Research Korner

Modernization Theory

Modernization theory is an internalized process which looks at the social values in a societyto determine which of these values promote social progress. It embraces modern thinking and modern values. Modernization theory would therefore be an ideal theory for promoting the empowerment of women and families. Traditional Zimbabwean society has a patriarchal orientation where opportunities are awarded to the male children while girl children are prepared for wifehood, motherhood and the eventual caregivers of the families. Even though times have changed and many girl children are now being educated, there are still many situations where the paradigm of gender inequality is continually upheld.  Modernization theory presents an opportunity to change mindsets and ensure that the girl child is given an opportunity to be educated and to make choices in her life. Furthermore, modernization theory tends to give an overview on the problems back in the industrialization of poor countries, including Zimbabwe, and their way of finding solutions. Because of the involvement on the growth stages, there is a significant evolution and development of the society. Women, as an example, plays a complex role within an ordinary household, as a daughter, as a wife, as a mother, and even as workers. Various studies had been created bearing the theme of empowering the woman within a society in order to contribute in the development process of their country. Aside from the physical attributes, woman is beautiful in their own way. Lin Yutang said, “Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother”, which give values of the woman’s role as a guardian of her family. However, in the growing interest of the countries pertaining to development, it is proposed that every woman should have a career outside the home. Bringing the power in the hands of women can contribute for the socioeconomic growth of their families. For such, the support of financial institutions and their influence towards lending and investment is one of the after sought actions. The evolution of the said theory is however, based on the two concepts of social changes - opposing tradition and achievement of a modern society. The modernization of the traditional societies is achieved through rationalizing resource allocation systems and eliminating cultural, institutional, and organizational challenges that prevents the continuous development of the countries, and this is highly influenced from the Western Society (Trujillo, 2002). The impact of the Western world serves as an inspiration for the Third World and then, challenged them to take a step towards the progress.     It is suggested that Zimbabwe and its society should be open to new approaches and experience. The mass media plays a very important role in exporting the modernization theory to from Western countries to the Third World.  Sometimes even medicine and science play in this transfusion role (Yin, 2008). The macro-structural forces that may include in the urbanization are important in explaining the variety of the social behavior in the society. Broadly, there are many evidences in gender inequality –not only in education but also in work that males are more dominant than females. Problems arise on different sides that indicate the regression in education and such dilemmas involved the income of each family. The women in the society are discriminated through the assumptions that men and women aren’t equal and thus, the women have different responsibilities than men, especially when it comes in housework. In analyzing this kind of behavior from the developed countries, the assumption is not strongly justified because the development created an impact in the lives of the women (Hori, 2007). Conversely, the tradition and cultural values in Modernization and the influence in the society is considered to be dependent variables for the development.

Modernization Theory

Modernization theory is an internalized process which looks at the social values in a society to determine which of these values promote soc...

"Personal Code of Ethics and My strategic Plan"

Personal Code of Ethics and My Strategic Plan   Mission Statement   As a woman of an accounting profession, my mission entails the promotion to live a purposeful life that would be filled with meaning not just for the benefit of oneself but for others as well.  With the best of my knowledge I intend to serve the community through sharing my knowledge and the blessings that I have especially to the less fortunate such that I will be able to touch their lives in my own special way.  I will lead by example in accordance to my ethical principles and the core values I hold on as I go through the journey of life.  As part of this mission, I want to leave a legacy that I am a woman of commitment and integrity.   Core Values   Values serves as my guiding light in being able to carry out the ideals that I believe in life.  From the abyss of values cradles the core values I want to incorporate with my everyday as part in fulfilling the mission that I have made.  The values of Integrity, Independence, Fairness, Respect Honesty, Loyalty, Dependability, Confidentiality and Hard-work are among the values that are central and the focal point to the belief system I firmly believe in.       Personal Code of Ethics   In lieu to my mission statement wherein I want to promote a purposeful life, the primary purpose of my personal code of ethics is to inspire me to be the best person I can be to others and to myself.  The personal code of ethics will mold me to be a better person to the community and the society that I belong into.  Life would be dull unless you put meaning to it, by the personal code of ethics I will embrace the essential meaning of my existence and makes me able to partake to the obligations I want to return to the community and the society in general in which I owe something and as one of the many reasons that made me whole.               Drawing inspirations to the people that surround me and in which I get to have a connection with, whether good or bad, pain or in comfort, the experiences I have with them contributes to the essence of what makes me as a person.  Indeed, personal experiences are the best teacher in life, either you learn it from the hard way or easy way, the important thing is you learned something that is not being taught in school or anywhere else that eventually would make you a strong person in the process.  Among the things that they see of me that correspond with my self-concept are that I am a person of trustworthiness, possess good interpersonal skills (developed as part of my profession in dealing with other people), the value of confidentiality that I rightfully adhere as a sign of my respect for every client I get to have business with and that I am dependable with the responsibilities being asked of me.  The strongest point I consider that I possess is that I am being the real me.  Not building a façade when I am in front of other people has equipped to make a genuine and sincere connection with others in a personal level rather than impersonally. The strengths that I have will empower me; at the same time improving on my weaknesses will make me become a better person in the future.  The challenges of everyday is not just about achievements but it is knowing that you did something right cultivates within the person an internal good feeling of himself or herself, thus, fostering a well-being of a person.   I have always believed that being good to others even though they have not been good to you is a tough challenge to deal with.  However, retaliating of being bad to the people who have done you wrong will not do anything good as well. Just like the people who done you wrong, you are being good to yourself.  As what a God says in the bible, “If they throw you with stones, throw bread back at them.”  Similarly, I believe that respect is often demanded especially to people who are in higher status.  But I stand on my belief that respect is something earned and not asked.  In fact, showing more respect to people who live life with dignity amidst the intricate problems that engulfs them is deemed more appropriate than respecting the people who exploits their power and influence.

"Personal Code of Ethics and My strategic Plan"

Personal Code of Ethics and My Strategic Plan Mission Statement As a woman of an accounting profession, my mission entails th...

THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT OF VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS

Introduction             The Virgin Atlantic Airways is a UK-based private international airline that started operation in 1982.  Flying up to 20 destinations in North America, Asia and Africa, it is 51% owned by Virgin Group and 49% owned by Singapore Airlines (Wikipedia).  It competes with other local and international airlines including British Airways, the biggest and leading in UK.  In 2005, it posted $2.5B in sales and $40M net income with year-on-year sales and net income growth more or less at 37% and 900% respectively (Hoovers).  With this information, it suggests firm’s bright future and industry fair share of the market.  However, external and industry environment analysis is a continuous process (Hitt, Hoskisson & Ireland 2003) that every now and then makes prediction and preparedness an integral part of strategic actions of firms to efficiently manage opportunities and threats outside its organization.        The External Environment: PEST Analysis             In the local environment, local elections to be held on May this year could made Tony Blair’s concentration in national issues such as health and education shift into local issues such as crime, anti-social behavior and environment (Independent).  As a result, transport industries including aviation should consider this early the type of their fuels and fix emission loopholes.  They must research oil suppliers that sell environment-conscious fuels and test its efficiency and compatibility with aircraft engines including preparation to possible fluctuations in present fuel costs.                In fuel-related issue, the European Union resorted legal action against member countries like France, Germany and Italy of protecting their utility firms against foreign competition (Independent).  As a result, prices of fuels failed to obtain efficiencies of competitive industry making oil prices for the transport sector more costly.  Local aviation firms should consider this EU action significant disincentive to their cost-effective strategies because UK, unlike the mentioned countries, fosters foreign imports making oil prices for the industry cheaper.  If these countries are able to liberalize the energy sector, possible cost strategy is necessary to retain the prior upper hand.               Research suggests that rural, metropolitan and London population either employed, unemployed or economically inactive dispose most of their weekly budget to transportation along with food and recreation (Business Helper).  Since socio-cultural segment affects economic and political/ legal segments (Hitt et al 2003), aviation industry could less be influenced by the latter outcomes despite of their ambiguity (will Blair retain position or will EU countries accept the directive) because consumers are willing to pay with little regard to price, instead, value of service.  As a result, it is more strategic to focus on operations than financial structures.                Another finding show that 58% of the household population has computers while 49% of which has internet connection with metropolitan areas like London posted the highest incidence (Business Helper).  This information is relevant to most huge firms like Virgin Atlantic Airways who heavily relies in e-business with its interactive website wherein customers can obtain flight schedules and book a flight with their finger tips.  The other half of the population without computers can be addressed by the firm through other forms of media.  In addition, it can also verify through additional scanning the prevalence of internet café in rural areas where household ownership is relatively low.   The Industry Environment: Five Forces             New entrants in the industry basically face two difficulties: barriers to entry and retaliation from present firms (Hitt et al 2003)  In the aviation industry, particularly the service passenger-based ones like Virgin Atlantic Airways, in modern economies are privately-operated that calls for substantial financial requirements at the fore.  Since travel services are derived demand (Wikipedia), new entrants should be able to cut a share in the pie in the presently saturated market.  This endeavor could result to another substantial resource to be deployed.  However, with such new entrant engagement, it does not assure of intended results because competitors like Virgin already created strategic links to other country-routes including its alliance with Asian giant Singapore Airlines that makes it easy to create counter-strategy.               Boeing, the largest manufacturer of jetliners and supplier of Virgin’s aircrafts, had recently signed long-term agreement with largest aerospace parts distributor Satair for an Integrated Materials Management (Boeing).  As a result, Boeing could reduce its inventory and minimize warehousing costs because spare parts will be provided only when needed.  A cost reduction strategy from a supplier can assure customers like Virgin of price management scheme, if not, its another supplier, Airbus (the once number one airline manufacturer) could be resorted.   Competitors in the industry have the same capability in terms interactivity of their web pages like Virgin.  This is supported almost fifty percent prevalence of internet connection among UK market, not to mention other countries.  As a result, the power of buyers to gain access to prices and services of firms increase making them knowledgeable of distinction of one from the other.  Companies on their part are obliged to be more competitive especially in maintaining and updating their web sites.    The country’s sea transport industry had developed super ferries while the 2003 recorded 17.4% increase of UK passengers who took cruise holidays that reached nearly one million in that year (Bized).  This development would make sense to airline industry tourism and leisure market especially foreigners that like to see the national endowments.  With demand for airline transport rise at faster rate than supply for it, the airline industry is required to effectively allocate its resources in a manner that exploit this supply shortage.   Other airline competitors in the likes of AMR Corp., British Airways and Lufthansa are operating in at least 150 destinations compared to Virgin’s 20 (Hoover).  As a result, rivalry among these firms against Virgin is relatively insignificant although strategic actions of Virgin that directly and significantly threat their market could spark retaliation in the detriment of relatively small firm.  The firm should focus in its target market and avoid competing with these large firms.    Conclusion             By studying this external and industry analysis on environmental facts, it could be said that Virgin Atlantic Airways is situated in standard cycle markets wherein its competitive advantage is moderately shielded from imitation.  In general, airline industry belongs to slow cycle markets, however, due to relatively smaller capital and operations of some firms like Virgin, companies within this industry are unable to assure their long-term above average returns because they are relatively vulnerable to general environment (low lobbying power) and relatively unsecured to industry forces (potential entrants or larger competitor predation).  As a result, Virgin should focus in a specific market niche or specific routes to obtain value other than price and survive the competition.

THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT OF VIRGIN ATLANTIC AIRWAYS

Introduction The Virgin Atlantic Airways is a UK-based private international airline that started operation in 1982. Flyin...

Thesis Statements on A study on teacher's attitude towards classroom management

Thesis Statements on A study on teacher's attitude towards classroom management

Free Thesis Statements Thesis Statements on A study on teacher's attitude towards classroom management

