Compare and Contrast The Learning Process Research Paper

Compare and Contrast The Learning Process - Research Paper Example Learning has turned out to be a life-long process and the dividing line between youth learning and learning in adulthood is fast vanishing. Merriam quotes Geissler (1996,pp.35-36), â€Å"Youth in fact, who are sent out into life with a dwindling sackful of values,....face a situation in which they have to keep filling up their sack. This leads adult education to take lifelong learning as its motto. The duty to be free(with the pressure to realize oneself)is the duty to go on learning.....The hole in the ozone layer provides the stimulus for courses to which people turn for advice, mad cow disease pushes up the numbers attending vegetarian cooking courses, and backache creates a need for posture classes(p.6) By the time a student graduates from the traditional college education and enters the competitive job market, or if he is an entrepreneur thinks of establishing ones own production unit, technology has moved faster than what is taught in the syllabus and merits of ones degree certificate. The process of learning has become continuous from the point of launching ones career to eventual retirement. Merriam writes, â€Å"...technology has had an enormous impact on the economy. Robotics and automation displace production workers but create other jobs; technology has fostered whole new work structures such as telecommuting; and so on. The effect of the global economy and technological advances on the nature of adult learning is staggering. Adults find that they must continue their learning past formal schooling in order to function at work, at home, and in their communities. The need for new knowledge for updating old information, for retraining, has resulted in multi-billion dollar edu cational enterprise.†(p.2) Before comparing and and contrasting the learning processes through adult development and learning models, it needs to be clearly understood that most of the theories are inclusive and they have something to give and

Financial Analysis of M&S Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Financial Analysis of M&S - Essay Example An important point to make here is that M&S is a UK based brand with 50% of its stores being in the UK. Its revenue generation is mostly derived from UK operations which accounts for 90% of the total revenue of the company. The company has shown a steady increase in the revenues in the last three years. In 2011 the revenue increased by 2%, followed by the same in the year 2012. However, the operating profits in the last two years haven’t increased in the same line. In the year 2011, the operating profit was  £836.9m which fell to  £746.5m, resulting in operating profit margin of 9.53% in 2011 and 8.84% in 2012. This clearly shows that company’s cost control is weak and the cost of goods sold hasn’t increased in the same line as revenues. The reason for such instability in profits for 2012 is the expansion and improvement plan the company is implementing till 2013 which will result in increased sales and satisfied consumers in the future. Because of the very r easons the company has experienced the increased cost of sale, interest expense, administrative and selling expenses. Similarly, the company’s net profit margin has also decreased from 8.13% in 2011 to 7.54% in 2012. The company’s return on capital employed (ROCE) has been increasing at a slow pace from being 17.24% in 2010, 19.0% in 2011 which declined to 18.8% in 2012. The reason for declining ROCE can be linked to declining PAT of the company accompanied by an increase in the total assets. (MARKSANDSPENCER. 2012) The company’s gearing ratio has decreased in last three years. In 2010, the company had a gearing ratio of 108.6% which was a lot, in the year 2011, the company reduced its long-term liabilities and the ratio fell to 76.91% which further was decreased to 74.54% in 2012. The reason for falling gearing ratio is the fall in the total liabilities of the company, which is beneficial as it will reduce in lower interest payments.

How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision?

How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision? Abstract: Consumer behavior is dependent on few factors that need to be considered in any industry. In the garment industry, there are several intertwining factors known that influence consumer behavior. The Internet as one knows well has its importance in nearly every form of trade, but brand recognition is driven by a set of factors that have their own principles. Trade is directly dependent on communication, and these days the Internet it is considered to be one of the most important and reliable means of communications for trade. It is for this reason that brand promotion is significantly related to the use of the Internet. However, it needs to be asserted that the Internet is a tool for promoting a brand as is other means of brand promotion. In view of the Internet being an important medium through which customers may be communicated with, consumer behaviors, and more importantly, consumer-purchase decisions, become an important subject. Observing consumer-purchase decisions in the recent past, it can be asserted that there is immense scope for expanding industries that receive positive responses from consumers. An example of this is observed with some organizations in the garment industry. A company such as Levis is a good example to view the effectiveness of branding on consumer-purchase decisions. In addition purchases made at outlets, online purchases have been significant as purchases of are easily made and are believed to be considerably reliable. This reflects the manner in which consumers rely on brands like Levis. For purchasing garments and placing orders, advertising through the Internet is the first step towards pulling in customers. Indeed, this step is believed to be effective as there are a number of indiv iduals who first see ads online, and then decide to physically check a promotion out. However, this is not the only way that people want to explore promotions of garments or any other industry. Shoppers are keen to check out things for themselves. There are many consumers that also do not rely on the Internet for purchasing what they want. They would rather shop, and there are indeed many consumers who spend several hours per week in shopping centers searching for what they want. Among these shoppers there are different kinds of consumers, and each of these has different characteristics. Some look for stuff that is cheaper and reliable while others want quality. Those who search for quality know what brands they want generally. Deciding what to purchase from a consumers perspective depends on what satisfies him or her. From a manufacturers perspective, it is important to understand what interests a consumer most, and based on these interests, manufacturers work to develop their brands. Manufacturers have to develop a brand identity in order to seek brand loyalty of consumers. Once manufacturers learn how to read their consumers, they can influence their purchasing decisions, and this is precisely aimed at by promoting a brand and working towards its selling power. 