Opinion Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Opinion - Research Paper Example Everyone seems to care for the prolongation of the life of a beloved one, no matter the extent of socioeconomic demand thereon. For instance, psychological and medical facts supporting the possibility of terminally ill persons making a dramatic comeback from their conditions within the framework of support and care counter the propensity to implement the rights to be aided to end life. The family bond is so strong that the contemplation of assisting aiding someone to end their life is usually not commonly adopted. The patient’s rights to die may be abused for a number of reasons, creating a deliberate move to eliminate persons who need care and probably make a comeback in their health. The case of reported Dutch euthanasia data illustrates the magnitude of risks that a society may have to contend with, if the procedures of aided death fail to observe humane treatment of human dignity. Families must take a more central role in supplementing the national healthcare system in providing care to the aged, since the overstretched system will increasingly find it difficult to cover everyone. Under such conditions, the risks of euthanasia to the sociocultural fabric will continue to loom in the American society (Pevtzow, 2011). Under the conditions of a growing population of aged persons with high dependence of care to survive, healthcare systems find the burden of balancing service delivery to productive population unbearable. The astronomical costs involved in the care-intensive service to the very old always leads to debates on whether elimination of the persons would make healthcare systems sustainable for the populations. However, as illustrated above, stronger social factors tend to keep the life of the aged closer to the family structure than elimination of their life at will. Abuse of the right to die for the terminally ill, most of which are the aged may be supported by cold family members

Jails and Prisons Essay Example for Free

Jails and Prisons Essay Jails and prisons are corrective institutions which are meant to curb criminal activities in the society. They are also meant to punish the offenders. Prisons execute imprisonment which involves legal penalties. Jails and prisons should basically be aimed at punishing and rehabilitating the offender so as he/she will not repeat the crime which he/she was convicted of. The federal spending on correctional activities has also been gradually increasing. In the recent past federal government has been enhancing its efforts to improve jails and prisons conditions as a sign of recognizing some human rights entitled to criminals. Nowadays, those serving imprisonment sentences can access various facilities. These include religious services, education facilities, and recreational facilities in the exercise yard. The prisoners’ health is also well taken care of. Prisoners are also trained and imparted with some skills which may be helpful in their future life. In our contemporary prisons, prisoners are provided with entertainment facilities such as pool tables and TV. (Cavadino Dignan 2006) USA jails and prisons are both meant to rehabilitate and punish the offenders. Rehabilitation is an effective method of ensuring no re-offence so as to reduce the number of prisoners’ population. This program seeks to address the casual links to offending, and employ cognitive behavioral approach towards modifying the prisoners’ behaviors. Counselors are used to ensure success of such programs. Those involved in use of prohibited substances and a number of civil crimes are usually rehabilitated. On the other hand, some criminal activities necessitate punishments such as fines, strokes and capital punishment. Capital punishment is applied to serious criminal activities such as terrorism, espionage, treason or mass destruction. (McGuire 2002; Cavadino Dignan 2006)

My Educational Philosophy Essay -- Philosophy of Education Teaching Es

My Educational Philosophy "Let experience be your teacher. Let challenges be the test of life!" ~Unknown Education is an experience that without a doubt no one can avoid at least for a while. While this process should be positive sometimes it can seem more negative. People should not look back at their education and perceive it as a â€Å"bad† thing or a waste of time. Logically one would think that a person is entitled to their own opinion; however, the opinion of one’s education should never be portrayed as a negative one. Every teacher or educator, whether they realize it or not, has developed an educational philosophy probably starting at the time they became interested in the field of education. It is through this educational philosophy or goal that the classroom teacher prepares children for their future. The purpose of education as a whole is to prepare children intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically for the world they are making a large portion of. As a child develops in these four major areas there are more requirements or minimal expectations set for the student. Today you it is very difficult for an adult to get a well paying job without the proper background in education. I hope that by becoming an educator I can help students acquire the â€Å"want† to get the necessary background to do whatever it is they so choose. I plan to teach all of these aspects in my classroom alone. I am an education major at the present time; however, I am not aware of exactly which content area I want to set my mind on for the rest of my life. If I had my choice, I would teach in elementary or middle school. This is because I want to feel as though I have the maximum impact on my students, and I feel children ... ...lusion, I have all intentions of impacting my students in a more than positive way. I want them to be comfortable enough with me to talk to me about their problems and concerns when it comes to education. I will focus not only one education of the intellectual self; instead, social, emotional, and physical skills will be further developed and strengthened. During my, what seems like never ending, many years of education, I have encountered teachers that were both effective and those who were not effective in the slightest. I have experienced teachers that I could talk to with my concerns about classes and those that I could not. When my students are grown and have lives of their own, I want them to be able to look back and feel as though they learned more than what they had to in my class. I want to be remembered as an â€Å"effective† teacher.

Life after Guanajuato :: Personal Narrative Essays

Life after Guanajuato    My experience on the service-learning trip to Guanajuato, Mexico was one where I connected information to experience to gain true wisdom and knowledge about the people, culture, and world view of Mexico. When I began the class portion of this experience, I was unsure of how the background information on the history of Mexico we were required to read would influence my service-learning experience in Guanajuato. What I expected of the trip was assisting in and teaching some English to a class of preschoolers-all other experiences would be extraneous and `touristy.' I poured over the readings and classroom information anyway, assuming that even if it would not be useful on this service-learning trip, it was interesting information that I could apply to my Spanish major. I quickly found out once in Guanajuato that the information learned in class would apply in nearly every way to my experience, and the synthesis of it with my experiences would change my opinion of the volunteer work I w as doing, throw off my understanding of myself and my goals, make me reevaluate the motives of my future students and my country, and develop a greater understanding of the Mexican perspective.    I think the point at which everything I learned in the course previous to my time in Guanajuato formed from information into knowledge and paved that road for all the rest of my experiences there was during a meeting with some Mexican University of Guanajuato students. One student, who I later came to know as Adà ¡n, during our conversation asked our group why we study Spanish. After a few of us gave answers listing our hope to forge friendships with Mexican immigrants in the US or to be able travel in Latin and South America, we were blown away by the answer that Adà ¡n believed was the real reason in all of us-to come into their country to dominate and take over. First of all, this blew my mind! I had never thought of that as a motive for learning Spanish, but apparently this Mexican student believed it was Americans' number one reason! After first being appalled at his stereotypes of Americans, I realized that I wanted to uncover the reasons behind this strong and real belief an d to change his mind about all Americans being this way.    A few of the girls in our group and I started a small conversation with Adà ¡n and two of his friends. Life after Guanajuato :: Personal Narrative Essays Life after Guanajuato    My experience on the service-learning trip to Guanajuato, Mexico was one where I connected information to experience to gain true wisdom and knowledge about the people, culture, and world view of Mexico. When I began the class portion of this experience, I was unsure of how the background information on the history of Mexico we were required to read would influence my service-learning experience in Guanajuato. What I expected of the trip was assisting in and teaching some English to a class of preschoolers-all other experiences would be extraneous and `touristy.' I poured over the readings and classroom information anyway, assuming that even if it would not be useful on this service-learning trip, it was interesting information that I could apply to my Spanish major. I quickly found out once in Guanajuato that the information learned in class would apply in nearly every way to my experience, and the synthesis of it with my experiences would change my opinion of the volunteer work I w as doing, throw off my understanding of myself and my goals, make me reevaluate the motives of my future students and my country, and develop a greater understanding of the Mexican perspective.    I think the point at which everything I learned in the course previous to my time in Guanajuato formed from information into knowledge and paved that road for all the rest of my experiences there was during a meeting with some Mexican University of Guanajuato students. One student, who I later came to know as Adà ¡n, during our conversation asked our group why we study Spanish. After a few of us gave answers listing our hope to forge friendships with Mexican immigrants in the US or to be able travel in Latin and South America, we were blown away by the answer that Adà ¡n believed was the real reason in all of us-to come into their country to dominate and take over. First of all, this blew my mind! I had never thought of that as a motive for learning Spanish, but apparently this Mexican student believed it was Americans' number one reason! After first being appalled at his stereotypes of Americans, I realized that I wanted to uncover the reasons behind this strong and real belief an d to change his mind about all Americans being this way.    A few of the girls in our group and I started a small conversation with Adà ¡n and two of his friends.

