Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Reign Over Me Evaluation Essay

Depression affects all people. Reign Over Me is a movie that deals with a character in a grave state of depression. In Charlie Fineman’s (Adam Sandler) case depression hits hard and leads to a major behavioral change. Fineman blocks out major parts of his life including his college roommate, Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle). After running into him on the street, it takes a while for this encounter to jog his memory of his best friend. We learn later that this depression is due the death of his three daughters and wife in a plane crash. The news devastates Fineman. He cannot function in society the same and loses purpose in life, as well as belief in himself. Instead of letting this distress out and working to recuperate, Fineman shuts everybody out and tries to hide from the truth. This can be a serious problem in today’s society. Many people are embarrassed or too hurt to try to move on and they let what happened dictate their individual future. In this film, directed by Mik e Binder and produced by Jack Binder and Michael Rottenberg, the message of depression and its effects is relayed quite clearly. This movie relates to the real world very well; it also helps open up the eyes of many who do not understand what depression can do. Reign Over Me deals with a character who has the biggest part of his life taken from him in an instant. While others cannot tell how much Fineman is suffering by his actions, the loss of his family crushes him. Instead of mourning he falls into a deep state of denial where he almost forgets their existence. An important theme throughout is Fineman trying to fix the wrongs he did to his family, like snapping at his wife about kitchen remodeling or not taking his shoes off. Although they are just little things he makes sure nobody comes in his house with their shoes on and remodels the kitchen several times. These small acts show that he still remembers. There is a scene in the movie where Fineman opens up to Alan, his former roommate. Although he would not open up to the therapist, he tells Alan all about what happened. It was in brief but in this scene you get to see how much recalling his past hurts. Just saying his daughters’ names makes him cry. This scene demonstrates how hard it is for Fineman to talk about his life. Throughout the film, we learn little by little the events  that took place. Outsiders and even his in-laws think that he is disrespecting his deceased loved ones. They do not understand why he does not carry a picture of his family with him or even have one in his house. They take it to the point of wanting to have him committed until he finally talks to them and explains how hard it is to live each day and how hard it is to see them or anybody because he sees his family everywhere. There are many critics and naysayer to this movie as well as supporters. Most of the reviews I read really concentrated on the part played by Adam Sandler. Adam Sandler shoulders a very dramatic character in this movie and this side of him is underappreciated. He is notoriously known for his funny facial expressions and antics. This leads people to believe he can’t play a serious role but in Reign Over Me he hits a home run. The same reviews were not so critical about Don Cheadle. He played a part he is used to playing combing a normal act with the occasional funny quote or joke to keep the viewers on board. The actors play out a very realistic scenario. The ir parts are down to earth and don’t undermine or take away from the message of the movie. From my own personal judgment the movie Reign Over Me takes the viewer into a world many people don’t or won’t ever see. It combines excellent acting with a reasonable story-line that relays a meaningful message. They story is not far-fetched and is very comparable to the realities of many people today. As far as the acting is concerned, both actors play a side the viewer is not accustomed to seeing compared to other movies Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle are known for. Other movies like, Billy Madison (Adam Sandler) or Brooklyn’s Finest (Don Cheadle), these actors have very different parts. This movie shows the talent in each of the individual actors. Both actors play off each other during the movie which takes much skill and created a wholesome and tasteful production. Many scenes are not verbatim and the skill of the actors to improvise makes for an entertaining movie watching experience for the audience. I personally recommend this film to anybody from young adults to the elderly and all of the above. Reign Over Me doesn’t only tell a story but will also tug the heart of the audience in a serious and dramatic rollercoaster ride. The movie may have many critics but I think both actors did a wonderful job throughout the film keeping the audience entertained for the entire two hours and forty minute movie. The debate is on! Go watch the movie today  and take into consideration the many sides and create your own opinion. Works Cited Internet Source – O., Scott. â€Å"Who Else but an Old Buddy Can Tell How Lost You Are?.† New York Times 23 Mar 2007. 1. 2/9/11 . Movie – Reign Over Me. DVD. Sony Pictures UK, 2007.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Case Study Child Development Project Essay

Abstract After an extended period watching and observing Adrian, the bystander is able to see where Adrian is developmentally. He is growing physically, mentally, and emotionally as a child his age, four years old, should be maturing according to many theorists. While he has not mastered all the required steps for his age group he is achieving more and more of them each day. The following case study will discuss where Adrian is excelling and where he still needs a little work. A Case Study about Child Development Adrian is almost four years old and lives with his parents and older sister in an apartment. His father is a financial advisor in a bank, allowing him to spend time with the family on the weekends, while his mother stays at home as a housewife. They have a lot of neighbors and no pets. Adrian loves trains, cars, dinosaurs, animals, juice, and being inside and outside of his house. His favorite movie is Cars. He does not like the word â€Å"No† and often ignores something when it doesn’t interest him. Adrian has fun, loving, goofy, energetic personality. Throughout this study, the observation of Adrian will take place at two places: his house, inside and out and his grandmother’s house. Physical Development Adrian developed normally through the prenatal, infancy, and toddler stages. He was born on August twenty eighth in 2010 by natural birth after a full term, normal pregnancy. At birth, he weighed eight pounds eleven ounces and measured twenty-two inches long, which according to the Center for Disease Control (2000), put him in the seventy-fifth percentile for weight and ninetieth percentile for length. As an infant Adrian’s mother, chose not to breast feed and instead gave him formula. As a toddler, Adrian hit all the  important milestones, according to his mother, included learning to walk which occurred around fifteen months. As Adrian progressed from a toddler to preschooler, he continued to progress as he should according to the normal growth and developmental process. At four years, he is forty-two inches tall and weights around forty-six pounds, keeping him in the same percentiles as birth, again according to the CDC (2000). Most of this growth occurred, as it should, during the toddler years. Even though Adrian just turned four he had accomplished many of the required gross and fine motor skills according Berger (Chapter 8), he can run, hop, jump, walk up and down stairs alone, dress and undress, use the bathroom on his own. I have witnessed Adrian running or jumping many times whether it be running to tackle someone for a hug or a warm welcome, jumping on the bed/couch usually when he gets excited about a movie or favorite cartoon, or when he is playing with his cousin who is just a few months older. Going up and down the stairs at his grandmother’s house, this is not a problem problem because Adrian gets plenty of practice due to must of the time he’s visiting his gradmother’s house. Using the bathroom is a big accomplishment for him, because it took him a long time and has only mastered it within the last few months. However, he still needs practice skipping and being comfortable using scissors. Adrian is right where he should be with his physical development. Cognitive Development Similarly to Adrian’s physical development his cognitive develop is also maturing at what theorist would say is a normal rate. Piaget and Vygotsky writes that upon reaching the age of four a child should be rapidly expanding his vocabulary, beginning to think intuitively but still thinking almost entirely on himself. He progressed through the building blocks of language beginning with babbling and moving through his first word around fifteen months and first sentence a little while later. While his mother does not know the exact time when he started babbling and spoke his first sentence, she does recall this never being a concerned about the development. Currently, he is speaking in full sentences that vary in lengths and purposes. He enjoys watching television shows about super heroes and if given the chance, he will spend large amounts of time, sometimes up to twenty minutes, telling his listener all about them. Adrian’s cognitive  development in the area of language has a lot to do with the fact he is inquisitive and seems to enjoy learning. According to many theories and developmental checklist a four year old should be able to count and should be drawn to letters and sounds. Adrian demonstrates an inclination to want to read and will often ask someone around him to read him his favorite book or play with the magnetic letters his mom bought him. Additionally, by playing games like Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders where he can count the required spaces indicating a beginning understanding of numbers. Another example a time when I noticed Adrian genuinely wanting to learn and wanting things to be perfect, he spent a few seconds growing more and more frustrated as he angrily smashed the top and bottom boxes together. Eventually, he got the two pieces together but not before tearing the corners of them. However, when someone stepped in and showed him how to correctly put the two pieces together he welcomed the advice and was then able to properly close the box. Like Vygotsky mentioned the mentor provide scaffolding, or temporary sensitive support, to help the developmental zone. After getting the box together, he started to think of ways to fix the box. He suggested taping it, and was excited when that idea was welcomed and put to use. This not only demonstrated intuitive thought but helped Adrian feel intelligent and begin to learn that it is perfectly fine and acceptable to ask for help when needed. Adrian is developing cognitively a little more everyday and seems to be on his way to accomplishing all the key milestones. His language skills are growing each day and he is learning to try new things on his own with the idea that he can always ask for help. Emotional/Social Development As with physical and cognitive development, observer is able to see that Adrian is attaining the social developmental milestones as he progresses to the preschool age. While Adrian hit all the important points through in infancy and toddlerhood. For example, he was always able to show a wide range of emotions, classified as a key achievement by Freud and Erikson. He was quick to show observers his happiness, sadness, confusion, or frightfulness. He also quickly established a secure attachment to his mother, another one of Ainsworth’s milestones. Adrian was child who needed and wanted to be with his mother and would cry or search for her as soon as  she left his sight. By achieving both of these Adrian was able to understand that he could trust people, which allowed him to make the transition from toddlerhood to the pre-school period successfully. As an energetic and, for the most part, easy going four year old, Adrian is accomplishing many of the expected landmarks yet needs more time to complete other. Observers can watch Adrian feeling safe and comfortable in areas other than those he is familiar too. Similarly, however, he can/will lose complete control of his temper and lash out violently to those around him. Other noticeable developments for Adrian are his ability to play with others, cooperatively and the idea that he is beginning to get a sense of gender. He enjoys playing games with his cousin who is just a few months older and they will play with cars or whatever suits their mood that day. He will also play board games, such as Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders, with the understanding that it is not always possible to win. Presently, he is fascinated with Wonder Woman and when asked why he likes her so much his response was because she is a girl and has boobs, as reported by Adrian’s mother. He is getting to the point also, where he understands that there are boys clothes and girls clothes, last year for example he enjoyed trying on the clothes his cousin received for Christmas. Yet this year, when his family went shopping and glanced through the area with all the children’s clothes he had no problem telling everyone which ones were for boys and which ones where not. Over all, Adrian is where he needs to be given he still has two years left in the preschool stage to improve and grow socially and emotionally developmental wise. Reflection This experience has taught me a lot about how preschoolers act and why they do the things they do. I truly enjoyed watching Adrian in a different, more professional light during the past few weeks. I cannot say I am thrilled with how I did everything throughout the project but for the most part, I am happy. By observing Adrian for specific characteristics in the areas of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth I was able to bring the lectures and information from class to life and am thrilled to be able to say I am leaving this class with the understanding of how a preschool-aged child operates. While I am happy about learning the Adrian is on target with his developments, I wish I could have observed him at different times and  places. Also, it would have been interesting to see how he reacted at different locations but that did not work like I had hoped it would have at the beginning, instead, I primarily just watched him inside his house: inside because it always seemed to be either too hot or rainy when I would visit. By completing this case study, I was able to accomplish a lot. I now have a much better idea of where a preschool-aged child is cognitively, emotionally, and physically and if that is the age. I really enjoyed being able to step out of my family role and see how Adrian is from a different, more professional standpoint.

