Explain why it is important for marketers to understand the concepts Essay

Explain why it is important for marketers to understand the concepts of market segmentation and target marketing - Essay Example Market segmentation has over time been regarded as one of the fundamental concepts in modern marketing. The segments formed are thus constituted by consumer groups who have similar requirements, as well as groups of services and goods that exhibit similar attributes. Ideally, market segmentation concept has been largely associated with Wendell R. Smith, in the paper he first he first published in the year 1956 (Kim, Park, Lee & Lee, 2006). According to him, "Segmentation is based upon developments on the demand side of the market and represents a rational and more precise adjustment of product and marketing effort to consumer or user requirements† (Flint, Woodruff, and Gardial, 2002). In this respect, therefore, segmentation is viewed as being disaggregative in regard to its trends and effects in bringing about recognition of various demand schedules where only one was initially recognized. The concept of market segmentation is dependent on the recognition of differentiated product demands, whereas its application as a tool for marketing is dependent on the effectiveness in identifying the most befitting variables which can be used to divide total demand into segments that are economically viable (Freytag and Clarke, 2001). The segments that are economically viable could be seen as having the sufficient size that enables the marketers to attain sufficient level of profit through catering to certain needs of the members therein. According to Yankelovich and Meer (2006), "the idea that all markets can profitably be segmented has now received almost as widespread acceptance as the marketing concept itself". This notion is shared by Kim, Lee and Koh (2004), who note that market segmentation relies on the idea that there is need for the company to divide or segment the market in a manner that enables the achievement of certain sets of buyers. The sets of buyers, or the resu ltant

Summary of Cooking Terms Essay Example for Free

Summary of Cooking Terms Essay The following is an alphabetical list of terms that describe ways of applying heat to foods. Basic cooking methods described earlier are included, as are more specific applications of these basic methods. BAKE To cook foods by surrounding them with hot, dry air. Similar to roast, but the term bake usually applies to breads, pastries, vegetables and fish. BARBECUE (1)To cook with dry heat created by the burning of hard wood or by the hot coals of this wood. (2) Loosely, to cook over hot coals, such as on grill or spit, often with a seasoned marinade or basting sauce. BLANCH. To cook an item partially and very briefly in boiling water or in hot fat. Usually a pre-preparation technique, as to loosen peels of vegetables, fruits, and nuts, to partially cook French fries or other foods before service, to prepare for freezing, or to remove undesirable flavors. BOIL To cook in water or other liquid that is bubbling rapidly, about 21. 2 degrees F (100 degrees C) at sea level and at normal pressure BRAISE (1)To cook covered in a small amount of liquid, usually after preliminary browning. (2) To cook certain vegetables slowly in a small amount of liquid without preliminary browning. BROIL To cook with radiant heat from above DEEP-FRY To cook submerged in hot fat. DEGLAZE To swirl a liquid in a saute pan, roast pan, or other pan to dissolve cooked particles of food remaining on the bottom. DRY-HEAT COOKING METHODS Methods in which heat is conducted to foods without the use of moisture. FRY To cook in hot fat GLAZE To give shine to the surface of a food by applying a sauce, aspic, sugar, or icing, and/or by browning or melting under a broiler or salamander or in an oven. GRIDDLE To cook on a flat, solid cooking surface called a griddle. GRILL To cook on an open grid over a heat source. MOIST-HEAT COOKING METHODS Methods in which heat is conducted to foods by water or other liquid (except fat) or by steam. PAN-BROIL To cook uncovered in a skillet or saute pan without fat. PAN-FRY To cook in a moderate amount of fat in an uncovered pan. (EN) PAPILLOTE Wrapped in paper (or sometimes foil) for cooking so the enclosed food is steamed in its own moisture. PARBOIL To cook partially in a boiling or simmering liquid. PARCOOK To cook partially by any method. POACH To cook gently in water or other liquid that is hot but not actually bubbling, 160 degrees to 180 degrees F (71 degrees to 82 degrees C). REDUCE. To cook by simmering or boiling until the quantity of liquid is decreased, often to concentrate flavors. ROAST To cook foods by surrounding them with hot, dry air in an oven or on a spit in front of an open fire. SAUTE To cook quickly in a small amount of fat, usually while mixing or tossing the foods by occasionally flipping the pan. SEAR To brown the surface of a food quickly at a high temperature. SIMMER To cook in water or other liquid that is bubbling gently, 185 degrees to 205 degrees F (85 degrees to 96 degrees C). SMOKE-ROAST To cook with dry heat in the presence of smoke, as on a rack over wood chips in a covered pan. SOUS VIDE Vacuum-packed. Refers to techniques for cooking foods that are packaged under vacuum in plastic bags. STEAM To cook by direct contact with steam. STEW To simmer or braise a food or foods in a small amount of liquid, which is usually served with the food as a sauce. STIR-FRY To cook quickly in a small amount of fat by tossing cut-up foods in a wok or pan with spatulas or similar implements. Similar to saute, except the pan is stationary. SWEAT To cook slowly in fat without browning, sometimes under a cover. FIVE-SPICE CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES Ingredients: †¢ 2 tbsp sesame oil †¢ 1 garlic clove, chopped. †¢ 3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced †¢ 1 tbsp corn flour †¢ 2 tbsp rice wine †¢ 4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips †¢ 1 tbsp Chinese five-spice powder †¢ 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger †¢ 125 ml/4 fl oz chicken stock †¢ 100 g/3 ? oz baby corn cobs, sliced †¢ 300 g/10 ? oz bean sprouts †¢ Finely chopped spring onions to garnish(optional) †¢ Freshly cooked jasmine rice, (to serve) Procedure 1. Heat the oil in a preheated wok or large frying pan. Add the garlic and spring onions and stir-fry over medium-high heat for 1 minute. 2. In a bowl, mix together the corn flour and rice wine, then add the mixture to the pan. Stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the chicken, five-spice powder, ginger and chicken stock and cook for another 4 minutes. Add the corn cobs and cook for 2 minutes, then add the bean sprouts and cook for another minute. 3. Remove from the heat, garnish with chopped spring onions, if using, and serve with freshly cooked jasmine rice. SHINJAGA Ingredients: †¢ 1 ? lb new potatoes †¢ 1 tbsp vegetable oil †¢ 4 tbsp Kikkoman †¢ 2 tbsp sugar †¢ 1 tbsp mirin Procedure: 1. Wash and scrub new potatoes 2. Put them in a deep pan and pour enough water to cover them. 3. Bring to a boil on high heat. 4. Turn down the heat to medium and cook about 10 minutes or until softened. 5. Drain potatoes in strainer. 6. Mix Kikkoman, mirin, and sugar in a small cup and set aside. 7. Heat oil in a large pan on medium heat and fry potatoes until lightly browned. 8. Pour the sauce mixture over the potatoes. 9. Shake the pan to let the sauce coat new potatoes over high heat. Stop the heat. CORDON BLEU Ingredients: †¢ chicken breast fillet (marinated seasoned with pepper salt) †¢ bread crumbs †¢ egg †¢ oil †¢ toothpicks †¢ cheese †¢ ham Procedure: 1. Put the chicken fillet in a flat surface. Then add cheese and ham on top of the chicken fillet. Roll it and use the toothpicks to hold it. 2. Dip the rolled chicken fillet in the egg and roll it in the bread crumbs. 3. Deep-fry until golden brown. 4. Remove the toothpick when serving. FISH FILLET Ingredients: †¢ fish(Dory) †¢ calamansi †¢ seasoning †¢ egg bread crumbs †¢ mayonnaise Procedure: 1. Slice the fish. 2. Mix the calamansi and the egg with the fish. 3. Add a little bit seasoning on it. 4. Dip the fish on the bread crumbs. 5. Deep-fry it until it becomes golden brown. 6. After cooking, place the mayonnaise on a small bowl for you to dip your fish on it. SQUASH MIX Ingredients: †¢ oil †¢ egg †¢ squash (grated) †¢ cornstarch. Procedure: 1. Mix the grated squash and the egg. 2. Add cornstarch to the mixture. 3. Fry it. CRUNCHY CHICKEN FINGERS Ingredients: FOR CHICKEN FINGERS †¢ ? kilo chicken breast fillet, sliced into 1 inch thick strips †¢ 1 8g MAGGI MAGIC SARAP †¢ 1 cup all purpose flour †¢ 2 cups finely crushed NESTLE cornflakes †¢ 2 eggs, beaten †¢ Cooking oil for frying FOR TROPICAL CHILI SAUCE †¢ ? cup sweet-chili †¢ 1 tsp MAGGI MAGIC SARAP †¢ ? cup water †¢ Pineapple tidbits †¢ Salt to taste Procedure: 1. Rub MAGGI MAGIC SARAP on chicken strips and let it sit for at least 15 minutes. 2. Coat chicken strips in flour. Dip in egg then roll in crushed cornflakes. 3. Fry chicken strips until golden brown. Drain using paper towels to remove excess oil. Serve with Tropical Chili Sauce on the side. SWEET AND SOUR FISH Ingredients: †¢ 2-3 lbs red snapper, whole fish †¢ 4 tbsp vegetable oil †¢ 1 tbsp salt †¢ ? tsp ground pepper †¢ 2 tbsp soy sauce †¢ ? cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar †¢ ? water †¢ ? cup brown sugar †¢ 1 large chopped onion †¢ 6 tbsp minced garlic †¢ ? cup ginger, julienned †¢ ? cup carrot, julienned †¢ ? cup red bell pepper †¢ ? cup scallion, julienned (spring onions) †¢ 1 tbsp sifted flour Procedure: 1. Clean the fish and slit it open. Let it stand for few minutes and drain well. 2. Sprinkle fish with 1 tbsp salt 3. In a medium skillet, heat the oil and fry the fish until brown. Remove the fish from the pan and set aside. 4. In the same skillet, saute the garlic until light brown, then saute onion. 5. Add salt and white pepper. Stir in ginger, scallions, carrot and red bell pepper. 6. Add soy sauce, vinegar, water and sugar. Salt and pepper to taste. 7. When the mixture boils, add the flour to thicken. Then, add the fish. 8. Cover the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes. PINAKBET Ingredients: †¢ okra †¢ eggplant †¢ squash †¢ MAGGI magic sarap †¢ Tomato †¢ Garlic †¢ Onion †¢ Salt †¢ Umami †¢ Oyster sauce. †¢ Cabbage Procedure: 1. Saute garlic and onion. 2. Add a little amount of water and put vegetables. 3. Add oyster sauce. 4. Season it with MAGGI magic sarap, salt umami. 5. Taste it and adjust flavors if needed. 6. Serve hot. RELLENONG TALONG Ingredients: †¢ egg †¢ eggplant †¢ ground pork †¢ garlic †¢ onion †¢ oil †¢ salt Procedure: 1. Fry the ground pork. 2. Slice the eggplant in the middle and get the inner part of the eggplant. 3. Mix the pork, garlic onion add salt to season it. 4. Then put the cooked pork in the middle of the sliced eggplant then, put the eggplant in the pan and put egg to close the eggplant.

