eyeglasses. Retrieved May 7, 2014 from http://www.lenscrafters.com/lc-us/eyeglasses LensCrafters Eyes a Central Vision with PCMS’ Retail Solution (2010). Retrieved May 7, 2014 from http://www.pcmsdatafit.com/files/casestudy/PCMS_and_Lenscrafters_Case_Study_(US).pdf

Media and propaganda

The strike at California State University, associated with allegedly low salaries of the staff has been covered by a number of mass communication media. The present paper is intended to compare the messages from different sources, analyze and find media biases and the elements of propaganda. As the preliminary results suggest, most articles are biased, and one of them emphatically urges Americans to support the action.The first article in the scope, written by C.Arjentera and published in the Monterey County Star places accents and emphases in quite an unusual way. For instance, the article first and foremost describes the strike: â€Å"The union has announced that a strike, which would be the first for our system, would be a series of two-day rolling actions that would move from campus to campus sometime in April or May. Eventually affecting all 23 – including CSU-Monterey Bay† (Arjentera, 2007, p. 5).Furthermore, the author provides the criticism and claims of the dis satisfied faculty member who states that union is likely to decline after the introduction of the tradition of job actions. The paper also includes the local officials, but presenting their views, the article implicitly claims that the administration is merely concerned about the deterioration of education quality in the university, which might appear during the strike.The true cause of the strike is presented only at the end of the article: â€Å"Faculty and administrators agree CSU instructors are paid less that peers at comparable institutions in other states† (Arjentera, 2007, p. 5). As one can understand, the author seems to have kept in mind the features of human perception (the leading paragraph is most likely to be memorized) and deliberately placed the negative messages concerning the strike and the perceived poor professionalism at the beginning, whereas the participants’ problem are mentioned very briefly in the concluding chapter.On the contrary, the articl e at NBC.com is much more neutral and contains neither positive not negative propaganda. Its structure can be outlined in the following way: 1) a brief, but comprehensive idea about the strike; 2) the real extent of the problem (figures); 3) quotations of faculty members’ statements; 4) administration’s view on the problem and the statement of the need for compromise. The article seems to cover different views on the job action –from positively enthusiastic to extremely cautious, most importantly, there are real people, who stand beyond these messages: â€Å"We don’t understand why they feel they can’t make some kind of reasonable offer to us†. – Canton says†; â€Å"Well what about students? How do we make them competitive?How do we make sure the faculty (is) competitive? It’s not just about administrators†, said San Francisco Sen.Leland Yee† (http://www.nbc11.com/news, 2007). This means, the officials are in reality aware of the multiple sides of the situation and pay attention not merely to the strikers’ manifested needs, defended through a degree of pressure, but also at the possible positive outcomes, rather than putting forth the claims like ‘If we don’t reach consensus, the quality of education will fall’, implied in the previous paper.The official CSU site describes the event not merely as a PR-action, but as a pompous event: â€Å"John Travis, the president of the California Faculty Association, called it â€Å"a truly historic day† (Gavios, 2007). As one can understand, due to the fact that the web-page belongs to the university, it is supposed to highlight the subjective importance of the action for the staff, rather than in broader social context. Thus, the article describes the extent of the strike and its features – for instance, the author notes that the job action is not a traditional strike, as it doesn’t infringe upon the students’ interests and implies almost no withdrawal from work, merely walkouts and picketing.The implicit message in this focus is understandable: the author tries to show how the strikers care about their learners and how successfully they combine their labor with the protest. Furthermore, the paper contains no opinions of state officials and administration, narrowing the focus to few union members and the possibility of the introduction of additional efforts, if the strike at this stage is fruitless. Although this article contains certain biases like shifting accents, it cannot be classified as propaganda, as it simply resembles a position statement and the extent of support the strikers have received.The final paper I would like to analyze is the article by Leland Yee, which contains the elements of explicit propaganda and is performed in extremely emotional tone, which infer the senator’s   deep sympathy for the underpaid laborers: â€Å"It is no wonder the fa culty at our state universities are voting in overwhelming numbers to go on strike. I, like many other legislators, students and taxpayers, share the faculty’s frustration† (Yee, 2007).The official completely consents to the participants’ demands, moreover –restates them different times and argues that even the support from higher education network, which has doubled the teachers’ salaries over the two last years, nevertheless doesn’t fill the income gap, when comparing professors from CSU and other universities. The basic message the article underlies is: ‘Well-educated and professional staff should not be discriminated and discredited with low salaries’. The author finally encourages his audience to join the strike: â€Å"Please join us in bringing much needed transparency, accountability and public access to our institutions of higher education by supporting SB 190† (Yee, 2007)As one can understand from this analysis, o nly one article contains no biases, which is the paper on NBC.com, whose author seems impartial, consistent and logical, as the article is structured very soundly: the first paragraph answers all vital questions like â€Å"When?†, â€Å"Why?’, â€Å"Where?†, â€Å"Who else is involved?† (whereas Arjentera’s and Yee’s papers omit some of these questions in the first paragraph) ; in addition, the paper contains the fragments of opinions and standpoints,   which are different in nature and tone. Arjentera’s article contains too much words like â€Å"reject† or â€Å"refuse† as well as negative statements, pointing to the deficiencies rather than to goals and the possible steps towards compromise.Moreover, it is written in quite pessimistic spirit: â€Å"Union leaders dispute that most teachers would actually receive that much and disagree over a merit pay proposal† (the concluding paragraph) (Arjentera, 2007, p.5) . Thus, the author implies that the action is to certain degree pointless. Yee’s and Gavious’s papers are explicitly optimistic, and both seem to take the strikers’ side.Although the latter paper is situated on CSU site, it doesn’t contain any radical positions, but it can be declared as biased nonetheless, as the author doesn’t include the true impact of the strike on students and California state budget, yet he notes that the teachers will not miss many lessons. Yee’s paper contains explicit propaganda and the promotions of the strikers’ interests. Due to the fact that the author is the influential political figure, his request to support the participants is extremely strong in terms of its power over public consciousness.In conclusion, I would like to post my recommendations for citizens, who wish to learn more about the events. NBC.com has appeared the most reliable and credible source, but I wouldn’t like to advertise or p romote it – in fact, to launch critical thinking, it would be enough to read or listen to the news from three-four different sources and think carefully not merely on the strike itself, but also consider its financial side and outcomes for the state budget as well as the possible improvement of education quality at the university.Reference listArjentera, C. (22 March 2007). CSU faculty authorize a strike. Teachers still negotiating with college system. Monterey County Herald, p.5.NBC news. (21 March 2007). Votes Are In; CSU Strike Looms. Available online at: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/Gavios, J. (22 March 2007). Faculty Union for California State U. Authorizes ‘Rolling Walkouts’ if Contract Negotiations Fall. Chronicles of Higher Education. Available online at: https://www2.calstate.edu/mediacenter/

