Uses for Bleach and Vinegar

Uses for Bleach and Vinegar Mixing vinegar and bleach strengthens the cleaning and disinfecting properties of the chemicals, yet it also produces toxic vapors. Do you mix vinegar and bleach for specific purposes? If so, what is your use of the mixture? These are answers and experiences submitted by readers. NEVER AGAIN !!!! I was dumping out dirty water from the mop bucket into my shower drain didnt think anything of it . I was quick to pour water and bleach in the bucket and completely forgot vinegar was leftover and voila, a coughing fit burning eyes. Mind you I live in an old house, so there isnt much ventilation but I have all the doors and windows open to no avail. Its effects are horrible   cant get the smell out of my nose and the light headedness. - annon The devil is in the dilution At alkaline pH values of about 8.5 or higher, more than 90% of the bleach is in the form of the chlorite ion (OCl-), which is relatively ineffective antimicrobially. At acidic pH values of about 6.8 or lower, more than 80% of the bleach is in the form of hypochlorite (HOCl). HOCl is about 80 to 200 times more antimicrobial than OCl-. - googleit Vinegar Bleach Cleaner Mix one-gallon water with 2 oz. bleach and 2 oz. vinegar in a spray bottle; the most effective disinfectant cleaner for counters, floors, sinks, etc. and helps prevent fruit flies. - Keyna Welenc Bleach IS an acid! DANGER! Chlorine bleach contains sodium hypochlorite or NaOCl. Because bleach is Sodium hypochlorite in water, the sodium hypochlorite in bleach actually exists as hypochlorous acid: I worked calibrating chlorine detectors. And if you mix Bleach with vinegar it produces chlorine gas! It is deadly and should NOT be done under any circumstance! A danger to life article here cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/intridl4.html also see: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/832336-overview - DayoIII Bleach is not an acid. Bleach is not an acid, it is a strong base. adding vinegar WILL lower the pH, but since bleach has a HIGH pH, adding vinegar will only neutralize it. Another use for mixing vinegar with bleach is to create a strong oxidizing chemical, used to turn (for example) steel wool into iron oxide (Fe2O3), used for color pigments, or chemistry experiments. - Professor good to know! these are good things to know! especially being someone who is just starting to live on my own and not living in the nicest places that are available. Getting rid of the mold and smells are important, but not that important. My go-to chemical is straight up comet bleach. It worked for my grandmother and my mother and it works for me! Less risk of dangerous fumes than mixing or the liquid since it is powder form. - CHEM II Student Good God! - It Wasnt a Miracle Cleaner I believe the miracle is that I am still alive and breathing! because about 4 hours ago I mixed up a large amount 1/1 mix of bleach /vinegar the only time in my life desperately seeking an inexpensive solution to molds/parasites in a large outdoor aviary/cage which also houses a small shop that I spend a great deal of time with my cat in. He just came in from the area the l was sizzling. Will he be OK? I did it to protect him from potentially harmful spores/ect.. but what have I done! Im so worried about him the tiny little fellow! and what happens when it rains tonight does it start reacting again. Or should I rinse well w/garden hose or should I avoid re-wetting it, I even bent down closer to the ground watching it react ! and observed for at least 1/2 hr? yeeeeeps! stupid girl!. I cant tell if my throat /chest hurts or not I think maybe yes or my worried imagination? - Judy still suffering I was cleaning a rather old shower, still had the stainless steel base. I spray sellys 3 min mold cleaner on the shower walls and polaris stainless steel cleaner on the base. I left it to work for 3 mins then went in and scrubbed the base, as i did this my eyes started burning and coughing.I didnt know that the two cleaners where reacting, just thinking the bleach was rather strong. it wasnt until i got home 3 - 4 hrs later my husband said Id inhaled chloric gases given off from the two products. I rang the poison center and was told to flush the eyes for 15 mins and go to the local hospital. I flushed my eyes but didnt go to the hospital. 2 weeks later Im still suffering from acute sinus and headaches. Do not underestimate the dangers of bleach. - Kiwi I almost died Today I was cleaning my kitchen floor with vinegar and liquid dishwashing detergent. I scrubbed the floor and still could not get all the stains out. Thought Id use a little bit of bleach. Boy! It was like the vinegar potentiated the odor of the bleach (now I know the chlorine gas was released). I was coughing, entire airway irritated. Felt close to losing consciousness and struggled to get kitchen windows open. I did, but I was just to overcome. Left the kitchen and went upstairs. Opened up 3 more windows and just could not get myself straight. Its been about 4 hours since the incident. My airway is still irritated and Wheezing is audible, and I consider myself stupid but alive. I have always respected bleach but just didnt appreciate that household vinegar could react with it with such dire consequences. - Brenda Outdoor Nastiness I use it to clear up mold and mildew on the patio. The fumes arent a problem outside and it does a number on discolored yuckiness outdoors. - CleanGirl

The Countries of the World in French

The Countries of the World in French Learning the French names for countries is relatively easy if you are already familiar with the name in English. In most instances, the translation is as simple as attaching something like  -ique  or  -ie  to the end of the name.  That means that this a very easy French lesson which students of any level can learn. Les Pays en Franà §ais Below is a list of virtually all of the countries in the world, organized alphabetically from English to French. As you study geography in the French language, you will find it useful to learn how to speak about the countries and be able to use them in sentences. Remember that you need to use a definite article (the the, such as  le or  la)  for countries. Some of the countries do not have a  definite article  because they are islands. Articles are normally not used with islands. You will also need to know the gender of the country in order to use it in a preposition.  Nearly all countries that end in -e are feminine, and the rest are masculine. There are just a few exceptions: le Belizele Cambodgele Mexiquele Mozambiquele Zaà ¯rele Zimbabwe In those cases and for  countries that use  l  as the definitive article, the gender is indicated next to the name. English French Afghanistan l'Afghanistan (m) Albania l'Albanie (f) Algeria l'Algà ©rie (f) Andorra l'Andorre (f) Angola l'Angola (m) Antigua and Barbuda l'Antigua-et-Barbuda (f) Argentina l'Argentine (f) Armenia l'Armà ©nie (f) Australia l'Australie (f) Austria l'Autriche (f) Azerbaijan l'Azerbaà ¯djan (m) Bahamas les Bahamas (f) Bahrain le Bahreà ¯n Bangladesh le Bangladesh Barbados la Barbade Belarus la Bià ©lorussie Belau Belau Belgium la Belgique Belize le Belize (m) Benin le Bà ©nin Bhutan le Bhoutan Bolivia la Bolivie Bosnia la Bosnie-Herzà ©govine Botswana le Botswana Brazil le Brà ©sil Brunei le Brunà ©i Bulgaria la Bulgarie Burkina-Faso le Burkina Burma la Birmanie Burundi le Burundi Cambodia le Cambodge (m) Cameroon le Cameroun Canada (learn the provinces) le Canada Cape Verde Island le Cap-Vert Central African Republic la Rà ©publique centrafricaine Chad le Tchad Chile le Chili China la Chine Colombia la Colombie Comoro Islands les Comores (f) Congo le Congo Cook Islands les ÃŽles Cook Costa Rica le Costa Rica Cà ´te d'Ivoire la Cà ´te d'Ivoire Croatia la Croatie Cuba Cuba Cyprus Chypre (f) Czech Republic la Rà ©publique tchà ¨que Denmark le Danemark Djibouti le Djibouti Dominica la Dominique Dominican Republic la Rà ©publique dominicaine Ecuador l'Équateur (m) Egypt l'Égypte (f) El Salvador le Salvador England l'Angleterre (f) Equatorial Guinea la Guinà ©e à ©quatoriale Eritrea l'Érythrà ©e (f) Estonia l'Estonie (f) Ethiopia l'Éthiopie (f) Fiji les Fidji (f) Finland la Finlande France (learn the regions) la France French Polynesia la Polynà ©sie franà §aise Gabon le Gabon Gambia la Gambie Georgia la Gà ©orgie Germany l'Allemagne (f) Ghana le Ghana Greece la Grà ¨ce Grenada la Grenade Guatemala le Guatemala Guinea la Guinà ©e Guinea Bissau la Guinà ©e-Bissao Guyana la Guyana Haiti Haà ¯ti Honduras le Honduras Hungary la Hongrie Iceland l'Islande (f) India l'Inde (f) Indonesia l'Indonà ©sie (f) Iran l'Iran (m) Iraq l'Irak (m) Ireland l'Irlande (f) Israel Israà «l (m) Italy l'Italie (f) Jamaica la Jamaà ¯que Japan le Japon Jordan la Jordanie Kazakhstan le Kazakhstan Kenya le Kenya Kiribati Kiribati (f) Kuwait le Koweà ¯t Kyrgyzstan le Kirghizstan Laos le Laos Latvia la Lettonie Lebanon le Liban Lesotho le Lesotho Liberia le Libà ©ria Libya la Libye Liechtenstein le Liechtenstein Lithuania la Lituanie Luxembourg le Luxembourg Macedonia la Macà ©doine Madagascar Madagascar (m) Malawi le Malawi Malaysia la Malaisie Maldives les Maldives (f) Mali le Mali Malta Malte (f) Marshall Islands les ÃŽles Marshall Mauritania la Mauritanie Mauritius ÃŽle Maurice (f) Mexico le Mexique (m) Micronesia la Micronà ©sie Moldavia la Moldavie Monaco Monaco Mongolia la Mongolie Montenegro le Montà ©nà ©gro Morocco le Maroc Mozambique le Mozambique Namibia la Namibie Nauru la Nauru Nepal le Nà ©pal Netherlands les Pays-Bas New Zealand la Nouvelle-Zà ©lande Nicaragua le Nicaragua Nieu Niouà © Niger le Niger Nigeria le Nigà ©ria North Korea la Corà ©e du Nord Northern Ireland l'Irelande du Nord (f) Norway la Norvà ¨ge Oman l'Oman (m) Pakistan le Pakistan Panama le Panama Papua New Guinea la Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinà ©e Paraguay le Paraguay Peru le Pà ©rou Philippines les Philippines (f) Poland la Pologne Portugal le Portugal Qatar le Qatar Romania la Roumanie Russia la Russie Rwanda le Rwanda Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint-Christophe-et-Nià ©và ¨s (m) Saint Lucia Sainte-Lucie Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines San Marino Saint-Marin Sao Tomà © and Principe Sao Tomà © et Principe (m) Saudi Arabia l'Arabie saoudite (f) Scotland l'Écosse (f) Senegal le Sà ©nà ©gal Serbia la Serbie Seychelles les Seychelles (f) Sierra Leone la Sierra Leone Slovakia la Slovaquie Slovenia la Slovà ©nie Soloman Islands les ÃŽles Salomon Somalia la Somalie South Africa l'Afrique du Sud (f) South Korea la Corà ©e du Sud Spain l'Espagne (f) Sri Lanka le Sri Lanka Sudan le Soudan Surinam le Surinam Swaziland le Swaziland Sweden la Suà ¨de Switzerland la Suisse Syria la Syrie Tajikistan le Tadjikistan Tanzania la Tanzanie Thailand la Thaà ¯lande Togo le Togo Tonga les Tonga (f) Trinidad and Tobago la Trinità ©-et-Tobago Tunisia la Tunisie Turkey la Turquie Turkmenistan le Turkmà ©nistan Tuvalu le Tuvalu Uganda l'Ouganda (m) Ukraine l'Ukraine (f) United Arab Emirates les Émirats arabes unis (m) United Kingdom le Royaume-Uni United States (learn the states) les États-Unis (m) Uruguay l'Uruguay (m) Uzbekistan l'Ouzbà ©kistan (m) Vanuatu le Vanuatu Vatican le Vatican Venezuela le Venezuela Vietnam le Vià ªt-Nam Wales le pays de Galles Western Samoa les Samoa occidentales Yemen le Yà ©men Yugoslavia la Yougoslavie Zaire (Congo) le Zaà ¯re (m) Zambia la Zambie Zimbabwe le Zimbabwe (m)

