The Reality Of Reality Television Essay - 1697 Words

Reality television has taken off over the past few years bringing shows to the airwaves such as the Bachelor and Breaking Amish. One of the more successful reality television shows, which is going off the air after this season, is Duck Dynasty. The show features a cast of redneck white males who have created a fortune making handmade duck calls. Their wives are the typical stay at home moms who cook and clean the house, or as Uncle Si would say, wifely duties. The show is shot in West Monroe, Louisiana, a country town. Which is exactly where the â€Å"rural hillbillies† like to be. Somewhere they can hunt ducks, frogs, and any other creature they can eat. The show’s main purpose is to show the viewer how the interworking’s of this unusual multi-million-dollar company. Most multi-million-dollar companies are based in a skyscraper and feature people in business suits and ties walking around an office full of cubicles. The show wants to show these hillbillies who tu rned a hobby into a booming company, trying to remain these down to earth country guys even though they have millions of dollars. They are the real-life version of the Beverly Hill Hillbillies. As mentioned before the show consist of all white males or females. However, Willie and Korie adopted a little boy named â€Å"Lil Will† who is half-black which is very interesting due to the content of the show and some of the scenes and phrases the cast use. The show interviews the main four or five people; Willie, Jese, Si,Show MoreRelatedThe Reality Of Reality Television936 Words   |  4 PagesThe reality show phenomenon Have you ever wondered what attracts millions of Americans each week to watch this cultural phenomenon know as reality television? It first started in 1948 when Allen Funt created a TV series called Candid Camera, this is the first known reality television show series. â€Å"Reality television episodes have increased up to 57% of all television shows that can be found on your TV guides† (Shocking). Big Brother was one of the first successful and most viewed reality televisionRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television882 Words   |  4 Pages What is it about these reality shows such as: Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Bad Girls Club, and The Real Housewives that we cannot stop watching? After watching reality shows like this, it leaves people craving the next episode of the next week. Reality television producers are exploiting people by giving the public a â€Å"sense† of reality but not the real version of it, but rather exploit people and use stereotypes to make money for entertainment. The specific points of this argumentRead MoreThe Reality of Reality Television1699 Words   |  7 PagesThe Reality of Reality Television Jacqueline Knudsen ENG122: English Composition II Jenna Fussell February 2, 2013 The Reality of Reality Television Have you ever set there watching your favorite reality television show and wondered what effects it could have on you, your family or your friends? Truth is most people do not think about the effects television shows can have before watching them or allowing their children to watch them. ThisRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television1499 Words   |  6 PagesAgainst Reality TV For close to a decade, the ethics behind the existence of reality TV have been questioned. While there are ardent viewers of reality TV, researchers and other scholars disapprove them, and claim that the world would have been in a better place. Reality TV shows, especially in America, are extremely profitable to media owners, and this has increased their popularity in the recent years. The main target audience for these shows are teenagers and women, who spend a lot of time discussingRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television927 Words   |  4 PagesBehind the Reality of Reality TV There are many different opinions when the subject of reality television is discussed. Although reality television shows are thought to be negative they really are just mindless entertainment. Many can argue that these shows are misleading and disturbing. On the other side of this, people merely use these shows for entertainment and allow people to forget about stress in their lives. The cause of these different opinions is a result of different age, gender, religionRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television1511 Words   |  7 PagesReality TV is defined as television programs in which real people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative.(Dictionary) As we all know, in today s world we are presented with numerous Reality TV Show such as Keeping up With the Kardashians, Basket wives and The Real Housewives of Miami. These shows give a false message to their viewers of what is reality and what is purely entertainment. Many reality programs create an artificial environment for the show thatRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television991 Words   |  4 PagesWe see content on television every day either to see the news, watch a movie, series or any program we would like to watch. Television give us a different and visually perfect way of entertainment. Reality television is a genre of television which seems to be unscripted showing actions of â€Å"real life†. The viewer sees the reality shows for entertainment but neither the pressure, competitiveness nor loneliness that lives in imagines. To be real -time and people- admiration from viewers, thinking thatRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1287 Words   |  6 PagesReality television is now one of the most consumed television genres broadcasted to the general public. Reality television has become more about mindless watching and creating the most unrealistic environment possible, rather than creating a show for an important purpose. Today, shows like Beauty and the Geek, Big Brother, and every other reality show fit into this mold, but when viewed critically lessons appear. In the case of TV today, reality shows depict an altered reality because of the unrealisticRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1973 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Reality television has turned into a noteworthy piece of our way of life. The shows are described to be fun, engaging and acquaint society with new points of view. In the wake of a monotonous day at work, it s decent to return home and watch something careless on television, while unwinding. While the debate that violence in the media is making for a brutal culture has been made a million times, sometime recently, I am striving to make an alternate relationship. As we are aware, theRead MoreReality Television : Is It Reality?849 Words   |  4 PagesIs it Reality? Pop culture is popular culture that dominates a society at a point in time. Today, reality television is a part of the society’s popular culture (Johnson 289). The question is why? Reality television is a genre of television programming that focuses on members of the public living in conditions made by the creator, and displays how people are intended to behave in everyday life (Johnson 290). Reality television is debasing and should be strictly controlled, if not banned altogether