Memories of Childhood Essay

Childhood is a golden period of man’s life. It is the time when man is dependent but he enjoys all the comforts of the life. He has nothing to worry about. He has to do nothing to get his demand fulfill except weeping. It is a carefree time. In my childhood I was free from worries and sorrows. When every day and night brought joys for me. Parents tried to amuse me. They loved me so much that I began to think they were living only for me and it was not wrong as well. Near our house there was a pond. Father took me daily to the pond to enjoy the beautiful sight of the setting sun. Once my father fell ill and could not go to the pond. I was very fond of taking bath in the bright water of the pond but father did not allow me to fulfill my desire. Now it was a golden chance. I went alone to the pond and jumped into the water. Deep water took me into its lap. After this what happened I do no know. When I opened my eyes a doctor was bending over me. Mother and sisters were weeping. I had to remain for one month in the hospital. Now when I recall that horrible accident my heart begins to sink with fear. Then I decided not to do anything without the permission of parents. There is one more thing which I cannot help mentioning More over I can never forget the day when I was beaten by the gardener for stealing mangoes. My friend Maria and I went to the garden to eat mangoes. Maria was very active and clever. She remained out of the garden and asked me to climb up the mango tree. Consequently I was caught by the gardener and he bead me with his sharp stick. Maria ran away The gardener took me before my father and told the whole story. Father prohibited me from going to the garden. I was much ashamed but soon all it was over. If you have female companion you are fond of dolls as well. The same case was with me. I was very fond of dolls in my childhood. Maria and I played with the dolls for hours, marrying and decorating them. Mother did not like her daughter wasting time in playing. As a result she took me to the school. I was much frightened and puzzled among the strange girls. I began to weep bitterly. While I was weeping I felt a soft hand on my back it was my teacher. She consoled me and gave me a beautiful book of colorful pictures. I was taught by her to smile in the storm of tears and sufferings. Now she is far away from me but her memory is fresh in my mind and I will never forget her as well. Children usually keep on gamboling and playing . Sometimes they keep on running in childhood I was like a playful deer wandering through the meadows. Maria and wandered the whole day long in the green fields of our villages picking wild flowers and making garlands. How beautiful moonlit nights were in childhood! When the shining moon appeared we all played in the open fields catching one another. Now childhood is no more but it appears a beautiful dream.

Monday, July 29, 2019

Weak Legal Environments in Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Weak Legal Environments in Asia - Essay Example While in 1977 the economic crisis was triggered by the Thai baht, this time the crisis began on Wall Street. Many South Koreans are of the opinion that their economy is vulnerable to western market panic and destabilization because it is more transparent and open to foreign capital than its neighbors3. This is the reason that countries like Japan and China have not been as seriously affected by the global crunch as South Korea has been. However the reason behind South Korea being affected is that the Korean banks have huge foreign debts unlike the neighboring nations and as the global credit market dried up, the banks were in trouble as they needed dollars to repay the maturing foreign currency loans. What added to the pressure was that the foreign banks refused to roll over the existing loans. Before the 1997 crisis occurred in the Asian countries, the corporate sector in Korea showed very high debt-equity ratios and low profitability and they were still expected to yield high profitability.4 Such crises do not occur overnight and in Korea even ten years before the actual meltdown took place, the return on capital fell short of the oppurtunity cost. Profitability declined even after control of firm-specific and industry-specific factors and the macro-economic conditions. The rate of return on assets (ROA) was much lower in Korea than in other countries. The corporate governance in Korea was very weak as the system failed to provide sufficient monitoring and discipline. The larger firms did not face exit threats and the Korean laws protected incumbent controlling shareholders.5 Because of the Korean family structure, in the chaebols or the business groups, ownership is heavily concentrated to the extent that an individual has almost total control over all the firms within the group.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Tourism in Western Australia Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism in Western Australia - Assignment Example The communication strategy of Western Australian Tourism is to support an accountable and open two-way communication process with customers, partners, staff and stakeholders. The communications strategy will include the following stages; Communication objective The objective of the communications strategy is to work efficiently and productively as well as understand the planning process. Also, the objective will include ensuring that all departments and functions of the organization are comprehensible and adhere to the strategic goals and objectives set by management (Dwyer, 2011). Setting key organizational message Conflicting messages can lead to a confused communication and perception among employees and management. Hence, it is essential that a particular message is spread across all departments and is repeated frequently. Some of the key messages that WA tourism can propagate are its long-term strategic goals, revamping of the department’s roles and responsibilities, immediate one year, two year and five year plans and strategic stages in these plans. Prioritizing and defining the key stakeholders Prioritizing the key stakeholders is a critical stage in stakeholders’ management, which leads to better communication and planning. Stakeholders should be segregated according to their involvement and importance in the planning and decision asking processes (Department of Planning and community development, n.d). For instance, customers and visitors should be positioned as top priority as well as involved in the communication process more often.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Recession of USA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Recession of USA - Research Paper Example The initial response included the criticism on the subprime mortgage crisis and how financial institutions exploited this market in order to book higher risks in the accounts. Subsequent discussions also included the failure of the regulatory bodies to have an effective check on the financial institutions and their behavior, role of fair value accounting as well as the greed and lust of financial institutions to focus on achieving short term profitability while ignoring the long term impacts of the same on the viability of the system. This paper will attempt to explore and understand as to what factors resulted in these crisis, how the crisis deepened, what was the initial response of the government, did it worked, how the policies of current administration are different from old and finally how does it measure to the short run and long run macroeconomics of the country. What caused the recession in US? A mild recession in US existed in early years of 2000s when US, after witnessing a decade of economic prosperity started to show the signs of economic recession. This recession however could not last longer as it only existed for less than a year. It is also important to note that such type of recession was also experienced by European Union and other developed countries also. This was however, considered as a natural reaction of the economy after reaching its peak in most of the developed countries including US. This was also a period when dot com bubble burst and top level corporate frauds and scandals started to emerge. During the early 2000 NASDAQ crashed due to the dot com bubble and FED also started to increase the interest rates. It is believed that the consistent and gradual increase in the interest rates by FED also contributed towards the creation of recession in the economy during early 2000s. (Ruddy, 2006) This was also a period of 9/11 when terrorist attacks on US resulted into the sharp decline in Dow Jones as well as its impact on different sector s of the economy specially airline industry. Further, US has to divert significant resources towards the war thus increasing the government expenditure. This recession however, was not as damaging as the recession which started to emerge during 2007 as a result of the financial crisis in the country. The current economic recession in the country is therefore a direct result of the financial crisis which started to emerge during 2007. The financial crisis in US started with the subprime mortgage crisis when the subprime mortgage holders started to default on their obligations. Subprime borrowers are those borrowers whose credit history is not good and they could not obtain the credit on normal terms and conditions. Due to their overall situation, they pose a greater risk therefore in order to lend them, it becomes imperative for the banks to charge them higher interest rates. Based on the risk and return criteria banks therefore started to lend to such borrowers in a bid to earn high er profitability while ignoring the risks associated with such borrowers. The issue however, became critical when the banks started to securitize their subprime mortgage portfolio and issued mortgage backed securities offering subprime mortgage portfolio as collateral. (BROOKS & SIMON, 2007). When subprime borrowers started to become delinquent on their obligat

Friday, July 26, 2019

Case Study Analysis Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case Study Analysis - Annotated Bibliography Example He also argues about the issue of organization and how it affects public administration. In this book, Bekkers et al (2006) tried to look at the problem of innovation and how it relates to public administration. The authors look at the process of innovation in the context of IT. They relate this to the use of IT in the public administration and how the technology can be used to create collaboration between the public and government. This book was important in this study with regard to understand the issue of technology and how it could be used to enhance public services. Denhardt (2011) looks at public administration departments as an organization and then tries to apply the theory of organizational learning. What he is trying to identify is if the government departments can acquire a learning model. The author also looks at the various models that can be used for public administration. The author looks at some of the most effective ones, especially in light of organizational learning. This book was very useful in this study because it provides a new dimension of organizational learning to the debate of effective public administration. Fang (2002) looks at the issue of government and how technology has assisted in the delivery of services by the government. Ho looks at both the upside and the downside of things with regard to IT technology in delivery of public services. This journal article is especially important as a source of information on how the challenges of using technology in the implementation of public administration. Garson (1999) tackles the issue of information technology in the context of public administration in the following regard. One, he tackles the issue of contemporary technology in public administration. More importantly, the book discusses the issue of information privacy with regard to the use of electronic service delivery. This is important in understanding how IT relates to public administration and many challenges