Risk Management (Probability modeling in finance and economics) Essay

Risk Management (Probability modeling in finance and economics) - Essay Example ARCH and GARCH type models used to estimate volatility are also nonlinear models expressed as a function (linear or not) of past variations in stocks. ARCH-GARCH models and more recently the range process have generated an extensive amount of research and papers. Just as chaos the Hurst, exponent and memory modeling have been topics of interest in many areas outside finance and economics. ARCH and GARCH models, which are important for modeling and estimating volatility, are an important part of modern finance. Since the value of an option depends essentially on its volatility and volatility studies are assuming an important role in financial modeling. A primary feature of the autoregressive Conditional heteroscedasticity (ARCH) model as developed by Engle (1982), is that the conditional variances change over time. Following the seminal idea, numerous models incorporating this feature have been proposed. Among these models, Bollerslev's (1986) generalized ARCH (GARCH) model is certainly the most popular and successful because it is easy to estimate and interpret by analogy with the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) time series model. ... prominent role in the analysis of many aspects of financial econometrics such as the term structure of interest rates, the pricing of options, the presence of time varying risk premia in the foreign exchange market. The quintessence of the ARCH model is to make volatility depend on variability of past observations. An alternative formulation initiated by Taylor (1986) makes volatility be driven by unobserved component, and has come to be known as the stochastic volatility (SV) model. AS for the ARCH models SV models have also been intensively used in the last decade, especially after the progress accomplished in the corresponding estimation techniques, as illustrated in the excellent surveys of Ghysels ET al (1996) and Shepard (1996). Early contributions that aimed at relating changes in volatility of asset returns to economic intuition include Clark (1973) who assumed that a stochastic process of information arrival generates a random number of intraday changes of the asset price. The Black-Scholes model for instance assumes that the price of the asset underlying the option contract follows a geometric Brownian motion and one of the most successful extensions has been the continuous time SV model. In these models, volatility is not a constant as in the original Black-Scholes model; rather, it is another random process typically driven by a Brownian motion that is imperfectly correlated with the Brownian motion driving the primitive asset price dynamics. In technical terms, the volatility process generated within arch type models converges in distribution towards a well-defined solution of a stochastic differential equation as the sampling frequency increases. One concomitant reason is that the continuous record asymptotics developed for the ARCH models do not deliver

United Kingdom sports policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

United Kingdom sports policy - Essay Example Sports have been promoted in the United Kingdom as a modern public sector service by successive governments. (Henry. 2001, 19). Being a competitive activity between individuals, groups and states, it is but natural that sports will come within the purview of state policy for smooth promotion as well as to ensure steady growth of sporting abilities in the country to generate a strong feeling of nationhood through better performance in international competitions. Governments thus invariably indulge in formulating sports policies that will earn laurels for the individual and the country in the international arena. Sports policies are also deemed significant to ensure equity in dispensation to afford equal opportunities for weaker sections of society. Notwithstanding the above, it is commonly noticed that public policy is influenced by practical politics, power relations, resources and technical considerations. (Veal.2002, 11). United Kingdom has been at the forefront of sports over the years. The famous quote attributed to the Duke of Wellington that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the sports fields of Eton and Harrow has justifiably highlighted the importance of sports in British national life. The UK sports policy is contained in Game Plan: A Strategy for Delivering Government's Sports and Physical Activity Objectives developed by the UK Strategy Unit under the British Prime Minister's Office published in 2002. (Game Plan, 2002). The policy and strategy laid down in this document has been followed up rigorously and is reviewed every year. The salient facets are discussed as per succeeding paragraphs. Game Plan: A Strategy for Delivering Government's Sports and Physical Activity Objectives The importance to sports policy in general and the policy document in particular is evident with the Foreword being written by the Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair. Mr. Blair highlights the significance of sports as a powerful tool to achieve a number of goals for governments and the need for being adequately equipped to take advantage of the means for nation building. (Game Plan, 2002). The Report has been focused as per Blair on the importance of increasing grass roots participation in sports for health benefits so that the current health costs of 2bn a year or 54,000 lives lost prematurely could be cut down. A government - sports bodies partnership is sought to be created to achieve these aims. (Game Plan, 2002). The Prime Minister has also highlighted the need to cut down on sports bureaucracy. The focus is on the younger generation and it is envisaged that at least 75 percent youth should participate in sports in the coming years. The Secretary Of State RT Hon Tessa Jowell has also emphasized the need for greater focus on participation in sports as only 32 percent of adults in England were doing more than 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week which is the recommendation of health professionals. (Game Plan, 2002). The disparity in the population with limited participation by the lower income groups and fall in involvement with increasing age has been noted with concern. Ms Jowell has bench marked British performance with nations as Finland and Australia which have a large participation in sports and also one which is increasing with age. Britain's performance has been highlighted as the best in Olympics since 1920, with world champions in more than 50 sports but most of these are not in sports carrying a high profile

