Nuclear Energy Essays (5013 words) - Nuclear Technology, Actinides

Nuclear Energy Nuclear Energy You are watching the control panels and gages for rector two. Sitting comely you think about how easy your job is. It is a joke! All day you sit around and watch the gages for reactor number two just to make sure they maintain their settings. You don't even need to look at the gages either because a computer automatically regulates them without you. Life is so good. Suddenly all the sirens go of and the gages and displays spin wildly in every direction. The ground shakes and you can hear the sound of a deep rumble. Unknown to you, the reactor's cooling pumps have failed to cool the reactor's core and in 3 seconds the temperature went from 280 degrees centigrade to 4,000 degrees centigrade. The water that was in the reactor is instantly turned to steam which creates tremendous amount of pressure in the reactor core. Above the reactor core there is a 5 foot thick lead plate and above that there is a meter thick floor composed of iron, barium, serpentine, concrete, and stone. The explod ing steam fires the floor up like shrapnel. The metal plate goes through the four foot thick concrete roof like butter and reaches and altitude of sixty meters. You can hear ripping, rending, wrenching, screeching, scraping, tearing sounds of a vast machine breaking apart. L. Ray Silver, a leading author who covered the disaster at Chernobyl, said that within the core, steam reacts with zirconium to produce that first explosive in nature's arsenal, hydrogen. Near-molten fuel fragments shatter nearly incandescent graphite, torching chunks of it, exploding the hydrogen. The explosion breaks every pipe in the building rocking it with such power that the building is split into sections (11-13). You look down at your body and notice that it feels hot and your hands look different. Unknown to you a tremendous amount of neutrons are hitting your cells and taking chucks out of your skin. Suddenly everything goes black. The paragraph above describes the scene of what happened at Chernobyl nuclear plant a few years ago. From that time until the present many other smaller accidents have happened. From these accidents many people have died and millions have been indirectly affected. Nuclear energy has far to many negative problems than advantages. From the mining of uranium to disposal of nuclear waist there are problems of such magnitude that no scientist on this earth has an answer for. Nuclear energy has so many problems associated to it that it should be banned from the earth. To understand the threat of nuclear energy we must first understand what happens in a nuclear reaction. Ann E. Weiss, who has written several books on the subject of nuclear energy, described what happens inside a nuclear power plant. In a nuclear reaction the nuclei of its atoms split, producing energy in the form of heat. The heat makes steam which powers a turbine. Fission takes place in a nuclear reactor. The fuel used is pellets of uranium. In a modern reactor, half-inch long pellets of uranium are packed into 12 or 14 foot tubes made of an alloy of the metal zirconium. About 50,000 zircalloy fuel rods make up the reaction core. To control a nuclear reaction control rods made of cadmium is used which absorbs neutrons. With the control rods in place in the core, a chain reaction cannot begin. When the plant operators want to start the chain reaction they activate machinery that pulls the control rods away from the core. Once this is done a single free neutron is enough to set off the reaction. As the reaction continues, a moderator slows the neutrons down enough to ensure that they will continually split more uranium atoms. At the same time, the moderator acts as a coolant. It keep the overall temperature about 300 degrees Celsius. Since the temperature at spots inside the fuel rods may be as high as 1,100 degrees Celsius, enormous amounts of coolant are continually needed to keep the core temperature at the proper level. When the plant must be must be shut down the control rods are lowered all the way back into the core. That brings the chain reaction to

