1. Discuss Dr. Faustus as a tragedy Essay

Ans—Understanding of Christopher Marlowe’s Elizabethan tragedy, Dr. Faustus, can be framed in terms of the Renaissance philosophy and the Elizabethan tragedy, which takes a different turn on some points from the Aristotelian tragedy, for instance such as the Elizabethan tragedy’s requisite death of the tragic hero. Dr. Faustus demonstrates the Renaissance philosophy that pits the dichotomy of good, angelic humanity against evil, depraved humanity. Marlowe’s play also is a model of the Elizabethan tragedy. Marlowe constructed the character of Dr. Faustus to represent within himself both characteristics of the Renaissance view of humanity as divinely good and hellishly evil. First, Dr. Faustus is presented as a scholar of all things including divinity, the highest Renaissance scholarly discipline. Then, Faustus is shown as dissatisfied with the limitations of humanity and grasping for unlimited knowledge, which is a Biblical allusion to Adam and Eve who ate of the Tree of Knowledge. Throughout the play, Faustus descends to lower and lower planes of knowledge in his pursuit for the â€Å"power† and â€Å"omnipotence† that comes from knowledge. At the beginning, Mephistopheles answers all Faustus’ questions but draws the line on talk of the universe, which can be seen to stand for astronomical and cosmological studies–the very studies that science is deeply involved in today: CERN; Hubble; SoHo; etc). Faustus must be content with merely mapping the universe instead of understanding it. Marlowe ultimately shows in Dr. Faustus the futility of the quest for ultimate knowledge and the inevitable end result of abandoning moral integrity for omnipotent knowledge. Dr. Faustus also represents a Classic Elizabethan tragedy. First, the tragic hero has a flaw or makes an error in judgment that leads to his own doom. It’s hard to say whether Faustus had a fatal flaw in his character or whether he was doomed by a faulty understanding that lead to a fatally disastrous error in judgment. All along the way, Faustus has doubts and hesitations which speak for an integrity of his moral character. If he has a fatal flaw, it might be that he did not reckon the power of evil highly enough, that he thought that with omnipotent knowledge, he could free himself from the chains of evil he wrapped so blithely around himself. Adam and Eve also fell to the punishment from the lure of knowledge. Of course, quite often Faustus’ fatal flaw is said to be greed and irreverent disregard for goodness. One clue to forming a literary stance on the question lies in examining his hesitations and second thoughts. In addition to this, the questions addressed in Marlowe’s play are nobel universal questions pertaining to the highest order of considerations: the meaning of life and death, the quest for knowledge, the respective power of of good and evil. In further accord with elizabethan tragedy, the play Dr. Faustus employs comedic relief through the presence of clowns that also acts as a means of giving information about the characters and the action of the play. The clowns in Dr. Faustus are Rafe and Robin. In Elizabethan tragedy, the clowns (rural, country simpletons who misuse language accidentally) and fools (urban dwellers who play with language and â€Å"misuse† it intentionally for wit) generally replace the Greek Chorus that carried the task of moving the st ory along with information not performed on stage, but in Dr. Faustus, Marlowe employs both the Greek-style Chorus and Elizabethan clowns. Finally, in keeping with Elizabethan tragic form, Faustus gets himself in so deep, his tragic flaw or error in judgement is so aggregious that it leads ultimately and necessarily to his death, thus fulfilling the fate of an Elizabethan tragic hero. Since Faustus has overestimated what he can attain from an arrangement with Lucifer and since he underestimated the power of Lucifer’s evil, his ultimate end must be and is death even though he recognizes his mistakes and pleads for pardon.

Buddhism and Christianity as Social Reform Movements

Buddhism and Christianity are two great religions in the world that made a lot of contributions to the development of human beings in all aspects of life. These two religions may be worlds apart doctrinally and institutionally, but in their works for the betterment of human beings and the society, they are like wings that work together for the advancement and progress of civilizations. Buddhism and Christianity both have founders whose main teaching is the purification of the human heart.When human beings are defiled from selfishness, greed, and other wrongdoings, they will always be living in harmony not only with others but also with the environment that they are into. Both Jesus and the Buddha emphasized on the purity of the human heart. It is the heart that is important, it is the treasures of the heart that is more precious that any other wealth in the world. This is what Jesus and the Buddha wanted for people to realize to achieve a life of purpose and happiness, thus, Jesus an d the Buddha are very similar types of social reformers.Jesus and the Buddha are both great teachers that sought spiritual transformations. They both live in a time when people are ignorant of the true nature of life. The societal conditions that Jesus and the Buddha are into enabled them to seek and teach the wisdom of enlightenment, and that the value of compassion is central to the teaching of Jesus and the Buddha in attaining this enlightened path. The societal conditions during the time when Buddha and Jesus lived were characterized by chaos and greed as well as poverty conditions that made people suffered gravely.Jesus and the Buddha believe that all these sufferings that people experience are rooted on people’s ignorance on the fact that they themselves caused those problems. Human heart is full of impurities, and the only way to purify it according to the Buddha is to free oneself from earthly desires. Jesus also led an ascetic life together with his disciples, denoun cing all worldly wealth to pursue a life of spiritual transformations. Both Jesus and the Buddha advocated for radical changes in the common practices of the people in those days.The conditions during the time when Buddha preached his teaching were characterized by severe poverty, sickness and tribal wars that caused a lot of casualties. These conditions were very similar with what Jesus also experienced in his time. In responding to these societal conditions, both Jesus and the Buddha taught that people should cultivate compassion and love in their heart. It is only through selfless love that people will tolerate and respect one another.Both Jesus and the Buddha tried to fix the social problems that caused people to suffer as well as humanity’s animalistic tendencies like anger and greed, through a reformation in values and spiritual transformation. The Christian golden rule saying, â€Å"Do not do unto others what you do not want others do unto you† is very similar w ith what Buddha emphasized, â€Å"Treat others as yourself†. In these passages, one can see that Jesus and the Buddha gives importance to people’s actions and attitude towards others.People should not incur hatred in their hearts as this is similar to hating the self. One should treat other people in a way that will not hurt or belittle them as this would mean belittling oneself. Jesus and the Buddha said that when other people try to hurt you, you should not fight back with anger and hate, because fire cannot be extinguished by fire. A true human being has to be mindful of his words and deeds so as not to hurt others. This holds true with the law of karma.Whatever you do will always go back to you be it good or bad, depending on the causes you made. In Christianity, it is imperative for human beings to cultivate the self through the path of righteousness. In the same manner, Buddhism’s law on morality is highly depicted in the Christianity’s Ten Commandm ents. Buddhism and Christianity are closely related in the way they view the kind of society that we should be living in and should aspire for.Jesus and the Buddha describe an ideal society as a place where conflict does not exist and equality is always in the mind of the people. An ideal society values justice, freedom and morality. Nobody will experience sufferings; no one will have to endure cycles of poverty, disasters and epidemics. Social change begins when a person tries to rededicate all his or her effort to an intensified ethical commitment, to something that causes the person to develop more wisdom and compassion.These two religions always emphasized brotherly love towards other people, to treat other people as equal to oneself. Jesus emphasized that everyone is equal in the eyes of God, and Buddha also espoused the belief that in every human being, the Buddha nature exists regardless of race, color and culture. Both Christianity and Buddhism flowered during the time when everything seemed to be so hopeless and defiled. Both religions existed to correct people’s misconceptions of the reality, to lead people to the right path of peace and happiness.In conclusion, Jesus and the Buddha are very similar social reformers and that these two influential figures were truly great people who advocated for a just and humane society based on the values attributed to love, compassion, wisdom and respect. References Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc. The Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom. Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. 2000 Hochswender, W. , Martin, G. & Morino, T. The Buddha in Your Mirror. Santa Monica, CA: Middleway Press. 2001. New American Bible. Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc. : Washington, DC. 2001.

Clarkson Lumber Company Essay

(1) Background: CLC was founded in 1981 by Mr. Clarkson and brother-in-law Henry Holtz in the Pacific Northwest. The company has experienced rapid growth over the recent years and it is anticipated to continue. Mr. Clarkson bought out Mr. Holtz for $200,000 to become the sole owner. This resulted in the need of more cash inflow from the bank. Even with consistent profits, the company has suffered a shortage of cash and has borrowed funds needed for business growth. (2) Major Problem(s): CLC’s current ratio (formula 1) has deteriorated which led to a shortage of funds while still being profitable. The company’s average collection period (formula 2) and debt ratio (formula 3) have increased which also signals problems. CLC buys its inventory in large quantities from the suppliers in order to take advantage of a 2% trade discount but has been unable to receive the discount due to the increasing average collection period and inventory turnover. (3) Alternative Courses of Action: i. Acquire more bank credit ii. Reduce rate of growth to more sustainable level iii. Reevaluate customers who can purchase on credit (4) Brief Analysis of Alternatives: i. CLC must improve their current ratio to ensure the bank it will have the ability to repay a larger loan. ii. CLC has seen operating expense increase dramatically between 1993 and 1995. CLC needs to reconsider the amount of inventory to be held on hand and scale back operations if inventory turnover continues to increase. iii. Due to the increasing average collection period, CLC needs to seriously reconsider allowing some customers to purchase on credit and do more thorough credit analysis. An increasing average collection period does not allow CLC to take advantage of the 10 day 2% trade discount. (5) Suggested Course of Action: CLC should seek to increase the $750,000 loan from the bank but with severe restrictions. The company should be required to reduce accounts receivable and inventory and strict control of future investments to reduce cash outflow. Formula 1: Current Ratio 1993: $686/275 = 2.49 1994: $895/565 = 1.58 1995: $1249/1188 = 1.05 Formula 2: Average Collection Period 1993: $306/(2921/365) = 38.24 1994: $411/(3477/365) = 43.15 1995: $606/(4519/365) = 48.95 Formula 3: Debt Ratio 1993: $415/919 = .45 1994: $785/1157 = .68 1995: $1188/1637 = .73