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain - 1923 Words

1. What have you heard about Mark Twain or this novel? What else have you read by Twain? I have heard that Mark Twain is an incredible writer and that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is actually a really good and interesting book. Although I haven’t read anything by Twain, I am excited to read this novel and for it to be the first I read by him. I hope it is as exciting as it is made to be and want me to read more work by Mark Twain. I will probably be reading more books that Twain has written in the future. 2. What overall impressions do you have of the style, diction, time period, etc.? Do any specific scenes come to mind? My impression of the style in which this novel was written is that it was older times and more â€Å"country talk.† They say words and use slang that we wouldn’t usually say or use now. The way they talk in the novel is just different than how we talk now so it shows that the time period was in a more previous time and it wasn’t written to be in the time period we are in now. They style in which it is written gives the characters, the setting, and even the whole book more character and helps you understand better what the time was like during this time. 3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most frequently challenged and banned books in America. Is there ever a reason that books should be banned from school libraries or school reading lists? Explain your reasoning. I think that in some cases it could be acceptable for a book to beShow MoreRelatedThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain830 Words   |  3 PagesThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is â€Å"A Great American Novel†, because of its complexity and richness. Twain writes dialogue that brings his characters to life. He creates characters with unique voice and helps the reader connect to the book. Anyone who reads it is forced to develop feelings for each character. Even though there is a great amount of controversy over the use of some choices, such as the â€Å"n word†, it makes the book more realistic. In the beginning of the novel Huck,Read MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1103 Words   |  5 PagesDmitri Van Duine Jr English Mr. Nelson November 27th The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Written by Mark Twain filled his stories with many examples of satire as to convey a message while also writing an interesting story. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn revolves around the adventures of a young boy called Huckleberry Finn, who is about thirteen years old. Tom Sawyer is Huck’s best friend and around the same age as Huck. He is onlyRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain Essay1055 Words   |  5 PagesZambrano Mrs. Patmor AP Lit-Period 5 28 September 2016 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1835 Mark Twain embodies realism in almost every aspect of his writing not excluding The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which in he portrays such a lifelike setting that it almost gives you this sense of reality through the point of view of a young man that has an urge for freedom yet struggles to conform to society s norms due to his adolescence. Twain s ability to unmask the true identities of the charactersRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain931 Words   |  4 PagesWolski Mrs. Goska English 2H Period 3 22 October 2014 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mob mentality is the way an individual’s decisions become influenced by the often unprincipled actions of a crowd. Mark Twain penned The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain grew up in America’s southern states during the early 1800’s, a time in which moral confusion erupted within the minds of humans. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn s protagonist is a young boy named Huck who freely travels alongRead MoreMark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1575 Words   |  6 Pages Mark Twain and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Controversy Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, is a highly recognizable figure in American literature. Born in Florida, Missouri Mark Twain and his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri where Twain discovered and fell in love with the mighty Mississippi River. The river and his life in Hannibal became his inspiration and guiding light in most of his writing. Although Twain loved the river and did a great deal of traveling, he eventuallyRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1375 Words   |  6 Pagesmention the years spent growing and maturing physically. Teenagers are stuck in an inbetween state where they must learn who they want to become and what they want to be when they grow older. The same is true for Huckleberry Finn, from the book â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† by Mark Twain. This is a book that was written in a time of great confusion over moral codes and standards. It was a world split in half by two different worlds of people; those who opp osed, and those who promoted slavery.Read MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain810 Words   |  4 PagesBefore Mark Twain started to write two of his most famous novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark was known to use his characters to display his own thoughts and opinions. â€Å"This device allowed him to say just about anything he wanted, provided he could convincingly claim he was simply reporting what others had said.† (Twain, 1283). Mark Twain used this process to be a foundation of his lectures, by manipulating his popularly with his readers. During the storyRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain2083 Words   |  9 PagesSatire in Huckleberry Finn In the novel â€Å"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn† by Mark Twain, we are told a story about a young boy and his slave companion’s journey down the Mississippi River and all of their encounters with other characters. Twain constructed a beautiful narrative on how young Huck Finn, the protagonist in the story, learns about the world and from other adult characters, how he is shaped into his own person. At the time this book was made however, this novel provided serious socialRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1005 Words   |  5 Pages In the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written by Mark Twain in the 19th century is about a young boy named Huck Finn and Jim, a runaway slave who go on an adventure. The two travel on a raft along the Mississippi river creating a bond and making memories. Mark Twain presents Huckleberry Finn as a dynamic character who at first views Jim as property and eventually considers Jim as a friend, showing a change in maturity. In the beginning of the book, Huck Finn clearly sees Jim as nothing more thanRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain1335 Words   |  6 Pagesyear The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is placed in the top ten banned books in America. People find the novel to be oppressing and racially insensitive due to its frequent use of the n-word and the portrayal of blacks as a Sambo caricature. However, this goes against Mark Twain’s intent of bringing awareness to the racism in America. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is classified under the genre of satire and is narrated by a fictional character named Huckleberry Finn. The novel

Descriptive And Inferential Statistical Techniques †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Descriptive And Inferential Statistical Techniques. Answer: Business Problem A firm which is involved in housing construction wants to undertake a major housing development and needs to do analysis of the same for which information about the ongoing pricing and preferences of the customers need to be considered. A sample data has been performed in order to enable the analysis of the prices of houses and units that are located in Wollongong, Sydney and New Castle. Through the analysis, the company can obtain vital information in relation to the various combinations in terms of region, view and type which can fetch higher prices and essentially can also narrow down on the existing prices. Statistical Problem The given sample lists down the price of houses and units. It takes into consideration the region and also whether ocean view is available or not. For this data, descriptive statistics tools need to be applied so as to highlight the key characteristics of the provided sample data. Further, based on the sample data inferences need to be derived based on the population data through the use of inferential statistics techniques such as hypothesis testing. Through this statistical analysis a comparison needs to be facilitated between various parameters which could highlight the prevailing price trends which could be then used by the company (Hair et. al., 2015). Analysis: Descriptive Statistics The descriptive statistics aims to describe the characteristics of the sample data available through the use of various measures of central tendency and dispersion as they provide valuable information about the underlying shape and also helps in highlighting key trends which further can be validated for the population using the inferential statistical tools. Type of Dwelling The descriptive statistics as per the dwelling type are as highlighted below. From the above, it is apparent that the average