Jane Addams and Civic Housekeeping Essay

In the early 20th century, more and more issues began to face cities of the United States. Specific issues that cities began facing more and more included the rise in poor sanitation and health concerns in local tenement housing. In order for women to gain access to the public sphere and emerge out of the private sphere, and gain some sort of status with the men of society, Jane Addams proposed the idea of â€Å"civic housekeeping† which would let women use their skills from the home in order to clean up the issues in local tenement housing and ultimately, in the local government. Growing up in the post-Civil War era, Jane Addams was born into a wealthy family, fueled by her father’s political and business success. Jane was raised in a way, by her powerful father, John Addams, that she was instilled with a strong sense of leadership and pride. John Addams died while Jane was at a very young age of 21, and was changed emotionally for the rest of her life, and it even affected her relationships with men later in life, as she was never married. Jane was very devoted to her father and loved him very much, and their close relationship was important to Jane as she kept his memory for the entirety of her life. While the idea of educating women in the post-Civil War time period was not very popular, Jane Addams was encouraged by her father to attend college at the Rockford Female Seminary. This encouragement was not given with love, but with the idea of John Addams expressing his power and wealth, which enabled him to send his children to college and get an education. Jane was very successful in her time at Rockford University, being an integral part of her college debate team and a huge participant in her classes. Jane Addams, so highly educated and respected among women, and even men in society, was called the â€Å"model of feminine excellence in the American terms4,† and was seen as a savior for women across the United States who wished to spread their roots and do something more important with their lives while serving their country at the same time. Jane Addams was a very intellectual and prominent female for a woman of her time period, considering she attended college, which was uncommon for many females until more recent years. Attending college as Jane Addams did in her time period, was an opportunity that women were just starting to get as colleges for women began to open, in addition to universities already in existence beginning to accept women into their programs5. Addams was seen as a great influence among women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She was also viewed as progressive and conventional, which was essential for someone to be in the quickly emer ging, industrializing future of the United States. Her topics of speech were ones that were talked about across the country, and more specifically and especially, at the University of Chicago, where she was praised. Addams’ interest in social activism would lead to her, and a college friend, Ellen Gates Starr, to beginning their first venture in social activism and seen as an act of genius, opening their first settlement house, also known as a â€Å"Hull-House,† in which the name was given due to the previous owners of the homes in Chicago. This Hull-House that Addams and Starr opened would later, while not the first in the United States, become the most known settlement home in the nation. This was only the beginning of Jane Addams’ personal journey into the public sphere, and more importantly, the inspiration for many women to try and start their own journeys towards gaining entry into the public eye and gaining any sort of right that would grant them the abilities to do what the men in their lives, which were their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers have been doing since before anybody could remember. The starting of Jane Addams’ journey was one that would bring only positive impacts to the United States, with a few bumps in the road of course. By starting the tenement houses in Chicago through the Hull Houses, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr had already begun their journey into the  public sphere. Through opening the tenement houses and allowing people to see them and come live in them helped the two women make a name for themselves, with the more well-known woman of the pair being recognized for much more, was Jane Addams herself. Addams saw rights and freedom for women as a â€Å"perfectly possible† thing to attain, as she was optimistic and very assertive on her way to work for women’s equality and rights. The optimism that Jane Addams had was not without a price to pay on her part, as there were many negatives that had to be dealt with along the way like setbacks in acting, legislation, supporters, etc. These settlement housing complexes, along with other emerging municipally supported housing and projects, were failing considerably as time went on, in more ways than not. Ways these housing and government projects were failing were in hygiene and sanitation, in addition to perishable products that went uninspected, like meat and dairy products, which eventually made citizens very ill, and even killed a few. Local factories emitting toxic fumes also did not help the issue at all. Toward the late 19th century, as more and more women began entering the workforce and emerging from the home, into the public sphere, the need for women in local government and important jobs began to be pressed on local leaders. Getting women out of the home, being the private sphere, and into the public sphere through her ideas of â€Å"civic housekeeping† was Jane Addams’ main goal in society. â€Å"Civil Housekeeping,† was a term that Addams used to refer to the cleaning up that women needed to do in tenement homes, local buildings, and more importantly, and more discretely, local government. Addams’ main goal was to eventually bring women into the public sphere and local government, through civil housekeeping. Since men were so fond of keeping women in the home, in order to clean, cook, or even just stay out of the men’s business, women began seeing themselves as possible saviors for issues that cities were facing. The way that women began seeing themselves was through expressing their  skills that they used inside the home and applying them on a much larger scale, which would hopefully assist in resolving the problems in tenement homes and other areas of cities that were being affected by environmental circumstances. Jane Addams proposed her ideas to the men of society by explaining how well women work in the home, be it cooking, cleaning, etc., so why would they not be able to help clean up the tenement homes and other parts of the city, to help out other citizens and keep their families and homes alive. Addams’ of course had the ulterior motive of working her way, along with many more women in society, into the realm of local government, in the hopes of gaining more and more rights for women in the future. The reason that Jane Addams was so influential in her speeches and movements was not only because of the fact that she was educated, but that she had been born of a very rich and politically powerful family in the post-Civil War, which was a time of peril and misfortune for those devastated by the effects of the battles that tore across the south in the Civil War. Although a feminist ideal, the proposal of â€Å"civic housekeeping† was appealing to men in power in the local governments. With many health violations and many previous, failed attempts at keeping up appearances and up to code in municipalities, â€Å"city housekeeping has failed partly because women, the traditional housekeepers, have not been consulted as to its multiform activities.†12 This aspect of women entering the public sphere, as proposed by Addams, was never examined or considered by men because they had always forced the socially constructed gender roles and affirmed that women can and will only stay in the home to perform their family duties. The good and welfare of the people, including their health and living conditions was never considered by men of local government and Jane Addams proposed to change that, in order to rejuvenate and maintain the health and welfare of local citizens, especially the women and children who were suffering due to the failur e to keep up the cities, specifically tenement housing. Another part of Addams’ proposal while discussing women being brought in to clean up the homes, was bringing diverse and multitalented people who can perform many different tasks and complete them well, which would eventually show improvement across the board. In part, this was attractive to the men in  power, because in the long run, it would make them look good. While creating and executing her ideas of civic housekeeping and advocating for many other rights for women like suffrage, Addams was very distinguished from other women only hoping to attempt and succeed as much as she did. Jane Addams was very fortunate to have the quality of being able to successfully execute in fields that women normally did not participate in, which included professionalism and business fields. A key characteristic and factor that Addams possessed to successfully attain her credibility and position in society. Jane today is seen as a woman who cannot be compared to any other woman of her time period, and even today, as some goals that she strived for and eventually attained were only attainable through ways that were common in the early twentieth century, as she used her tenement houses and her local salon to spread word and expand her ideas among people. A product of her time period for sure, Jane Addams was a woman who achieved many things in a society that discriminated against and belittled women. Addams was a woman who saw things differently than other women, and that is what helped her achieve what she achieved. Eventually, her goal of getting women out of the private sphere of the home and oppression by man, was successful. Camilla Stevens stated that, â€Å"men set about trying to run the city as a business, and women aimed to make the city more like a home,†14 which Jane Addams quickly changed in her efforts for women that made a new presence for women in America. Through civic housekeeping, women slowly but surely made their way into the public sphere. Without Jane Addams’ strong advocating and activism, efforts made by women may not have even been made to achieve rights and a sense of equality to men, and the oppression of women by men of society would have continued and could have been much worse today. Jane Addams was a successful woman of her time period and through civic housekeeping, began the cleanup of homes and communities in and around Chicago, which led for a much brighter future for not just men, but women and children who wished to have much healthier and happier lives at home. Bibliography Addams, Jane. The modern city and the municipal franchise for women. Baltimore, Maryland: National American Women Suffrage Association, 1906. (Jane Addams Article from Moodle Site) Hamington, Maurice. â€Å"Two Leaders, Two Utopias: Jane Addams and Dorothy Day.† NWSA Journal 19.2 (2007): 159-186. JSTOR. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. Shields, Patricia M.. â€Å"Democracy and the Social Feminist Ethics of Jane Addams: A Vision for Public Administration.† Administrative Theory and Praxis 28.3 (2006): 418-443. JSTOR. Web 3 Dec. 2013. Conway, Jill. â€Å"Jane Addams: An American Heroine.† Daedalus 93, no. 2 (1964): 761-780. JSTOR. Web 3 Dec. 2013

Many times throughout history

Many times throughout history, specific events occur that explain why the existence of Native Americans are necessary for the Spanish and English colonists to survive. The Native Americans were like parents to the Spanish and English colonists. As a newborn baby is introduced to the new world, alike, the Spanish and English were introduced to a New World in which the Natives were already a part of. Their inhabitance of the land dates back to many thousands of years ago where they inhabited all regions of the Americas. When the Europeans arrived the Natives gave the colonists knowledge about the land. At times the Natives cared for them and supplied them with food and various other things. They also provided work for the colonists whether the Natives were slaves, servants or allied forces. Economically, the Natives were needed very much for anything the colonists would export to Europe. Throughout history, the colonists dependency on the Natives was clearly shown and the how ! the colonists exploited the Natives in every possible way was also clear. What the colonists needed most from the Natives was their knowledge of the land. Because the Natives lived in the Americas for thousands of years, they are familiar with the area and they know how to work with it. For example, when Cortez landed on the Mexican shores on 1519, he used the Aztecs for their gold. When he found out where the Aztecs were getting their gold from, he simply destroyed them after he used them for their knowledge. Spanish colonists also had to learn a lot from the Pima, Pueblo and Papagos to be able to continue their farming in the very dry Southwest. Another tribes knowledge the colonists needed for survival was the Hohokam. The Hohokam built and maintained the first irrigation system in America, channeling river water many miles to desert fields of maize, beans, squash, tobacco, and cotton. The Hohokams knowledge of...

manhattan

manhattan Greer 6Devon GreerEnglish 106Dr. FerdirkaFebruary 11, 2014"I acknowledge that I have fully complied or will comply with all aspects of the University's Honor Code in submitting this work."The Manhattan projectAlthough many Americans thought the dropping of the bomb would be a good and peaceful resolve then going over to Japan, they were not aware of how big of an impact the atomic bomb would make and the disaster the bomb would cause. By looking at a three primary sources that I have found I will be explaining some of the problems of the Manhattan Project and the atomic bombs. The sources that I have show a chronological order from the making of the bomb to the after math of the bomb being dropped. Almost all of my sources demonstrate how the Manhattan and the atomic bombs were not the best choice that America could have made.Nagasaki, Japan. September 24, 1945, 6 weeks after...My sources also show the aftermath and how the people who were exposed to bomb were affected by it.My first source is a letter written by Albert Einstein to the president at the time, President Franklin Roosevelt. In August, 1939, Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt warning that Nazi Germany was attempting to build a new weapon that was more powerful and more destructive than any weapon ever known to mankind. That weapon was the Atomic Bomb. This letter would eventually change the course of history and would alter the face of the modern world. Einstein's letter and other correspondence about the A-Bomb. The knowledge that Nazi Germany was attempting to build an atomic bomb really edged America to work on one themselves. Thus, the start of the Manhattan Project.Einstein's letter did not reach the President quickly, however, nor did it...