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Hiding Behind the Screen Roger Scruton Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hiding Behind the Screen Roger Scruton - Essay Example There are numerous old fashioned methods applicable to pass messages, which seem to be absent. Since the present day generation youth use mobile phone devices for communication, they lack opportunities to stand judged by an individual they communicate with on the other end.   Roger Scruton recommend-fashioned pile should not avoid accountability at any cost. Scruton makes this statement because he feels that people use mobile phone devices as a medium to evade accountability and judgment of the other parties involved in the communication. Certain virtues such as love and integrity are absent in communication due to the use of mobile phones and social media. People lack the opportunity to achieve a mutual understanding of certain individuals due to use of social media. There are instances where one finds it difficult to understand another individual due to the belief that there exists a certain complexity between them (Dooley 68). The difficulty to understand according to Roger Scru ton is because there is a lack of mutual judgment. Hiding behind the screen means that people have the capability to maintain control over the communication encounter, either through social media or through a mobile phone device. The virtue of justice is achievable through one’s ability to witness the modes of judgment from other people through communication. The essay emphasizes that such virtues become absent within the present day society due to the availability of controllable modes of communication.... There are instances where one finds it difficult to understand another individual due to the belief that there exists a certain complexity between them (Dooley 68). The difficulty to understand according to Roger Scruton is because there is a lack of mutual judgment. Hiding behind the screen means that people have the capability to maintain control over the communication encounter, either through social media or through a mobile phone device. The virtue of justice is achievable through one’s ability to witness the modes of judgment from other people through communication. The essay emphasizes that such virtues become absent within the present day society due to the availability of controllable modes of communication. The society finds it difficult to determine the kind of person that they deal with since there is little opportunity to judge people through communication. The presence of mobile phone devices contributed towards the refusal of people to stand judged by other indi viduals (Dooley 68). The essay suggests on the various ways that certain virtues that are applicable in communication become irrelevant with the use of mobile phones. The face-to-face encounters are important to the relevance in communication. When people converse face to face, there are better chances to acquire different aspects about the individuals as they communicate. An individual is able to minimize another person’s point of view through the potential to retain control over the communication encounter. The communication criteria experience different challenges in accordance to the modes that are applicable. The old fashion of communication is unavailable due to the advancements and alterations witnessed in technology. The influence of social media and communication

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Electrical and Electronic Principles (A) UFMFP8-15-1 Lab Report

Electrical and Electronic Principles (A) UFMFP8-15-1 - Lab Report Example As one moves across a resistor voltages drops and therefore the value of that voltage should be taken as negative. On the other, as one cross from negative terminal of a voltage source to the positive terminal of the same voltage source, the voltage value is taken as positive. The contrary is true when moving from a positive terminal of a resistor to the negative terminal. On the other hand, as regards to Kirchhoff’s Current Law, the algebraic sum of the currents in all the branches that converge in a common node is equal to zero. All the currents flowing into a particular node are taken to be positive and those flowing out of the same node are taken to be negative. On the other, as one cross from negative terminal of a voltage source to the positive terminal of the same voltage source, the voltage value is taken as positive. The contrary is true when moving from a positive terminal of a resistor to the negative terminal.  

Research an Issue in Corrections Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Issue in Corrections - Research Paper Example Choosing between work and family life has been most significant concern that affects job satisfaction and work stress among correctional officers. The two articles: The time has passed for the wardens shuffle by Laura E. Bedard Mar 13, 2015 and what’s it like being a CO spouse? By Brandy Aldriedge May 27, 2014 explores some of these instances and correctional management issue. The time has passed for the wardens shuffle is an exciting article exploring the challenges that various wardens go through as they are shuffled from one station to the next. The reason that has always been given by the authority is that when doing so issues of management are boosted as corruption, and other malpractices are minimized. However, the article faults this old fashioned practice. One notable argument from the article is that many of the wardens get completely isolated from their loved ones and family members during the process making them lose the needed morale at work. The article points to the fact that there should be a balance between work and family to ensure effectiveness in workstations rather than outdated warden shuffle. On the other hand, what’s it like being a CO spouse? Is an article that gives an account of the experiences that spouses married to correctional officers go through. The article explores the discomfort and loneliness these couples undergo throughout their marriage life. It is an agony that is never ending. More often than not the correctional officer has to choose between their family and the work he does. Most interestingly is the fact that these correctional officers have more probability of committing suicide compared to individuals in other professions in America. Furthermore, their life expectancy is 58 years which is 20 years less than any ordinary Americans. These according to the article are all as a result of poor work and family balance. The same correctional officers according to the article

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Revolution of Technology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Revolution of Technology - Research Paper Example In this paper, the author attempts to peruse the causes and effects of the revolution in technology. In addition, the author concurs that the advantages of the revolution in technology far exceeds the few disadvantages which are purported. The National Research Council notes: our society has been through other periods of dramatic change before, driven by such innovations as the steam engine, railroad, telephone, and automobile. But never before have we experienced technologies that are evolving so rapidly (increasing in power by a hundredfold every decade), altering the constraints of space and time, and reshaping the way we communicate, learn, and think. (p. 5) This dynamic altering has changed life as we know it forever and although the revolution in technology has been the major factor in the improvement of life throughout the ages there remains several negative consequences. Nonetheless, these negative features as analyzed in the literature pales in comparison to the plethora of positive effects spawned from the revolution. Notwithstanding, this technology has brought with it an unquenchable thirst for more knowledge and a seemingly disconnection in human physical relationships there is a certain level of satisfaction obtained from the actual utilization of these technologies. This paper purports that the positive effects of the revolution of technology far outweighs the negative. ... Maury Klein emphasized that this industrialization paved the way for â€Å"large cities, the mass migration of people out of rural areas and into cities, as well as changes in the pace of American life†. Atkeson and Kehoe note that the tremendous amount of â€Å"new manufacturing technologies based on electricity† which were invented in the 1860s to 1900s caused that period to be dubbed the Second Industrial Revolution (64). This period was synonymous with a ‘new economy’ personified by rapid increase in the manufacturing industry. The first industrial revolution therefore ended in the nineteenth century with the introduction of electricity which led to a rapid advancement in transportation, medicine and other innovations. This dynamic atmosphere prepared the way for our present revolution, which is also known as the Information Revolution. Cortada suggests two main reasons for the present revolution, namely, â€Å"infusion of federal funds† in the q uest for technological innovations and the â€Å"existence of a potentially large commercial market† for this new technology (17). The commercial market spanned the entire globe. Thus, an individual could correspond with another individual half way across the world in real time. Further, a good could be manufactured in China, be advertised on the World Wide Web and be sold to someone in Australia within a single day. This present revolution in technology holds an abundance of benefits which were never realized in the previous revolutions. III. T he information revolution has had a positive effect on the lives of individuals across the globe or has it? Interestingly, each revolution added to the benefits of the