Writer's choice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Writer's choice - Assignment Example On day one, just after writing down my values, I remained determined to living by them to the latter. Most of my action were controlled by them as I frequently reflected on them whenever I engaged in any activity or interacted with colleagues and/or family members. For instance, I have been cautious not to hurt or cause any sort of discomfort to others as I interacted with them. I even let go a friend who deliberately splashed dirt on my just polished shoes. This was unlike the former me who would have reacted violently. Similarly, I have been keen in arriving for lectures in time and diligently perform all tasks that appertains to my academics. I would even consult colleagues and teachers on matters that I felt I needed further clarification. Essentially, I have been upbeat to attain the above mentioned themes. My stretch experience connects significantly to acceptance, which is one of the other core principles of ACT aside from values. Acceptance involves allowing or rather embracing the unpleasant thought in one minds until that moment when they fade away without any attempt to fight them off. Handling such thought in this manner helps minimize their negative impact on one’s life as they give a feeling that they are less threatening. It may also be seem that acceptance is just but a means to enhance a value based lifestyle (Bach and Daniel 43). In the course of my stretch, this principle has been critical in so far my interaction with the other colleagues is concerned. I have been such a person who is reserved that I detested other people from meddling into my affairs. Said in other words, I disliked those colleagues who poke their noses in what does not concern them. This behavior frustrated my relationship with classmates as I often felt that none of them wants the best for me. Nonetheless, my moment in stretch has serve to make me embrace the negative attitude towards my colleagues whenever it boggles my mind and

Human Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 3

Human Rights - Essay Example Further, Section 3, sub section 2, delineated that the validity of this provision of legislation applies to such kind of primary legislation, which could be state courts of member countries, but in no way, could impinges upon enforcement and operation ability of existing laws, that are not in consistency with laws of the ECHR, or in the enforcement of inconsistent lower legislation, should the primary legislation not be competent enough, to take cognisance of such secondary legislation enforcement. Thus effectively, it is seen that apropos HRA 1998, British Courts are themselves required to act compatibly with the Convention, thus putting broader responsibility on them to incorporate and apply the Convention and its elucidation by the European Court of Human Rights. UK courts are also privileged to amend specific provisions of UK laws to make them in line with European Convention, provided it does not disagree with the express intentions of UK Parliament.  2 The main idea behind this however, is that that secondary laws in countries could still co-exist, independent of the fact that ECHR laws are inconsistent with them, or cannot be enforced in certain contexts. 3 Normally it is seen that in case of European Convention laws clashing with State or domestic laws, it is necessary for local laws to be amended in order to provide for implementation of EC laws and conventions. But perhaps this is not applicable in the case of ECHR laws which deal with Human rights. But in the cases of ECHR, it is believed that the verdicts of national courts determine internal laws, and it is to these decisions that law of precedents need to be applied. Therefore, the application of European laws needs to respect the framework of domestic and local laws in its installation and enforcement of diktats. 4 The ECHR broadly lays down the various articles that underpin the enforcement of various human right laws in the United Kingdoms and

Responding to terrorism in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Responding to terrorism in Britain - Essay Example One can see that internal insurgencies can be dealt with ease but the rapid spread of terrorism and it’s after effects on world nations cannot be dealt with ease. To be specific, cross-border terrorism is an imminent threat to the multiracial society of Britain. Problem statement: The report on the responding to terrorism in Britain proves that Britain plays an important role in terrorism mitigation in the international arena, but internal (within the United Kingdom) and external problems (global spread of terrorism) cause imminent threat to Britain in general. Background The origin of terrorism in Britain can be broadly divided into two: internal threats from those who fight for free Northern Ireland (IRA), from the Islamic terrorist groups that operate from UK and the treat from international terrorist groups operate from the Middle East Asia. Wayne C. Thompson stated that, â€Å"A Times poll showed that 86% of British respondents supported giving the police new powers to a rrest people suspected of planning terrorist attacks† (74). ... The Glasgow International Airport attack (2007) and Exeter bombing (2008) proved that the global spread of terrorism and Islamic extremism pose threat to Britain. Julian Richards made clear that, â€Å"We have mentioned that, in the UK, counter-terrorism work as we understand it today effectively began in 1883 with the formation of the Special Irish Branch by the Metropolitan Police in London, later renamed simply the Special Branch as it took on a wider range of work against extremist and terrorist activity† (50). So, one can see that rapid increase in the number of terrorist attacks forced the British authorities to adopt innovative measures to deal with terrorism in Britain. Responding to terrorism in Britain Earlier, the British response to terrorism was limited to the context of the attacks initiated by the Irish Republican Army. But in the 21st century, global spread of terrorism created much trouble in the multiracial society of Britain. Paul Thomas made clear that, â⠂¬Å"For Britain, the shock was different, as the 7/7 attacks were carried out by four young Yorkshiremen, all raised and educated, and some born, in Britain-‘ordinary’ young Britons with regional Yorkshire accents who had willingly killed themselves in order to also kill fellow Britons in the name of their understanding of Islam† (N.Pag.). To be specific, the Islamic extremists were able to influence some of the immigrants in Britain. This eventually led to extremist plots like London bombings in 2005. On the other side, the British response to terrorism is interconnected with anti-terrorist legislation under UK law. The Acts and laws aim to track down and limit the funding facilities of the terrorist groups, and detention of

Education Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Education Leadership - Essay Example As much as leaders in the institutions of higher education face and encounter various challenges emanating from differences in expectations of policies, educational leadership has to be accredited the smooth running of the learning institutions and controversial issues resolved amicably. As noted by Hill, educational leadership is of great importance to the institutions of higher learning considering that it is the system that establishes direction and structural functioning of the institutions (28). It has been routine for education leaders to set future visions to be attained to ensure internal and external growth of the parties involved and the society in general. Setting vision by education leadership inspires the entire students’ body and teachers to work harder to ensure maximization of benefits of staying in the institutions of higher learning. Educational leadership further gains support of Hill as she indicates that it has been responsible in aligning people towards the realization of educational objectives (28). After setting visions, education leadership treads ahead to set example while identifying groups with similar goals and objectives and setting them towards attaining their particular goals. Moreover, Hill reckons that educational leadership has been instrumental in motivating and encouraging stakeholders in the field of higher education (28). The encouragement of the stakeholders has enabled participants in the field of higher education to overcome political rifts, unworthy bureaucracies and growth barriers. This has enabled students and other stakeholders in the field of higher education satisfy the basic needs by use of the limited resources and improve social relation and cohesion. In a nutshell, education leadership has led to blossom of respect among the key participants thereby leading to

South China Sea and the possible construct of a multi-national joint Research Paper

South China Sea and the possible construct of a multi-national joint force command - Research Paper Example The study was undertaken through a qualitative analysis approach. The analysis was aimed at answering the question will multi-national joint force enable global unity? If so, what ways can we use to undertake the process. Information from previous sources concerning the same issue was used to come up with constructive details to answer this question. The independent variables identified were the multi-national force whereas global development depended on the national relationships between different countries in order for peace and harmony to prevail. Scholarly articles by distinguished researchers on the area were thoroughly relied on to bring out a clear picture. The study will aim at identifying the relationship between the multi-national joint force and its impact on the future stability on the world’s economy and security. The results that will be obtained will be useful in making amendments to daily decision in regard to the future prediction. Another objective of the study will be recognizing the factors in organizing the multi-national joint force to ensure that the interests of the affected countries are considered. The results that will be obtained will be used to ensure that necessary amendments are put into place for the equity of all parties involved. The hypothesis developed suggests that there exists a significant relationship between multi-national partnership between different countries and the stability of the future world’s economy and security. Due to the increasing and high probability that tension will continue in the South China Sea region, there is need to determine the impact of constructing a multinational national joint force structure on the world’s future stability. United States’ engagement in military, economic and social involvement with the pacific region has a positive impact. Various researches have been conducted to identify the

What was the relationship between European overseas expansion and Essay - 1

What was the relationship between European overseas expansion and political, economic, and social developments in Europe - Essay Example In 1775, the British colonies in America revolted and demanded a representative government for them. And domestically the French revolution changed the political face of Europe under the French slogans of   libertà ©, egalità ©, fraternità ©. This also gave opportunity to Napolean Boaparte to impose war which changed the social life of Europe. Between 1815 and 1871, there were many revolution campaigns and Independence wars within and outside Europe. The social and trade union of England were a result of the war ridden years. Serfdom was also rejected by the Russians and Balkan nations started realizing that they need to be independent and needed major changes in their infra-structure, so they revolted against their Ottoman governments and started gaining independence. And right at the heart of Europe, after the Franco-Prussian war Italy and Germany became national estates and by 1871, most of the European countries had become constitutional monarchies. To capture the scrambles of this great divide and restructuring of the new countries, many European nations engaged in a war and World War I started which further changed Europe and its economics as real steel age had

Performance pay at safelight Auto Glass Case Study

Performance pay at safelight Auto Glass - Case Study Example Because of this, Safelite created this incentive system to motivate their employees and decrease turnover. As additional motivation, they created a table to show their technicians how much more money they could make if they put in more effort. They were still guaranteed their hourly wage, but if they put more effort into their work and increased the numbers of installations, they effectively would be able to increase their wage by $3 per hour or more. In addition to the technicians, it was important that store managers were also able to partake in and understand this PPP schematic. Depending on the size of the store, the managers were also expected to install a certain number of glass pieces, as well as maintaining the motivation of their staff. Safelite understood that there may be instances where a manager spending time installing glass would be detrimental, so they categorized their stores based on size. They largest, busiest store managers were not expected to install glass, but still needed to understand the PPP. Whereas managers in the smaller, slower stores were expected to spend some time in installation. This, according to Bill Rapp, was an incentive for them to hire and maintain a small number of technicians. â€Å"We want them to think, ‘If I hire another tech, I’ll have less to install myself.’† ultimately reducing the manager’s overall pay. 1B. Does it introduce new problem? Yes, it does. A reduction in the technician’s guaranteed hourly wage may result in a huge turnover. If a technician was for some reason unable to install enough glass pieces to compensate himself to his satisfaction, he likely would move on to a competing company that would offer him the highest rate possible. There are also a number of extenuating circumstances that were not taken into account. These include: scheduling errors or miscommunications, operational problems and inclement weather. All of these could prevent the technician fro m installing enough glass to make the PPP rate. Also, in winter time, the PPP was nearly impossible to attain, and the technicians were essentially at the mercy of the CSR’s, warehouse drivers and the employees at the manufacturing facility, who were not a part of the PPP plan. The PPP plan also came across to the technicians as, â€Å"†¦We’re gonna cut your pay by 30% and you can make up the difference,† (Gassiot). This likely induced a fear in the Safelite technicians, encouraging them to move on to a company that did not gamble with their wages. 2A. What are the pros and cons of switching from wage rates to piece rate pay? The pros and cons are very similar to the answers to questions 1A and 1B. The introduction of the PPP was a great idea, in as much as it offered technicians and managers alike the opportunity to earn a higher wage. Based on their productivity and how motivated they were, they could potentially increase their salary by $3 or more per ho ur. Given that the average technician in this study only received between $10 and $12 per hour, the additional $3 per hour or more was very enticing and motivating. The PPP did not only cover glass installation, which was another incentive. It covered windshields, other glass pieces, repairs, wipers and other items used and sold in the shop, which increased the ability for an installer to increase their pay rate even more. This was good for the managers in the smaller,