A Seperate Peace, by John Knowles :: essays research papers

A Separate Peace was written by active author John Knowles from his real experiences and personal struggles. Knowles attended Phillips Exeter Academy, an exclusive New Hampshire prep school, for two summer sessions in 1943 and 1944. This book vaguely outlines his experiences at Exeter with himself as the main character but under the name of Gene Forrester. Knowles' novel tells the somber story of a young man's struggle to escape from himself and his world; to achieve a special and separate peace. The primary setting of A Separate Peace is at the Devon School. The exact location of this school is not known in terms of a state, but it is identified as being in the South, sitting between a freshwater and a saltwater stream. The bulk of the story takes place in the years of 1942 through 1944 at the same time as World War II, but the beginning and end of the book consist of Gene looking back on his years at the Devon School 15 years after he had attended it. A Separate Peace considers two conflicts: man against man and man against himself. Early in the story Gene believes that his problems lie within his best friend Phineas (Finny), but later he realizes that his conflict is internal. Misplaced jealousy, fear, love and hate fight for control of Gene's actions. When the dark side of him wins for a brief moment and he pushes Finny out of a tree it ends his man against man conflict and makes Gene realize that Finny's intention has never been to sabotage him. He had only wanted to have a close and meaningful relationship with his best friend, but their relationship was forever scarred by Gene's betrayal. Gene also learns that people destruct themselves all of the time for no reason, believing that others are enemies when they actually are not.. This can be observed in the last lines of the book when Gene states, "All of them, all except Phineas, constructed at infinite cost to themselves these Maginot Lines against this enemy they thoug ht they saw across the frontier, this enemy who never attacked that way -if he ever attacked at all; if he was indeed the enemy." The climax of the story occurs when Gene and Finny finally have a two-sited discussion about the incident at the tree. This tear-filled conversation makes each boy realize how much they actually care for each other.

Computer Class

You are writing a research paper for your history class and have found a photo on the Web that you would like to use. You are cautious about using photos on the Web because of copyright Issues and photos that have been altered digitally. How might you verify the validity of a photo on the Web? When using a source for a research paper It Is always very Important to verify the book, website, photo, etc.In order to verify the validity of a photo on the Web, people need to check the source as to wear It came from, If the website Is not a website with absentia validation, then the photo Is not a resource that they should use In their paper. Also there Is now a Google â€Å"Search by Images† page. This allows people to copy and paste the picture Into the search engine and see where It came from. If the sources that come up do not have accurate validation of the photo then It Is not an appropriate resource that person should be using for his or her paper. Work Password Management: Yo u must remember multiple user names and passwords to access various computer resources within your company. Each time your company introduces a new system, you must remember a new user name and password, some of which you are unable to customize. What steps will you take to manage your passwords? When managing passwords and user names that you were given by your company always make sure to write it down on a certain piece of paper and put it in a safe place.Nowadays there are so many things that you need to have a user name and password for. Work is one of the main things. When introducing a new system, and receiving a new user name and password create a paper that ash the rest of your swords and user names on there with a brief description of what the website is about. This will allow you to remember the website, but also have your user name and password handy.One more thing is that when creating this paper you must find a safe place to put it so that no one can use the paper to lo gin to your account. Make sure you know where the paper is and do not tell anyone because if they find out where the paper is, other workers can have the potential to mess up or change your career. Computer Class By ambassadors using photos on the Web because of copyright issues and photos that have been When using a source for a research paper it is always very important to verify the book, website, photo, etc. N order to verify the validity of a photo on the Web, people need to check the source as to wear it came from, if the website is not a website with substantial validation, then the photo is not a resource that they should use in their paper. Also there is now a Google â€Å"Search by Images† page.

Country Music

Country Music Purpose: The purpose and goal of this speech is to inform my classmates of the Country music and its importance. Thesis: In order to understand the impact of Country music on the very music we listen to today, we need to understand its history, the artists who made the genre what it is today, and the country artist who have found success today. Organizational Pattern: Chronological I. Introduction a. Attention Getter: Who here listens to music? In the survey I’d say almost all of you have filled out, I was surprised to see six people had answered country music as their favorite genre.That made it the highest chosen, next to Pop. b. Relevance: So all of you here listen to music at some point in any given day, it should be fairly obvious how any kind of music could be relevant to you and your present life. c. Credibility: Being a fan of Country music myself, and after several weeks of conducting research on the subject, I have been very much interested in the artis ts Country music since I reluctantly began listening a little over a year ago. d.Thesis: In order to understand the impact of Country music on the very music we listen to today, we need to understand its history, the artists who made the genre what it is today, and the country artist who have found success today. e. Preview: So first, we will learn about and understand where Country began and how it evolved. Then I’ll tell you about the artists who made the genre popular. And finally wrap things up by speaking about the Country artists who are successful and popular today. Transition: So I’ll start with the roots of country music and how it evolved into the country songs we hear today.II. Body f. First, Country music’s origins will be discussed i. In the book Country Music, U. S. A. , written by Bill C. Malone and published in 1985, he says that Country music is â€Å"older than the South itself. † Which means, as far back as it goes, the more music it ha s inspired, and influenced in the future years. ii. Country music was recognized by the beats, use of fiddles, and steel guitars and in the twentieth century, society began to urbanize and people flocked to big cities like Chicago and New York, which then created anti-rural feelings.Southern Grassroots bridged the gap between urban and rural. 1. This occurred right around the same time as the radio becoming popular. The radio made it much easier for urban influence to reach far out farm homes in the boonies. This was extremely important in Country music’s discovery and refinement into the genre we know today. iii. During the war years Country music had flourished and changed drastically 2. Pre-World War One the music industry was mostly a sheet music business. However, during the war years it evolved into a political tool for rallying the country together. . Jumping to the next World War, after the attack on Pearl Harbor patriotism in the country has soared, and the rural pop ulation which produced most of the nation’s country music, had ‘liberated by war’ as stated by the previous source mentioned. iv. After the Second World War, there was a boom in Country music’s popularity. This also began the movement of Country artist performing ‘crossovers’. Which was music that was 4. This is the type of music that was produced by legends like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry.A few years later in the 50’s artists like Johnny Cash also emerged. I should also mention this genre was coined ‘Rockabillies’ being a mix of Rock and Hillbilly music. 5. This also caused a huge boom of music produced in Nashville, which then became known as the capital of Rock and Roll, and remains to be until this day. And from Nashville the music continued to evolve into the Country music we listen to, or hear about today. Transition: Speaking of the artists I have just mentioned above, I’m going to now talk about the artist s who have inspired music as we know it. . As I’ve previously mentioned, and some of you may have been surprised by Elvis’ name mentioned along with other Country artists. His style and music had begun influencing not only country music but an entire generation of future artists. v. He was one of the first artists to be considered very popular in the ‘rockabilly’ genre. His captivating voice and bad-boy hairstyle and clothing was the absolute most exciting thing for teens in the 50’s, and influenced music as we know it. vi. Another artist that came about in this time is Johnny Cash.He is more of a true country artist than most would consider Elvis because he stuck more to bluegrass and blues type roots. vii. Johnny Cash lived a literal rock and roll out of control life. He went through marriages and drugs like it was as vital to him as air. Continuing to make music until the 2000’s. One of his final songs released was a cover of Nine Inch Nai ls, ‘Hurt’ that according to Nine Inch Nails singer Trent Reznor in a VH1 interview, â€Å"It sounded as though my version was the cover, and the song was written for Cash. Transition: Now that you know more about the artists who made country popular, let’s talk about those who make country as we know it popular. h. I realize that not everyone here likes or enjoys country music, but I have no doubt that almost every person here can name at least one country artist. viii. Country music concerts sell out all across the United States, and even the big country music festival, Country Thunder, attracts hundreds of people every year as it continues to grow. ix. Artists like Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, and Carrie Underwood are artists who continue to be successful country music artists in the music industry today.They continue to top Billboard Charts and sell out their own concerts. Transition: (cue visual aid) Now that we’ve seen Country artists both past and p resent who have been successful in making Country popular, we have a better understanding of the genre. III. Conclusion i. Thesis/Summary: It holds true that the same research done with Country music here, can be repeated with any genre, and we would still find a long history filled with artists who have been inspired, and inspire generations of artists, as well as finding current artists within the genre today. j.Memorable close: Even though Country might not be your favorite, but musicians like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash had laid the foundation for the very music you listen to today. Refrences Malone, Bill C. Country Music U. S. A. ; a Fifty-year History,. Austin: Published for the American Folklore Society by the University of Texas, 1968. Print. Lynskey, Dorian. 33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day. New York: Ecco, 2011. Print. Holt, Fabian. Genre in Popular Music. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2007. Print. Petrusich, Amand a.It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the next American Music. New York: Faber and Faber, 2008. Print. Campion, James. â€Å"Elvis Presley – The Bad, The Sweet And The Boogie – Author James Campion Rates the King's Effect on the 20th Century. † Elvis Presley – The Bad, The Sweet And The Boogie – Author James Campion Rates the King's Effect on the 20th Century. N. p. , July-Aug. 1996. Web. 04 Oct. 2012. <http://www. jamescampion. com/elvis. html>. â€Å"Johnny Cash Biography. † CMT: Country Music Television. N. p. , n. d. Web. 04 Oct. 2012. <http://www. cmt. com/artists/az/cash_johnny/bio. jhtml>.