price of houses seems to be higher in comparison to units. Also, there are certain houses which have quite high price leading to a rightward tail as is apparent from a positive skew. On the contrary, unit prices have a slight negative skew. Neither of the distributions would be normal owing to presence of skew. Dispersion seems to be low to moderate for both the type of dwellings even though it is slightly higher for houses in comparison to the units (Flick, 2015). Region The descriptive statistics as per the underlying region where the underlying dwelling is located are as highlighted below. It seems evident from the above that there seems a significant difference in average prices in the various regions with Sydney having the maximum price and Newcastle having minimum prices. Further, for all the regions there is a positive skew presence which highlights non-normality and also presence of dwellings which have significantly high prices. The dispersion for the prices in various regions seems to be low when viewed in terms of mean which implies that for each region there seems to a different price band with limited overlapping (Hillier, 2006). Ocean View The descriptive statistics based on the presence or absence of the ocean view are as indicated below. From the above, it is apparent that there does not seem any significant difference in the price of dwellings with or without an ocean view. A positive skew is observed for both which implies a tail on the right and hence the underlying distribution would not be normal. The dispersion as captured by standard deviation is quite comparable and remains moderate. However, the range for the dwellings with ocean view seems higher than the dwellings which lack ocean view. Thus, it might be possible that assuming everything else as the same, the ocean view might add a premium to the price (Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman, 2011). Inferential Statistics The inferential statistical techniques are deployed to derive information about the population based on the given sample information. Various claims are made which need to be checked based on the statistical data available from the sample through the application of hypothesis testing. Using this technique, the various claims have been tested as highlighted below. House Prices Unit Prices The requisite hypothesis to be tested is highlighted below. Null Hypothesis (H0): House = unit Alternative Hypothesis (H1): House unit For the comparison of the means of the above two independent samples, the requisite test would be T test since the standard deviation of the population is not known. Considering the sample size is same for both the samples, equal variance option has been chosen in excel for the performance t test. The relevant output obtained from excel is as highlighted below. Considering the alternative hypothesis has a sign, it is apparent that the given hypothesis test is single tail and hence the applicable p value would be one tail. The one tail p value has been computed as 0. Assuming the level of significance as 5% or 0.05, it is evident that the relevant p value is lower than this value which implies that the available evidence is ample for rejecting the null hypothesis and thereby allows for acceptance of the alternative hypothesis. Hence, it may be claimed with 95% confidence that the average house prices are higher than the average unit prices (Flick, 2015). Ocean view houses command premium The requisite hypothesis to be tested is highlighted below. Null Hypothesis (H0): OceanView = NoOceanView Alternative Hypothesis (H1): OceanView NoOceanView For the comparison of the means of the above two independent samples, the requisite test would be T test since the standard deviation of the population is not known. Considering the sample size is not the same for both the samples, unequal variance option has been chosen in excel for the performance t test. The relevant output obtained from excel is as highlighted below. Considering the alternative hypothesis has a sign, it is apparent that the given hypothesis test is single tail and hence the applicable p value would be one tail. The one tail p value has been computed as 0.043. Assuming the level of significance as 5% or 0.05, it is evident that the relevant p value is lower than this value which implies that the available evidence is ample for rejecting the null hypothesis and thereby allows for acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (Hair et. al., 2015). Hence, it may be claimed with 95% confidence that the average house prices with ocean view are higher than the average houses prices without the ocean view. Difference in house prices in different regions The requisite hypothesis to be tested is as highlighted below. Null Hypothesis (H0): Sydney= Wollongong = NewCastle Alternative Hypothesis (H1): The average prices of houses in atleast one region are different from the others. It is apparent that in the given case the average of more than two variables need to be compared and hence t test would not be feasible. Hence, the one column ANOVA is a suitable choice to compare the means (Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman, 2011). The relevant output of this test obtained from Excel is as outlined below. The requisite p value from the above output has come out as 0.00. Assuming the level of significance as 5% or 0.05, it is evident that the relevant p value is lower than this value which implies that the available evidence is ample for rejecting the null hypothesis and thereby allows for acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (Hillier, 2006). Hence, it may be claimed with 95% confidence that the average house prices in Sydney, Wollongong and New Castle are not the same and a statistically significant difference does exist. Units situated in Wollongong with ocean view demand a price premium The requisite hypothesis to be tested is highlighted below. Null Hypothesis (H0): OceanView = NoOceanView Alternative Hypothesis (H1): OceanView NoOceanView For the comparison of the means of the above two independent samples, the requisite test would be T test since the standard deviation of the population is not known. Considering the sample size is not the same for both the samples, unequal variance option has been chosen in excel for the performance t test. The relevant output obtained from excel is as highlighted below. Considering the alternative hypothesis has a sign, it is apparent that the given hypothesis test is single tail and hence the applicable p value would be one tail. The one tail p value has been computed as 0.203. Assuming the level of significance as 5% or 0.05, it is evident that the relevant p value is higher than this value which implies that the available evidence is insufficient for rejecting the null hypothesis and thereby does not allow for acceptance of the alternative hypothesis (Hair et. al., 2015). Hence, it may be claimed with 95% confidence that the average unit prices in Wollongong with ocean view are similar to the average unit prices without the ocean view situated in Wollongong. General Conclusion Based on the results obtained from the statistical analysis carried above, it is apparent that the average price of houses is higher in comparison to the units. Also, evidence from sample data suggests that the houses having ocean view tend to command a price premium in comparison to those which lack the same. Besides, it is also evident that the average prices in the various regions (i.e. Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle) are not comparable as they are significantly different from each other. Finally, it has also been seen that for units situated in Wollongong, the prices do not differ significantly with the presence or absence of an ocean view. However, one limitation of this is that the sample size is very small and hence it would be preferable if a larger sample size was available. The small sample size may be a problem especially for region based preferences in price since the filtered sample tends to become quite small and not very reliable. Implications Based on the above conclusion and the underlying objective of the study, it makes sense for the housing construction company to consider the above trends and implement the same in their choice of site and dwelling type constructed. It makes economic sense for the company to focus more on house construction rather than units since the former demands a price premium over the latter. Also, considering the high regional differences in price, if possible the company should look to undertake the project in Sydney as the price commanded by the project would be the highest amongst the locations considered. Further, if possible, care needs to be taken to provide ocean view considering the underlying financials as the presence of ocean view could potentially bring in a price premium. However, it is essential that the cost considerations of the above suggestions should be considered by the builder and a suitable decision is undertaken by the construction company. References Flick, U. (2015).Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project, 4th ed., New York: Sage Publications. Hair, J. F., Wolfinbarger, M., Money, A. H., Samouel, P., and Page, M. J. (2015).Essentials of business research methods, 2nd ed., New York: Routledge. Hastie, T., Tibshirani, R. and Friedman, J. (2011).The Elements of Statistical Learning, 4th ed., New York: Springer Publications. Hillier, F. (2006), Introduction to Operations Research, 6th ed., New York: McGraw Hill Publications