Monday, July 22, 2019

Subsidize University Fees For Low Income Group Essay Example for Free

Subsidize University Fees For Low Income Group Essay INTRODUCTION: Globally, there is increasing demand for higher education, especially from the youth population of developing countries, as it is viewed as an important pathway for greater social mobility (Devesh, 2008). According to the World Trade Organization (WTO 2010), private returns from higher education are high for both developed and developing countries. In developing countries, the wage differential between a secondary school leaver and a university graduate is estimated to be as high as 200%. Besides the wage premium, rapidly changing technology in a globalized world is also demanding new and changing competencies that require life-long learning skills, for which mature students often have to go back to college for re-training and re-skilling. Malaysia is one of the most subsidized nations in the world. Its total subsidy of RM74 billion in 2009 is equivalent to RM12,900 per household or 4.6 per cent of GDP even higher than Indonesia (2.7 per cent) Philippines (0.2 per cent). Out of the numbers, RM 30.8 billion goes to Primary, secondary, higher education and scholarships. Higher education in Malaysia is divided into 2 sectors; public and non-public sector, there are about 20 universities and 6 university colleges (the term â€Å"university college† is used to for those tertiary level education institutions that are able to confer their own degrees but have not achieved university status). In the non-public sector there are 559 institutions of varying types including: universities and university colleges and foreign university branch campuses. The term â€Å"non-public† refers to the broad category of institutions not funded by the state. A division between private and for-profit institutions exists within this category, but is not entirely clear. Outside of these categories are polytechnics (24) and community colleges (37), which will not be dealt with this profile. The Higher Education Department within the Ministry of Education, co-ordinates and monitors the activities of public and private universities and colleges. Because of government’s large investments in higher education, issues of government involvement and university autonomy arise. Currently, students  are assigned to specific universities based on their cumulative grade point averages, faculty members are essentially civil servants with highly fixed salaries, and vice chancellors and deans are appointed by the state. Malaysian public higher education students must pay tuition and other fees and cover their living costs (though accommodations on campus are subsidized by the government). Solid financing is the backbone of a well-functioning higher education system. The decision to attend tertiary education has monetary and non-monetary variables. In Malaysia the cost of tertiary education (tuition fees) and associated living costs affect how much a cash constraint can discourage otherwise talented students from enrolling and completing higher education. Currently many kinds of subsidies exist such as government owned and operated school (public and private universities state colleges), subsidized loans, grants and scholarships. THE â€Å"PROS† TOWARDS GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY: Why does government need to intervene in the market for education? That is, doesn’t the market produce the â€Å"right† amount of education? If the market outcome is not right, what is the best way to intervene? To answer these questions, we first need to consider the basic model of education. In the economic model of education, every person in society has a certain amount of brain power, skill, knowledge, understanding, and the like. All those factors other than our â€Å"unskilled† labor allow us to produce output. We can think of all these factors as one, the composite factors which is human capital. It is very useful to think of human capital as analogous to physical capital. Durable: continues to have value over time, can decrease over time due to â€Å"depreciation† and can increase due to â€Å"investments†. Acquiring education is like making a physical investment, improves the quantity and/or quality of the human capital. The purpose is to increase productivity and that’s for sure. Hence, there are a few drawbacks if the Malaysian government didn’t subsidized university education tuition fees. Family income determines whether the student can afford the costs of the university or college. First issue related to monetary variables and non-monetary variables will lead to a drop line of a higher education access. This has made many young talents and bright students fail to enter university and are a loss to future generation. This is due to: †¢Cost benefits barrier – the barrier arises when the group decides that the cost of attending university is greater than its expected return to the education investment. †¢Cash constraints barrier – occurs when the students who have decided that the returns to education outweigh the costs still cannot put together the resources to obtain entry to universities. †¢Debt aversion barrier – arises when an individual refuses to use the funds at his or her disposal because part of the funds might be loans, which at some point will have to be repaid. †¢Parental education, race and ethnicity, gender and geographical location – all play a role in the college decision-making process. Of course there are many reasons why government should step in. Subsidy indirectly can reduce crime. Of course crime is clearly an externality in this context. The actions of others affect us and they are not negatively compensated. If we look at current situation there is an extremely strong relationship between crime and education. Well at least for three reasons: †¢Pure human capital motive – education related to income, and people with higher income have less incentive to commit crime. †¢Direct schooling effect – classes makes students smarter so realize that crime doesn’t pay at all. †¢Opportunity cost of time – students are busy at faculty so actually in other words have less time to commit crime. Escalating expenditure for public higher education has ked the government to adopt a cost-sharing system in which students and parents shoulder and increasing share of the costs. The MARA financial aid scheme was converted in January 1998 to a 100% loan scheme except for loans given out under the Excellent Student Scheme. The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) was established for the purpose of offering subsidized loans to help students meet the costs of enrolling a local higher education institution.  It is also designed to ensure that there would be loans available for Malays to afford both public and private higher education so that the targeted ethnic composition of enrolment in higher education is maintained. THE DEBATE TOWARDS GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY: When the government is in the business of handing out money, interest groups lobby to get it, or advocate receiving more than they are already getting. So, it is with spending on higher education. Over the long run, the funding for those areas has increased dramatically. Taxpayers should be skeptical of the current reasons for subsidizing universities further. There are few arguments are dubious for five main reasons stated below in regards with government subsidy related to university fees. It can be elaborate and debate as the following: There is no link between higher education subsidies and economic growth, and none between universities or college degrees and job creation. Malaysia has spent a much higher proportion of personal income on federal and state government to support for higher education. States with a higher proportion of university and college graduates do not necessarily grow by adding more college degrees. For now, the country is currently experiencing a rather worrying unemployment especially among young graduates. Excess of the graduates is unable to meet domestic open vacancy in any sector since most of them are experiencing the freezing phase of job vacancy. Thus its shows there are no linkage at all between higher education qualifications with job vacancies. Indirectly it could not keep the countrys economy. More subsidies equals to more waste. The number of academicians, staff, administrators and service staff at all 20 universities and 6 university colleges increased at a faster rate than full-time equivalent students over the same time period. At the same time, the compensation for the average employees increased too for sure. Colleges set tuition rates relative to supply and demand, but the government subsidies distort this process and inflate the cost. That’s why private universities such as Sunway International College and Lim Kok Wing University which receive no government funding, do a much better job at keeping down the cost of tuition. At the present time the federal government already spends billions of dollars subsidizing universities, whether it is money for Lecturer’s salaries, buildings, or the millions of dollars provided for research. The cost of classes and tuition picks up only small portion of the tab. Aside from that, there are many people who do not deserve or would not make the best of the education provided. Scholarships and government grants are available for people who have worked hard and earned the opportunity, but to hand it over to everyone for free are insane. When comparing earning power between college graduates and non-graduates, correlation is not causation, and the actual cost of universities or collage matters. Proponents of more funding for higher education almost always cite the same statistic as their main point: Overall, universities and college graduates tend to make more money in their lifetime than those without a degree. But this assumes that the degree caused the higher earnings, rather than the fact that those who complete college are already more likely to be financially successful whether they attend university or not. The common figure cited is that a college degree is worth MYR1 million over the lifetime of a worker. Besides ignoring the point above, this is a poor exercise in statistics. The number is arrived at by taking the difference between the average pay of a university and college graduate and the average pay of a non-universities and college graduate and multiplying it over a 40-year career. First, that only tells us what the average is today, not what the actual future earnings are. Second, this assumes that all universities and college degrees have the same value. For example, it assumes that a Bachelor of Arts in art history is the same as a Bachelor of Science in quantum physics. Most significantly, it ignores many important factors: taxes, the real salary data of today’s graduates, the opportunity cost of going to college (how much someone would earn during those years in school), the fact that large proportions of student’s starts school and do not finish, and, most  importantly, student loan debt. Keep in mind that government may be funding someone’s desire to paint or be involved in the arts which do not advance society enough to justify the cost. Perhaps if everyone were taking physics, biology, or computer sciences in order to contribute in a meaningful way post grad it would be a different story. Also the amount of people in college is at the highest it’s ever been. In fact a BA or BS degree is essentially required now for low level jobs and a Masters or Doctorate is needed to advance up the ladder. Ensuring that everyone has university or college schooling would not enhance the labor market – it would dilute a university degree. The assumption among many is that every career should require a higher education. This belief leads to subsidies for subjects with little practicality in the workforce and areas where a student may be better off doing an apprenticeship or working for four years than attending more school. Pushing for everyone to go to universities or college does not automatically make those students university-ready; it lowers the overall standards of higher education. This has led to a high dropout rate, more repeated classes for those in school and an explosion of marginal subjects in which many degree-holders are forced to work outside that field because of a lack of demand. In short, incentivizing degrees students do not ever use. Higher education may be the next bubble to burst. Much like the housing bubble, higher education is fueled by government subsidies, publicly-backed loans and incentives that say everyone should be doing something. Lately tuition costs have risen steeply well above inflation while colleges compete to expand into areas outside of their main purpose and taking on more debt to do so. At the same time, competition from other sectors, like online education, offer cheaper alternatives to the bread-and-butter of university academia. It is important for citizens to be educated, both to learn a job and to better be able to respond to a changing marketplace. But there is a difference between education and schooling. Spending more money to send  people to get a specific number of degrees at a specific institution is different from education. Education comes in the form of apprenticeships, trade schools and time on the job learning. And education is something you can’t force on someone else. Just putting someone in college does make force them to learn anything. Education is a personal matter, and more subsidies will only influence a persons decision to learn or not to learn at the barest of margins. Higher education can build new skills, enhance old ones and show prospective employers that students are able to put in the time to earn a degree. But the value of a degree varies — by the institution, the cost, the time and the subject. From an individual’s perspective, private universities and colleges may be worth the cost. But for a growing number, it’s not. And government subsidies, where political incentives trump market realities, only worsen that problem CONCLUSION: Education issues remain an important priority in developing countries. Because resources are limited and ensuring adequate allocation is a struggle for many countries including Malaysia itself. The delivery of educational services has become a challenge. Malaysia, like other countries in Southeast Asia, faces similar challenges in ensuring the allocation of appropriate funding for efficient and equitable educational services in order to promote access to quality education for all social groups. While Malaysia faces many challenges amid rapid global chances, we can draw on a number of strengths and unique advantages as we take purposeful policy actions to move forward. Education is not preparation for life; education is a life by itself. From the job market to tertiary education, from UPSR to A-Levels, Education in Malaysia focuses on bringing us the latest news and analysis on our nation’s best bet on the future. The future earnings of the individual typically constitute an adequate return on the gross investment in obtaining higher education. Moreover, providing  subsidy university and college education to all is a rather inefficient way to serve the interest of poor students since a large proportion of students who acquire higher education come from relatively well-off families. Raising demand for higher education and the need to produce a critical mass of highly educated and skilled workers for a knowledge economy has led to the massification of Malaysian higher education. However, escalating higher public education expenditure led the government to adopt a cost sharing system where students and parents shoulder and increasing share of the cost for acquiring a higher education.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Functionalism In Psychology History Principles And Contributions Philosophy Essay