buy custom Student Assessment and Program Evaluation Process essay

buy custom Student Assessment and Program Evaluation Process essay The gathering of information by educators on student learning outcomes has been going on for several years. Some of the terms that have been used to describe this process are observing, examining, testing, quizzing, measuring, evaluating, appraising and assessing, but the primary goal of determining the educational achievement of students has remained constant. According to Popham (1999), assessing the students learning goals of professional development is a more complex process than most people anticipate. This is because it entails more than simply documenting students current learning status. Changes in students are the components of most development goals and more specifically, they involve improvements or positive changes. This shows that relevant information must be gathered and at appropriate points in time. To determine whether the students are improving, it may be necessary to assess them at the point of entry and then at a later point. Comparisons with other students may al so be necessary to isolate the effects of the professional development program (Johnson Johnson, 1994). Without knowing the students position at the beginning or without comparing them with others in the same level, it might be difficult to determine if any improvement or change has actually occurred. Gathering information at a later point is also important to measure retention and long time learning (Popham, 1999). The intended student learning goals of a program are usually the basis of determining the procedures to be used in collecting evaluation information. The outcomes to be measured can either be cognitive, affective or psychomotor (Popham, 199). In any educational program, the procedures and instruments used to assess the programs effects are central. Teachers have several ways of measuring students learning and the choice of an assessment procedure will depend on the stated objectives. This paper will critically evaluate the standardized tests and other alternative assessment programs. Importance of Assessment According to Linn Gronlund (2000), measurement refers to assigning numbers to certain characters of people, objects or events according to a rule governed system. In a classroom context, the rules that are used in assigning the numbers will normally create a ranking that shows how much of the attribute different students possess. They also defined evaluation as the making judgments about the worth or value of a set of measures using a rule governed system. It is important to assess students learning to provide all involved parties with a clear summary of how the student has managed to meet the teachers goals. Assessment of students is also important in order to monitor their progress. Teachers need to know whether their students synthesize their instruction and their understanding of all the material covered over time. This enables the teacher to make arrangements for students whose understanding is slower or faulty, such as remedial instruction (Linn Gronlund, 2000). Discovering that a student has any difficulty in understanding, and cannot learn at the same pace, like the rest of the students, it allows the teachers to decide on the appropriate and timely course of action. Other positive effects on various aspects of learning and instruction also arise from assessing a students performance. According to Brookhart (2000), classroom assessment directs students on what is important to learn, influences their motivation and understanding of competence. Assessment also structures students approaches to personal study and fosters the development of improved learning strategies and skills. It is one of the most potent forces influencing learning. Standardized Tests Goals and Strengths Commercially available standardized tests are commonly used by many programs to measure academic achievement of the students. Standardized tests are administered and scored in a standard or consistent manner. They are composed of a set of open ended or constructed responses items meant to measure higher degree of cognitive skills (William, 2006). The manner of scoring is usually predetermined and the procedures, conditions of administration and the interpretations consistent and standard. This consistency in administration and scoring allows more reliable comparison of results across test takers. The use of standardized exams in the U.S started in the 20th century after the Second World War. This was contributed by the need to standardize the highly de-centralized education system. The design of standardized tests is to provide the best match possible to what is viewed as the typical curriculum at a specific grade level. They provide quantifiable information (scores, proficiency levels, etc.) and outcomes that can be used in screening programs, for example, in identifying students whom may require additional assessment (Silbert Hintze, 2005). Using standardized tests is also advantageous because they provide information on a students areas of strength and weakness. Standardized tests also allow a comparison between a student and his peers in the same grade or age, and hence, assess development. These tests can also be used to assess a students progress over time, for instance, by re-administering a test after an intervention or a remedial program. The results of these tests can also be used to generalize a students skills. The results of one test can also be used to measure whether a student is improving uniformly by comparing one subject results with results of a different subject (Silbert Hintze, 2005). Critics Many people are of the view that standardized tests are important because they help measure students using a consistent process, teachers are held more accountable and it becomes easier to understand where problems occur. However, there has been criticism on the social and cultural repercussions of standardized tests. Becker (2001), argues that since these tests are designed by people in a position of power, it is possible for cultural bias against the have nots to arise. Since high performing schools are rewarded, while poorly performing schools are sanctioned by the current system, critics propose that standardized tests reward those at an advantage while the disadvantaged continue to hurt. This system is viewed to be exacerbating the race and class divide in the society through the education system (Burns, Dean Klar, 2004). Another concern is the increasing pressure on teachers to produce high test results. This comes about since teachers will teach for the test purposes instead of exploring approaches that may not produce results onpaper. Research on student achievement has highlighted problem associated with over-reliance on standardized tests. Such tests are now administered at every grade level and success or failure of programs defined in terms of test scores. Teacher and administrator salaries and their job securities are also linked to student performance in the standardized tests. The main areas of criticism are the content of assessment, formatting of items and item bias (Fuchs et al, 1991). Standardized tests generally often rely on multiple-choice questions. This item format provides for greater coverage of content and objective as well as efficient scoring. However, the item of interest by the format is the identification of the right answer. This type of response does not necessarily correspond to the type of responses regularly exhibited by students in the classroom, for example, the acquisition and synthesis of information (Deno, 2003). If the students are not familiar to the structure within which they are required to respond by the item format, then, their test performance may be affected. In another scenario, a student may identify the correct form when it appears as a discrete item in a test format, but use the form incorrectly in communication contexts. In this case, the results of a standardized test may make a student appear more proficient than performance would show (Shapiro, 2004). Inclusion of items that are biased against some kinds of students has also been a cause for criticism. These include ethnic minorities, limited English proficient, rural or inner city students. This criticism is based on the fact that the items reflect the culture, language, and/or the style of learning of the middle class majority (Shapiro, 2004). Test companies have endeavored to remove culture based items in tests, but this omission of questions from a meaningful context has been challenging for minority students. There are arguments that this method only measures superficial knowledge or learning. This is because students can easily cram what they think will appear in the test and fail to give other areas much attention. Standardized tests may also fail to match specific objectives and goals of a program or institution (Klecker, 2000). This therefore makes them more unlikely to provide the most appropriate way to evaluate the program. Criterion referenced data is considered more useful than norm-referenced data, the type produced by standardized tests. This arises from the premises that norm-referenced data does not clearly show the progress of a student over time. Criterion based data also allows easy administration of pre and post tests to measure development, while a standardized test may be cost prohibitive to administer such (Becker, 2001). Norm data may use norms rather than true national sample, thus making it unfair to those taking it. Another challenge is that it may prove difficult to isolate what changes are required since it is more summative than formative. This makes it difficult to identify areas of weaknesses and develop means to assist students with difficulties. In addition, receiving the results on time is also a challenge (Brookhart, 2000). Critics argue that the measures used in standardized tests fail to inform instruction adequately. For some students with disabilities, the standardized administrations may not be possible. Some accommodations may need to be done to allow the disabled students to take some test in the established standardized way (Becker, 2000). However, these accommodations can become modifications to then trait under measurement. The items used in standardized tests are also frequently unrelated to the behaviors and tasks required in a classroom setting. Recommendations for Improvement Non cognitive factors such as fatigue, attention, anxiety, can influence the test results taken at one point in time. These results will therefore be a reflection of the students ability or behavior at that point in time. The results of standardized tests also fail to provide the necessary information required in restructuring curricular or instructional change (Gay Airasian). These procedures also prevent the examiner from determining conditions under which the students performance may improve. Students with a language deficit can be used better to explain the shortcomings of this system. Assessing the performance of these students on their language proficiency will be unfair since their level of performance may be higher if instruction is delivered using a language they are proficient in (Popham, 1999). The goal of education is to produce morally developed citizens who fit well in the society. Education also provides an individual with an opportunity to develop skills and learn how to solve problems. Since people have different skills and abilities, it is important to acknowledge this and provide different forms of evaluating student achievement to avoid bias (Griffin, 1994). Measuring the cognitive (knowledge and understanding), affective (attitudes, beliefs and dispositions) and psychomotor (skills, behaviors and practices) outcomes of a program is important. Cultural, racial, class and gender differences must be taken into account by any assessment task or procedure. In this context, there are strong arguments favoring educators considering using alternative methods of assessing students and evaluating the program (Klecker, 20000. Even as educators continue to use standardized tests, it is necessary to supplement them with other types of assessments. Such additional forms of assessment are; Group Tasks or Activities Student learning can alternatively or supplementary be assessed by their performance on group tasks or activities. For instance, if the written test covered 25 of the 50 items covered, then the students can be put into groups and the remaining 25 items covered. These groups are composed of students who work together to tackle a complex problem or carry out a detailed experiment. The structuring of an appropriate group activity is such that each student has a vital role in the task. Group tasks, like any other authentic cooperative learning activities, should include a combination of individual accountability and group responsibility (Johnson Johnson, 1994). A popular design of group tasks is assigning students to perform an activity as a group. Each student is then expected to produce a written product based on that experience. Most group tasks and activities are used by individual teachers as part of their instructional process, but some large scale assessment systems include them as well. As explained by Popham (1999), they provide information on two key learning goals: They give information on a students ability to apply skills to produce outcomes that can be evaluated. They show a students ability to work with others in a team to find solutions to problems. However, it is important to address the limitations of group tasks and activities. Ensuring involvement of all students in developing group tasks and activities can prove challenging and time consuming (Popham, 1999). Scoring students responses can also be time consuming especially if the class is a large one. With proper planning, group tasks and activities are the best way to assess students if involving students in team work is one of the cognitive goals. Group tasks can also provide an important source of information on complex learning results when paired with specific scoring criteria that students are taught before the group activity (Klecker, 2000). Cooperative groups enhance a students understanding of concepts through interaction with peers verbally. They also provide information to the teacher on the cognitive processes students employ in giving responses. Group tasks are also an important aspect in reinforcing the learning environment in a classroom (Johnson Johnson, 199 4). Portfolios and Other Collection of Students Work These are compilations of students work that show what they have achieved so far. Most portfolios include collections of students written papers and other works completed in their process of learning (William, 2006). These collections demonstrate the progress of a student over the years. This form of assessment encourages the participation of all interested individuals (teachers, students, parents) in the documentation of the learning process. The papers are derived from a students daily classroom work. It involves taking samples of a students work, recording of students observations of learning experiences, and evaluation of students processes and outcomes. Although information from this type of assessment can be used for grading purposes, the main goal is to improve the instruction methods and students learning (Shapiro, 2004). Curriculum Based Assessment Although it falls under criterion-referenced testing, curriculum based assessment is considered an alternative to traditional standardized norm-referenced academic testing. It refers to a measurement that relies on direct observation and recording a students performance in the local curriculum as a basis of gathering information to make instructional decisions (Deno, 2003). Curriculum based assessment (CBA) has also been termed as direct assessment of educational skills, and is based on the assumption that assessment should be on what has been taught. CBA involves repeated measurement of a students academic skills (Linn Grolund, 2000). In each area of learning, probes are selected and used to gauge student performance. The probes are developed from curricular materials available in the students immediate learning environment. CBAs therefore provide a structured method to assess a students performance based on curricular assignments used in their actual learning environment (Brookhar t, 2000). The basic argument underpinning this assessment approach is that in evaluating their progress, students should be observed in their academic environment. Dynamic Assessment This refers to a type of learning assessment that makes use of an active teaching process. The goal of this process is to provide a modification in an individuals cognitive functioning and observe the changes that result in the examinees learning and problem solving strategies. The main goals of dynamic assessment are to: Assess the ability of a student to identify the principles behind a problem and use this understanding to provide a solution. Assess the most appropriate type and amount of teaching required to teach a student a specific principle. Understand any cognitive deficits and non cognitive factors that help explain failure in students performances and whether teaching can modify such factors (Gay Airasian, 1999). Dynamic assessment is a contrast of standardized assessment where examiners present items to examinees without providing any guidance or any other form of intervention designed to improve the students performance (Brookhart, 2000). In static assessment, an individuals deficits and disabilities are accepted and modification is done on the environment to allow the person work within the identified limitations (Johnson, Johnson Holubec, 1994). On the contrary, dynamic assessment is based on active modification where efforts are made to remediate the deficits or provide the individual with alternative strategies to solve probes to supplement their areas of weakness. Conclusion High stakes testing is linked to overreliance on standardized tests as the primary means of assessment and as the principle source of curriculum content. These high stakes testing poses critical consequences to students since use of a single measure (standardized test score) may determine graduation or promotion to the next level. Instructors are now held accountable of students performances (Becker, 2000). Without doubt, testing and accountability are important aspects of a program since assessment practices are the key to accountability and improved teaching processes. However, opposition arises from the use of a single measure of assessment through standardized tests. The decisions regarding progress, promotion and gradation using a single indicator to measure an individuals learning violate the ethics of teaching. The higher the stakes for testing, the greater the emphasis teachers will place on test preparation and teaching to the test as opposed to meaningful learning. Assessment should be driven by innovative curriculum design and effective teaching practices. Other types of assessments should be used to supplement standardized tests to enhance the spirit of research among students. As asserted by Becker (2001), no clear evidence exists that high test scores reflect actual improvement in student learning either at the individual or group level. No single measure can be used as a definitive measure of a students knowledge. Student assessment is constructive if the educational approaches used are research oriented and emphasize on equity in the academic processes. Not all students demonstrate well what they have learnt using standardized tests, biased assessment, policies and practices should not be used since they limit learning opportunities for individuals and hinder curriculum development and teaching. Buy custom Student Assessment and Program Evaluation Process essay

