Thursday, November 28, 2019

The Science Of Food Essays - Occupations, Chef, Food And Drink

The Science Of Food Head Chef In large establishments the duties of the head chef or person in charge are mainly administrative, only in smaller establishments would it be necessary for the headchef to be engaged in the handling of food. However although the production kitchen could be considered a small establishment, for the purpose of learning, the headchef is only involved in administrative duties to experience how the role would be performed in a larger commercial kitchen. Normally the headchef in a restaurant is concerned with duties such as organising the kitchen, engaging the staff, supervising the kitchen and be responsible for the stillroom, washing up of crockery and be responsible for the stores. In the long term purchase of equipment would also be duty of the headchef. This differs slightly in the training kitchen where most emphasis is put on the headchefs ability to engage, supervise and delegate to their peers. The lecturer usually compiles the menu in advance, however the headchef is responsible for allocating the class or staff to different sections of the kitchen. The Menu The menu is a three course table d'hote menu offering three courses with two or three choices in each section. There are three starters, three main courses served with vegetables and potatoes, and two sweets. Tea and coffee are also served but are prepared by the restaurant staff in the still room. The Kitchen sections are: Pastry Section All sweets and pastries are made by the pastry cooks. The headchef usually appoints two people to this section, depending on the number of people available and the difficulty of the deserts to be prepared. Some examples of deserts prepared in this years class include Pear Belle Helene, Diplomate Pudding, Chocolate Praline Brouille, Butterscotch tart, Baked Rice Pudding and Almond Cake served with Orange Compote. The pastry section is a small department slightly seperated from the rest of the kitchen. Vegtable Section All the vegtables are prepared and cooked by the two people allocated to this section. Sometimes the garnishes for the other dishes are also prepared by this section. In some kitchens the Farinaceous dishes will also be cooked by this party. Examples of potatoes prepared by the kitchen are Arlie potatoes, Duchess potatoes, Baked potatoes with cheese and chive, and examples of vegtables include Creamed spinach, Ratatouille, Glazed Turnips and Colconnon. Main Course All the main courses are prepared by this section and it usually comprises of a meat, fish and poultry dish with one person appointed to preparing each dish. examples of main course dishes prepared in the training kitchen include Escalope of turkey Cordon bleu, Roast fillet of Beef dubarry, Roast Loin of Pork and plum sauce, Braised beef olive nepolitean and Supreme of Duckling Bigarade. Starters section There are usually three starters on the training restaurant menu usually to include a soup and a salad. There is usually one person working on each starter. Examples of starters include Smoked fishcakes, consomme Julienne, Egg Croquettes, Minestrone, Smoked Chicken and Avacado Salad and Chicken Tartlets. Sous chef In a commercial kitchen the second chef or sous chef relieves the head chef when the latter is off duty and is generally the chefs right hand. In larger kitchens there may be several sous chefs each with specific responsibities for seperate services such as banquets and grillrooms. In the training or production kitchen the main function of the sous chef is to supervise the work in the kitchen so it all runs smoothly and according to the chefs wishes. they may also be required to assisst any section which may be falling behind schedule. Supervising Certain leadership qualities are needed to enable the headchef or supervisor to carry out his her role effectively. These qualities include the ability to communicate, coordinate, motivate, inspire, make decisions and organise. The supervisor must be considerate, understanding, consistent and respectful to all members of staff and in return he/she can expect loyalty respect and cooperation. Elements of Supervision Forecasting Planning Organising Commanding Co ordinating Controlling A good head chef is able to obtain the best from those he/she has responsibility and can also completely satisfy the management of the establishment that a good job is being done. The job of the kitchen supervisor/ headchef is essentially to be an overseer. In the Industry they

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Sibling Relations and Subsequent Characteristic Traits