Physical Change Definition in Chemistry

Physical Change Definition in Chemistry A physical change is a type of change in which the form of matter is altered but one substance is not transformed into another. The size or shape of matter may be changed, but no chemical reaction occurs. Physical changes are usually reversible. Note that whether a process is reversible or not is not truly a criterion for being a physical change. For example, smashing a rock or shredding paper are physical changes that cannot be undone. Contrast this with a chemical change, in which chemical bonds are broken or formed so that the starting and ending materials are chemically different. Most chemical changes are irreversible. On the other hand, melting water into ice (and other phase changes) can be reversed. Physical Change Examples Examples of physical changes include: Crumpling a sheet or paper (a good example of a reversible physical change)Breaking a pane of glass (the chemical composition of the glass remains the same)Freezing water into ice  (the chemical formula is not changed)Chopping vegetables (cutting separates molecules, but does not alter them)Dissolving sugar in water (sugar mixes with water, but the molecules are not changed and may be recovered by boiling off the water)Tempering steel (hammering the steel does not change its composition, but does alter its properties, including hardness and flexibility) Categories of Physical Changes Its not always easy to tell chemical and physical changes apart. Here are some types of physical changes that may help: Phase Changes - Altering the temperature and/or pressure can change the phase of a material, yet its composition is unchanged,Magnetism - If you hold a magnet up to iron, youll temporarily magnetize it. This is a physical change because its not permanent and no chemical reaction occurs.Mixtures - Mixing together materials where one is not soluble in the other is a physical change. Note the properties of a mixture may be different from its components. For example, if you mix together sand and water, you can pack the sand into a shape. Yet, you can separate the components of the mixture by allowing them to settle or by using a sieve.Crystallization - Crystallizing a solid does not produce a new molecule, even though the crystal will have different properties from other solids. Turning graphite into a diamond doesnt produce a chemical reaction.Alloys - Mixing together two or more metals is a physical change that is not reversible. The reason alloying is not a chemical change is that the components retain their original identities. Solutions - Solutions are tricky because it may be hard to tell whether or not a chemical reaction has occurred when you mix together the materials. Usually, if there is no color change, temperature change, precipitate formation, or gas production, the solution is a physical change. Otherwise, a chemical reaction has occurred and a chemical change is indicated.

Ethnic Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethnic Diversity - Essay Example The growth minority health care professionals, however, is slowed down by a number of barriers including racism, discrimination, and lack of commitment to changing situation. Racism and prejudice is the root cause and the most evident reality of a certain barrier to increasing the number of minority health care professionals, particularly among non-White females. Patient and co-workers still associate the nursing image to those of White, middle-aged woman. According to the study of Douglas et al., standards integrating social justice will facilitate culturally-competent care among nurses and address racial and ethnic inequalities. This is because the social justice principle is grounded on the belief of fair and equal rights regardless of differences in ethnicity and demographics. Nursing schools must equip students with cultural competence and must still in mind about social justice. The image of a nurse as a White, middle-aged woman must be gradually changed to ethnically-diverse, competent nurse to cope with the increasing need of the healthy population. In a span of time, the United States’ population will soon have a diverse set of the population; thus, we need diverse, culturally-competent nurse to holistically address the needs of this population. Meanwhile, all of this vision of ethnically-diverse, competent nurse will not become a reality if policies for ensuring implementation will not be integrated into legislation – both in the preparatory schools for nursing and in the workforce settings.

Summary of The Pentateuch (From SOURCES GIVEN by me) Essay

Summary of The Pentateuch (From SOURCES GIVEN by me) - Essay Example These instructions are less explicit than the law sections of the books, and as such are open to interpretation. Despite the fact that these first five books of the Bible are known as the "five books of Moses", he is not considered the sole author. This label is more of a Jewish tradition; however the sections which are considered by Biblical scholars to be the oldest are also thought to have been authored by Moses. These sections include Exodus 21-23, the "Book of the Covenant" (Exodus 24-28), Numbers 33, Deuteronomy 5-21, and the Ten Commandments. Overall, it may be more accurate to say that the creation of the Pentateuch was inspired by Moses rather than it actually having been written by him. The Pentateuch is thought to be a compilation of documents created at different times in the history of the Israelites. The Pentateuch as it is known today was not compiled earlier than the fifth century B.C.E. There are a number of opinions concerning the date of origin of Pentateuch documents; the most widely accepted of these was formulated by Julius Wellhausen in the nineteenth century. According to this theory, a document known as "J" (Jahwist) is the oldest known written source, written in the ninth century B.C.E. The "E" document (Elohist) was written in the eighth century, and these two sources were edited into one in the seventh century. Deuteronomy dates from 621 B.C.E. and was added in the sixth century. Around 400 B.C.E., the last document, known as the Priestly Work, was added. Alternative theories include the possibility that the J document is actually the youngest of the four rather than the oldest. Recent work has developed theories on the intent of the authors of these works. Overall, it is thought that the main intent was to use their presentations of Israel's traditional history to convey important messages. For example, the Jahwist document addresses the "age of Solomon" and urges Israelites to live in accordance with the commands of Abraham of Genesis. The Elohist document urges Israelites to shun foreign cults, the book of Deuteronomy emphasizes the importance of the unity of Israel, and the Priestly Work emphasizes the authenticity of Israel's religious and cultural traditions. Another analytical technique is a "form-critical" approach which examines the literary forms (for example moral story, saga, or tale) of the books to determine their role in every day life. This approach reconstructs the historical background in which the documents were written. An analysis by Martin Noth detected five major themes of the Pentateuch: God's promise to the Israelites, their exodus from Egypt, their time spent in the wilderness, the giving of God's law, and His guidance in the Israelites new land. A third technique which examines oral composition and transmission of the Pentateuch writings questions the idea of the Pentateuch as a primarily written document. The book of Genesis can be seen as an oral composition which reflects several different influences (due to differences in representation and small discrepancies in detail). Themes The last four books of the Pentateuch, which follow Moses from birth to death, are part of a strong narrative theme. However, to regard the Pentateuch as

Cell biology &genetics - lab report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cell biology &genetics - lab report - Essay Example The objective of this experiment is to observe the several stages of mitosis in an onion root cell through a light microscope. Onion root tips were prepared by washing in clean water then rinsing with distilled water. After this, a root tip section about 2mm in thickness was cut from the root tip using a sterilized scalpel; this was then placed on a glass slide with a drop of distilled water on it to avoid dehydration. Afterwards the root tip section was them fixed in Carnoy’s fluid inside a Bijou bottle for about 10 minutes. After fixing, the section was then transferred to a Petri dish containing distilled water where it was rinsed for approximately 2 minutes. After rinsing, the root tip section was then placed inside a bijou bottle containing 1 ml of 1M HCl and incubated at about 60ï‚ °C for about 5 minutes. The contents of the tube were then poured into a Petri dish and the root tip carefully picked out using forceps and transferred into another Bijou bottle containing aceto-orcein which was then left in a dark chamber for about 10 minutes. The bottle was then removed from the chamber and the root tip carefully removed using forceps and placed on a slide on which a drop of 45% acetic acid had been placed, this was then covered with a cover slip. By this time the root tip section was already well softened and stained; the tip was then squashed by slightly tapping on the cover slip with a pencil until it was evenly spread out under the cover slip as a pink mass. The glass slide with the root tip ready for observation on the microscope was then transferred to a light microscope and viewed at x400 magnification strength. Photographs of the cells undergoing mitosis were then taken and drawings made of the various stages of mitosis. It was observed in the experiment that the cell division process assumed all the four stages shown in the images above and that the staining clearly revealed the features of all the four stages it takes for a cell