Psychology paper writting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Psychology paper writting - Essay Example SN is recently arrived to America and is living with her sponsor family, an older couple from Nigeria who are attempting to help their former countrymen find a better life. This couple had children in Nigeria, but lost them to disease and starvation before they were able to secure their own passage to America. Having lived in this country for several years, they are now in a position to help others and have determined to do this by offering shelter and support for one child at a time. The ‘family’ lives in a two-bedroom apartment of which SN has one room entirely to herself. SN was provided with education and lessons in English prior to her arrival in America, so she is able to interact with her classmates and keep up with regular classes at the local high school. My interview with SN took place within the apartment she shared with her sponsors. We sat within a very comfortable sofa group in the living room with the television turned off and no other noise happening in the house. Her sponsors were both at work at the time and SN had just returned home from school for the afternoon. Before conducting the interview, I had received agreement from both SN and her sponsors to speak with her about her background and present life and had set up the appointment to be sure everyone knew when it was to take place. SNs sponsors were invited to be present and I was willing to make arrangements to conduct the interview at a time convenient to their schedules if they so desired, but they felt SN would be more open and comfortable if she were permitted to speak without their presence. In making these arrangements, I shared the basic elements of my assignment with them and some of the questions I planned to ask. During the interview, SN sat quietly on the co uch, calmly answering my questions and occasionally expressing strong emotion, particularly when she

Scientific Method Applied to Forensic Science Paper Essay

Scientific Method Applied to Forensic Science Paper - Essay Example The scientific method is applied to forensic science to help forensic scientists gather needed evidence to come to a conclusion about a criminal event. Though it follows the same basic ideas and techniques as the original tried and true scientific method, forensic science has their own tweaked version of the method, which is as follows: observation and description of a phenomenon, or a group of phenomenon; formulation of a hypothesis, or hypotheses, to explain the phenomenon; use of the hypothesis to predict the existence of other phenomenon, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations; â€Å"performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experiments (James, 2009)†. These methods aid forensic scientists in the solving and understanding of the events of criminal investigations. The first step in the forensic scientific method is to observe and describe phenomenon or a group of such. The forensic scientist needs to be able to understand what they are seeing when they are viewing the crime scene and the evidence that they inspect. â€Å"If they describe it wrong or relay the information incorrectly, they will botch the experiment, thus botching the investigation and lessening the chances of solving the crime accurately (Braswell, 2007)†. They have to focus on the entire crime scene, taking in every bit of information that they can and making note and taking pictures of the totality of the scene. The recording of what they find allows them to look back at everything later, giving them the chance to find new evidence that they overlooked during the initial inspection. They have to look at the scene as a whole, breaking the scene up into smaller sections to further their collection of evidence and comprehension of the crime scene. With closer inspection, they can begin to understand what did take place, so all

Bussiness Accounting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Bussiness Accounting - Assignment Example All users will have access to the published accounts of a business such as the accounts filed with the registrar of companies by a limited company. The value of any interpretation of company accounts is restricted by the deficiencies of the accounts themselves as a tool for decision making. Published accounts present a very limited amount of data i.e. depending upon which profit format under the 1985 companies account is chosen a limited company may not disclose cost-of-sales. Another problem that arises in the use of published accounts is that the reporting entity may not be the business unit that the user is concerned with i.e. if a company is engaged in several types of activity then an employee in one particular section of the business unit will not be able assess the employee prospects in that particular part of the business by reference to the published account of the company as a whole. b. Assets consumed are recorded as expenses in the profit statement as historical cost although the cost of replacement will be higher. Therefore it is argued that the profit figure is over-stated in terms of real increase in value obtained by businesses. d. c. Assets shown in the balance sheet are recorded as historical cost although as a result of price level changes, though their current value may be substantially higher d. The contents of published financial statements are largely prescribed by the companies acts(supplemented by SSAPs and FRSs ) most organizations treat the companies act as the maximum disclosure requirement and do not give much information to outsider on the grounds of confidentiality and maintaining competitive advantage. e. Published accounts look backwards usually into the past year ,so they are of limitedvalue to people who want to estimate future performance. The current drawbacks deriving information from Current system of published accounts are: a. A lack of sufficient conceptual framework where results are shown in arguably over-complex rules and processes and ultimately in a failure to meet the need of those who are using the accounts. b. Information overload is potentially as much a problem as is sufficient information the complexity of the accounting principles also contribute toteh uncertainty and lack of information by users. c. A continuing problem is the historical focus of accounting which reduces the relevance for users who are most likely to be interested in the future prospects of the company. Solutions to the problem of gathering reliable information from published accounts for financial users: Though the traditional legal model is arguably the more conservative and gives primacy to shareholders'. The current accounting standards debates indicates that at-least recognition of other group interests. A broad range of potential information users gives rise to several questions relevant to a disclosure regime. It is appropriate to