Scholarly vs Pop Media Focus on Sexuality Essay Example for Free

Scholarly vs Pop Media Focus on Sexuality Essay Abortion is the termination of human pregnancy. According to Greenberg, Bruess Conklin there are two types of abortion, Spontaneous abortions, and induced abortion. The natural termination of a pregnancy is called spontaneous abortion or usually called miscarriages, and it occurs when the fetus stop developing and its expulse from the utero. Abortions requiring intervention to end the pregnancy are technically called Induce Abortion. Induce abortion has various methods including Vacuum aspiration, manual vacuum aspiration, medical abortion, or dilation and evacuation. Vacuum aspiration is the most common abortion in the United States, and is a â€Å"surgical procedure that uses a suction tube to evacuate the contents of the uterus, which can be used through the first weeks and the second trimester† (Greenberg, Bruess Conklin, 2010). The manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) is a variation of vacuum aspiration that can be used from the detection of pregnancy up to 12 weeks since the last menstrual period. (Greenberg, Bruess Conklin, 2010). The medical abortion is the used of drug to provoke the abortion. Dilation and evacuation occurs during the second trimester of pregnancy. This type of induces abortion â€Å"involves dilating the cervix, scraping the wall of the uterus and removing the endometrial lining with suction† (Greenberg, Bruess Conklin, 2010). â€Å"Should Parental Involvement Be Required for Minors Abortions? † by Hyman Rodman. In 1973, the U. S Supreme Court gave constitutional authorization to women’s’ right to abortion after Roe vs. Wade case. â€Å"The basis for the Courts decision was a womans right to privacy: This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendments concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendments reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a womans decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy (Rodman, 1991). One of the major restriction were debate in the U. S.  Supreme Court regarding the women right to an abortion was whether to required parental involvement for minors’ abortions. There are many reason of why parental involvement should not be legally necessary. Since abortion right to women was pass in 1973, many attempts have been made to end the right to abortion, to make abortion illegal, eliminate Medicaid funds to pay for abortions, all attempts have failed because â€Å"district courts ruled them unsontitutional and as these decisions were upheld by the U. S. Supreme Court Roadman 1991) The debates of abortion still a controversial in two levels, state and national. At the state level legislatures are trying to enact or restrict abortions for reasons of sex selection, with the exception of saving the mother’s life, prohibiting abortions after certain stage of the fetus, the used of Medicaid or federal funds to pay abortion, but the most controversial questions has to do with underage abortions, and particularly with whether to pass laws for underage permission or parental consent to have an abortion. The Court declared a minors right to an abortion, but it change from state to state. The states decision on parental consent or involvement in minors’ abortion is a difficult task for the state because of the state courts have to balance the constitutional right of parental and minor’s rights. The States may or not require the involvement or consent of one or both parents. If the minor does not want to have her parents’ involvement the minor can evade by going to the court. There are many reasons of why parent should and should not be involve in minors decision on having an abortion. Rodman state that â€Å"There is a pro-life argument that parental involvement will help teens to make a better and more informed decision about an unwanted pregnancy, and that this will improve the health of teenagers† (rodman, 1991) There are three reasons of why parents should not be involve in minors decision on having an abortion that Rodman present in this article, the first one is voluntary involvement, there is evidence that good parent-child communication about sexual matters leads to more responsible sexual behavior by adolescents. But when communication is forced it is more likely to be hostile and non supportive. The second reason is because â€Å"Bureaucratic Excess† when the minor avoid parental involvement with judicial bypass. â€Å"Judicial bypass involves establishing court procedures so that minors can exercise their right of privacy if they want to obtain an abortion without parental consent or notification† (Rodman, 1991). And the third reason is â€Å"uniqueness of that decision indeed a unique status applies to reproductive health decisions generally, because the courts have recognized that reproductive health decisions are unique in their urgency, importance, and sensitivity† (Rodman, 1991). Rodman state that If legislators and policymakers would acknowledge that, they would abandon their efforts to require parental involvement in abortion decisions and devote much greater attention to providing support for basic programs in education and public welfare that would reduce poverty, increase opportunities, enhance parent-child communication, and eliminate many of the unintended pregnancies that create a demand for minors abortions â€Å"Parental Involvement Laws and their effect on Abortion-Minded † by Robert Schwarzwalder. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of abortion has decreased since 1990 by 20% and it’s due to the parental involvement laws. Michael News 2008 Family Research Council study found that parental involvement laws within the various states have had a positive effect in reducing the amount of abortions in underage population. The Supreme Court allowed the states to create laws for minors to gain parental notification or consent to have abortions. But the Supreme Court required that the states to have Parental Involvement laws must have a judicial. By 2008, 36 states had adopted Parental Involvement law with a positive results, the results are that the among of abortion in minors (between 1985-1999) have drop by almost 50 % in contract of the states that parental Involvement is not required, the rate of abortion in minors drop only by 13. 4%. Also, laws that require both parents involvement reduces the in-state abortion rate of minors by about 31%† (Schwarzwalder, 2008) This study support that the states that support and enact the parental involvement law or required parental consent has an effect in the number of abortion by minors. And the effect is a positive, the decline of abortion of minors. Both parents involvement reduce the minors’ abortion rate even more. Schwarzwalder’s finding suggests that state and federal legislation to â€Å"mandates parental involvement in abortions for minors causes an ov erall decline in the abortion rate among minors. Both articles: â€Å"Should Parental Involvement Be Required for Minors Abortions? † by Hyman Rodman and â€Å"Parental Involvement Laws and their effect on Abortion-Minded † by Robert Schwarzwalder refer to the ROE vs WAVE case outcome in 1973, the women right to abortion. Rodman and Schwarzwalder explain in their article the bypass and it procedures, and both authors talk about the remarkable influence of parental involvement in minors during the decision of abortion. Rodman explained why parents should or should not be part of minors’ decision toward abortion. Rodman and Schwarzwalder agree that when parents are involve in their children (minors) sexual health the outcomes positive, Rodman said that â€Å"parental involvement will help teens to make a better and more informed decision about an unwanted pregnancy, and that this will improve the health of teenagers† (Rodman, 1991) and Schwarzwalder the declined of abortion in minors. Rodman explains why parents should or should be part of minors’ rights in abortion, he does not take a side or either should parents be involved or not. Rodman conclusion in his article is that the â€Å"legislators and policymakers should focus on provide support for basic programs in education and public welfare that would reduce poverty, increase opportunities, enhance parent-child communication, and eliminate many of the unintended pregnancies that create a demand for minors abortions† (Rodman, 1991) instead of deciding either parents involvement in abortion in underage. Schwarzwalder conclude his article by stated that parental consent reduce the number of minors’ abortion rate compare to the states that do not required parental consent or knowledge. In contrast to Rodman, Schwarzwalder just give the outcome of parental involvement in minors abortion but he fail to give detail and the reason of why and how parental involvement help to the positive outcome on decreasing the number of abortion. Even thou the two articles were good source of information for my research, I find out that the best source of information was the peer review because peer review is the evaluation of work by other people in the same field in order to maintain or improve the quality of the work in the same field. A primary difference between peer review and popular media is that the peer review has to be approving by recognized researcher in the field, read and evaluated before the article is submitted for publication. Peer review will be published (approved) send it backs to author to be revised or rejected if it does not meet the discipline’s standards of expertise. In peer review journal the author are in general Experts (scholar, professor etc. ), notes usually includes reference a notes or bibliographic. The language used in the article is written for exerts using technical language in the field. The audience is scholars or researcher in the field, and the frequency is usually monthly or quarterly. While the popular media the author are usually journalist, nonprofessional or layperson. The article has few or NO notes at all; the writing is for nonprofessional or layperson, and frequency is weekly or monthly. But the most important difference is that the review, while peer review journal is review by peer scholar not employed by the journal, the popular media article is review by one or more editors employed by the magazine.

Noble :: essays research papers

â€Å"Are children noble savages, naturally pure and innately good, or are they just savages, lovable savages.† I think that Barbara Lerner argues that all children have some good and evil in them. It’s just to see who they grow up with and which crowd they hang around with, but sometimes its not the crowd they hang with it might be there parents, teachers, people at school. Evil is within us all. â€Å"The darkness is out there, not in us.† I don’t think thats really true in some cases. Children are a portal to our past, and through experience they become our present and future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne had an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester in result was pregnat with a baby girl whom she named Pearl. Pearl is the symbol of Hesters public punishment for her adultery. Which would be considered evil to the Puritan since she had some demon like traits. So she had evil traits does it really matter to me it doesn't matter at all cuz some people say THaet i m evil but really i m not so yea It's a good vs evil in this short paper. So hehehe hahaha I m evil I m the devil. â€Å"Are children noble savages, naturally pure and innately good, or are they just savages, lovable savages.† I think that Barbara Lerner argues that all children have some good and evil in them. It’s just to see who they grow up with and which crowd they hang around with, but sometimes its not the crowd they hang with it might be there parents, teachers, people at school. Evil is within us all. â€Å"The darkness is out there, not in us.† I don’t think thats really true in some cases.

Roman Empire: Its Fall and Power

Rome was a major power because it always made certain its own military prowess was preeminent. There have been many ideas presented as to the fall of the Roman Empire. Many believe that Rome declined morally and the violence and decadence of the societal norms led to the demise. Gibbons has been credited with the theory of the influence and transference of Christianity over the Roman system of Gods and Goddesses that perpetrated the fall. Another theory lays the blame at the feet of the Emperor, that the happiness of the people and the functioning of the government was directly correlated with the personal merit and management skills of the reigning authorityRome was a major power because it always made certain its own military prowess was preeminent. There have been many ideas presented as to the fall of the Roman Empire. Many believe that Rome declined morally and the violence and decadence of the societal norms led to the demise. Gibbons has been credited with the theory of the influence and transference of Christianity over the Roman system of Gods and Goddesses that perpetrated the fall. Another theory lays the blame at the feet of the Emperor, that the happiness of the people and the functioning of the government was directly correlated with the personal merit and management skills of the reigning authority Rome was a major power because it always made certain its own military prowess was preeminent. There have been many ideas presented as to the fall of the Roman Empire. Many believe that Rome declined morally and the violence and decadence of the societal norms led to the demise. Gibbons has been credited with the theory of the influence and transference of Christianity over the Roman system of Gods and Goddesses that perpetrated the fall.