1. Introduction: 1.1 Background In order to sell products, organizations resort to various strategies. Each company has its strategy structured in accordance with market factors as well as product strengths. This may mean that an organization has to consider various angles in order to make sure its products enter a market and sell successfully. In considering several factors that play their parts in the success of a product in the market, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"branding is one major component for organizations to work on. Branding is considered to be a major component in the success of a product in the market because it can control consumer decisions. This of course depends on the reputation of the brand, which refers to how it has appealed to consumers in the past and how it has served them. 1.2 Importance of the Study: Understanding what branding is enables one to understand the way that consumers behave when newer products are introduced. This is interesting to understand because it helps to understand why different company products of the same nature have different responses from consumers. 1.3 Research Question: The main Research Question that will be dealt with in this study is as follows: How does branding affect consumers purchasing decision? Other research questions that will be part of this study include the following: * What is branding? * How is branding used? * How do consumers respond to branding? * Is branding really significant in order to sell products? 1.4 Limitations of study: This study makes use of relevant literature to the research question as well as a survey of 50 participants. Though the literature review encompasses a wide variety of views regarding the research question, the survey only encompasses participants within the researchers physical location. This means that the views from the participants are fewer than what is needed for a comprehensive view of primary data. 1.5 Organisation of study: The basic organization of this study consists of dealing with the main research question mentioned above, for which there will be a literature review. In accordance with a methodology, this literature will be analyzed, and a conclusion will be arrived at. In addition to data analyzed from the literature review, answers from a survey conducted will also be analyzed and paired with the results of the analyzed literature review. 2. Literature Review 2.1. Chapter introduction: This chapter includes the views of other studies and reviews related to the main research question. In this chapter, there will be pertinent data on what branding is, how it impacts consumers, and how consumer-purchasing decisions are impacted through branding. 2.2. Framework for review: In this section, there will be a flow as the review gradually progresses. This means that each relevant portion of the subject will be exposed gradually as the review progresses. However, at various points there will be inclusions of points exposed earlier, where needed. 2.3. A brand allows organizations to differentiate their business from their competitors. But more importantly, brands help to motivate customer loyalty. By having a brand, companies gain manifold levels by creating effective business strategies that help to promote the company. Building a brand is also about creating an identity that differentiates one from the rest this may be in the form of a logo, a name or business model. This is what helps to receive a positive consumer response; consumers look for characteristics in a brand that cater to their needs and wants. If a brand does this with one product, in future, consumers would choose other products wit the same brand. More recently, branding concepts have become more about how people perceive business. For this reason, there has been a lot of attention on how brands can alleviate the position of business, sales and consumer base. The perceived knowledge about the brand comes from three major criteria according to Business Central by Microsoft (2004): These are: 1. Confidence in a business, product or service doing exactly what the customer already believes it will do. For example, a 24-hour convenience store brand can be based on customers confidence that it will be open, whatever the time of day or night. 2. The emotional response of the customer to purchasing a product or service. For example, a clothing retailer can create a brand based around making its customers feel good about what they wear, how they look, how good they feel about buying clothes from that shop and what it says about them to their peers. A brand builds a unique personality for a business, and therefore attracts a defined type of customer. 3. Most importantly, branding is based on consistently rewarding the confidence and delivering the expected emotional response. For example, a domestic cleaning company can build its brand successfully if customers homes are always thoroughly cleaned. The owners believe that they are using the best cleaning company and feel good about returning to their newly cleaned homes. Given the highly developed set criteria, one can understand that brands are not created overnight; in fact brand identity is created by assessing the business, how it operates and the kind of message that the business wants to send out to the customers, and able to deliver the promise to the customer time and again. This kind of assessment has to be realistic and be based on the following key areas: 1. Work out your business, product or services core competencies. These are what you achieve for your customer, not necessarily what you do. For example, a good wine shops core competence is selling wine that its customers enjoy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" not just selling wine. 2. Assess whom your existing and potential customers are and find out what they like and what they dont. For example, if competitive pricing drives them, there is little point in you presenting yourself as a premium-price supplier of the same products offered by your competitors. 