Sibling Relations and Subsequent Characteristic Traits The loss of parents has devastating effects on the lives of the children. Suddenly, the children have to learn to exist without the comfort and sense of re-assurance that parents tend to give to their children – whether young or old.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sibling Relations and Subsequent Characteristic Traits specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The absence of parents makes the children relate to each other in a different manner. In most cases, the elder siblings tend to take up the parental role; however, unprepared they are, and the subsequent relations between the elder and younger siblings often bring out certain character traits and qualities in them as individuals. The relationship between siblings whose parents are absent due to death or other factors and the subsequent life struggles the siblings endure, frequently bring out certain qualities and characteristics in them. Mostly, the elde r siblings develop a responsible, tough, and unselfish personality, while the younger siblings often become dependent and irresponsible; all siblings, however, acquire sacrificial qualities in the end. In the absence of parents due to death or other factors, elder siblings conventionally have to step in and play the parental role, making these elder siblings become responsible and focused individuals. Inevitably, many elder siblings are suddenly faced with the responsibility of taking care of their younger siblings, filling in the void left by the absent parents. Many of the actions of the elder siblings are geared towards providing a sense of emotional and situational balance for the younger siblings, who are more heavily affected by the absence of the parents (Dunn 788). In most cases, the elder siblings, as a result, become highly responsible and focused individuals. In the instance where the age gap between the eldest siblings and the younger one(s) is significant, the elder si bling often becomes a veritable parent to the younger siblings. If the eldest sibling is involved in any income-earning activity, he or she will be the breadwinner for the younger siblings as expected, and will have to accommodate the needs of the younger siblings in all the plans he or she makes. Out of the relationship between the elder sibling and the younger siblings, in which the elder sibling has to play the ‘parent’ role, a keen sense of responsibility develops in the elder siblings. The elder sibling, regardless of age, has to become the guardian to the younger siblings, and such a responsibility creates a responsible character in the elder siblings.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The elder siblings often have to endure more hardships and have to forfeit their own leisure, freedom, and feelings of hurt and abandonment from the absence of paren ts for the sake of the younger siblings. The elder siblings thus become tough and almost emotionally inexpressive due to this. Because the pain from parental loss is indiscriminate, it affects, hurts, and leaves the older siblings scared and abandoned in the same manner it does the younger siblings. However, the older siblings are not given the opportunity to grieve or express these emotions because they immediately have to fill in the physical and emotional gap left in the family due to the death of parents. Because the elder siblings have to be emotionally strong for the younger siblings, they perfect the art of hiding their feelings. Moreover, given that the elder siblings are expected to be the role model and a source of refuge for the younger siblings when life for these younger siblings gets a bit tough, the elder siblings do not get a chance to ‘wear their hearts on their sleeves’. Even when the occasion calls for a bit of emotional expressiveness, the elder sibl ings will frequently tend to feign a sense of indifference to the situation, so that the younger siblings can get the chance to vent their anger and express their emotions. According to Schlomer et al, whenever the family is in a crisis, the siblings turn to each other for emotional support†¦crises like divorce, parental separation, terminal illnesses in a parent, or death of a parent push the siblings to turn to each other (290). If the sibling age difference is substantial, the elder sibling has to be emotionally competent for the younger sibling(s). Therefore, in most cases, the elder siblings do not usually get the personal opportunity to express their feelings, and thus become emotionally inexpressive and find it harder to express their feelings freely. Additionally, younger siblings are likely to exploit the abundant kindness shown to them by their elder siblings, thereby developing carefree attitudes and cultivating a culture of being irresponsible. The benefits of havin g strong sibling relations, however, tend to be exploited by the younger siblings sometimes. According to Kramer and Conger, modeling is not the only way that younger siblings learn from their elder siblings. Even though younger siblings tend to endeavor to emulate the behavior of the elder siblings, the reverse is also true (4). The influence of peers on the younger siblings tends to be stronger than that of the model elder sibling. Therefore, if the younger sibling does not share mutual friends with the elder sibling, then the influence of the younger sibling’s friends overrides that of the elder siblings in most cases.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sibling Relations and Subsequent Characteristic Traits specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Subsequently, as the responsible elder siblings endeavor to make the life of the younger sibling better, the younger siblings sometimes take advantage and exploit this kindness for their own selfish ends. Kramer and Conger, for instance, state that the younger siblings are more likely to drop out of school due to early pregnancies or substance abuse whilst cohabiting with the elder sibling. Furthermore, when the elder sibling sets standards in life and educational achievement that the younger sibling may find impossible to emulate, the younger sibling channels these frustrations into self-harmful habits such as drug abuse and become more susceptible to negative peer influence (6). As a result, the younger siblings develop a careless approach to life issues and become irresponsible. Elder siblings, for the sake of their younger siblings, often plan their individual lives to fit to the needs of their younger siblings. The elder siblings thus develop unselfish characteristics. The relationship amongst siblings involves many dynamics. There is a direct relationship between how the younger sibling eventually makes his or her life choices in adulth ood. Such relationship also exists in the influence of the elder sibling on the younger sibling’s life. Gerbert states that, when the elder sibling is supportive of the younger sibling(s), the younger siblings turn out to be more competent than a child who does not receive the emotional, social, and material support of an elder sibling (1389). Such a positive influence by the elder sibling indicates an unselfish characteristic. Oftentimes, hardships endured together strengthen the relationship between siblings; they are more adjusted to life’s common hardships, and such siblings are able to sacrifice their individual desires, dreams, and hopes for the sake of their siblings. These siblings thus mutually develop sacrificial attitudes and characters. The loss of parents, especially in childhood leaves the siblings little option but to draw strength from each other as they grow up. According to Mack, siblings who lose their parents when they are young tend to have stronge r adult relationships than siblings who lose their parents as adults (145).Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As they grow older, these siblings learn to draw strength and inspiration from each other, and the realization that they have only each other for support buttresses these relationships. For instance, the shared struggles between the two brothers, the narrator and Sonny, eventually strengthen their relationship. Having overcome their initial relations, the two brothers in â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† get to appreciate each other’s exclusive dreams and desires in life. Therefore, the loss of parents has the effect of strengthening sibling relations overall, especially if the loss occurs when the children are young. These siblings, in most cases, are thus able and willing to sacrifice for each other and thus acquire a sacrificial character especially towards each other and those close to them. In Conclusion, how siblings relate to each other, especially in the absence of parents, functions to bring out certain characteristics and personalities in the siblings in most cases . The sudden departure of a parent from the family scene has a significant effect on the immediate and future well-being of the children. Most of the time, the children have to make emotional, moral, social and even economic re-adjustments to their lives. All these re-adjustments make the siblings turn to each other for support and re-assurance and such a relationship brings out certain qualities in the siblings. The elder siblings tend to be responsible, emotionally mature, and altruistic, while the younger siblings tend to be irresponsible. Both of them eventually do develop a mutual respect and love for each other, based on shared difficult life experiences as siblings whose parents are absent. Dunn, Judy. Sibling Relationships in Early Childhood. Child Development 54.4 (1983): 787-811. Gerbert, Haselager. Perceived support in sibling relationships and adolescent adjustment. Journal of Child Psychology Psychiatry 45.8 (2004): 1385-1396. Kramer, Laurie, and Katherine J. Conger. What we learn from our sisters and brothers: For better or for worse. New Directions for Child Adolescent Development 2009.126 (2009): 1-12. Mack, Kristin. The effects of early parental death on sibling relationships in later life. Omega: Journal of Death Dying 49.2 (2004): 131-148. Schlomer, Gabriel, Bruce Ellis, and Judy Garber. Mother–Child Conflict and Sibling Relatedness: A Test of Hypotheses from Parent–Offspring Conflict Theory. Journal of Research on Adolescence 20.2 (2010): 287-306.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Public policy analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Public policy analysis - Term Paper Example Generally termed as Obama care or Affordable Care Act, it represents one of the most significant overhauls of the health care system of the country. It was originally aimed at decreasing the number of uninsured Americans and hence increases the overall health coverage available to most of Americans. Besides increasing the overall insurance coverage, this also focused upon reducing the overall costs for the Americans so that overall quality health care could be affordable and within the reach of most of the Americans. It offers various mechanisms including tax credits, subsidies as well as mandates to reduce the overall cost for healthcare to ordinary Americans and improve the quality of health care services offered to them. (Cronin & Aponte, 2012) This paper will critically look into this public policy initiative by President Obama and evaluate its rationale, evaluate its impact on the society as a whole, whether it has been implemented within in true spirit and how public will benefit from this law over the period of time. The Affordable Care Act is a recent law aimed at improving the overall health care services in United States of America. It was enacted on March 23, 2010 when it was signed off by President Obama. Read with Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, this act is considered as the most significant overhaul of the US Health Care system after the implementation of Medic Aid during 1960s. (McDonough, 2011) It is important to note that health care reforms remained one of the hottest topics during the Presidential Election of 2008. Both the candidates i.e. Hillary Clinton as well as Barrack Obama presented the plans to provide insurance and health care coverage to more than 45 million Americans. (The New York Times, 2008). After winning elections, Barrack Obama outlined his proposal to reform the health care and showed his willingness to work with the congress for passing of this law. Before the law was actually

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Strategy and Plans of Operation on the Event of a Government Shutdown Essay

Strategy and Plans of Operation on the Event of a Government Shutdown - Essay Example .. 5 Causes of Federal Shutdown†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 Effects of a Federal Shutdown†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 Strategies during Federal Shutdown†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦....................... 8 Contingency Plan†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 10 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 Appendices†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 12 Abstract Government shutdowns occur when the Congress and the President fail to enact and make law the appropriations bills for the agencies of the government. On this case the opinions of Attorney General Civilleti and the Antideficiency Act take in action wherein the government is prohibited to spend, enter into contracts or other obligations, and provide government service and employees, except for those that are rated essential by the law. This paper will be focusing on the understanding of how the government shutdown occurs, as well as its adverse effects on the federal employees, public, and business institutions that are involved in providing goods and services to the federal government. This paper will also cover strategies and plans that a company can establish in order to anticipate and develop a course act ion plan in the event of a government shutdown. Strategy and Plans of Operation on the Event of a Government Shutdown Government shutdowns are events that can lead to tremendous effects among workers as well as the public. During a government shutdown, the government tends to stop all its services except those who are termed as essential. This leads to thousands of government employees to be furloughed for a certain period of time. In addition, there are also several institutions and business that will suffer the consequences of the shutdown since it will be expected that cash flow will not occur due to non-payment of invoices. Thus, the need of establishing strategies and a contingency plan is crucial for a company to cope up in the occurrence of a government shutdown. Government agencies will cease in the procurement of equipments or service, installation of equipments, and suspend delivery of equipments to these agencies. The closing will cause tremendous losses for the company e specially when a significant part of the market share of the business comprises the government offices. On the event of a Federal shutdown, several government agencies will furlough most of its employees. However, specific institutions will still continually operate on a normal basis. These agencies include police, fire fighting, postal services, armed forces, utilizes, air traffic management, and the penal system. The goal of the strategy and planning of a business company is to be able to pin-point the affected areas during a shutdown and be able to anticipate its effects on the normal operations. It will also be beneficial for the company if it can establish a contingency plan that will cover the overall course of action on the onset of the shutdown. This can be developed with the help of past records and data of occurrences of government shutdow