The Business of Walkers Crisps

This is a marketing plan for an organisation in a ‘Snacks’ market. The name of the business organisation is Walkers in United Kingdom.  Walkers or a well-knownWalkers Crisps is a basically UK brand with a 47% share of the British crisp market. The company was a subsidiary or PepsiCo Inc. based in United States of America and currently has sales reaching to $85bn per year. Walkers’ main product is ‘flat crisps'. Walkers' factories are highly automated with minimum human involvement. The BusinessThe ‘Snacks’ industry in the United Kingdom, particularly the potato snacks sector, has witnessed an impressive growth in the past several years, in parallel with the growing number of Walkers-like type of products competing in the market. The ‘Snacks’ industry in UK has been markedly flourishing in the past decades, leading to the sprout of the number of potato snack brands competing against Walkers. The ‘snack’ industry now in the country are in continues development and progress. Currently, there are numerous numbers of ‘potato snacks’ brand in UK such as Crunchie, Frazzles, Party ring, Red Sky snacks, Seabrook Potato Crisps, Skips, The Smith's Snack food Company, etc. Despite of this competitive environment in the ‘Snacks’ market, Walkers manages to be one of the top in business.  With this, the company manages to create an extensive production plant in Leicester, England.  Actually, the production plant of Walkers was considered as one of the largest crisp production plants in the world.  Their plant produces over 11 million bags of crisps per day and using about 800t of potatoes which is approximately about 280,000t per year (‘Walkers Crisps’, 2010).  Aside from this plant, Walkers has also production plants located in different parts of UK such as the Leycroft Road plant that produces classic flat Walkers crisps and Bursom plant that produces Sensations, Nobby's Crisps, Max deep ridge crisps, Chipsticks and Frazzles similar in Laicester plant (‘Walkers Crisps’, 2010).  As the company promised, they only uses raw food materials that are considered good ingredients and additives. In addition to their healthy food promotion, the company has also started using the Sunseed oil instead of palm oil for frying. Compared to palm oil, Sunseed is better and higher in mono-unsaturates (‘Walkers Crisps’, 2010). To this end, this marketing report aims to improve the performance of existing products and brands in existing markets. This report will caters the growing need of ‘Potato snacks’patrons to find a haven where they can just buy and enjoy their Potato snacks. The business will be specifically designed to cater to the clients’ hearts desires and whims and make their Walkers Potato snacks patronage worth repeating over and over again. The business aims to establish competitive advantage through creation of excellent advertising and marketing approaches that will increase the number of sales of their potato snacks products.

The Business of Walkers Crisps

This is a marketing plan for an organisation in a ‘Snacks’ market. The name of the business organisation is Walkers in United Kingdom. Walk...

PEST Analysis: Mexx Clothing

Mexx            MEXX is a clothing brand owned by Liz Claiborne. It’s headquarter is located in the Netherlands. MEXX offers a wide range of men’s, women’s and children’s fashion apparel under several trademarks for sale outside of the United States, principally in Europe and Canada. MEXX has existing licensing agreements for fragrances, eyewear, watches, bed and bath products, carpets, socks, stationery and footwear.  PEST AnalysisPolitical            Liz Claiborne (the owner of the MEXX brand) sources most of its products outside the United States through arrangements with independent suppliers in approximately 44 countries as of January 2, 2010. There are a number of risks associated with importing its products, including but not limited to the following:·         The potential reimposition of quotas, which could limit the amount and type of goods that may be imported annually from a given country, in the context of a trade retaliatory case·         Changes in social, political, legal and economic conditions or terrorist acts that could result in the disruption of trade from the countries in which MEXX’s manufacturers or suppliers are located·         The imposition of additional regulations, or the administration of existing regulations, relating to products which are imported, exported or otherwise distributed·         The imposition of additional duties, taxes and other charges on imports or exports·         The enactment of new legislation of the administration of current international trade regulations, or executive action affecting international textile agreement, including the United States’ reevaluation of the trading status of certain countries and/or retaliatory duties, quotas or other trade sanctions, which, if enacted, would increase the cost of products purchased from suppliers in such countriesAny one of these or similar factors could have a material adverse effect on MEXX’s business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and current business practices. The company’s ability to realize growth in new international markets and to maintain the current level of sales in its existing international markets is subject to risks associated with international operations. These include complying with a variety of foreign laws and regulations; unexpected changes in regulatory requirements; new tariffs or other barriers in some international markets; political instability and terrorist attacks; changes in diplomatic and trade relationships; and general economic fluctuations in specific countries, markets or currencies. Economic            The economic conditions of the countries where MEXX operates affect the company’s operations and performance. Economic factors such as the continued weakening of economies, restricted credit markets and lower levels of consumer spending, can affect consumer confidence and consumer purchases of discretionary items, including fashion apparel and related products such as MEXX’s offerings. The economies of the countries where MEXX operates have weakened significantly as a result of the recent global economic crisis. The company’s results are dependent on a number of factors impacting consumer spending including but not limited to: general economic and business conditions in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world; consumer confidence; wages and current and expected employment levels; the housing market; consumer debt levels; availability of consumer credit; credit interest rates; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; fuel and energy costs; energy shortages; the performance of the financial, equity and credit markets; taxes; general political conditions, both domestic and abroad; and the level of customer traffic within department stores, malls and other shopping and selling environments. Recent global economic conditions have included significant recessionary pressures and declines in employment levels, disposable income and actual and/or perceived wealth and further declines in consumer confidence and economic growth. These conditions have led and could lead to continued substantial decline in consumer spending over the foreseeable future and may have resulted in a resetting of consumer spending habits that makes it unlikely that spending will return to prior levels for the foreseeable future. The current depressed economic environment has been characterized by a dramatic decline in consumer discretionary spending and has disproportionately affected retailers and sellers of consumer goods, particularly those whose goods represent discretionary purchases, including fashion apparel and related products. A number of MEXX’s markets continue to suffer particularly severe downturns, including the company’s Eastern European markets, which have been particularly adversely affected by conditions in the world economy. Profitability of the MEXX business has been, and is expected to continue to be, even more affected by such downturn as such regions account for a significant amount of MEXX’s profitability. Fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of the fabrics or other raw materials used to manufacture MEXX’s products, as well as the price for labor, marketing and transportation, could have a material adverse effect on the cost of sales and the company’s ability to meet the demands of the customers. The prices for such fabrics depend largely on the market prices for the raw materials used to produced them.Social            The apparel and accessories industries have historically been subject to rapidly changing customer demands and tastes and fashion trends and to levels of discretionary spending, especially for fashion apparel and related products, which levels are currently weak. MEXX believes that its success is largely dependent on its ability to effectively anticipate, gauge, and respond to changing consumer demands and tastes across multiple product lines, shopping channels and geographies, in the design, pricing, styling and production of its products and in the merchandising and pricing of products in MEXX’s retail stores. The MEXX brand and products must appeal to a broad range of consumers whose preferences cannot be predicted with certainty and are subject to constant change. Also, the company must maintain and enhance favorable brand recognition, which may be affected by consumer attitudes towards the desirability of fashion products bearing a “mega brand” label and which are widely available at a broad range of retail stores.  The company’s failure to gauge consumer needs and fashion trends and respond appropriately, and to appropriately forecast its ability to sell products, could adversely affect retail and consumer acceptance of its products and leave MEXX with substantial outstanding fabric and/or manufacturing commitments, resulting in increase in unsold inventory or missed opportunities.  TechnologicalWe have in the past, and may, from time to time, acquire or develop new product lines, enter new markets or product categories, including through licensing arrangements (such as the license of our DANA BUCHMAN brand to Kohl's), and/or implement new business models (such as the licensing arrangements with JCPenney and QVC for the LIZ CLAIBORNE brands). Such activities are accompanied by a variety of risks inherent in any such new business venture, including the following:• Our ability to identify appropriate business development opportunities, including new product lines and markets;                        • New businesses, business models, product lines or market activities may require methods of operations, investments and marketing and financial strategies different from those employed in our other businesses, and may also involve buyers, store customers and/or competitors different from our historical buyers, store customers and competitors;                        • Consumer acceptance of the new products or lines;                        • We may not be able to generate projected or satisfactory levels of sales, profits and/or return on investment for a new business or product line, and may also encounter unanticipated events and unknown or uncertain liabilities that could materially impact our business;                        • We may experience possible difficulties, delays and/or unanticipated costs in integrating the business, operations, personnel and/or systems of an acquired business and may also not be able to retain and appropriately motivate key personnel of an acquired business;                        • We may not be able to maintain product licenses, which are subject to agreement with a variety of terms and conditions, or to enter into new licenses to enable us to launch new products and lines; and                        • With respect to a business where we act as licensee, such as our licensed DKNY® JEANS, DKNY® ACTIVE and DKNY® MENS brands, there are a number of inherent risks, including, without limitation, compliance with terms set forth in the applicable license agreements, including among other things the maintenance of certain levels of sales and the public perception and/or acceptance of the licensor's brands or other product lines, which are not within our control.