Website Analysis Travel Agencies

Electronic business (e-business) and electronic commerce (e-commerce) describe the way people buy and sell goods and services through the use of the Internet (Anderson 2007). E-commerce also involves other transactions such as customer’s enquiries and requests about a particular product.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Website Analysis: Travel Agencies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are very many companies, which sell their products through the Internet. However, the most companies which deal in e-business are those which offer travelling services (Chaffey 2007). The traveling agencies include thomascook.com, lastminute.com and thomson.co.uk. This paper seeks to analyze the three websites under different aspects. Some of these aspects include value proposition, market, revenue models, competitive environment, value chain and organizational structure among others (Afuah Tucci 2003). Value Proposit ion Value proposition of the three travel agencies describes what they do in order to attract and retain customers (Chaffey 2007). Lastminute.com is one of the few travel agencies, which only charge fees on tickets and program changes. Lastminute’s customers are not required to pay for any other services. This implies that the services of this travel agency are relatively cheaper. The agency deals in traditional reservations such as cruise, car, hotel and air. The fact that lastminute.com registers customers at the time they book ticket it is quite advantageous to these customers. This gives the customers the easiest time to manage their itinerary programs at any time. This agency also offers a variety of booking options such as multiple air travel destinations (Critic 2012). Just like the lastminute.com, Thomson.co.uk also offers a variety of services to its customers. However, the latter specializes much on travel money services. Its services include traveler’s check , purchase of back guarantee and the most important, Thomson travel money card and Thomson gift card.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thomson gift cards are vital when it comes to special occasions such as birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. The gift cards can also be used for saving purposes. Thomson.co.uk travel agency does not charge commission and offers very attractive exchange rates. The agency operates offline and online and therefore, customers can order currency online or from their nearest Thomson shops (Robertson 2011). Thomascook.com on the other hand offers holiday, tours and hotel accommodation bookings through someone’s stay abroad. It is the way this website promotes its services that attracts customers mostly. Thomas Cook has been in the existence for more than 170 years and therefore has a vast experience in the travel business. It also offers ey e-catching holiday charges online and customer services. The agency provides customers with a tool engine which assists the customers to effectively plan for their holidays. The tool engine is not complex in nature and therefore, any customer can use it (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Target Market The three travel agencies, lastminute.com, thomson.co.uk and thomascook.com target those individuals that are willing and able to afford their services. For Thomas Cook, young youths, working class single people and working class couples and their families form the bulk of their customers. The online agency also targets retirees who still get pensions and can afford to pay for the agency’s services with ease (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Lastminute online agency on the hand has been receiving more than 1.65 million customers every week. The online agency targets mostly the aging population under pension’s schemes. Old people form the biggest percentage of the E urope’s population. The lastminute.com experts have predicted that in the next 15 years, their customers aged 55 and above will have grown by about 60% while those under the age of 55 will remain stable. This implies that for lastminute.com management, targeting mostly the old customers is likely to widen the agency’s market (Critic 2012). Thomson travel agency targets young youths as well as middle aged working class couples who are looking forward to spending their holidays in styles. In other words, the agency generally targets people who are seeking to spend summer, winter and cruise holidays, get accommodations in big hotels and individuals who want to fly out of the United Kingdom. It also targets customers with late deals (Robertson 2011).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Website Analysis: Travel Agencies specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Revenue Models Revenue models refer to techniques, whi ch a company employs in order to generate income. Most companies obtain their incomes by selling their products and services to people and other organizations (Chaffey 2009). For instance, thomascook.com travel agency majorly generates its revenues from the sales of its services. The website provides customers with different cost options such as charitable donation, travel insurance and the option of choosing the seats which they desire. The booking procedures are not complicated and therefore, quite understandable to most of the customers. Card is the mode of payment in Thomas Cook travel agency (Yerkes 2007, p. 27). Thomson too obtains its income through the sales of its services. The website sells more than one million holidays and flights every year. Thomson.co.uk has been in operation for more than thirty years. The vast experience that it management has, enables the agency to save close to 1.5 million sterling pounds each year. The agency also obtains some money from the excha nge rates it imposes on foreign currencies (Thompson Martin 2010, p. 460). Just like Thomson and Thomas Cook, lastminute.com too obtains most of its incomes from the sales of its services. The website offers a wide range of attractive products. This implies that at least one product has to be purchased each day. Lastminute Company has very few employees, a fact which helps it to reduce its operational costs and other expenses. This is a very effective way that companies use to save (Greenspan 2011, p. 336). Competitive Environment The travel agency is a highly competitive market industry. It has very many website offering almost similar products. Thomas Cook has established a direct link with its customers thereby communicating with the customers directly. The main competitors of thomascook.com are Thompsons, Co-operative Travel and Expedia among others. These competitors provide cheaper prices for flight and hotel accommodation but their products are of lower quality (Yerkes 2007, p. 32). Lastminute.com employs different strategies, which make it survive the competitive travel industry. It is the only vendor offering a wide variety of products. It only deals in products that are unique and accepted not only in the UK. The agency also offers very good customer services (Greenspan 2011, p. 339). Thomson.co.uk operates almost like lastminute.com in the competitive environment. Thomson offers services that other companies do not. For instance, the agency offers services such as weddings, birthdays and anniversaries (Thompson Martin 2010, p. 463).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Value Chain and Marketplace Positioning A well developed supply chain is known to add value to the way a company’s products are delivered to the customers (Chaffey 2007). Lastminute.com was the first to enter travel industry. Lastminute.com was still surviving amidst the stiff competition of 2005. This travel agency offers products, which are suitable for Internet. Lasttminute.com offers a variety of products and is therefore ranked as one of the best e-travel agencies (Critic 2012). Thomson too has well developed supply chain of activities that adds significant amount of value to its products. Its activities range from cruises, taking family holidays to ski holidays to negotiating package holidays of customers to various destinations in the world. According Hitwise, thomson.co.uk takes the highest position in the travel company. In fact, the agency is currently position ten among the top UK e-retailers. The Thomson Company has included a practical social media on Twitter (Th ompson Martin 2010, p. 469). Thomascook.com is one of the most trusted travel agencies and trip operators. This year, Thomas Cook was named as one of the companies with the most attractive brands in UK. This travel agency curries out several activities. For instance, it takes its customers to different destinations such as USA and Dominican Republic. Thomas Cook is currently ranked the second biggest among the leisure travel groups (Yerkes 2007, 27). Representation in the Physical World The main offices of the three travel agencies; lastminute.com, Thomson.co.uk and thomascook.com are located in the United Kingdom (Porter 2010). However, each one of these agencies has spread their operations into other countries. For instance, by the year 2000, lastminute.com had opened its branches in countries such as France, USA, Sweden and Germany. It currently operates in more than ten countries (Critic 2012). Thomas Cook mostly operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The branches of the T homas Cook located in the two areas specialize in taking their flight customers to far countries such as Dominican Republic. The travel agency also operates in Portugal where it offers Portugal package holidays. In Greece, Thomascook.com deals mainly in great Greek getaways (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Thomson.co.uk on the hand conducts most of its activities in the UK and Mexico. The head office of this travel agency is located in Wigmore House in Luton. Most of the products of this travel agency are contained in Silver Villas in Kissimmee region. Silver Villas has the most attractive facilities that someone would require for relaxation and comfort-ability. Sharm El Sheikh and Bellino Apartments offer the most conducive sites for people seeking to spend their holidays in the best way possible (Robertson 2011). Organizational Structure The three travel agencies have different organizational structures. Lastminute.com is run by a board of directors. The board consists of Pet er Bouw, Linder Fayne, Bob Colliers and Allan Lighton among many others. These individuals have vast experience in the travel industry since they have once in their lives worked in similar industries. Apart from the board, lastminute.com has more than 1200 employees and more than three million registered customers (Critic 2012). Thomascook.com runs more than 815 high street stores and very many travel brands. Unlike lastminute.com, Thomas Cook is managed by Board of Governors. However, the Board delegates some of its responsibilities to its committees. This implies that the board and the committees are the ones directly responsible for the management of Thomas Cook. Other stake holders in the management include the Non-Executive Directors, the Group Executive Board, Disclosure Committees and Finance and Administration Committee. Every decision concerning the well-being of this company has to be approved by all the committees, the Group Executive Board and the Finance and Administrat ion Department before it is reported in the next Board sitting (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Amongst the three travel agencies, thomson.co.uk has the most complicated organizational structure. Thomson has five major branches. The branches are located in the United Kingdom and Ireland, North America, German Airlines, Continental Europe and Northern Europe. Each branch has its own chief financial officer (CFO). However, the CFO of UK and Ireland is mandated to supervise financial transaction in all the branches. In addition, each branch has its own chief executive officer. Fontenla-Novoa is the general CEO of Thomson Company whereas James Jennings is the director of the group mergers and acquisitions (Robertson 2011). In conclusion, thomson.co.uk, thomascook.com and lastminute.com travel agencies have all made significant achievements (Porter 2010). For instance, thomson.co.uk is currently ranked position ten among the best UK e-retailers. Thomson has made several adjustments such as the adoption of effective online marketing strategies. It has extended its adverts to Twitter. Other improvements on its website include tailored banners, easy user experience and increased speed of loading (Robertson 2011). Lastminute.com too has improved the functionality of its website. The access speed is currently 10 times faster than when it was first established (Critic 2012). Some of the steps that were involved in booking have been reduced hence making the booking process much easier. Thomascook.com has also improved the speed of its website. Thomas Cook website is now designed in such a way that it instantly provides links to thomascook.com partners (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). Even though the three travel agents have made significant improvements on their websites, the websites still have a few shortfalls. Thomson.co.uk website’s major problem is that the sections do not link together. That is, the sections do not have clear connections between the various templates, booking functionality and the navigation being used to access the different range of the products (Robertson 2011). The lastminute.com on the hand has constant failings in the website making the browsing of unspecific stuff a difficult task (Critic 2012). Lastly, thomascook.com website at time looses the speed, making it difficult to access their products. Therefore, the three agencies need to address these problems to enhance the efficiency of their respective websites (Conti, Caroland, Cook Taylor 2011). References Afuah, A Tucci, CL 2003, Internet business models and strategies text and cases, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, Boston, Massachusetts. Anderson, C 2007, The long tail: how endless choice is creating unlimited demand, Random House Business Books, London. Chaffey, D 2007, E-business and e-commerce management, Prentice Hall, London. Conti, G, Caroland, J, Cook, T, Taylor, H 2011, Self development for cyber warriors. Web. Critic, C 2012, Last minute cruise s. Web. Greenspan, E 2011, Frommer’s Ecuador the Galapagos Islands, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Porter, D 2010, Frommer’s London 2011, Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Robertson, E 2011, Retail review: Thomson review. Web. Thomson, J, L Martin, F 2010, Strategic management: Awareness change, South-Western Cengage Learning, Andover. Yerkes, L 2007, Fun works: Creating places where people love to work, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, California. This report on Website Analysis: Travel Agencies was written and submitted by user Madeline Albert to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