Functionalism In Psychology History Principles And Contributions Philosophy Essay This essay shows a history of functionalism, its principles and contributions. It includes four stages of psychology in the United States, development of functionalism and notable functionalists focusing on Willam James. It shows the theory of free will, habits and instincts, Jamess early years, mind-body debate, consciousness, emotions and the self. The development of self-esteem by James Williams could probably help social workers, counselors and psychologists to tackle clients who are troubled, bullied, depressed, anaroxic or suicidal. Functionalism in Psychology: History, Principles Contributions The alternative model to structuralism was known as functionalism. Founded by William James,who agreed with Edward Titchner that the study of consciousness must be the central theme of psychology. But James disagreed with structuralists search for basic elements of mind, he rather emphasized that psychologists should study how the mind functions. James published a book titled Principles of Psychology in 1890, which promoted functionalism. He agreed that consciousness is an ongoing stream, a property of the mind that continually interacts with the environment. Through this interaction, human beings learn to adapt to their environment. For him, the functions of mind were more important than the structures of mind (Hergenhahn, 2005). This paper will represent the history, principles and current contributions of functionalism. According to Sahakian (1975), thereare four stages of early United States Psychology. The pre-revolution, first stage betweenthe year 1640 1776, the using of reasoning to differentiate between God, beliefs, religion and state.Second stage between the year 1776 1886, commonsense philosophers have agreed to take feelings and senses as equal to reason. Third stage between the year 1886 1896, psychology is separated from philosophy and religion. In the final fourth stage, the publication of John Deweys article The Reflex Arc in Psychology in the year 1896 and themixture of science, apprehension for practicality, importance on individual and evolutionary theorycombined together into the school of functionalism. Functionalism was rooted in Charles Darwins theory of evolution. Evolution is based on individual differences and the survival of adaptive features. Adaptation becomes a popular approach to measuring intelligence and Individual Differences become a valued part of mental research. Unlike most other psychologists who were interested in the structure of mental activity, functionalists were interested in functions, the mental aspects of adapting to an environment. Functionalist were equally interested in individual differences of all mental activity. Functionalism started with John Lockes political theory influenced the American and French Constitutions (Hergenhahn, 2005). His views on education have contributed to the thoughts of every subsequent theorizer in the field.The mind at birth possesses no innate ideas. The mind of man is a tabula rasa or blank slate at birth, upon which is impressed many sense impressions. All knowledge proceeds through sense experience. As the mind stores up a variety of sense impressions, associations occur which provide new knowledge. The mind is consequently passive. The senses provide the mind with the materials which represent reality. These materials are not identical with the extra mental object. The material is the idea within the mind which represents the object outside the mind being received by the senses. By combining, comparing and analyzing these materials or ideas arising through sensations, we derive thoughts. Knowledge is not sense perception but intellectual perception. Functionalists like American philosopher, John Dewey who criticized reductionistic approaches to psychology and argued that experience must be understood in a naturalistic context. He applied the assumptions of functionalism in developing the field of school psychology and educational practices. As the functionalists studied the functions of consciousness, gradually their attention shifted to the learning process itself. They paid less attention to the study of consciousness and more to the environmental conditions that facilitate mental functions. William James was the most influential functionalist.He presented much of the foundation functional psychology, but he did not develop his ideas to the point of an independent school of study. He endorsed some aspects of functionalism, and considered the father of American psychology. Consistent with materialism and evolution, James believed that science opposed the existence of free will. In turn, he proposed free will to be beyond the realm of science. The nature of free will is reflected in voluntary behaviour. To control our voluntary behaviour, we must control the ideas of behaviour. Ideas of action can lead to action, or can be held back consciously.According to James, both habits and instinct are within the brain (not in the mind) and outside of free will(Hergenhahn, 2005). Habits are learned and continuous repetition could stabilize mental functions in the brain. Instincts are unlearned and they are learned patterns of reacting. Instincts are not blind and invariable and can be moulded by habit. James was initially impressed with the scientific advancements tied to both materialism and evolution, but those sciences left him disappointed and even depressed.His depression ended while reading about free will. He doubted free will was an illusion if he could voluntarily believe in free will. Voluntary belief also influenced his approach to science. His major publication was Principles of Psychology which provided a solid foundation of modern psychology in America. James attempted to cover every aspect of psychology and took twelve years to write it, and it was 1,393 pages long (published as two volumes). Principles of Psychology generally support a dualist, interactionist approach to human nature. James presents separate mind phenomena and brain phenomena, and proposes ways in which they interact.Most experimental psychologists at that time were looking for elements of consciousness.James represented the concept of a stream of consciousness. According to James, consciousness is not made up of a bunch of little pieces put together. Consciousness is personal (no need for common elements), continuous (cannot be dismantled), always changing, always selective and choosing (free will) and dealt of objects other than itself (the purpose is functional and adaptive). According to James, the self is the sum of all things which a person can call mine. Including the body and all possessions (material self), the self as it is known by others (social self) and spiritual self(Hergenhahn, 2005). Self as knower (the I, pure ego) is an ultimate vantage point, self that does the knowing and a part of you that remains constant in a changing stream of consciousness. Self-esteem is a ratio of the actual self over the potential self. Esteem could come from achievements and from lowering expectations.The classic theory of emotion in functionalism is stimulus, emotion and response; perceive object, experience emotion and respond to it. Another theory of emotion is stimulus, response and emotion; the behaviour is a functional reaction to the stimulus and the emotion is the result of the response. As a functional result, behaviours associated with how you want to feel can give you that feeling. Functionalism was an overwhelming achievement, unfortunately, it was a bsorbed into the mainstream psychology and not on its own. However, the study of functionalism and the selfresultedthe development of the study of self-esteem which helps the world till today. James had a very simple definition of self-esteem: success divided by pretension. According to James the more success we have and the lower our expectations or pretensions then the higher our self-esteem. To raise self-esteem, therefore, we have two options: lower our expectations of ourselves or increase our achievements.This theorygives us and psychologists a better understanding on howpeople react to their thoughtsand perhaps to tackle depression and maintain self-esteem. Functionalism has taught us on how to get a better understanding of the functions of the mind and perhaps this theory could be useful for psychologists, counsellors and social workers who meet with suicidal or depressed clients.