A Case Study Of Turner Hotel Tourism Essay

A Case Study Of Turner Hotel Tourism Essay Front desk job of any hotel is very important from hotel sales point of view. Marketing and sales department is called revenue generator. Front desk job is part of the marketing department so its directly linked with revenue generation activities of a hotel. An employee working as front desk employee is having direct interaction with the guests. So it becomes very important for that employee to have all the chief characteristics of a good salesperson. A good sales person can convert first time guest in to repeat business guest by make him or happy and achieve customer satisfaction. This is the hospitality and customer demand only that can be kept in mind while handling customers at front desk that will bring customer satisfaction. Desired hospitality and less cumbersome process of check in and checkout will bring customer satisfaction. Working as a Front office manager or staff, first of all he or she should consider the available resources of the hotel concerned which need to be foc used to the materialization of the business. Good salesmanship is all about selling own product with acceptance of the customers. Whatever product one have, a good salesperson will sale that product and make feel to the customers that this is the right product he/she was looking for. This is simply quality of a sales person that he or she will find out the budget of a customer while conversation and offer the product that give within the budget feel to the customer. While conversation it is the quality of a salesperson to explain the facilities of the product to the customer that will again give feel of the right product customer was looking for. ( Abbott, P and Lewry, S (1999)) Customer relationship management is new concept in the field of any business. So it is the quality of a good salesmanship that helps in effective implementation and management of customer relationship in the hotel organization. In this competitive world getting new business, is a big challenge, so hotel organization believes in repeated business from the same clientele. With the help of knowledge and smartness in work of a salesperson-customer relationship is possible. These days it is being managed by ecommerce so knowledge of ecommerce to the front desk employee can be added quality of a good salesmanship and it will bring the business from existing clientele. If an organization utilizes the available resources properly, Implementation of yield management will make major changes in the hotel. It will bring maximum market shares of the city concerned. Guest generally always looks for the comfortable stay and the luxury facilities for their money. It is the quality that always speaks better than any other advertisement. So if front desk employee gives proper feedback to the hotel, hotel can maintains the quality towards the tariff and the interiors which will bring the maximum revenue within a short period. So it is the benefits of the good salesmanship. So as conclusion author would like to say that good salesmanship is very important while performing duty of front office department of hotel industry because it helps hotel not only to get good business but maintaining relationship with customers and feedback to the hotel for up gradation of its quality of product and services as well. Q.1 (2) Explain, with examples what selling techniques you might use when checking in a guest. Overall selling technique depends upon salesmanship and kind of guest but in general a front desk person has to apply his or her selling skills keeping in mind normal procedure of check in. Selling techniques for checking guest is nothing but a quality of good salesperson. A salesperson should be very friendly and caring to the guest so that customer will be satisfied. Sales person should use up sell technique first while explaining price of the available rooms, followed by prestigious pricing and cut rate pricing. Along with this salesperson should explain how brilliant the facilities are within the room to justify the price of the room. There may be a case that same room can be sold at different price. It is the duty of a good salesperson to find out the level of desire of the customer for the product he or she is asking for and charge price accordingly. During heavy demand of the accommodation it totally depends upon front desk employee-salesperson to maximize the yield of accommodation by selling the same product at different prices as per the customer profile and need. Being a good salesman a front office employee can suggest various pricing techniques-top down pricing, prestigious pricing, cut rate pricing etc, to the hotel to maximize its yield. So it is the quality of a salesperson to identify and recognize the level of demand and ability of a customer to pay for the same accommodation and fixed the price accordingly. (Abbott, P and Lewry, S (1999)) For example if there is arrival of guest first of all front desk person should handle the guest with friendly approach, asking for the kind of room he/she is looking for then explain the kind of room available with its pricing. First of all salesperson should try to sell the room at higher price than depending upon the negotiation skill of the salesperson and the budget of customer price can be prestigious or if required and supported by the market sentiment it can be cut rate price be fixed. After this negotiation skill guest should be registered and room should be assigned promptly. As per the situation if needed guest will be assisted in completing registration process. Then there will be verification of method of payment to be made by the guest-whether cheque, cash, card or payment by company etc. and then guest will be escorted to the room Q.2. Discuss the type of check in system that you would expect to see at the turner Hotel. Hotel Turner is a big chain of Hotel with 297 rooms hotel located in Central London. It is part of a well reputed group of hotels with 12 hotels running successfully in London and other major European cities. 42% of its clientele is corporate. Only 8% and 14% amount to walk-ins and leisure guests respectively. For this type of hotel, front office system should enable reception staff to make sure of keeping record of all bookings, position of accommodations, detailed about guests and amount billed and received as well. Hotel Turner would also require a system that should provide way to communicate with all travel agents and activity operators linked to the online reservation system. Hospitality management systems are the applications/ modules that smoothens a hospitality business. From the room service system in a restaurant, to online reservation and an easy and fast check in procedure, it enables efficient communication and management of operation, eventually growing business and revenue. (www.wikianswers.com) Features that Hotel Turner should possessed are includes: Date wise arrival and departure reports. Details of reservation and Guest ledger which should contains notes on special activities etc. Feature should make sure the availability of printers to print the guest cards to provide to guest. Provision to arrange different room to the guest. There should be a perfect system to integrate the bill of different department like-restaurants, spa, gift shop, etc. While check out all the possible payment option should offer to the guest so that inconvenience could be avoided. Hotel Turner should have a system that can be efficiently used for online reservation system. This type of software package is essential as per the hotels cancellation and Guarantee policy. Q.3how would the check in procedures differ when dealing with? (a) A guest with a reservation Usually guest check in procedure for reserved guest and chance guest is same except for slight variations. Check in procedures for a guest with a reservation will be as follows: Receive the guest with a smile, and greet according to the time. Check if he/she is holding reservation Get the guest registration card and fill it up with all the necessary and required details of the guest. Fill up the key and the welcome card If the guest is a foreigner, get the C form and fill it up. Allot the accommodation Fill the arrival register Preparation of information slips and then the same has to be sent to the different departments like telephones, room service and housekeeping etc. Open guest folio In case of VIP,etc. inform all the departments Pre-registration also involves room and rate assignment and creation of guest folio apart from producing registration card. There are many steps of registration process, because its little differs from hotel to hotel but mainly these are the six steps common to all the hotels: Course of action that is to be done before registration. Formality of making registration record. Offering the room. Then payment options could offer and fixed as per the convenience of the guest. Once above has been done then room key can be given. (b) A chance guest In the case when guest is a chance guest the process of check in would almost be same except some cases. Like as guest is a chance guest so there will be no earlier reservation done for the guest so in this case first of all as process front desk person should check for availability of rooms and there will be efforts to create room for him or her. Rest of the process like fill up the key and allotting the accommodation escorting till the room will be similar. There may be a case that in case of a chance guest a front desk employee has to utilize his or her negotiation skill for the price of the room as per the level of need of the room by the guest. This is the skill of the employee to materialize the opportunities then and there. So overall the difference in check in procedures for a guest with a reservation and a chance guest is not much- the only thing is role of a front desk person becomes very important because while negotiation and first interaction a materialization of an oppo rtunity can happen. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Q.4. Explain the necessity of overbooking and its legal implications in relation to Turner Hotel. The term overbooking is concerned with a situation which shows booking of the room have done excessively than the actual available room with the hotel. In general hotel does this because of reaching 100% occupancies. Hotel books over rooms than the available one with historic information and trend which includes unexpected cancellation. It is the synonyms of over commitment and oversold. No show has been a major cause of concern for the hotels all over the world. It amounts to major loss of revenue. However, no-shows and the early departures of the guests still continue to cost hotel money. Although reservation guarantee through the credit cards compensates hotels for only one nights stay in the case of a no-show, but the hotel still needs to recover for a loss of revenue incase that no-show guest had a multiple-night reservation. (http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals) Because of this panorama of no-shows and early departures, the hotel turner must unavoidably engage in some level of overbooking to help ensure that those potentially unsold rooms are filled. As we all know, hoteliers who occasionally overbook might have to walk guests once hotel is full. (http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals) Overbooking is very important element of the yield management. Generally hotels overbook to create backup of cancellations and no-shows. It is a kind of compensating the unexpected loss of the hotel. For this very reason, it is mandatory to forecast cancellations and no-shows. Inefficient overbooking generally results in unsold and unutilized inventory (rooms) while on the other hand excessive overbooking results in penalty cost which includes both the financial and prospective loss of the future revenue from the same customer and others due to customer dissatisfaction and the subsequent bad word of mouth. The optimal level of overbooking is where the anticipated cost of overbooking for the next unit to be sold is equal to the expected marginal revenue from that unit. (http://www.decisioncraft.com/dmdirect/revenue_management.htm) While the hotel industry attempts to portray overbooking as an economic necessity and legitimizes the process by attempts to provide guests with alternative accommodations, the hotels have failed to address the true effect and implicit costs association with the practice. Primarily because it is left to the individual state authoritys to regulate the industry. (http://legaldefinition.us) As far as Turner Hotel is concerned from the view point of overbooking, it is advisable not to go for overbooking because there will be breach of contract between hotel and its guests. But from the view point of business and maximizing revenue, it the only way to proceed little aggressively to achieve 100% occupancy. This is because after advance booking there is chances of cancellation of reservation as well, even if payment has been made in advance hotel organization has to bear loss for the foregone opportunities in case of booking not done. So keeping in mind these things and profit maximization it can be done equal to the normal trend of cancellation. Hotel Turner must find a room for everyone who has a reservation and shows up on time to save themselves from any legal complications. Q.5 a) Explain the benefits to a hotel of accepting group bookings? Group booking is simply acceptance of bulk business. In group bookings both the parties-customers as well as hotel can be benefitted. Customer gets benefit of low rates of the rooms due to the bulk booking and on the other hand hotel gets bulk business at a time so even at a less room cost per person hotel welcomes this kind of deal to get instant business and achieves its 100% occupancies. A group reservation is for a block of rooms in a hotel. The block of rooms can be for a convention, a meeting, a special event, a tour group (as in present case of hotel turner), or various other reasons. A group reservation can be as small as 5 rooms to thousand rooms depending on the size of the hotel. Usually every hotel has different norms and parameters for considering a booking as group booking, which generally depends on the number of rooms booked. By booking rooms in large quantities, the group receives a lower rate. Hotel is benefitted in this as they get business in bulk and their occupancy percentage increases giving them a competitive edge over their competitors. Group booking also makes the reservation process easy and hassle free for both; the guest as well as the front office associates. Usually when a group reservation is made a code is generated which is specific to that group and each reservation should include this code. To ensure that reservations get coded to the proper group and that correct rates are offered, the person taking the reservation should always inquire if the guest is part of that particular group. Bulk booking is beneficial to the hotel that is similar to any other business organization where organization gets benefits of bulk business. It is the deal that gives instant cash but per head cost becomes cheaper for the customer and organization both. But from organization point of view it is the instant cash that attracts bulk business and so to the hotel organizations. Other benefit of bulk booking is that there will be less chances of cancellation. In case of individual business if there is cancellation of the booking it is completely loss to the hotel organization. Buta chance of this kind of loss due