Cost of Financial Intermediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cost of Financial Intermediation - Essay Example The general view among experts in this field is that if administrative authorities are in favor of competition, it will lead to the presence of larger number of players in the banking sector that would automatically lead to lower bank rates as competing bankers will vie with each other to attract customers, and will automatically have to become efficient in their functioning in order to stay afloat in such highly competitive environment. So, the economy as a whole would be able to enjoy efficient banking services coupled with comparatively affordable bank rates. However, if entry in banking sector is strictly regulated, it would result in less competition and might also lead to lesser efficiency and almost certainly higher bank rates as the few banks that would be operating in the finance sector would remain assured of clients as the latter would have no option but to approach these few bankers for finance. It must be repeated, however, that these statutory regulations differ so wide ly between countries and regions that the only plausible method of measuring the impact of such biases and restrictions on bank rates and efficiency would be to consider each instance individually and comparing it with the larger and more generic backdrop of financial efficiency. (Demirg''-Kunt, Laeven and Levine) Impact of net interest margin and overhead expenditures on Cost of intermediation Cost of intermediation is substantially impacted by net interest margin and it would be worthwhile to study in a little more detail as to the exact characteristics and features of net interest margin. Put simply, the net interest margin signifies the income of banks and it consists of the interest a bank earns by lending money to borrowers and the interest it has to pay to its depositors. The exact measure of net interest margin is obtained by dividing the difference between a bank's interest earning and interest expenditure by the volume of interest bearing assets. The net interest margin thus is related to the traditional functions of banking industry - accepting deposits at lower interest rates and lending them at higher rates of interest. The overhead expenditure ratio of a bank is calculated by dividing bank overhead costs by the total assets of the bank. It is but obvious that the more inefficient a bank the higher would be its overhead expenditure ratio. But overhead expenditures are not only dependent on pure operational efficiency of a bank. It also depends on the prevailing market regulations and freedom or otherwise for players to leave or enter the banking sector as and when the desire to do it arises. The degree of freedom of entry or exit is, quite obviously, determined by the statutory or law enacting authorities of the country. It might be worthwhile to mention at this juncture that though freedom of entry and exit primarily determines the extent of competition in the banking sector, there are other equally important issues that determine the ability of the commercial banks to offer credit to potential

Organization implications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organization implications - Essay Example The merit pay systems emphasizes on the fact that teachers are to be paid for their achievement in the classroom as opposed to their seniority or the number of ed-school credits that they have collected. This paper will discuss the merit pay system and teacher performance in public schools The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 put the merit system principles into law, specifically section 2301 of title 5 of the U.S. Code. It was set as a national policy intended â€Å"to provide the people of the United States with a competent, honest, and productive workforce...and to improve the quality of public service, Federal personnel management should be implemented consistent with merit system principles† (Pfiffner & Brook, 2000). Since then, the merit system and its principles have been implemented both in the public sector and in private sector in the country. The merit system can be defined as a personnel system applied in the process of hiring and promoting government employees based on merit to obtain the highest efficiency in public personnel functions. The application of the merit system in the public education sector has brought about unending controversies especially with the merit pay issue. The merit pay systems emphasizes on the fact that teachers are to be paid for their achievement in the classroom as opposed to their seniority or the number of ed-school credits that they have collected as it has been done from the 1920s period. Reformers in the education system including the government have emphasized that the merit pay will encourage high performing teachers to do well and drive the lazy ones away, thereby improving the performance of public schools. However, teachers’ unions have continually opposed the move stating that there is no objective way of measuring the classroom performance of a teacher. In addition to this, opposing views have pointed to the fact that the merit pay system has a high chance of failing

Cost of Financial Intermediation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Cost of Financial Intermediation - Essay Example The general view among experts in this field is that if administrative authorities are in favor of competition, it will lead to the presence of larger number of players in the banking sector that would automatically lead to lower bank rates as competing bankers will vie with each other to attract customers, and will automatically have to become efficient in their functioning in order to stay afloat in such highly competitive environment. So, the economy as a whole would be able to enjoy efficient banking services coupled with comparatively affordable bank rates. However, if entry in banking sector is strictly regulated, it would result in less competition and might also lead to lesser efficiency and almost certainly higher bank rates as the few banks that would be operating in the finance sector would remain assured of clients as the latter would have no option but to approach these few bankers for finance. It must be repeated, however, that these statutory regulations differ so wide ly between countries and regions that the only plausible method of measuring the impact of such biases and restrictions on bank rates and efficiency would be to consider each instance individually and comparing it with the larger and more generic backdrop of financial efficiency. (Demirg''-Kunt, Laeven and Levine) Impact of net interest margin and overhead expenditures on Cost of intermediation Cost of intermediation is substantially impacted by net interest margin and it would be worthwhile to study in a little more detail as to the exact characteristics and features of net interest margin. Put simply, the net interest margin signifies the income of banks and it consists of the interest a bank earns by lending money to borrowers and the interest it has to pay to its depositors. The exact measure of net interest margin is obtained by dividing the difference between a bank's interest earning and interest expenditure by the volume of interest bearing assets. The net interest margin thus is related to the traditional functions of banking industry - accepting deposits at lower interest rates and lending them at higher rates of interest. The overhead expenditure ratio of a bank is calculated by dividing bank overhead costs by the total assets of the bank. It is but obvious that the more inefficient a bank the higher would be its overhead expenditure ratio. But overhead expenditures are not only dependent on pure operational efficiency of a bank. It also depends on the prevailing market regulations and freedom or otherwise for players to leave or enter the banking sector as and when the desire to do it arises. The degree of freedom of entry or exit is, quite obviously, determined by the statutory or law enacting authorities of the country. It might be worthwhile to mention at this juncture that though freedom of entry and exit primarily determines the extent of competition in the banking sector, there are other equally important issues that determine the ability of the commercial banks to offer credit to potential

Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Case Study - Essay Example The company reviewed it’s its operations in the 2006 when SABMiller had just completed a three-year turnaround plan, establishing a platform for future growth. From that report it can be noted that in North America the company had made progress as it had continued to grow while giving better prices to the customers than its competitors in that market. SABMiller had heavily invested in that market which enabled it succeeds in price cutting without passing on the costs. It had a three year investment strategy which has enabled to remain strong despite tough conditions. From the foregoing, it can be deduced that SABMiller’s strategy in the North American market is heavy investment which in turn enables it lower prices hence driving out competitors (Hal, 2002). In relation to Europe SAB’s strategy was to increase its share and to expand its capacity. This was to be achieved through introduction of new brands and new packaging methods. This strategy has enabled it to increase its share, volume and expand its capacity in various European markets. SAB’s strategy in most of the countries has been to acquire an initial local stronghold firm to enable it advance into other markets which it had not penetrated before. It has achieved this by acquiring other brewing businesses in most cases to focus on brand portfolio which gives it a better market position, increases sales and to enjoy economies of scale in production and distribution. It seems that SABMiller has shifted its focus to developing countries having already established a substantial presence in the developed countries. It realised that its ability to succeed in developing countries has proved to be of advantage. This was noted in the company’s report of 2006. This strategy has to an increase in consumption of soft drinks by consumers in South Africa which in turn has led to increased sales ( Donald , 2008). To meet the demands of changing consumption patterns, SAB has introduc ed new sales and distribution systems and enhanced the flexibility of its production facilities. It has licensed more agents has brought more outlets into the mainstream. This means they can now operate more professionally and it can deliver to them direct - which in turn raises the performance of the business. The stakeholders expect that SAB’s businesses in Africa will continue to grow being helped by broader distribution and a clearer segmentation of SAB’s brands. The stakeholders also see plenty of opportunity to keep improving efficiency in these relatively underdeveloped countries and see the outlook for Africa as a whole to be encouraging. Possible strategic options open to SAB First of all, SAB can penetrate the market with its current products. This can be through heavy advertising or using any other strategy enable existing and potential customers get knowledge of its existing products. With this option, SAB needs to come up with a strategy to enable it incre ase sales to its current customers by convincing them without change of its original products. SAB can also gain competitors customers by improving the quality of its beer compared to that of its competitors. Since it is cheaper to retain current customers than acquire new ones, hence in this option SAB needs to improve its relationship with its current custo

Psychology Essay Example for Free

Psychology Essay Operant conditioning is a form of learning that is environmentally gathered. Learn the skill, practice the skill, then step back and examine the results. Observational learning also called social learning. A person behavior is influenced by what happens to other people when ten bases they behave certain ways. The person who is learning does so by seeing responses are elicited by other behaviors. The person then bases their behavior on the lessons learned by watching what happens to the other people. Social learning is in social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction. The different kinds of learning can be utilized in the workplace: Operant conditioning: One of my coworkers is having trouble with understanding the job. So I voluntarily helped them out. That increases my reputation at work. After that I will get positive feedback from coworkers. Observational learning: At the workplace, it is forbidden to do something which you’ve never done before. That’s why, before you start working on something new; ask someone about that job to show you how to do it. So you can learn and be able to do it. Social learning: Advertisements, TV, internet shows because we observe them, then copy them. How is prejudice developed and nurtured through classical and operant conditioning? Give specific examples that demonstrate each kind of learning. Prejudice is a learned, generally negative attitude directed toward specific people solely because of their membership in an identified group. Prejudice is developed and nurtured through classical and operant conditioning from three elements. Affective (emotions about the group), behavioral (negative action toward members of the group) and cognitive (stereotypical beliefs about team members). People learn prejudice the same way they learn all attitudes through classical and operant conditioning. For example, repeated exposure to stereotypical portrayals of minorities and women on TV, in movies and in magazines teach children that such images are correct. Similarly hearing parents, friends and teachers express their prejudices also reinforce prejudice. 3. ) You are scheduled to present the result of your work on creating a new software program for your company. What memory techniques will you use in order to be free of too much dependence on notes and power point slides? Be specific as to how you will relate the technique to the content of the presentation Long –term memory: Encoding because it is elaborative rehearsal, the processing is more than visual. The three R’s registration, retention and retrieval. 4. ) Name and describe the three qualities of emotional intelligence according to Goleman. If you were interviewing applicants for a position in your company and wanted to know whether they had emotional intelligence, how would you go about discovering that? Would you do that in an interview or some other means? Posses self control of emotions such as anger, impulsiveness and anxiety. The ability to understand what others feel such as empathy. The ability to motivate oneself. I feel you can find a person emotional intelligence in an interview because a person can manage their emotions. They don’t get angry in stressful situations. They have the ability to look at a problem calmly and find a solution. I would go about discovering by asking questions or just observing how the questions are answered and giving different scenarios of a situations and pay attention to responses.