Experiment on Effect of Music on Driving Performance

Experiment on Effect of Music on Driving Performance Research shows that listening to music is mostly common in an automobile (Wikman et al., 1998). Moreover, compared to other activities that might cause a distraction, there is a popular misconception that listening or singing to music while driving on the road causes little-to-no-risk (Dibben and Williamson, 2007). Several types of research and experiments have studied the effects of music on the performance of the operator in different controlled environments and under different conditions (Beh and Hirst, 1999; Baldwin and Coyne, 2003). On one hand, research has continuously supported the idea that under certain conditions, listening to music does increase alertness by countering sleepiness when driving (Braitman et al., 2008; Bellinger et al., 2009; Brodsky and Kizner, 2012). Experiments have also shown that music played close to a persons comfort volume level (72 Dba for male and 66 dba for female ) will induce faster reactions to signals (Turner et al., 1996). On the other hand, listening to music accompanies several behaviors that take the drivers attention. These include changing songs, scrolling to a playlist, fine-tuning a radio station, and swapping CDs which directs the drivers eyes away from the road and leads to single-handed driving (Horberry et al., 2006). Listening to music while driving might also have another drawback as it will cause less auditory acuity for the sound of the music caps road noises (e.g. sirens, horns, vehicle warning signs) (Consiglio et al., 2003; Brodsky and Slor, 2013). This would considerably decrease the operators overall awareness of a situation (Lee et al., 2012). Additionally, momentary loud peaks in music disrupt vestibulocochlear control leading to a decrease in the reaction time of the driver thus increasing the risk of collision (Wikman et al., 1998). An important note is that previous research showed that some music genres like Pop, rock, and dance contain more frequent peaks in the tracks than o ther genres like classic, vocal, and rap (Hughes et al., 2013). Moreover, research has shown that the drivers perception of moving objects can be altered based on the pace of the background music (Brodsky, 2001). Furthermore, research done at the University of Negev in 2012 showed that although drivers that listened to their favorite music songs had elevated positive moods and enjoyed the trips, they exhibited more steering inaccuracies, aggressive driving patterns, and traffic violations compared to drivers that listened to songs they are not familiar with (Brodsky and Slor, 2013). A lot of research have considered effects of music based on its familiarity with the driver (Cummings et al., 2001), loudness (Ayres and Hughes, 1986), and pace (Iwamiya, 1997). Music genres are mainly categorized into Pop, Rock, Dance, hip-hop, and Rap (ÃÅ"nal et al., 2012). This categorization is based on the most popular music for individuals aged between 16 to 30. To our knowledge, there is no research that tests whether the effects of different types of music genres on driving performance(Oron-Gilad et al., 2008). The aim of this study is to test if there are any different effects of genres of music on the driver performance. The objective is to set the genres that enhance the drivers performance and the those that predict the worst outcome.(Ho and Spence, 2005; McEvoy et al., 2006) In this research, we seek to study the effects of the 5 different genres presented earlier on driving performance while controlling all other effects of in-cabin music like volume, familiarity, pace, and tempo. Hypothesis 1: Given that Pop, rock, and dance music have more peaks/climaxes than other music genres, we predict that they will have a negative effect on the performance. Hypothesis 2: On the other, we predict that listening to hip-hop and rap will have a positive outcome when it comes to the drivers performance. The proposed project will be a multivariate experimental design. The first independent variable in this study is the type of music the driver is listening to. These include 5 different genres compare to a control situation, which is when the driver is not listening to any music. 20 popular tracks (4 for each genre) will be chosen to be played during the experiment. The tracks will be chosen from a website called Grooveshark (Grooveshark.org) which contains top charts from each genre. The choice of tracks is very important to this experiment since as mentioned above the pace/beats per minute (BPM) of a song, and familiarity does affect the driving performance, thus all the tracks were chosen should have 120-125 BPM rate and should popular so that every participant will know one of these three tracks. The second independent variable will be the type of incident the driver must respond to. For the current study, a simulated world of the roads in London was created. The setting is intercity roads and highways. Incidents that the participant will face were designed specifically to mimic the possible scenarios that a London driver would experience (National Survey, 2016) they are characterized by 2 groups : Highway incidents Traffic Pileup Car following Monotonous driving Intercity Road incidents Car coming from the left violating the giveaway rule Parked car suddenly driving off Intersection crossing The dependent variables will be mental effort value and the driving performance. The former will be assessed using The Rating Scale Metal Effort (value from 0 to 150 where 0 indicates no effort and 150 indicates extreme effort) (Zijlstra, 1993) at different intervals during the study . In a series of studies by Zijlstra demonstrated that the scale is sensitive to changes in task load and correlates well with physiological changes based on task difficulty. Therefore, the scale is a valid and reliable measure for subjective ratings of mental effort, and an indicator of workload and information processing during the driving task. Throughout the experiment, the driving simulator will log relevant driving performance indicators during a series of 6 incidents that the participants will undergo them twice, once with no music as a control and another while listing to different music genres. More detailed description of the performance indicators will be mentioned in the measurement description. The experiment requires 85 participants that should have the following requirements: Participants should be between 18 and 65 years old A valid driving license for more than 6 months No hearing deficiencies Not persecuted by traffic court Participants will be selected to ensure a representative sample of the population in London. The ratio gender and age should be statistically similar to the drivers in London. According to the national transport, survey done in 2010, the gender ratio was 58% males and 42% females, and the mean age was 40 years. Finally, upon completion of the study, the participants will be rewarded a 20Â £ amazon voucher. All participants will be given a detailed information about the experiment prior participation and will be asked to sign a consent form. This document will include the risks and potential benefits, information about the researcher, and ERGO contact information. Also, the consent form will inform the participants that they have the right to drop out of the study at any stage, and withdraw their data after the study have been completed with no negative impact on them. The study will only be conducted with the approval of the ERGO committee at the University of Southampton. Finally, the participants will be each given a number that will be used in all data logging, questioners, results, and reports so that participant confidentiality is preserved. All soft data will be kept on a secure hard drive and all hard copy data will be kept in a locked cabin under the supervision of the principal investigator. Participants will go through all highway and intercity incidents twice (6 incidents as a control with no music, and another 6 with different music genres playing in the car). When the participants arrive, they will be debriefed and then guided through consent form. Once the participants agree to join the study, they sign the consent form. After that, they will undergo a 3-minute online Hearing deficiency test designed by the Royal institute of Deaf People (www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk) to check for any hearing deficiencies. If they pass the test they will go through a 10-minute training session in the driving simulator so that they will get to know the driving simulator. If the researchers observed any participants having simulation-sickness they would exclude from the experiment at this point. Moving on, the participants will choose 5 songs (one from each genre) that they are familiar with, and they will be informed that they should respond with a single value from 0 to 150 when a research asks them about their mental effort during the driving task. At this point, the participants will be asked to go through the 12 different scenarios with a 5-min break between each 6 incidents. The scenarios will be generated in a random order for the different participants using randomgenerator.org. Such that everyone gets a different sequence of the scenarios with different music genres. Avoiding the effect of sequence on the outcomes. To achieve a controllable environment a couple of measures will be taken. Firstly, the only songs played to the participant are the ones he/she chose before he started the driving simulation.Secondly, the music will be played at a moderate sound level throughout the experiment (72 Dba for male and 66 dba for female ) to exclude any effects of the different volume levels on the drivers performance. Thirdly, road noises simulated road noises will not be played during any of the tests because the research is solely interested in the effects of different music genres on driving performance. A pilot study will be conducted prior to the main study to ensure all the information given to the participants are clear. In addition, a pilot study will allow the researchers to address any possible factors that might affect the outcome and thereby produce a non-replicable result. The pilot will be made up of 10 individuals who will go through the whole experiment and afterward sit with the researchers and address their concerns in a focus group. The feedback will be taken into consideration and the study procedure will be adapted to try to avoid any problem that might arise during the data collection phase. Each incident will last 2 minutes, so each participant will be in the car simulator for an average of 40 minutes (including a 5-minute half-time). Including the debriefing talks, 10-minute training session, consent form, hearing test, and music selection music selection the whole experiment should last an average of one hour for every participant (Strayer et al., 2003; Sheller, 2004; Patel et al., 2008) The experiment will be done in the Southampton University Driving Simulator (SUDS) with a 135-degree field-of-view which contains a Jaguar XJ saloon vehicle linked to the STISIM Drive simulation software, it has an interactive driving simulator with three driving displays supporting a 135-degree driver field-of-view (University of Southampton Driving Simulator, 2016). 1000 Watt Panasonic speaker was used to play the background music that was linked to an iPod. A digital sound level meter was also used to measure the loudness of the music and keep the loudness level on 72 Dba for male and 66 for female participants. To measure driver mental effort the researchers will use The Rating Scale Metal Effort and will log the values on an excel sheet. For the hearing deficiency test, the researchers will use the online hearing deficiency test. For the driving performance monitoring, the SUDS will record specific values for each tone of the 12 of scenarios. The research will use relevant indicators used in other driving simulator experiments that test driver performance because of their effectiveness to portray the overall driver performance in each of the designed incidents.(ÃÅ"nal et al., 2012) Traffic Pileup: Mean minimum headway which is the time needed for the following car to reach the lead car. Absolute minimum headway time. Car following: Mean speed while following the car Standard Deviation of speed Monotonous driving: 2.a 2.b Car coming from the left Maximum deceleration Minimum velocity Maximum Break percentage Parked car suddenly driving off Time to contact the moving car 4.a 4.b Intersection Crossing Distance to the approaching car when the driver crossed the intersection The results will be analyzed using the MANOVA analysis. The two dependent variables will be mean values on the driving performance and mental efforts. The output of those will be compared across the 12 different scenarios. In addition, interactions between dependent variables will be analyzed (in the MANOVA analysis). Bonfornni posthoc tests will allow pointing where the exact difference is between the different scenarios. Finally the . SPSS version 24 will be used for analysis. References Ayres, T.J. and Hughes, P. (1986) Visual acuity with noise and music at 107 dbA. Journal of Auditory Research. Baldwin, C.L. and Coyne, J.T. (2003) Mental workload as a function of traffic density: Comparison of physiological, behavioral, and subjective indices Proceedings of the Second International Driving Symposium on Human Factors. 19-24. Beh, H.C. and Hirst, R. (1999) Performance on driving-related tasks during music. Ergonomics, 42 (8), 1087-1098. Bellinger, D.B., Budde, B.M., Machida, M., Richardson, G.B. and Berg, W.P. (2009) The effect of cellular telephone conversation and music listening on response time in braking. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 12 (6), 441-451. Braitman, K.A., Kirley, B.B., Mccartt, A.T. and Chaudhary, N.K. (2008) Crashes of novice teenage drivers: Characteristics and contributing factors. Journal of Safety Research, 39 (1), 47-54. Brodsky, W. (2001) The effects of music tempo on simulated driving performance and vehicular control. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 4 (4), 219-241. Brodsky, W. and Kizner, M. (2012) Exploring an alternative in-car music background designed for driver safety. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 15 (2), 162-173. Brodsky, W. and Slor, Z. (2013) Background music as a risk factor for distraction among young-novice drivers. Accident Analysis Prevention, 59, 382-393. Consiglio, W., Driscoll, P., Witte, M. and Berg, W.P. (2003) Effect of cellular telephone conversations and other potential interference on reaction time in a braking response. Accident Analysis Prevention, 35 (4), 495-500. Cummings, P., Koepsell, T.D., Moffat, J.M. and Rivara, F.P. (2001) Drowsiness, counter-measures to drowsiness, and the risk of a motor vehicle crash. Injury Prevention, 7 (3), 194-199. Dibben, N. and Williamson, V.J. (2007) An exploratory survey of in-vehicle music listening. Psychology of Music, 35 (4), 571-589. Ho, C. and Spence, C. (2005) Assessing the effectiveness of various auditory cues in capturing a drivers visual attention. Journal of experimental psychology: Applied, 11 (3), 157. Horberry, T., Anderson, J., Regan, M.A., Triggs, T.J. and Brown, J. (2006) Driver distraction: The effects of concurrent in-vehicle tasks, road environment complexity and age on driving performance. Accident Analysis Prevention, 38 (1), 185-191. Hughes, G.M., Rudin-Brown, C.M. and Young, K.L. (2013) A simulator study of the effects of singing on driving performance. Accident Analysis Prevention, 50, 787-792. Iwamiya, S.-I. (1997) Interaction between auditory and visual processing in car audio: simulation experiment using video reproduction. Applied human science, 16 (3), 115-119. Lee, J.D., Roberts, S.C., Hoffman, J.D. and Angell, L.S. (2012) Scrolling and driving how an MP3 player and its aftermarket controller affect driving performance and visual behavior. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 54 (2), 250-263. Mcevoy, S.P., Stevenson, M.R. and Woodward, M. (2006) The impact of driver distraction on road safety: results from a representative survey in two Australian states. Injury prevention, 12 (4), 242-247. National Survey (2016). Department of Transport. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/8933/nts2010-02.pdf. Oron-Gilad, T., Ronen, A. and Shinar, D. (2008) Alertness maintaining tasks (AMTs) while driving. Accident Analysis Prevention, 40 (3), 851-860. Patel, J., Ball, D.J. and Jones, H. (2008) Factors influencing subjective ranking of driver distractions. Accident Analysis Prevention, 40 (1), 392-395. Sheller, M. (2004) Automotive emotions feeling the car. Theory, culture society, 21 (4-5), 221-242. Strayer, D.L., Drews, F.A. and Johnston, W.A. (2003) Cell phone-induced failures of visual attention during simulated driving. Journal of experimental psychology: Applied, 9 (1), 23. Turner, M.L., Fernandez, J.E. and Nelson, K. (1996) The effect of music amplitude on the reaction to unexpected visual events. The Journal of General Psychology, 123 (1), 51-62. ÃÅ"nal, A.B., Steg, L. and Epstude, K. (2012) The influence of music on mental effort and driving performance. Accident Analysis Prevention, 48, 271-278. University of Southampton Driving Simulator (2016). Available from: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/engineering/research/facilities/driving_simulator.page. Wikman, A.-S., Nieminen, T. and Summala, H. (1998) Driving experience and time-sharing during in-car tasks on roads of different width. Ergonomics, 41 (3), 358-372. Zijlstra, F.R.H. (1993) Efficiency in work behaviour: A design approach for modern tools. TU Delft, Delft University of Technology.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Essay -- essays research papers