The Difference Between Intensive and Extensive Properties

The Difference Between Intensive and Extensive Properties Intensive properties and extensive properties are types of physical properties of matter. The terms intensive and extensive were first described by physical chemist and physicist Richard C. Tolman in 1917. Heres a look at what intensive and extensive properties are, examples of them, and how to tell them apart. Intensive Properties Intensive properties are bulk properties, which means they do not depend on the amount of matter that is present. Examples of intensive properties include: Boiling PointDensityState of MatterColorMelting PointOdorTemperatureRefractive IndexLusterHardnessDuctilityMalleability Intensive properties can be used to help identify a sample because these characteristics do not depend on the amount of sample, nor do they change according to conditions. Extensive Properties Extensive properties do depend on the amount of matter that is present. An extensive property is considered additive for subsystems. Examples of extensive properties include: VolumeMassSizeWeightLength The ratio between two extensive properties is an intensive property. For example, mass and volume are extensive properties, but their ratio (density) is an intensive property of matter. While extensive properties are great for describing a sample, they arent very helpful in identifying it because they can change according to sample size or conditions. Way to Tell Intensive and Extensive Properties Apart One easy way to tell whether a physical property is intensive or extensive is to take two identical samples of a substance and put them together. If this doubles the property (e.g., twice the mass, twice as long), its an extensive property. If the property is unchanged by altering the sample size, its an intensive property.

Documenting Primary school teaching in Mumbai (India) The WritePass Journal

Documenting Primary school teaching in Mumbai (India) Introduction Documenting Primary school teaching in Mumbai (India) IntroductionHypothesis RationaleLiterature Review Teacher’s Quality   Teacher’s Interpersonal Skills Documentation of the best practices Primary school teachers and primary educationMethodologyAims ObjectivesOperational DefinitionsData CollectionSampleResearch DesignResearch ToolsData AnalysisReliability and Validity of the researchEthical Issues References: Related Introduction A century ago, when we look back at the educational situation, it can be seen that the concept of ‘primary education’ was not seeded in the minds of the people. Mist of the countries focussed on education as knowing of their religious needs rather than a preparation for one’s active life. Only in 19th century did most countries make primary education compulsory and people began regarding education as a right (Amrung Gerald, 1999). Children usually enrol in primary schools by the age of 6 and it evolves as a five-year cycle and primary education forms as a basis for all further education and schooling and it is also the foundation to cope with the changing world and society (Pollard Bourne, 1995). India’s primary education is like a glass which is two-third full and one third empty having 67 million children aged 6 to 10 years attending primary schooling but 28 to 32 million children who are not (World Bank Publication, 1997). Millions of young children ha iling from lower socio-economic, comprising nearly 40% never complete their primary schooling and those who can have to face a number of problems like poor qualified teachers, very high teacher-student ratio, inadequate teaching materials (Saxena, 2005). All these factors contribute to low quality of education that imparts only little or no learning. Teachers teaching in primary schools account for the largest steadily growing profession in India, with nearly 2.8 million primary and upper primary teachers employed in the year 2000 (Tilak, 1995) It is rightly said ‘upon the teacher rests the school’; the ‘teacher’ becomes the prime revitalizing force and plays a pivotal role in the education system. Good teacher is the one who is T- thoughtful, E- Enthusiastic, A-Ambitious, C- Creative, H- Having high dignity, E- Executiveness and R- Reliability and it is the teacher who helps the child to build his self-concept (Devasenathipati, 2001). According to Miyan Rastogi (2005), a primary school teacher can be called as ‘competent’ only when she/he has a varied range of knowledge in all spheres and skills to achieve her/his goals. Primary schooling is very complex as teachers introduce the children to mathematics, science, language and other social studies which can be very tough and boring for the children, so the onus likes in the hand of the teacher to make all these subjects interesting by using various techniques of teaching like games, music, books etc (Richardson Stop, 1998). ‘A unique human being- the teacher’ who has to play multiple roles; of a listener, leader, psychological diagnostician etc and requires her/his total self, the personal and professional side to shape the personality of the child (Spodek, 1972). In India till the 18th century, education was confined to conventional beliefs and thoughts. It was only later when great thinkers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy felt the urgency to introduce an ‘institution for training teachers’ to help the students cope with the changing educational system around the world (Saxena, 2005). Cheng (1996) commented that â€Å"A teacher with ‘low educational efficacy’ believes that education cannot affect student’s performance, whereas a teacher with ‘high educational efficacy’ believes that education does positively affect learning outcomes. High educational efficacy has been constantly correlated with child centred (developmentally appropriate) environments and positive student outcomes†. Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) is a term coined by the ‘National Association for the Education of Young Children’ which talks about the teaching techniques that identify and foster the developmen tal needs of children (Bredekamp, 1997).   Documenting these practices which can be named as ‘best practices’ will help teachers to enhance their skills and help them improve for the better, at the same time documentation will also prove as a link between the teaching fraternities globally giving birth to more systematic and educational system along with this it will be a boon for the upcoming generation of teachers to adopt these protocols. Hypothesis Rationale Many a time’s teachers are criticised for not doing their best in schools. There could be many reasons; either it could be ineffectiveness of the teacher or lack of resources. Hence it will be very useful to identify the best/healthy practices carried out by teachers with or without resources. This study will help in knowing and understanding the teacher’s effectiveness in primary schools and documenting the best practices so that other teachers who work under similar circumstances with similar goals and constraints get an idea of effective teaching.   The teachers will be observed, recorded and documented in 4 areas: Teacher as a Person, Teacher as a Professional, Teacher’s Interpersonal Relationship and Qualities of the Teacher. Literature Review The literature is based on past researches done on teachers and primary school teaching and it is presented on the following subtopics:   Teacher’s Quality Teacher’s Interpersonal Skills Teacher’s Qualification Documentation of the best practices Primary school teachers and primary education Teacher’s Quality According to Hammond (2000) teachers preparations and teachings are the strongest correlations of the student’s achievement and teacher’s quality is the most vital educational investment. Similarly Rvikin, Hanushek and Kain (1998) reported the student’s performance outcomes to the teacher’s quality, they analysed 400,000 students in 3000 schools from New York, which concluded that school quality is the most important factor in students achievement however teacher’s quality is the most important predictor whereas size and teacher education plays a very small role. Relationship between teachers’ personality and academic and social development was analysed by Heil and Washburne (1998). They found out that children made the greatest progress under the guidance of self-controlled teacher and least under fearful teachers. They also reported that children seem to grow as friendlier under self-controlled teachers.   Teacher’s Interpersonal Skills Dasgupta (2004) observed that those teachers who had a strong interest in their students as individuals and were sensitive to their needs, the students could relate themselves with such teachers in a much better way creating a level of comfort with them. On the other hand, those teachers who are friendly but make no attempt to know their students, the children feel anxious being with them and they even doubted the teacher’s ability to perform. Similarly, those teachers who did not show any interest, the students believed that the teacher had a very low ability to perform and was low self-motivated. A significant body of research reported that academic achievement and students’ behaviour is influenced by the quality of the teacher-student relationship. It also suggests that the emotional aspect of the teacher-student relationship is far more important than the conventional advice on methods and techniques of teaching (Gerald, 1999) Teacher’s Qualification Cheng (1996) conducted a study on high school students’ performance using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Studies (1998) and found that fully certified teachers have a significant positive impact on student test scores as compared to teachers who are not well qualified and certified. Heil (1998) through his study concluded that teachers who had been out from teacher education since long and were away from on-going professional development lacked familiarity with current knowledge. She also commented that there was a significant difference in strength of developmentally appropriate practice beliefs between novice teachers and veteran teachers. The more oriented teachers scored significantly high on measures of developmentally appropriate practices. Documentation of the best practices A study was conducted by Miyan in 2005 documenting the best practices on 25 children in 7 schools and it was seen that the most prominent best practices carried out were providing children with positive reinforcement, treating all children equally, spontaneity while teaching and innovativeness in teaching methods. Similar study conducted by Rastogi (2005) found out that the best teaching practices were using teaching aids and creative methods to teach like dramatizations, providing children with a stimulating environment. Primary school teachers and primary education According to Dasgupta (2004), ‘play’ should be the central activity of children even in primary schools and primary school teachers should teach children using the play way method as it helps children to relate to what is being taught. Introducing games in classroom is one of the ways of encouraging cooperation and motivating the children to study and learn the concepts. Washburne (1998) surveyed primary school children to see the kind of the teachers liked by them and those who were disliked. He found that physical characteristics such as grooming, nice voice, and pleasing personality were found to be more important along with teacher’s qualities like interest in teaching, enthusiasm, innovativeness etc. At the same time children also laid equal emphasis on the personality traits like being cheerful, fair, non-judgemental etc. Methodology Aims Objectives To identify and document the ‘best practices’ of teachers, nominated as ‘effective teachers’ by principals/supervisors To identify the practices that need improvement To observe, record and document the ‘best practices’ of primary school teachers in 4 areas: Teacher as a Person, Teacher as a Professional, Teacher’s Interpersonal Relationship and Qualities of the Teacher. To compare the teachers best practices in relation to the fee structure To compare the teachers best practices in relation to his/her years of teaching experience To compare teachers best practices in relation to the teacher child ratio. Operational Definitions Effective Teachers: These are the teachers having innovative and creative teaching practices and who will be nominated by the principals/supervisors Primary Teacher: Teacher teaching to children in 1st and 2nd grade Low Fee Structured Schools: Schools having fees ranging from Rs.15/- to Rs.350/- per month High Fee Structured Schools: Schools having fees ranging from Rs.350/- to Rs. 450/- per month Data Collection Sample Primary school teachers serving in the schools having low and high fee structure and located in Mumbai, India will be approached using an introductory letter. The schools will be selected keeping in mind the indicators like fee structure, location of schools, medium of instruction and minimum 5years of establishment. 10 schools will be approached and nearly 30 teachers will be observed and interviewed. From these 10 schools, 5 schools will represent schools having low fee structure and remaining 5 schools will represent high fee structure. Research Design The school authorities will be approached with a prior appointment and the school supervisor/principal will be given and introductory letter conveying the nature of the research (refer to appendix 2). The information and the facts about the school (profile of the school) will be obtained from the authorities including details of the school like the name, number of teaching staff, fee structure, teacher-child ratio etc. The principal/supervisor will be asked to nominate three teachers who according to them are effective in their teaching, in short who are exemplary. The teachers will be given a consent form (refer to appendix 1) which will agree their part-taking in the research. Research Tools The research tools that will be used for this study will be a fact sheet, an observation record documentation sheet along with an interview questionnaire. The sample of the research tools is provided in the appendix. The fact sheet will have two parts to it; first it will help in gathering the profile of the school and second one to gather the nomination of the teachers made by the principal/supervisor (Refer to appendix 3) The observation record sheet will be again divided in two parts.   First part will focus on gathering the teacher’s profile (age, qualification, number of years of experience) whereas the second part of the sheet who help in observing the nominated teacher in four criterias namely- Teacher as a Person, Teacher’s Interpersonal Relationship, Teacher as a professional and Qualities of the Teacher (Refer appendix 4a. 4b). The documentation sheet will help in documenting the best practices of teachers along with those practices which need improvement. This will also help in understanding the teacher-child interaction and noting down the minuscule but important details of classroom teaching (Refer to appendix 5) The interview questionnaire will help in interacting with the teachers on one to one basis. The nominated teachers will be interviewed on the basis of the four criterias namely- Teacher as a Person, Teacher’s Interpersonal Relationship, Teacher as a professional and Qualities of the Teacher. The interview will consist of open end questions will be give a chance to the teachers to be more expressive, so that all the details could be captured. (Refer appendix 6) To summarise, the researcher will visit the schools during the school hours for observation. Observation will be done for each teacher for 3 days and each session would be for an hour. The observation record sheet and the documentation sheet will be carried to the classroom to record the verbal comments as well as the non-verbal gestures of the teachers along with the recording of the best practices. So the researcher will observe 3 teachers for 3 days in each school (schools having high as well as low fee structure), one hour per teacher in each school.   The researcher will then interview the teachers during the school hours according to the convenience of the teachers. The interview session would approximately last for an hour. Data Analysis The observation record sheet will be analysed both quantitatively as well as qualitatively where as the documentation and interview sheet will be analysed qualitatively only. The data for the quantitative analysis will be encoded using the SPSS and co-relational analysis will be conducted for the statistical analysis. The data for the qualitative analysis will be encoded using the analysing conversation technique and the IPA (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis) so that a rich data is collected. Reliability and Validity of the research To understand the reliability and validity of the research, a pilot study will be conducted on two schools. During the pilot study the effectiveness of the tool will be checked. A meta-analysis can also be conducted to understand the nature of previous researches done and certain improvisations in the present study can be made on the basis of the systematic review of meta-analysis. Ethical Issues Any research and the practical applications of the procedures come under the scrutiny of professional ethics (Anastasi Urbina, 2004).   Even for this research certain ethical issues have to be taken care of in a systematic manner. A formal approval will be taken from the principals/supervisors of the school who decide to become a part of the study, even the nominated teachers would be asked if they would like to participate and be one of the respondents, they will also be entitled to sign a consent form. All the data collected will be confidential. No one except the researcher will be allowed to access that data. There are no foreseeable risks involved with the tools used for the research. They will be assured that all their information will be kept confidential and privacy will be maintained. While conducting the observations and interview there could be some risk involved like anxiety and questions in the respondents mind. All the participants will be explained the nature of the study, objectives. They will be assured that all their information will be kept confidential and privacy will be maintained. References: Amurang, C., Gerald. (1999). ‘Evaluating Primary Education’, International Developmental Research, Canada Anastasi, A., Urbina,S. (2004). ‘Psychological Testing’, Prentice Hall, USA A World Bank Publication, (1997). ‘Primary Education in India’, U.S.A: Library Cross Publication Bredekamp, S., Copple, C. (1997). ‘Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Programmes’, Washington D.C.: National Association for Education of Young Children. Cheng, Y.C. (1996). ‘Total Teacher Effectiveness: New conception and improvement’, International Journal of Education Management, 10 (6), 7-17. Devasenathipathi, M. (2001). ‘A Good Teacher’, Educational Review, 144 (9),   101. Hammond, L. (1999). ‘Teacher Quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence’, Seattle, WA : Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy, University of Washington. Kain, F., Rivikin, S. (2005). ‘Teachers, Schools, and Academic Achievement’, Econometrica, 73 (2), 417-458. Heil, Lousi., Washburne, C. (1998). ‘What characteristics affect children’s growth?’, The School Review, 68(4), 420-428. Dasgupta, D. (2004), ‘Effective teaching techniques’, Avishkar Publications. Miyan., M., Rastogi., A. (2005). ‘Manpower Planning for Elementary Teacher Education: A pre-requisite for Quality Elementary Education’, University News, 43 (18), 56-62. Pollard, A., Bourne, J. (1995). ‘Teaching and Learning in Primary Schools’, New York: Rout Ledge. Saxena, C. (2005). ‘A Historical Overview of Teacher Education in India from Rig Vedic Age till 1947’, University News, 43(18), 1-7. Spodek, B., (1972). ‘Teaching in Early Years’, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. Tilak., J.B.G. (1995) ‘How free is Free Primary Education’, Occasional Paper-21, New Delhi: NIE Richardson, J., Stopp, P. (1998). ‘Becoming a Primary Teacher’, London: Penguin Books