PEST Analysis: Mexx Clothing

Mexx MEXX is a clothing brand owned by Liz Claiborne. It’s headquarter is located in the Netherlands. MEXX offers a wide range o...

Free Thesis Statements on HBR case study- the knowledge workers strike

Free Thesis Statements on HBR case study- the knowledge workers strike

Free Thesis Statements Thesis Statements on HBR case studies- the knowledge workers strike. question- Should Detonation Media blow up o...

Sample of a Rationale for the Chosen Topic - Thesis on Absenteeism

Presence is valued, held up, invested with power, and so can be said to have a pervasive quality. Presence, it appears, constructs, connects, and holds together. Within this contrived order of things presence is the determining feature of being, subjectivity, ideology, textuality, systems of speech and writing, presentation and representation the list is boundless. Such is the construction of presence, even absence, its taxonomic opposite, is seen as a formation and formulation of it (Ukens 2001). To have presence is also to have the capacity for absence. The force of this relational schema has led to the conceptual figuring of absence and absences only because there is presence, or a register of presence, to begin with. Absence is seen to be derived from a state of presence, as it is seen as the denial of presence. One way of figuring absences outside of this way of thinking is to specify two forms of absence: primary absences and secondary absences. These categories are necessarily broad and cannot be seen as ascribing a complete agenda to the issues. In this sense it is important to acknowledge the flexibility of the concepts to recognize the chains of signification which determine not resolution and meaning, but the interplay of the discourses themselves. Absence can be a status measured against other orders (Fuery 1995).  Something is absent because it is not present, but the significant detail is that the absent something is figured as potentially present, that is, held-in-readiness. The absences are secondary because they establish forms of quasi-presences to fill the gaps, the holes and blanks, the simulacra, complex orders of signs which point and indicate until the absences themselves are denied. Bits of the missing presence are fleshed out, embellished, or signifiers are constructed to provide a presence. All the time these secondary absences are sub forms of a presence because they have a referential system; in doing so they often suggest an originary position. To divide the idea of absence into primary and secondary forms is not to establish distinct types an important feature is that secondary absences provide a connection between the operations of the presence and all forms of absence. Although this does not provide a continuum between pure presence, that is a present-ness, and primary absence, it does permit a reading of absence in terms of a relational context of presence, which, in turn, allows the continuation of a primary mode of absence, independent of any sense of presence. The dynamics of primary and secondary absences mean that there are constant qualifying notions of the absent (Klaas, Mahony & Wheeler 2004). Essentially, primary absences are determining principles and signifying practices in which absence is the defining feature and constant point of reference (Murray & Richardson 2002). The main aim of the study is to evaluate and investigate the performance of employees of White Star Line in accordance to the current efforts of the company towards absenteeism, training and development (Murray & Richardson 2002). This study attempts to review and analyze the effect of absenteeism and type of training provided for the employees. In the recent studies of employee training and employee motivation, human resource is the greatest source of the improvement of a business. Here, it exposes the positive as well as the negative treatment accorded to the employees as a result of an effective/ineffective implementation of an employee training program which also causes absenteeism.

Sample of a Rationale for the Chosen Topic - Thesis on Absenteeism

Presence is valued, held up, invested with power, and so can be said to have a pervasive quality. Presence, it appears, constructs, connects...