Internship Report Marketing Research

Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited Submitted to Professor Golam Mohammed Chowdhury Chairman, Internship & Placement Program Supervised by Dr. M Z Mamun Professor and Director Submitted by Noman Ahmed Khan Roll No. 16 MBA 41 (D) Internship Period: 23rd March to 14th June Institute Of Business Administration (IBA) University Of Dhaka Date of Submission: July 11, 2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all I must thank Dr. M Z Mamun, Professor & Director, IBA for his insisting on the brevity of the report.He helped me determine the objective of the report and guided me through to get to the end. He made me grateful with his valuable suggestions from time to time during my internship. I can never forget his fatherly guidance and his utmost friendly and sincere attention toward me. The second person to acknowledge will surely be my supervisor at SRGB: Mr. M Saidul Haq, Managing Director of SRG Bangladesh Limited. He has been a great support from the choice of the topic, learning of different part of research and understanding the difference between theory and practice.Special thank goes to Mr. Ziauddin Kamal, Senior Research Executive and Mr Emrul Kayes, Manager, HR for providing me every kind of information related to my study. I really should thank every other employee of SRGB, whom I found during different phases of my internship. Most of them have been very open and friendly with me and provided me with the answers I needed from them. Lastly I would like to thank my classmates working in OrgQuest and the Nielsen Company Bangladesh Limited for providing me with brief but useful information about the practices in their organization.July 11, 2009 Chairperson Internship and Placement Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka Dhaka – 1000 Subject: Submission of Internship report on Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited Dear Sir: As a part of the internship program, I have prepared this report on the topic â€Å"Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited†. The report contains a detailed study and analysis on the qualitative and quantitative methodology used by SRG Bangladesh Limited.I judged the matter through the projects in which I had to work as an internee. I have tried my best to utilize the opportunity of working as an internee in an established marketing research company like SRGB. This report is based on information acquired from the project Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh, conducted by SRGB. Here I have tried to compare the methodology used in that study with the thery we have been taught in the classroom and probable reason of difference with the theory if any.I have maintained the internship learning as per the instructions I have got from my supervisor Dr M Z Mamun. I enjoyed preparing this report because it provides an opportunity for me to increase my understanding of the real life marketing research practices. I thank you for such an opportunity. I will be available for any clarification at your convenience. Sincerely yours Noman Ahemd Khan Roll # 16 Batch – 41(D) Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARYvii 1. 0 INTRODUCTION1 1. 1 Origin of the Report1 1. 2 Objective1 1. 3 Methodology2 1. 4 Scope2 1. 5 Limitations2 . 0 Industry Overview3 2. 1. Research and Consultancy Industry around the World3 2. 1. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Market segments3 2. 1. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Player groups5 2. 2 Research and Consultancy Industry in Bangladesh7 2. 2. 1 ORG-Quest Research Ltd (OrQuest)7 2. 2. 2 Sirius Marketing and Social Research Ltd. 7 2. 2. 3 The Nielsen Company8 3. 0 Company Overview9 3. 1 Background and History of SRG Bangladesh Limited9 3. 2 Organization Chart10 3. 3 Services Offered11 3. 4 Qualitative Research12 3. 5 Quantitative R esearch12 3. 6 Recent Projects13 3. 7 Key Clients14 3. Key Person of SRG Bangladesh Limited18 4. 0 Jobs Performed During Internship20 4. 1 Duties and Responsibilities20 4. 2 Completion of the Assignments20 4. 2. 1 Awareness and acceptance of UK Qualification20 4. 2. 2 Assessment of Grameen Kalyan Clinics21 4. 2. 3 Global Opinion Poll on Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, Project Green, Wave 921 4. 2. 4 Mystery Shopping on Banking Products and Service21 4. 3 Benefits of the Program21 5. 0 Critical Assessment of the Methodology of the Project â€Å"Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh†22 5. Background of the study22 5. 1. 1 Definition of the Business Problem22 5. 1. 2 Research Objectives22 5. 2 Methodology23 5. 2. 1 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Quantitative Study23 5. 2. 2 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Qualitative Study (KII and IDI)25 5. 2. 3 Criticism on FGD26 5. 2. 4 A Mixed-Methodology Approach to the Study27 6. 0 Conclusion and Recommendation28 Bibliography29 Annexure I: Questionnaire of Key Informant Interview (KII)30 Annexure II: Questionnaire for In-Depth Interview (IDI)35 List of FiguresFigure 1: Revenues of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services4 Figure 2: Growth Rate of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services4 Figure 3: Groups of Research and Consultancy Players by Size and Origin5 Figure 4. Percentage of Market Share Depending on Size of Businesses6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report has been written with a focused ultimate goal of identifying the gaps between theory and practice of research in SRG Bangladesh Limited. It has been found that the effectiveness of a research firm SRGB in preparing research works fairly supported by theory practitioners.Difference between theory and practice is a very old phenomenon which we can see here too. But it can be concluded easily that though the practice is not perfectly similar with the suggestions from theory, the practice will work effec tively to bring out the result, which is the goal of all research works. Market research and consultancy is an old art which is becoming more important in Bangladesh day by day. The activities of market research include defining marketing opportunities and problems, generating and evaluating marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing process.At the same time management consultancy refers to both the industry of, and the practice of, helping organizations improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business problems and development of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the services of management consultants for a number of reasons, including gaining external (and presumably objective) advice, access to the consultants' specialized expertise, or simply as extra temporary help during a one-time project, where the hiring of more permanent employees is not required.Internship opportunity in a market research and management co nsultancy house can be considered a great opportunity for a student to learn some most important and effective skills. Bangladesh is comparatively new in Market Research and Management Consultancy sector. We can find very few big players and a number of small players here. But the industry is expanding day by day. The total revenue is also increasing every year. Mainly four companies can be considered the topmost players in this industry. One of them SRG Bangladesh Limited is the company where the author completed his internship.The Survey Research Group of Bangladesh [SRGB] was initiated in October 1987 as a Management and Industrial Consulting house. Since the early 90s, SRGB ventured into providing Qualitative and Quantitative Research Services. Since then SRGB has successfully conducted hundreds of studies ranging from broad based sectoral studies to micro level case studies for domestic and international clients. SRGB maintains a countrywide panel of more than 800 male and fema le Field Investigators, who are recruited locally resulting in substantial cost efficiency.Moreover, local investigators ensure operational efficiency and accuracy in collecting relevant information. In terms of organizational philosophy, to remain updated with the rapid changes in the global survey research scenario and to benefit from the hard-earned experience of developed economies, SRGB remains in constant touch with a number of overseas firms engaged in research and consulting. Most of the assignments handled in SRGB were long-term projects that had already been started. Some were in the beginning phase and some were in their final stages.Some of them are also a type of continuous research with several waves. The discussed research study that was used to prepare this report is Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh. It was an ongoing project. It therefore made sense to continue doing what the rest of the team was doing (taking interviews of different types and writing those down). It required all three interns from IBA to take interviews of different people. At the very beginning tough job of taking face to face interviews was assigned.Some visits to a private university (BRAC University for this author) and a multinational (Novartis Bangladesh Limited) helped the job done. Then the qualitative part commenced. A 7 day tour to Chittagong was made to take the KII of a number of Deans and department heads. The tour was successful with nice opportunities to learn interview and communication skills. Then again a 5 day tour to Rajshahi, the land of heat and mango. It was also a very successful tour with acquiring of huge experiences.Finally different top management personnels from different organizations and universities like University of Dhaka, International Islamic University Chittagong Dhaka Campus, Square, Grameenphone, Dhaka Bank, BMET, UGC etc. were interviewed. 1. 0 INTRODUCTION Market research and consultancy is an old art which i s becoming more important in Bangladesh day by day. The activities of market research include defining marketing opportunities and problems, generating and evaluating marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing process.At the same time management consultancy refers to both the industry of, and the practice of, helping organizations improve their performance, primarily through the analysis of existing business problems and development of plans for improvement. Organizations hire the services of management consultants for a number of reasons, including gaining external (and presumably objective) advice, access to the consultants' specialized expertise, or simply as extra temporary help during a one-time project, where the hiring of more permanent employees is not required.Internship opportunity in a market research and management consultancy house can be considered a great opportunity for a student to learn some most important and effective skills. 1. 1 Or igin of the Report As a compulsory part of Internship program, this particular report is being prepared by the author on the proposed topic â€Å"Critical Assessment of the Research Methodology used in SRG Bangladesh Limited†. The intention was to give an opportunity to the students to gain some real world experience by working in a practical environment. The internship supervisor was Mr.M Saidul Haq, Managing Director, SRG Bangladesh Limited and the faculty advisor was Dr. M Z Mamun, Professor & Director of Institute of Business Administration. 1. 2 Objective The Primary Objective of this report is: †¢ To measure the gap between theory and practice for the selection of the methodology. Secondary objectives are: †¢ To study the methodology used in the project under study in SRGB. †¢ To observe the implementation of the methods. †¢ To measure the gap between selection and implementation of the methods. †¢ Search for the justifications behind the gaps. . 3 Methodology The research will be composed of literature review for theories and qualitative research mainly. An extensive study of the research methodology literature will be the base. Then the practical experiences and observations from the project worked for during internship will be compared with the literature. Finally qualitative in-depth interviews and key informant interviews will lead us to our answers. 1. 4 Scope SRGB selects and follows different kinds of methodology for different projects. It changes with the change of projects.Here only the study project in which the author worked- ‘Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh’ will come under consideration. The author will try to reveal the theoretical requirements to selection of methodology for this particular study project and the practical happenings in this project only. The other two studies which were taking place at SRGB at the time of internship will not be considered though the author worked for those in some few instances. 1. 5 Limitations Some limiting factors were faced while conducting the research and preparing the report.These could be summarized as follows: †¢ No secondary information was found, such as, any report or research papers on this particular issue. †¢ For finding out reasons behind gap between theory and practice, enough number of projects could not be studied due to shortage of time and scope. †¢ Only internal specialists were interviewed. 2. 0 Industry Overview Before starting description of the main parts of the internship report, some light on the industry of the worked for company should be addressed. A short story about the industry will help the reader understand the situation with more depth. . 1. Research and Consultancy Industry around the World The management consultancy industry shows a very fragmented picture with various segments and player groups. This first part of the industry analysis starts with an analys is of the market segments and player groups. Afterwards it will elaborate on the competitive situation. The second part of this analysis – Future Prospects – discusses driving forces and possible futures for the industry. Due to availability of data here the focus is on the German market, for which it provides figures and statistics.All statements about trends, competition, drivers and possible future developments, however, can easily be transferred to management consultancies in all major markets. 2. 1. 1  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Market segments In Germany there are 14700 management consultancies and sole practitioners. They employ 68000 consultants. The market for management consultancy in Germany has shown rapid growth throughout the last years. Total revenues rose from 16. 4 bn DM in 1997 to 18. 8 bn in 1998, 21. 3 bn in 1999, and 23. 8 bn DM in 2000. Although the annual growth rate declined from 14. 