Men vs. Women essays

Men vs. Women essays Women are obviously very different from men. The opposite sexes attract to eachother, but do they really understand I think that men and women can come to an understanding over time. If two people are really connected and are willing to make their relationship work, then they can begin to learn eachother's habits as well as their wants and desires without even asking. Still, there's always those little tricks that we women do to our men, hoping that they'll get the hint as to what we're asking without shouting out the real thing behind the hint. Men seem to like people to be frank with the points or questions a person is trying to make or ask. They don't like to beat around the bush to get the big picture, they just want to know it. to avoid confusion. Women like to tell their stories entirely and like to involve details when they're speaking. Men don't really care about those details that women appreciate. (they need to learn!) Women have very different explanatory styles than men, but I think that some men are able to come around and adapt to a woman's way of speaking and thinking. Women are very deep. Men don't understand why women are so emotional at times, and I don't understand myself some at times. (I'm later able to figure out why, though) For instance: My boyfriend and I have been going out for almost two years :) and I love him to pieces. Over this time, we have argued plenty of times and come to understandings of eachother. When we fight, of course, we argue and yell sometimes, but then after the venting is over, we think about went on, and talk about our feelings until we both understand eachother's views. Now that we know what sets eachother off, life is easier and sweeter for both of us. I know all of his little hints and gnats, and he knows most of mine. (too mysterious, I guess)Women are complicated to men as men are to women. I think we're weirded out by eachother somet...