South Africa Investments

The corresponding principles of the utilitarian benefits of Caltex plant creation was reckoned to be a violation of rights of some particular layers of the society of the past century. Racial prejudices became the greatest obstacle not only in interpersonal relations but also in the rapid developments of the building of the plant.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on South Africa Investments specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The management of Texaco and SoCal companies that jointly owned Caltex Petroleum Company thought that benefits should be expanded and remained in the country for the population. It highlighted improvement of the economic working conditions of blacks working for the company. They also committed to the implementation of the Sullivan principles drafted by an American reverend Deon Sullivan. The Investments in South Africa played an essential part in the development of certain benefits accrued to the m ajor population in South Africa. The Sullivan principles basically stated that there would be no racial segregation within the work premises, equal opportunities for employment for people of all races and equal pay for equal jobs regardless of race. The code also suggested increase majority holders of supervisory positions and welfare facilities for the non-white workers outside the work set up. The management of these companies was not ignorant to the fact that some of the principles would go against the law of segregation in the country. They pledged to use the required channels for any modifications required. All these good intentions for the majority groups were noble and good on paper but it was evident that their implementation would be impeded by the law of segregation in the country. Regardless of these new policies, the majority groups are still faced violation of rights and justice. The white government would still implement its laws barring Africans from becoming apprenti ces. Oppression in regard to job opportunities and payment of wages was not going to end seeing as how blacks and whites cold not hold equal positions. The principles were out to slightly improve conditions for the minority groups at the workplaces only. This would not greatly impact their lives since their basic rights had been denied in all aspects of their lives and from all the points of view.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They had no claim to the land they were born in, they could not vote for their leaders or hold mass action. The management of Texaco and SoCal would therefore not help improve the condition for majority groups in South Africa. Several resolutions were proposed by human rights activists. The first proposal was for Caltex to terminate its activities on South African soil. As a shareholder, I would have voted for this proposed resolution. The white gove rnment had been inflicting a tremendous amount of suffering on the majority groups. The rest of the world just watched seemingly helpless. The liberation of South Africa would have been achieved by collective responsibility of corporate organizations and the world at large. I believe a vote for this resolution would have ideally been a vote for the majority groups in the county. Though, it would probably have been criticized as a drastic measure, it would have certainly been called for given the extreme nature of the situation. It would have been a selfless and humane move that would have transformed South Africa. The second resolution asked Caltex not to sell the military or police of South Africa. I would have voted against. It was naive of the activists to imagine that the white government would have allowed that. The country was not in anarchy, and any corporation operating on South African land had to obey its laws. It would not also have prompted the government to liberate the majority but only achieved hostility given that it targeted government forces. The third proposal was asking the company to implement the Tutu principles. This proposal to me would have been more practical than the first and I would have voted for it. This is because it addressed the lives of the majority as a whole and not only their work related issues. It would ensure that the black people lived with their families, recognition of black labor unions, fair labor practices and investment in education. This would have made positive change in the lives of the majority.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on South Africa Investments specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The managers of Texaco and SoCal, I believe, would have responded differently to the proposed resolution. The management should have endorsed the proposal to terminate its activities in South Africa. They should have made the decision to leave the country wit hin a specified period of time. Within this period, they should have planned on where to relocate their business to. By doing so, they would have fulfilled their moral obligation to end oppression. By making the alternative business plan, they would have fulfilled their primary business objective which is to make profits for their stockholders. Management should also have considered the second proposal by issuing an ultimatum to the white government. This might be considered arm- twisting, but it would have enabled them fulfill their obligation to society. This could result in a situation whereby the need for negotiation and dialogue would have been inevitable. They would have gained a forum to address the plight of the majority in the country. This would have brought them a step closer to liberation Tutu’s conditions should have been a primary objective to management more so because it involved different aspects of the lives of the black people. Texaco and SoCal should have led by example and adopted these conditions. This would probably have been an incentive to other corporations in South Africa to do the same. It would have been a milestone in the liberation of the country. They would have gone down in history as having initiated positive change in South Africa. The entire management of the Caltex Company has a wide range of duties that lie in the basis of ensuring the impacts of and for stockholders. It has a responsibility to its consumers and society at large.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It has a duty to its consumers to ensure high quality goods and services, provide after-sale services and adequate product information. To the society, management has the responsibility to support development projects and help in environmental conservation efforts. There is also provision of recreational facilities. Management should think twice before making the corresponding decisions as for the development of the company and do not pay much attention to the investments but act according to the most possibly successful criteria. It should therefore also seek to act responsibly to its society. It should abide to the business code of ethics and seek the good of everyone in its environs. Management should not turn a blind eye to issues such as political instability and oppression. By doing so, it will gain the goodwill of people that in turn may contribute to the success of the business enterprise. This essay on South Africa Investments was written and submitted by user Rashad Gomez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

20 Largest Book Publishers in 2019 That Every Author Should Know

20 Largest Book Publishers in 2019 That Every Author Should Know The Largest Book Publishers in 2019 Modern publishing is a tricky game - especially when trying to figure out the biggest names within that game. Most major publishers are part of a larger media conglomerate, and a search for the year's largest book publishers will often yield companies that work with  other forms of content rather than books.So to help you zero in on the prize, we've published this guide to the largest contemporary book publishers - i.e. no companies that mainly publish magazines or highly specialized materials, such as instruction manuals. We have included educational and journal publishers, which are often linked to traditional literary publishers and may be relevant to our readers. But other than that, all these companies work with the kinds of books you’d find in bookstores.Without further ado, here they are: the 20 largest book publishers in 2019 according to recent data, along with brief profiles of who they are and what they do. (To learn how to get published by one of them, check ou t this post.) Who are the biggest book publishers in the game? Find out here!  Ã°Å¸â€œâ€" The 20 largest publishers in 20191. Penguin Random House (Big 5 Publisher)💠° Annual revenue: $3.3 billion 📇 Notable imprints: Alfred A. Knopf, Crown Publishing, Viking Press 📚 Biggest titles of 2018: Becoming by Michelle Obama, Educated by Tara Westover, and  Born a Crime by Trevor NoahFormed in 2013 through the merger of Penguin Books and Random House, Penguin Random House (PRH) is not only a Big 5 publisher - it's considered to be the biggest publishing house in the industry. It has over 200 divisions and imprints, in addition to those listed above. PRH itself is jointly owned by multinational companies Pearson PLC and Bertelsmann, accounting for a rather substantial sum of their finances each year. In terms of actual publishing stats, PRH puts out over 15,000 books a year and sells about 800 million copies of print, audio, and ebooks annually.2. Hachette Livre (Big 5 Publisher)💠° Annual revenue: $2.7 billion 📇 Notable imprints: Grand Central Publishing, Little, Brown and Company, Mulholland Books 📚 Biggest titles of 2018: The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson, Calypso by David Sedaris, and In Pieces by Sally FieldHachette Livre is another Big 5 publisher, the largest in France and one of the most prominent publishers in all of Europe. It’s owned by the Lagardà ¨re Group and encompasses over 150 imprints. Hachette Livre was officially formed in 1992, when the publishing assets of Hachette SA (its former parent company) were collected into a single subsidiary. HL has been growing ever since and currently publishes about 20,000 books a year - even more than PRH, for those keeping score.3. Springer Nature💠° Annual revenue: $1.9 billion 📇 Notable imprints: BioMed Central, Nature Research, Palgrave Macmillan 📚 Biggest titles of 2018: Academic journals on a range of scientific topicsSpringer Nature is a research and educational publisher formed through the merger of several groups, including Macmillan Education and Springer Science + Business Media. For those who think the former sounds familiar, Macmillan is another Big 5 publisher, just like the first two entries on our list. That’s why Springer’s assets are so sizable, despite being so recently established.Springer mostly publishes academic journals, but as with many educational publishers, it’s still closely linked to traditional publishing - namely, in the form of Macmillan Publishers proper (see #10 on this list).