3. Find out how your customers and your employees feel about your business. Reliable? Caring? Cheap? Expensive? Luxurious? No-frills? Later in the process, these emotional responses (brand values) will form the basis of your brand message. 4. Define how favorably customers and potential customers view your business à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" this is your perceived quality. Do they trust your business, product or service? Do they know exactly what it does for them? What do they think of when your brand is mentioned to them? Low perceived quality would restrict or damage your business. High-perceived quality gives you a platform to grow. 5. Consider how far you can develop your business with its current customer perception without moving away from your core competencies. The amount you can change your offer is your brand stretch. For example, a shop known for selling fresh sandwiches could also consider selling homemade cakes and biscuits without going outside its core competencies. But selling frozen ready meals too may stretch its brand too far (Microsoft BCentral 2004). So much has the concept of brand identity become a part of the business process that companies are claiming their rights to certain qualities, product category, design, innovations and creations. One of the reasons for this is that companies are realizing amidst a homogenous market, credit cannot be given to any one in particular unless the company excels in certain areas. For example Tesco, Wal-Mart and K-Mart may all provide the same kinds of services and products, but there has to be something that makes the customers experience unique in each of the above cases. Companies are realizing that the quest for uniqueness should be taken a step further by enhancing on certain or particular business area and developing it a step ahead of competitors. It is only through the differentiation technique that they would be able to effectively and successfully compete against rival. For example Wal-Mart may claim to have the cheapest price while Tesco would also do the same for certain products only. To resolve this problem, techniques like the kind of message, bundle services as well as customer satisfaction guarantees are used to attract customers. But how do customers differentiate and recognize one service from the others? For most companies the first step is to identify the potential customer and perceive his/her consumer behaviour. Next is to align brand values that reflect customers needs. From the identity aspect, the company furthers this by redesigning logo, stationary and other visual contact to send out harmonious and unified theme to the consumer. For example, if the brand suggest value added services then all aspects of the business process has to incorporate value added services so that the customers becomes aware of this unique quality of that particular business; advertisements pertaining to the same should be launched and campaigns for external/internal customers to make sure everyone is aligned with the business objectives. In view of this, illustration 1 in the list of figures shows that aside from branding, there are other aspects that a company needs to focus on. Given these aspects of brand and brand identity it can be defined as: A brand, in its broadest sense, is the expression of an organisation or product. A brand is communicated in a number of different ways and not only represents the visual aspects that a customer may come across (logo or imagery), but can also be reflected in the behaviour of people within that organisation, the quality of products that the organisation offers, and the manner in which customers are treated. (Investor in People 2004) Retailers in the UK realized the importance of this concept during the Post World War Era. During the war years the UK chain stores expanded nationally to serve the local consumers with standardized products. The restraint on trade with the US did not allow the local producers to cultivate their services abroad. Similarly, the restraint also applied to US products and retail stores that had not been allowed to operate in the UK as the producers anticipated US influence on local UK consumers. However, as the Wars passed, new chain stores expanded and so did the international chain in Britain. As new factories reflect growth in industries, traditional method of promoting products and goods also changed to cater to the new classification of products. American products were cheaper and easy to access at the convenience stores as compared to British products and chain stores. Further, due to the high unemployment level, resulting in less purchasing power, British stores did not feel motiv ate to expand or succeed. The only measure they were interested in includes the commoditys exchange value and how it serves as the source for covering operating income (Lowe et al 2000). However, with the emergence of US producers and retailers, local stores had cause for concern. Since the departmental stores from the US provide the same commodities and yet provide the aesthetic experience as well, the consumers learned to appreciate the uniqueness of the experience they had with the foreign stores. For this reason, British retail stores under went a wave of change where the stores had to make the decision of effectively competing with their American counterparts. According to Lowe et al (2000) By 1939 in Britain the chain stores had carved out a market alongside, and in competition with, the department and co-operative stores, and were particularly noted for their own-brand goods. Their standardised fascias jostled for prime place in the redeveloped high streets and their mass-marketing strategies increasingly squeezed out the small, but still significant, independent trader. Their particular development was the consequence not only of Britains compact geography an d early industrialisation, but also of the political and cultural support for trade restraints, which were furthered by the retention of family influence in companies and by an ethos of business leadership as public