Triangle Shirtwaist Fire   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Near closing time on Saturday afternoon, March 25, 1911, in New York City a fire broke out on the top floors of the Asch Building in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. One of the worst tragedies in American history it was know as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. It was a disaster that took the lives of 146 young immigrant workers. A fire that broke out in a cramped sweatshop that trapped many inside and killed 146 people. This tragedy pointed out the negatives of sweatshop conditions of the industrialization era. It emphasized the worst part of its times the low wages, long hours, and unsanitary working conditions were what symbolized what sweatshops were all about. These conditions were appalling, and no person should ever be made to work in these conditions. Before this tragedy occurred the suffering of the workers was very evident. Take for instance this first hand account by Sadie Frowne. â€Å"My name is Sadie Frowne. I work in Allen Street (Manhattan) in what they call a sweatshop. I am new at the work and the foreman scolds me a great deal. I get up at half-past five o’clock every morning and make myself a cup of coffee on the oil stove. I eat a bit of bread and perhaps some fruit and then go to work. Often I get there soon after six o’clock so as to be in good time, though the factory does not open till seven. At seven o’clock we all sit down to our machines and the boss brings to each one the pile of work that he or she is to finish during the day—what they call in English their â€Å"stint.† This pile is put down beside the machine and as soon as a garment is done it is laid on the other side of the machine. Sometimes the work is not all finished by six o’clock, and then the one who is behind must work overtime. The machines go like mad all day because the faster you work the more money you get. Sometimes in my haste I get my finger caught and the needle goes right through it. It goes so quick, though, that it does not hurt much. I bind the finger up with a piece of cotton and go on working. We all have accidents like that. All the time we are working the boss walks around examining the finished garments and making us do them over again if they are not just right. So we have to be careful as well as swift. But I am getting so good at the work that within a year I will be making $7 a w... ...being held accountable, the city officials themselves were also held accountable because of improper safety regulations. Showing that the city itself should be at fault for not enforcing safety regulations for such things as fire escapes, that were not in working order. These unprecedented circumstances just lay down the blueprint for what is now the correct way to set regulations for industrial factory conditions. With these commissions in place, tougher legislation, laws, ordinances, and precedents that will be in place working together to rid the world of these horrible sweatshops. As well as the devastating circumstances they can bring in such occurrences as fires or other natural disaster events. Even though almost ninety years later sweatshops still exist. These sweatshops at the present day are almost unheard of here in America, but continue to be in foreign third world countries. As horrible as it is to say the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire turned out to be a very helpful life changing turn around for hundreds of thousands of people, it turns out that many positives have come out of it. Its just too bad that such a tragedy had to come about to make such significant changes.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Social Class In The Us And Britain Essay examples -- American History

Social Class in the US and Britain Although the United States was a British Colony in the early 1700s, the differences between the two were definitely noticeable, especially in the socioeconomic fields, mostly due to the fact that slavery played a much larger role in the United States. At least from the moment in 1620 when the Mayflower anchored off Cape Cod, there has been an American Dream. Though hard to define, it usually entails the concept of freedom, justice and equality. Despite variations in the content of the dream there is one constant, the American Dream is a dream of the future and as such implies the idea of progress, change and equality. Our dreams may differ from those of the men who wrote the Mayflower Compact because they expressed a dream more by implication than by statement, yet the men who subscribed to it clearly felt that they were engaged in an effort to establish a better order of society than their fathers had known. In the US, Colonial Society was composed of several social classes. These in turn determined political rights, legal rights, personal attire, and many other trivial aspects of society. (1727: Colonial America) For example, in church and in college, people were seated according to their social status. The differences among the social classes were very noticeable, and birth and pedigree counted for more than they do today. (Population and Social Rank) The ruling class consisted of the gentry, whose definition varied from North to South. Generally, they owned farms or plantations and were merchants, doctors, lawyers, or ministers. (1727: Colonial America) In the North, this also included clergymen, college professors, and great landowners in New York. In the South, the gentry were u... ...r on triangular trade and made the concept familiar with US citizens. In a way, the British almost used the US as a way of testing if slavery would work, but in the end gave their colony too much power and wealth, leading to the Independence. Works Cited Deary, Terry. The Gorgeous Georgians. London, England: Scholastic Children's Books, 1998. Gordon, Edward J.. American Literature. 4th Edition. Boston, MA: Ginn & Co. Publishers, 1975. Several Authors. "1727: Colonial America." 2001-2007. 16 Apr 2008 . Sommerville, J.P.. "Social Structure." University of Wisconsin-Madison History Department. 20 Apr 2008 . Whitten, Chris. "Population and Social Rank." History of the USA. 2001-2007. 09 Apr 2008 . Social Class In The Us And Britain Essay examples -- American History Social Class in the US and Britain Although the United States was a British Colony in the early 1700s, the differences between the two were definitely noticeable, especially in the socioeconomic fields, mostly due to the fact that slavery played a much larger role in the United States. At least from the moment in 1620 when the Mayflower anchored off Cape Cod, there has been an American Dream. Though hard to define, it usually entails the concept of freedom, justice and equality. Despite variations in the content of the dream there is one constant, the American Dream is a dream of the future and as such implies the idea of progress, change and equality. Our dreams may differ from those of the men who wrote the Mayflower Compact because they expressed a dream more by implication than by statement, yet the men who subscribed to it clearly felt that they were engaged in an effort to establish a better order of society than their fathers had known. In the US, Colonial Society was composed of several social classes. These in turn determined political rights, legal rights, personal attire, and many other trivial aspects of society. (1727: Colonial America) For example, in church and in college, people were seated according to their social status. The differences among the social classes were very noticeable, and birth and pedigree counted for more than they do today. (Population and Social Rank) The ruling class consisted of the gentry, whose definition varied from North to South. Generally, they owned farms or plantations and were merchants, doctors, lawyers, or ministers. (1727: Colonial America) In the North, this also included clergymen, college professors, and great landowners in New York. In the South, the gentry were u... ...r on triangular trade and made the concept familiar with US citizens. In a way, the British almost used the US as a way of testing if slavery would work, but in the end gave their colony too much power and wealth, leading to the Independence. Works Cited Deary, Terry. The Gorgeous Georgians. London, England: Scholastic Children's Books, 1998. Gordon, Edward J.. American Literature. 4th Edition. Boston, MA: Ginn & Co. Publishers, 1975. Several Authors. "1727: Colonial America." 2001-2007. 16 Apr 2008 . Sommerville, J.P.. "Social Structure." University of Wisconsin-Madison History Department. 20 Apr 2008 . Whitten, Chris. "Population and Social Rank." History of the USA. 2001-2007. 09 Apr 2008 .

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Fashion Boutique Industry of Kathmandu

Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Business Administration. This proposal writing assignment was guided by our course instructor Mr.. Parka's C. Battier and with his help and my interest I selected the topic: An Overview of the Fashion Boutique Industry of Nepal. I have always been interested in fashion. When I was given this opportunity to do a project work on the interest of my choice, I had no doubt it was going to be related with the fashion industry of Nepal. The fashion industry worldwide seems to be at its glamorous eight, having its reach from New York to Paris to London and Tokyo.All over the globe the latest trends travel so fast that designers are busy making forecasts for each and every season and occasion they can think of. The modern technologies, media, and the entertainment industry have propelled fashion into new, unforeseeable heights. People everywhere are becoming more and more fashion conscious and the Naples are n ot behind. The increasing number of trendy boutiques in Nepal and almost every major street being lined up with fashion and clothing stores show there is a rising demand for high fashion among the modern Naples.The fashion industry is very lucrative and its scope is unlimited. Nepal, being such a culturally and naturally diverse country, has a lot of inspiration for the fashion industry. If this diversity can be converted into creativity and be sustainable entrenched in the fashion industry of Nepal through the fashion boutiques, this industry would ultimately have a very unique image, so much so that Nepal should also consider it as a potential forte. To understand the current Naples fashion boutiques industry and see the area of potential in it, who better to ask than boutique owners?These are the people who are in the industry; who know about fashion, designs, and trends ultimately shaping the Naples fashion industry into new forms. They are the people who are learning about what is happening in the industry right now and what will or should happen in the future of the fashion industry of Nepal. So, I have decided to survey the boutique owners of the Splendor area of Paten since that seems to be the centre point of the boutique industry of Katmandu valley. With this research, I hope to understand the current market of fashion boutiques in Nepal and discover its constraints as well as potential scope.I have always been fascinated by the fashion industry. It is a mixture of art, pop culture, ideas and creativity. The fashion industries everywhere in the world are on new levels while the Naples fashion industry is still in its infancy. One of the major components of the total fashion industry of Nepal is the fashion boutique industry. Being a business student, I see considerable scope in this industry since it has a constantly growing market and it has the ability to revive itself with the changing times because of the creativity of the designers involved.I ch ose to research about he fashion boutique industry to see where the boutiques stand in the Naples fashion industry at the moment, to examine the constraints imposed for its growth and to assess its possible scope. As a result, I want to find out whether there is a possibility that it will stand and even compete in the same level with the imported ready-to-wear industry of Nepal in the future. The questions that I would like to address in this study are: 1. What is the current state of fashion boutique industry in Nepal? 2. What are the factors that are hindering the growth of the boutiques of Nepal? . What is the scope of the fashion boutique industry in Nepal? 4. What should be done to propel the fashion boutique industry into an established and respected industry in the country? 1. 3 Objectives of the Study 1. 3. 1 General Objective The main objective of this research is to find out the actual state of the boutique industry of Katmandu I. E. The present state, constraints and the future scope of the industry. 1. 3. 2 Specific objectives 1. To understand the current state of the fashion boutiques in Katmandu. 2. To identify the constraints faced by the fashion boutiques 3.To identify the scope and opportunities for the fashion boutique industry 1. 4 Importance of the study Fashion is important to almost everyone. Gone are the days where clothes were only used to hide your body or protect it. These days, clothing and style plays a huge role in peoples' lives. Every day, we see hundreds of people. Whether we see them on the street, at work, at school, or on television, people pass through our visual field. It may be intentional or unintentional but we form opinions about people based on their style of dress.This study will be useful in understanding the current state of fashion boutique industry of Nepal. It will help to determine, as well as, understand the obstacles and constraints faced by the boutique owners of Nepal. It will even help to understand about t he state of mind of the Naples in terms of the connection between fashion and boutiques, and also about the influences of international fashion in Nepal. With the completion of this research, areas of potential or scope of the boutique industry or where this industry should be heading will be clear and the possibility of generation of market in fashion will be illustrated.This research will be helpful to anyone who wants a glimpse of the fashion boutique industry of Nepal. It will also be helpful to those people who will want to go in the boutique industry in the future, for creative or business purposes, as the project will illuminate where this industry is heading. 1. 5. Limitations of the study This study is not absolutely free from limitations; the limitations that may be observed are as follows: a. Since the study use primary and secondary data in order to prepare report, the data collection might be influenced by social crisis and personal influence of the data collector. . As the study is to be conducted by the students themselves, many opportunities to conduct a detailed market research may e lost due to budget and time constraints. C. The primary data used in this research will be from only a random sample of boutiques, which may not reflect the opinions of the boutique owners of the entire industry. D. The secondary data used in this research is limited as no such research has been done in Nepal in the past. E. The study may lack exact information because it is based on the opinions and information provided by the surveyed boutique owners. F.Certain information may be based on approximation. G. Many of the respondents may not answer the questions provided in the questionnaire. Fashion, design and clothing can incorporate a wide range of different activities: These days, almost everything is related to fashion, from cars to architecture to stationery (AS Consultation y Formica ¶n, 2008). However, in this report, when we refer to the fashion sector w e will be using the term in its most traditional sense – as the original fashion sector that has expanded to incorporate other parts of our life – the clothing sector and fashion in terms of the way people dress.Apparel products are typically classified into broad categories, such as basic commodity products (knit underwear and socks), fashion-basic products (dress shirts, casual slacks, and knit sportswear), â€Å"better† fashion (moderately priced dresses and suits), â€Å"bridge† fashions (higher priced ready-to-wear fashion products), designer collections (high quality and expensive ready-to-wear fashion products) and custom-made haute couture (Abernathy, et al. , 1999).These fashion categories are often portrayed in a â€Å"fashion pyramid† in which products are arrayed according to factors such as fashion content, length of product life cycle, quality, and price (see Figure 1). The Fashion Pyramid More Fashion Content More Product Differentia tion Designer Greater Demand Uncertainty Collections Higher Quality Fabric Higher Price Shorter Product Cycles Shorter Production Runs Diagram 2: The Fashion Pyramid (Derringer & Cretan, 2006). The boutiques of Nepal fall in the category of Better Fashions or Bridge Fashion collections.A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and Jewelry. In terms of Nepal, boutiques are a small shopping outlets specializing in fashionable ready-to wear items, as well as a home to the boutique owner's creations. Dozens of boutiques and fashion designing companies lining up from Bagman Bridge to Himalayan Hotel in Expandable is enough to indicate that fashion has already grown up as an entrepreneurship in Katmandu. Youth have started to see a good prospect in fashion as entrepreneurship.National Institute of Art and Fashion Designing, India Education Center, Unman College of Fashion Technology, Alkaloid Institute of Fashion Designing and Lord Buddha Education Foundation are some of the institute offering fashion education in Nepal. The scene in the Nepal fashion industry is not quite bleak indeed. Fashion boutiques are growing in Katmandu and in other cities like Dharma, Pokka, Butyl, and Bipartisan, too (Timpanist, 2009). Small fashion boutiques remain to have certain advantages over larger retail formats.It is found that find that small fashion boutiques excel in relational marketing and store branding. Small boutiques operators invest their effort in relational marketing by developing friendship with a group of core customers and supplying accurate fashion information to all customers. Although small fashion retailers cannot afford to have specialized marketing staff or a budget for mass media advertisements, their mall size put them in a position to develop relational marketing with their customers much more thoroughly and deeply than large fashion retailers.Also, small fashion boutiques effective ly gain store brand equity through flexible visual merchandising and cultivating a charismatic image for the operator. (Chew, 2009) The marketing of boutique follows the conventional marketing patterns, which is dependent on selection of venue of the outlets and the product mix (designs and sizes), as well as the promotional strategy. Furthermore, the boutique owner has to marketing techniques like: -Displaying and distributing it as proper places Usage of electronic media: I. E. Rejection of the boutique in fashion programs, advertisement on television, and provision of dresses to various television plays and films. -Even arrangement: like fashion shows and photo-shoots Moreover, in order to keep abreast with the emerging trends and client tastes, surveys regarding customer satisfaction/needs should be regular feature of the project. As this project deals in designer women wear, therefore the product mix will comprise of different styles of the female dresses in different sizes. Fa shion is in an era of change driven by designers, consumers and brands.The fashion industry today, in Nepal like in India, is a mixture of influences due to globalization resulting in a shift in the socio-cultural, economic, demographic and cryptographic make up of the country; these directly and indirectly have an impact on fashion (Insight Inshore, 2011). From the many fashion schools, institutes and other small scale institutes, there has been a birth of a new breed of experimental designers with no reservations about any mode of self expression. There is a rise of new target groups across the diverse sub-continent.Further, there is an increased awareness of fashion accelerated by advances in technology and media proliferation (Insight Inshore, 2011). Boutiques currently have a high potential market, but something missing. There is a shallow awareness of diverse target segments; there isn't an in-depth understanding to identify diverse requirements & new segments. There is an abi lity to predict the effect of regular media influences on existing target groups, dependence on western trend adaptations; there isn't an ability to forecast fashion adaptations across a diverse map (Insight Inshore, 2011).There is a traditional static, consumer-research eased approach to design & strategy; there isn't a dynamic approach driven by an understanding of trends, and shoppers along with traditional consumer research. There is mostly independent design and business strategies; there isn't a cohesive design and business strategy that is borne out of trend, consumer & shopper research. 1. 7 Conceptual framework In Nepal, small fashion boutiques that provide its clients with custom-made as well as ready-made innovative designs of clothing.They are becoming increasingly popular, as seen by their presence in every major street of the Katmandu valley. It is essential to analyze their current state so that the future or scope of the boutique industry can be accurately predicted. Purpose of boutiques Cost Customers Socio-economic changes Political scenario Area of expertise Regulations Resource management Competition Diagram 1: Conceptual Framework In this context, this study has made the framework given below to get a glimpse of the fashion boutique industry of Nepal.Here, by getting an idea of the purpose of boutiques, cost and their customers, we can get a pretty good idea about the current state of fashion boutiques of Nepal. From the current state, the future of this industry can be illuminated by exploring the opportunities of this industry such as changes in the socio-economy of the country, finding particular areas of expertise or niche, and expanding resource base. But the growth of the industry is hindered to a certain extent by factors such as competition, regulations of governments, and the political scenario of the country.All this is illustrated in the framework above. 1. 8 Research Methods 1. 8. 1 Study Area The study was conducted by surveyi ng the boutique owners of Katmandu valley, primarily of the Splendor area of Paten. The boutiques were randomly selected and surveyed. I chose this particular location for my study because it is one of the thriving places for boutiques and fashion in Nepal right now, as seen with the entire road being lined up with boutiques on either side. 1. 8. 2 Research Design The main purpose of this study is to give more information about fashion industry of Nepal.Hence, with the help of this study, we come to know about the current state of fashion boutique industry and find its potential scope that is very important for the people who have an interest in this industry, for personal or professional purposes. Therefore, the research design is descriptive in nature. 1. 8. 3 Nature and Source of Data Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Since the study use both sources of information, both qualitative and quantitative data were utilized for the study. To get information on th is study about the current state of fashion boutique industry, various published articles were used.And in order to learn about the future scope of the fashion industry and current market as well, primary data was viewed. Primary data was collected from the randomly selected boutique owners of Splendor and secondary data and information was collected from various published articles and reports, though very little secondary data was used. 1. 8. 4 Data Collection Techniques The structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data for the study is attached in Annex 2. A set of structured questionnaire was developed to conduct interviews with owners of fashion boutiques.All the information that includes the current market, constraints and scope of the fashion industry was asked with the help of the closed questionnaire. For the sampling procedure, 20 boutiques were elected and the owners of those boutiques were asked questions about their understandings and opinions of the bout ique and fashion industry of Nepal. The convenience sampling technique was made use of in the study area. 1. 8. 5 Data Analysis and Report Writing All the collected data has been properly processed by entering the collected data in the computer software SIPS.In SIPS, through the use of various mathematical and statistical tools, the collected data has been refined and analyzed. Different tables, charts, diagrams and graphs have been used as applicable. All these findings have en presented well in the summer project report. CHAPTER – II DATA ANALYSIS AND MAJOR FINDINGS This chapter is the heart of the report. The questionnaires filled by participants are tabulated and analyzed in order to come closer to our objectives. That very analysis is mainly presented in this chapter with the help of figures and charts.Questionnaire brief 20 boutique owners of Splendor had filled out the questionnaire (prototype in Annex) I had provided them with. Below, the answers provided by them are analyzed in order to understand the fashion boutique industry of Nepal and explore its scopes and threats. Note: The words â€Å"boutique owner† and â€Å"designer† are used interchangeably as in case of this report, they both are the same person. In some of the charts and graphs, the total response has come to more than 20 because some respondents have treated the question as multi-response questions.Data Presentation and Analysis 1 . Current state of fashion boutique industry The current state of the boutique fashion industry largely depends on the character, nature, and skill levels of the ones who control the industry I. E. The boutique owners. Presented below is a graph illustrating the basic demography (education level and ender) of those very owners. Figure 1: Education and gender of boutique owners Field study, 2011 As we can see here, 90% of the boutique owners are female while only 10% of them are male.This isn't a big surprise because it is usually women who are more interested in fashion and trends in general in most societies. Also, all of the owners have completed their bachelor level and some have even achieved their masters' degree. From the surveys filled out by them, it is seen that all of them have done some kind of course or training related to fashion or design such as Diploma in Fashion Designing, Bachelor in Fashion Design, etc. Some have even gone abroad for their trainings, such as Sunlit Martha Sahara, owner of Jaeger who studied in Metro Design Institute of North Carolina, USA.We can clearly see from the study that currently, all the boutique owners of Katmandu are highly trained professionals with extensive knowledge and training in their fields. 1. 1 Purpose When the boutique owners were asked why they had decided to open a boutique and Join the industry, the results were as follows: Figure 2: Purpose of opening boutiques A staggering 90% of the boutique owners claim to have opened a boutique because hey have a passio n for designing and creating new things.Only 10% have chosen this field for other reasons. In the questionnaire, these 10% of the owners have mentioned that they chose this field because they wanted to â€Å"earn money with [their] creativity and skills that [they] possessed as designers†. We see that most boutique owners have chosen to be in this field because they followed their heart. As we have already established in the introduction part of this project that fashion boutiques are small shopping outlets specializing in fashionable ready-to wear items and custom-