Free Essays on Tiberius And Claudius

Assess the contribution Tiberius and Claudius made to Rome and its Empire Tiberius and Claudius both made significant contributions to Rome and it’s Empire. According to ancient writers Tiberius’ contributions were minor but still significant, and Claudius had made more extensive and large contributions. The contributions of Tiberius include administrative, the welfare of the population, foreign policy and diplomacy, and financial. The contributions of Claudius include administrative, foreign policy, peace and prosperity, welfare of the population and public works. Despite these contributions, both Tiberius and Claudius shattered the well-produced image of Rome by their appearance or personality and both had been under the influence of devious men and women. Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all acknowledge that Tiberius made capable administrative contributions to Rome. Perhaps Tiberius’ greatest contribution in administration to the welfare of the people was his maintenance of law and order, as Tacitus comments that Tiberius quickly settle disputes in court so there won’t be any disturbances in the community. This is reinforced by Suetonius’ account where he describes that Tiberius decreased the distance between police posts to safeguard the country and therefore Tiberius had contributed peace and safety to the people of Rome and its Empire. He appointed the city Prefect who, with the aid of the urban cohorts, was responsible for keeping law and order in the city. Tiberius made contributions to the welfare of the people of Rome as the Velleuis Paterculus informs us that Tiberius used his private fortune by providing aid for the victims of major disasters, such as the Tiber floods and the disastrous fire at the Aventine. According to Cassius Dio, Tiberius had also used his private fortune to rebuild and adorn practically all the public works and assisted both the city and the private individuals. Tiberius had contrib... Free Essays on Tiberius And Claudius Free Essays on Tiberius And Claudius Assess the contribution Tiberius and Claudius made to Rome and its Empire Tiberius and Claudius both made significant contributions to Rome and it’s Empire. According to ancient writers Tiberius’ contributions were minor but still significant, and Claudius had made more extensive and large contributions. The contributions of Tiberius include administrative, the welfare of the population, foreign policy and diplomacy, and financial. The contributions of Claudius include administrative, foreign policy, peace and prosperity, welfare of the population and public works. Despite these contributions, both Tiberius and Claudius shattered the well-produced image of Rome by their appearance or personality and both had been under the influence of devious men and women. Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio all acknowledge that Tiberius made capable administrative contributions to Rome. Perhaps Tiberius’ greatest contribution in administration to the welfare of the people was his maintenance of law and order, as Tacitus comments that Tiberius quickly settle disputes in court so there won’t be any disturbances in the community. This is reinforced by Suetonius’ account where he describes that Tiberius decreased the distance between police posts to safeguard the country and therefore Tiberius had contributed peace and safety to the people of Rome and its Empire. He appointed the city Prefect who, with the aid of the urban cohorts, was responsible for keeping law and order in the city. Tiberius made contributions to the welfare of the people of Rome as the Velleuis Paterculus informs us that Tiberius used his private fortune by providing aid for the victims of major disasters, such as the Tiber floods and the disastrous fire at the Aventine. According to Cassius Dio, Tiberius had also used his private fortune to rebuild and adorn practically all the public works and assisted both the city and the private individuals. Tiberius had contrib...

Chemistry Abbreviations Starting with W, X, Y, Z

Chemistry Abbreviations Starting with W, X, Y, Z Chemistry abbreviations and acronyms are common in all fields of science. This collection offers common abbreviations and acronyms beginning with the letter W, X, Y, or Z used in chemistry and chemical engineering. Chemistry Abbreviations Starting with the Letter W W - TungstenW - WattW5 - Which Was What We WantedWA - Weak AcidWAC - Weak Acid CationWB - Water BasedWB - Weak BaseWB - Weak BondWBA - Weak Base AnionWC - Water CosolventWCS - Worst Case ScenarioWD - Water DispersantWD - Water DisplacementWD - Wet/DryWIAP - Water In All PhasesWIN - Water Insoluble NitrogenWNA - World Nuclear AssociationWO - Weak OxidizerWP - White PhosphorusWPS - Water Phase SaltWR - Water RepellentWS - Wash SolutionWS - Water SolubleWSPI - Water-Soluble Phosphorous, InorganicWSPO - Water-Soluble Phosphorous, OrganicWSS - Water Soluble StabilizerWST - Weighted Settling TimeWSNZ - Water Soluble ZincWV - Water VaporWVDA - Water Vapor Diffusion AnalysisWVM - Water Vapor MonitorWVN - Water Vapor NitrogenWVP - Water Vapor PermeabilityWVT - Water Vapor TransportWW - Waste WaterWWIX - Waste Water Ion eXchangeWYOL - Write Your Own LabWYOLA - Write Your Own Lab AssignmentWYU - What You Use Chemistry Abbreviations Starting with the Letter X XAG - Silver Troy OunceXAU - Gold Troy OunceXAN - XANthineXDB - eXtra Dense BondingXe - XenonXLS - Xenon Light SourceXOD - Xanthine OxidaseXPD - Palladium Troy OunceXPT - Platinum Troy OunceXUM - X-ray Ultra-MicroscopeXYD - XYliDine Chemistry Abbreviations Starting with the Letter Y y - yoctoY - YottaY - YttriumYb - YtterbiumYBCO - Yttrium Barium Copper OxideYAG - Yttrium Aluminum GarnetYAP - Yield Analysis PatternYBG - Your Best GuessYCC - American Chemical Society Younger Chemists CommitteeYd - YardYIC - Yttrium Lithium FluorideYZN - Yellow ZiNc dichromate Chemistry Abbreviations Starting with the Letter Z z - zeptoZ - ZettaZn - ZincZB - Zinc BlendeZC - Zinc CompositeZCG - Zeolite Crystal GrowthZCR - Zinc ChromiumZCS - Zinc Coated SteelZDC - Zero Degrees KelvinZEKE - Zero Electron Kinetic EnergyZINC - Zinc Is Not CopperZK - Zero KelvinZP - Zero PressureZr - ZirconiumZRE - Zinc Responsive Element