6 % in 1998 to 11. % in 2000, it is still significa ntly above the growth rate of the German GDP, being below 3 %. However, growth is not equally spread across the market segments. Today management consultancy is much more than the traditional strategy consulting. The Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberater e. V. (BDU, Association of German Management Consultants) distinguishes between consulting for strategy, organisation, IT and human resources. Analysis of these segments reveals their different contributions to overall revenue and growth: Figure 1: Revenues of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services pic] Figure 2: Growth Rate of Research and Consultancy Firms by Services [pic] These figures indicate that IT- and organisational consulting fuelled growth in 1999. This was driven by the current developments in the IT-sector. The BDU names year 2000 solutions, Euro-implementations, SAP implementations and e-business activities. These changes in the customers' environment change their industries more or less and hence create eno rmous needs for consulting. Without the impact of Y2K and Euro-implementation, the growth of IT consulting slowed down in 2000.However, this sector remains the most important field of consulting with 43. 4% of total consulting revenues in 2000. The BDU predicts, that the proportion of consulting projects that include at least partly some e-commerce consulting, will grow from 38% in 2000 to about 50% in 2001. All in all the whole industry shows a dynamic growth. Besides the influence of IT this is driven by globalisation, technological change and the deregulation of markets. 2. 1. 2  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Player groups In recent years the industry has seen the entry of many non-traditional consultants into the market.Barriers to entry are considerably low with little investments into fixed assets needed. In addition – on the contrary to the auditing business – there are no legal regulations limiting the entry to this profession. Many former employees of large consultancy firms or senior managers from other businesses start up as sole practitioners or small consulting firms. On the other hand, many companies from outside the consulting industry enter this market. These are mainly IT-companies as IBM or Cap Gemini, but also designers, technologists, marketing agencies, employment agencies and others.Figure 3: Groups of Research and Consultancy Players by Size and Origin [pic] Rassam (1998) distinguishes as follows: In Germany there are 14700 consulting businesses employing 68500 consultants. The BDU distinguishes small, medium and large consultancies. Not surprisingly, the large consultancies, being smallest in numbers make nearly a third of the total industries revenues: Figure 4. Percentage of Market Share Depending on Size of Businesses [pic] This is an ongoing trend. By 2000 the market share of large consultancies has risen to 47%, share of medium sized firms fell to 36% and share of small firms fell to 17%.This is because large firms show by far the highest growth rates with an average of 18% in 2000. Medium and small firms grew by an average of 9% and 2. 5% only. With this small number of large dominant players the market can be characterised as an oligopoly. Competition is especially strong within the market segments and within the player groups. Due to the limited growth rates in some segments and the entry of new players there is also a rising competition across the segments and player groups. Smaller specialised consultants start to serve customers of all sizes.The large consultants discover small and start-up enterprises as customers, seeing them as future clients for further consulting and auditing activities. According to this competition consultancies have developed different strategies. The large consultancies establish themselves as generalist. They offer their clients a one-stop-shop service for all the consulting needs they might have. Thus their focus is on long-lasting customer relationships and cross-selling opportunities. Many smaller and medium sized consultancies have specialised in certain areas of expertise like IT, HR or business recovery.A number of them operate only in their home area. An important area of competition in consulting business is the supply-side. Consultancies compete heavily to attract highly qualified people. Demand for these people is rising due to the growth aspirations of the large consulting firms. The German member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers created more than 1000 additional jobs during its first year after the merger and still continues to grow at high rates. On the other hand, many graduates from universities and business schools choose to join start-ups in the â€Å"new economy† in 2000. . 2 Research and Consultancy Industry in Bangladesh Bangladesh is comparatively new in Market Research and Management Consultancy sector. We can find very few big players and a number of small players here. But the industry is expanding day b y day. The total revenue is also increasing every year. Mainly four companies can be considered the topmost players in this industry. One of them SRG Bangladesh Limited is the company where the author completed his internship, description of that company is coming latter. Here we find short description of other three firms. 2. 2. ORG-Quest Research Ltd (OrQuest) ORG-QUEST RESEARCH LTD. (OrQuest) is a joint venture company with ORG India (pvt) Ltd. It has been founded in 2003, though serving from 1994. Number of employees is 40 and interviewers is 300. We are a research & consulting firm with strong survey research and analytical skills that bring to bear a blend of insights and Pan-Asian experience of a highly competent team of professionals. We have been providing research services to our valued clients including MNCs, UN agencies, development partners (World Bank, ADB, IFC-SEDF, Swisscontact, etc. , local conglomerates, international research agencies, etc. in the country since 19 94, using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Our qualitative wing owns a viewing facility with one way mirror in Dhaka. With a dedicated team of researchers, having client and agency side experience and multi country exposures, we offer high standard market, social and opinion research services in the areas mentioned under the fields of operation later. 2. 2. 2 Sirius Marketing and Social Research Ltd.Sirius is a full service research organization and offers the entire spectrum of consumer and media research, social research, syndicated Media and Panel research services and business-to-business research conforming to international standards. It has been founded in 1995 and it has 60 employees and 350 interviewers presently. The company is an associate of IMRB International and has full access to IMRB's expertise. Today, Sirius is one of the leading research agencies and the clientele includes multinationals based in Bangladesh, bilateral agencies and international compani es.The company has conducted large scale national level studies (all Bangladesh) and has field offices in the 6 Divisional headquarters of Bangladesh. The company pioneered syndicated media research in the country that includes TV audience measurement, National Media Study (covering all media), TV Ad tracking,and has in place a national level household consumer panel since 2005. 2. 2. 3 The Nielsen Company The Nielsen Company, offering services in over 100 countries, is the world's leading provider of market research, information, and analysis.By delivering unrivalled combinations of insights, advanced analytical tools and integrated marketing solutions, Nielsen provides complete views of consumers and their markets. Nielsen Consumer Research helps clients address the issues of brand health, shopper loyalty and behavior, marketing mix management and consumer motivations. By integrating proprietary research applications with in-market understanding from our retail and consumer panel services we don’t conduct consumer research in a vacuum, and are uniquely positioned to deliver business solutions in their market context.BASES, a service of The Nielsen Company and a world leader in STM’s, uses industry-leading forecasting models, rich databases, and proprietary analytical techniques to consult on a range of business issues, including innovation strategy, concept and marketing plan optimization, and initiative commercialization. BASES is widely known for expertise in the CPG sector, but tools have been adapted to sectors such as pharmaceuticals, alcohol, quick-serve restaurants, and more. 3. 0 Company Overview The company selected for internship was Survey Research Group of Bangladesh (SRGB).It is one of the leading Research and Consultancy firm of the country. A short description of the company will complement the story. 3. 1 Background and History of SRG Bangladesh Limited The Survey Research Group of Bangladesh [SRGB] was initiated in October 1987 as a Management and Industrial Consulting house. Its professional integrity and service excellence rapidly gained a lasting reputation for delivering result-oriented consultancy services. Subsequently, activities were diversified to provide development consultancy, continuing professional development programs, data processing & analysis and event management services.Since the early 90s, SRGB ventured into providing Qualitative and Quantitative Research Services. Since then SRGB has successfully conducted hundreds of studies ranging from broad based sectoral studies to micro level case studies for domestic and international clients. SRGB's studies are carried out under the leadership of highly competent and experienced team members who are well acknowledged experts in their respective fields, appropriately drawn from SRGB's panel with their consent and total commitment.Logistically, SRGB is more than well equipped with all necessary and state of the art office facilities including c omputers, printers, photocopier, scanner, continuous power generator, etc. A team of highly experienced staff remains dedicated to carry out survey research activities. Moreover, SRGB maintains a countrywide panel of more than 800 male and female Field Investigators, who are recruited locally resulting in substantial cost efficiency. Moreover, local investigators ensure operational efficiency and accuracy in collecting relevant information.In terms of organizational philosophy, to remain updated with the rapid changes in the global survey research scenario and to benefit from the hard-earned experience of developed economies, SRGB remains in constant touch with a number of overseas firms engaged in research and consulting. These close associations have proved mutually rewarding and SRGB maintain an open-end policy in acquiring further overseas strategic alliances. Moreover, SRGB's consultants are well practiced in looking objectively at the challenges that a business or an intervent ion faces and developing appropriate, workable and cost effective solutions.SRGB's role as a consultancy house is to provide expert, independent, practical and pragmatic decisions. With the truest partnership spirit, SRGB works â€Å"alongside† with the clients instead of working â€Å"for† them. SRGB's approach is based on hard-earned experience, rather than on textbook solutions. The hard-core professionalism, undaunted integrity and uncompromising excellence of service of SRGB have duly earned high level of customer satisfaction and reliability.The total range of services from SRGB is delivered through three distinct operating divisions: [pic]  Centre for Research & Management Consulting [pic]Centre for Continuing Professional Development [pic]Centre for Data Processing & Analysis All three centres have both intellectual and logistical resource-base that is unmatched in the country. Each of the centres is highly professional, unparalleled in functional efficiency and strategically organized to provide ample scope for future expandability and relentless enhancement of service quality.The Centre for Research & Management Consulting concentrates on providing consolidated business management and development research solutions, while the Centre for Continuing Professional Development offers wide range of skill development programs for practicing and prospective business professionals to enhance their experience and functional capability. Finally, the Centre for Data Processing & Analysis offer a spectrum of digitization services, which covers almost every document conversion process including data, text, PDF, illustrator and XML/SGML conversion services. . 2 Organization Chart The organization is headed by the CEO or President. It has an organogram which is slim but centralized. Here a diagram of the organization chart has been shown in the next page. [pic] 3. 3 Services Offered The services offered are modern and useful. They are as follows: â⠂¬ ¢ Social & Environmental Research †¢ Business Communication Service †¢ Automotive Research †¢ Agricultural Research †¢ Business to Business Research †¢ HR Management Service †¢ Media Research †¢ Mystery Shopping †¢ Qualitative Research †¢ Quantitative Research †¢ Retail Study Healthcare Research †¢ Sales Force Effectiveness Practice Among the available services here we only highlight the qualitative and quantitative research. 3. 4 Qualitative Research SRGB has a specialist qualitative research division. This division forms a core part of the overall business. This division has a team with an experience base of over 15 years. Keeping in mind the need to bring in different perspectives in understanding human behavior, this team has been selected from diverse backgrounds such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, marketing, economics and so on.The qualitative division also has its own specialized field structure that handles a ll aspects of the field operations. No fieldwork is sub-contracted. In addition to our own team of highly experienced and motivated researchers, the qualitative division draws into the expertise of international consultants in the fields of qualitative research and communication. This allows us access to global perspective as well. The qualitative division has handled hundreds of studies spanning categories as diverse as FMCG products, financial products, durables, automobiles, media, telecommunication and so on.It has considerable experience in handling the following types of research studies: †¢ Usage and attitude studies †¢ Brand equity studies †¢ Segmentation studies †¢ Positioning research †¢ Communication development and evaluation †¢ Packaging evaluation studies †¢ New product development studies The experience pool also includes studies among a wide variety of target groups ranging from housewives, chief wage earners, children, teenagers, y oung adults, different socio-economic groups including high net worth individuals; specialist groups such as corporate, specific professions, etc.The qualitative research division boasts of having a large number of specialized techniques such as: †¢ Conflict Groups †¢ Peer Interactions †¢ Triads †¢ Paired Interviews †¢ Slice of life †¢ Semiotics †¢ Extended creativity groups †¢ Hybrid Approaches †¢ Benefit Inhibitor chains †¢ Thematic Apperception Tests †¢ Mind Mapping †¢ Value Equation †¢ World views †¢ Bring your Homework etc. 3. 