Phase 3 Discussion Board Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Phase 3 Discussion Board - Assignment Example Based on the above argument, it is my pleasure to report that the most important decision to make is to improve the level of quality of our services. As a production department, there is a need to look for all the available resources which can enable us to improve our efficiency. This means that proper measures should be taken to improve the general conditions of the working environment. If it is properly done, it will have long term benefits to the company since it will be crucial in accomplishing its objectives. The first decision to make is to improve the efficiency of the machines. In the production department, several equipments need to be used. However, for them to be helpful to the company, they should be in a good condition. In this regard, the company should acquire modern and up to date machines to use in the production process. A part from this, deliberate measures should be taken to ensure that the efficiency of the available equipments is improved. This can be done by up dating them and giving them the necessary maintenance. For instance, if there is any worn out part, it should be repaired or replaced. Thus, it will be possible for the organization to improve the efficiency of these machines. The other decision to make is to reorganize the scheduling process of production. In order to be more efficient, it is necessary for the production department to readjust the time schedule of the production process. Since time is a very important resource for the company, it should not be misused any more. Instead, the management should come up with measures to ensure that all the activities are planned (Gomez-Mejia, 2008). Once everything is done as per the schedule, the operations will smoothly run without any delay. This will be a great step towards improving our service delivery. At the same time, it will help in establishing a good rapport with our

Questions to answer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Questions to answer - Essay Example This method fosters the chief motivation for reimbursing as setting up a more promising rate of interest over the period of the new issue. 3. Recognizing the difference on reimbursing is the same as the difference on other prompt terminations (Carmichael and Graham, 2010). Auditors argue that organizations should recognize this difference in income in the term of the termination. The third method makes practical sense since it is the only argument where an accountant records the whole difference when the particular agreement is extinguished. This process affects previous terms when the agreement was valid. However, the third method is the generally accepted one (FASB, 1972). This is because many accountants contend that the recognition of this difference might compel an organization to record returns by borrowing funds at high rates of interest to settle discounted, low-rate debts. I favor the first option because it takes into account equity categorization for a part of or the entire outstanding convertible debt issue. As a result, the first option is suitable for fiscal auditing and reporting from a tax point of view (Grant Thorton, 2013). Instruments with the features of both equity and liability categorizations are compound. The first option also qualifies as a requirement for the categorization of fiscal tools (Schneider et al., n.d.). FASB. (1972). APB 26: Early Extinguishment of Debt. FASB. Retrieved from http://www.fasb.org/cs/BlobServer?blobkey=id&blobnocache=true&blobwhere=117582 0898212&blobheader=application/pdf&blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs Schneider, D. K., Schisler, D., Mccarthy, M. G., and Hagler, J. L. (n.d.). Equity Classification of Convertible Debt? Tax and Cash Flows Considerations. Journal of Applied Business Research, 11(4), pp.

AS OCR Biology Planning Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

AS OCR Biology Planning Exercise - Essay Example The blue indicator will go colourless in the presence of active enzymes, therefore indicating living cells are present and are respiring. Reagents: 10% suspension of yeast – in the instructions we were told we could use either dried/fresh baker’s yeast. I will use fresh baker’s yeast due to possible problems with dried baker’s yeast e.g. clumping into grains so harder to count due to dehydration. c. Prepare water bath at 20, 40, 60 and 80Â °C (Independent variables). It’s better to raise the temperature of the water baths gradually as a rapid increase can overwhelm the enzymes and denature them, meaning unreliable results. a. Take 1ml of the yeast solution from each test tube. Transfer the sample to ice bath. The purpose is to reduce the metabolism and reproduction of the yeast but keep them alive. Drop 1 ml of methylene blue respectively and wait for 30 seconds. (Do the same to the control and identify the existence of yeast in the glucose solution.) All of the above procedures were used in my preliminary and the difficulty I found was in counting the yeast cells as accurately as possible with using the microscope. I later discovered another piece of equipment could have been used to measure the total number of cells, called a haemocytometer. I obtained the following results: What the trend shows is that as temperature increases the % of Yeast cells that remain active decrease. Therefore we say the two values are inversely proportional. From the point the temperature reaches 40Â °C there is a rapid drop in Yeast viability as the enzymes become denatured and the high temperatures interefere with the shapes of the active sites. So what I can conclude is that the tempertature of interest for the main investigation is between 40Â ºC to 50Â ºC. Therefore for the main experiment I can can separate the temperature into groups: 40-42, 42-44, 44-46, 46-48, 48-50. I can therefore