to cancellation is very less because of concrete plan of the entire group. In group bookings even if one or two persons are not coming there will be almost no impact to the business because of the compact deal for the entire group-this may depends upon case to case, bulk booking is definitely good for the hotel organization. Q.5 b) what factors should the turner Hotel Front Office manager consider when deciding whether to accept the reservation request from Excelsior Tours? Group revenue management is evolving quickly. Revenue managers typically set guidelines for size and rate objectives based upon projected demand for higher valued transient demand. These criterions should be regularly reviewed and revised in hotel Turner. Even if a group request falls outside the preset parameters of the hotel, managers should still evaluate the request. (http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-micro-price-discrimination.html) The basic objective of revenue management is to maximize yields. Acceptance of group bookings would be a great contribution towards achieving the basic objective of revenue management. So first of all Front office Manager of turner hotel should consider the objective of maximizing revenue of the hotel so keeping in mind this objective he or she should accept the offered group bookings. While deciding whether to accept the reservation request of 40 double occupancy rooms for 3 nights 4 days from Excelsior Tours, Hotel Turner should look into the room rate, which is currently GBP 300 on single occupancy. Among the major advances in Revenue Management technology is the incorporation of demand price- responsiveness for any property at any time period and for any market segment, including group. Other than the group being considered, front office manager must consider that this hotel might only have transient demand for these three days. Assuming that even if the forecasted demand shows that hotel can pick up 145 transient rooms each day at an average rate of GBP 320, which would give the 95% occupancy. Considering these assumed factors we can plot a line that shows incremental contribution at any given price point. From this hypothetical analysis, one can see that there will be break even (no profit no loss situation) with the group at a GBP 230 rate, and that one could generate an incremental contribution. This approach says all about the factors of accepting a group at a requested rate. Some more information is required to decide whether group booking should be accepted or not? This information is present occupancy level of the hotel. This information would have very helpful in deciding the acceptance of the deal. BIBLIOGRAPHY Abbott, P and lewry ,S (2002). Front Office Procedure, Social Skill, Yield and Management ,2nd edition , Burlington; Elsevier Hotel Front Office Management  By James A. Bardi Hotel Management and Operations by Michael J. OFallon, Denney G. Rutherford, International Encyclopedia of Hospitality Management by Abraham Pizam Robert. J, (1993), Marketing for the Hospitality Industry,kent,hodder Stoughton ltd. The Cornell School of Hotel Administration Handbook of Applied Hospitality Strategy by Cathy A. Enz, Sage 2010 Verginis, S. and c. wood R. (2002) Accommodation management perspective for the international hotel industry , London (U.K) ;Thomas Yeomand, I and ingold,A (1997) Yield Management Strategies for the service industries,great Britain. http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-micro-price-discrimination.html) accessed on 27/11/2010 http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals) accessed on 02/01/2011 www.wikianswers.com)accessed on 2/01/2011 HOUSE KEEPING Question Part B Question No. (1) Role, duties and importance of housekeeping department. Housekeeping department is the most important part of any hotel. Housekeeping is responsible for maintaining the cleanliness, maintenance and the up keeping of all the rooms and the common areas in a hotel. No one wants to live in a hotel which is dirty hence this function has great importance for generating business. Since the hotel industry is highly competitive hence excellent service and cleanliness has an ever lasting impact on the guests and determines whether they will come again. Housekeeping aims to keep the hotel clean and comfortable so that the guests keep coming back again and again. M.N.Ahmed (2005) A hotel guest spends about one third of his stay in the room. The design and layout of the room and the furniture in the room is very important in comfortable stay and a good impression. Cleanliness of the room, linen, room supplies, comfortable bedding etc. are the main functions of the department. Besides the room housekeeping also has to look after the other area like bathrooms and toilets, stairways, common rooms, floral arrangements, laundries and dry cleaning, maintaining gardens, hotel walls and boundaries and other public areas. Medlik Ingram (1980) The layout of the housekeeping department varies from hotel to hotel and it depends on the size and physical space. It also depends on the anticipated business. The largest workforce of the hotel belongs to the housekeeping department. The housekeeping department can have the following staff depending on the size of hotel, executive housekeeper, assistant housekeeper, uniform room supervisor, uniform room attendants, helpers, linen room supervisor, linen room attendant, floor supervisor, public area supervisor, Executive Housekeepers Assistant Housekeepers Linen keeper Florist Floor Housekeepers Assistants Linen maids House porters Valets Room maids Staff maids Cleaners www.city-of-hotels.com Executive Housekeeper manages the entire housekeeping function of a hotel. This is a very responsible position. An executive housekeeper has to cooperate with other department heads hence; the person must have a good rapport within the organization and must possess good organizing skills. An executive housekeeper must have an eye for detail and be committed to the various training and development needs of the people working under him. [www.city-of-hotels.com] The various duties that an executive housekeeper needs to perform are: Responsible for cleanliness and appearance of hotel rooms and common areas in the hotel. Neat and clean appearance of employees, facilities, corridors, linen, shopping area, gardens and the area outside of the hotels. Hiring and training of the employees. Maintaining discipline among the employees and motivating the employees so that they perform their job well. Having a good knowledge of labour relations so that the employees do not overburden with work as per the regulations. Proper training of the employees so that they follow all the guidelines and give the best service to the customers. Executive housekeeper is also responsible for developing the standard procedures which has to be followed in the hotel. A standard procedure helps to prevent confusion, maintain discipline among the employees and also helps in performing all the activities smoothly without error. Maintaining good relations with other departments. Housekeeping is dependent on other departments like sales to anticipate future demand, purchasing to get the equipment etc. Hence a good relation with other department heads will help in smooth functioning and prevent last minute surprises. Executive housekeeper is responsible for personally inspecting the entire facility. This inspection has to be on a regular basis withoutfailure. Surprise inspections are also required to keep things in order. He/she is responsible for inspecting all the areas, linen in the hotel. He/she has to pay special attention for maintaining a pest free and hygienic environment. Executive housekeeper has to work closely with the General Manager and update him on the day to day activities in the hotel and also on the plans for any special events in the hotel. Executive housekeeper also has to keep a track of the lost and found items in the hotel. These items can be normal to very expensive. These have to safely kept and also handed over to the owner in the best condition. Executive housekeeper is responsible for preparation of the annual housekeeping budget and then submits it to the general manager for approval. Executive housekeepers also need to manage the suppliers of the housekeeping items and recommend the good suppliers to the purchasing department. Apart from the above the executive housekeeper also needs to check the incoming orders, inventory of the items, quickly attend to complaints, having the preventive maintenance of all the housekeeping items, and always motivating his employees to give their best. [Hotel house Keeping training manual, Sudhir Andrews, TMH 2005 ] Question No. (2) Summary of the main requirements for- Honeymooners, Retired Couples, Disabled customers, Families, Business travellers. The needs of the guests in a hotel are very individualistic. They vary from each other. The hotels classify the guests in various segments so as to cater to their specific needs. The hotel must have a good knowledge about each segment and their special needs. This knowledge will help them to have the facilities in place to cater to the needs as and when they arise. Honeymooners This segment consist of the couples aged between 25 to 39 years. This segment has their own unique needs. This segment focuses more on the comfort solutions that can be enjoyed by them during their stay with the hotel. [www.tourism.australia.com]. the people in this segment look out for an unforgettable experience. Apart from the stay they also look forward to visiting places and sightseeing. The hotel has to specially plan for this segment like royal room accommodation arrangement, flower decoration, romantic dinner night, access to special recreational facilities, sightseeing city tours and most importantly; taking care that they have minimum disturbance from the housekeeping staffs during their stay. Apart for all these any special needs also have to be catered so that the people have a nice stay. (www.honeymooninindia.com. ) Retired Couples This segment consist of couples whose age is about 60 years. This segment has specific needs which vary widely from other segments. Although this segment has a good spending power still it is price sensible and wants value for money. They want a good place to stay with peaceful environment. They do not want nightlife instead prefer to have a walk in the morning and evening. The hotel has to take care of their food recreation requirements. They might need special food due to health reasons. They also might need a doctor during their stay. The housekeeping also has to regularly check with them so as to cater to their needs. The facilities also have to be arranged in a different way so that the usage is not a problem. Disabled customers This segment has very special needs. They need lot of care and attention. The hotel needs to understand their disability and give respect and great attention to their needs. They might need a wheelchair and a doctor. These customers generally come with family member or helper so the need to the assistant also has to be taken care. The devices like television, washing and toilet equipments might have to adjust so that the customers can use them without any difficulty. Families value for money and affordability are the needs of this segment. The customers in this segment consist of husband, wife and kids. The customer looks for good and healthy meal for them and their kids. Recreation facilities for the kids like games and various sports for kids. Business Travellers The business travellers represent a large chunk of customers for the hotel industry. This segment includes people who travel on business representing commercial, industrial and governmental organizations. In case of business travellers the peak business demand is experienced from Monday to Friday nights. The reasons for visiting is for conducting business with a local company or for recruiting, training, management meetings, and stopping over between destinations. This segment needs special food, beverage and desserts, nightlife and good facility for meetings and conferences. The hotel also needs to have facilities for video conferencing, Wi-Fi facilities with good bandwidth. Female business travellers The needs of female business travellers are similar to the male business travellers. The special need of this segment is around safety. The ladies might have to travel at night. The hotel has to provide a cab which takes them to their destination safely. The hotel staffs also need to have a good idea about the city so that they can guide the lady if she wants to see places. The hotel can also look at having lady staff for catering to these customers. It is generally observed that the housekeeping staffs are common for the hotel rooms. By keeping lady housekeeping staffs for female customers would help in proper differentiation of the hotel. This would help to showcase that the hotel tries to cater to even the smallest of the details. Question No. (3). Suggest some strategies which the hotel might use to identify the needs and wants of its customers. Todays business environment is very turbulent, aggressive and highly competitive. The hospitality industry is characteristized by intense competition, constant changes, and a relatively high incidence of failure. These factors not only decide the firms profitability but also decide its survival. There is intense competition in terms of quality, price and market share, and environmental factors. To increase the market share the hotels need additional expenditure. At times the business might need to look at mergers. The hotels have been forced to relook at their existing managerial techniques, assumptions and philosophies. The hotels are not only looking at innovative sales and marketing strategies but are also looking at improving the operational efficiency. During the growth stage the hotels might do well without investing properly in service quality and marketing. The second stage is the maturity stage where the hotels have to deal with intense competitive environment. In this stage the survival requires to deal with intense competition, acquiring customers and to become more effective and efficient. In addition to the increasing concentration, there seems to be a trend towards upgrading quality and maintaining market share, while divesting out of problematic properties. In 1979, Holiday Inns and Sheraton, both among the leaders of the industry, were less concerned with growth and more concerned with improving the quality of properties. (Wyckoff and Sasser, 1981). This proves that the hotels have to develop innovative strategies to gain market share and redefine competition in terms of brand image and quality. The few things that a hotel can do to identify the needs and wants of its customers are objective setting, environmental analysis, organizational analysis, assessment, GAP analysis, Strategic choice and implementation. The hotel apart from improving the operational efficiency and marketing also needs to understand the needs and wants of its customers so that it is easier to get these customers. The hotel experience for a customer starts right from the moment he attempts to do the booking for the stay. The booking can be online or physically at the hotel. In case of online booking there are few important things that must be considered. All the details related to the hotel must be available on the website so that the customer can plan better. The transaction must be safe and quick. The customer must also be acknowledged on confirmation of booking. Every hotel must have CRM enabled s