5 Quantitative ResearchThe quantitative research division is a specialized research with a combined experience of over 18 years in handling quantitative research in a wide range of areas – such as FMCGs, personal grooming products, automobiles, durables, telecom, IT media, pharmaceutical products, cigarettes, retail, financial products and web research. The team, of over 15 quant itative researchers is adept at handling all aspects of the research right from problem definition, to the analysis and data interpretation, to providing implementable solutions to the clients needs.The use of a wide array of tools and techniques, such as multivariate techniques adds value and helps provide meaningful insights to the client. A team of experienced programmers ensure a quick and efficient data summarization and interpretation, which ensure a quicker turnaround time for the project. At any point of time, there are 800+ investigators for collecting data and they are spread across the country.High quality in data collection is ensured through a systemized and stringent data collection procedure-training sessions, mock calls, pilot interviews, back-checks by the company staff ensure that data collected adheres to the quality standards laid down by the company. Specialized teams of experts in various fields with in-depth knowledge of the global market add value to the proj ect. We have consultants with a global experience of at least 20 years in the following areas. Customer satisfaction †¢ Mystery shopping †¢ Product testing †¢ Retailing sector †¢ Modeling and data mining †¢ Insurance sector †¢ Banking sector 3. 6 Recent Projects There were twelve ongoing projects during internship of the author. Among them three were bigger and more important. The author worked in various jobs of four projects, project number 4, 5, 6 and 7. Table 1: Recent Projects by SRGB |Sl No. Project Name |Client |Period of Study | |1 |Monitoring and Evaluation Consulting: |CPTU, IMED |June 2009 to | | |Public Procurement Reform Project–II |Ministry of Planning |June 2013 | | |(PPRP-II) [A World Bank funded Project] |Govt. f Bangladesh |[Ongoing Study] | |2 |Employee Preference Survey for |British America Tobacco (through Engage |June to July 2009 | | |Bangladesh |HR, Pakistan) |[Ongoing Study] | |3 |Monitoring and Evaluation of Cross Bord er Communication – South Asia|AED, USA |April to | | |(Multi-country study involving Bangladesh, Nepal & India) |[USAID funded |June 2009 | | | |AI. COMM Project] |[Ongoing Study] | |4 |Global Opinion Poll on Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, |Princeton Survey Research Associates |April to | | |Project Green, Wave 9 |International (PSRAI), Washington, USA |June 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |5 |Grameen Kalyan Clinics Needs Assessment |Pfizer Inc. March to October 2009 | | | |USA |[Ongoing Study] | |6 |Market Research on Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in |British Council |January to | | |Bangladesh |Dhaka |July 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |7 |Mystery Shopping on Banking Products |HSBC Bangladesh |August 2008 to | | |and Services |Dhaka |December 2009 | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |8 |Social Impact Assessment |The World Bank |May 2008 to | | |For Bangladesh Railway DPL Project |Dhaka, Bangladesh |June 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |9 |Surroga te Value Research on Fish, 2009 |Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, |January to | | | |Silverman & Klestadt LLP |December 2009 | | | |USA |[Ongoing Study] | |10 |Mystery Shopping on Cisco Certified |Pearson VUE/AQ Services |January to | | |Examination Centre Performance |International, Singapore |December 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |11 |Mystery Shopping on GMAT Registration & |Pearson VUE/AQ Services |January to | | |Scheduling Procedures |International, Singapore |December 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |12 |Mystery Shopping – CompTIA |Pearson VUE through |January to | | | |AQ Services, Singapore |December 2009 | | | | |[Ongoing Study] | |13 |Police Perception Survey in Chittagong, |US Embassy |October 2008 to | | |Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari |Dhaka, Bangladesh |March 2009 | | |Districts | | | 3. 7 Key Clients SRGB has a huge number of different category clients. They have been listed below: A: International Clients †¢ Cisco, USA †¢ HSBC, Hong Kong †¢ Telenor, Norway †¢ Nokia, Hong Kong †¢ Microsoft, USA Hewlett-Packard (HP) Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Singapore †¢ ARD Inc, USA †¢ BHP-Engineering, Australia †¢ BHP-Laysaght (SEA) Pte Ltd, Singapore †¢ Nomura Research Institute, Japan †¢ International Executive Service Corps (IESC), USA †¢ Carana Corporation, USA †¢ International Trade Centre (ITC), Switzerland †¢ SKF Distribution Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore †¢ ECI Telecom Inc, USA †¢ Dacom Corporation, Korea †¢ Korea Telecom, Korea †¢ Tata Steel, India †¢ Bare Associates International, USA †¢ Bharat Starch Industries Ltd, India †¢ Tessival SPA, Italy †¢ G P Group of Companies, Thailand †¢ Singer Worldwide, USA †¢ Overseas Projects Corporation of Victoria (OPCV), Australia †¢ Carana Corporation, USA TOTAL FINA ELF, France †¢ Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA), USA †¢ Tianjin Machinery Import Export Group, China †¢ Quantum Market Research, India †¢ BAIGlobal Inc (A Market Facts Company), USA †¢ Pew Research Centre, USA †¢ Mitsubishi Corporation, Singapore †¢ Kuraray Specialties Pte Ltd, Singapore †¢ Thai Wah Public Co. Ltd, Thailand †¢ Horizon Research, Singapore †¢ Tashi Group of Companies, Bhutan †¢ Kalasha Woolen Industry (Pvt) Ltd, Nepal †¢ Ecotech Pty Ltd, Australia †¢ Habib Bank Ltd, Pakistan †¢ Asia Market Intelligence (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd, Malaysia †¢ Syngenta, Hong Kong †¢ Arthur D. Little, Singapore/Malaysia †¢ Sungwon Corporation, Korea Kong Ma Engineering Co Ltd, Taiwan †¢ Fullway Enterprises Co Ltd, Taiwan †¢ Quest International, UK †¢ Veraz Telecom, USA †¢ Canadian High Commission, Dhaka †¢ Rhone Poulence Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Australia †¢ China Resources Ltd, Hong Kong †¢ BlueScope Steel, Australia †¢ International Business Linkages, Inc. (IBL), USA †¢ World Fish Centre, Malaysia †¢ Redma Consultants Ltd, Canada †¢ Acorn Marketing and Research Consultants, Hong Kong †¢ Synovate, Hong Kong †¢ Cairn Energy Bangladesh †¢ AQ Services International, Singapore †¢ Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc, USA †¢ Columbia University, USA B: International Development Agencies/NGOs Clients †¢ The World Bank United Nations Development Program (UNDP) †¢ United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) †¢ UNICEF Bangladesh †¢ Asian Development Bank (ADB) †¢ International Finance Corporation (IFC) †¢ Commonwealth Secretariat, UK †¢ Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) †¢ Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) †¢ United States Agency For International Development (USAID) †¢ Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), Japan †¢ Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) †¢ International Jute Organization (IJO) †¢ CARE Banglades h †¢ SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) †¢ Swisscontact-Katalyst †¢ World Vision of Bangladesh †¢ JOBS [A USAID Project] †¢ OXFAM Bangladesh Concern Bangladesh †¢ German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Bangladesh †¢ DFID Bangladesh C: Domestic Clients †¢ Unilever Bangladesh †¢ British America Tobacco †¢ Syngenta (Bangladesh) Ltd †¢ Social Marketing Company (SMC) †¢ Olympic Industries †¢ Bengal Group of Industries †¢ A K Khan Group †¢ Bashundhara Group of Companies †¢ Mutual Group †¢ Baraka Group †¢ SQ Group †¢ Rangs Electronics Ltd †¢ Alfa Tobacco Group †¢ Micro Industries Development Assistance Society (MIDAS) †¢ Sea Resources Group (Rangs Group) †¢ Sena Kalyan Sangstha (SKS) †¢ M M Ispahani Ltd (Ispahani Group) †¢ Givenchy Group †¢ Grameen Bank †¢ Alfa Tobacco Group †¢ Toka Ink (BD) Ltd (A Bangladesh Japan Joint Venture) BASIC Bank Ltd †¢ Grameen Uddog †¢ Holycrescent Hospital Ltd †¢ McDonald Bangladesh Ltd †¢ Grameen Shamogree †¢ Tripti Industries †¢ Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt of Bangladesh †¢ Ministry of Jute, Govt of Bangladesh †¢ Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh Ltd (IDLC) †¢ Brothers Group †¢ Syngenta †¢ Giant Group †¢ Bell Corporation †¢ Anlima Group †¢ Grameen Telecom †¢ Grameen Phone †¢ Pacific Telecom Ltd (City Cell) †¢ Bangladesh Telegraph & Telephone Board (BTTB) †¢ Department of Environment, Govt of Bangladesh †¢ Ministry of Environment, Govt of Bangladesh †¢ Modern Erection, Dhaka †¢ BRAC Bank Bangladesh 3. 8 Key Person of SRG Bangladesh LimitedM Saidul Haq, MBA, CMC (Australia), FCIM (UK), FIMC, is the Founder President of SRG Bangladesh Limited [SRGB]. He is an entrepreneurship/business development specialist. He did his MBA from Institute of Business Admini stration, University of Dhaka in its 14th batch. He has unparallel combination of multivariate qualifications and achievements. Some are highlighted below: †¢ CMC (Certified Management Consultant) from Institute of Management Consultants, Australia †¢ FCIM (Fellow Member) of The Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK – the top marketing professionals’ organization of the world. †¢ More than twenty(20) years experience in Management Consulting and Market/Social Research (qualitative and quantitative) †¢ Conducted hundreds of research and consulting projects as Project Director/Team Leader †¢ Organized and conducted hundreds of training programs, workshop, seminar, technical †¢ presentation on various management and business promotion issues. †¢ Extensive experience in trade & business development, promotions, investment and joint venture match-making. †¢ Extensive experience in private sector and SME enterprises development, entrepr eneurship development. †¢ National Consultant, International Trade Centre, WTO/UNCTAD, Geneva †¢ Retainer consultant/adviser of about a dozen leading business houses in Bangladesh Experience with many international organizations including World Bank, ADB, International Labor Organization (ILO), USAID, CIDA, UNDP, UNIDO, UNICEF, UNEP, SDC, commonwealth Secretariat, etc. †¢ Worked for about five years as the Consultant/National Monitor for Industrial Commodity Program, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Canadian High Commission, Dhaka. †¢ Registered Consultant of Asian Development Bank (ADB), The World Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, International Labor Organization (ILO), UNICEF, etc. †¢ Served as Member of the Advisory Board of GERIAP, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. Founder President of the Institute of Management Consultants Bangladesh [IMCB], the †¢ national for um for the consultants of Bangladesh. †¢ Trustee of The International Council of Management Consulting Institutes [ICMCI], the apex body of the consulting institutes worldwide. †¢ ICMCI representative to ECOSOC, United Nations (UN) for Geneva/Vienna and Asia-Pacific region. †¢ Immediate past National Representative for Bangladesh and Member of European Society for Opinion and Market Research [ESOMAR]. †¢ Member of the American Marketing Association [AMA] †¢ Widely traveled person and visited more than hundred countries/cities of the world. 4. 0 Jobs Performed During InternshipWhile the work performed during this period was particularly glamorous and equally thrilling, true is that this internship period exposed the author to experiences which have significantly altered the perception of marketing research and management related issues towards a more real and global holistic model. 4. 1 Duties and Responsibilities The internship program was started on 23rd Ma rch, 2009. The internship was to last for twelve (12) weeks to three (3) months and as a result my internship came to an end on 14th June, 2009. In somewhat more concrete terms, SRGB provides the country and the world with timely, scientifically credible, policy-relevant research answers for decision-making and action planning for development.While with SRGB, it was involved in a range of different tasks and smaller explorations that extensively helped learning of the methods of marketing research. The central themes around which most of the works at SRGB was organized is presented here. 4. 2 Completion of the Assignments Most of the assignments handled were long-term projects that had already been started. Some were in the beginning phase and some were in their final stages. Some of them are also a type of continuous research with several waves. The four research studies that were been participated are described here. 4. 2. 1 Awareness and acceptance of UK Qualification It was an o ngoing project.It therefore made sense to continue doing what the rest of the team was doing (taking interviews of different types and writing those down). It required all three interns from IBA to take interviews of different people. At the very beginning tough job of taking face to face interviews was assigned. Some visits to a private university (BRAC University for this author) and a multinational (Novartis Bangladesh Limited) helped the job done. Then the qualitative part commenced. A 7 day tour to Chittagong was made to take the KII of a number of Deans and department heads. The tour was successful with nice opportunities to learn interview and communication skills. Then again a 5 day tour to Rajshahi, the land of heat and mango.It was also a very successful tour with acquiring of huge experiences. Finally different top management personnels from different organizations and universities like University of Dhaka, International Islamic University Chittagong Dhaka Campus, Square, Grameenphone, Dhaka Bank, BMET, UGC etc. were interviewed. 4. 2. 2 Assessment of Grameen Kalyan Clinics This was a new project altogether. The preparation and translating of questionnaires were taking place. Tough job of doing most effective translation to Bangla of the English questionnaires were done effectively. 4. 2. 3 Global Opinion Poll on Social, Economic and Political Issues 2009, Project Green, Wave 9This is a regular project taken by SRGB every year. The author participated in a three day internal training session to see how the field coordinators trained and assigned their jobs. It is a survey that takes place throughout Bangladesh. The real world way of survey was learned here. 4. 2. 4 Mystery Shopping on Banking Products and Service It was done for HSBC Bank. The author visited GEC and Agrabad branch in Chittagong where he observed the customer care quality of the branches and wrote a report with assigning points. 