Monday, November 18, 2019

The Phylogeny of Hominids from the Australopithecus up to the Homo Research Paper

The Phylogeny of Hominids from the Australopithecus up to the Homo - Research Paper Example These reductions in molar size have led to the present man having small molars. According to the researchers, they make the conclusion that the changes are in line with the starting of fire use and eating cooked food instead of raw food (Organ, Nunn, Machanda and Wrangham 14559). The article findings and explanations are in line with the discussions made by Stanford in his book Exploring biological anthropology: the essentials where the discussion on hominids is based mainly on their anatomical changes and their significance during that time in the phylogeny of the hominids from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens. Stanford specifically discusses the anatomical changes and how the body bipedal plans of the earlier hominids are how they were adapted to the environment (Stanford, Allen and Anton 239). The same discussion is made later on in the book but this time the focus is on the genus Homo (Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens) and how they were more evolved towards be coming more like the present humans (Stanford, Allen and Anton 277). Even though both chapters discuss different hominids, the anatomical changes according to the period in history and the environment all add up and present a detailed and flowing phylogeny of these hominids. The same discussion about anatomical structures of the various hominids and how each structure of the body acted to facilitate the survival of the different hominids are made in the book by Bailey and Hublin. The book has detailed explanations of the different body structures which give more details and more structures compared to the article discussion and the book by Stanford. However, they all finally discuss the same issue and give the same enlightening  discussion. There are also explanations of the effects of the different changes that took place in the body structures of the hominids and the effects of that to not only the hominids but also to the present human being.  