Play Preferences of Developing Children

Play Preferences of Developing Children This cross-sectional survey research investigated play preferences of children with and without developmental delays who were between 3 and 7 years old. Parents completed questionnaires regarding their childs play activity and context preferences. Valid results were obtained for 166 children, 83 of whom had developmental delays. Preference ratings were compared by gender, age, and delay status. Play preference did not differ by gender. Rough-and-tumble play and computer/video game play increased with age, whereas object exploration decreased. Children with developmental delays had higher preferences for rough-and-tumble play and object exploration and lower preferences for drawing and coloring, construction, and doll and action figurine play than typically developing children. This comparison of childrens play preferences across ages, gender, and developmental status enhances our understanding of how these variables influence childrens play. ABSTRACT This cross-sectional survey research investigated play preferences of children with and without developmental delays who were between 3 and 7 years old. Parents completed questionnaires regarding their childs play activity and context preferences. Valid results were obtained for 166 children, 83 of whom had developmental delays. Preference ratings were compared by gender, age, and delay status. Play preference did not differ by gender. Rough-and-tumble play and computer/video game play increased with age, whereas object exploration decreased. Children with developmental delays had higher preferences for rough-and-tumble play and object exploration and lower preferences for drawing and coloring, construction, and doll and action figurine play than typically developing children. This comparison of childrens play preferences across ages, gender, and developmental status enhances our understanding of how these variables influence childrens play. Play is a primary childhood occupation and as such deserves the utmost attention from the occupational therapy profession. In the past, many authors have written about play as a means to measure other skills (Bundy, 1993) or as a reflection of child development (Sparling, Walker, Singdahlsen, 1984). Play has been observed, categorized, labeled, and studied by researchers in many fields (Cole la Voie, 1985; Fein, 1981; Gesell, 1940; Parten, 1932; Saunders, Sayer, Goodale, 1999). Previous research has clearly demonstrated that children progress through stages and exhibit differing play preferences over time (Cole la Voie, 1985; Fein, 1981; Lowe, 1975). Recently, occupational therapy scholars have stressed the importance of examining play as an occupation rather than analyzing its component parts (Bundy, 1993; Couch, Deitz, Kanny, 1998, Knox, 1997; Parham Primeau, 1997). Influences on Play Preferences Many variables (e.g., gender, culture, environment, and age) influence a childs play occupations. This descriptive study explores young childrens play preferences and investigates how play choices vary according to the childs age, gender, and typical development versus developmental delay status. Gender Research has repeatedly demonstrated gender differences in the play of typical children (Caldera, Huston, OBrien, 1989; Connor Serbin, 1977; Meyer-Bahlburg, Sandberg, Dolezal, Yager, 1994; Saracho, 1990). In early studies of preferences related to gender, researchers found that girls preferred dolls and house toys and boys preferred blocks and transportation toys (Fein, 1981). Recent research continues to find gender-related differences in many aspects of play beginning at early ages. For example, as early as 1 year of age, children make different toy choices based on their gender (Servin, Bohlin, Berlin, 1999). At 18 months of age, boys preferred to play with trucks and trailers, whereas girls preferred doll-related activities (Lyytinen, Laakso, Poikkeus, Rita, 1999). Gender differences are found in many aspects of play. Boys are more likely to choose physical and block play over dramatic and manipulative play, and girls are the reverse (Saracho, 1990). Although boys are more likely to enjoy vigorous or active play, girls are generally rated as more playful (Saunders et al., 1999) and more likely to enjoy both dyadic interaction (Benenson, 1993) and smaller play groups than boys. Within dramatic or fantasy play, the type of fantasy play performed differs by gender. For example, girls use more verbal pretending and choose different play themes (Wall, Pickert, Gibson, 1989) and demonstrate less aggressive content (von Klitzing, Kelsay, Emde, Robinson, Schmitz, 2000). Girls fantasy themes tend to be complex and abstract. In contrast, boys play is more physically vigorous and they tend to choose simpler fantasy themes, such as playing superheroes (Pellegrini Bjorklund, 2004). Boys and girls also differ in play with computers and video games. Boys generally play video games more frequently and for longer time periods (Kafai, 1998), and they tend to play games in which competition is important. Girls like games with in-depth social interactions and character development; they appear to enjoy participating in a story more than participating in a competitive game (Salonius-Pasternak, 2005). Age A childs age is related to both play skills and play preferences for the type and context of play. Developmental changes in play skill have been found in a variety of studies of childrens play. For example, pretend play first emerges between 1 and 2 years of age and increases in prevalence and frequency throughout the preschool and kindergarten years (Fein, 1981). Play preferences have been shown to begin early in life. Infant toy preferences are noted by mothers as early as 3 months of age, and by 1 year of age almost 90% of infants have a favorite object (Furby Wilke, 1982). Children have also demonstrated changes over time in their preference for specific forms of play, such as physical play. In one study of physical play, the authors found that preference for each of three types of physical play peaks at a different age (Pellegrini Smith, 1998). Rhythmic stereotypes dominate during infancy, exercise play peaks during the preschool years, and rough-and-tumble play is most common during middle childhood. Age also interacts with gender to affect the choices. For example, the preferences of young children for gender-segregated groups begin to change in pre-adolescence (Brown, 1990), as do the gender-specific preferences for indoor and outdoor play (Pellegrini, 1992). Age may be less of a factor in play development in children with disabilities (Sigafoos, Roberts-Pennell, Graves, 1999). Developmental Delay or Disability Multiple studies have demonstrated that children with physical disabilities play differently than children who are developing typically. Children with physical disabilities spend more time in passive activities (Brown Gordon, 1987) and may demonstrate less active involvement with objects (Gowen, Johnson-Martin, Goldman, Hussey, 1992). Children with physical disabilities spend more time with adults than with their peers and participate more in passive activities, such as television watching, than in active and varied play experiences (Howard, 1996). In addition, children with physical disabilities, cerebral palsy in particular, may be less playful than their typically developing peers (Okimoto, Bundy, Hanzlik, 2000). Based on previous research, it is unclear whether children with disabilities have different play preferences or merely have an inability to access various forms of play. One study demonstrated that children with mild motor disabilities held preferences similar to children without disabilities (Clifford Bundy, 1989). In a study investigating object play preferences in children with an autistic spectrum disorder, Desha, Ziviani, and Rodger (2003) found that the children (41 to 86 months old) engaged predominantly in functional play and preferred toys with salient sensorimotor properties (toys that produced sound or movement with minimal effort). Other research has suggested that children with autism prefer toys and play situations that are structured and predictable (Ferrara Hill, 1980). Contextual Variables Contextual factors may affect play occupations. Researchers have demonstrated that children have fairly stable preferences for play partners, including the gender of play partners (Hay, Payne, Chadwick, 2004; Martin Fabes, 2001), play settings, and play objects (Knox, 1997). Other studies suggest that the physical environment impacts childrens development of play occupations. For example, outdoor play provides children with opportunities for sensory exploration (e.g., in dirt, water, sand, and mud), learning about space, and vigorous physical activity. Indoor play offers opportunities for quiet play, reading, drawing, construction, and computer games (Clements, 2004). Research Questions The literature on childrens play preferences suggests that children have clear preferences that are influenced by gender, age, and developmental status. Examining the current play choices and preferences of children is important to further understand the development of play occupations and what variables influence a childs play choices. This study investigated the play preferences of children with and without developmental delays who were between 3 and 7 years old. The specific research questions that guided our survey research were the following: 1. Do boys and girls differ in their play activity preferences? 2. Do childrens play activity preferences differ by age in early childhood years? 