4. 3 Benefits of the Program Benefit from the internshi p programme was more than what was expected in a number of ways: Having a rare opportunity to use the knowledge and skills that had been acquired back at the institute to provide critical real world research method information. Career-wise, the internship programme undoubtedly enriched my curriculum vitae (CV). Also, having gotten a chance to interact with most staff, it gave an insight on how to shape the career towards a research job in the near future. The internship programme gave me a chance not only to work with SRGB but also a chance to learn from the research experts and consultants. Working with people from different parts of the world was a rare chance that you can’t easily get from any other organization in Kenya. Therefore to me this was another opportunity to make friends and share ideas. To conclude, the internship at SRGB was a rewarding experience and provided with some new perspectives that was not came across during studies back at the institute. 5. 0 Cri tical Assessment of the Methodology of the Project â€Å"Awareness and Acceptance of UK Qualifications in Bangladesh† This is the main focus of this report. Methodology is one of the most important part of any research study. Literally methodology is the way in which the data are collected for the research project. Methodology  can be defined as: ? â€Å"the analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline† ? â€Å"the systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a discipline†Ã‚  or ? â€Å"a particular procedure or set of procedures. â€Å"Selection of methodology mainly depends on the objective of the research, but in real life the objective comes with different factors and dimensions unlike pure independent research. Here it will be shown what the methodology for this project was, probable mistakes both in crafting and executing of the methodology and finally the justification for it. 5. 1 Background of the study This study was taken for British Council, the United Kingdom’s cultural relation’s organization. Here some important parts of the research will be shown. These will help us understand the requirements and the goal of this study. 5. 1. 1 Definition of the Business ProblemThe business was defined as – â€Å"Although UK qualifications are popular and growing, recognition and acceptance by employers, government and higher education providers is variable. We need to be able to: 1. Identify where recognition and acceptance are weak but critical 2. Identify new sectors for growth 3. Review our product portfolio so that it meets market requirements. 5. 1. 2 Research Objectives †¢ To ascertain the current level of awareness and acceptance of UK qualifications (school levels and professional) among the leading Bangladeshi private and public sector employers and the higher education institutions (both public and private). †¢ To identify t he main reasons for the variable levels of awareness and acceptance. Assess the impact of the growth of the private sector and the continued policy of privatizing of state run assets by the government. In order to achieve this we would require research to be carried out with: 1. Top 6 public universities. 2. Top 5 private universities. 3. Professional associations 4. Government 5. Private sector Suggested areas of research: †¢ Which foreign qualifications are known †¢ Which foreign qualifications are accepted †¢ Apart from subject knowledge what skills are essential and how are they currently assessed †¢ Reasons for acceptance/non-acceptance †¢ Number of students from English medium schools applying for places- at private universities (plus which ones) at public universities and overseas. Profile of students following professional/vocational exams – school medium attended (English/Bangla), reason for doing this rather university course. 5. 2 Methodolo gy After turning the idea into a research question and reviewing any necessary literature, the method of research must be considered. The methodology selected should be the one that will be the most effective to collect the data needed to answer the research question or to test the hypothesis. Research studies may be either quantitative or qualitative, although it is possible to use both approaches in the same research project and this has been used in this project on UK qualifications. The choice of research design must be appropriate to the subject under investigation (Patton,  1987).So it should be investigated that whether a research on education really admits the opportunity of blending two methodologies. 5. 2. 1 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Quantitative Study In quantitative research the data collected takes the form of measurements or counts which can be statistically analysed. The process of quantitative research follows standard procedures, methods, forms of analysis and reporting the results of the research undertaken. This standardisation maximises objectivity. Quantitative methods can be used for comparison of subgroups and analysis is generally conducted through statistics. The method is based on meanings derived from numbers and results are numerical and standardised data.Quantitative methods use numbers and statistics. General sequence is as follows: 1. Observe/present questionnaire/ask questions with fixed answers 2. Tabulate 3. Summarise data 4. Analyse data 5. Draw conclusions Quantitative research designs are characterised by the assumption that human behaviour can be explained by what may be termed â€Å"social facts†, which can be investigated by methodologies that utilise â€Å"the deductive logic of the natural sciences† (Horna,  1994, p. 121). Quantitative investigations look for â€Å"distinguishing characteristics, elemental properties and empirical boundaries† (p. 121) and tend to measure â₠¬Å"how much†, or â€Å"how often† (Nau,  1995).They are appropriate to examine the behavioural component, such as attendance at class. So, it can be seen that quantitative methodologies do have strengths for becoming appropriate for educational research like this project on UK qualifications. These may be summarised as follows: †¢ Quantitative methodologies are appropriate to measure overt behaviour. †¢ They are also strong in measuring descriptive aspects, such as the composition of the students. †¢ Quantitative methodologies allow comparison and replication. †¢ Reliability and validity may be determined more objectively than qualitative techniques. These strengths however, are not the sole prerogative of quantitative designs.Indeed, many of the arguments for the use of quantitative research, especially in an academic climate where resources are limited, have pragmatic origins in terms of allowing large scale data collection and analysis at reason able cost and effort, as well as providing statistical â€Å"proof†. So this problem of large scale data collection could also be proved unwise in this situation. So this shows a negative opinion about the choice of quantitative methodology for this study. A further weakness of quantitative approaches lies in their tendencies to take a â€Å"snapshot† of a situation, that is to measure variables at a specific moment in time. Acceptance of UK may be affected by temporal changes, such as the current image of the country, or the quality of opposition (like USA, Australia), which cannot always be identified within a single quantitative study.According to Colon, Taylor, and Willis (2000) qualitative research emphasizes â€Å"participant observation† whereas quantitative methods rely on the â€Å"research instrument through which measurements are made† (p. 2). Weiler (2001) adds that if teachers want â€Å"deeper understandings of their students and their lear ning,† they will not be able to achieve this through quantitative research–they will need to be â€Å"intimately involved† in the process (p. 415). Qualitative research would provide this opportunity. As Labuschagne (2003) says, â€Å"qualitative data provide depth and detail through direct quotation and careful description of situations, events, interactions and observed behaviours† (p. 1) or what Jones (1997) describes as â€Å"empathetic understanding† (p. 3). Winter (2000) concurs that while â€Å"quantitative esearch limits itself to what can be measured or quantified,† qualitative research â€Å"attempts to ‘pick up the pieces’ of the unquantifiable, personal, in depth, descriptive and social aspects of the world† (p. 8). So now it looks like the decision for this project should be more inclined toward qualitative approach. 5. 2. 2 Criticism on Selection and Implementation of Qualitative Study (KII and IDI) Qualitati ve research offers insights and understandings of participants, which is unobtainable by quantitative research, but is more than just non-numerical research. It aims to study the subject in their natural surroundings and to collect naturally occurring, non-biased data. It describes in words, rather than numbers, the qualities of the subject through observation.Methods of qualitative research include structured and unstructured interviews, group interviews and focus groups. Qualitative methods can highlight key themes or patterns emerging in the project, are used to comprehend and manage data and used to develop and test hypotheses. Qualitative methods use descriptions and categories. General sequence here is as follows: 1. Observe/ask questions with open-ended answers 2. Record what is said and/or done 3. Interpret 4. Return to observe/ask more questions 5. (recurring cycles of 2-4 iteration) 6. Theorising 7. Draw conclusions Qualitative research designs are associated with interpre tative approaches, from the informants' emic point of view, rather than etically measuring discrete, observable behaviour.Qualitative methodologies are strong in those areas that have been identified as potential weaknesses within the quantitative approach, e. g. the use of interviews and observations to provide a deep, rather than broad, set of knowledge about a particular phenomenon, and the appropriateness to investigate cognitive and affective aspects of students. This depth allows the researcher to achieve â€Å"Verstehen†, or empathetic â€Å"understanding†. The concept of Verstehen is the basis for a critique of quantitative research designs, and their empiricist emphasis. The argument used is that quantitative methods measure human behaviour â€Å"from outside†, without accessing the meanings that individuals give to their measurable behaviour.If, as many authors have suggested, behavior of students contains psychological, as well as sociological dimensi ons, then the emphasis should rather be upon gaining an understanding of how the subjects themselves view their own particular situations. A qualitative research design allows these understandings to be investigated from the informant’s point of view. So the choice of qualitative research is very appropriate here. Both KII and IDI seem appropriate. The only problem that could be marked is the number of qualitative interviews for this particular study; it is about around 200, which is practically most difficult to make possible with effectiveness. Again accumulating such a high number of interview results to make a summary is also so difficult.But answer could be found on the real world practice to satisfy customer needs. 5. 2. 3 Criticism on FGD By focus group discussions, we refer to a group of 4-12 people brought together to participate in the discussion of an area of interest. Trained moderators run the discussions, and records are made of the course of the discussions. Fo cus groups, of course, are a popular (some even think too popular) method in marketing research (Nancarrow, Vir, & Barker, 2005), but they have had a role in serious social science research since the seminal work of R. K. Merton and P. Lazarsfeld (Hollander, 2004; Morgan, 1988). During the past decades, they have established their role in sociology and communications research.In recent years, they have also become increasingly popular in applied fields such as nursing research, urban and community studies, development studies, and educational research (e. g. , Barbour & Kitzinger, 2001; Gibbs, 1997). A distinctive feature of focus groups is that they create research data by generating social interaction. This is done by assembling a group of participants to discuss a specific topic and then observe how the ensuing discussion evolves (Boddy, 2005). The underlying assumption is that meaning is created in social interaction (e. g. , Wilkinson, 2001). Organized and focused group discuss ions provide a context for participants to articulate the meaning of their experiences and elaborate on them in a collective sensemaking process.Of course, focus groups are also used to obtain individual viewpoints; it is typical to instruct discussants that the aim is not to reach consensus, but to explore the different viewpoints that emerge. The method is popular in marketing research because it is a quick and easy way to gain a wealth of perspectives on a novel or relatively unexplored topic (Threlfall, 1999). By observing, recording, and analyzing the interaction in the group, researchers can also gain an understanding of how the participants approach the topic and what kind of language they use to frame the issues. Interaction also allows participants to pose questions to each other and to redefine their own views as the discussion evolves. The result of FGD depends sometimes largely on the skill of the moderator, which is a variable thing.In this study on awareness and accept ance of UK qualifications it may suffer to this problem due to time and budget constraints. 5. 2. 4 A Mixed-Methodology Approach to the Study Although the use of a single methodology has been advocated by a number of authors, many of the supporting arguments are decidedly pragmatic, such as time constraints, the need to limit the scope of a study, and the difficulty of publishing the findings (Creswell,  1994). Here in this study, only time constraint is the factor which could have been considered for a single methodology approach. Denzin and Lincoln (1994) write that â€Å"objective reality can never be captured† (p. 2).To assume that even with binocular vision one can â€Å"have† all the information, or even â€Å"know† what is true is a dangerous positivistic position. The rub between the two methodologies comes when we analyze the assumptions behind each one. These are clearly spelled out in detail by Denzin and Lincoln (1994, pp. 4-6) and can be summarize d as follows. The differences between quantitative and qualitative research is that the first is positivist, limiting, unable to capture the subjects' perspective, abstract, and based on flat descriptions. Qualitative research, the critics claim, tends to be unscientific and based on slipshod methodologies. It's proponents claim that it offers a