Censorship on the Community Essay

The Effect of Censorship on the Community and People in the Novel â€Å" Fahrenheit 451† The Novel Fahrenheit 451 exploited censorship and all the negative thing that can occur when a society is censored. There were many examples in this novel. In the Novel Guy Montag finds out that censorship is a big part of his community and realizes that has a negative effect and need to be abolished before it changes humans for good. â€Å"If you hide your ignorance, no one will hit you and you’ll never learn.†(Ray Bradbury). This quote is stating that since books are censored and people in Montag’s area cannot read, they will not gain intelligence. They are hiding their ignorance by refusing to read books. Books hold information and many things that can open someone’s eyes to the world to understand it. In this novel there are no books aloud, and if a citizen has a book or books, the books are burned to ashes inside the home. The community lives in fear of fir efighters. Montag is a firefighter who loves burning books, at first, but then runs into a stranger who changes his perspective. As Ray Bradbury said â€Å"we were putting one foot in front of the other†(Ray Bradbury). That is exactly what the Clarisse was doing when she ran into Montag. Clarisse doesn’t believe in all the censorship and act different from the rest of the future community. She doesn’t believe in the books, the schools, and the television programs being censored. The television programs keep people away from the books and the schools teach students that books are bad and not needed. The schools also censored what the kids were able to do and the activities they participated in. Society lives in fear in the novel Fahrenheit 451. Towards the middle of the novel, the fire fighter, Montag realizes that censorship is wrong and starts collecting books on his own. He soon starts going against society and all the censorship. He starts reading the books and tries to get his wife to read them as well. Soon the fire fighters turn on him and make him burn don’t his own house. This shows the censorship causes distrust, fear, injustice, and the breaking of bonds on a society. After he burns his own house, he ends up killing his boss because of how he acts and Montag realizes that his boss might actually want t die. The censorship has killed society. It causes violence, ignorance, wars, and people who live in fear or cowardly. Many civilians are violent and commit suicide also no one seems to care because it has become normal. No one seems to care about others and society is in a cave. In Conclusion censorship has a terrible effect on the community in Fahrenheit 451. All the extra problems and violence is unneeded. It is all caused by the deep cave that censorship brought the place into. The only way the help is by reading the books so the spread of knowledge can occur. The community is always on the brink of war with jets flying around and bomb shelters everywhere. The effect of censorship doesn’t lead to anything good, and is always going to end up with a bad ending. The Novel Fahrenheit 451 shows a perfect example of what censorship does to a society. The school becomes a violent place and the people that are supposed to help people stop caring. Plus all the serious things are taken for nothing as it becomes a casual normal thing for people to harm themselves or commit suicide. Censorship is terrible and shouldn’t be able to happen anywhere. Everyone should be able to have their own views and opinions on a wide variety of topics. The more people express their ideas the more the world will grow and knowledge will spread. People will become wise, more intelligent, and more willing to learn what other people have to share. This Novel is the perfect example of censorship is a terrible thing. Work Cited Bradbury, Ray D. † Fahrenheit 451.† Ray Bradbury | Books. Harper Collins, 2001. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. . â€Å"Bradbury On Fahernheit 451.† Interview by Haper Collins. RayBradbury. Haper Collins, 2001. Web. 20 Sept. 2012. . Bradbury, Ray. â€Å"Fahrenheit 451 Quotes.† By Ray Bradbury. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2012. .