Health Services Strategic Marketing Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health Services Strategic Marketing - Coursework Example Porter’s value chain is significant as a marketing strategy since the manner in which value chain undertakings are conducted influences the cost of product and profit. The value chain emphasizes on systems and the process of changing inputs in to products that are sold to consumers. Porter identified two groups of activities that are essential to any business. Primary activities are necessary in the process of developing, selling, preservation and sustenance of a product or service. Support activities serve as back-up to the primary activities (Fortenberry, 2010). An example of primary activity is Bingham Memorial Hospital’s prescription for customers which depends on effective procurement process of medicines by the organization as a support activity. Another example is human resource management that is a support activity to primary activities such as operations, inbound and outbound logistics as well as sales and marketing. Response to Carla Setzler’s Script Indeed, the consumer purchasing decision is influenced by whether or not he/she perceives the products of a health care organization as valuable. Consumers attach value to employee competence, which is demonstrated by efforts of the organization to train and recruit professionals with the necessary competences. Customer service needs to be highly valued especially the first contact between the customer and the organization because it influences his/her perception regarding the value of product and service offerings (Rothaermel, 2012).

The application of Task-based Approach in English Reading Teaching Essay

The application of Task-based Approach in English Reading Teaching - Essay Example The processes of material design, task demonstration and evaluation are covered in this essay, while relevant teaching theories or principles are subsequently treated. The process of foreign language acquisition in China is, to some extent, still based on the traditional educational system that emphasizes on the reading and writing of a foreign language like English with the hope of translating it. The students are primarily taught to learn English through reading various texts that could broaden their knowledge of the language (Adamson, 2004; Burkett, 2009; Dzau, 1990). As a result of this, teachers are saddled with the responsibility of making English seem understandable to their students. The current demand for English in China has also increased the pressure on primary school teachers to do more in the area of improving the reading skill of their students. The fundamental objective of adopting Task-Based Approach in the reading teaching at elementary level in China is to detect the reading competence of each student under the full watch of his or her Homeroom Teacher, who would provide the needed assistance to help the students become near-confident readers, if not totally-confident readers (Grellet, 1992). The students are given simple stories to read depending on their grades—the little harder reading comprehension goes to the farther end of the spectrum. The purpose of this is to improve their reading fluency, not necessarily to make them memorize their textbooks’ contents (Hiskes, 2007). Task-Based Approach lets the teachers perceive the students’ reaction to words they may have been taught before. For examples, showing the ability to identify and pronounce simple words about weather, food, fruits and colours as they appear on the textbooks used for this task. Most teachers believe that exposing children to th e words they had heard before may increase their ability to identify related words on

Price Analysis for Navigation System Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Price Analysis for Navigation System - Assignment Example Thus, the forecast of the price mainly depends on the price comparison of the competition taking into consideration that this company offers a similar service of the mine. Navigation system fundamental information entails grouping presentation industry chain configuration, which mainly encompasses international analysis, local market breakdown, macroeconomic situation and corresponding economic condition analysis (Murphy, 2009). Moreover, navigation policy and plan in regard to the underlying navigation system product depends on the specification, manufacturing process and underlying cost structure. The fundamental manufacturer of the navigation system volume manufacture cost price, income manufacture worth gross information and corresponding navigation system volume manufacture marketplace share mainly dictates the underlying market share supply demand import export consumption. Navigation system volume manufacture value cost mainly revolves around the value gross margin information. The concepts allowability, allocability and reasonableness in regard to the cost of the navigation system of the Navo tech mainly addresses directly the prevailing legitimacy of the cost charged against the corresponding cost charged on a particular research cost award (Murphy, 2009). Thus, the process of determination of the allowability, allocability and corresponding reasonableness of the prevailing expense is majorly based on particular guidelines of the federal cost principles. Moreover, it is will be dictated by the office of the management and budget of the Navo tech. Reasonable costs are the prevailing price that is normally consistent with the cost a reasonable individual would pay in the similar conditions for the navigation system to the same company producing similar product. Allowable costs are the ones that are utilized in the connection of the navigation system. It is the cost incurred under the budgeted agreement and mainly benefits the

International Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 2

International Business Strategy - Essay Example Every organization’s survival and success in the light of stiff competition hinges on the success of its main or flagship product. It is the ‘key’ that opens the door of success or profit. So, for an organization to survive in a competitive market in the global environment, and to increase its profits in an optimum manner, its products have to be marketed optimally. Toeing that line, this report will focus on the marketing strategy of General Motors in its global business, discussing about its competitors, marketing mix and finally will recommend improvements that would enable them to compete more effectively. General Motors Corporation (GM), a multinational corporation, was founded in 1908 as a holding company for a firm called Buick, then controlled by William C. Durant. Now, it functioned as a conglomerate manufacturing and selling, cars and trucks under the brands of Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM Daewoo, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. Each of these brands has a number of cars and trucks under its division or arm. However, because of the major losses and bankruptcy proceedings, they decided to hold only the four core brands of Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC, as well as two European brands of Opel and Vauxhall, selling Saab Automobile to Spyker Cars in 2010. Importantly, GM is winding down its Hummer, Pontiac, and Saturn brands, the latter two remaining under the old GM, now known as Motors Liquidation Company. Even though, all these brands are manufactured in one unit, vehicles coming under each brand are most times marketed differentially and some times in unison. Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan (USA), GM manufactures automobiles in 35 countries, capturing a sizeable portion of the world market share. GM was thus acknowledged as the worlds largest automaker, based on global industry sales. GM was able to hold on to