F#ck Content Marketing Focus on Content Experience With Randy Frisch

F#ck Content Marketing Focus on Content Experience With Randy Frisch Marketers are in the business of creating content. They’re modern-day publishers. However, up to 70% of content that they create goes unused. Today, my guest is Randy Frisch, author of the new book, F#ck Content Marketing: Focus on Content Experience to Drive Demand, Revenue, Relationships. Also, he’s the co-founder, president, and CMO of Uberflip. He identifies how to break bad content marketing habits and adapt personalization to marketing. Content is at the core of marketing strategies; Uberflip empowers marketers to take control of created content assets and mesh them into their marketing efforts Randy’s book is not meant to throw shade at content marketers, but capture his passion and take on the â€Å"broken† status of the content marketing industry What is unused content? Content that’s created and posted, but never leveraged on a day-to-day basis in marketing Definition of content marketing to create content to attract a clearly defined audience and drive profitable customer action is too narrowly focused Content marketers need to start putting the right content in front of the right people for that encounter to be a great experience Real-life examples of what content marketers are doing right and wrong; tell a story that connects with customers Content marketers feel pressured to produce content, but they’re not the only ones responsible for customer experience Tactics and tools for the personalization of content and marketing at scale Content Experience Framework: Centralize, organize, personalize, distribute, and generate resultsEvolution of Content: People who want to go beyond content creation and think more strategically by teaming up with colleagues Links: Randy Frisch F#ck Content Marketing by Randy Frisch on Amazon F#ck Content Marketing- Focus on the Content Experience (Blog Post) Uberflip AMP123: Why Every Content Marketer Should Think Like a Publisher Content Marketing World Robert Rose Joe Pulizzi Content Marketing Institute Spotify Netflix Snowflake Sigstr Terminus Eloqua Write a review on iTunes and send a screenshot of it to receive a cool swag bag! If you liked today’s show, please subscribe on iTunes to The Actionable Content Marketing Podcast! The podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Google Play. Quotes by Randy Frisch: â€Å"We would figure out how to create all this content and we’d end up with a different problem, which was, what would we do with all that content?† â€Å"Whether we don’t get to it or we’re expecting too muchwe end up in this position where we are letting content sit unused.† â€Å"It’s about moving on to that next step: ‘How do we put the right content in front of the right people so that the encounter they have with our content is a great experience’?† â€Å"When we deliver a personalized experience, we lead to these better outcomes. I’m willing to guarantee you’ll see higher engagement.†

Linking Research Design, Research Problem, and Research Questions Essay

Linking Research Design, Research Problem, and Research Questions - Essay Example ’. Qualitative research questions deal with individual cases and provide greater depths and understanding of each case while looking only at the practical and pertinent information. There are five most common approaches used in qualitative research. These are ethnography, grounded theory, case study, discourse analysis, or phenomenology. The method that is to be used in this qualitative study is ethnography. Ethnography helps to get an in-depth understanding on the aspects of culture which influence the phenomenon under study. It is often used to gather data that is derived from experiments and observation rather than from theory. Ethnography is particularly done with the end purpose of enabling the researcher to describe the people targeted by the study. The research topic proposed in this paper concerns finding the reasons for the increasing rate of dropouts from institutions of higher education. The research topic can be better phrased as â€Å"Curbing the increasing rate of school dropouts from institutions of higher education†. The purpose of this research is to find out the reasons that lead to students dropping out of school. By being able to get a clear understanding of why students drop out from school, this data can be used by the government ministry in charge of education, school boards and other key players in the sector to devise policies and strategies which will gradually bring down this drop out rate. Problem statement The rate at which students are dropping out is increasing at an alarming rate. All over the world, there are headlines that detail the numbers of students that drop out of school, especially higher education. According to a report by the US Department of Education’s National Center for Educ ation Statistics (NCES), there are two principal classifications of factors which contribute to students dropping out of school. These are financial and social. The NCES also reports that the rates of dropouts have been increasing over the last decade. For example, between 1992 and 2002, the status rate which is the rate of students dropping out without completing school increased from 14.6 to 22.5 per cent. In South Africa, the high rate of university dropouts, which was at 11.2 per cent in 2008, is deemed to be a monumental threat to the future of the country. This is the situation in many countries. Much has been done to try and curb the rate of dropouts but these numbers are astonishing. Something needs to be done urgently to help this pathetic situation. How ethnography is used There are two main types of data that will be collected for this research. These are primary and secondary data. The former will be collected through structured interviews with key respondents such as sc hool principals, district education officers, lecturers, tutors, mentors, students and other key people in the ministry involved with education, interviewer observation and field notes. Focus discussion groups (FDGs) may also be held to get insight on what are the reasons for this phenomenon. FDGs involve having the researcher as the facilitator or moderator as the group discusses the factors that lead to dropouts and initiatives that can be implemented to help curb this. The FDGs will mostly comprise of students in higher education institutions and recent graduates. The ideal age would be between 18-26 years. Secondary data will be collected from reflexive journals, analysis of published and unpublished documents and reports and also other data that will be relevant to this study. Research Questions A research question can be defined as the question or questions posed that the research answers. It is usually a