Critique of a research paper Essay

Issues that are to be studied during a research are usually expressed in a statement referred to as a research problem or research question (Lawn et al 2010). The researcher needs to have enough knowledge concerning the field in which he or she wants to contact a research in order for him or her to be able to come up with a research problem which is strong enough to be studied (Manzoni et al 2009; Partridge & Dickey, 2009). The researcher is supposed to come up with ideas which have not yet been researched on or which needs further development for him or her to be able to come up with a researchable topic. In most cases the research question or problem helps the public to have better insights in the studied field and even fills some knowledge gaps that may be existing in that field. Thus researchers are supposed to do thorough research to know what has already been researched on for them to be in a better position to make some improvement on the knowledge that exists. The problem to be studied should be significant to the general public and the professionals in the field of study. According to this study the research problem was: the impact of poor essential newborn care practices on neonatal mortality in rural Karnataka. This research problem is relevant in any medical profession since it addresses an important issue, which affects many healthcare systems in the world (Lawn et al 2010). As outlined in the paper many neonatal deaths occurs yearly resulting from careless or lack of knowledge on how to take care of these neonatal. Even though the authors point out that some research has been performed on this research topic, they point out the need to understand the local settings of concerned regions for better interventions to be undertaken since child birth is often tightly linked to traditions of concerned communities especially in the developing countries like India. Thus their research problem is still relevant given that no research has been done in such settings. Research design The case study research has employed both qualitative and quantitative research design. In qualitative research designs, answers are given to experiences related to humans (Kain, Gardner & Yates, 2009). Concepts like grounded theory, ethnography, case studies and phenomenology are covered in qualitative research designs (Manzoni et al 2009). This study used interviews to collect data. The interviews were recorded in text form which is a characteristic of qualitative research. Thus the research qualifies to be described as qualitative. The concepts covered in the study were ethnography and grounded theory. This is because in the paper, the researchers consider different ethnic groups found in rural Karnataka. Furthermore, the participants were interviewed on various cares they offer to neonatal after birth hence this cover the grounded theory concept since giving care is a social responsibility. Therefore the researchers were trying to answer the question on how different birth attendants carry out their services to newborns in rural Karnataka. Quantitative research involves collection of data in numerical form. The authors claim to have used this design to obtain preliminary data for carrying out qualitative research. Even though the authors state that they used quantitative research design it is not clearly stated the data collected since the paper only talks of administration of questionnaires of which we are not told the kind of information that was to be collected. Justification of use of both qualitative and quantitative research designs From the authors’ point of view, the use of quantitative design was aimed at providing evidence for need to carry out the qualitative research (Lawn et al 2010). It is also pointed out that the quantitative research confirmed earlier research on the same issue on neonatal mortality. Thus it seems the quantitative research was done to also confirm earlier studies on mortality related to newborn. On the other hand, the use of qualitative design is justified. This is because; obtaining data such as on breastfeeding, place of delivery, delivery hygiene, cord cutting, cord care, asphyxia and thermal care can only be done using qualitative methodology. Recruitment of study participants Recruitment of participants was based on pregnancy. All those who were pregnant and those who became pregnant during study period were allowed to voluntarily participate in the study. The study employed proactive research design for sampling purposes. This was used to prevent recall biases, which are common in retrospective research designs. Data collection Interviews, focused group discussions and questionnaires were used to collect data from eleven villages within rural Karnataka (Kain, Gardner & Yates, 2009). The method used to choose these villages is not stated in the paper and thus we do not know whether it was done using statistical methods or not. Interviews which were done were semi structured (Partridge & Dickey, 2009). They were thirty nine in total with thirteen targeting mothers who had delivered recently, ten targeting grandmothers, nine targeting birth attendants and seven targeting informants. The interviews to mothers lacked specificity in time frame especially to mothers who had delivered and therefore could have been prone to errors. In addition the authors do not outline on how they come with the different numbers that they administered the interviews to. Thus, the numbers may not be statistically significant. The five different questionnaires were administered to pregnant mothers at different times. Three of the questionnaires were administered prior to parturition, one was administered within five days after delivery and the last questionnaire was administered during postnatal period. It is not clear on how those involved in the delivery of the questionnaires knew when the mothers had given birth to administer them on time. In addition, the significance of the number of questionnaires administered is not justified statistically. Eight focused group discussions were undertaken in the study. Of these, three were among groups of mothers, two were among elders and one was carried out among birth attendants. The group discussions may have been exaggerated by some participants and therefore some of this data may be unreliable to some extent. Furthermore the choice of the number of discussion and the number of participants in the group discussion is not explained hence may be statistically insignificant (Jatana et al 2010). Data analysis From the paper, the authors state that they carried out framework in the analysis of their data. This is a type of data analysis is majorly used in the analysis of qualitative data. The versatility of the method allows it to be used in different qualitative data analysis. This method allows organization of data into structured transcripts. Credibility, auditability and fittingness The truths about the findings as judged by participants constitute the credibility of the study (Lawn et al 2010). This study is credible to some extent given that the source of data used to make the conclusion is not one, that is, pregnant mothers, birth attendants and grandmothers are utilized to get credible data (Kain, Gardner & Yates, 2009). However, the choice of the numbers of those involved in interviews, group discussions and the number of questionnaires administered raises credibility issues on the research. Thus, clarity is required pertaining these issues in related studies. If the information presented in the report is accountable then the research is auditable. The coherent of the report determines the auditability of the research paper. The authors of this paper tried their best to remain focused on the problem issue. Thus the paper is auditable. If the participants are faithful then the paper is fitting. From the excerpts from the interviews presented in the paper, the participants seem to be real in relation to daily realities. Thus, the paper is fitting. References Lawn, J. , Mwansa-Kambafwile, J. , Horta, B. , Barros F. & Cousens, S. (2010). ‘Kangaroo mother care’ to prevent neonatal deaths due to preterm birth complications. International Journal of Epidemiology, 39(Suppl_1): i144-i154. Kain, V. , Gardner, G. & Yates, P. (2009). Neonatal palliative care attitude scale: Development of an instrument to measure the barriers to and facilitators of palliative care in neonatal nursing. Pediatrics, 123(2): e207-e213 Jatana, K. , Oplatek, A. , Stein, M. , Philips, G. , Kang, R. & Elmaraghy, C. (2010). Effects of nasal continuous positive airway pressure and cannula use in the neonatal intensive care unit setting. Archives of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, 136(3): 287-291.

4 Types of Reference Books You Didnt Know You Need

4 Types of Reference Books You Didnt Know You Need 4 Types of Reference Books You Didn’t Know You Need 4 Types of Reference Books You Didn’t Know You Need By Mark Nichol OK, it’s time to conduct an inventory of your reference library to ensure that you have a comprehensive collection at hand. Dictionary? Check. Thesaurus? Mm-hmm. Compendium of famous quotations? Right. Visual dictionary? (Silence.) You’re telling me you don’t have a visual dictionary? Before you get too self-conscious, I’ll let you off the hook: You don’t have to own your own visual dictionary. But you should know where to find this type of resource, and three others, at your local library, or you simply must do some online research and see what electronic simulacra you can discover. 1. Visual Dictionaries The four books listed here are all superior guides to the names of physical objects and their components. Does a scene in your novel require you to distinguish the parts of a plane? Do you need to know the difference in home construction between a rafter and a joist? What is the base of a horse’s neck called? A visual dictionary knows all: The Macmillan Visual Dictionary, Jean-Claude Corbeil Merriam-Webster’s Visual Dictionary, Merriam-Webster What’s What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World, Reginald Bragonier Jr. Ultimate Visual Dictionary, DK Publishing 2. Guides to Symbolism These five volumes, and others, will enlighten you about the religious, mythological, and folkloric significance of symbols. Perhaps you want to strew visual metaphors throughout your novel. Or you want to avoid cliched occult symbols in your supernatural thriller, and want to find something unusual. Or you want to make sure your medieval mystery accurately describes a cross without anachronistic errors. Follow the signs to these sources about symbology: An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, by J. C. Cooper Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them, Hans Biedermann 1,001 Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Imagery and Its Meaning, Jack Tresidder The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, Jean Chevalier Reverse Symbolism Dictionary: Symbols Listed by Subject, Steven Olderr 3. Guides to Hierarchies Do you know the order of succession among Cabinet officials in the United States in case the president, vice president, and Speaker of the House are all incapacitated? Is a battalion bigger, or smaller, than a regiment? What’s higher up the taxonomic scale a phylum, or a family? The Order of Things: How Everything in the World Is Organized into Hierarchies, Structures, and Pecking Orders, Barbara Ann Kipfer, will set you straight. 4. Reverse Dictionaries Flip Dictionary, Barbara Ann Kipfer, is the best of the class of reference books known as reverse dictionaries, for when you know how to describe something but can’t think of the word. One of the qualities that set it apart is the numerous charts and tables that group things by subject. The Describer’s Dictionary: A Treasury of Terms Literary Quotations, David Grambs, is a similar work that’ll help you transfer a word from the tip of your tongue to paper or the computer screen. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Book Reviews category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts"Wracking" or "Racking" Your Brain?Honorary vs. Honourary