Research Proposal for Patient Satisfaction Survey

Research Proposal for Patient Satisfaction Survey Introduction Background of the study I am working for Intermediate Care Services. My team has been collecting patient’s view of the services they received from our team, through the use of ‘patient satisfaction survey form’ since 2005. My intention is to find out if we are providing satisfactory service to our client by analyzing the data collected with the forms. Measuring patient satisfaction is important because satisfaction of clients with health care services that they received has been linked to their compliance and their wiliness to seek medical advice by Ware et al (1983). Satisfaction is a complex concept and it’s determined by various factors which includes life style, past experience, future expectations, individual and societal values (Carr-Hill 1992). As an intermediate care service provider, my team works within the Department of Health National Service Framework (Department of Health, 2001). Intermediate care services were established with the mandate to maximize people’s physical functioning, build their confidence and to re-equip them with necessary skills to live safely and independently at home, as well as provision of ongoing support. The department of health recommended the use of multidisciplinary single assessment process in national service framework for the older people. Using the single assessment process for patients help the team to work together because it makes communication easy and it prevents duplication of each others assessment and plan. Therefore the process of rehabilitation begins with comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment using single assessment process (DH, 2001). The process of rehabilitation includes identifying problems and needs, relating problems to limiting factors, outline target probl ems, selecting appropriate measures, follow by planning, implementing and coordination of intervention, and finally reviewing effects of intervention (Davis 2006). Our team comprises of Physiotherapists, Occupational therapist, Social worker, and Therapy Technicians in same office. Intermediate care services were mandated to provide person-centre and holistic care to the older people and their carers, respecting them as Individuals and that they should be enabled to make choice about their own care (DH 2001). The department of health introduced these guidelines so that quality and improved services can be provided to service users. If the guidelines are followed, satisfactory services are likely to be provided to the clients. How can we know that we are following these guidelines? Although as a team, our operational guideline revolves round delivering the services in line with department of health’s guideline, however an objective assessment of the service will give us the clear picture of how good the services that we are providing is. Not only that, it will also help us to identify the areas that we need to improve on. Service user’s level of satisfaction with the service that we are rendering may be used as a yard stick in measuring our perform ance. This can be in the form of patient satisfaction survey. ‘A patient satisfaction survey can be a rich source of information for continuous quality improvement’ (Lin and Kelly 1995). Further more a number of researchers have linked patient satisfaction to patients’ clinical outcomes. O’Holleran et al (2005), George and Hirsh (2005), and Hurwitz and Morgenstern (2005) reported that clinical outcome is a predictor of patient satisfaction. It will therefore be useful to investigate if we are providing satisfactory services to our client and if the findings indicate otherwise in some aspects, recommendations will be made to improve our services in those areas. I will therefore investigate our performance from the service user’s perspective by analyzing the data that we have been collating with the ‘patient satisfaction survey forms’. 1.2 Research questions There are some questions that needed to be answered to be able to determine if our service is satisfactory to our clients or not. Therefore the purpose of this study is to find out the answers to these questions: i. Are we providing satisfactory service to our client? ii. Are we providing quality services to the client? iii. Are we meeting the needs of the patients? iv. Are we providing client centered services? v. Are we respecting the service users? vi. Are we providing information about how the service users can make complains? vii. Are we giving information about other service available to our service users? viii. What are the users feeling about the service? ix. Do we need to amend the way we are providing the service? Aims/ objectives of the study To answer the questions above, the questionnaire needs to be able to collect information from our client on how they feel about the services they get from our facility. Therefore, the objectives of the study are to: determine whether we are providing satisfactory services to our clients determine whether we are providing quality services to our service users find out if we are meeting the needs of our clients establish whether we are providing client-centered services to our clients investigate whether we are treating our clients with respect ascertain whether we are providing information about how the service users can complain about our services. clarify whether we giving information about other service available to our service users explore what our service users feel about our services determine whether we need to amend the way we are providing the service 1.4 Significance of the study . This study will give our team the opportunity to demonstrate whether we are providing quality service or not. It will also be highlighted whether we are providing client desire outcome or not because outcome determines satisfaction as demonstrated by O’Holleran et al (2005). Findings from this study will also form a basis for further research in the study setting and similar studies in health care facilities with similar mandate. 1.6 Delimitations of the study The study will be delimited to Luton Primary Care Trust. Operational definition of terms Client satisfaction: A measure of the extent to which client’s expectations of therapeutic intervention are met. Service users:All clients/ patients registered with Luton Primary Care Trust and who received therapeutic intervention from the team during January 2006 and December 2007. Community Assessment and Rehabilitation team: This comprises of Physiotherapists, Occupational therapist, Social worker, and Therapy Technicians working in the same office in Luton Primary Care Trust. 2.0 Literature Review Measuring patient satisfaction is important because it pushes towards accountability among health care providers (Guadagnion 2003). O’Holleran et al (2005) shed more light on the importance of patient satisfaction survey following their cohort study of patients that underwent rotator cuff surgery, they concluded that there is a relationship between patient satisfaction and outcome of the intervention. How do we measure satisfaction? What are the indicators for patient satisfaction? Satisfaction from consumer perspective is determined by comparison of consumer experience of service received by them and their expectation (Tam 2005). The main indicators for quality service from patient perspective includes: interpersonal skills, accessibility and convenience of service, respect, technical ability of doctor (care provider in our case) , the physical environment (Baker 2001,Di Paula et al 2002). Satisfaction is determined by the way patients are treated by practitioners and it determined by technical and interpersonal elements (Donebedia 1988). The technical aspects were identified as to consist of Practitioners knowledge and strategies employed to arrive at appropriate intervention, whereas the interpersonal aspect consist of; communication skill, friendliness, kindness, attention, receptiveness, empathy, among other things (Donebedia 1988). Looking at the questionnaire (see appendix 1), it seems to be measuring almost all the identified indicators. (Full appraiser of the questionnaire will be carried out as part of the research) 2.1 Theoretical Perspective Research Paradigm: Paradigm is defined by Titchhen (1993) as ‘a description of a scientific model within which a community of scientists generate knowledge’ This research will be carried out from positivism and phenomenology point of view. This means that the research will be mixture of quantative and qualitative methods. According to Guba (1990), positivism is a belief system that is rooted in realist ontology. This means that Positivism approach is based on the fact that concept must be made observable. Measurability of concept is central to quantitative research (Devers 1999). However, ‘Phenomenological approach provides a deep understanding of the phenomenon as experience by several individual’ Geswell (1998). Qualitative research was classified as phenomenological of it’s theory building, holistic, case-based, subjective and process-oriented nature while On the other hand Quantitative research was classified as Positivism approach because it is deductive, hypothesis driven, particularistic, variable based, objective and outcome oriented (Devers 1999). Reichardt and Cook (1978) proposed that focus should be placed on debate to accept both Qualitative and Quantitative methods instead of Qualitative versus Quantitative debate, because each of them has their strengths and weakness es, using both approaches will compliment each other by drawing from the strengths and minimise the weakness of both approaches. I will be using mixture of qualitative and quantitative method in this research. I will tap from the strengths of both them and use the two methods to compliment each other. Methodology 3.1 Study design Personal interviews, telephone interview, and mailed questionnaires are the most common ways of carrying out survey research. Each of the ways has its merits and demerits. Personal interview is a method of collecting data from individual by using face-to-face method, the dept and the quality of information they are capable of yielding makes them the most useful method however they are very costly (Polit and Hungler 1989). In my opinion it will be time consuming, considering the fact that this research has time limit because of the school calendar, it will not be a method of choice for this research. Another way of gathering information is by telephone interview, if the interview is short, specific and too personal, it may be a good way for collecting a lot of information quickly and it’s less costly compare with personal interview however it can be less effective way of gathering information when sensitive information is required (Polit and Hungler 1989). Mailed questionnaires will be my choice, I choice this because of it advantages over personal interviews and telephone interview. It differs from others because it’s self administered, the respondent read the question on the form and give an answer in writing format, the question is distributed through post, compare to other form of surveys, the cost is low especially when there is large geographical area to be covered (Polit and Hungler 1989). I choose Mailed questionnaire over other methods because of its advantages over other method. Total anonymity is possible using questionnaire; this may reduce bias in the responses of the participants. Study setting The study will take place in the Community Assessment Rehabilitation Team’s office. Sample and Sampling Technique All clients receiving or that had received therapeutic input from the community assessment and rehabilitation team from January 2006 to December 2007 and who were willing to participate (by returning a filled questionnaire that was given to them when they received care/ services from the team) will be surveyed. Instrument development The instrument for this study will be â€Å"client satisfaction survey questionnaire†. This had been developed by the management of the study setting and had being in use in the setting since 2005. The client satisfaction survey consisted of eleven issues. Ten of the eleven issues sought information on clients’ perception of some issues bothering on services delivered by the community assessment and rehabilitation team, while the eleventh issues asked the study participants to generally comment freely about their views regarding the services and the team. Data gathering procedure ‘Clients satisfaction survey questionnaire’ which represented the instrument for this study will be given to everyone that received therapeutic input from the team. The form is always included with the service users discharge summaries. To encourage replying, a self-addressed reply-paid envelope is always enclosed. Each returned questionnaire shall be entered into a database and the data from the database will be retrieved with the permission of the unit manager and the trust local ethic committee. 