service. The British stores had gained significant development due to two reasons. Firstly the family based society and class dynamics within Britain had supported the centralization and spread of these stores across the country. Secondly, the trade restrained allowed these stores significant time frame for achieving the desired standards and quality for competing with rivals across the Atlantic. The intensity of the competition of stores in the US and UK resulted in inflating dynamic chain store culture and competition. As a result the retailing market changed its form with the support of the manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers in the distribution process. The outcome of this contest between the two nations not only established platforms for large retailers but it also added to their knowledge of the development and progressive tracks that they need to follow in order to effectively compete nationally and internationally. The basis for the fast growing retailing industry was inherent in the working class ability to predict opportunity advantage and capitalize on it. For example in 1848 W.H. Smith gained railway contracts and bookstalls spread across England. Similarly, Thomas Liptons shops in Glasgow in 1872 were built on the back of new steamships importing cheap Empire butter, cheese, ham etc. The common factor prevailing in this spreading trend had been the producers and the owners being able to foresee consumers special needs and satisfying them. Although these were family businesses that later on turned into empires nevertheless the concept of meeting demands as they come by providing customized services had been inherent during the 20th century even (Lowe et al 2000). J.B. Priestly surveyed the English landscape during this era and found that with the emergence of mobility, transportation and mass production, there has also been a mass set of chain cinemas, stores, teashops, etc., which has chan ged the way people eat, drink and entertain during the 1930s. The new infrastructure of migration and investment went hand in hand with the migration of people from the north to the south, from inner city to suburbs and the like etc. For this reason most of the significant development in establishing names of quality products and services emerged during this era (Lowe et al 2000). However, recently the trend has changed. Established names and quality brands have been facing difficulties in competition. As the UK become global in its trade practices, the risks of losing to foreign counterparts for local brands have increased. One example is Marks and Spencer. MS has been an established brand that UK consumers had immense trust in and have been using as a platform for measuring offering value for money quality products. The promotional theme at MS is based on quality but not a cheap product category that suits the average and affluent consumer. However, this strategy is not suitable for the needs of current globalization scenario. With the spread of retail stores and chain around the world such as Wal-Mart and ASDA, MS has gradually lost its position to these competitors. Wal-Mart is in stark contrast of the values established by MS. The Wal-Mart business philosophy is based on low price and cheap products that meets the average to low consumer group. Even more critical in this transition of retail store brands is that people are coming to accept them as alternatives to the established quality stores prevalent in the UK (Lowe et al 2000). The alternatives no doubt easily had taken over the local brand and chain stores but it had not been able to capture the essence of the concept of brand. For the average price conscious consumers have not realized the implication of switching over to a foreign brand. Not only have they been compromising quality for price but they have also greatly contributed to declining the established standards for the industry. Businesses that are known globally for their quality, reputation, product specifications, and standardizations have been replaced by the Americanization of products and services. No gap analysis has been identified for the switch and as a result brands that exist in the UK are innovating and revisiting their standards to win over the customers. The process is tedious but corporations and retailers are realizing the importance of exercising this process. Today when one refer to brands and brand identity, it means the creation of a brand identity system which involve focusing on brand communication, developing needs analysis, contemplating target audience, relegation of market profile and establishing a brand identity with these inputs[1]. Successful brands may shape the business sphere as well as navigate the breadth and depth of the corporate identity. The message, the identity, the visual design language such as symbols, colours, flagship etc. all reflect and remind the consumers who they are; what is the nature of the business; how are they producing; social participation and responsibility; and to communicate with them to be part of the brand identity system. For example in 1994 Coca-Cola business in the UK had been the largest bottlers and providers of cola drinks. However, at the same time other cola companies had come up with the same idea using the same corporate identity and brand message as Coca-Cola. Yet, despite this fact the local colas did not win the consumers due to the fact that consumers, in whose mind Coca-Cola association had already been lodged, mistook the new cola brands for the original one. For this reason the new cola brands lost to Coca-Cola in the competition. From this example and many that followed after, the British producers realized that brand identity is a systematic process that must ensure that the development of the design is protected; ownership or long term partnership of retail channels is essential and ownership of other product advantage cannot be replicated. Apart from those other organizational issues in the process of brand identity system development is that the interface between the strategic dec ision-making on the branding process must discuss how the brands would facilitate the company and how the brands can be linked to the companys goodwill. Thus by tying monetary value to brands, companies have established the value to brand identity and its influence on corporate performance. Once corporations realized the importance of brand identity, the struggle for materializing and