Friday, November 15, 2019

Syndicated Data And Standardized Services And Their Differences Marketing Essay

Syndicated Data And Standardized Services And Their Differences Marketing Essay At work, I am involved in the selection process of research suppliers for the sake of annual staff surveys, benefits surveys and for mystery shopper program and analysis, I realize the services offered by the research industry has grown greatly in the past decade. So I am interested to find out the kind of services research agencies offer, and about the marketing research industry worldwide. This paper is therefore relatively informational, in which I have included a lot of named research suppliers who were listed and found from the various book references, library and internet sources in order to support the different categories of the services. There will be little emphasis on opinionated discussion, as the objective of this paper aims to explain the syndicated data and standardized services offered by research agencies, distinguish their differences, various applications and sources of data. Both services are common nowadays in Asia, especially the SMEs (Small to medium sized ente rprise) that are using such research data for nurturing the success of their organizations, however the difficulties to operate a nation-wide approach in Asia is discussed. I have also included a sample of a standardized service in Hong Kong, WorkHKà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ by Towers Watson, in the area of job satisfaction survey and its process is shared here. Introduction What is Syndicated data and Standardized services Today, over $20 billion a year is spent on marketing/advertising/public opinion research services around the world. Spending on marketing research is $6.9 billion in the United States alone. During the past two decades, the research market has become highly concentrated, with about 54 percent of the market being held by the 50 largest worldwide organizations. The other half of the market is shared by a thousand or more small research firms. The concentration is even more pronounced in the United States, where the 10 largest firms account for 64 percent of total U.S. spending for marketing research (Wileys Marketing Research Industry and Research Ethics article, p.26). In the highly competitive retail market, understanding the customer is paramount. In order to fill in the gaps of consumers buying motive and actual buying, companies have to understand the customers, and of course, marketing research is the tool for gaining knowledge about the customers. Marketing research is a systematic gathering of information and such analysis of data gathered connects the consumers and the public to the marketer so as to identify the marketing problems and opportunities, assess marketing actions, manage the marketing performance, and improve the overall marketing process. Marketing research information is provided by research suppliers which can be either an internal supplier or an external supplier. Most manufacturers, retailers, and service businesses, such as McDonalds, Kraft Foods or American Airlines, have small internal marketing research departments, and Procter and Gamble (PG) has a large internal research department. External suppliers are outside marketing research companies hired to supply marketing research data; and they can be classified as full service supplier firms and limited service supplier firms; full service suppliers are companies that offer full range of marketing research activities, they provide standardized information which involves two broad classes, namely the syndicated data services and standardized services which this paper focuses to discuss. Figure 1.0 indicates the overall services provided by an information supplier. What it means by Syndicated Data and Standardized Services According to Curry (1993) and Kolb (2008), syndicated data is a form of external and secondary data supplied in a standardized format and ready-to-use routine information made available to multiple subscribers known as a syndicate in a common database, which means the information is not tailor made to meet the needs of any particular company or designed to solve client-specific problems, the data format is designed to provide a standard, ongoing vehicle to facilitate the collection of data. Syndicated data is provided in a common data base for a service fee charged to subscribers and these research firms which provide the data are known as syndicated data service firms. These suppliers offer syndicated data on a subscription basis to all subscribing members of the syndicate, such detailed information can be of value to companies in a specific trade but may not be available in libraries. Syndicated data suppliers collect data on a continuing basis regarding the consumption of a specif ic product or products or the purchasing behavior of a specific target market segment. These data are then sold to companies, which specify how much data they want and the analysis they require; the more data and analysis that are required, the higher the price and what they do not do is conducting research specifically for any single client company. With syndicated data, both the process of collecting and analyzing the data and the data itself are standardized, firms supplying syndicated data follow standard research formats and uniform reports that enable them to collect the same standardized data over time at periodic intervals. Common types of syndicated data measure retail sales, wholesale product shipments, consumer panels, advertising media audiences, advertising effectiveness, and consumer attitudes. ACNielsen TV Ratings and IRI are examples of two large syndicated data services firms, ACNielson collects information on TV and media viewing and also on ad recognition on the i nternet, anyone, including the public, can buy the products they sell by visiting their website. On the other hand, standardized services rarely provide clients with standardized data, rather, they provide the research process. Zikmund (2003, p.74) explained that standardized services refer to a marketing research process that is standardized and used to generate information for a particular user and the application of that standardized process will result in different data for each client, even though the standardized process is the same in gathering the data. For example, a client will use a standardized service firm to measure customer satisfaction, instead of developing its own process. Several other marketing research services, such as test marketing, naming new brands, pricing a new product, or using mystery shoppers, can be provided or purchased from standardized service firms. Synovates ProductQuest service assists in developing new products and improving existing products. Baltimore Research offers a Mock Trials service to clients involved in litigation, to listen to di fferent attorney presentations so that the litigants attorneys can have better presentation ways to impact the jurors. Advantages and Disadvantages of Syndicated Data and Standardized Services Advantages of Syndicated Data A key advantage of syndicated data is on the shared costs of the data among users as many clients may subscribe to the same information, thus making the cost of the service greatly reduced. Burns Bush (2010, p.205) made it clear that due to the quality of the data collected is typically very high and requiring a huge amount of cost, so the share of affordable cost with several users maintains the validity and reliability quality of the data. Another advantage is that the data are normally disseminated very quickly because of the routinized systems, standard procedures and methods used to collect and process the data over and over again on a periodic basis. Besides, the information is current, the more current the data, the greater is the use. Syndicated data services can at least aid in the formulation of the clients decision problem, suggest types of data for meeting the information needs, and service as a source of comparative data by which internal data from within the organizati on cannot achieve. Advantages of Standardized Services The advantage of using standardized service suppliers is mainly buying the experience of the research firm, especially when the buyer company does not have enough the experienced personnel to carry out a particular research process. Besides, using standardized services helps to reduce cost of the buyer when the trial and error process and potential errors can be minimized. Since the standardized service suppliers has been conducting the service for many clients regularly, their procedure is therefore efficient in delivering the result as compared to having the research processed by the buying company themselves. Most importantly is the time saved for buying company in collecting similar data by themselves, because several weeks or months may be required to design, pretest a survey or questionnaire, train the interviewers, devise a sampling plan, collect and process the data. In addition, such cost of the project could be tremendous but it can be much reduced by employing the services from external standardized suppliers. Due to the always availability of standardized services, it is therefore important in the marketing research application. Disadvantages of Syndicated Data Since the format is standardized, buyers have little control over what information is collected and must be satisfied with the standardized information received. Buyers may feel helpless if the units of measurement or definition of classes, recency of data, publication currencies and the units of geographical data are not appropriate which are summarized as the data fit problem. Burns Bush (2010, pp.205-6) gave a second disadvantage, that buyers must often commit to a long-term contract which only serves to secure the expenses required by the syndicated data supplier on the quality and vast scope of research. The last and most crucial disadvantage is that the same data is available to competitors, that is, what the client firm buy and see from the report, the competitors also see the same analysis and picture. Disadvantages of Standardized Services Naturally, the word standardized automatically implies the service is not customized, standard service suppliers do not design a service specifically for the clients project. Besides, Zikmund (2003, p.113) stated that the standardized service supplier may not know a particular industry well so it becomes the responsibility of the buying company to ensure the standardized service really fits their intention. This accuracy problem poses a limitation and can only be minimized if the buying company has a comprehensive knowledge of the research process so as to evaluate the accuracy of the data and assess the evidences regarding the quality of the data as well. Applications of Standardized Information Standardized information is a type of secondary data which can be either syndicated or standardized, in which the data collected and/or the process of collecting the data are standardized for all users. Standardized information can have many applications, in general, it includes measuring the consumer attitudes, clarifying market segments, conducting market tracking and monitoring the usage of media and effectiveness of promotional activities. Measuring consumer attitudes and opinion polls Burns Bush (2010, pp.206-207) gives plenty of examples for this kind of suppliers: The Maritz Poll uses a standardized process to ensure that consumer attitudes and opinions are properly measured, and these polls are examples of a standardized service. ESRIs Tapestryà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ Segmentation is a standardized service that uses a process to profile residential neighborhoods. This information is purchased by clients desiring to better understand who their customers are, where they are located and how to reach them. The Yankelovich Monitor measures changing social values and their impact on consumers. It specializes in generating studies on mature populations, baby boomers and Generation Xers. These data are syndicated which is available to anyone who wishes to buy, and the information can be used for a variety of marketing decisions. Ipsos Public Affairs ® produces Ipsos Global @dvisor ® to study the companys proprietary audiences so that company can better understand how consumers and key stakeholders view its reputation as a brand. Coca-Cola is its subscribers. The Harris Poll measures consumer attitudes and opinions on government and economy, and other topics include politics, world affairs and legal issues. Harris poll is a source for identifying trend lines and is standardized information offering syndicated data. The Gallup Poll (http://poll.gallup.com/) measures public opinion polling on a wide variety of topics, such as domestic issues, private issues or world affairs, military and defense, stem cell research, smoking population percentage over time, etc. Gallup poll is syndicated data, as the information is available to all who wish to buy. Client firms can track attitudes of consumers toward buying private brands or their attitudes. Defining market segments This research method requires placing customers to share certain attributes, such as age, income, into homogeneous groups or market segments. The Stanford Research Institute, for example, conducts an annual survey of consumers and classifies them into homogeneous groups for market segmentation purposes. Some standardized information sources focus on members of the industrial market, two sources being the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system allow marketers to define industry types more specifically. Dun Bradstreet (DB) credit bureau collects vast amount of information on business firms, private and public. While SIC uses 4 digits codes and NAICS uses 6, DBs Duns Market Identifiers (DMI) uses 8 digits classification system to identify firms into very specific types of businesses. Since DB originated as a credit reporting firm and companies already supplied DB with detailed information about their operations, allow DB create databases containing a wide spectrum of business information. This is important if a marketer is trying to target specific business firms, however narrow their classification. Other standardized information sources provide information on members of the consumer market. SRI Consulting Business Intelligences (SRIC-BIs) VALSà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ program (www.sric-bi.com/VALS/) segments consumers by psychological and demographic measures, placed them in each of eight personality segments. This knowledge of consumers behaviors helps the client firm develop a deeper understanding of its target market consumer. Birn (2000, p.74) brought in the term, geodemographics, which describes the classification of usually small geographical areas and related to the characteristics of the inhabitants. Research firms specializing in geodemographics combine census data with survey data. Boyd, Walker Larrà ©chà © (1998, pp. 171-179) further substantiated this service by referring it as PRIZM, (Potential Ratings Index for ZIP Markets) which defines every neighborhood in the US based upon 66 household market segments. ESRIs Tapestryà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ also divides US residential ZIP cod es into 65 segments based upon selected demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Nielsen Claritas (http://www.claritas.com) and Acorn help sending promotion messages to targeted consumers and they have created desktop products that assist marketing managers to conduct regional and national segmentation studies. Knowing which market segments helps to make up a client firms potential customers. Conducting market tracking Tracking studies are those that monitor, or track a variable such as market share or sales over time. Tracking studies can tell a firm how well the