DEALING WITH CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR IN CLASS

Introduction The field of developmental psychology traditionally has taken the position that behavior develops in the child through biological maturation, although the field involves little actual study of biological maturation. The field has made many important observations of the developing behavior of the child. Without studying the causes of the behavior development, the conceptions accounting for the many types of child behavior development are generally different and independent ( 1996). The weakest link in the child's cognitive development is that people leave the training of the various aspects of the basic behavioral repertoires in the hands of individual parents who have no special training with respect to what the child needs in his basic behavioral repertoire, or of the principles by which the repertoire is acquired, or indeed of methods to produce the learning. One of the purposes of the behavioral analyses is to produce information yielding training procedures appropriate for utilization by parents. It is suggested that the use of various training materials can be expected to constitute preventive treatment of central problems of child behavior and child development ( 1996).   Moreover, the materials can be used as behavior modification methods by parents whose children have already developed problems of development child behavior problems emphasized the importance of the child's language development, especially that of following instructions, an analysis based on how the child learns the verbal-motor repertoire. It was said the child learned such compliance by virtue of training involving reinforcement principles. It is important to recognize that the field of child behavior therapy and the field of developmental disabilities in behavior analysis have been based, in good part, on extending the basic level of study to analyses of children's behavior problems. With respect to simple behaviors for example, excessive crying, lisping, temper tantrums, refusing to go to sleep at night, acting-out in class, and aggressive or destructive behavior. Experts began its work with children employing the basic principles of conditioning and there are many important studies in the field of behavior therapy that have the same foundation. Methods of study and programs of training have been devised within this framework that is valuable to both practitioner and parent ( 1996).   The behavior of children depends on how they were brought up by their parents and the environment around them. If parents are not educated on how to rear their children and they did not use the appropriate parenting methods the child may end up having an inappropriate behavior. This behavior may be taken as the child goes to school or other places. The behavior of children can also be affected by the environment they belong to. If the child sees that the people around him/her has a habit of swearing he/she might imitate that and swearing will be part of his lifestyle. A child that grew from a refined culture may end up having a high degree of culture that he/she will use as he/she narrates with different kinds of people. The paper will evaluate a child that is presenting challenging behavior within the school context. Behavior management Occupational therapists have long considered personality to be composite of nature and nurture. In this conception nature represents those characteristics, both genetic and congenital, that are innate to the individual. Nurture consists of environmental influences, such as social expectation, opportunity, and mastery experiences, and the social and interpersonal behaviors that the individual uses to respond to the environment. All standardized pediatric tests reveal variations in the rate of skill acquisition ( 2001). Children also vary in the development of interests, habits, talents, and social competence. Therapists previously paid little attention to the range of differences in social and emotional development. Behavior management techniques are common in school and clinical settings. Among the techniques that therapists most often use are time out, performance contracts, self-management and personal responsibility training, and values clarification. Behavior management is based on behavior modification methods and is an effective tool for improving both social and academic behaviors ( 2001).    Behavior management includes the use of external controls and techniques to teach individuals to control their own behavior. The management of behavior is important with all occupational therapy interventions. Inappropriate behavior can limit the child's function and the child's progress on therapy goals. The therapist expects to manage the behavior of a child who is labeled emotionally handicapped, but most children seen for therapy need some degree of external behavior control during the course of therapy ( 2001). Children with disabilities do not always learn basic manners and social behaviors. These physically disabled, or ill, children who have no psychosocial disorders, often develop dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors that exaggerate their disability. Their behaviors often limit social interactions more dramatically than their disability ever would. Rude behaviors gain attention even though they isolate the individual. Children with disabilities need to be respected as individuals with feelings, ideas, and emotional needs. Likewise, children with disabilities need to respect other individuals ( 2001).    Manners are a social tool reflecting respect. The occupational therapist needs to model and expect developmentally appropriate social interactions in the therapy session. The theory and intervention models presented in this chapter provide specific approaches to this type of intervention. Society does not deal well with long-term disability, often allowing the individual who has a disability to break social rules. Society may inadvertently foster over dependency and passivity ( 2001). The behavior of children can be modified to the use of techniques such as behavior management. Behavior management makes sure that a child will act appropriately at a given place. It helps minimizing the unwanted characteristics of a child that prevent him/her to be good member of society. Behavior management also helps the child to subdue his/her behavioral problems. The behavioral problem is one of the causes of a child’s poor performance at school. Aggressive behavior Aggressive behavior at very young ages has been found to be highly predictive of aggressive behavior in adolescence and adulthood. A process by which difficult temperament might be linked with later aggressive behavior disorder could involve the interaction of a child constitutional tendency to be demanding of social responsiveness interacting with parental tendencies to be depressed or otherwise unresponsive to mild initiation attempts by the child, and consequently, coercive process and system-maintaining cognitive and affective biases ( &  1991). Aggressive behavior leads to rejection, but in the long run peer rejection may function as a determinant of who drops out and who stays in the antisocial process. The transformation of the child's initial aggressive behavior into habitual aggressive behavior may depend as much on the responses of the child's environment to the aggression, the continuance of precipitating factors, and the convergence of other causal factors as on the initial exposure to violence ( &  1991).   Parents can provide critical input into both the enactive and observational learning processes. The parents' aggressiveness, punitive ness, and rejection serve both as reinforcements and as models of behavior for children to observe and incorporate into their own behavioral repertoires, especially when children observe the rewards that such behaviors provide. Furthermore, children's cognitive processes may well be influenced by the parents' own cognitive processes. Experiences are ones that enhance the child's repertoire of aggressive tactics, limit the child's repertoire of competent non aggressive tactics, and lead the child to evaluate the outcomes of aggressive behavior in positive ways. A child who has been exposed to high rates of violence on television, in the neighborhood, or among family members, will develop a large repertoire of aggressive responses ( &  1991). When these responses are endorsed either explicitly or implicitly by the environment, the probability is even greater that they will be easily accessible in problematic situations. That is, they will be at the top of the memory storage bin, ready to be called into action. Thus, parents who teach their children to value aggressive heroes and to hit back when pushed around will be likely to have children who develop proactive aggressive behaviors ( &  1991).   It is important to point out that these parents rarely explicitly teach their child to be proactively aggressive; they feel that they are teaching appropriate reactive aggression ( &  1991). One of the challenging behaviors within the school context is when the child has an aggressive behavior. When a child has an aggressive behavior he/she tends to hurt another child by hitting, kicking or biting him/her. Another sign for aggressive behavior is when the child does certain things without much thought. The aggressiveness of a child can be brought about how he/she is raised up by the parents.  