Debate the influence of welfare state regimes on health inequalities Assignment

Debate the influence of welfare state regimes on health inequalities - Assignment Example studies of research reveal that in the South European countries the family oriented welfare systems are found to be not addressing properly ill health concerns of the disadvantaged groups. But in Scandinavian countries there has been a greater distribution of welfare regime helping the disadvantaged but proper educational directives; relative deprivation as well as class patterned health behaviors has widened the health inequalities in these countries (Eikemo et al, 2008, pp.578-579). Thus it can be concluded that the welfare regimes are not appropriate in their services to the population in a fruitful manner and the developed continent like Europe are also entrapped with provision of rampant health inequalities. This calls for a rigid counteractive measure (proper education, awareness, strict policies and so on) and scrutinizing the loopholes as compromising health is compromising national treasure. Eikemo et al, (2008), Health inequalities according to educational level in different welfare regimes: a comparison of 23 European countries, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 565–582, Sociology of Health &

Prewriting Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Prewriting - Assignment Example When I write about consider writing about a new subject I always begin by trying to find contemporaneous accounts or records written by people who participated in the event themselves.This is an excellent way to ground the topic and prevent it from becoming too abstract.I also do a lot of brainstorming. But primary sources are not enough. Few essay topics require a round up of only one kind of source. In order to provide depth of research, a writer will need to combine primary and secondary sources. In the sciences, for example, raw data is important, but how that data has been interpreted by others, over the years, is also very significant.I try to write down on a sheet of paper everything that I can think of regarding a particular topic. It is important here to turn off the filter and let the ideas come out. Connections between various ideas are important and these can be established by brainstorming. I always try to beware collecting or holding on to irrelevant information, which is sometimes a temptation. It is easy to get sidetracked and create a â€Å"bulge†Ã¢â‚¬â€a part or paragraph of the essay that has no real connection with the thesis. The topic I came up with is State Healthcare Reform. There are a lot of problems with the cost and delivery of healthcare in today's world. We need to find solutions for these problems. My thesis is that Obamacare is not the solution for state healthcare reform. Obamacare will not reduce costs. It will not make insurance cheaper or better. And it is infringement of states' rights. ESSAY One of the most important things for businesses to consider when starting up is whether to how much of their employees healthcare costs they should pay. This is part of a great debate about healthcare and whether the state or employers should pay it or whether people should be responsible for it themselves. It comes down to the basic question: is healthcare a private or a public good? This is a question that states in the United States are currently struggling with. The cost of delivering healthcare is rapidly increasing and becoming a very large portion of the budget of many states. It is unsustainable. At the same time there are many people who remain uninsured either because they have fallen through the cracks or do not have a job that provides them benefits. These are serious problems that many states are facing. Some believe that President Obama's healthcare reforms—Obamacare—are the solution to these problems. However, they do not do much to reduce costs, they force people to buy insurance which is probably unconstitutional, and they will not work. They are not the answer to reforming healthcare in the states. Those who believe healthcare is a public good believe everyone has a right to it and that it is an abuse of human rights to not be granted publicly-funded health insurance at birth. They think that people are effectively tied to their jobs because they are afraid to lose their hea lth insurance. They also argue that it seriously reduces labour flexibility and affects productivity as people stay in jobs they might not want just so they maintain their insurance. There are others who believe the opposite. They would like to see a smaller state that is not responsible for everything in everyone’s life. What could be more personal than health? Why should the government or a business be responsible for paying for an individual’s health? It’s your own choice, for example, whether you smoke or don’t exercise, and yet the business or government must pick up the tab. These is part of the unconstitutional nature of these reforms. The constitution's commerce clause does not permit the government to force people to buy a particular product such as insurance. The costs of enforcing this will be very high. People would probably also lose access to their own doctor if their employer found a cheaper option due to the bulk-buying of insurance plans. That would be good or fair. There area better solutions to reform healthcare. One

The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ its Historicity Relationship to Research Paper

The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ its Historicity Relationship to the Old Testament the Manifestation of His Divinity Anticip - Research Paper Example In fact, the story itself is called into question on many levels, the fact that this was a completely isolated experience and completely foreign to most human beings’ perceptions of reality. However, the converse is also true, that just because it was a solitary instance, and not found in multiple occurrences in the life of Christ tends to increase the veracity of the mystery as an actual event and not a simply a literary creation designed with the intention of enlarging and deifying the personage of Jesus Christ. 2 "We are asserting that the transfiguration occurred for the sake of the disciples. Is it possible to affirm that it was for Christ's benefit? Some have thought that he needed it for his encouragement, seeing that he was faced with so much public opposition and with such dullness of comprehension on the part of his closest followers. But the narrative gives no hint of hesitation or weakness or discouragement on his part. " 3 This paper will explore several different facets of the research that has been done regarding this mystery and while not attempting to draw any conclusions or final dictums regarding it, hopes to present an unbiased look at the Transfiguration from several viewpoints and attempt a rational understanding. THE TRANSFIGURATION The retelling of the story can be found in the Gospels of Matthew 17:1–8, KJV, Mark 9:2–10, KJV, and Luke 9:28–36, KJV with some variation between them. The event itself takes place on the â€Å"Mount of the Transfiguration,† as it has come to be known. A plethora of research on the actual location (some believe it to be Mount Tabor) of this mountain exists, but its true identity has never been verified. The reference to a high mountain also give some credence to the resurrection analogy as well. 4 The Apostles John, James and Peter accompanied Jesus on the trek to this mountaintop, where they witnessed Jesus change before their eyes, a glow began from within him and his clot hing became bright white and a radiance, which they identified with the glory of God, blossomed from his frame. Then the prophets of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah appear at his side and a cloud envelops them all. From within the cloud a voice booms out, "This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him!" Then as quickly as it came the cloud vanished, taking with it the two prophets and leaving only Jesus and his three disciples. As they walked back down the mountain Jesus bid them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after his suffering, Crucifixion and Resurrection. †¦so the transfiguration story, with its voice from heaven echoing the earlier voice at Jesus' baptism, confirms the narrators application of "Son of God" (1:1; 9:7). Jesus' comment to Peter, James, and John on the way down the mountain sets the limit to the messianic secret: they are "to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead"5 One of the first questions whi ch comes to mind is why Jesus asked his disciples to keep this event a secret? Surely the recounting of this event would solidify many more men and women to his following. The answer is quite simple, if this were known than the life of Jesus may have unfolded very differently, and that would have been anathema to the greater cause of Jesus’ existence: "But Mark's story has already insisted upon

Exporing the Social Application and Consequences of Eugenic Theory Essay

Exporing the Social Application and Consequences of Eugenic Theory Using Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray and Wells' Time Machine - Essay Example , ought to reproduce according to scientific principles to generate the best possible genetic pool†¦Eugenicists regarded their movement as a rational and humanitarian effort to improve the human condition (Barrett 497). However, the eugenics movement led to the policies adopted by Hitler and the Nazis in their genocide of the Jewish people. Germany is not the only country to have a history of eugenics in official policy; the United States sterilized many people with mental handicaps in the 1920’s under the ideal of improving the human race. The genocide of World War II and the sterilization of mentally handicapped people are examples of extreme and direct eugenic policies. There are, however, less direct ways in which eugenics is implemented, such as through social classes. People of an upper class refusing to associate and mix with people of a lower class keeps these social classes genetically separate. Such an idea can be found in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. H.G. Wells, however, attempts to show the consequences of implementing such a eugenics policy in his novel The Time Machine. In viewing these works together, we can see how Wells was responding to the sort of ideas found in Wilde’s work and the negative consequences of such policies. The promotion of the separation between social classes can be seen most clearly by the title character Dorian Gray and Lord Henry Wotton. In specific, we can see how their attitudes towards Dorian’s involvement with the actress Sybil Vane and Dorian’s admittance to the murder of Basil Hallward most clearly states these ideas. These attitudes, though not directly advocating eugenics, clearly would lead to the fragmented society portrayed in Wells. Dorian falls in love with the actress Sybil Vane mostly because he finds her to be incredibly talented. In eugenics, it is believed that talent is genetically linked (Field 3), so since he found her so talented she was acceptable as a mate, even

The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ its Historicity Relationship to Research Paper