Job Satisfaction Statistical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Job Satisfaction Statistical Analysis - Essay Example As the paper stresses the statistics presented at this stage did not contribute to the validation of either the null or the alternate hypothesis but more generally fortified the claim that job dissatisfaction was high among practitioners of this particular profession. Therefore, at his point, one can critique the mentioned research on the basis of its having including statistics which may be deemed irrelevant with the context of the hypothesis set. This essay declares that the criticism here is the same as above. In brief, the statistics cited are relevant to neither the null nor the alternate hypothesis. Certainly, the researchers proved the existence of a problem within the profession as indicated by statistics signaling that the greater majority planned to retire the profession. However, while one may logically assume that the stated intention is reflective of job satisfaction, the fact is that this is an unproven assumption, unsupported by the set of statistics provided by the re searchers. Hence, within the context of this particular research, the statistical data employed proved high turnover ad a lack of organizational commitment but neither proven the null nor the alternate hypotheses. The null hypothesis, that positive work experience is positively related to job satisfaction was supported through statistical data collected from quantitative questionnaires distributed among the sample population.

Gender in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Gender in Organizations - Essay Example As a result, women remain different from men in that they put in more time and effort at the workplace and do more unpaid housework than their male partners. This is the main point raised by Ilene Philipson (2002) and David Schweingruber (2007), whose papers were selected as the two centerpieces of research for this essay because they capture the essence of the topic we want to discuss: that is, gender equality as it unfolds at work and at home today remains meaningless for the most part because of what both Philipson and Schweingruber call the "second shift," with Phillipson adding another factor called "familism." The first part of the main body discusses the dynamics of these two factors as to how they effectively distort the meaning of gender equality in the workplace. To illustrate the point, the last part of the essay's body looks into an actual case study of a married woman doing second shift work, tying this up to conditions in New Zealand, which is currently headed by a woma n president and where the women's movement is going great guns. ... Second Shift & Familism The dramatic increase in the labor force participation of women gave rise to the perception that we have finally entered an era that puts men and women on equal footing and makes no distinction between their sex and interests (Philipson, 2002). Women now hold jobs previously confined to men, such that there are now women police and soldiers, pilots, miners and even steel mill workers. Research since the 1960s shows that women's time spent on housework has been cut by nearly half while men doubled their time (Mickelson, et al., 2006). However, a closer look reveals that married women continue to suffer from gender inequality in the amount of work they do both at the workplace and at the house. In households with two wage earners, the women who enter the labor force continue to do more housework than men (Schweingruber, 2007). Women suffer from the same disadvantage at their paid job outside the home largely because of the mothering instinct that they bring to the workplace and creates special problems for their claim to gender equality (Fletcher, 2002). Even as a wage gap between working women and men persists, there is also a "leisure gap" between them at home (Bartley, et al., 2005). This crack in the otherwise greatly improved gender relations is traced to the "second shift" phenomenon, which is described by Philipson (2002) as the two work shifts of women: their unpaid job at home and paid job outside. Schweingruber (2007) defines the condition in more or less the same terms, relating it to the load of housework that married women perform on top of their shift of work outside the home. An important aspect of the second shift phenomenon is the way women develop an emotional attachment to their jobs and

Job Satisfaction Statistical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Job Satisfaction Statistical Analysis - Essay Example As the paper stresses the statistics presented at this stage did not contribute to the validation of either the null or the alternate hypothesis but more generally fortified the claim that job dissatisfaction was high among practitioners of this particular profession. Therefore, at his point, one can critique the mentioned research on the basis of its having including statistics which may be deemed irrelevant with the context of the hypothesis set. This essay declares that the criticism here is the same as above. In brief, the statistics cited are relevant to neither the null nor the alternate hypothesis. Certainly, the researchers proved the existence of a problem within the profession as indicated by statistics signaling that the greater majority planned to retire the profession. However, while one may logically assume that the stated intention is reflective of job satisfaction, the fact is that this is an unproven assumption, unsupported by the set of statistics provided by the re searchers. Hence, within the context of this particular research, the statistical data employed proved high turnover ad a lack of organizational commitment but neither proven the null nor the alternate hypotheses. The null hypothesis, that positive work experience is positively related to job satisfaction was supported through statistical data collected from quantitative questionnaires distributed among the sample population.