It can also be due to the child’s exposure to violence in the environment. The aggressive behavior should be minimized before the child grows up. The aggressive behavior can be minimized by strategies such as behavior modification. Behavior modification Psychologists are not likely to solve the problem of detrimental environmental change, but they can make important contributions to this effort. Inasmuch as many aspects of the problem are the consequences of human behavior, a primary approach to their solution or amelioration must be efforts to modify that behavior. Psychology should be uniquely well positioned to contribute to an understanding of environmentally detrimental behavior and to its modification when that is what is required. Inasmuch as behavior is influenced by knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values, and desires, efforts to change behavior in ways that would benefit the environment will have to take cognitive and affective variables into account. Beyond the objectives of understanding behavioral causes of environmental change and finding ways to modify environmentally destructive behavior to make it more environmentally beneficial or benign, there are other opportunities for psychological research to contribute to the general goal of managing environmental change ( 2003).   Some of these fall within the mainstream interests of engineering psychologists and human factors specialists because they have to do with equipment design and the interaction of people with machines; they relate not so much to the goal of modifying behavior through persuasion and attitude change, but to that of designing equipment and products that effectively meet users' needs without doing so at the expense of environmental damage. It seems natural to assume that beliefs and attitudes are major determinants of behavior that people tend to behave in ways that are consistent with their beliefs and attitudes. On this assumption, if one is interested in modifying behavior, it makes sense to try to change the beliefs and attitudes from which the behavior is assumed to flow. The position can be argued, and it has been argued, that it is sometimes more cost effective to try to change behavior directly than to do so via a change in attitudes, and that attitude change is likely to follow the change in behavior ( 2003). The fact that changes in attitude sometimes do follow changes in behavior that have been induced by persuasion or coercion has been a focus of experimentation and theorizing among social psychologists and supports the belief that attitudes are as likely to be the consequences of behavior as to cause it. Much of the work in this area has been done by psychologists who use the techniques of applied behavior analysis, or behavioral engineering, to study the possibility of modifying behavior in specific ways by the use of incentives or disincentives and rewards or punishments ( 2003).   There are many ways to attempt to effect changes in the behavior of individuals and corporate entities in addition to that of doing so indirectly through the change of attitudes: legislation and governmental regulations backed up by the threat of civil or criminal sanctions; incentives in the form of tax deductions for the costs of environmental preservation or cleanup activities; disincentives in the form of taxation of pollution-producing activities; public recognition and awards for noteworthy environmental activity; persuasion, as represented by appeals to moral responsibility or altruism; and the dissemination of information designed to make people aware of problems and what can be done about them (Nickerson 2003). Education must be a major component in any approach that has as its aim the influencing of people to behave, intentionally and intelligently, in environmentally beneficial ways. People cannot be concerned about environmental issues if they do not know about them, and they cannot be faulted for behaving in environmentally detrimental ways if they are unaware of the implications of specific forms of behavior ( 2003).   One factor that causes the aggressiveness of a child’s behavior is the culture of the environment. The nation’s cultural environment dictates what are the possible events and situations in the society with regards to the way a nation works for its betterment. The nation’s cultural environment leads a certain country into doing what it thinks will be the best action for its future and avoiding any action that will result into problems. It creates models that the children follow without them knowing whether the action is acceptable or not. To counter the effects of the cultural environment to a child, they must undergo behavior modification while they are little.   Behavior modification intends to change the child’s behavior by various means.  Behavior modification has been used by psychotherapists, parents and guidance counselors to try finding ways to alter the human behavior. Behavior modification can be done through methods such as positive or negative reinforcement and the extinction of maladaptive behavior through positive and negative conditioning. With proper use behavior modification can help a child to grow up with lesser instances of aggressiveness. Reinforcement A fountain usually produces a stream of water; flipping a light switch usually results in increased illumination; and pressing keys on a keyboard results in letters and words appearing on a monitor. These relations between acts and consequences are called operant contingencies, because the act operates on, or changes, the world. Principles of selection describe the functional relations between acts and consequences or the operant and the subsequent frequency of the act. Relations of that kind have the name contingencies ( &  1997).  As it turns out, some act-consequence relations result in increased or sustained frequency of the act that is part of that contingency, and other act-consequence relations result in decreased frequency of the act that is part of that contingency. Some act-consequence contingencies have no effect on future frequency of the act. When the contingency accounts for increased frequency of an act, the reinforcement principle is being described. When the contingency accounts for decreased frequency of an act, the punishment principle is being described ( &  1997).   Reinforcement and extinction principles are considered scientific principles because the functional relations they describe do not pertain only to single occurrences: not just to someone's behavior, or to button pressing, or to tones as consequences. They pertain to any and all relations where the frequency of an act can be shown to increase and decrease as a function of the presence or absence of an operant contingency ( &  1997).  The effect of the antecedent reflects the effect of the consequence it signals: The antecedents of reinforcement evoke the behavior reinforced; the antecedents of punishment and extinction suppress the behavior punished or extinguished and often evoke any previously established avoidance, escapes, or counter controls.  The probability of an individual's learning at a given developmental point varies not only as a function of reinforcement, but also as a function of the historical and contemporaneous contextual variables interacting. Knowledge is not just a group of responses; it is a group of responses to the stimuli defining the problem that gain the reinforcers programmed only for correct solutions to the problem. A problem's solution is correct if the agency programming reinforcement of its solution presents the reinforcer systematically enough ( &  1997).     One way to minimize and guide the child who has aggressive behavioral issues is to provide reinforcement to the child.  Reinforcement can be done in both a positive and negative way. Positive reinforcement focuses on giving kind words and ideas to a child who promises not to commit any aggressive acts. Positive reinforcement can also be in the form of tangible rewards that they child want. Negative reinforcement is when the child is warned about punishment when he/she commits any aggressive act. Negative reinforcement can also be in the form of reduction of certain things the child likes. Reinforcement tends to make the child try to refrain from showing compulsive behavior. Together with proper medication and clinical sessions reinforcement can help bring out the best in the child and reduce instances of aggressive behavior. Conditioning Evolution is not the only thing that determines a being’s behavior it is also determined by learning gained from the being’s experience in its environment. In psychology learning refers to a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as the result of reinforcement. One type of learning is conditioning, of which there are two explanations: classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Both classical and operant conditioning attempt to explain exactly how humans learns such new behaviors; thus they are learning theories. Furthermore, both classical conditioning theory and operant conditioning theory are based on behaviorism ( 2002).  Behaviorism is an approach in psychology that argues that the only appropriate subject matter for scientific psychological investigation is directly observable and measurable behavior. Therefore behaviorists claim that internal mental processes are not appropriate subject matter for scientific psychological investigation as they are not directly observable and measurable ( 2002).  Conditioning is the use of strategies to make a child follow the teacher or any other adult without using force or other method to motivate the child. In conditioning the mind of the child is set into doing the things instructed by the one who stands as his/her behavioral coach.  The coach doesn’t have to tell him/ her to do. This creates minimal occurrence of aggressive behavior because the child thinks twice before doing aggressive actions. The focus of the child shifts from the aggressive act into what the behavior coach instructed him/her to do. In this technique the child gains more drive to do things approved by the behavior coach. References