The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ its Historicity Relationship to the Old Testament the Manifestation of His Divinity Anticip - Research Paper Example In fact, the story itself is called into question on many levels, the fact that this was a completely isolated experience and completely foreign to most human beings’ perceptions of reality. However, the converse is also true, that just because it was a solitary instance, and not found in multiple occurrences in the life of Christ tends to increase the veracity of the mystery as an actual event and not a simply a literary creation designed with the intention of enlarging and deifying the personage of Jesus Christ. 2 "We are asserting that the transfiguration occurred for the sake of the disciples. Is it possible to affirm that it was for Christ's benefit? Some have thought that he needed it for his encouragement, seeing that he was faced with so much public opposition and with such dullness of comprehension on the part of his closest followers. But the narrative gives no hint of hesitation or weakness or discouragement on his part. " 3 This paper will explore several different facets of the research that has been done regarding this mystery and while not attempting to draw any conclusions or final dictums regarding it, hopes to present an unbiased look at the Transfiguration from several viewpoints and attempt a rational understanding. THE TRANSFIGURATION The retelling of the story can be found in the Gospels of Matthew 17:1–8, KJV, Mark 9:2–10, KJV, and Luke 9:28–36, KJV with some variation between them. The event itself takes place on the â€Å"Mount of the Transfiguration,† as it has come to be known. A plethora of research on the actual location (some believe it to be Mount Tabor) of this mountain exists, but its true identity has never been verified. The reference to a high mountain also give some credence to the resurrection analogy as well. 4 The Apostles John, James and Peter accompanied Jesus on the trek to this mountaintop, where they witnessed Jesus change before their eyes, a glow began from within him and his clot hing became bright white and a radiance, which they identified with the glory of God, blossomed from his frame. Then the prophets of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah appear at his side and a cloud envelops them all. From within the cloud a voice booms out, "This is my Son, whom I love, listen to him!" Then as quickly as it came the cloud vanished, taking with it the two prophets and leaving only Jesus and his three disciples. As they walked back down the mountain Jesus bid them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after his suffering, Crucifixion and Resurrection. †¦so the transfiguration story, with its voice from heaven echoing the earlier voice at Jesus' baptism, confirms the narrators application of "Son of God" (1:1; 9:7). Jesus' comment to Peter, James, and John on the way down the mountain sets the limit to the messianic secret: they are "to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead"5 One of the first questions whi ch comes to mind is why Jesus asked his disciples to keep this event a secret? Surely the recounting of this event would solidify many more men and women to his following. The answer is quite simple, if this were known than the life of Jesus may have unfolded very differently, and that would have been anathema to the greater cause of Jesus’ existence: "But Mark's story has already insisted upon

HTC Human Resource Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

HTC Human Resource Analysis - Research Paper Example The traditional HRM functions and technical HRM functions, as accumulated in the ideology of SHRM, covers a wide range of activities which includes recruitment, selection, performance evaluation, training and development as well as management of remuneration and employee advantages. By balancing HRM activities with organisational business strategies, SHRM can effectually reproduce flexible planning and use human resources in order to accomplish the organisational objectives, and accordingly assist organisations to gain a sustainable competitive edge (Wei, 2006). With due concern to these aspects, the paper will discuss the strategic framework of HTC Corporation using the theory of SHRM and also seek to identify the HR issues faced by the organisation. Hereby, the objective of the paper is to analyse the HRM practices in HTC and accordingly make recommendations towards its improvements. Strategic Framework of HTC HTC Corporation principally deals in manufacturing electronic products s uch as laptops, mobile phones, smartphones and other handheld devices. The business functions executed by HTC are spread internationally. It is worth mentioning that the company has been learnt to experience a significant growth rate in its international as well as national operations owing to its effective approach towards HRM and comprehensive differentiation strategies (Scribd Inc., 2012). Strategies in any organisation are concerned towards the long term planning which are further divided into five aspects, i.e. organisational mission and objectives, environmental examinations, strategic formulations, strategic implementations and strategic assessments. The mission outlines the organisational values and ambitions. The mission and objectives designates the way of strategic management within an organisation (Erdil & Gunsel, n.d.). In this context, in HTC, the objective and mission of the organisation has been identified to emerge as one of the top smartphone organisations in the w orld. Therefore, it is quite likely that the human resource strategies adopted by HTC replicate its organisational objectives and mission. The examination of environment assists in identifying the organisational strengths as well as weaknesses along with prevailing external organisational prospects and threats. These aspects are significant for the future sustainability of any business. Contextually, the industry where HTC operates its business is dynamic in nature which incorporates the characteristics of mobile phone sector with personal computer sector making a complete utilisation of the benefits of high-end technology. Moreover, the value chain of HTC contains operating system, brand, and telecommunication providers along with the dynamic resources and capabilities (Chiou, 2010). The strategic formulations in any organisation includes the senior executives liable for assessing the interface between strategic issues and making strategic selections which intends to direct employe es to satisfy the organisational goals. It is in this regard that the strategies of HTC are always

Dead Stars Essay Example for Free

Dead Stars Essay 1. Is the title â€Å"Dead Stars† appropriate for the story? Justify. Yes, the title Dead Star is very appropriate for the story. In the story, dead stars symbolize a dream for something that is nonexistent. Alfredo loved Julia. She was his dream, his star. He thought there was love there. But like a dead star which is far away, and whose shine could actually be the leftover traveling light from it, he was a long way from getting the girl. And when the time came that they parted from each other, Alfredo kept on wishing to be with Julia but when finally they met again, he realized that the love he thought was possible was in fact, never was. The spark that he saw in his star was gone a long time ago even before he realized it. When he was with Julia after many years of separation, it was then that he learned that all along, he was dreaming for a love that was only an illusion, he was dreaming for a dead star. 2. What Filipino practices are evident in the story â€Å"How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife†? Perhaps one of the most evident Filipino practices shown in the story is the formal introduction of the wife-to-be to the parents of the man before the actual wedding. This is done as part of giving respect to the parents and also to get their blessings. This is a very important Filipino trait and it still done until now although there are instances that it is neglected. Another is the prevailing rule of the father in the family which is the common arrangement of the family system here in the Philippines. It was also shown in the story the tendency of the Filipinos to test the girl or boy so as tofind out his/her real personality and intentions. This was greatly depicted in the character of Leons father through Leons brother. 3. Does Filipino custom explains that love is absent when you dont see the person? Filipinos are best known for being loyal people especially when it comes to love. This is mainly because our culture dictates that loving should be in this way, with all honesty and loyalty and being stick-to-one no matter what the hindrances there may be. These hindrances may include the long  distance between two lovers but still the relationship grows stronger because of the distance and this is one proof that even when we Filipinos dont see our love ones, we still continue to love them deeply. In the case of Alfredo and Julia in the story Dead Stars, Alfredo had only thought that it was love that he had for Julia but in fact it was only a misconception and misinterpretation. So, the question could not be applied to them because at the first place, it wasnt love that Alfredo felt for Julia before they were separated. However, there are really instances when love fades away due to the long absence of our love ones. This is only a case to case basis and it does not generalized the Filipinos. To answer the question, I would say no for love is not grounded in physical presence only. Personally, I would say that love for another continues to live even when the person is not present as long as it is being acknowledged and appreciated, otherwise, it will fade away.