capitalizing on brand identity increased. Marketers for one exhaustively increased their efforts to market their brands and logos more than they did the products; they laboured at serving the lifestyles that consumers lead rather than the products they need; and companies also included brand awareness strategies to ensure that the consumers understand the organizational products and services. More formal companies have established procedures for making this system work. Brands identity is now based on: 1. Recall rate at the top of the consumers mind 2. Specific recall for occasions, events or holidays 3. Visualization of the brand identity 4. Personalization of the brand to an image 5. Brand extension 6. Not becoming stereotype for cosmopolitan appeal 7. Think global, buy local concept 8. Linking brands to sub-brands 9. Symbolic ownership of brand essence 10. Souvenir brand essence 11. Connecting the values of flagship brands to other brands 12. Word of mouth 13. Brand transition through the identity system 14. Express the corporate tone of voice and cultural style These identifiers help companies to establish the concept of product design and its positioning in line with brand identity. In essence the whole exercise is to identify and take advantage of new and global practices and alleviate existing products and services without having to compromise old values and phenomena. With the amount of focus on brand, brand identity and brand loyalty, it can be observed that these are immense tools for influencing consumer purchase decisions (Knowledge Board 2004). 2.4. Key findings from literature review According to the above reviewed literature that encompasses key points on what a brand is and how it can impact consumer-purchase decisions, it can be asserted that branding is an important tool for a company to survive in any industry. It is through a brand identity that consumers recognize a particular companys products and services within a large industry. If a company associates standard and acceptable services and products that are according to a consumers expectations, the brand will be remembered and receive responses each time it advertises newer products and services. 3. Research Methodology: 3.1. Chapter introduction: This section includes the method of handling the data and arriving at a conclusion. Given that there are two types of data being used for this study, it is important to draw up how exactly the researcher will go about it. In order to conduct a study and answer the above research questions on how branding affect consumers purchasing decision, there is need to review relevant literature. The literature reviewed will be authentic and relevant to the research questions. This study will be both, qualitative and quantitative. A qualitative and quantitative study is necessary to answer the above research questions because both, facts and figures are an important part of the research area. There are also managerial aspects that need to be considered. These managerial aspects are represented in the form of facts and figures. Also, there will be statistical and numerical presentations considered that are necessary for answering the research questions. Aside from the study being a quantitative and qualitative, it will adopt a random approach. This refers to considering a wide variety of sources. However, the study will be limited to particular areas from where the researcher can obtain relevant data for this study. Sources for the literature review are ones that are authentic and relevant to the area being researched. The sources are from books and journals, as well as official websites, newspapers and magazines. In addition to the use of the sources mentioned above, important factors belonging to the field being studied here are obtained from other studies and presentations. Opinions and facts from presentations are considered to help in answering the research questions. Facts and figures about McDonalds and KFC brands from different points of view will be considered. The manner in which the brands have operated globally and the focus they have had in various places will also be considered for a greater understanding of their bran d communication with their consumers. This will help to bring together a wider range of opinions and facts to be analyzed. The literature review will be analyzed thoroughly so as to expose the answers to the research questions. Secondary data analysis is the process of re-evaluating collected researched data. The data can be collected from previously researched publications including official researched documents. Data collection usually involves research material that is relevant to the research problem issue but does not necessarily answer the research objectives or questions. For this research, the purpose of having secondary data analysis is to aid the researcher in collecting the data required to delineate the research objectives and provide a basis for analyzing primary data. Based on the conclusions of the secondary data analysis, the researcher will analyze and validate primary data collected through a survey questionnaire (Hair, Bush and Ortinau 2000). The questions in the questionnaire are mostly close ended. These close-ended questions will help to will to reduce result errors and biasness, as well as simplify accumulation of answers. 3.2. Research approach The rationale behind the literature has been to investigate the impact of branding on the consumers purchase decision. In terms of how what evaluate attributes influence their purchase decision. The underlying discussion has tried to come to an understanding of the consumers perception and attitudes towards how their actual purchase choices or decisions are generated, keeping in mind the brand name associations that influence the consumer, leading to his consistent behavior and loyalty. There are two main issues within the study: whether there is a difference in the effect that branding has on the different categories of consumer buying behavior groups, and the relationship between branding variables and consumer buying behavior. Branding is about certain consumers, not all consumers as they have different attitudes and behaviors toward brands. Further, Crimp and Wright (1995) define consumer attitudes as a composite of a consumers beliefs about, feelings for, and behavioral intentions towards some object-within the context of brand. In the research, the independent variable is the consumer buying behavior that is primary interest for marketer. The main objective of the research is to understand and describe the purchasing behavior in terms of brand and to explain its variability within the purchasing process and attempt to predict it. The dependent variable is the branding element that is considered by the consumer. Different consumers may hold different attitudes for these branding elements, or in other words, these branding components are viewed together since they are highly interdependent and together represent forces that influence how the consumer react to the object. 