DEALING WITH CHALLENGING BEHAVIOR IN CLASS

Introduction The field of developmental psychology traditionally has taken the position that behavior develops in the child through bio...

Research Proposal Sample Theoretical Framework - Credit Card Fraud

Research Proposal Sample Theoretical Framework - Credit Card Fraud

Theoretical Framework The theory framework will have an importance to credit card fraud research and such process as it will be noted by c...

Sample Chapter Methodology: Reliability and Validity

Two critical points in designing a research method are reliability and validity. Reliability is defined as the extent to which results are consistent over time and an accurate presentation of the total population under study. Additionally, a research instrument can be considered reliable if the results of the study can be replicated using the same methodology (Joppe, 2000). On the other hand, validity can be determined if the research is able to measure that which it was intended to measure or how truthful the research results are (Joppe, 2000). Since researchers have different approaches in testing the reliability and validity of a research design and the applicability of reliability and validity tests used in quantitative researchers remain as a topic of argument among researchers, it is rather a challenge to establish the reliability and validity of this research. In order to solve this, the researcher will employ triangulation. Triangulation as stated by Mathison (1988) is a type of test that can be used to improve the reliability and validity of a research. Since traditional scientific techniques cannot be applied in a qualitative research, triangulation will be used to evaluate, control bias and to establish valid propositions. Accoridng to Patton (2002) using triangulation will help the researcher in strengthening the study by combining methods. Triangulation usually involves combining methods or data and employing both quantitative and qualitative paradigm. In order to confirm and validate the research findings, the researcher will combine different research methods – methodological triangulation. Methodological triangulation is also called multimethod, mixed-method, or methods triangulation. Within the same paradigm, mixing data-collection methods is sensible (Lincoln and Guba, 2000). Some researchers encourage the mixing of both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Dzurec and Abraham (1993) argue that qualitative and quantitative studies are designed to understand and explain behavior and events, their components, antecedents and corollaries and consequences. Therefore, blending elements of one with the other is possible. This blending according to Lincoln and Guba (2000) allows the best representation of both worldviews. Qualitative input may help to explain the success of interventions when the numbers fail to answer the question. In other words, methodological triangulation has the potential of exposing unique differences or meaningful information that may have remained undiscovered with the use of only one approach or data collection technique in the study. Similarly, quantitative data can enhance understanding by revealing outliers or unique individual cases.

Sample Chapter Methodology: Reliability and Validity

Two critical points in designing a research method are reliability and validity. Reliability is defined as the extent to whi...