Super Bowl Ads Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Super Bowl Ads - Essay Example Budweiser over the past ten years it has proven its consistency in the rating of their advertisement. Their advertisement has always been among the top ten advertisements. In the year 2000 it recorded the highest rating of 8.93. Budweiser in its advertisement has used dogs and puppies that many Americans keep them as pet. The advertisement brings out humor of dogs and puppies that attracts people attention. The following advertisement scored the lowest in the recent concluded Super Bowl Ads rating; â€Å"Heroes Charge† by Ucool with a rating of 3.12, followed by â€Å"Tackle it† by Jublia with a rating of 3.22 and finally â€Å"save the data† by T-mobile with a rating of 3.50. â€Å"Heroes Charge† advertisement received the lowest rating than any other advertisement â€Å"Voter Breakdown† 2015, n.p). The past ten years advertisement from those companies did not make it to the top 10 list. This year they have tremendous improvement, but still they can do better to challenge Budweiser. The measures used rate advertisement by Super Bowl did have differences. For instance, the advertisement of â€Å"lost dog† by Budweiser did not have uniform performance on each measure. The first measure of state performance lost dog performed best in Rhode Island on a scale of one to ten it had a rating of 10 and lowest rating being Neville with 9.18 (â€Å"Dancing in the End Zone: Ads and Brands That Won Big for Super Bowl XLVIII† 2015, n.p.). From these statistics it can be noted that Budweiser brand is preferred in the state of Rhode Island; therefore Budweiser has highest sales there. Women are known to adore puppies and Budweiser wanted to draw their attention with a strategy that will also allure them to Budweiser’s products. Age range rating was different with old and young less than 21 years have the highest rating of 8.89 and 7.93 respectively. According to (Wright, 1977, 37), the advertisement creates humor to the young and old will reflect in the sa les. This strategy

Match of the Day Essay Example for Free

Match of the Day Essay Match of the day is a sports programme which shows the highlights from the current days premiership football. However before the programme is shown live, it is necessary for research to have been taken place beforehand. The research team on a programme like match of the day will be quite large. We know his as it may seem like not a lot of information is needed to be researched but in fact there is. On the rolling credits at the end of my captured match of the day episode it doesnt state the researchers. The reasons why this could be is that there are too many to name and it will be easier for them to put them in production team listing. You then also have runners on the show. The runners name is basically self explanatory about what they will do. They run around getting any last minute items. This could range from a cable extension to some tape or even an extra seat. The researchers need to be people who are determined. They need to be determined as they need to get the good interesting information about their teams. They also need to be well organised, they need to have a schedule about how and when they are going to gain information and this is good time organisation as well. The amount of researchers in MOTD is not clear by the credits however I would like to have a rough guess at about 8 researchers in my episode. To justify this prediction I think that for every highlighted game for the episode there will be one researcher. This means that seen as though there is 8 games of highlighted football on MOTD for that days programme, there will have been 8 researchers. Each researcher will have slightly different researching techniques but they all need to seek out the information one way or another. The sort of information which the researchers will have to look for are individual records, (i.e. if a player is only 3 goals away from reaching 100 goals or to be the clubs highest goal scorer) club records, (i.e. if they win this game it will break the clubs record for most consecutive victories) latest news of the club (i.e. takeover news) and they would have to look up any interesting facts about the teams playing one another (i.e. if a team hasnt beaten the opposition in so many years). The research which is obtained is used by both the presenters (Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Mark Lawrenson) which either introducing the game or when analysing the game once the highlights have been watched. However it is not just the presenters who need the information, it is also needed by the directors, the producers and graphics team. The directors and producers need the research in order to see what interesting stories they can insert into the programme. The graphics team need the research in order to get the research ready in case it is to go on the programme, listing the research for the viewers. Recce A recce would have to be done before the live broadcast of match of the day. A recce is where they will look at the studio and work out how much daylight is going to come in, where the plugs are and where all the equipment is going to go. They will sketch the layout of the studio and sketch in where all the equipment will go in the room. They will have multiple cameras in the studio along with the chairs and table of the presenters. Schedules Schedules are an important part of research as I stated before. A schedule is needed for every part of the programme/production. A researcher needs a schedule in order to get all the information they need in only a short period of time. If the researchers do not have a schedule and negligently dont get some research which is needed then the show maybe wont run as smoothly and may even lose some of its audience figures. Also if the researcher doesnt have a schedule and does get something wrong then it can push all the other parts of the production backwards. This can be a problem for the whole show seen as though it is on at more or less the sae time every week. Research Time Research time for match of the day is very strict. During the football season match of the day is on every Saturday at around the same time. This means that it only gives the researchers a week in order to get all the information they need. Researchers will be given a brief of everything which the show needs. This however will only be brief and the researcher will have to use their own common knowledge to know that more information is needed. They may have to look in newspapers for stories about the clubs and do extra work in order to help the show. Seen as though there is not enough time for new researchers to learn the trade by themselves and be taught by another researcher they will tag along with an experienced researcher taking in everything which they need to find and where to find it from. The reason why they will not get very good training is because there simply is not enough time. They could get another researcher in to teach them but this will run up more budget costs. For every week they will look through the database and get all the information they can. After some experience in the job it will become quite routine. They will know exactly where to look in the database and some researchers will also already know some of the stats which they need before they even go and search for them. Also some stats could also go on from one weekend onto another if a certain player is only one goal away from breaking a record.