3.3. Data Collection Method As Ghauri and Gronhaug (2002) suggest the research design is the overall plan for relating the conceptual research problem to relevant empirical research. In the same regards, Kress (1988) indicated that designing a research method calls for decisions on data sources, research approaches, research instruments and sampling plans. Firstly, the study will attempt to discuss various sources of data and the ways in which data has been gathered for the purpose of analysis, testing hypothesis, and answering the research questions. Data can be obtained from primary and secondary sourses. However, in some cases the research would be restrained due to some information not being publicly available. Of the several techniques used for data collection a survey was deployed, as the most appropriate technique to gather data. The survey enabled a large amount of data to be collected from a sizeable population in a quick and economic way. A questionnaire can be described as the technique whereby each person is asked to respond to the same set of questions that are in a predetermined order (Webb, 1999). Miller (1991) also supports this idea, claiming that closed-ended questionnaire is an easy was to interpret answers where the respondent is asked to select answers from a brief list. This facilitates the standardization and easy comparison of data. It must be noted that both, data in the literature review as well as data obtained from the survey questionnaire will be analysed to arrive at a conclusion that satisfies the research questions. The sequence of questions in the questionnaire should be such that the respondent is led from questions of a general nature to those that are more specific, and form questions that are relatively easy to answer to those that are progressively more difficult (Malhotra, 1996). The studys survey has aimed to incorporate the following features to meet the specific requirements of the projects: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Specific objectives, these may be in terms of points that the survey should achieve and should be kept relatively simple; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Questionnaire that entails straightforward questions that extract consistency and accurate information; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A research design that includes survey sampling, sampling methods, sample size and the sound choice of population and sample meaning a relatively large unbiased group; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The appropriate quantitative as well as qualitative analysis and reporting of survey results. 3.4 Validity: Answers achieved in this study are considered to be valid as they are achieved through previously accepted data relevant to this field. In addition to this, the answers from the participants in the survey questionnaire are original and represent the opinions on the subject that stand at the moment. Content validity ensures that the measure includes an adequate and representative set of items to tap the concept. The more the scale items represent the domain or universe of the concept being measured, the greater content validity. To put it diff

Analysis of Alice Walkers short story, Nineteen Fifty-five Essay

Analysis of Alice Walker's short fictional story, "Nineteen Fifty-five" Alice Walker's short fictional story, "Nineteen Fifty-five", revolves around the encounters among Gracie Mae Still, the narrator, and Traynor, the "Emperor of Rock and Roll." Traynor as a young prospective singer purchases a song from Mrs. Still, which becomes his "first hit record" and makes him rich and famous. Yet, he does not "even understand" the song and spends his entire life trying to figure out "what the song means." The song he sings seems as fictional as certain events in this story, but as historical as Traynor's based character, Elvis Presley. On one hand, the narrator chronologically describes historic events, which occurred during Elvis's life. Starting in 1955 when Traynor, just like Elvis, at age sixteen, started his career as a singer. Moreover, the narrator describes Traynor similarly to the way Elvis looked as a young boy, "about five feet nine, sort of womanish looking, with real dark and white skin and a red pouting mouth" with "black and curly" hair. Also they both appeared to look "like a Loosianna creole" and from south Louisiana. In the south, equally to Traynor, Elvis grew up around African people where he "learned to sing and dance." One year later in 1956 Traynor, performs on "channel 5" and like Elvis starting getting high around this time "looking half asleep from the neck up, but kind of awake in a nasty way from the waist down." Furthermore, when Elvis performed he would do the same "nasty little jerk" Traynor did, which fans screeched and screamed over. During 1957, the narrator points out that Traynor gave her a Cadillac in appreciation for selling him her song. Elvis did not give a Cadillac specifically t... ...e copied it "exactly" like he copied "someone else's record" he still did not have "a clue what marriage meant." The narrator later points out that there "couldn't be nothing worse than being famous the world over for something you don't even understand." Indeed, when on the Carson show Traynor says to Mrs. Still that his fans been squealing for yrs and they don't know what they squealing about, which made "no more sense than hogs." At the show, after the real person behind the song, Mrs. Still sang, the audience clapped "politely for about two seconds." Then once Traynor sand the "imitation" of the song the fans went wild and starting squealing. The fans seem to only cheer for something that is fake, just like when they "was crying and crying and didn't even know what they was crying for." Thus, explains why "one day this is going to be a pitiful country."