3.6 Data Analysis and Results The quantitative data will be analyzed using combination of descriptive and statistical inference techniques. While the results will be presented in the form of graphs and chart as appropriate. I will calculate P-values for each of the satisfaction indicators using appropriate non-parametric test (Chi Square). Although I specifically took statistic module this semester to be able to solve this problem, I will also seek advice from statistic expert to complement my knowledge. In this research, P value greater than 0.05 will not be accepted as the confidence interval shall be set at 95%. The qualitative aspect of the data will be analyzed by read and re-reading the response and then categorizing them into themes. This may involve assigning abbreviated codes to the points as they emerge from the data. Then the connection between the categories will be traced. The number of respondents that touch on each theme will be noted. All effort to eliminate bias will be made by making sure every stage of the analysis is objective as much as possible in interpretation. This is likely to be a laborious exercise; I will therefore seek advice from my supervisor regarding the analysis and interpretation of the data. If possible, computer software may be used in analysis of the qualitative data; however this will be discussed with my supervisor. Reliability of the instrument The reliability of the instrument shall be determined through a test-retest method. This questionnaire will be administered to 10 clients within the study setting but not within the study participants. After a span of 2 weeks, the same instrument will be re-administered on the same set of 10 people and the results will be analyzed. Correlation of the responses will be determined using Pearson’s correlation co-efficient. 3.8 Ethical issues As stated earlier in this proposal, the team has been collecting patient perception of the services we are providing using questionnaire since 2005. Prior to the commencement of using the questionnaire on the entire client that received therapeutic intervention from our team, ethical permission will be sought from the trust research ethical committee as well as from the line manager. To make sure that participant autonomy was respected, all questionnaires were accompanied by letter informing them that we do not need to know their name and that all the information provided by them will be treated anonymously; they were also informed in the letter that taking part in the survey is on voluntary basis and will not affect the services provided to them in anyway. Although there is a space for their contact information at the back of the questionnaire, this is incase the client would like someone to contact them regarding their concern. The decision to participate in the survey is left to patient by not giving them any follow up phone call regarding the questionnaire, which may lead to coercion. Also their anonymity is maintained by not recording their contact information on the database, the information they provided were recorded anonymously. This is why we may be unable to follow up patients that did not respond, because it is impossible to know who responded or who did not responded. Unless they decided to reveal their identity if there is an issue they wanted to be resolved regarding the questionnaire. Even if they choose to reveal their identity, their personal details are not stored on the survey database to maintain their confidentiality and anonymity. Although the team has been give approval by the trust local ethic committee before commencing the survey, however prior to pulling out the data form the database for the purpose of this research. I will still have to seek approval from my line manager and the trust research ethical committee, because the earlier approval was given to the team and not to me as individual for the purpose of this research. Although I was informed that for this type of research, it would not be necessary to seek approval from the institution ethic committee, however I will also seek advice from my research supervisor regarding the position of the school ethic committee on this type of research. 3.9 Rigor ‘A patient satisfaction survey can be a rich source of information for continuous quality improvement but only if it is examined carefully and used within a consistent framework’ (Lin and Kelly 1995). Non-response is a problem in survey (Lin and Kelly 1995), this problem was solved by including a self addressed reply-paid envelope and a covering letter encouraging the client to complete the survey without coharsing them. Other factors that may influence response rate identified through the search of literature were length of the questionnaire, Pre-notification, Post-notification, and monetary incentives. The length of a questionnaire can have negative impact on response rate (Yammorino, skinner, Childers (1991), this was one of the reasons why the team made sure that the questions were not more than ten when the questionnaire was designed. A lot of literature suggested that respondent pre-notification could have positive effect on response rate. Among the supporter of respondent pre-notification are Haggett and Michell (1994), they found that response to postal mail survey increases with pre-notification. In contrast, Herberlin and Baumgarther (1978) reported that pre-notification has little or no effect on response rate to mail survey. However, we feel that informing them in advance may increase the response rate, and therefore we tend to inform our client that we will be sending questionnaire to them with their discharge letter. We always inform them that filling-in the questionnaire will help us to know if we are meeting their needs or not. Although some researchers like Paul, Walsh and Tzelepls (2005) suggested that monetary incentives can increase response rate, however, I personally feel that monetary incentive may influence the feedback, because the respondent may feel oblige to give positive feedback because of the incentive paid. Yammarino, Skinner and Childer (1991) were of the opinion that the response rate can be increased with follow-up calls, however there is no way to know who is not responding unless the questionnaire is coded, so that the respondents may be identifiable, this will brake their anonymity, therefore we have choose not to be following up, because it will be inappropriate. It is be essential to establish the reliability of the instrument. Although the reliability and validity were evaluated before we commence using it for data collection, however, to be sure that the questionnaire is reliable and valid, I will carry out reliability and validity evaluation as part of this research. Reliability will be assessed using test re-test technique while the validity will be tested using content and face value technique.. Colleagues (2 or 3) from other teams ( for example District Nurses, Rapid Response Team) as well as service users (2 or 3) will be asked to comment on the adequacy of the questionnaire in evaluating patient satisfaction with the services they received from our team. 3.10 Limitations Although frantic effort will be made to reduce bias and errors in the research however there are some limitations that will always be there despite all the effort. Some of the limitation of this type of research includes non-response by some of the participants, in this research; most of the respondents are elderly people. Some of them may not be able to respond because of their medical condition, fragility, eyesight problem, cognitive deficit, and general weakness among others. Language barrier may be another limitation that may lead to non-response considering the fact that Luton is multi-ethnic town. This is in line with the findings of Ehinfors and Smedby (1993). Apart from non-response, another limitation is that some participants may misinterpret the questions, and this may influence their response and subsequently the result. However subjecting the questionnaire to reliability and validity test can minimize this. 3.11 Time frame The research involves getting permission from the local ethics committee, pulling out the data from the data base, transferring the data into the SPSS software, analysis of the data, drawing conclusion and recommendation. The task involved will take about three months approximately for the research to be completed including the writing up. 3.12 Dissemination The research will be submitted to the School of Health and Social Care, Oxford Brookes University as part of academic requirement for my MSc Rehabilitation. The research will also be presented to my team manager and team members. If manager and team are happy after appraising the research critically, my manager in agreement with the trust management may place the findings on the trust website so that it can be accessible to the public. References: Baker, R. (2001). A Method for Surveying Patient Satisfaction: Manual for Users, Clinical Governance Research and Development Unit, Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Leicester. Carr-Hill, R. (1992). The measurement of patient satisfaction. Journal of Public Health Medicine,14(3):236-249. Davies, S. (2006). Rehabilitation, the use of theories and models in practice. Elserver limited. First edition. Department of Health (HoD), (2001). National service framework for older people, HSMO, Norwich. Devers K, J. (1999). How Will We Know Good Qualitative Research When We See It? Beginning the Dialogue in Health Services Research. Health Services Research 34, 5. Di Paula, A., Long, R., Wiener, D. (2002). Are your patients satisfied?, Marketing Health Services, 2 (3) p.28-32. Donabedian, A. (1988). The quality of care: How can it be assessed? Journal of American Medical Association, 260, 12, 1743-1748 Ehinfors, M. and Smedby, B. (1993). Patient Satisfaction Surveys Subsequent to Hospital Care: Problems of Sampling, Non-response and Other Losses International Society for Quality in Health 5, 19-32. George, S. Z. and Hirsh, A. T. (2005). Distinguishing patient satisfaction with treatment delivery from treatment effect: a preliminary investigation of patient satisfaction with symptoms after physical therapy treatment of low back pain. American Journal of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation. 86(7): 1338-44. Geswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design 2nd Edition Sage Califonia. Guadagnino, C. (2003). Role of patient satisfaction http://physiciansnews.com/cover/1203.html accessed on 24/12/07 Guba, E. C. (1990). The Alternative Approach to Paradigm. The Paradigm Dialog eds, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, Califonia. Haggett, S., and Mitchell, V. (1994). Effects of industrial pre-notification on response rate, speed, quality, bias and cost. Industrial Marketing Management, 23, 101-110 Heberlein, T. A., and Baumgartner, R. (1978). Factors affecting response rates to mailed surveys: A quantitative analysis of the published literature. American Sociological Review, 43, 447-462 Hurwitz, E. L., and Morgenstern, H. Y. F. (2005). Satisfaction as a predictor of clinical outcomes among chiropractic and medical patients enrolled in the UCLA low back pain study. Spine. 1;30(19):2121-8 Lin, B., and Kelly, E. (1995), Methodological issues in patient satisfaction surveys, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 8( 6) p.32-7 OHolleran, J. D., Kocher, M. S., Horan, M. P., Briggs, K. K., and Hawkins, R. J. (2005); Determinants of patient satisfaction with outcome after rotator cuff surgery. Journal of bone and joint surgery (America) 87(1):121-6.. Paul, C. L., Walsh, R. A., and Tzelepis, F. (2005). A monetary incentive increases postal survey response rates for pharmacists. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health,59, 1099-1101. Polit, F.D., and Hungler B.P., (1989). Essentials of Nursing Research: Methods, Appraisal, and Utilization, Second edition. Reichardt, C. S., and T. D. Cook. (1978). Beyond Qualitative Versus Quantitative Methods. In Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Evaluation Research, pp. 7-32. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Shepard, K. F., Jensen, G. M., Schmll, B. J., Hack, L. M., and Gwyer, J. (1993). Alternative approaches to research in physical therapy: positivism and phenomenology. Physical Therapy ; 73:88-101 Tam, J.L.M. (2005), Examining the dynamics of consumer expectations in a Chinese context, Journal of Business Research, 58 p.777-86. Ware, J. E., Synder, M, K., Wright, W. R., and Davies, A. R,.(1983) Defining and measuring patient satisfaction with medical care. Evaluation and Program Planning. 6: 247 Yammarino, F. J., Skinner, S., Childers, T. L. (1991). Understanding mail survey response behavior. Public Opinion Quarterly, 55, 613-639. Appendices 1- Patient Satisfaction Questionaire