products are being sold in retail outlets globally and also the sales status on competitors products. Nielsen SCANTRACK Services is based on syndicated retail scanning data, tracks thousands of products as they move through retail stores, allowing brand managers to monitor sales and market share and to evaluate marketing strategies. As for market tracking at the household level, it is gathered in homes using scanning devices or through the use of diaries and sending auditors to households. Nielsen Homescan ® Panel, uses scanning device to scan all bar-coded products brought home from all outlets. IRI ScanKey Consumer Network Household Panel, an example given by Malhotra Birks (2000), maintains a panel of consumer households that record purchases at outlets by using a handheld ScanKey wand. Todays technology is so advanced that a user o f information can easily be overloaded with information, various companies have therefore created decision support systems, data mining systems, expert systems and the like by using analytical tools to attach meaning to data, allowing marketers to make decisions in response to the quickly changing market conditions. Monitoring media usage and promotion effectiveness In order to measure the promotional effectiveness in media, readership, listenership effectiveness, some syndicated data service companies conduct studies on several forms of media. To track television, Nielsen Television Index (NTI) records television ratings data which are reported by DMAs (designed market areas). Naturally higher viewership of certain programs allow the television company to charge higher fee for advertisements. NTI also provides subscribers with audience characteristic information that allows potential advertisers to select audiences that most closely match their target markets characteristics. To track radio, Arbitron Panel provides syndicated data on radio station listening through selected samples who record their radio listening in diaries and Arbitrons Portale People Meter (PPMSM), a hand-held electronic device in the size of a mobile phone, automatically records the stations listened to. The procedures for measuring advertising effectiveness are standardized for comparing the results across studies. To track print, MRIs Starch Readership Survey is widely used for measuring the actual exposure of magazine ads to readers; Gallup and Robinson Magazine Impact Studies are another well-known syndicated service firms, aim to help marketers make decisions about what comprises a good ad. To track downloaded music, videos and recorded books, Nielsens SoundScan, VideoScan and BookScan separately provides information on the downloaded music, sales of VHS and DVD and sales of books. To track Multimedia, Simmons National Consumer Study gathers information on media usage linked to product usage, this information allows companies to determine the viewing/listening media habits of users. Nowadays, on-line consumer word of mouth or on-line consumer business have been shared through the internet world, via websites, blogs, facebook, discussion forums, companies can keep track of what is being said about them and their products by subscribing to BussMetrics from the Nielsen Company (Hester, 1996, pp. 169-170 and Burns Bush, 2010, pp. 219-222). Monitoring health related facilities and pharmaceutical products IMS Health Incorporated, as mentioned by Burn Bush (2010, p.76), is the worlds second largest research firm, providing services in over 100 countries. IMS services include pharmacy and hospital audits plus the measurement of disease and treatment patterns. Westat, Americas third largest research firm, conducts research and long-term follow-up surveys for agencies of the US government and businesses foundations. Major areas include health, education, social programs, environment and transportation. Sources and Suppliers of Data Primary and external syndicated Secondary Data Primary and secondary data are two main sources of data. Primary research starts from raw scratch, collected specifically for the research needs to solve the problem at hand. Secondary data already exists and are already published as they were collected for purposes other than the specific research needs at hand and usually used by someone else. Secondary data are therefore more economical than primary research which is a quick source of background information, but the format seldom meets the needs of the researcher. In a marketing problem definition process, analysis of available secondary data is an essential step and primary data should not be collected until the available secondary data have been fully analyzed. Scott (2009) alerted marketers with international marketing research that few problems may arise because customers may vary due to different cultures, traditions, beliefs and expectations. If this happens, separate country should collect individual countrys secondary info rmation and then compare the data difference, which means international marketing research better counts more on original primary data instead of secondary information. Primary data sources Primary data is original and normally organizations commission external researcher to establish the techniques, measurement and analysis for them. The technical aspects of conducting various types of primary marketing research relies on qualitative research methods, which means working with focus groups, conducting surveys, questionnaires, interviews and experiments. Wilson (2006, pp. 37) said this is a skilled task that requires careful thought and planning whereby a poorly designed questionnaire can jeopardize the response rates and provide incomplete or inaccurate data. Besides, determining the sample involves clearly specifying the types of respondent to be included, the number of respondents required and the method by which individual respondents will be selected. To conduct focus groups and interviewing, the researchers need to be well trained to ensure unbiased judgment and uphold the ethics to respect the rights of the respondents. Most companies will outsource the data colle ction process and rarely have it conducted by the companys internal personnel. Syndicated sources and Suppliers of Secondary Data Secondary data can be classified as coming from internal sources or external sources. Boyd et. al. (1998, p.80) specified clearly that internal sources can be available within the organization when every organization has at its disposal valuable internal secondary data, such as sales invoices, estimates of total annual usage of a product, advertising and promotion activities recorded, research and development and manufacturing reports or service by location, etc. that can be an important starting point for any marketing research project. External data can be available from various sources, such as government statistical publications, trade association data, books, bulletins, annual reports and business periodicals which can be free from library resources. Otherwise, external data sources not available in libraries are usually standardized data which are comparatively expensive. These secondary data are supplied by syndicated services suppliers to many client firms, anyone willing to pay the price can buy the data. One method of obtaining secondary data is frequently through surveys, which could be periodic surveys on the same set of variables conducted at regular intervals; or panel surveys to measure the same panel respondents over time but not necessarily on the same variable; or shared surveys are developed and executed for multiple clients when each of them share the cost. A number of firms maintain panels of respondents who are matched to the general population in terms of age, income and who agree in advance to participate in surveys, typically by mail or phone and response rates within the panels tend to be high and the demographic and lifestyle information are already available . Curry (1993) classified syndicated data sources as a) consumer data, b) retail data, c) wholesale data, d) industrial data, e) advertising evaluation data, and f) media and audience data. Consumer data normally relates to purchases and the circumstances surrounding the purchases. Kinnear Taylor (1991, pp.151-155, 164) provided examples of these suppliers: The National Purchase Diary (NPD, http://www.npd.com/) maintains over 30,000 households who keep diaries of purchases. The Marketing Research Corporation of America (MRCA) maintains a diary panel that records details on purchase of groceries and personal care items. Mediamark Inc. has annual survey that includes overall breakdown of usage by demographic category. The Roper Reports monitor public opinion and consumer behavior and interests on a broad range of social and political topics and on opinions of various consumer products and services. Yankelovich Clancy Shulmans Monitor Service conducts annual survey of households on social trends. Regarding consumers attitudes and buying behavior, Burgoyne Consumer Surveys provides in-store consumer on-the-spot reactions to marketing and product innovations, DDB Needham an d Gallup Omnibus conducts long term tracking of attitudes and opinions. PRIZM serves to explain, predict target consumer behavior while the Survey Research Center at University of Michigan monitors consumer consumption patterns, attitudes and intentions on financial issues. Retail Data collected focus on the products or services sold through the outlets and/or the characteristics of the outlets themselves. Hair, Bush Ortinau (2006, pp. 12-13) mentioned ACNielens Retail Index and Audits Surveys National Total-Market Audit provide data on total sales by product class, sales by brand and of competing brands in supermarkets, drugstores. IRI (http://www.infores.com/) and ACNielsen (http://www.acnielsen.com/) basically dominate the retail scanner business. Scanner data are collected in two separate forms (household level and store level) and for two distinct sets of clients (manufacturers and retailers). In addition, three other sets of data are also maintained, they are (a) prices, features and displays at the retail level; (b) coupons and other promotions (c) advertising on TV, print, radio. Audits Survey also provides National Restaurant Market index on the commercial restaurant market annually. Ehrhart-Babic Group provides syndicated in-store distribut ion data and new-product-introduction performance data through their National Retail Tracking Index. BehaviorScan and InfoScan by IRI assist in multiple market testing and tracking services while DBs National Scan Track provides projection to monitor displays in supermarkets. Wholesale data are warehouse shipment data used to estimate sales at retail. Birn (1999) told us that SAMI (Selling Areas-Marketing, Inc.) is the best known syndicated service of this type, especially for retail food stores. SAMIs data allow the client to analyze trends in sales or package size and the impact of promotions and competitive actions. These data also serve as an intermediary audit purpose in the distribution chain, wholesalers and formal examination of product movement by analyzing inventory. Pipeline Research Inc. provides audit service on warehouse inventories of drug products monthly. Then P-O-S Research audits the national warehouse movement and trend line of products sold through food store distribution, including grocery, frozen, dairy, household, health and beauty aids. Industrial data are more syndicated data services available to consumer goods manufacturers rather than to industrial goods suppliers. Birn (1999) shared that DBs Market Identifiers provides data on companies rated by DB, which can be used to construct sales prospect lists, identify sales territories, sales potentials, and so forth. McGraw-Hills Dodge Reports collects data from building material manufacturers and distributors so the data can be used in marketing building products while Polk Companys Motor Statistics provides vehicles registration data. Advertising Evaluation data help advertisers in measuring the effectiveness of their ad expenditures in broadcast and print media. AdTel, ARS (Advertising Research Service), CATS (Comprehensive Advertising Tracking System) offer comprehensive and continuous tracking of weight and quality of commercial ads in terms of GRPs (Gross Rating Points). Starch Message Reports, Gallup and Robinson Magazine Impact Studies are most widely used syndicated services on readership. Burns Bush (2010, p.150) cited Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) is a standardized, independent third party audit bureau, aims to confirm methodology, verification of lists and credibility of the content of magazines which are very helpful to the magazine industry providing advertisers with richer data on magazine readership. Media and audience data Media companies include advertising agencies, sales promotion companies, public relations agencies, and direct marketing firms which are all concerned with getting the right message to the right target market, the advertising effects of competitors, how much they are spending and the media mix, hence marketing research information is often required to accomplish this goal. For example, companies that advertise on network television want to select shows that reach their target customers most efficiently so they need information on the size, demographic and psychographics composition of the audiences for various TV programs. Firms like NMR and American Research Bureau provide standardized TV audience ratings to a syndicate group of clients. The Simmons Market Research Bureau compares audience characteristics. Kolb (2008, p.64) mentioned it would be greatly inefficient for company to collect these data by themselves, only ad agencies have internal research depar tment as they need to find the correct marketing message and the best image to represent a client company and also the best media to use. Marketing Evaluations, Inc., for example, offers several Q Scores ® services, one of its services measures the familiarity and appeal of performers, such as actors/ actresses, authors, athletes, sportscasters, and so forth. Such information helps companies to choose the most appropriate spokesperson or help a movie producer select a performer for an upcoming movie. Scott (2009) gave an interesting fact that Tom Hanks and Bill Cosby, for example, are performers who have high Q scores. Nielsen Media Researchs Nielsen Television Index (NTI), is another example of a syndicated data provider, supplying subscribers with data on TV viewing, available to anyone wishing to buy it. Arbitron and ACB (Advertising Checking Bureau) offer syndicated data on the number and types of listeners to the various radio stations. This standardized information helps advertising firms reach their target markets; and also helps radio stations define audience size and characteristics. One must not undermine the service by the research giant, VNU Inc. (VNU), founded in 1964, is a major international media and information company and the largest company owned by VNU is ACNielsen. Hair et.al. (2006) gave a thorough introduction of ACNielsen, that it is broken down into several companies: a) Nielsen Media Research (NMR) provides television audience measurement information; b) NetRatings Inc. (NR) reports on internet and digital media syndicated research; c) Entertainment Information Division (NE) serves the entertainment industry, including movies, music and home entertainment; d) Media Solutions Division includes PERQ/HCI providing healthcare audience measurement, Scarborough Research (SR) measures local and regional shopping patterns of American consumers, Standard Rate Data Services (SRDS) offers the worlds largest database on media rates, Interactive Market Systems (IMS) offers audience profiling. Single Source Data Single source data means continuously monitor a panel of respondents on media exposure, promotional material exposure, and buying behavior to measure their exposure to promotional material