Alcoholic drinking age should be lowered to 18 in the U.S

The drinking age in the United States can be considered as a controversial issue because people possess a dubious attitude in legalities of drinking age. In 1980 the minimum age of drinking in the United States was raised from 18 to 21.The intent was to reduce the consumption rates of alcohols and drunken driving among young adults. Age-21 law was implemented at that time and the sale of alcohol to the underage was strictly prohibited (Wiseto Social Issues).These laws are strictly implemented but teenagers are continuing to buy alcohol and drink illegally with fake identification cards. The law is implemented in the United States but it hasn’t stopped underage individuals to stop drinking. Researches and many individuals have stressed on the fact that drinking age must be lowered to 18 in the United States. In this paper we will discuss the arguments that are in favor of lowering the age limit from 21 to 18.Young adults should be allowed to drink in controlled environments lik e pubs, official functions, taverns etc. Their legal drinking age must be lowered to 19 or 18 and through controlled environment the phenomenon of responsible drinking can be taught. Role modeling and educational programs must be initiated and through these programs a sensible drinking behavior can be expected from young adults.There are many factors like seat belt and air bag usage, education concerning drink oriented programs etc that are responsible for driving problems and accidents during driving. Purchase age is not always responsible for driving problems and accidents during driving.An individual who is 18 years old in America possess the right to marry, the right to vote etc. That is the reason why drinking age must be lowered to 18 because an 18 year old individual is considered to be an adult in United States because 18 is the legal age of adulthood in United States. Dan Levine stresses on the point that an 18 year old individual can serve the military then why he or she c annot drink. Dan Levine states that â€Å"If you can toss a grenade, you should certainly be able to toss back a shot of tequila† (Wiseto Social Issues).People who are 18 years old must be legally allowed to drink and buy alcohol because this would reduce the element of binge drinking (Wechsler and Wuethrich).Through this approach teenagers would not break the law and this would indulge them in adult beverage. The legal age of drinking in every country except United States is 18 or younger. Every year millions of dollars are spent on twenty one year old drinking law and this law is promoted and enforced by the government (Kirk) that could be saved.A Michigan research suggests that in the year 2006, 72.2% of the twelfth graders were reported to drink alcohol at some point in time in their lives. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse claimed that the 20% of the alcohol revenues come from underage drinking.   Similarly, they added that the amount of alcohol cons umed individuals of 21 years and above have remained constant for about forty years (Aretha).In the United States most of the teenagers consume alcohol for the sole purpose of getting drunk. It must be used as a compliment to a meal but teenagers don’t follow this attribute of alcohol. Binge drinking in the United States is getting famous and people are adopting this dangerous habit in which they have unsupervised environments which can be a deadly problem for these young adults.The standards that are set for drinking in the United States have not stopped teenagers from drinking alcohol. Alcohol misuse in the country shows increasing trends and researchers suggest that out of four nearly one full time medical student nationwide met the medical threshold for substance abuse (Brown).Many people in the United States believe that lowering the drinking age is not a viable option because it would actually result in drunken driving fatalities. This might be considered as a truth bec ause a huge number of people are killed in United States because of drunk drivers but United States claims that it has the safest roads in the world. Moreover, 69% of the accidents are from individual who are 21 or above (Merino).

Library vs. Internet Essay

Introduction Nowadays, in a highly technological society, human productivity is made more efficient through the development of electronic gadgets. Now, with the advent of such modernization in education, one way to globalize the process of research is to realize that technology is advancing at an incredibly fast pace. Computers are not confined to being used for entertainment but its role in education is also vast. Library is derived from the old French term â€Å"librairie† which means â€Å"a collection of books. † Reading materials in school are stored in libraries. Library is a place in which books and related materials are kept for use but not for sale. It is also organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution or a private individual. In addition, it is a place in which we get information in any format and from many sources. The librarian has to keep the room neat so that it is conducive for learning. The librarian is also the person who is liable for monitoring all the books that are borrowed and returned by the borrowers. Library systems, comparisons and contrasts. For the children of today, going to the library, searching through the card catalogue to look for books on topics they need to research on is quite archaic! However, many of us still remember how time consuming this was. The kids of today certainly have it easy. Imagine getting all the information you need with one-click of your mouse!?! An integrated library system (ILS), also known as a library management system (LMS), is an enterprise resource planning system for a library, used to track items owned, orders made, bills paid, and patrons who have borrowed. An ILS usually comprises a relational database, software to interact with that database, and two graphical user interfaces (one for patrons, one for staff). Most ILSes separate software functions into discrete programs called modules, each of them integrated with a unified interface. Examples of modules might include:  § acquisitions (ordering, receiving, and invoicing materials)  § cataloging (classifying and indexing materials)  § circulation (lending materials to patrons and receiving them back)  § serials (tracking magazine and newspaper holdings)  § the OPAC (public interface for users). Each patron and item has a unique ID in the database that allows the ILS to track its activity. Larger libraries use an ILS to order and acquire, receive and invoice, catalog, circulate, track and shelve materials. Smaller libraries, such as those in private homes or non-profit organizations (like churches or synagogues, for instance), often forgo the expense and maintenance required to run an ILS, and instead use a library computer system. (Wikipedia) Automation of the catalog saves the labor involved in re-sorting the card catalog, keeping it up-to-date with respect to the collection, etc. Other tasks which are now automated include checking-out and checking-in books, generating statistics