Impact of Culture on Life Satisfaction of Students

Impact of Culture on Life Satisfaction of Students ABSTRACT Defining culture by reference to deeply situated societal values and beliefs, this study makes three contributions to the growing field of satisfaction research: first, it tries to uncover the relationship between international students life satisfaction and cultural life satisfaction across different cultures; Second, it explores whether and to what extent a range of cultural values serve as important moderators of international students life satisfaction; Finally, it explains the Life Satisfaction differences between international students across five nations (India, Africa, China, United Kingdom and Turkey). A total of 100 international students from the University of Northampton participated in this study. Analysis of the present study is based on data from two surveys. The first is the Dieners Satisfaction with Life Survey (SWL) to measure international students overall satisfaction with life across nations. The second is the cultural satisfaction survey which includes the six d eterminants of cultural factors: satisfaction in general, job, social relationships, health services, authority services and public safety. Using both Pearson and Partial correlation coefficient, statistical analysis showed that except for the General Satisfaction section p value is more than 0.05 (p>0.05) for each of the subsections. In addition, hypothesis one showed that there is not any correlation between Life Satisfaction and Cultural Satisfaction amongst International Students. Therefore, null hypothesis is accepted. One-Way between subjects ANOVAs enables us to partially accept hypothesis 2, which states there will be a difference in CS between International Students from different countries. Statistical results of one-way ANOVAs also accepted Hypothesis 3, which states there will be a difference in LS between International Students from different nationalities as well. According to these results, Hypothesis 2 is partially accepted because four out of the six subsections of the CS (General and Job Satisfaction) showed these differences. These results show the importance of the cultural determinants of the social relationship, health, authority and public safety satisfaction play a particularly prominent role on individuals Life Satisfaction. Finally, based on the Dieners SWL (Diener et al, 1984) and cultural life satisfaction survey, the empirical results show that several cultural values are indeed very significant influences on individuals assessment of their life satisfaction. INTRODUCTION Psychological research during the past two decades has revealed cultural differences across a wide range of domains. These studies focus on several factors such as what are peoples desires, wants, and needs, and which life domains are decisive in an overall evaluation of living conditions? Does the quality of a society in which a person lives play a significant role? As a result most psychologists are now keenly aware that the way people in different cultures think, feel, and act are, in varying degrees, different. International students have in recent years come to constitute a large proportion of the world-wide student body in higher learning institutions. There are hardly any countries that are unaffected by the presence of international students in its institutions of higher learning, or the pressure to send some of its own students to study abroad (Paige, 1990). Current estimates suggest that up to 1 million students annually study in countries other than their own (Open Doors, 1996/97). One rationale behind the increasing number of international students is the assumption that students can serve both as cultural ambassadors and resources (Klineberg, 1970; Mestenhauser, 1983; Paige, 1990), and as links between cultures (Eide, 1970). It has also been assumed that these cultural links could help reduce inter-group tension, prejudice, hostility and discriminatory behaviour, and to help increase international understanding and co-operation (Amir, 1969; Baron and Bachman, 1987; Fulbright, 1976) . These assumptions, however, have not always been supported. On the contrary mental health problems such as depression, psychosomatic complaints, anxiety and paranoid reactions (Jou and Fukada, 1997a and b; Sam and Eide, 1991; Ward, 1967; Ying and Liese, 1991) have been suggested to characterise international students. These are in addition to socio-cultural problems (e.g., language difficulties, difficulties in negotiating day-to-day social activities and, racial and ethnic discrimination) (Furnham and Bochner, 1982; Kagan and Cohen, 1990; Ward and Kennedy, 1993) and academic problems such as failure (Aich, 1963; Barker et al., 1991) have been documented as characterising international students overseas sojourn. Life Satisfacion (LS) has been defined as a global evaluation by the person of his or her life (Pavot et al., 1991, p. 150), and has been identified as a key aspect of quality of life and Subjective Well Being (SWB) (Mannel and Dupuis 1996). SWB is a way of defining a good life, and is often referred to as happiness. People who experience abundant SWB have many pleasures and few pains, and they feel satisfied with their lives (Diener, 2000). Satisfaction also refers to the cognitive/judgemental aspects of SWB (Neto, 1995). Diener and his colleagues (1999) argued that, SWB and happiness, has both an affective (i.e., emotional) and a cognitive (i.e., judgmental) component. The affective component consists of how frequently an individual reports experiencing positive and negative effects. In addition to this, previous research (Diener et al., 1999) has found college students consider happiness and LS to be extremely important, and there is evidence that increased LS impacts upon academi c performance in college students (Rode et al., 2005). Research has shown that increased LS and happiness may be related to goal progression (Emmons, 1986), close social relationships (Myers, 2000), and being involved in flow activities (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). Moreover, Veenhoven (1991) uses the definition of LS as the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his life as a whole favourably. (1991: 10). This idea emphasises satisfaction with ones life, implies contentment with or acceptance of ones life circumstances, or the fulfilment of ones wants and needs for ones life as a whole. Furthermore, the need satisfaction model (Maslow, 1970; McClelland, 1961) and the spill over (Diener, 1984;Wilensky, 1960) theories provide useful frameworks to conceptualise the processes that underlie happiness in a life domain. The basic premise of the need satisfaction model is that people have basic needs they seek to fulfil in each life domain. Individuals derive satisfaction in a particular life domain when events and experience related to that domain fulfil their needs. Therefore, this model seems to suggest that people who are successful in satisfying their needs are likely to enjoy greater SWB than those who are less successful. For example, a person reports high satisfaction of her health life domain based on positive experiences concerning health-related activities such as a healthy diet, regular exercise and attention to medical needs. Moreover, the spill over theories of quality of life are viewed as having two broad types; bottom-up and top-down theories. Firstly, bott om-up theories assume that LS is a summary evaluation of aspects of ones life. For example, one is satisfied with life because one has good social relationships, enough money, weight under control, and an interesting job (Choi et al., 2007; George and Landerman, 1984; Larsen, 1978). Secondly, top-down theories assume that LS is due to personality influences. For example, a neurotic individual is more dissatisfied in general with his or her job, social relationships, weight, and income in particular ( Shepard, 1974; Kremer and Harpaz, 1982). Although there may be some agreement about the important qualities of the good life, with considerations like health and successful relationships, each individual assigns different values to these factors (Diener et al., 1985). Each person has his or her own values, criteria, and basis for evaluation. Furthermore, considerable research effort has been devoted to the study of adults perception of the quality of their lives, including LS judgements. LS research is supported by the variety of measures appropriate for adults, such as the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985; Pavot and Diener, 1993), Quality of Life Inventory (Frisch et al., 1992), Life Satisfaction Index (Neugarten et al., 1961), and the Salamon-Conte LS in the Elderly Scale (Salamon and Conte, 1984). Several studies have been carried out regarding LS and the results of these studies emphasise that LS is related to different factors. A great deal of psychological research has explored the sources of peoples LS. Due to variation in the characteristics of the included samples such as age, gender or culture questions which are commonly found in questionnaires as well as included indicators, different factors have been found to be associated with LS. Campbell (1981) indicates that there are at least 12 domains involved in contributing to LS. These are health, finances, family relations, paid employment, friendships, housing, living partner, recreational activity, religion, self-esteem, transportation, and education (Campbell, 1981). Specific cultural and social factors also have been found to play an important role in determining LS and happiness (Triandis, 2000). LS is used worldwide in research including adults, young people, students, older people etc. (Baiyewu and Jegede 1992; H illeras et al. 2001b,Neugarten et al. 1961; Vitterso et al. 2002; Wood et al. 1969) and is supposed to be a useful outcome variable in different countries. Cultural context is an important element that influences an individuals cognitive evaluation of ones life. Culture affects people in a variety of basic psychological domains, including self-concept, attribution and reasoning, interpersonal communication, negotiation, intergroup relations, and psychological well-being (Brewer Chen, 2007; Fiske et al., 1998; Markus Kitayama, 1991; Oyserman et al., 2002). Sociologists and social psychologists are interested in socio-demographic patterns that emerge when people evaluate their overall living conditions (Veenhoven 1984; Argyle 1999; Headey and Wearing 1992; Hagerty et al. 2000; Glatzer and Zapf 1984). However, socio-demographic factors account for less than 20% of the variance of SWB, a finding confirmed in several studies (Campbell et al. 1976; Andrews and Withey 1976; Diener and Suh 1997). Many efforts have been made to analyse determinants of LS and researchers from several disciplines illuminate this subject from different perspectiv es. The study revealed that the standard of living, access to employment, job satisfaction, marriage, social relationships, social networks, and health were the most decisive factors when explaining variations in LS within countries. Previous research also indicate that these factors have a positive impact on individuals LS (Diener et al. 1999) with results also showing that individuals with high LS have such benefits including physical health, mental health, good interpersonal relationships, and educational and vocational success (Frisch, 2000; Park, 2003, 2004; Veenhoven, 1989). More recently, economists have shown an interest in explaining LS outcomes with respect to reported SWB as a proxy for individual utility. They primarily focus on cross-country comparisons, the question of marginal utility of income, and the relationship between absolute and relative levels of income on SWB (Frey and Stutzer 2002a, b; Oswald 1997; Layard 2005). Moreover, LS differs a great deal between individuals and between European countries. The previous study within the enlarged European Union shows average LS in 2003, measured on a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied), ranged from 8.38 in Denmark to 4.41 in Bulgaria. In every country high income goes hand in hand with higher LS scores. However, poor people in Denmark are nevertheless more satisfied than rich people in Bulgaria. The large differences in the overall level of LS between old and new member states have so far been explained with reference to the level of economic prosperity in each country (Fahey and Smyth 2004). Moreover, several studies have pointed out that poorer countries tend to possess lower LS than richer ones. To support this idea, Leelakulthanit and Day (1993) compared the LS scores of Americans and Thais. The results showed that Americans were more satisfied with their lives than Thais. Similarly, Diener et al., (1995) investigated LS among American, Korean, and Chinese college students. The results of the study illustrated that American college students scored more highly on LS, positive feelings and influential factors (e.g., income and wealth of the countries) than both Chinese and Korean college students. The results of these studies emphasized that the countries with high qualities (such as income, wealth, education) have higher LS scores than the countries who have low quality of standards . Conversely, Heady et al. (2004) instead analysed household panel data for five countries and found the happiness measure to be considerably more affected by economic fac tors than found in most of the earlier literature. The economic factors in the study include wealth and consumption expenditures and among the findings are that wealth has a stronger impact on happiness than income and that non-durable consumption expenditures are as important for happiness as income. Recent cross-country studies have therefore returned to this issue, questioning the insignificance of economic factors, which led to a heated debate in Social Science Indicators between Richard Easterlin, who defended the standard conclusion that average income does not matter, and Michael Hagerty and Ruud Veenhoven, who opposed this and argued that positive happiness trends in most nations were caused by income growth (Hagerty and Veenhoven 2003; Easterlin 2005; Veenhoven and Hagerty 2006). Moreover, a number of previous studies exposed evidence about health playing a critical role in overall LS. In fact, health has long been viewed as one of the major factors to LS as previous studies have found that health plays a crucial role on individuals LS (Linn et al., 1988; Michalos, Zumbo, Hubley, 2000; Okun et al., 1984; Parkerson, Broadhead, Tse, 1990). Additionally, a number of previous studies have examined the relationship between LS and health factors such as obesity, alcohol use, suicidal thoughts, physical activity, stress, and academic performance in different populations. For example, the study of the Moum (1996) found that people who score high on LS measures are less likely to attempt suicide. Lewinsohn et al., (1991) also pointed out that people who score high on LS are less likely to become depressed in the future . Several researches have also examined that LS is related to healthy behaviours in a number of different populations (Kelly, 2004; Rudolf Watts, 20 02; Valois, Zullig, Huebner, Drane, 2004b). To support this idea, Statistics Canada Web Site (2009), found that Canadians LS was related to their health. The statistics showed that people who were satisfied with their lives reported that their health was excellent (62.5%) and only 8.4% of people who were satisfied with life reported poor health. Conversely, of those people who were not satisfied with their lives, 54.2% reported that their health was poor. As a result, this study found that weak levels of health are directly related to low levels of satisfaction with life, low levels of morality, and low levels of satisfaction. This study also stresses that public health provisions have an important role on the improvements of individuals quality of life. For