Evaluation of a Gas Constant (Experiment 3) Essay Example for Free

Evaluation of a Gas Constant (Experiment 3) Essay Experiment 3: Evaluation of Gas Constant Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate the ideal gas law under ordinary conditions. In this lab, the variables in the ideal gas law are known or can be found aside from the constant R. Thus, the R values can be found and relatively determine the relevancy of the ideal gas law to the lab conditions. The ideal gas law was tested using the reaction: Mg (s) + 2HCl2 (aq) H2 (g) Procedure: 1. Ribbons of magnesium (5) were cut to the approximate length of the instructor’s example and were weighed separately on scale #1. 2. HCl provided by the instructor was added to a eudiometer tube (8mL). The rest of the tube was filled with water. One of the magnesium tapes was wrapped around a piece of copper wire in the opening of the tube. 3. The eudiometer tube was then inverted over and into a 450 mL beaker with water. The initial volume was recorded. 4. While the reaction occurred, the temperature was taken at 1 minute intervals for 3 minutes. 5. After the reaction occurred, the height difference from the solution within the eudiometer tube and the top of the liquid volume in the beaker was recorded. The final volume was also recorded. Summary Table: Mean of R= .0737 Standard Deviation= .0298 Relative Standard Deviation= 40.46% Summary Table: Mean of R= .0737 Standard Deviation= .0298 Relative Standard Deviation= 40.46% Discussion: This lab was supposed to generate numbers close to the R constant by plugging in the values acquired in reaction Magnesium and Hydrochloric acid reaction. (The reaction results in H2 gas.) The mean acquired from our data set was .0737 L-ATM/mol-K as opposed to the actual constant .08206 L-ATM/mol-K. The constant we acquired was much lower in value, potentially due to the outlier in our data set: Trial Four. Trial Four resulted in the R value .0205 ATM-L/K-mol which skewed our relative mean, standard deviation and relative standard deviation. By removing the fourth trial from the data set, the new mean is .08705 L-ATM/mol-K, a closer but slightly higher R value. The standard deviation would be .00236 and the relative standard deviation would be 2.71%. These values have more precision than the 40.46% relative standard deviation and .0298 standard deviation acquired in the entire data set. I believe there must have been an error in the methodology to produce the outlier result in the fo urth trial. Too much liquid could have been spilled during the process or perhaps the magnesium did not fully react because it was so tightly bound around the copper. The error in this lab could range from those listed above and inaccurate measurements.