and reports, acquisitions and subscriptions, indexing journal articles and linking to them, as well as tracking interlibrary loans. Since the late 1980s, windowing systems and multi-tasking have allowed the integration of business functions. Instead of having to open up separate applications, library staff could now use a single application with multiple functional modules. As the Internet grew, ILS vendors offered more functionality related to computer networks. As of 2009 major ILS systems offer web-based portals where library users can log in to view their account, renew their books, and authenticate themselves for access to online databases. (Wikipedia) In recent years some libraries have turned to major open source ILSs such as Koha and Evergreen. Common reasons noted were to avoid vendor lock in, avoid license fees, and participate in software development. Librarytechnology. org does an annual survey of over 1,500 libraries and noted in 2008 2%[3] of those surveyed used open source ILS, in 2009 the number increased to 8%[4] and in 2010(most recent year available) 12%[5] of the libraries polled had adopted open source ILSs. (Wikipedia) Read more: http://ivythesis. typepad. com/term_paper_topics/2011/06/local-studies-about-library-system-a-sample-thesis. html#ixzz2DsPW4UYZ http://ivythesis. typepad. com/term_paper_topics/2011/06/local-studies-about-library-system-a-sample-thesis. html Library: foreign literature. The network libraries now have autonomous library systems (TINLIB version 280 of IME) with reciprocal access to each others catalogs via the PHnet. Training on site and in UK has been provided by IME to the staff of the network. Staff expertise on the use of all the modules of TINLIB running on UNIX has been brought to a level where the staff can now confidently train others and maintain the system. Online support via the Internet is also provided by IME upon request. The choice of a common library system was decided by the technical committee of the network libraries to have a uniform platform, training programs, import profiles, etc. across the network and for ease in establishing a user group/systems administration group. TINLIB was chosen because it met the systems specifications prepared by the technical working group, and had favorable references from users. Additional features which gave it an edge over other systems is its utilization of hypertext techniques, client-server architecture, and ability to import and export data from any of the databases existing in the network libraries. The library directors and heads are under tremendous pressure to continue and expand the networked services. Four of the services which need to be implemented immediately are: 1) the creation of a union catalog for books, audio-visual, serials and Filipiniana articles and researches; 2) access to CD-ROM abstracts and indexes and full text journals and references from any site on the network, subject to copyright and licensing agreement with suppliers and publishers; 3) development of networking navigation tools and training programs; and 4) building of sufficient monetary resources and/or commitment of university officials to allocating sufficient funds for the maintenance of the network. 5) transforming the College of Science library into a National Science Library and Information Center to widen the scope of its services

The Jaguar, by Ted Hughes Essays

The Jaguar, by Ted Hughes Essays The Jaguar, by Ted Hughes Paper The Jaguar, by Ted Hughes Paper Essay Topic: Literature The Jaguar, by Ted Hughes, Ted Hughes explains his admiration for the Jaguar in this poem. The poem is describing a zoo where most of the animals, except the jaguar and the parrots, are being lazy and boring. We can tell this from the way Hughes describes their movement and appearance. He shows his enthusiasm and passion for the jaguar by using many metaphors and hyperboles. Although he does not share the same like towards the parrots, he does go into great detail to describe their actions. He explains how they sell themselves like cheap tarts to the on looking audience and remarks on the way they shriek and walk. One of the most bold and eye-catching ways he shows his enthusiasm for the jaguar is going from the second verse to the third. As the jaguar comes into the poem, he immediately picks up the pace, leaving behind a slow, dull atmosphere created by the other animals. He does this by using descriptive words such as yawn, fatigued, and sleepers, to emphasize the slow pace in the first two verses. He moves on in the third verse using words like runs, and hurrying, and furious. This immediately and effectively shows his overwhelming admiration for the jaguar over the other animals. From the first verse and then from the third on, the poet uses enjambment to carry on the feeling on between verses, for example, between the first and second; Fatigued with indolence, tiger and lion Lie still as the sun, This shows how he carries on the feeling without the use of any punctuation when going to the next verse. He does this to add to the feeling of tiredness and slow pace by making the line longer to read without punctuation. At the end of the second verse, the poet describes the majority of the animals as; Painted on a nursery wall. He is showing that these animals look so harmless and tame that they would just be like a simple kids toy and also the fact that their movement is either slow or they are not moving at all. He feels they are so harmless that they remind him of paintings. The pace of the poem is picked up when a crowd of people start to run over and flock beside the jaguars cage, where the jaguar is pacing about on a short fierce fuse, suggesting that the jaguar could explode any minute into a complete fit of rage. This is the poet using words to describe how the jaguar feels to have all of these people crowding round him, watching every move that he makes. But straight after, he then describes the jaguar as if it can not fully accept the fact it is in this cage and acts as if it is its actual habitat, or one day believes that it can escape the zoo and get back to its original place of living, but theres no cage to him. In the final verse, the poet begins to sum up and changes his tune towards the jaguar;more than a visionary to his cell, he is basically saying it does not care about who or what is around it; it is just looking to the future. He adds to his feelings for the jaguar by exaggerating somewhat how the crowds are just waiting to see what he will do next, the world rolls over the thrust of his heel. Here, the poet is using hyperbole to exaggerate his feelings towards the jaguar and make out as if the jaguar is the most important thing in the world at that time, when quite simply it is no where near. In this poem, the poet, Ted Hughes expresses his enthusiasm towards the subject by describing the jaguars superiority over the other animals in the zoo. All of this is extremely effective in aiding his description and highlighting the uniqueness of the jaguar to the rest. Overall this poem gave good decisive descriptions of movement and of setting and showed the poets likes and dislike towards animals clearly and understandably.