Trait Paradigm of Psychology for Intelligence

Trait Paradigm of Psychology for Intelligence Trait Paradigm of Psychology and How It Applies To the Measurement of Intelligence and Personality: An Explanation It has long been observed that individuals differ one from another on many psychological dimensions. This is why Cervone and Lawrence (2007) say that traits, the primary unit of personality description, are relatively enduring ways in which individuals differ. Assessment at the level of traits is variable centered and nomothetic, focusing on differences among individuals, as opposed to the person-centered and idio-graphic approach that focuses on individuals, and that typically characterises assessment at deeper and more abstract levels of personality. An area of intense interest among psychologists is the measurement of individual differences in personality. Lubinski (2004) mentions personality is commonly defined as the constellation of traits, or typical and relatively stable patterns of responding to the environment, which are unique to various individuals. An important focus of educational psychology is the assessment of these traits and other related psychological attributes su ch as interests, preferences, and attitudes (Lubinski, 2004). Personality traits describe individual differences in human beings typical ways of perceiving, thinking, feeling, and behaving that are generally consistent over time and across situations. Three major research areas are central to trait psychology. First, trait psychologists have attempted to identify sets of basic traits that adequately describe between-person variation in human personality. Second, social scientists across disciplines use personality traits to predict behavior and life outcomes. Third, trait psychologists attempt to understand the nature of behavioral consistency and the coherence of the person in relation to situational influences. Cervone and Lawrence (2007) mention that there are two prominent approaches to identifying the basic personality traits and their organizational structure (McCrae and John 1992). The lexical approach emphasizes the evaluation of personality trait adjectives in the natural language lexicon and assumes that those personality descriptors encoded in everyday language reflect important individual differences, particularly if they are found across languages. The questionnaire approach attempts to assess important traits derived from psychologically based and biologically based personality theories. Self- and peerratings on sets of lexically derived or theoretically derived traits have typically been subjected to factor analysis to develop hierarchical organizations of traits reflecting a small number of broad superordinate dimensions overarching a large number of narrow-band traits. At the superordinate level, contemporary trait structural models vary in the number of dimensions necessary to organize lower-order traits, ranging from two to sixteen. Each of these models can be assessed via self- and peer-report using reliable and well-validated questionnaires and rating forms (Cervone and Lawrence, 2007). In the most influential and widely used structural model, thirty traits are hierarchically organized into five broad bipolar dimensions, reflecting a convergence of the Big Five lexical traits and the questionnaire-based five-factor model. The Big Five/FFM dimensions are neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Adherents of the Big Five/FFM model assert that these dimensions can be found across languages and personality measures, providing a comprehensive and parsimonious account of individual differences in personality (Cervone and Lawrence, 2007). Contemporary research on the heritability of traits has focused on the Big Five/FFM dimensions. Behavioral genetic studies have found substantial heritability ranging from 41 percent to 61 percent for the broad dimensions, with little evidence of shared environmental effects (Cervone and Lawrence, 2007). Heritability of the narrowband traits of the FFM is more modest, ranging from 30 percent to 50 percent. It is widely believed that traits are influenced by multiple genes; molecular genetic studies, however, have not replicated results linking specific genes to personality traits. In addition to the genetic correlates of traits, promising new efforts by neuropsychologists using functional brain imaging and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings have begun to reveal the neural basis for traits. Trait theory has been applied to industrial/organizational psychology where it has been used to predict employee satisfaction and job performance. Personality traits have also been of interest to forensic psychologists in predicting psychopathic and deviant behavior. Other areas in which traits have been successfully employed include: predicting mate selection as well as marital satisfaction, social psychology, counseling, studies of human development across the lifespan, cross-cultural studies, learning and educational outcomes, and health-related behaviors and outcomes (Cervone and Lawrence, 2007). Individuals differ from one another behaviorally in myriad ways. Differential psychology, the scientific study of these individual differences, provides an organizational structure for this vast array of psychological attributes (Lubinski, 2004). In words of Cervone and Lawrence (2007) by examining broad behavioral patterns and using systematic assessments of relatively stable personal attributes, differential psychology allows longitudinal forecasting of a variety of important life outcomes. Because much of the research in this area focuses particular attention on predicting long-term life outcomes, and because work is such a large and important feature of adult life, the relationships between many commonly investigated individual difference constructs and various aspects of work behavior. For example educational-vocational choice, acquisition of job-related knowledge, job performance, job satisfaction and tenure are well understood. Traditionally, the measurement of individual differences has relied on psychometric scales based on the aggregation of many items. Because any single item on a scale represents only a sliver of information about a personal attribute, aggregation is used to create a composite of several lightly correlated items. This approach distills the communality running through the items and constitutes highly reliable and useful information about the human characteristic under analysis (Gottfredson, 2003). Although individuals are commonly described in the more popular press in terms of types, implying that people are members of distinct categories (e.g., extraverts or introverts), individual difference variables are rarely observed as discrete classes. Rather, the majority of individuals are found near the center of a continuous distribution, with few observations at either extreme. The distributional pattern of most individual difference variables is well represented by the normal (bell-shaped) curve (Cervone and Lawrence, 2007). The major dimensions of individual differences can be classified into three overlapping clusters: cognitive abilities, preferences (interests and values), and personality (Gottfredson, 2003). The predominant scientific conceptualization of cognitive abilities involves a hierarchical organization. Various models of additional specific abilities have been proposed, but the hierarchical nature of human abilities is salient in each (Lubinski, 2000). For example, John Carroll factor analyzed more than 460 data sets collected throughout the 20th century and found a general factor (g) at the apex that explained approximately half of the common variance among a heterogeneous collection of tests, revealing a communality running through many different types of more specialized abilities and the tests designed to measure them. This general intelligence factor exhibits an extensive range of external correlates, implicating it as arguably the most scientifically significant dimension of human psychological diversity uncovered by differential psychology to date. It has repeatedly demonstrated its utility in the prediction of educationally and vocationally relevant outcomes, including the acquisition of job-related knowledge and job performance (Lubinski, 2000). For example, in a meta-analysis of 85 years of research on personnel selection methods, Frank Schmidt and John Hunter reported that g is the best single predictor of performance in job-training programs, exhibiting an average validity coefficient of .56. Schmidt and Hunter further reported that the validity of g in predicting job performance is second only to that of work sample measures. However, because the use of work samples is limited to use with incumbents and is much costlier to implement, g is usually considered more efficient. The predictive validity of g in forecasting job performance varies as a function of job complexity, with stronger relationships among more complex positions. Hunter reports validity coefficients of .58 for professional and managerial positions, .56 for highly technical jobs, .40 for semiskilled labor, and .23 for unskilled labor. For the majority of jobs (62%), those classified as medium-complexity, a validity coefficient of .51 was observed. The general factor of intelligence is supplemented by several more circumscribed, specific abilities that have demonstrated psychological importance. David Lubinski and his colleagues have shown that at least three add incremental validity to the variance-explained by g: verbal, mathematical, and spatial abilities. The importance of specific abilities may be even more apparent at higher levels of functioning (Cervone and Lawrence, 2007). In examinations of numerous job analysis data sets, for example, Linda Gottfredson found that, although the functional duties of jobs were characterized primarily by their cognitive complexity (i.e., demands on general intelligence), jobs requiring above-average intelligence were more dependent on profiles of specific abilities than were those jobs requiring average or below average general intelligence (Lillienfeld, Wood and Garb, 2000). Dpecific abilities are relevant in the prediction of job performance, but they are also important in predicting the educational and vocational niches into which individuals self-select. This self-selection occurs even at extraordinary levels of general intellectual development. In a recent 10-year longitudinal study, for example, Lubinski compared the educational-vocational tracks chosen by three groups of profoundly gifted individuals (top 1 in 10,000 for their age): a high verbal group (individuals with advanced verbal reasoning ability, relative to their mathematical ability), a high math group (individuals with advanced mathematical reasoning ability, relative to their verbal ability), and a high flat profile group (individuals with comparably high verbal and mathematical abilities). Despite having similar levels of general cognitive ability, the three groups diverged in their professional developmental choices (Lillienfeld, Wood and Garb, 2000). High math participants were frequ ently pursuing training in scientific and technological professions, whereas high verbal participants were doing so in the humanities and arts. High flat participants were intermediate. Hollands model of interests organizes six general occupational themes in a hexagon with one theme at each vertex in the hexagon. The themes are ordered according to their pattern of inter-correlations: Adjacent themes in the hexagon are more highly correlated to one another, whereas opposite themes are least correlated. This model is known as the RIASEC model, an acronym for the six themes represented in the hexagon: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional (Cervone and Lawrence, 2007). Individuals with high realistic interests exhibit preferences for working with things and tools; those with high investigative interests enjoy scientific pursuits; high artistic interests reflect desires for aesthetic pursuits and self-expression; social interests involve preferences for contact with people and opportunities to help people; individuals high in enterprising interests enjoy buying, marketing, and selling; and those with conventional interests are comfor table with office practices and well-structured tasks. Individuals relative normative strengths on each of the RIASECs general occupational themes are commonly assessed using the Strong Interest Inventory (Carroll, 1993). Although the generalizability of the RIASEC model has emerged repeatedly in large samples, Dale Prediger has suggested that the model can be reduced to two relatively independent bipolar dimensions: people versus things, and data versus ideas. People versus things may be superimposed on the social and realistic themes, respectively (Carroll, 1993). Running to the first dimension, the second dimension, data versus ideas, locates data between the enterprising and conventional themes and ideas between the artistic and investigative themes. The people versus things dimension represents one of the largest sex differences on a trait uncovered in psychology (a full standard deviation, with women scoring higher on the desire to work with people, and men, with things), revealing important implications for the occupations that men and women choose. Values constitute another category of personal preferences germane to learning and work, which have demonstrated their utility in the prediction of both educational and occupational criteria. Values are validly assessed by the Study of Values, which reports the intra-individual prominence of six personal values: theoretical, economic, political, social, aesthetic, and religious. These dimensions provided an additional 13% of explained variance above the 10% offered by math and verbal abilities in the prediction of undergraduate majors in gifted youth assessed over a 10-year interval; moreover, this finding has recently been generalized to occupational criteria, measured in commensurate terms, over a 20-year interval. However, although preferences do seem to play an important role in predicting occupational group membership and tenure, once individuals self-select into occupational fields, the utility of preferences for predicting job performance in those fields is limited (Carroll, 1 993). Empirical examinations of personality use trait models to understand a persons typical interpersonal style and behavioral characteristics. These models have historically relied on a lexical approach that assumes that important dimensions of human personality are encoded in human language. This method has been fruitful: Lewis Goldberg, among others (Ackerman, 1996), has factor analyzed the lexicons of many languages and found a five-factor model of personality with remarkable similarities across cultures (see also investigations by Robert McCrae and Paul Costa). Although the labels for each of the factors have varied, similar underlying constructs consistently emerge: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Extraversion is characterized by terms such as talkative, sociable, or not reserved; agreeableness by good-natured, cooperative, or not cold; conscientiousness by responsible, thorough, or not disorganized; neuroticism (sometimes referred to as emotional stability, reversed) by anxious, emotional, or not calm; and openness to experience (sometimes referred to as culture or intellect) by imaginative, reflective, or not narrow. The normative standing of individuals on each of the dimensions of the five-factor model of personality is commonly assessed using the NEO Personality Inventory, although an analogous instrument, the IPIP-NEO (IPIP is International Personality Item Pool), is available in the public domain at http:/ / ipip.ori.org/ Collectively (and sometimes individually), these broad dimensions of personality are valid predictors of occupational training and subsequent performance. For example, across multiple occupational categories, conscientiousness alone exhibits validity coefficients in the low .20s for predicting training and job proficiency. This particular combination of personality factors, conscientiousness and emotional stability, is found in tests of integrity commonly used in personnel selection (Spies Plake, 2005). From an individuals perspective, an appreciation of ones cognitive abilities, preferences, and personality provide invaluable insight for directing ones career development in personally rewarding ways. From an organizational perspective, one may use this information—available through measures of individual differences—to estimate the likelihood of desirable work behavior (e.g., citizenship, job performance, satisfaction, and tenure). References Ackerman, P. L., 1996, A Theory Of Adult Intellectual Development: Process, Personality, Interests, And Knowledge. Intelligence vol. 22 pp. 227-257 (1996). Aiken, L. R. (2000), Psychological Testing And Assessment (10th ed.). Boston: Allyn Bacon. Carroll, J. B. (1993), Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey Of Factor-Analytic Studies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Cervone, Lawrence A. Pervin, 2007, Personality: Theory and Research, Wiley; 10th edition (February 26, 2007), pp. 45-67. Gottfredson, L. S., 2003, The Challenge And Promise Of Cognitive Career Assessment. Journal of Career Assessment vol. 11 pp. 115-135 (2003). Lubinski, D., 2000, Scientific And Social Significance Of Assessing Individual Differences: â€Å"Sinking Shafts At A Few Critical Points.