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Exploring the Cause of Eating Disorders - Familial Relationships and Bu

My sister is bulimic and has been in therapy for several months now. She seems to be making progress, but this eating disorder seems to rule her life nevertheless. Overwhelmed with conflicting desires, she is obsessed with food and her appearance. I see her suffer and wonder what has caused her to develop such behaviors. I know that there are several factors that can play a role in the inception of an eating disorder. Because of my sister’s problems, I have become interested in the interplay between familial relationships and bulimia. Is there a relationship between family interactions and bulimia? There have been numerous studies about the characteristics of a bulimic's family. One of the earliest by Laurence Igoin-Apfelbaum (1985), studied 21 women who were diagnosed by the DSM-III as bulimics. In the group of patients, two patterns of family background could be found. Thirteen patients were from broken homes, and a common characteristic of these families was that the father virtually disappeared from the life of the daughter. The twelve other patients came from close knit families, in which the sacred union of these families against the outside world was a defensive organization hiding major tensions within the family unit. The relationship between the bulimics and their mother is one of polarity. They feel that because their eating disturbances seem to worry their mother, she is the only one who cared, and as a result they do such things as calling their moms daily to make sure she is not worrying. At the same time they avoid their mother because they feel she can guess everything or demand so much from them that they would have no personal life left. All the patients had harsh words for their fathers. They see him ... ...ting Disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(4), 395-402. Humphrey, Laura Lynn (1989). Observed Family Interactions Among Subtypes of Eating Disorders Using Structural Analysis of Social Behavior. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57(2), 206-214. Igoin-Apfelbaum, Laurence (1985). Characteristics of Family Background in Bulimia. Psychother. Psychosom, 43, 161-167. Kent, Jan S., and Clopton, J. R. (1992). Bulimic Women's Perceptions of Their Family Relationships. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 48(3), 281-292. Laliberte, Michele., Boland, F. J. and Leichner, P. (1999). Family Climates: Family Factors Specific to Disturbed Eating and Bulimia Nervosa. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55(9), 1021-1040. Stuart, G. W., et al. (1990). Early Family Experiences of Women With Bulimia and Depression. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 4(1), 43-52.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Dark Tourism