Impact of Inequality on Democracy

Impact of Inequality on Democracy Yannick Buitenhuis Inhoud Introduction Inequality r>g as a cause Limiting democracy. Conclusion Introduction Inequality is as old as mankind itself. Think of the difference between the Pharaoh versus the tomb builders; the Caesar versus the proletariat; the King and his nobles versus the peasants; The factory owners versus the labourers; and at the moment, between business(wo)men, CEO’s and (investments) bankers versus lower-income jobs. There has always been some sort of inequality. But how does this inequality between people emerge in the society of our modern history and how will it develop in the future? Capital in the Twenty-first Century by Thomas Piketty, both being praised as being criticised, focuses on this subject of growing inequality between people in our newest century and depicts the origin of this inequality since the beginning of the industrial Revolution. Piketty looks at the outcomes of the modern economical system and attempts to answer different questions considering this and the global dynamics of the distribution of income and wealth on the basis of historical and comparative data, and a theoretical framework (The Economist, 2014; Piketty, 2014, p. 8). Piketty’s outcomes resulted in the following question: Why does inequality grow and how can it affect democracy during the beginning of the twenty-first century? First of all, inequality is discussed and a personal opinion on the subject is given. Subsequently, this paper discussed the work of Piketty on the basis of the introduction of his book. And as last, the relationship between the outcomes of Piketty’s work and the future of democracy is discussed. This all resulted in a conclusion, which links back to the central question. Inequality As mentioned earlier, inequality is not new in our world, and it will not fully disappear. A world without inequality is a utopian view. Inequality can only increase or decrease, but if it becomes centrifugal in one direction, then it becomes a problem and the cause of others. Inequality does not only have an economical dimension, and inequality in these different dimensions can go hand in hand. Economic inequality can for instance lead to other forms of inequality, like social inequality, inequality in opportunity or health. Furthermore, it can come hand in hand with psychological effects (Judge Paterson, 2001, p.6; Scanlon, 2014; Wilkinson, 2011). Other factors that come into play with inequality are the power relations between different actors (Flint Taylor, 2011, pp. 28-32, 40-41). Scanlon (2014) argues that wealthy people in a society where wealth is unequally distributed often end up in control of many aspects of the lives of poorer people. He gives an example of how ownership of a public media outlet can give control over the view of people about themselves, others and society. In the words of Jean Daudrillard, a hyperreality can be created in which one can create an image of the reality for others (Valkenberg, 2012, p. 53). But this can also be applied to the creation of opportunity. Thus, inequality can give some people an undesirable degree of control over others. Inequality is already something in itself, but it makes a difference if this inequality is justified or not. But how and when do you qualify inequality as justified? And where do you draw the boundary between justified or unjustified? This does not have to discourage. Wilkinson (2011) reasons that our mutual inequality and in which interrelation we stand against each other are key factors determining the average wellbeing of societies. So, to strive for less inequality in our society is a noble goal. But how and why does this inequality grows? To find an answer the work of Piketty will be consulted. r>g as a cause Piketty takes a new path with his work concerning economics and the question about unequal wealth distribution among people in societies and its evolution over the long term since the nineteenth century. He uses a clear and logical way of reasoning which is based on a large database, clarified in his introduction. This section will discuss Piketty’s work. The discussion will focus around his findings, and mainly on his idea of r>g. A remark must be made: the discussion limits itself to the introduction of the book, so not his whole work will be discussed. Piketty (2014, pp. 9-12) looks at a longer time span and different time periods to find developments in history. Thereby, he finds some vital insight in two principles of David Ricardo and Karl Marx to understand the twenty-first century. This insight contributes to the acknowledgement of two types of forces, those of convergence and those of divergence. The forces of convergence can become overwhelmed by forces of divergence, pushing towards greater inequality. The most destabilizing forces of divergence are the ones related with the process of accumulation and concentration of wealth when growth (g) is weak and the return on capital (r) high. Piketty formulates this in a short ‘formula’ which makes the situation synoptic: r>g. A situation where risk of divergence is high, because inherited wealth will grow faster than output and income and the concentration of capital can reach extremely high levels (Piketty, 2014, pp. 20-23). This all leads to greater inequality, which can reach levels â€Å"incompatible with the meritocratic values and principles of social justice fundamental to modern democratic societies† (Piketty, 2014, p. 23) contradicting the work of Simon Kuznets and his Kuznets curve, an idea that has long dominated economists (Piketty, 2014, pp. 12-15). Limiting democracy Previously addressed by Piketty was that: inequality can reach levels incompatible with our democracy. But Piketty does not give attention to this relation in his introduction. In this part, the relation between Piketty’s outcomes and the future of democracy will be discussed. How can growing inequality affect democracy? In my opinion, democracy can certainly be affected by growing inequality between people. First, when too much inequality arises can mean that lot of social-economic conflict will stay in the social order. This will be politically expressed in a continuous struggle to eradicate the felt political deficit. Democracy in a fast changing society asks for continuous energy to keep democracy with the current demands. This cannot be reached, because the conflicts are constantly demanding time to be removed. Secondly, in relation with the first point, growing inequality, its social-economic conflicts and the felt political deficit can result in discontent, loss of faith and disillusionment under (a growing group of) people (Caryl, 2014). Democracy cannot fully function without a majority supporting it and its policies. A demand of change will be dominate the public opinion. In a certain way it can be seen as a pendulum, it cannot keep going in one direction, at a certain point it needs to swing back. Thus, in my eyes, democracy cannot work in its optima forma during a time of growing inequality. Conclusion First of all, inequality is not new, but its level can change over time because of forces of convergence and divergence. It is not limited to one dimension and these dimensions of inequality can sometimes go hand in hand. A certain relation between inequality and power relations was also found, possibly resulting in uneven control. The question that was asked in the introduction was as follow: Why does inequality grow and how can it affect democracy during the beginning of the twenty-first century? During the discussion of Piketty’s work the cause of growing inequality during the beginning of the twenty-first century was found. Piketty showed with his idea of r>g that in a time with slow growth and the return on capital high, inherited wealth grows faster than output and income, resulting in more inequality. So, rich people can get even more rich and faster than people with a lesser fortune. As last, democracy cannot work properly when inequality keeps growing. First, because the social-economic conflicts resulting from inequality demand time to be remove, so less time can be spend on the current and changing demands of democracy. Secondly, discontent, loss of faith and disillusionment in the current democracy can prevail under people, resulting in less support and a demand for change. So, resulting from this, one could argue that when inequality in the twenty-first century keeps growing, the current democratic system comes to stand under pressure. References Caryl, C. (2014), Economist Debates Democracy: are worries about the health of democracy today overblown? http://www.economist.com/debate/days/view/1055. Last used on: 21 September 2014. Economist, The (2014), The Economist explains: Thomas Piketty’s â€Å"Capital†, summarised in four paragraphs. http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/05/economist-explains. Last used on: 18 September, 2014. Flint, C. Taylor, P. (2011), Political Geography: World-Economy, Nation-State and Locality. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Sixth Edition. pp. 28-44. Judge, K. Paterson, I. (2001), Poverty, Income Inequality and Health. Treasury Working Paper Series 1 (29), pp. 1-64. Leeds Gate (2013), Climbing the social ladder – how about even being on the ladder? http://www.leedsgate.co.uk/2013/11/18/climbing-the-social-ladder-how-about-even-being-on-the-ladder/. Last used on: 18 September, 2014. Piketty, T. (2014), Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of the Harvard University. pp. 8-22. Scanlon, T.M. (2014), The 4 Biggest Reasons Why Inequality is Bad for Society. http://ideas.ted.com/2014/06/03/the-4-biggest-reasons-why-inequality-is-bad-for-society/. Last used on: 21 September 2014. Valkenberg, S. (2012), De 20 Beste Ideeà «n van de Filosofie. Filosofie Magazine 20(7-8), pp. 27-57. Wilkinson, R. (2011), How Economic Inequality Harms Societies. https://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson. Last used on: 21 September 2014. 1