Research Proposal

RESEARCH PROPOSAL     Proposed Title: Research Study on Virtual Reality Effectiveness supporting several student needs through classroom activities and programs: A Comparison of  VR technology in Biology class versus Computer class   Research Problem / Research Question   Is VR technology in its effectiveness, the first step toward the ultimate display or the ultimate educational medium to be utilized in Biology and Computer class? As some of the pioneers of virtual reality  have heralded it as modern form of classroom interaction between students and VR machines (1991) and "the first school medium that does not narrow the learner’s spirit" (1991). Thus,  (1965), mention that, VR involves to the display connected to digital computer gives learners the chance to gain familiarity with concepts not realizable in physical world.   There is no reason why the objects displayed by a computer have to follow the ordinary rules of physical reality  as the ultimate display would be room within which the computer can control the existence of matter" (1965 ).  The underlying problem can reflect from such notion as for instance, education and academe researchers have shied away from using the term  VR and thus, prefer it to be virtual environments. The problem of labels has risen because it is difficult to maintain clear separation between research carried out in VR and developments in such Biology and or Computer class. Thus, it will make sense to compare some of VR technologies side by side. Even if VR occupies only small niche, there is little doubt that it is among number of technologies that are changing rapidly and playing an increasingly important part in the school curriculum.   1.     Does the presence of VR technology in schools amicably provide effective applications for student learning in the classroom? 2.     How can a student acquire desirable learning experiences in Biology class through VR utilization? In computer class?  3.     How does VR technology in its effectiveness be applied to Biology class? To Computer class? (Cite examples) 4.     Any similarities and differences of the VR approaches in both classes? Are there any diverse facts in such learning assumptions as used by students/ learners with different needs? 5.     In what ways does VR technology be implemented to such classroom activities signifying that such students learning in various processes are not the same? Since for example, Biology class offers different mode of learning applications as compared to what the computer class offers?   Introduction to topic for research Accordingly, until the early 1990s, virtual reality have become commonplace, attracting hundreds of researchers and developing into sizable industry although, until recently, VR process were so expensive that only large research laboratories could afford them, VR then, has now become poised to enter the education arena in the form of virtual tools for educational learning purposes. Thus, with the advent of other innovative technologies, the emergence of virtual reality has raised many questions about its effective implications, as there now seems to have ample possibility that virtual reality technology may become strong medium for student learning such as in subjects as biology and computer respectively. Thus, VR technology still has the look and feel of prototype, jumble of wires, LCDs and artful technical compromises ( 1988), just portal looking out on mature technology to come. Truly then, virtual reality is powerful and compelling computer application by which humans can interface and interact with computer-generated environments in way that mimics real life and engages all the senses. Thus, virtual reality technology will link people and information in ways that are much more immersive and integrative than current network connections based on two dimensional display screens with keyboard and mouse. Nowadays, students make connections with computing systems in several alternative ways. Each time one watches an electronic watch or hears digital encoding, one is interfacing with computer. One good example is, when someone views standard size computer display within the physical world, the computer screen picture is only small portion of the high priority real world world, but if the screen is sufficiently surrounding to dominate most of the total human range of sight and the picture that it displays reacts naturally to movement, then the computer picture becomes perceptually predominant.     Research objectives The core objective of this study is to determine factors emphasizing VR technology in its effectiveness in support to students needs in classroom activities, identifying vivid comparisons of Biology class as compared to computer class assimilating VR technology from within such context. Thus, as without realism, it is impossible to say that scientific or technological advance has taken place in the classroom and that some change to such VR patterns in one of those classes may result into shortcomings. Another objective would be, to impose awareness with regards to VR technology as applied to student learning that can incur their diverse needs in the classroom. The utilization of VR approaches should be essential in providing in-depth knowledge of how can VR technology effectiveness is applied within biology as well as computer classes as it serves as the main focus of the study. But as the researcher is just being  concerned with virtual reality, in such effectiveness for classroom activities/programs, there shall need to look useful concepts or ideas as part of such learning range within the school phenomena that may sprung around the ideal facet of VR technology in action.                 Sampling Procedures   For determining a solid stance of VR technology in its effectiveness, the research samples as subject for survey questionnaire in support to case studies can be divided into two groups of students, 50 students from Biology class and 50 students from computer class given the fact that, both of the student groups are using VR materials for both class types. The age bracket of these  students can be from 14-17 years old, the age in which biology class and computer class is applicable. The study procedure must be explained well to the students both from biology and computer class. Then, quantitative and qualitative data will be analyzed and that quantitative will be sourced to the primary data gathered and will be undergone into compilation, frequencies, percentages and determination of relationships. Qualitative data will come from the open type of questions in the questionnaire that will reflect the personal opinions of respondents not included in the selection, data will be significant when quantitative data is discovered to have deviations from the hypothesized variables.                Methodology For the realization of the study in progress, one crucial methodology to be applied is through survey questionnaires that will be given to the students from biology class and computer class respectively. The survey questionnaire can be in easy and simple form for the students to respond well and fairly. The questions can be divided into 3 subsets, 5 questions will be asking how their classes are in terms of laboratory tools and materials asking them to narrate such items used in each of the class. The next 5 will be pointing to such VR technology used within the classroom, detailing how they achieved learning and desirable experiences from within their classroom activities. The last 5 questions can be identifying such biology and computer classroom activities using appropriate VR tools and ask the students if they use certain facilities such as movie watching and viewing of discovery channels in 3D interaction process and or film shows and workshops supporting how computer advance and impact the student mind of today’s generation. Thus, there can also be utilization of several case study examples supporting VR technology in its effectiveness, these cases can be found from secondary sources of information as such supported by peer reviewed journals and or academic articles related to the assumptions of VR in schools today. The qualitative approach is to answer questions about the nature of phenomena with the purpose of describing and understanding them from the students’ point of view. Thus, the case study design have the capability of uncovering causal paths and mechanisms and by precise detail there identifies several causal influences and interaction effects which might not be treated well in such statistics investigation as particularly helpful in generating useful theories in development of VR effectiveness. (1997;  1984) Thus, the case study approach will amicably involve the utilization of such methodological information integrating certain suitable ideas and concepts from such primary resources as handed well using first hand findings and research outcomes signifying the appropriateness of VR technology found within biology and or computer class by means of realizing any case study material based on amiable research tools and techniques to be executed in the study. (1997; 1984) Data required and methods of data collection   The research methodology and design process would involve such primary as well as secondary sources for bringing about substantial studies that are literature based and theoretically inclined for which such research methods utilized may truly serve its first hand purpose for this study. The primary sources will have to represent original thinking as the core data for the research will have to be in case studies as well as survey questionnaires equipped with suitable statistical data and its measures as it can have direct observation to the research process as undergoing research should be handed in with empirical facets and crucial points gathered by the researcher. There should also be the integration of secondary data as findings and assumption studies made by several researchers can be good option that supports any valid information. The secondary data will then analyze and evaluate information as being found in the primary sources and creates information more accessible to the readers and the parties involved as these were supported by good books, peer reviewed journals as well as articles and other publication types. When moving the case method for instance, can have such shifts from one paradigm to another and in handling study discipline, such careful approach is amicably needed. The data to be gathered will be tallied by the researcher and will be encoded in the computer.  Hard copy will be printed to ensure that files are kept including the questionnaire responses of the sample.  Frequencies will be computed into percentages and will be presented through graphs, tables and textual arrangements. VR data will also undergo interpretation to determine student to VR relationships indicating the applicability of the research study.   Data Analysis and possible conclusion                                                        The analysis of data can be through scaling interpretation for the survey questions that can be in support to any descriptive type of analysis basing from the responses of the students of both classes. The measurement for such analysis, must take such forms of non-comparative scales to be illustrated as qualitative approach can involve numeric value and on the other hand, be it in semantic way with complete scaling measurements as equipped to understand VR technology applications in those classes and in achieving success in educational training aspect also. There will be utilization of interval scaling as the researcher can justify the use of the arithmetic mean as measure of average. The interval scale has equal units of measurement and possible to interpret not only the order of scale scores as possible to add or subtract constant of the scale value without affecting the form of the scale, requiring interval scales for this study is just appropriate supported by likert scales for the survey as every scale item will have 5 categories, with scale values ranging from -2 to +2 with 0 as neutral response. (2004 , May 3, 2007) Likert scales are treated as yielding Interval data by the majority of marketing researchers.  The scales which have been described in this chapter are among the most commonly used in marketing research. Whilst there are great many more forms which scales can take, if students are familiar with those described in this chapter they will be well equipped to deal with most types of survey problem. Furthermore, through such application of the Likert scale measurement, the degree of agreement as well as disagreement will be given desired numeric value wherein there can include such 2-5 interpretative points from strongly agree up to neutral scaling aspect down to strongly disagree as to be effective in calculation processes (2004 , May 3, 2007).   Nevertheless, there can say that VR technology has shaped the modern education society inasmuch as there has been such steady advance of school subjects from such points of curriculum innovation. Thus, for case study application, it may be class utilization of VR in biology and or computer class can provide effective classroom activities as supported by VR tools and materials respectively. For instance, the growth of biological knowledge is a necessary for desirable student learning. Furthermore, the same applies to VR technology in computer classes, as it can be imperative to point to certain enhanced ability to manipulate such PC applications and its related data and information. The immediate outcome is that it will be necessary to examine not only VR effectiveness forces that shape classroom centered advances but also on student learning experiences as a whole. The data to be presented will have to be in tabulation and due analysis through the use of deviations in median and percentage standardization. Future studies that could be of use by the researchers can be seen in the matter of how effective this particular research study to the society that will be transpired that the study is of applied values and norms that could be the useful indication of the studies to be discussed and be able to assimilate in the future research studies that is more or less related to the presumed study. There needs for updating significant primary and secondary with proper occupation of modern tools and techniques and the need to strengthen on the overall research in its execution and style of completion. The proposal then, may possibly explain relevance of research approach and its affectivity to the served purpose respectively.

Research Proposal

RESEARCH PROPOSAL Proposed Title: Research Study on Virtual Reality Effectiveness supporting several student needs throug...