Sector Analysis Background DTL Power Corporation

Sector Analysis Background DTL Power Corporation Overview Structure The geothermal sector is growing tremendously in diverse countries across the world because it is a renewable form of energy. In the energy sector, renewable form of energy contributes about 17% of energy, while non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels and nuclear contributes about 80% and 3% respectively.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sector Analysis Background: DTL Power Corporation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As geothermal energy is one of the renewable forms of energy, it contributes barely 1% globally, but it has huge potential. For instance, geothermal energy contributes 30%, 24%, 24%, and 15% of electricity in Iceland, El Salvador, Kenya, Philippines, and Costa Rica respectively. According to the Geothermal Energy Association (2014), the western part of the US has great geothermal potential. It is estimated that the region can supply up to 20 percent of the energy requireme nt in the country. In the United States, the geothermal field in California has the largest geothermal plant in the world called The Geysers, which produces 3,386 megawatts. New Mexico relies heavily on electricity generated from fossil fuels, yet it has geothermal resources in the Jemez Mountains, which has the potential of generating huge amounts of electricity that can serve New Mexico and neighboring states. In this view, the structure of geothermal industry shows that it has immense potential of generating electricity, which requires exploitation. Major Players The major players in the geothermal sector are federal government and energy companies. The federal government regulates exploitation of geothermal resources by ensuring that it benefits all stakeholders and generates renewable form of energy for industrial development.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Through the Department of Energy, the federal government formulates policies and regulations, which guide exploitation of geothermal resources in various states. The federal government also uses Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in regulating interstate transmission of electricity in the United States and protects consumers using Federal Trade Commission. Through Environmental Protection Agency, federal government ensures that exploitation and use of geothermal resources do not pose any harm to the environment. Fundamentally, the federal government is an important player in the energy industry because it dictates exploitation of geothermal resources. Geothermal Energy Association is an integral player in the geothermal sector because it is a trade union of geothermal companies, which advocate for the exploitation of geothermal resources across the world. Moreover, the geothermal companies that belong to this trade union actively exploit geothermal resources in various par ts of the world. According to the Geothermal Energy Association (2015), Chadbourne and Park, Scientific Drilling International, Therma Source, Ethos Energy Group, and Industrial Builders are the companies that form the executive level, while Calpine Corporation, Gradient Resources, Enel Green Power North America, Bershire, Cyrq Energy, and Ormat Technologies are some of the companies that form the board level. The Calpine Corporation controls about 90 percent of the geothermal resources in the US. As these companies advocate for the exploitation of geothermal resources and represent geothermal companies, they deliberate on issues and make important decisions, which influence policies and regulations in the geothermal sector.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Sector Analysis Background: DTL Power Corporation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Other major players in the United States are Energy Vision Internation al Florida, Kepler Energy, Asheville Geothermal, Evergreen Energy, Earth Source Energy Solutions, and Geopower Texas amongst others. Examination of the players in the geothermal sector indicates that it is a very competitive sector. A Brief historical Perspective Although geothermal resources have existed for thousands of centuries, the technology to exploit them as a renewable energy has been lacking. Archeological evidence indicates that ancient people used hot springs as a source of water for bathing, cleaning, and extracting minerals. In the United States, archeological evidence shows that Paleo-Indians used hot springs in washing, cleaning, extracting minerals, and warming themselves. In recent years, technological developments have allowed large corporations to produce energy from geothermal sources in a cost-effective manner. In the United States, the first geothermal plant called The Geysers was established in 1960 in the Californian geothermal field. According to the Geothe rmal Energy Association (2014), huge investments by the Calpine Corporation have seen the number of geothermal units grow to the current 18. Given that 80% of electricity emanates from fossil fuels, it contributes to global warming. The need to mitigate global warming has promoted exploitation of geothermal resources because they are renewable sources, which do contribute significantly to global warming. Globally, governments in conjunction with Geothermal Energy Association and other bodies are advocating for the exploitation geothermal resources. Currently, geothermal resources only produce 1% of electricity yet they have the potential of producing over 30% as in the case of the geothermal sector in Iceland.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nature of Competition The nature of competition that exists in the geothermal sector in New Mexico and the United States is highly competitive. Since geothermal companies operate in a free market economy, they operate in a highly competitive environment, which requires enormous resources, compliance with prevailing legislations, acquisition of experts, and application of novel technology. The costs involved in starting geothermal company are prohibitive in that mega companies can only afford (The Geothermal Energy Association, 2014). National and international companies compete for the scarce geothermal resources in various parts of the world, including New Mexico. The ability to exploit the available geothermal resources is mainly dependent on the capacity of a company to mobilize required startup capital. In this view, DTL Power Corporation should be ready to invest a competitive amount of capital in the establishment and development of geothermal plant in New Mexico. Additionally , geothermal sector is highly competitive because it has a number of legislations that geothermal companies must comply with before receiving permission to explore and exploit geothermal resources. The federal government requires geothermal companies to comply with regulations of the Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Trade Union. Moreover, the trade union of geothermal companies, Geothermal Energy Association, has legislations that regulate their operations in the geothermal sector (Geothermal Energy Association, 2015). To survive in a highly competitive geothermal sector, DTL Power Corporation also needs to seek expertise and employ the latest technology, which matches or surpasses that of leading players such as Calpine Corporation. Recent News Story The recent news story shows that geothermal industry is growing gradually owing to the promotion of renewable sources of energy by various governments globally . Galbraith (2014) states that the electricity generated globally from geothermal resources increases by 5% annually, with the United States being the leading producer of electricity from geothermal energy. The use of oil and gas technology of drilling has enhanced exploration and exploitation of geothermal resources in different parts of the world, including the United States. Given that establishment of geothermal plants is expensive, it has prohibited many countries and companies from exploring and exploiting geothermal resources. Geothermal engineers explain that it takes about 50-60% of the project’s cost to drill wells and the probability of locating sustainable hot springs is 70-90% (Galbraith, 2014). The explanation implies that exploration of geothermal resources is very expensive, and thus, requires expertise to increase the probability of locating sustainable hot spring and reduce the expenses. Sector’s Societal Importance The geothermal sector has immense b enefits to the society because it generates a renewable form of energy, creates employment opportunities, reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, and generates revenue to governments. Since the current society relies on non-renewable form of energy obtained from fossil fuels, the geothermal sector is very important because it offers renewable source of energy that is sustainable. The renewability and sustainability of geothermal energy emanate from the fact that the geothermal heat is inexhaustible. Essentially, electricity generated from geothermal resources is very reliable because it is not subject to seasons and intermittent environmental conditions, unlike solar energy and wind energy. The geothermal sector is also beneficial to society because it creates immense opportunities for employment. Kunkel, Ghomshei, and Ellis (2012) state that geothermal plants create job opportunities for engineers, mechanics, geologists, architects, operators, hydrologists, technicians, researchers, government regulators, and lawyers amongst other related specialists. In this view, communities that live in areas where geothermal plants exist benefit from the available job opportunities. The release of harmful emissions such as greenhouse gases limits exploitation and use of fossil fuels. The exploitation of geothermal resources is advantageous because they emit minimal amount of greenhouse gases into the environment, and thus, does not contribute significantly to global warming. Fundamentally, the beneficial effect of geothermal resources to the society is that it reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, and thus, aid in alleviating the impact of global warming. Kunkel, Ghomshei, and Ellis (2012) argue that the technology of closed-loop circulation is important in geothermal sector because it prevents the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Overall, the society benefits owing to the reduced emission of greenhouse gases and poisonous gases, which are harmful to human ity and the environment. Geothermal sector also generates revenue for state and federal governments since they collect taxes and royalties from the geothermal companies. References Geothermal Energy Association. (2014). 2014 Annual US and Global Geothermal  Power Production Report. Web. Geothermal Energy Association. (2015). Major Companies. Web. Galbraith, K. (2014, July 23). Geothermal Industry Grows, With Help from Oil and Gas. Drilling. New York Times. Web. Kunkel, T., Ghomshei, M., Ellis, R. (2012). Geothermal energy as an indigenous  alternative energy source in British Columbia. Journal of Ecosystems and Management, 13(2), 1-16.