example, Life expectancy in France or Germany has risen sharply. However, this improvement is not due to high-technology. These countries attach importance to improve the quality of health in urban sanitation. The main aim here is relatively low-cost treatment (for example; antibiotics for childrens ear infections) (Deaton, 2008). From the past to the present, a great deal of psychological research has explored the sources of peoples LS. These sources include ones overall wealth, whether one is single or married, male or female (Gold et al., 2002; Murtagh Hubert, 2004), or young or old (Diener, 1984; Mercier et al., 1998; Prenda Lachman, 2001) A few studies have investigated international undergraduate students Satisfaction with Life (SWL) in the pattern of culture associates. Definition of the SWL emphasises the individuals own Quality of Life (QoL) based on their selected standards (Shin and Johnson, 1978). Each individuals decisions about their own particular criteria of their QoL can help them to judge and establish their own SWL (Diener et al., 1985). This shows that ones SWL is not a universally determined criteria of QoL, because each individual is judging their SWL by their own evaluation of the QoL. This is one of the important reasons to focus on people of diverse ethnic background and their differ ent values and perceptions of what may characterise the good life (Diener et al., 1985). Another important reason to study SWL and Culture across different nations is based on cultural factors (such as ones quality of life) that play an important role on individuals happiness. Veenhoven (1991) found that living in an economically prosperous country where freedom and democracy are respected; political stability; being a part of a majority rather than a minority; being toward the top of the social ladder; being married and having good relationships with family and friends; being mentally and physically healthy; being active and open minded; feeling in control of ones life; having aspirations in social and moral matters rather than money-making and being politically conservative are significantly related with individuals happiness rather than unhappiness. Moreover, other researchers have established that individuals from different cultures have different levels of economic and social satisfactions with their Jobs. For example, people who have the same jobs but who live in different countries might have different levels of job satisfaction because of cultural influences (Cranny et al., 1992; Gallie Russell, 1998). This signifies that both economic (money) and social (interest) satisfaction with work, such as individuals quality of their working styles, experiences and achievements, is another very important component of individuals overall SWL (Frijters et al., 2003; Kraft 2000). Furthermore, health is a subjective phenomenon manifested as the experience of wellness/illness based on individuals evaluations of how they are feeling and doing. There are variety of factors on an individuals health satisfaction which have been related to their LS such as weight (Ball et al., 2004), alcohol use (Murphy et al., 2005), stress (Schnohr et al., 2005), and physical activity (Valois, Zullig, Huebner, Drane, 2004b) These have been shown to be related to life satisfaction in different populations. The relationship between LS and various aspects of perceived health has been investigated in different nations because in different cultures people have different health institutions and services which can affect both their QoL and SWL. Previous researchers found that there is a positive relationship between subjective health and LS (Arrindell et al., 1999; Lohr et al., 1988; Rapkin Fischer, 1992; Willits Crider, 1988). The information above supports that to study both SWL and culture have been useful in illuminating how individuals differ in their SWL from different nations and the role of culture. A Number of studies emphasize that culture affects individuals from several basic psychological domains. For example, attribution and reasoning, intergroup relations, interpersonal communication, self-concept, negotiation, and psychological well-being (Brewer Chen, 2007; Fiske et al., 1998; Lehman et al., 2004; Markus Kitayama, 1991; Oyserman et al., 2002). From the theory and research presented in this review, it can be seen that cultural factors are the integrative parts of the LS. According to this, this study will focus on the Culture and LS amongst international students to see whether culture plays an important role on the undergraduate students LS from five different cultures. The specific aims of the study are three-fold. Firstly, it determines whether there is a relationship between international students LS and CS amongst five different countries. Secondly, it specifies whether the international students have differences in CS in general factors (i.e. quality of services/ city/life etc.), social relationships, job satisfaction, health, authority and public safety across five different countries. Thirdly, it explores whether there is an LS difference between International Students from five different countries which are China, India, UK, Turkey and Nigeria. In this study, I will focus on more cross-cultural phenomenon of the st udents satisfaction as well as its link with cross-cultural differences in the bases of LS (Schimmack et al., 2002; Suh et al., 1998) and provide tests of an empirically supported explanation for the differences. When people construct judgments about their overall LS, different cultural members place relative emphasis on different aspects of life. Therefore the hypotheses for this study are: There will be correlation between LS and CS amongst International Students from five different countries . There will be a difference in CS between International Students from five different countries There will be a difference in LS between International Students from five different countries. METHOD SECTION Participants A total of 100 students from the University of Northampton (UCN) in Northampton participated in the study. The sample for the current study comprised of 100 students, with twenty participants from each of the five nations India, Africa, China, United Kingdom and Turkey. Participants were selected from these five countries because many students from these countries came across to study in the University of Northampton. All participants were more than 18 years of age. Both males and females between the ages of 18-25 were selected. Each participant was required to complete both Questionnaire Section A of Life Satisfaction and Section B of the Cultural Satisfaction (see Appendix 2). All student participation was voluntary. Apparatus/Measurements The measures for the study were either taken directly or with modification from existing scales as described below. With the exception of the Satisfaction With Life Scale, all the items reported here were answered on a 5-point Likert Scale. Life Satisfaction : Global life satisfaction was measured by the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, Griffin, 1985) to measure the life satisfaction of the international undergraduate students. The SWLS is a five-item inventory with a 7-point scale. The five items used to measure satisfaction with life are : (a) In most ways my life is close to ideal; (b) The conditions of my life are excellent; (c) I am satisfied with my life; (d) So far I have gotten the important things I want in life; and (e) If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. Participants respond to each item on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), yielding a possible total score ranging from 5 to 35 (see appendix 2). Satisfaction With Culture: Participants cultural life satisfaction was measured by questions both from Quality of Life Satisfaction Survey (2003) (QLS) (cited in Delhey, 2004) and the 2006 General User Satisfaction Survey (GUSS) (Torbay Council, 2006). Researcher also prepared some of the questions. The Satisfaction with Culture survey is a 70-item Likert scale designed to measure international students cultural satisfaction within six cultural life domains: general, social relationships, job satisfaction, health perception, authority and public safety were considered important influences on individuals life satisfaction. Participants respond to each item on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) (see appendix 2). General : The general questions about the cultural life satisfaction, which consists of twenty-three out of the 70 items, was added to the beginning of the Cultural life satisfaction scale in order to measure general life satisfaction about the cultural factors. The researcher also prepared the questions from 1 to 19. However, questions 20 to 23 from the general section were obtained from QLS. Students were expected to respond to each item based on a five-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Examples of items are It is a good place to live, overall quality of life in the city, water quality, noise etc. However, nine items were measured on an ordinal scale that assessed satisfaction with current state of general services (e.g. health services, public transport, education system etc.). Participants again respond to each item on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (poor) to 5 (very high). Higher values indicate higher LS. Social Relationships : To achieve a high level of joy and happiness in life, people must be socially involved with people. This involves getting along well with others, having friends and companions, and offering help to those who need it. This part evaluates international students social relationships in their home countries through sixteen items. However, five questions about the tensions between different groups were obtained from QLS. Scoring goes from 1 to 5, where 1 corresponds to the answer Very many tensions and 5 to No tension at all. Moreover, eleven questions consisted of general problems about parents, children, teenagers etc. These eleven questions were also prepared by the Researcher. Statements such as parents not taking responsibility for the behaviour of their children, noisy neighbours or loud parties and people being attacked because of their skin colour, ethnic origin or religion etc. The items were also based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (a very big p roblem) to 5 (not a problem at all). Job Satisfaction: In this section questions asked students to evaluate their overall Job satisfaction and financial situation. Questions in the Job Satisfaction section were adapted from QLS. A list of seven items was constructed to measure the job satisfaction variable. Items were presented on a 5- point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Items included My work is dull and boring , I am well paid, and My job offers good prospects for career advancement etc. Health Perception : The health perception variable was measured on a Likert scale that assessed satisfaction with current state of health services in international students countries. This section consisted of eight items. Questions 1 to 4 from the health section were obtained from QLS. However, questions from 5 to 8 were obtained from GUSS. Items were presented on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very satisfied to very dissatisfied where 1 corresponds to the answer very dissatisfied and 5 to very satisfied, and included statements such as waiting time to see doctor on day of appointment, Quality of Hospitals and Deal with patients etc. Authority: The authority section consists of seven items. Question 1 and 7 from the authority section were adapted from GUSS . Also, questions 2 to 6 were prepared by the researcher . The items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale, and included statements such as how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with each of the following services provided or supported by your country City Council such as; Sports/leisure facilities and events, libraries, museum, galleries, theatre etc. Scoring goes from 1 to 5, where 1 corresponds to the answer strongly disagree and 5 to strongly agree. Public Safety: Public safety questions about the cultural life satisfaction, which consists of nine items. Questions in the Public Safety section were prepared by the researcher. Questions include how safe do you feel walking in your neighbourhood during the day? and how safe do you feel walking in your neighbourhood after dark? etc. The responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very unsafe to very safe, and 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Procedure Before the experiment participants were asked to read the standardised instructions (see appendix 3 ) and to give their consent verbally. According to the standardised instructions, participants were fully informed what the study was going to investigate. The standard instructions informed the students of the purpose of the study; that participation was voluntary and the responses were going to be treated confidentially. Also, it explained the details of what participants would have to do and were allowed to ask any questions. Experimenters informed the participants that the aim of the study was to investigate whether there is a relation between participants general life satisfaction and cultural life satisfaction. By giving their consent to taking part in the study, they were agreeing to be involved in this study and were then asked to sign the consent form (see appendix 4) and read the brief (see appendix 4). After that, participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire. The que stionnaire consisted of two sections; section A and section B. Section A was about the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al., 1985) to measure life satisfaction. The scale comprises of five-items and the responses were made on a 7-point agree-disagree Likert scale (Diener et al., 1985). On the other hand, section B was about cultural life satisfaction (Questions were obtained from QoL). The Satisfaction with Culture survey is a 70-item Likert scale and was designed to measure international students cultural satisfaction. The scale provides scores for six dimensions namely for the participants satisfaction with their nations. The six sections of the cultural satisfaction are: general, social relationships, job satisfaction, health perception, authority and public safety considered important on individuals cultural life satisfaction. According to participants responses, negative scores indicate dissatisfaction, whereas positive scores indicate satisfaction of the specific domain for the individuals life satisfaction. In this experiment, participants were not timed. Therefore, all the participants had the same life satisfaction and cultural satisfaction scale. Participants were also aware that they were allowed to withdraw at anytime without giving reason. After the experiment, the experimenter gave the participants a cue sheet which consisted of a brief explanation of what the study was about and the experimenters e-mail address (see appendix 5). Also, each Life satisfaction scale had the participant number recorded on the top of the paper so, if the participants changed their minds and wanted to retract their results from the study, they could email the experimenter and give their paper number by 01-01-2010. Also, participants were allowed to ask any questions. There was no deception of the participants in this study. Finally, no personal data was requested. As a result, the participants were anonymous . Questionnaires will be kept confidential and securely kept in the locked answers cupboard. Design This study was performed to determine the relation between culture and life satisfaction. The dependent variable of the study was the life satisfaction and the independent variable was culture. In this experiment, participants were sampled around the university campus and each participant received only one questionnaire. All experime