† Annual Review of Psychology vol. 51 pp. 405-444 (2000). Lubinski, D., 2004, Introduction To The Special Section On Cognitive Abilities: 100 Years After Spearmans (1904) â€Å"‘General intelligence, objectively determined and measured.† Journal of Personality and Social Psychology vol. 86 pp. 96-111 (2004). Lillienfeld, S. O., Wood, J. M. , and Garb, H. N., 2000, The Scientific Status Of Projective Techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest vol. 1 (2000). pp. 27-66 Spies, R. A. , ed. , Plake, B. S. (Eds.). (2005), The Sixteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook. Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements. Candidate Number 33156762 Rapid (complex) decision making based on facial appearance Making first impressions, evaluating a person from the moment we first see them, happens spontaneously and seemingly without any cognitive effort. We do it naturally when we see and meet new people, in order to have an idea of who they are beforehand instead of unknowingly acting in a way they might find inappropriate. It appears that humans are excellent in judging personality traits and such things as complex social characteristics like dominance, hierarchy, warmth, and especially threat. For instance, think about this example. Youre walking down a dark street, late at night trying to get home, and you see someone coming towards you. As you pass the person, you see a tall and bulky figure wearing a black hood that puts a shadow on a roughed up looking man. Before you can make a conscious thought, your legs have already moved as far away from him as possible, purely out of instinct, even thought a second later you realize its your neighbor and you shakily smile at them and keep walking. The first impression that had subconsciously and immediately formed in the mind had already controlled the bodys reaction to what it perceived to be a threat (a scary looking man). Yet, it also shows how incorrect first impressions can be, and that can have a huge effect on peoples lives. Since its such a big part of everyday life, psychologists have looked deeply into the workings of first impressions. Social perception is the field of study which looks into how we form impressions and make inferences about other people. It is a very complex process, especially forming impressions of objects, animals and most importantly people. We form first impressions of others very quickly and usually based on little information. We give special attention to salient features, focusing first on the face, then physical features while moving on to appearance and clothes. Then the process continues to categorizing the first impression of a person into a member of a group, starting broadly, from age and gender, and narrowing down to explicit features. It is followed by our own previous knowledge that comes into effect of our impression as well as previous behavior that has been gathered about that impression, as then our own needs and goals influence how we perceive others. And that information is needed, as people can be unpredictable. In the past the information was needed in order to distinguish trustworthy people from those who mean us harm, when now its socially needed to interact suitably with people. In order to understand first impressions, the biology behind it must be understood. From an evolutionary point of view, first impressions have adaptive advantages, such as picking the appropriate mate. The first impression we perceive of someone is essential for us to understand how physically attractive, reliable, and strong they are, as we make that decision based on physical appearance rather than the personality of the person, as we would like the offspring to be good looking, healthy, meaning characteristics that are advantageous to the perceivers reproductive needs, and we must act fast before the window of opportunity closes. Also if someone means us harm, or is ill, there is the possibility of us being harmed or falling ill ourselves, again we must act fast to avoid this. Usually the first impressions are most accurate, but there is always human error, as sometimes what we perceive to be trustworthy, isnt. What the evolutionary point of view argues is that its possible that o ur ability to form first impressions isnt due to practice, but instinct. We seem to effortlessly form first impressions and even better with practice and experience. There are reasons to suggest that people may have an adaptive predisposition to form rapid first impressions when meeting someone. When people look at other peoples features its important to act fast, because for an instance, if someone is untrustworthy then they may look like they may harm, cheat or insult us and we should register the fact as quick as possible in order to act appropriately. If not, then the consequences may be being killed, hurt or cheated. Its better to be prepared to fight off harm rather than mull over the intent of the other person. There have been several studies that have looked at trustworthiness and first impression. These are not just the source of benefits, but there are also the sources of threats, for instance when forming the first impression, it must be fast as there is competition, and sometimes the competition could mean us harm. Even good meaning individual s may pose a threat to our health or reproductive fitness. Schiller et al 2009, investigated the brain mechanisms that rise when first impressions are rapidly formed when meeting a stranger (Schiller et al 2009). There were nineteen right-handed participants, who were told that they would see information about different people and were asked to give their impressions of them. In their neuro-imaging analysis, where they examined which regions showed the difference in evaluation effect out of regions that were broadly engaged in the impression-formation task, the only regions showing significantly greater bold responses to evaluation-relevant sentences were the amygdala the PCC and the thalamus. There were no regions showing the opposite effect. The first study suggesting that the amygdala, a part of the brain that research has shown to perform a role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions has an important role in trustworthiness judgments, was conducted by Adolphs, Tranel, Damasio, 1998. They showed that patients with bilateral amygdala damage perceived untrustworthy-looking faces as trustworthy, and couldnt discriminate between trustworthy and untrustworthy faces (Adolphs, Tranel, and Damasio, 1998). Several years later, Engell, Haxby Todorov, 2007, looked into the fact of whether a stranger is trustworthy, as one of the most important decisions in social environments and relations, something we consider when acquainting with new people (Engell, Haxby Todorov, 2007). There is considerable data about the significance of trait impressions from faces, yet there is little research about the neural mechanisms causing these impressions. There were one hundred and twenty-nine undergraduate students participating i n the study, where functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to show that the amygdala is involved in hidden evaluations of trustworthiness of faces, consistent with previous findings. They reported that the amygdala response increased as perceived trustworthiness decreased in a task that did not demand person evaluation. Engell, Haxby Todorov also tested whether the increased amygdala response was due to an individuals own personal perception or to face characteristics that are perceived as untrustworthy throughout individuals. The amygdala response was better predicted by agreed ratings of trustworthiness than by an individuals own judgments. Individual judgments accounted for little outstanding variance in the amygdala after controlling for the shared variance with agreed ratings. The findings of this study suggested that the amygdala categorizes faces automatically according to face characteristics that are seen to show trustworthiness. More recently, Todorov Duchaine, 2008, looked at developmental prosopagnosics who had severe impairments in their memory for faces and perception of facial identity who showed they could make normal trustworthiness judgments of novel faces (Todorov Duchaine, 2008). Their control group consisted of forty-eight undergraduate students, mostly male with the mean age of twenty, which were younger compared to the four developmental prosopagnosics used in the experiment, where they were presented with face sets with the question â€Å"How trustworthy is this person?† and asked to respond on the scale below the photograph. What they found was that there were no significant differences between male and female control participants on both their agreement in the ratings of the faces and their mean trustworthiness judgments. They also tested the four prosopagnosics on three different face sets: set one consisted of faces that contrasted on multiple proportions and which were also used t o demonstrate injuries in trustworthiness judgments of patients with bilateral amygdala damage. The other two sets consisted of normal faces with a direct look, with neutral expression and similar age. Todorov Duchaine found that on all the tests, two of the prosopagnosics made judgments that agreed with the controls judgments while the other two showed weak. The implications of this experiment suggest that there is a correlation that the tests mapped the same underlying judgment irrespective of the specific face stimuli. The normal performance of two of the prosopagnosics suggested that forming person impressions from faces involves mechanisms functionally independent of mechanisms for encoding the identity of faces. A later study by Oosterhof Todorov, 2009, proposed that changes in trustworthiness match to the subtle changes in expressions, which show whether the person displaying the emotion should be avoided or approached (Oosterhof Todorov, 2009). Oosterhof and Todorov used a dynamic paradigm where faces expressed either happiness or anger. There were sixty undergraduate students participating in the experiment, with twenty-one participating in the selection of trustworthy and untrustworthy faces, and thirty-nine participated in the dynamic stimuli study. They manipulated changes in face trustworthiness at the same time as with the change in the face expression, for instance changes from high to low trustworthiness increased the intensity of participants perceived anger but decreased the intensity of participants perceived happiness. What they found was that trustworthy faces who expressed happiness were seen as happier than untrustworthy faces, and untrustworthy faces who expressed anger w ere seen as angrier than trustworthy faces, which makes sense as the more angry and unapproachable someone looks, the more likely we are to avoid them for our own safety as they would look intimidating to us. When we first make an interaction with someone, our facial recognition of them is essential for the social interaction. Its not a conscious thought per se, when the decision of how trustworthy someone is, but it happens, and we decide whether the person weve just met is someone we can relate to, then maybe consider a friend, and later depend on them with everything that we care about. Its not a light matter, our lives are who and what we are, and unfortunately as it is we cannot rely sorely on ourselves, and we need other people, may it be for help, comfort or just a chat. And of course, the people we look for are those who wont turn their backs on us when we need them and will be there to support us. Its a simple survival skill, trust those who wont hurt us and we can live normally. When people are emotionally animated it is much easier to perceive the expressions they convey, particularly threatening and fearful ones very swiftly, which helps us respond to danger quickly. But how fast are first impressions exactly? Several researches have looked into how fast first impressions are made. In 2006, Bar et al looked into the fact that first impressions of peoples personalities are often formed by using the visual appearance of their faces (Bar, Neta, Linz, 2006). They reported four experiments; with the first measuring the speed of how first impressions of intelligence and threatening personality are made. They used sixty adults, mostly women, where the participants in the experiment were shown one face at a time and were asked to rate, on a scale ranging from 1 to 5, the level that they perceived each face to belong first to threatening person, and later followed with an intelligent person at the second part of the experiment. What Bat et al did was present the faces for different time lengths to different groups of participants, the first group was presented the faces for a short time and the other group was presented with faces for a longer time and then the correlation between the judgments of each group was measured, they identified how quickly participants judged a face as having a certain personality. The results demonstrate that consistent first impressions can be formed very quickly, based on whatever information is available within the first 39 ms. First impressions were less consistent under these conditions when the judgments were about intelligence, suggesting that survival-related traits are judged more quickly. The study showed that when faces are particularly emotionally expressive, people can detect these expressions that are being conveyed, such as threatening and fearful expressions, very quickly and mostly subconsciously. While Bar, Neta, Linz, 2006, looked at neutral expressions in their study, Blair, Morris, Frith, Perrett, Dolan, 1999, looked at emotions portrayed by the face. Blair et al, 1999, used functional neuroimaging to test two hypotheses: one, whether the amygdala has a neural response to sad and angry facial expressions and two, whether the orbito-frontal cortex has a specific neural response to angry facial expressions (Blair, Morris, Frith, Perrett, Dolan, 1999). There were thirteen male participants, all with the mean age of 25 who were PET scanned, while performing a sex discrimination task that consisted of grey-scale images of faces that expressed different degrees of sadness and anger. They found that increasing force of sad facial expressions was associated with enhanced activity in the left amygdala and right temporal pole. The results also indicated