1. 0 Introduction 1. 1 Key Objectives The aim of the report is to study dark tourism and discuss what are the issues generated by the evolution of this phenomenon. 1. 2 Scope The report includes a definition of dark tourism, the history, a description of its target markets with its marketing implications, the push and pull factors and the various impacts caused and the challenges faced. Lastly, conclusions will be drawn. 2. 0 Main Discussions 2. 1 Definition Dark tourism is demarcated as encompassing the visitation to any site allied with death, disaster and tragedy for commemoration, education or entertainment (Webber, 2007). . 2 History Dark tourism is not considered a new phenomenon as it can be referred back to the twelfth century (McCormick, 2004). As far as the Dark ages, pilgrims have started travelling to tombs. The increase in media has allowed events to be reported and repeated. With the increased improvements in technology, tourists and people can have an insight and be in troduced to dark tourism (Stone, 2006). 2. 3 Types of Dark Tourism Dark tourism is the act of travel and visitation to the sites, attractions and exhibitions which have real or recreated death, suffering or disaster in general. Many tourists have flocked to experience sites of past terror that offer grim and disturbing tragedies. However, dark tourism has become so broad that there are many sub-classifications to categorize it. 2. 4 Trends of Dark Tourism The main reason for visiting dark sites is because of the tourists' interest in the elements to witness executions and learn about the death of famous people and others, the demise and fall of empires, torment and suffering of sites from wars or gruesome murders. Tourists also visit the sites sometimes to feel the power of faith, with the inspiration that they can get hope from these deaths (Tarlow, 2005). 2. 5 Push and Pull Factors 2. 5. 1 Push Factors Some tourists prefer more daring, exciting and adventure while others with self development needs may look forward to learning about history behind the events that has happened, widening and exploring more parts of the world. Curiosity and novelty has enticed many tourists to visit dark sites. Also, some tourists travel to these sites to commemorate their family members. . 5. 2 Pull Factors Sites with historical and grim events such as the United States of America where the Pearl Harbor took place have enticed many visits from the tourists. The media has played a role in promoting the sites to the public. Movies were based on sites such the Cullen house in the movie Twilight has an upsurge in tourist visitation. 2. 6 Market Segments Four tourist classifications were identified and are as follo ws; the organized mass tourist, the individual mass tourist, the explorer and the drifter (Cohen, 2004). The generic and niche markets are two distinct types of tourists are who visit dark tourism sites. The niche market segments usually have a particular interest in exploring the conflict and are mostly young people who are individual travellers, part of a university group with an education interest and tourists with a need for self-development (Pearce, 2005). 2. 7 Marketing Implications Dark tourism sites’ marketing managers need to understand the nature of the dark tourism product and not promote dark tourism wrongly having reflective implications for society at large (Stone, 2005). Many tourists visiting dark sites have education as their key motivator. These sites can focus on its teaching aspects such as offering and promoting additional services such as lectures, seminars, or workshops can enhance the tourist’s experience on site. These sites can also de-market themselves to make it unattractive to cut down on the damage caused to the site. 2. 8 Impacts of Dark Tourism 2. 8. 1 Economic Impact Tourism can help bring in revenue to improve a country's economic growth through employment and opportunities (Simpson, Gossling, Scott, Hall, & Gladin, 2008). With the influx of tourists coming from around the world, tourist receipts will grow and directly contributes to the economies of many destinations. 2. 8. 2 Environmental Impact Environmental degradation is caused by different pollutions of air, water, noise and land. Solid waste and litters that tourist dispose has contributed largely to the global environment problem. The carbon emissions of air crafts and carbon footprints of tourists have also increased air and land pollution (Yale, 2004). The zoning of dark tourism sites can help curb problems of over development. However, it also means a sacrifice of an area for the entire site. 2. 8. 3 Socio-Cultural Impact The sustainability of tourists going to dark tourism sites have become an issue. Because commercialization erodes historical value, it is difficult to sustain the sites and maintain the memory from the past. Also, with tourists bringing their own culture into destinations and site, culture management becomes another impact. Tourist should have an obligation to observe codes of behavior and be aware of cultural norms in the destination they are visiting (Howie, 2003). 2. 9 Challenges No doubt many opportunities for the local communities will be created and this allows locals to have an improved life. Many locals can take this opportunity to show their handicrafts. However, these products will be commercialized and loses it authenticity after a period of time. Another challenge identified is that of the long-term damage caused by visitors. Inevitably the high number of visitors received by sites will have an impact in the long term. Therefore it is important to impose a visitor number management to control visitor arrivals to the sites (Yale, 2004). 3. 0 Conclusion Dark tourism has been defined as those visits to any sites associated with death, disaster and tragedy. It has been noted of the various factors why people decide to visit these particular sites. Because dark tourism is an umbrella for various kinds of tourism, there are issues involved and many ways to decrease the impacts caused. Dark tourism sites are highly susceptible to damage and the demand for dark tourism should be controlled via de-marketing tools. However, the issue of de-marketing to improve or lessen the tourist’s arrivals as such can still be debatable. 4. 0 References Cohen, E. (2004). Contemporary tourism: Diversity and change. Boston: Elsevier. Howie, F. (2003) Managing the Tourist Destination, London: Continuum Lennon, J. and Foley, M. (2004) Dark Tourism, London: Thomson McCormick, M. (2004) Ground Zero and the phenomena of dark tourism, Available from: http://www. pilotguides. com/destination_guide/north_america/new_york/ground_zero. php Pearce, P. L. (2005). Tourist behaviour: Themes and conceptual schemes. Clevedon: Channel View Publications. Stone, P. R. (2005) Dark Tourism – an old concept in a new world Tourism – Journal of the Tourism Society, The Tourism Society, Quarter IV, Issue 125, . 20 Stone, P. R. (2006) A dark tourism spectrum: Towards a typology of death and macabre related tourist sites, attractions and exhibitions TOURISM: An Interdisciplinary International Journal, Vol 54(2) p145-160. Tarlow P E (2005) ‘Dark Tourism – the appealing â€Å"dark† side of tourism and more’, in M Novelli (ed) Niche Tourism, Contemporary Issues Trends and Cases. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, p47-58. Webber, S. (2007, January 1). Dark Tourism. Retrieved on January 4, 2011, from City Paper: http://www. citypaper. ee/dark_tourism/ Yale, P. (2004) From Tourist Attractions to Heritage Tourism, 3rd ed. , Elm

Friday, November 8, 2019

Cause and Effect Essay Essays

Cause and Effect Essay Essays Cause and Effect Essay Essay Cause and Effect Essay Essay Essay Topic: Cause and Effect How  Water  Vapor  and  Clouds  Cause  Rain It’s  a  rainy  day! Have  you  ever  thought  about  how  rain  is  formed? The  process  by which  water  vapor  and  clouds  cause  rain  will  be  explained  here. Water  vapor  and  clouds are  key  elements  in  the  production  of  rain. The  process  in  which  water  travels  from  the earth  to  the  air  and,  eventually,  back  to  the  earth  again  is  called  the  water  cycle. In  this cycle,  there  is  a  chain  of  events  that  clearly  show  a  process  of  cause  and  effect. Water  is  always  in  the  air. Water  in  the  gaseous  form  is  called  water  vapor. Warm  air can  hold  more  water  vapor  than  cool  air. Because  the  warm,  moist  air  is  less  dense  than cool  or  dry  air,  it  rises. When  the  warm,  moist  air  rises,  it  slowly  starts  to  cool. As  a  result  of the  air  cooling,  the  water  vapor  in  the  air  begins  to  transform  into  very  tiny  droplets  of  liquid water. Now,  the  tiny  droplets  of  water  condense  on  the  particles  of  dust  that  are  in  the  air. Subsequently,  a  cloud  is  formed. After  a  while,  the  cloud  becomes  colder  and  more  water condenses. Then,  the  droplets  of  water  in  the  cloud  bump  into  each  other  to  form  larger drops. At  one  point,  the  drops  of  water  become  too  large  and  heavy  to  stay  in  the  cloud. Thus,  the  water  falls  to  the  earth  as  rain. Without  water  vapor  there  would  be  no  clouds,  and  without  clouds  there  would  be  no Another is being heartbroken that leads to lack focus on your academics. Lastly, stress caused by miscellaneous. Most college students pay for their own tuition fees. Stress enters here when having a heavy workload as well. Students have to study at day and work at night or vice versa. Because of this they receive a heavy schedule which often leads to lack of sleep. There are more causes to stress and my advice on how to prevent this is to have a balance between academics, friends, work and relationships. This can be done by having a mindset from the start and knowing our priorities.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Teaching to the Test in ESL Class