Liquor Ads On Tv :: essays research papers

According to Antonia Novello, Surgeon General of the United States, in SIRS Government Reporter, the principle cause of death for those between the ages of 15 and 24 are alcohol related car crashes (1). Doesn't it make sense that we should concentrate our efforts into reducing this problem of alcohol abuse? Apparently DISCUS, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, doesn't think so. Worsnop says that on November 7, 1996, they removed their voluntary ban of hard liquor ads on television and radio that had been in affect since 1936 (219). He then states that the removal came right after Seagram, a liquor company, advertised for some of their hard liquor on KRIS-TV in CorpusChrist, Texas (219). This movement is definitely a step in the wrong direction and action should be taken to reinstate this ban, but this time legally. First of all, the removal of the ban gave DISCUS a bad reputation. Already the four major TV networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX) have vowed not to air ads for hard liquor (Worsnop 219). DISCUS has also lost respect in the field of politics, especially with numerous congressmen and the President, himself. Worsnop said "Beer group representatives think DISCUS' announcement undercut its credibility in Washington" (219). Bill Clinton referred to the decision as "simply irresponsible" (qtd in Worsnop 219).Secondly, many of these advertisements for liquor have been said to target teens. However, Seagram's executive vice president of marketing strategy, Arthur Shapiro, said that Seagram had taken "great pains that our advertising doesn't appeal to or aim at children" (qtd in Krantz 1). This is not so, according to Katherine Prescott, who pointed out the use of animals and a graduation theme in Seagram's commercial. This seems to associate the use of alcohol with academic success when the two rarely coexist (Tannert 2). Clinton also expressed his concern that the ban may cause increased drinking among minors (Facts on File 492 vol 57). Even if teens were not targeted directly in an advertisement, Froehlich says "Teenagers are three times as likely as adults to respond to ads..." This is party due to their self-insecurity (Froehlich 1 Novello in SIRS Researcher 5).It has been suggested that in order to reduce teen response to advertisements, counter-advertising should be used. This is when advertisements are shown that discourage illegal or abusive use or products. Research projects showed that while advertising increased consumption, counter-advertising had a successful, opposite affect (Saffer 4).

Stop Smoking :: essays research papers

Behavior Change Contract Paper   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When the class was first told about the contract, I thought to myself that this can really help me stop smoking if I stick with it. I smoke about a pack a day, which is 20 cigarettes. I wanted to gradually decrease the amount of cigarettes I smoke every week for 7 weeks until I stopped smoking. Unfortunately this didn’t work and I was smoking the same amount I started with after the first week of the contract. There were three sets of factors that realy influenced me to continue to smoke.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first factor is the reinforcing factor, smoking is a very social and there are so many people that do it. There are always groups of people smoking anywhere, anytime. School is where I smoke the most cigarettes because I know a lot of people that smoke and whenever I see someone I know smoking I will join them and have a cigarette.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Next is the predisposing factor, this includes everything that is in my head already. Examples of this would be how I am mentally addicted to cigarettes and it feels like I will never be able to stop. This factor in my opinion has the biggest influence on me smoking.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The last factor is the enabling factor; today cigarettes are so easy to get, even for minors. Many of the stores wont even check IDs; they just sell them to whomever. Another enabling factor is that I make money, and can afford to buy the cigarettes at whatever price they are.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As you see these three factors had a lot to do with the reason why I couldn’t stop smoking cigarettes. I also think that another reason why I couldn’t stop was because of the whole reward system.

Clinical Experience Reflective

Due Date: Week 13 Final Reflection: Final Reflection As another semester comes to an end, it is a good time to reflect on your experiences and your learning. To summarize your experiences in this course, we would like you to write up a 5-10 page paper about your experiences in this class. It should address three main areas: 1. Your newly acquired knowledge of practical nursing. Think back to when you started this course; think about what you knew about practical nursing. Describe what you learned and what you would still like to learn.This section should describe how your ideas about 1 or 2 topics changed as a result of taking this course. Were they topics you misunderstood previously that you feel you understand better now? Were they topics that you felt were not relevant to your life that you are glad you learned more about? How has learning about these topics affected your thinking about practical nursing or interprofessional practice in general? 2. Newly acquired knowledge about you as a learner. This section should describe your experiences as a student in this course. What did you do well as a student in this course and what did not go quite as well as you expected?What advice will you give yourself as you take on other courses? 136 George Brown College Practical Nursing COURSE NAME: Practical Nursing Clinical Applications I COURSE CODE: NURS 1029 3. Personal reflection. This section should address your personal experiences in the course. What did you learn about yourself as a person? If you could look at yourself through the eyes of your professor, what would you want your professor to know about your growth as a person, a student and a student practical nurse over the course of the semester? Describe one challenge you faced in this course and how you handled it (did you overcome it?How? If not, why not? ) Process: 1. Using 3 resources/ professional journals linked to practical nursing or interprofessional practice, you are to write a reflective essay on your role as a member of the interprofessional team, practical nursing, turning theory into practice. 2. The essay’s length is not to exceed a minimum five pages and maximum ten pages, presented professionally in 12 font Times New |Roman, double spacing using correct spelling and syntax. 3. A Reference Page must be included in your essay, using the APA referencing method. Grade: 20% *based on grading rubric

Goal Setting Worksheet Essay

1.Describe one academic goal that you have created using the SMART criteria. How do SMART criteria contribute to your academic goals? One goal I have created is to continue to attain the highest points possible each week in college. SMART criteria contribute to my academic goal by helping me identify what I need to focus on to complete this goal. By concentrating on how to set my goal to the guidelines of SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realist, and Timely) I am able to set reasonable steps to complete this goal within the timeframe specified. 2.Describe one professional/career goal you have created using the SMART criteria and Career Plan Building Activities results. How did the results of the Career Interest Profiler and Career Plan Building Activity on Competencies contribute to your professional goal development? Using the SMART criteria I have set a goal to research jobs I am interested in pertaining to the IT field and find out which certifications I will need on top of my degree to help me attain that edge over other prospective candidates. The results from my Career Interest Profiler and Career Plan Building Activity on Competencies reaffirmed my choices on the career I have chosen. As the other career fields I have been interested in were also on the profiler I feel like I am in connection with my competencies and am pursuing a career that I will not only excel at, but be happy with. 3.Describe the stress and time-management strategies you have learned this week that will help you achieve your goals. Of the stress and time management strategies I have learned this week I feel that overcoming procrastination will aid me the most. There are times when the list of things I need to accomplish by the end of the week seems quite daunting, and sometimes I feel procrastinating tendencies. The ultimate cure for this is for me to stop making excuses and accomplish my tasks at hand. Another helpful strategy for me will be utilizing a planner. With all of the time consuming tasks that I will need to accomplish, having them allocated to time slots and dates on a planner will help keep me organized, ensure to not miss deadlines, and effectively de-stress me at the same time. 4.Describe how you will balance academic expectations and your personal and professional responsibilities. I will balance academic, personal, and professional responsibilities and expectations by creating a time chart and not overextending my abilities. I plan to assess each aspect of my life pertaining to academic, personal, and professional goals by effectively prioritizing each in its order of importance or necessity to me. By doing this I can then effectively plan my time to meet my perspective responsibilities as well as eliminate unnecessary stress. 5.How can understanding the importance of SMART criteria and your career interests and competencies help you move towards your career and academic goals? Understanding the importance of SMART criteria and my career interests and competencies can help me achieve my career and academic goals by allowing me to see which areas I am competent in and which areas I need to focus my time on to be more proficient in. Knowing where your weaknesses are is the first step to improving on them and advancing in your career or academic goals. By utilizing SMART criteria I can set realistic and obtainable goals for myself, effectively not setting myself up for failure. If I am able to set a goal to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely I am sure to succeed at not only completing them successfully, but completing goals within a reasonable amount of time as well.