Nursing Management of a Chronic Illness: Diabetes

Nursing Management of a Chronic Illness: Diabetes Maddison Adams Over time, ineffective management of diabetes can lead to a number of health related problems such as damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. Diabetes is a rapidly growing health epidemic. Insulin is a hormone that is produced to regular blood sugar levels. Diabetes is a chronic illness that can be caused by the pancreas producing an inadequate amount of insulin; this is referred to as type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is not preventable and the cause is not known. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by the body ineffectively using the insulin produced by the pancreas. This type of diabetes occurs in approximately 90% of the individuals living with diabetes. It is mainly caused by obesity and lack of physical exercise. Another type of diabetes is referred to as gestational diabetes; this is caused by hyperglycemia during pregnancy. The incidence of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes has made a dramatic increase in recent years. It is classified as one of the world†™s leading causes of illness and premature death. Powerlessness is referred to as the feelings expressed by an individual suffering from a chronic illness, it can occur at some point during their illness. There are numerous methods in which individuals with diabetes can control and be involved in their own healthcare. Nurses play a very important role in improving the health outcomes of individuals living with diabetes. Some strategies a nurse can implement to empower and facilitate self-management for patients and families or carers include: educating the client about correct administration of insulin and blood glucose monitoring, empowerment of the client in order for them to recognize and acknowledge the amount of control their have and require regarding their own health outcomes as well as assisting the client with the development of realistic and attainable healthcare goals. The client is in complete control of their healthcare requirements. Previous research has highlighted the importance of the role of the nurse and how they can improve client compliance and ultimately improve the quality of life in individuals living with diabetes. This improvement is influenced by education and empowerment techniques implemented by the nurse that enable the client to effectively self-manage their chronic illness. Diabetes is a worldwide health epidemic, therefore it is critical that individuals involved in the care of a client with diabetes take the necessary action to educate and empower the client with diabetes. Recent statistics has highlighted the prevalence of diabetes. In 2013, approximately 347 million individuals worldwide lived with diabetes. It is predicted that by 2030, diabetes will be the seventh leading cause of death. Complications associated with diabetes includes kidney failure, cardiovascular disease, diabetic retinopathy and diabetic neuropathy. Ac cording to WHO, in 2004 it was estimated that 34 million individuals died as a result of the complications of diabetes such as hyperglycemia. Poorly controlled diabetes contributes to other consequences other than the physical consequences. These include: the emotional impact on the individual and family or carer and the financial issues associated with living with a chronic illness. These consequences combine to result in the client with diabetes becoming less compliant and also experiencing a reduced quality of life. The negative consequence of living with diabetes exposes the client to the risks of lifelong financial and emotional issues. The nurse plays a diverse role in assisting their client with education regarding how to embrace their chronic illness with the aim to achieve the best possible quality of life. Introducing an explaining the medical interventions that are implemented in order to manage diabetes, such as insulin and blood glucose monitoring, encourages the creation of realistic and attainable goals as well as assisting the client to form what to self-manage and learn certain copying techniques in order to gain control over with health outcomes, avoiding the illness taking control are some strategies that allows the clients to make informed choice and changes to their healthcare in the future. The first strategy the nurse can implement is assisting their client with developing realistic and attainable goals in regards to their longtime diabetes management. Encouraging the client to create health care goals will not always lead to the client attaining them. The nurse must understand and be aware of the various problems related to helping their client develop health care goals that are realistic, and especially attainable. The goals the client creates must be specific and based on physical outcomes (e.g. not drinking sweetened beverages), measureable (e.g. running for half an hour twice a week), action orientated (e.g. exercise). The goals must be both challenging but realistic so that the client is not discouraged by the over challenging goals or has no sense of accomplishment due to ease of attaining goal. There are numerous barriers that are related to creating goals and may deter the client from achieving them. Knowledge deficit regarding the influence of lifestyle factors on diabetes management may cause clients to misunderstand the importance of setting health goals and prevent them from adhering to them. The client may also avoid changes to their health behavior goals due to emotional barriers such as lack of motivation. Another disadvantage the nurse may face when assisting their client with creating a goal is lack of finances and barriers in available resources. These barriers include lack of money and lack of social support systems. Clients may require assistance with planning ways to overcome difficulties to attaining health goals. These difficulties may include the inability to afford fresh fruit and vegetables to maintain a nutrient rich diet. It is important that strategies are in place for each barrier the nurse identifies in order to overcome them. This is due to some cli ents lacking the skills required to solve problems that may come in contact with when living with a chronic illness when consumed with other issues such as financial difficulties. Another strategy the nurse can implement is educating the client on the correct administration of insulin and blood glucose monitoring. Many barriers can impair the client’s ability to self-manage their diabetes in an effective manner despite having been educated on medication administration and blood glucose monitoring. Clients may be resistant to following a insulin administration regimen due to factors such as fear of administrating an injection, being uncertain about the correct injection techniques and being afraid of having a hyperglycemia or hypoglycemic episode. These concerns are shared among individuals with diabetes in regards to monitoring their blood glucose levels. According to H, the clients that became tolerant of daily blood glucose monitoring remain unaware of how to correctly interpret the blood glucose levels and were unaware of how to change their food consumption and contribution to physical activity, let alone determine when insulin administration was re quired. Current diabetes self-management education (DSME) is a short program that clients with diabetes complete and involves education regarding basic self-management skills. Further education and developments of these skills is required in order to allow patients to possess the adequate knowledge and the comfort required to effectively manage their illness for their lifetime. Another barrier related to educating the client on the correct administration of insulin and blood glucose monitoring involves lack of finances that are required to adequately maintain control of the client’s chronic illness. A client that has been diagnosed with diabetes will live with the illness for their entire life; therefore the financial impact on the client will be lifelong. The financial impact of living with a chronic illness such as diabetes can contribute to emotional and financial difficulties that may have a negative effect on the client self-management efforts. Issues the client may face living with diabetes includes the inability to afford the supplies required to maintain specific health goals. This financial difficulty can be caused by lack of health insurance or low socio-economic status and has the potential to put the client at risk of having reduced compliance and poorer health outcomes. According to Stys (2007), client’s living with diabetes that have health insurance can afford prescription medications and therefore are involved in better health outcomes compared to client without health insurance. Also, many clients are able to self-manage their diabetes but are unable to due to financial difficulties. The final strategy the nurse can implement is assisting the patient to develop copying techniques as well as empowering them to identify and acknowledge the control they have on their diabetes. Educating the client regarding ways to cope and empowering them to effectively self-manage their diabetes is an important role of the nurse. The client may experience stress as a result of the fear of the complications of diabetes, depression, tough medication and diet guidelines and the feeling of being overwhelmed is associated with the client being less likely to effectively self-manage their illness. Morbidity, mortality, limitation to function and reduced quality of life can been caused by emotional distress. The nurse must respond to stress experienced by their client quickly in order to adequate educate them on ways of coping with diabetes as well as encouraging the client to gain a reasonable understanding and acceptance of their illness. This is a requirement for patients living with diabetes and will result in the client feeling empowered and in control of their health. Despite advances in the treatment of diabetes, clients with the chronic illness have less than optimal control and therefore suffer from preventable complications associated with it. There are numerous methods in which individuals with diabetes can control and be involved in their own healthcare. Previous research has highlighted the importance of the role of the nurse and how they can improve client compliance and ultimately improve the quality of life in individuals living with diabetes. This improvement is influenced by education and empowerment techniques implemented by the nurse that enable the client to effectively self-manage their chronic illness. Being aware of the strategies that are effective in assisting a client with a chronic illness as well as the barriers they may face is an important aspect in improving the health outcomes of individuals living with diabetes. References Aldridge, V 2005, Facilitating self-management for diabetes patients, Practice Nurse, 29, 11, pp. 33-38, Health Business Elite. Asimakopoulou, K 2007, ‘’Empowerment in the self-management of diabetes: Are we ready to test assumptions’, Talking Point, 4, 3, pp.94-97. Cyrino, A, Schraiber, L, Teixeira, R 2009, Education for type 2 diabetes mellitus self-care: From compliance to empowerment’, Interface, 13, 30, pp.93-106. Funnell, M, Tang, T, Anderson, R 2007, From research to practice/DSME support. From DSME to DSMS: Developing empowerment-based diabetes self-management support, Diabetes Spectrum, 20, 4, pp. 221-226. Funnel, M, Anderson, R 2004, ‘Empowerment and self-management of diabetes’, 22, 2, pp.123-127. Heisler, M 2007, From research to practice/DSME support. Overview of peer support models to improve diabetes self-management and clinical outcomes, Diabetes Spectrum, 20, 4, pp. 214-221. Marrero, D, Ard, J, Delamater, A, Peragallo-Dittko, V, Mayer-Davis, E, Nwankwo, R, Fisher, E 2013, ‘Twenty-first century behavioral medicine: A context for empowering clinicians and patients with diabetes’, Diabetes Care, 36, 2, pp.463-470. Peyrot, M, Rubin, R 2007, ‘Behavioral and psychosocial interventions in diabetes: A conceptual review’, Diabetes Care, 30, 10, pp.2433-2441. Scambler, S, Newtown, P, Asimakopoulou, K 2014, ‘The context of empowerment and self-care within the field of diabetes’, Health, 1, 16, pp.1-16. Stys, A Kulkarni, K 2007, Identification of self-care behaviors and adoption of lifestyle changes result in sustained glucose control and reduction of comorbidities in Type 2 diabetes’, Diabetes Spectrum, 20, 1, pp.55-59. World Health Organization 2013, ‘Diabetes Program 2013’, retrieved May 5th, 2014, http://www.who.int/diabetes/en/> MADDISON ADAMS (211265503)