Identifying QUALCOMM Intellectual Property :: essays research papers

Report on Identifying and Protecting QUALCOMM Inc. Intellectual Property Introduction QUALCOMM Incorporated is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM has boasted more than 3,000 patent portfolios in wireless industry and has licensed its essential CDMA patent portfolio to more than 125 telecommunications equipment manufacturers worldwide. Under the protection of those IP, QUALCOMM continues to enable the enterprise, network operators and manufacturers, developers and wireless end-users by providing technology innovation and leadership in the telecommunications industry worldwide. This paper will give you a brief analysis on the key forms of QUALCOMM IP, the potential threats and also a general framework to effectively address the intellectual property issues and manage the legal IP risks. QUALCOMM originally made its name known through pioneering and commercializing its CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) digital wireless technology, is now one of the leading enablers of 3G wireless products and services. QUALCOMM spearheads the evolution and growth of 3G wireless by developing CDMA2000Â ® 1X, 1xEV-DO and WCDMA (UMTS) chipsets and end-to-end solutions for network operators and equipment manufactures, as well as other participants in the wireless value chain such as applications developers, publishers and content providers. CDMA works by converting speech into digital information, which is then transmitted as a radio signal over a wireless network. Using a unique code to distinguish each different call, CDMA provides excellent voice capacity and data capability by enabling many more people to share the airwaves at the same time---without static, cross-talk or interference. Because of its advantage, CDMA serves as the foundation for 3G services worldwide. QUALCOMM’s major products and services are generated by three categories of technologies. First is CDMA2000 1x & CDMA2000 1xEV-DO chipsets and solutions, which provide voice and data capabilities within a standard 1.25 MHz CDMA channel for outstanding spectral efficiency and flexibility. Developed as a direct evolution from the previous generation of proven CDMA systems, QUALCOMM’s CDMA2000 technologies provide the easiest, most cost-effective path to 3G services for CDMA operators. The second product the company supplies is Wideband CDMA (UMTS) chipsets and solutions, an approved 3G standard that uses 5 MHz channels for both voice and data. In the area of WCDMA (UMTS) development, QUALCOMM developed the world’s first commercially available, fully integrated WCDMA (UMTS) chipset solutions and now offers complete solutions to support high-speed WCDMA (UMTS) networks worldwide.

Behavior: Nature vs. Nurture Essay -- genetics vs environment

For centuries psychologists have argued over which plays the larger role in child development, heredity or environment. One of the first theories was proposed in the seventeenth century by the British philosopher John Locke. Locke believed that a child was born with an empty mind, tabula rasa (meaning "blank slate") and that everything the child learns comes from experience, nothing is established beforehand. Years later, Charles Darwin brought forth his theory of evolution, which led to a return of the hereditarian viewpoint. With the twentieth century, however, came the rise of behaviorism. Behaviorists, like John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner, argued that a child can be made into any kind of person, regardless of their heredity. Today, most psychologists agree that both nature (genes) and nurture (environment) play an important role, not independently, but as they interact together (Atkinson, p. 72). One of the most important factors believed to influence a child are parents. Parents are known to share a distinctive bond with their children. This special bond is what enables parents to shape their children. Whether it is into free-willed adolescents, ready to challenge any controversy, or into caring adults willing to spend the seventy cents a day to save a poverty stricken child. Parents have the power to mold their children. Setting firm, yet sensible, guidelines teaches children discipline and good behavior. Using physical abuse produces aggressive children, but having patience and understanding leaves a child better capable to handle stress in later years. How parents raise their children influences how they will turn out (Begley, p. 53). Surprisingly, a new debate is taking place. As the author of The Nurture Assumpt... ...sweek, (September 7, 1998). p. 52-59. Edwards, Randall. "Divorce Need Not Harm Children." in Child Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints. Bender, David and Leone, Bruno, Series Editors. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Kevles, Behhyann H. and Daniel J. "Scapegoat Biology." Discover, (October 1997). p. 58-62. Pinker, Steven. "Against Nature." Discover, (October 1997). p. 92-95. Pool, Robert. "Portrait of a Gene Guy." Discover, (October 1997). p. 51-55. Rosenblatt, Roger. "A Game of Catch," Time, Vol. 152 (July 13, 1998). p. 90. Sapolsky, Robert. "A Gene For Nothing," Discover, (October 1997). p. 40-46. Waldman, Steven. "Divorce Harms Children." in Child Welfare: Opposing Viewpoints. Bender, David and Leone, Bruno, Series Editors. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Wright, Karen. "Babies, Bonds, and Brains." Discover, (October 1997). p. 74-78.