Teaching to the Test in ESL Class There are many issues surrounding the idea of teaching to the test. On the one hand, many feel that teaching makes it more difficult to test students knowledge because the focus is on the particular test at hand, not on holistic learning. Once learned, students can discard test-based knowledge and then begin to study for the next test. Obviously, this approach doesnt encourage language recycling, which is essential to acquisition. On the other hand, students who are thrown into a test without knowing exactly whats on the test might not know what to study. This presents a conundrum for many teachers: Do I pragmatically meet objectives or do I allow organic learning to take place?   For the English teacher, luckily, exam results wont lead to success or failure in life as is the case with the SAT, GSAT or other big examinations. For the most part, we can concentrate on producing and measuring the relative success or failure of each student. For example, I find giving students grades based on project work to be a highly accurate means of testing.   Unfortunately, many modern students have become accustomed to a test-based mode of study. In some cases, students expect us to give them clearly-defined tests. This is especially true when teaching grammar classes.   However, at times, students dont do very well on these tests. This in part is due to the fact that students are often not familiar with the importance of directions. Students are already nervous about their English and jump right into an exercise without clearly following the directions. Of course, understanding directions in English is part of the language acquisition process. However, it sometimes gets in the way.   For this reason, when giving any kind of standard assessment test, I like to teach to the test by providing a quick mock test in a review session leading up to a test. Especially at ​lower levels, this type of review will help students focus on their true abilities because theyll understand whats expected of them.   Example Review Quiz to Help Teach to the Test Here is an example review quiz I provided before a big grammar final. The test focuses on the present perfect, as well as difference in usage between past simple and the present perfect. Youll find notes and tips listed below the example quiz.   Part 1 – Circle the correct helping verb. 1.  Ã‚     Have / has he had lunch yet?2.  Ã‚     Have / has they played soccer today?3.  Ã‚     Have / has you eaten sushi? Part 2 – Fill in the blank with the PRESENT PERFECT verb. 1.  Ã‚     Fred (play / ) __________________ tennis many times.2.  Ã‚     She (have / -) __________________ breakfast this morning.3.  Ã‚     Peter and I (eat / ) _______________ fish this week.   Part 3 – Make a present perfect QUESTION with this answer. 1. Q ______________________________________________A: No, I haven’t seen Tom today.2. Q _______________________________________________A: Yes, they have flown to Chicago.3. Q ________________________________________________A: Yes, she’s worked for Google.   Part 4 – Write the correct V3 (past participle) in the blank. played  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     quit  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     driven  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     bought 1.  Ã‚     I haven’t ___________ a Lamborghini in my life.2.  Ã‚     She has _________ smoking cigarettes to be healthier.  3.  Ã‚     They’ve ____________ soccer two times this week.4.  Ã‚     I have _______________ three books today.   Part 5 – Verb forms: Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb.   Verb 1  Ã‚     Verb 2  Ã‚     Verb 3make  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     sang  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     Forgotten   Part 6 – Write ‘for’ or ‘since’ to complete the sentences.   1.  Ã‚     I have lived in Portland _____ twenty years.2.  Ã‚     She’s studied piano _________ 2004.3.  Ã‚     They’ve cooked Italian food _______ they were teenagers.4.  Ã‚     My friends have worked in that company _________ a long, long time.  Part 7 – Answer each question with a complete sentence. 1. How long have you spoken English?A: _______________________ for _________. 2. How long have you played soccer?A: _______________________ since ___________. 3. How long have you known him?A: ____________________________ for ___________.   Part 8 – Write the correct form of the verb. Choose simple past or present perfect.   1.  Ã‚     She ___________(go) to New York three years ago.2.  Ã‚     I __________________ (smoke) cigarettes for ten years.3.  Ã‚     He _______________ (enjoy / -) the movie yesterday.4.  Ã‚     _________ you __________ (eat) sushi before?   Part 9. Circle the correct answer. 1. Fred _________ cake yesterday afternoon. a. has eatenb. eatedc. ated. was ate 2. I __________ at PELA for two months. a. studyb. am studyingc. have studyd. have studied   Part 10 – Fill in the blanks in these conversations. Use present perfect or simple past.   Peter: Have you ever ________ (buy) a car?Susan: Yes, I have.Peter: Cool! What car ___________ you _________ (buy)Susan: I _________ (buy) a Mercedes last year.   Teaching to the Test Tips Project each section onto a whiteboard to make sure that each student  actually sees whats expected.Ask students to come up and complete individual sections of the quiz. Have other students state whether they have completed the exercise correctly or not.  On the whiteboard, circle keywords in directions to make sure that students take notice of specific instructions.For the first question in each exercise, ask a student to complete the question on the whiteboard. Ask the student to explain why they answered in that manner.  Pay special attention to time expressions. Students tend to forget how important these are. For example, in exercise six students need to decide whether for or since should be used. Ask each student why they chose for or since.  On multiple choice questions, ask students why each incorrect answer is incorrect.  Dont worry about making a review quiz the same length as the actual test. Keep it short as the focus is on understanding how to take the test.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Employment Relations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Employment Relations - Assignment Example Employment relations theories The study of employment relations has led to several theory perspectives that have helped explain the nature of employment relations. The following is some of the perspectives draw. The first is Unitarianism, a perspective based on workplace conflicts between the employees and the manager. This theory explains that conflicts at the workplace are inevitable, and they should be seen as a unifier and not a dissolvent (Lloyd and Newell, 2001: 357). In the organization, the employee carries the same interest as the manager and that is to see the organization thrive. In case of disagreement the two parties agree to disagree for the benefit of the organization. The main cause for conflicts according to Bryson (2005: 1111) is a clash of personality, promotion, lack of communication skills and dissidents deviation. This can be easily solved by the management through finding the problem and solving it. In Taylor’s scientific management theory (1974:44) he s tates that employees have limited ambitions and tend to act immature and avoid their responsibilities whenever they can. Companies that choose to subscribe to Taylor’s theory set clear roles and directives on assignments undertaken at work. The approach here gives management an upper hand because it has great authority on the workers (Taylor: 1974: 47). The other theory applicable in this case is the human relations theory where workers are viewed as individuals who are self motivated and have a sense of self-fulfillment in the organization. In this theory workers are granted the autonomy to operate in a manner that they feel the job satisfaction (Gennard and Judge, 2005: 76). Organizations that adopt this approach create a self-governing environment and allow employees to govern themselves. The second set of assumption is pluralism and unlike Unitarianism pluralism believes that work conflict is necessary and healthy for the organization. Businesses are made up of different complex groups with each group carrying different interests (Daniel, 2006: 36). The management and employees are considered been in different groups here. The assumption here is that there different forms of authority making conflict inevitable. The conflict is taken as a positive factor because it is this situation that sheds light on the employee’s grievances. Conflict also forces management to come up with innovative ways to handle the disagreements. Pluralists according to Daniel (2006: 36) agree with the two competing sides because it is believed to result to amicable solutions. This is because management not only comes up with conflict solutions but also fair solutions that keep their power balanced. Dunlop’s system theory is one of the greatest approaches used by most pluralists (Hollishead et al., 2003: 19). This theory states that employment relations are made up of a wide sub-system that determines how parties involved in the work environment can keep out con flicts at the workplace. There are four elements according to Hollishead et al. (2003: 23) that are important factors in employment relations, and that are the actors, the environment, set rules and ideologies that are binding. Another theory recently drawn is the strategic choice theory

Friday, November 1, 2019

Summary of story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Summary of story - Essay Example The narrator is quoted saying; â€Å"they have turned my pity into something hard and ugly† (Sedaris 2004). â€Å"Us and Them† runs along three key events. The first is a move. The narrator’s family has moved from the country of New York State to North Carolina Suburb (Sedaris 2004). The narrator clearly describes the difference in these two environments. Within a year, they move again, but to a spitting distance. Halloween, a popular American holiday is the second event. The Narrator expresses disappointment on this day. He was looking forward to going in a disguise to door for the traditional trick or treat; but they were off to the lake. He however went only to meet a coffee can full of bargain confectionery and with it a sign that read â€Å"DON’T BE GREEDY† (Sedaris 2004). Finally, on the night after Halloween, the entire Tomkins family shows up in costume at the narrator’s door for trick or treat. This angers the narrator who attributes this behaviour to their lack of a TV (Sedaris 2004). His anger graduates to hate when he is forced to give away his ‘earned’ candy to these pesky