Budgeting is a key component in management short and long term Essay

Budgeting is a key component in management short and long term planning - Essay Example Budgeting helps in figuring out the issues that are faced by the organization and the stakeholders of the organization (RICH, 2012, p.970). This done by finding the difference between the actual outcomes and the budgeted outcomes, if the actual outcomes are not consistent with the budgeted outcomes, the organization is said to have been experiencing issues that need to be resolved. Budgeting is a means through which alternatives are identified and analyze this is done to find the best alternative which will end up in providing fruitful results to the organization. Budgeting is an essential element in the planning role played by the management of an organization. It plays a key role in creating plans that are short and long term in nature. Both the short and long term goals of the organization are of great importance. The achievement of the long term goals is entirely dependent on the successful achievement of the short term goals of the organization. Short Term Planning A manager is involved in the process of making both short and long term planning. The plans that are created for a shorter period of time are created while keeping a deadline of one year or as long as two years in mind (SPEARMAN, 2007, p.194). The plans are created while analyzing expectations of earnings, cash inflow and outflow and expenditures conducted to obtain resources. The plans may be created for as long as one single month or even for as low as one single week. Short term plans created within the organization are heavily dependant on information obtained within the organization and these plans consists of detailed information of tactical objectives that an organization aims at achieving. The short term plans are well structured and hardly experience change with changes in environment, the outcomes of these plans are easily determinable and the outcomes can be analyzed quite frequently (NIEUWENHUIZEN, 2007, p.61). The plans of revenue earning and profit making that are short term in nat ure are devised in accordance to the current products offered by the organization and the current market in which the organization is operating. Short term profitability programs should be developed in accordance to different responsibilities and areas. Plans that are short term in nature are dependent on departments and all departments create their own short term plans. Once short term plans for each department is created, all the short term plans are viewed and reviewed together as all functions/departments are dependent on each other for their success. For the creation of short term plans, involvement of lower level managers is quite significant. Line manager is one of the lower level managers who play the most important role in defining the short term objectives and short term plans should be finally devised with the ultimate aim of achieving long term targets of the organization. Long Term Planning The nature of the long-term planning is quite strategic and it covers a broad ra nge of purposes. This kind of plan is scheduled to be completed within five to ten years of operations and it is formed in accordance to the future operations of the organization. These plans are not only based on the conditions of the internal environment of the organization, they are created while giving importance to the external environment which includes the

Revise Answer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Revise Answer - Essay Example (A Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspans 1999 Harvard University Commencement speech) The mind is quick to change an individual’s opinion and imagines anything it likes. It is a source of happiness when controlled. The first strategy to strengthen self-control is to conduct an experiment. Assagioli states that most academic psychologists do not research in appropriate ways. The doctors do not go into the laboratory to examine their own experience of the will. Second, is the application of psycosynthesis. Psycosynthesis is holistic, inclusive, and global. Finally, misidentification, and controlling of the will strengthens self-control. Sensation, feeling, thought and intuition lacks a description of psychological life hence no self-control ( article, An interview conducted with Roberto Assagioli by Sam Keen). My gratitude is to my loving mother (Rebecca Peters). She is a mentor, teacher, teacher, guardian, and an idol. She gave words of wisdom, which has driven me until now. For instance, always to believe in myself and most significantly to face all calamities. She showed me to have faith in myself and not to trust everyone. I owe my mum the primary education, shelter, food, beautiful clothing, and health she provided me. The communication and listening skills you taught me. I love you much and thank you mother. Abraham Lincoln had several successes. He became company captain of Illinois militia in Black Hawk War. He became congress and admitted to practice law in U.S District Court. Finally, he became the president of America. However, the failures include; failed in business, defeated for speaker and state legislature. The adaptation strategies include defining a goal. Lincoln set his goals to know the primary objective. Secondly, learning from the suffering process enabled him to persevere and find a solution. Finally, retaining modesty in the face of mystery allowed

Focus of the marketing mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Focus of the marketing mix - Essay Example Another notable target market is that of the aging demography who want to explore new things (Hughes, 2011). In addition, the younger generation has not been left behind, notably the students who desire trendy and innovative devices that provide various options in performing tasks. Ipad features Ipad is basically a tablet device with various specifications and features. These specifications and features have enabled this product more appealing to customers in the various market segments. Ipad has an interface of led touch screen with dimensions of 9.57 ? 7.47; this makes this product more appealing as compared to other tablet devices (Pride & Ferrell, 2012, p. 22). Attributed to the Apples extensive research and development, Ipad is considered to be the latest technological device characterized with a high compatibility mode and that the users can easily navigate it because of its reliable speed and processor. This product is fully equipped and has the ability to download large amoun t of data, send and receive emails, send attachments and documents, watch movies and take pictures (Hughes, 2011). This product has been designed to enable users such as professionals and businesses to get digitalized and connect easily to the global world. This Apple product has a wider and various applications (Pride & Ferrell, 2012, p. ... Secondly, the built-in applications in the device which enables the customers to have an adventurous experience in using any tablet device. Finally, the device display in which customers look for remarkable resolutions with appealing colors. It is notable that Ipad has a Retina display, high speed processor and 275000 applications, thus, making it a customer choice in this category of tablet device. Branding The Ipad attribute of being considered innovative and trendy in terms of its design with the provision of unlimited options to the user attributes greatly to its branding (Pride & Ferrell, 2012, p. 28). Its simplicity and portability has earned Apple popularity and being widely accepted in the global markets (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius 2010, p. 15). This has led into Ipad expanding its markets and satisfying larger market segments, thus, earning it better brand equity and positioning it as need to most individuals (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2010, p. 33). PRICE In regard to the pr ice, iPad can be purchased in the various multiple selected points by Apple Company. Pricing iPad is charged at a premium price as compared to its competitors attributed by the quality superiority and innovativeness of the device. As the most innovative devices available in the market, notably, other tablet competitors, offer a premium price, it has value as compared with the benefits that this product offers to the user. Price strategy rationale Although iPad is considered expensive, the value realization and benefits that the customer gets overshadow its expensiveness. The pricing strategy of Apples IPad takes into account factors including high innovativeness, reliability of iPad tablet device, device portability

The assignment - Background information - You are the financial Essay

The assignment - Background information - You are the financial director of a large, ficticious company called Manac plc, which - Essay Example The target profit of the company is not being achieved and as a result of that it is impacting the entire organization. The company has also adopted several cost cutting methods, which impacted the production and reduced competitive advantage of the firm. The report will mainly focus on three areas of strategic management accounting. In the first part, it will mainly emphasize on the models and concepts on pricing decision. In the second part, the study will primarily focus on role of standard costing and variance analysis in management accounting. The third part is about uncovering the pros and cons of activity based costing. The report will then conduct an in depth analysis of the strategic management accounting. On the basis of that a conclusion will be drawn and some recommendations will be made. Models and Concepts on Pricing Decision The organization is currently dealing or facing challenge pertaining to the issue of profit maximization. The problem is that company is not achie ving its target profit. According to several authors, maximization of profit is only possible only when the organizations are able to implement the models and concepts used in pricing decision. ... In order to cite an example, if the products of a company are priced higher than its competition; it may suffer losses and slow income growth. Such firms ignore the impact of pricing, but later understand when it gets actually affected. Similarly, if the prices of products and services of a company are extremely low, their return of profit will be also low. Hence it is important for every firm that they should consider adopting some of the best models or principles based on which they can make pricing decisions. The model should also satisfy the two objectives of pricing. The first one is to achieve maximum profit and the second objective is to meet the market demand. One of the most common models that are considered by the companies is consumer’s preferences and behaviour. According to this model, it is the consumers who make the purchasing decision and other factors hardly play any role (Heidhues and K’oszegi, 2005). Therefore if the firms closely monitor the buying b ehaviour of the consumers, companies will be able to take its pricing decisions with ease. For example, if the study of consumer behaviour reflects that consumers prefer products that are priced low, the companies will be able to make the prices of their products low by reducing the overall cost. The next model pertaining to pricing decision of a firm is about the market equilibrium. Market equilibrium is actually a situation considered by the firms while developing the pricing strategies. This is actually the stage where the market demand and market supply overlaps with each other. The market equilibrium (demand and supply) is highly responsible for driving price changes (Vives, 2010). For example, if the price of a 3D TV is low in a particular market, the