Ben Franklin: Early Life Essay -- Essays Papers

Ben Franklin: Early Life In his many careers as a printer, moralist, essayist, civic leader, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, and philosopher, for later generations of Americans he became both a spokesman and a model for the national character. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Jan. 17, 1706, into a religious Puritan household. His father, Josiah, was a candlemaker and a skillful mechanic. His mother, Abiah Ben’s parents raised thirteen children--the survivors of Josiah’s seventeen children by two wives (#1). Printer & Writer Franklin left school at ten years old when he was pressed into his father's trade. At twelve Ben was apprenticed to his half brother James, a printer of The New England Courant. He generally absorbed the values and philosophy of the English Enlightenment. At the age of 16, Franklin wrote some pieces for the Courant signed "Silence Dogood," in which he parodied the Boston authorities and society (#3). At one point James Franklin was imprisoned for his liberal statements, and Benjamin carried on the paper himself. Having thus learned to resist oppression, Benjamin refused to suffer his brother's own domineering qualities and in 1723 ran away to Philadelphia (#1). Soon Franklin found a job as a printer. After a year he went to England, where he became a master printer, sowed some wild oats, amazed the locals with his swimming feats, and lived among inspiring writers of London. By 1726 Franklin was tiring of London (#1). He considered becoming an itinerant teacher of swimming, but when a Quaker merchant by the name of Thomas Denham offered him a clerkship in his store in Philadelphia, he decided to return home (#5). Returning to Philadelphia in 1726, he soon owned a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, and began to print Poor Richard's Almanac. In the Pennsylvania Gazette, a citizen asked editor Franklin the following question: "If A found out that his neighbor B was sleeping with his wife, was he justified in telling B's wife, and persuading her to seek a little revenge with A?" The editor's response: "If an ass kicks me, should I kick him again? (#4)" His business expanded further when he contracted to do the public printing of the province, and established partnerships with printers in other colonies. He also operated a bookshop and became clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly and postmaster of Philadelp... ...eek. These virtues include temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquillity, chastity, and humility. The Autobiography is not the full story of Franklin’s life. It terminates approximately in his fifty-third year, before he became America’s greatest diplomat. Poor Richard was an uneducated but experienced homespun philosopher, created and edited by Ben Franklin from 1732-1757. Although Poor Richard of the early almanacs was a dim-witted and foolish astronomer, a round character soon replaced him who was a rich source of prudent and clever aphorisms on the value of economy, hard work, and the simple life. WORKS CITED 1. â€Å"Benjamin Franklin.† Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 1998 ed. CD-ROM. Danbury: Grolier Interactive Inc., 1998. 2. Franklin, Benjamin The Autobiography and other writings of Benjamin Franklin. Donovan, Frank, ed. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1963. 3. Ketcham, Ralph â€Å"Benjamin Franklin.† Lexicon Universal Encyclopedia. Vol.8. New York: Lexicon Publications Inc., 1989. 282-284. 4. http://library.advanced.org/22254/home.htm 5. http://www-lj.eb.com/

History of Computers :: essays research papers

History of the Computer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first large-scale, computer. The ENIAC was built for the military to calculate the paths of artillery shells. Later on it was used to make calculation for nuclear weapons research, weather predictions, and wind tunnel design. â€Å"The ENIAC was brought in to use inn February of 1946 and was used unit October 1955† (Encarta). The creators of the ENIAC were American physicist John W. Mauchly and American Electrical engineer John Persper Eckert, Jr. at Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Eckert and Mauchly demonstrated the ENIAC less than three years after the Army commissioned its construction. In 1947 the ENIAC moved from the University of Pennsylvania to its permanent home at the Aberdeen Proving ground in Maryland. â€Å"Only one system of its type was ever built, but operated continuously until October 1955† (Encarta). The ENIAC was very different than modern day computers, which use microprocessors composed of thousands or millions of transistors; the ENIAC used vacuum tubes to process data. It had approximately 18,000 vacuum tubes, which were about the size of a small light bulb. The ENIAC was composed of 30 separate units with power supplies and cooling units; all together the whole unit weighed more than 30 tons, and took up 1800 sq. ft. and consumed 175Kw of power. 2 The ENIAC could perform about 5000 calculations per second, more than 10,000 times slower that most modern day computers. The ENIAC took about 20 seconds to calculate problems that took humans two to three days to do manually. Initially, scientists programmed and entered data into ENIAC by manually setting switches and rewiring the machine. Later a more efficient IBM punch-card reading machine was used to input data, while another IBM punch card machine was used to store data. When the ENIAC completed a calculation, it would notify operators by turning on a sequence of lights or punching certain sequences of cards. The ENIAC was designed to calculate continuously all day and all night. However its circuitry and vast number of vacuum tubes tended to burn out, the ENIAC was continuously down to be serviced, which caused the ENIAC to be down one third of the that is could be working. As soon as Eckert and Mauchly completed the ENIAC’s design, the signed a contract to build a successor, which was called the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer), this more efficient design reduced the number of vacuum tubes down to only 4000.

Tomorrow is today

Does the writer's Introduction and first few paragraphs get your attention to continue reading? Explain. Yes, the writer Immediately Jumps into a tangible story rather than going through statistics and legal matters. The story was horrifying enough to continue. B. Are there any Blvd sections of this feature story? If so, briefly summarize and explain Its effect on you as a reader. If you did not find any memorable sections, what would you suggest the writer do on a second draft to correct this? The first story was very vivid to me.The story about the girl, Zoe, who sakes up naked and confused in a mans bed and eventually goes to brunch with him when she eventually hears from a friend that that is one fraternity's Joking goal called â€Å"broncobuster†. It stood out to me because many young women do not even consider what happened to Zoe legitimate rape, however this happens to Chic State students every weekend. Many people may feel that the manner in which Zoe went about shedd ing light onto the situation is excessive and annoying but this is a mindset that she was trying to change.Zoe was trying to show other girls that no matter how small the situation seems, there Is no harm In fighting for Justice. This article also vividly displayed the Justice system at Zoo's university, Whitman. I was shocked to hear that during her appeal that she sat before the same Jury that had prosecuted her the first time. C. Do you think this writer presented a fair and accurate account of these incidents on the college campus? Explain what she did right or wrong.Yes, I believe that the writer had explained evenly the schools policy mixed into the stories. I did not even feel as if the stories were written abashedly; only to convey pure facts of what had happened. I was able to feel the exhausting Journey of the girl with my own thoughts and stereotypes. D. If you could ask the reporter one question feature story what would it be? What would have been the consequences if Zoe would have waited a long amount of time before reporting the rape? A.Although Machete refers to books, what can you use to help change or hone your mindset when It comes to writing first drafts? It helps to remember that first drafts will always be â€Å"slow and clumsy' and to no get discouraged. Later, the other drafts will go by much quicker and from their confidence will increase. I feel it is hard to write firsts drafts because you start from nothing in your mind and you have to focus it into something actually tie large; you have to think as you go. But this is not always a bad thing. B.Why do you think people try to get things right the first time when it comes to writing? Could it be that they get frustrated? Do they not have enough time to revise? Could there be other reasons? Writing is different than any other subject, there is never any right answers. Every mind is its own universe so it can be very hard to tell how others will perceive your writing. Sentence structure and inflection can be among the hardest subject to convey within writing. This is why It may be easier to get things written own without overthrowing It.I know from past experiences that the times I spend cramming and spending three or four hours writing one paper Is worse than spreading It out overtime and looking at the piece day by day with fresh eyes. C. Have you had any experiences with trying to find and use a better word? Machete you think about this practice? I will always have problems widening my writing vocabulary. Even when I learn a new word it can be hard to know whether it is appropriate in a certain context. I agree with Machete's box practice because I believe that it can reduce redundancy in papers.