death penalty1 essays

death penalty1 essays Once upon a time, there was a man who sacrificed for a country by going to a war. Years later, when the war was over, luckily the man came home alive, but he wasnt mentally well. Time past. He started getting confused between his real life and the life during the war. Finally, he committed a murder, while thinking that he was still at war. Unfortunately, a government wants to put the man on the death row for the crime that he committed. Does this sound familiar to you? Yes, this tragedy story is not a fiction. It really took place in Oakland. The man was put on death row, and finished his life in a prison. After I heard this story, I started thinking, Is this why we have a capital punishment? I strongly disagree with capital punishment, because of the statistics that Ill state in next couple of paragraphs shows well that even though we execute the criminals and put them on death row still does not reduce the numbers of crimes. In next paragraphs, Ill even talk about how c riminals were executed. It was very inhumane how people were killed, and still do not do any good to reducing numbers of crimes. First of all, lets take a look at the history of capital punishment. There are 38 states that currently authorize the death penalty. According to Justice Center Web Site, Daniel Frank was the first known execution in the United States of America. He was putted to death in 1622 in the Colony of Virginia for committing a theft. Even though, there was a capital punishment in 1622, the death penalty statistics werent collected until 1930. Also, the article states that during 1930 to 1967, 3,859 persons were executed, and 54 percent of those executed were black, 45 percent were white, and the one- percent was American Indians, Filipino, Chinese, and Japanese. In addition to that, the majority of them were men, and only 32 women were executed during those years. Even though thousand ...

Eastern Food Restaurant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Eastern Food Restaurant - Essay Example To meet this goal, the company, will consider the quality, generosity, understanding, and fairness between vendors, customers, staff, and management, the impact that the business choices and practices will portend on the environment the restaurant will be situated in, and the product’s effects on the well-being and health of the staff and customers. Being aware of the responsible actions and these factors that the result should give a sense of meaning and effort that go far beyond the goals of basic financial obligations. Development and Status The company Eastern Foods was incorporated in the year 1992 in November and certified. The company’s founders are Kenneth O, Donahue and Martha Lee. Martha is the company President while Kenneth is the company’s Vice President. The company has issued common stocks of over 10,000 shares with both Kenneth and Martha owning 2,500 shares each. The remainder of the stocks have been retained by the company for distribution in th e future. Kenneth and Lee have loaned ?30,000 from their own funds to aid in start up costs and research for the restaurant. Eastern Food Restaurant’s found a suitable site for its UK based restaurant two months ago and negotiations on the lease period were recently completed, with the deal being in its final stages of completion. The restaurant’s location will be on 134-136 Wardour Street, which is adjacent to a densely populated area of the market that the restaurant will target. After the signing of the lease agreement, the company will have four months to construct the restaurant without any rent charged, this period being the one where the start-up fund balance should be raised. On the completion of this phase, Eastern Food Restaurant would be opened with the project’s operation phase set to begin. Future Plans Should the restaurant meet, by the tenth month, a majority of its projections, the company will begin to look for another location, to develop anoth er restaurant, and start planning procedures for another restaurant. The company’s five-year goal is ownership of four restaurants in the greater London area whose annual combined profit the company expects to be in the range of ?20,000 and ?700,000. Industry Analysis The restaurant industry business is quite competitive, with lifestyle changes that have been created by modern culture fuelling the industry’s steady growth continuously. Increasingly more people possess less cooking ability, resources, and time. The importance of trends cannot be overstated, and Eastern Food restaurant UK aims to be well positioned for this interest in healthier and lighter foods going for moderate to low prices. The Restaurant Industry as it is today The service of food is the fourth biggest industry in the UK. The industry accounts for approximately $200 billion each year in sales. Independent restaurants account for approximately 20% of this total. The average Brit will spend approxim ately 20% of their income on away from home food, with the number having increased steadily over the past 5 years (Katz, 2006 pp140). The reasons for this are an increase in the variety of product, economic climate, and changes in lifestyle. Future Trends and Strategic Opportunities The growth trend predicated is quite positive in long and short term projections. Modern living has created increased demands that have made people be compelled to eat away from their homes. This is predicted to be as high as 35% in the coming six years. The national restaurant

Submit a marketing report for BURBERRY. For a colleague who has just Essay

Submit a marketing report for BURBERRY. For a colleague who has just been promoted into the position of Marketing Manager within - Essay Example It was established by Tomas Burberry in 1856 as a luxury fashion house. Burberry is in the business of manufacturing clothing, fashion accessories and fragrances. Burberry has turned into an iconic brand by continuously reinventing itself as an exclusive luxury garments line. Burberry has four sub brands under the name- Burberry Brit, Burberry, London, Burberry Prorsum and Burberry Sport. It also has two regional brands namely Burberry Blue label and Burberry Black Label. Burberry is established as a high end, gentlemanly and classic fashion house. Performance The category of women’s wear accounts for 28.6% of the total revenue of the brand followed by the accessories. The introduction of digital marketing increased the sales of the company by 24% across the globe. 64% of the total revenue is generated from its Retail segment which includes more than 174 stores across the world. 29% of the revenue is generated from the wholesale channel and 7% revenue is generated from licensi ng. General Definition of Marketing Marketing is defined as the management process used to identify, anticipate and satisfy the requirements of the customers thereby generating revenues for the business (Brannon, 1998, p.14). Marketing involves all the aspects of pricing, selling, advertising and brand building. Marketing Burberry markets its product range to the target market through three channels: Retail, wholesale and licensing. Burberry sources and markets its apparel and accessories worldwide with huge markets in America, Spain and Asia pacific which brings around 90% of the revenue. The customers are the young millennial group of people who are loyal towards the British luxury brand. Marketing Environment The PEST Analysis of Burberry is done to analyze the macro environmental factors influencing the business. Political: Burberry should pay critical attention to the taxation policies and trade regulations when marketing their product lines outside Europe. The company sources its materials from Europe and thus is not affected by the Yuan-Dollar pegging. Economic: Burberry needs to closely monitor the inflation rates because changes in inflation rate directly impacts on the buying capacity. Social: To invest in the low penetrated markets, Burberry needs to explore the cultural factors in the potential markets (Doyle, 2006, p.15). The brand is established as highly British authentic brand suitable for the European culture. Technological: Burberry has to adopt the new innovative technologies dominating the market like social media marketing and electronic commerce. Burberry was the first luxury fashion house to launch a 3D fashion show. Environmental: Burberry has taken care of proper disposal of manufacturing waste in keeping with the environmental protection laws. The company also uses the recycling technology to benefit the environment. Legal: Burberry tries to be compliant with the legal laws though it faces a continuous problem of counterfeit products which infringes its trademarks. Techniques A SWOT analysis of the company is done to evaluate the internal and external factors affecting the business and its marketing strategies (Kotler, 2008, p.46). Strengths: The strengths of the brand include Strong celebrity endorsements to enhance the brand value. High desirability caused by high price points. A very strong brand reputation. The unique check pattern which is distinctly