Aqualisa Quartz: Simply a Better Shower Essay

INTRODUCTION Our report aims at developing a marketing plan for Aqualisa Quartz shower. The product was launched and in spite of being much better than the existing showers in the U.K market in terms of water pressure, ease of installation, use and design, it didn’t have very impressive sales figures in the first four months. This report delves into the details as to why the launch was not successful and what can be done now to improve the situation of the product and the company. It is very important to reflect on the ways through which a company can increase sales together with its brand quality because usually, there is a strong competition in the industry and the companies have to choose among the ways through which they might win the market and this requires a lot of research. Companies should be aware of one key concept which is â€Å"you can’t be everything to everybody.† Our report elaborates on the industry, the company, the customers and the product itself to give a n overview of the whole situation and finally, it suggests the recommendations and the implementation plan. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Quartz entered the market when only about 60% of U.K homes had showers and archaic plumbing some of which dated back to the Victorian period was still common in many houses. There were two major problems regarding the shower system in the U.K: low pressure and high fluctuations in temperature, which were addressed through the use of either electric showers or special U.K shower valves. The three main types of shower that existed in the market were Electric showers, mixer showers and power showers each having their own positive and negative features. Electric showers had one advantage over the other two types and that was â€Å"not requiring hot water supply.† The disadvantage of such a shower was that the electrical components were usually mounted in a cumbersome white box which could be seen in the shower stall. Another weak point in these showers was that they had not solved the problem of low flow rate. Aqualisa sold electric showers under the separate brand name of â€Å" Gainsborough.†Electric showers covered 61% of the units sold in the market. (See EXHIBIT 1) The mixer shower which covered 30% of the  units sold in the market (see EXHIBIT 1) came in two types; manual and thermostatic. The thermostatic type created comfortable temperature but manual ones were very inconvenient. The mixer shower required both hot and cold water, additional pump to address pressure problems, and the installation typically required excavation of the bathroom. No wonder it was selling half the volume electric showers were selling. Aqualisa had Aquavalve and Aquavalve 609, the latter being the core product of the company. The third type was integral power showers which covered only 9% of the units sold in the market. These showers required both hot and cold water as well. The bulky box on the wall was another problem with these ones and more importantly, they were regarded as less reliable compared to mixer showers. Aqualisa’s primary product in this category was Aquastream thermostatic. What was noteworthy in the shower industry was the fact that there was hardly any innovative movement in the industry in terms of functionality ,that is to say, possible innovations mostly happened in the cosmetic part of the product and major manufactures recycled their product line every four or five years. Aqualisa could take advantage of this weak point in the industry and be the winner. The question that remained to be answered was how? CUSTOMER ANALYSIS Most customers disliked two major problems of the existing showers- poor pressure and varying temperature. Consumers complained about other problems as well. They were not happy with hard-to-turn valves, leaky seals and worn-out showers. On the other hand, brand awareness was very low among the customers and only one brand (Triton) had been able to build brand awareness at the customer level (see EXHIBIT 1). Shower buyers in the U.K fell into one of these three pricing segments: premium, standard and value. Customers in the premium segment cared about the style of the shower and the performance or service of the product was not of importance to them. They normally shopped in showrooms. On the contrary, customers in the standard segment preferred performance and the  service provided with the product and they usually relied on an independent plumber to recommend a shower to them. Thirdly, customers in the value segment were primarily concerned with convenience and price. They did not like the idea of excavation in their showers and they mainly relied on a plumber to select the product for them. In addition to these segments, there were two more segments: do-it-yourselfers and developers. Do-it-yourselfers shopped at retail outlets and were interested in cheap models that were easy to install and they did not care about the unattractive bulky shape of the showers. Landlords and apartment dwellers were the main customers and electric showers were the overwhelming choice in this segment. Finally, developers were the customers who preferred reliable, nice-looking products that could work in multiple settings. Besides, developers did not have to worry about the pressure problems because new houses were almost exclusively built with high-pressure systems. The important characteristic of this segment was their price sensitivity. Aqualisa, knowing this behavior, had sold them its redesigned Aquavalve showers under the brand name of ShowerMax at a lower price and the developers loved it because it gave them the Aquavalve technology at a remarkable lower cost. Are plumbers regarded as channels or customers? Channels are customers too. Either way, they are important buyers and, at the same time, influential ones. Plumbers tried to install a special shower wherever they normally went for a job because unfamiliar showers could bring about unknown problems regarding and a revisit to fix the problem led to an extra cost for the plumbers. Furthermore, plumbers could receive some sort of service form the manufacturer if they stuck to that special brand. Generally, plumbers did not trust innovation especially if it involved electronics because of their bad experiences with the poorly designed products in the past. They wanted a shower that was easy to install with a guarantee to not break down or require servicing. Plumbers had a remarkably strong involvement in mixer shower selection (48%) whether directly or indirectly (see EXHIBIT 2).Apart from that, 54% of the mixer shower installation was carried out by them (see EXHIBIT 3).Aqualisa had the second biggest market share in mixer showers having Aquavalve 609 as their core product in that category (see EXHIBIT 1). Aquavalve 609, selling 60000 units per year, was considered Aqualisa’s  top-selling shower and it was regarded by the plumbers as being a high-quality reliable mixer shower with state-of-the-art technology. Therefore, Plumbers perception of the brand was quite positive. THE COMPANY AND THE CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION Showers were sold through three channels of distribution, which were trade shops, showrooms and DIY outlets. Trade shops carried products of all the brands in the market and all they cared about was to make sure they had the right stock of products that were in demand. The main customer of trade shops were plumbers who worked for developers, showrooms, contractors and customers. Aqualisa brand was available in 40% of trade shops. The second channel was showrooms which tended to be more high-end. Showrooms often offered more than just showers and they offered installation services by subcontracting with contractors and plumbers. Aqualisa brand was sold in about 25% of them.DIY sheds offered discount, mass-market do-it-yourself products. Electric showers, being cheaper, were selling really well in this channel (see EXHIBIT 4).Aqualisa had no product in this channel but its Gainsborough was available in 70% of these outlets. Aqualisa’s brand had always been considered as a strong one in the U.K and the company had been recognized as having top-quality showers, a premium brand and a good service. The company’s market share in mixing showers was ranked second and ranked third in the overall U.K shower market. The company had to take these facts into consideration and not make a decision regarding positioning and target marketing that would lead to a decrease in these values. However, the company had encountered some problems too. There was a strong competition in terms of product quality in the first place and the company had to be on its toes to deal with this case. Moreover, Aqualisa products were seen to be overpriced and this was something the competitors could take advantage of. Also, in terms of services, Aqualisa had become a little sloppy and it had not improved its 10% rate of break down for many years. Although it had a 25% net return on sales, its future was not secured. PRODUCT ANALYSIS Aqualisa’s new product would eliminate almost all the problems that the customers had including the cumbersome box in the shower, the low pressure and the varying temperature. Aqualisa had come up with the idea of locating the mechanism remotely outside the shower which would eliminate the need for excavation. Aqualisa launched Quartz into the market after three years of development. The product came into two versions: standard shower designed for installations that already had a pump and pumped shower which included a pump. One of the key advantages of quartz was its ease of installation. While other showers took two whole days to install, Quartz would take only four hours and this was a great source of pleasure both for the customer and the plumber. In addition to all other advantages like high pressure, stable temperature, ease of installation and remote mechanism, the one touch control mounted on the shower wall was appealing to the customers as well. Quartz was loved by everyone; parents liked it because its automatic temperature control was safe for their children who could shower on their own now; the elderly loved it because they did not have to struggle with stiff valves and so on. Quartz had some other potential features as well, which had not yet been put into effect. The Body Jet product and the Slave Remote were two additional products that could boost the sales of the product in the future. The Body Jet product was so popular among women because they could wash their bodies without getting their hair wet and the slave remote enabled the consumer to control the temperature from a distance. STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS It is time to recommend the best target market to Mr. Rawlinson now. We would recommend that he choose the first option which is targeting the customers directly. Before we talk about the pros and cons of this approach, let’s consider the other two options which are targeting do-it-yourselfers and targeting developers. The do-it-yourself sheds, as said before, simply offer cheap and easy to assemble showers. Therefore, this place is not a proper place for a premium brand like Quartz. Besides, Quartz is an expensive product and it cannot be a fit in the DIY sheds; the customers who go there are basically looking for cheap showers rather than expensive ones no matter  what the function is. As long as the customer is unaware of the fantastic features of the new product he/she will not consider buying it when there are much cheaper alternatives which have proved to be good enough for their price. The advantage of targeting the DIV sheds is that because these outlets introduce easy to install showers, the customers who have that advantage in mind, will go there and they will get interested in the unique features of Quartz especially its ease of installation. As a result, some of them may buy the product and after experiencing the convenience in using it they will recommend it to others. The third option which is targeting the developers may seem interesting at first because they can have a huge volume of sales at the start and increase their profits but in practice, it is not going to be so. The developers want a very low price for their mass purchases and this is not what the company might want to encounter for two reasons; firstly, the image of the product as an innovative premium brand is lost and secondly, the company’s profits plummet due to the almost 50% discount that the developers might expect. If the company focuses on developers, it will only cover 15% of overall shower sales in the U.K (see EXHIBIT 6) while there is a much more potential for shower installation because of other reasons like replacement or new penetration. One might say that targeting developers is beneficial because developers subcontract plumbers to install the showers for them and the plumbers having experienced the ease of installation may use Quartz for their independent jobs as well. However, this does not sound practical because plumbers are not satisfied with electric showers whatsoever and they try to avoid new products because those types of showers might cause unprecedented problems which lead to extra costs for them. Apart from that, plumbers receive less installation fees working for 4 hours while with other products they will spend a lot more hours and receive higher installation fees. The first option which is targeting the customers directly seems less disadvantageous although it is more risky. As rule of thumb, higher risk is associated with higher return. Targeting the customers directly using the media might be costly but the probable high returns from that cover the  costs very quickly. A large scale campaign would cost about â‚ ¬3 million to â‚ ¬4 million over two years. The company is presently in a good financial status with 25% net returns on sales. Therefore, it would be rational if it used some of that profit on advertising its new product and thought of this expenditure as investment rather than cost. The breakeven point for Quartz is 18710 units (see EXHIBIT 5).Since Aqualisa has a good market share; it could definitely sell more than the breakeven point units. Total number of units sold in a year only for Aqualisa products (excluding Gainsborough) is 122000(see EXHIBIT 1).This big number looks promising. Here is what Aqualisa should do: It should have a large-scale advertisement on the product, flood the trade shops with the product and enjoy results! You might say this is insane and there is going to be a deadly cannibalization by applying this plan. Well, there might be some cannibalization but it does not do much. Let’s consider a pessimistic result in terms of units sold if cannibalization occurs. Currently, Aqualisa is yearly selling 6000 units of electric showers, 94000 units of Mixer showers and 22000 units of Power showers (see EXHIBIT 1). Assume that in case of cannibalization, the number of units sold per year change into: 0 units of electric showers, 70000 units of mixer showers, 15000 units of power showers and 30000 units of their new product, Quartz. By looking at the manufacturer’s price in EXHIBIT 8 and multiplying them by the number of units sold accordingly we can calculate the sales for each case. The normal case has sales of â‚ ¬37.3 million and the second case that happens after the launch of Quartz and the consequent cannibalization has sales of â‚ ¬44.71 million. It brings about a â‚ ¬7.41 million increase in sales (see EXHIBIT 9). Quite remarkable! The two channels that are proper for Quarts are trade shops and showrooms. Quartz has already attracted a lot of customers in the showrooms and the company just has to keep that excellence in place using their great service. Currently, only 40% of trade shops offer Aqualisa’s products. Aqualisa should improve this number to 70% or more through the launch of Quartz. In addition, this approach may encourage the plumbers to switch to Quartz as their default shower for installation although they might not like to switch to a new product with unprecedented f eatures. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN For the implementation plan, we will elaborate on the strategies the company should apply in terms of the 4Ps which are _product_, _price_, _placement_ and _promotion_. The product was analyzed in the product analysis sector and there is much more to say about it. Regarding price we should say that Quarts seems to be overpriced but in reality it is not. Here is the reason we claim so. Consider the top-selling product Aqualisa has in the market, that is to say, Aquavalve 609.the price of this product is â‚ ¬715.but once the customer buys the product the real costs begin to show themselves. This type of shower needs two days for complete installation which means 16 hours for the plumber; the plumber charges â‚ ¬60 per hour. Then, the installation fee is â‚ ¬960(16*60).there are also other costs like additional booster pump(â‚ ¬450) and excavation charge(â‚ ¬200).the sum of all these is â‚ ¬2325 which is the total cost for Aquavalve showers. Now let’s see how mu ch a Quartz Standard costs: â‚ ¬850 for product purchase and â‚ ¬240 for four hours of installation (4*60) and 450 for additional booster pump. No excavation is needed. The sum of these ones is â‚ ¬1560.it is remarkably lower than the one incurred by Aquavalve. The role of Promotion begins from this stage. The company should clearly inform the customers of the hidden charges of other showers (not mentioning Aquavalve) through the advertisements in different media like the TV, newspapers and magazines. On the whole, the company should implement a problem solving approach in their advertisements.This simple information will create a good image in the minds of the customers and they will know that the price is placed somewhere between their valuation of the product and the cost of it. The company could also apply transformational appeals in their approach regarding creative strategies to persuade the customer. One example would be displaying a happy businessman who has had a great day and at the end of the day when he wants to take a shower, he faces the low pressure or the varying temperature of the shower. The ad could quickly turn that situation to a pleasant one by focusing on Quartz and the difference it makes. The actions to be taken regarding product placement were mentioned in the recommendation part, which was targeting trade shops and showrooms as their channels of distribution. This creates a mainstream positioning ,which will be more profitable because the product is not highly priced if you look at it economically, taking all its advantages over the other showers into  consideration.