3. Do play activity preferences differ between children with developmental delays who receive therapy services and children with typical development? Methods Sample Convenience sampling was used to recruit parents of children with typical development or with developmental delays (who received occupational, speech, or physical therapy services) who were between 3 and 8 years old to complete a survey describing play preferences. A total of 330 surveys were provided to parents of typically developing children and children with developmental delays in the Northeast and the Midwest regions in the United States. In the Midwest, participants were obtained through a large childcare center and two preschools. All participants in the Northeast were obtained through two large private practice clinics. To obtain a sample of typically developing children in the Northeast, parents of children receiving therapy services in the clinics were asked to complete a survey for a sibling without developmental problems. Instrument The survey was based on Takatas instrument (Takata, 1969) that measures play preferences and the categories were modified to reflect modern play activities. The survey required parents to respond to a list of play activity preferences for one of their children. Studies have demonstrated that mothers can accurately rank play activities (Tamis-LeMonda, Damast, Bornstein, 1994) and parent report has been used previously in research of childrens play preferences (Finegan, Niccols, Zacher, Hood, 1991). The survey listed play activities and contexts and asked parents to rate their childs preference for each activity and context. Parents were also asked to provide information about age, disability status, and gender. The parents were asked about play preferences within a 3-month period because other researchers have suggested that play preferences remain relatively stable within this period of time (Finegan et al., 1991). Parents were not asked questions regarding their nationality, race, ethnicity, social class, or socioeconomic status because these factors have not been demonstrated to be related to play preferences (Meyer-Bahlburg et al., 1994). To pilot test the survey, two peer reviewers commented on the items and then six parents completed the survey and were asked to comment on its format and clarity and the amount of time it took to complete. Minimal revisions were made to improve clarity. The final survey listed 37 play activities in 11 categories of play and 11 contextual variables. The survey used a 4-point Likert scale for scoring, with each play activity rated from highly preferred (4) to not preferred (1), and respondents could also select not applicable. Individual activities were listed under broader categories (e.g., gross motor play, creative play, and pretend play). The second part of the survey asked for the childs preferences for specific play environments, including social context (e.g., friends or family) and physical contexts (e.g., inside or outside). A third section asked for descriptive information about the child (e.g., gender, birth date, diagnosis, if any, and services received). Data Analysis Demographic data and preference ratings were summarized using descriptive statistics. Children were combined into age groups by year by rounding to the nearest year. Although specific diagnoses were identified for the children, the children were grouped into those with and without developmental delays for purposes of analysis. To reduce the data, the individual activities were combined into play categories (e.g., gross motor, rough-and-tumble play, and pretend play). The 33 activities were collapsed into 9 play categories and the 11 contextual variables were collapsed into 4 play contexts. The figure identifies how the items were combined into categories. When computing mean scores, the responses not applicable and not preferred were combined as a score of 1 because both responses indicated that the child did not engage in that play activity. Using each play category and play context, a three-way analysis of variance with gender, age, and disability status as the independent variables was computed. Scheffe post-hoc analyses were used to compare individual age groups. Effect sizes (Cohens d) were calculated for gender and developmental status comparisons. Although a Likert scale produces ordinal data, parametric statistical procedures were selected over non-parametric statistical procedures based on research demonstrating that these statistics result in the same conclusions as non-parametric tests (Glass, Peckham, Sanders, 1972), they are preferable in most cases, and they do not increase the likelihood of a Type I or Type II error (Nanna Sawilowsky, 1998; Rasmussen Dunlap, 1991). Use of parametric statistics allowed us to examine t he interactions among the variables. Results Sample A total of 175 surveys were returned. Only five surveys for 8 year olds were returned; therefore these were omitted from the analysis. Of the 170 remaining, 166 were sufficiently complete to use in the analysis. Demographic data for the sample are presented in Table 1. Gender The three-way analysis of variance identified no significant differences in play activity preferences between boys and girls (effect size ranged from .01 to .26). Table 2 lists the mean scores, analysis of variance results, and effects sizes for the primary play categories. Play preferences were remarkably similar for boys and girls, with equivalent preference for gross motor play, rough-and-tumble play, video and computer games, drawing and coloring, dolls, and pretend play. The interaction for gender and age was significant for doll play preference. Three- to four-year-old boys preferred play with dolls and action figurines more than 3- to 4-year-old girls. In contrast, 5- to 6-year-old boys preferred play with dolls and action figurines less than 5- to 6-year-old girls. Play contexts were also compared by gender. Boys (m = 2.03) and girls (m = 1.95) were equally neutral about playing alone (F [1,156] = .074; p = .786). Both boys (m = 2.63) and girls (m = 2.60) equally preferred to play with friends (F [1, 156] = .031; p = .860) and equally preferred indoor (mean range: 2.73 to 2.80) and outdoor (mean range: 2.75 to 2.86) play. Age Groups Play preferences were compared by age groups. Table 3 shows which play categories were significantly different for age groups between 3 and 7 years old. In this early childhood age span, changes in play preferences were few. Preference for rough-and-tumble play changed significantly from 3 to 7 years old. Rough-and-tumble play was preferred most at 5 years old and was only somewhat preferred at 7 years old. Preference for video and computer games increased significantly in this age range. Video and computer game play was scored between not preferred and neutral at 3 years old and was somewhat preferred by 7 years old. Preference for drawing and coloring and construction increased from 3 to 7 years old, but these differences were not significant. Preference for pretend play differed significantly across the age groups, with low preference scores at the youngest and oldest ages and higher preference scores at 4 and 5 years old. Doll and action figurine play was also highest at 4 years old; however, changes in doll play preference were not significant across age groups. When play contexts were compared across the age groups, children showed no differences in preference for playing alone (range: 1.88 to 2.23; F [4,156] = 1.3; p = .272) or with friends (range: 2.27 to 2.93; F [4,156] = 1.95; p = .105) or for playing indoors (range: 2.35 to 2.86; F [4,153] = .793: p = .531) or outdoors (range: 2.50 to 2.91; F [4,152] = 1.23; p = .300). The least preferred play context across all ages was alone. Children With and Without Developmental Delays Play preferences of children with developmental delays were compared to those of children with typical development. Mean scores, analysis of variance results, and effect sizes are presented in Table 4. Children in the delayed and non-delayed groups equally preferred gross motor play, but rough-and-tumble play was preferred more by children with developmental delays, demonstrating a moderate effect (d = .52). In the quiet play categories, typically developing children preferred drawing and coloring more than children with developmental delays. For drawing and coloring, there was also an interaction with gender: preferences of boys with developmental delays (m = 2.57) were lower than those of boys with typical development (m = 3.42), but girls were equivalent in the two groups (developmental delays m = 3.13; typical development m = 3.19). In children with developmental delays, preference for doll and action figurine play was significantly less and preference for object exploration was slightly greater than for children without developmental delays. Although pretend play did not differ in these groups, the interaction of age and developmental delay status for pretend play preference was significant. In younger children (3 and 4 years old), those who were typically developing preferred pretend play; this preference reversed by 7 years old when preferences of children with developmental delays were significantly higher than typically developing children for pretend play. Play preferences for these two groups of children are rank ordered in Table 5. The five most preferred play forms for children with typical development were gross motor, drawing and coloring, reading and watching television, construction, and rough-and-tumble play. The five most preferred play forms for children with developmental delays were rough-and-tumble play, gross motor, reading and watching television, drawing and coloring, and construction. Preferred play contexts also differed for the two groups. Although both groups were neutral about playing alone, children with developmental delays showed a lower preference for playing with friends (m = 2.29) than children with typical development (m = 2.93) (F [1,156] = 13.11; p Discussion Gender Comparisons A surprising finding was that boys and girls held the same or similar play preferences. For example, we found no differences between boys and girls in doll and action figurine play or pretend play. In contrast, most of the research literature has concluded that boys and girls prefer different types of play. In older studies (Fagot, 1974, 1978; McDowell, 1937), girls and boys preferred different toys (i.e., girls preferred dolls and house toys, whereas boys preferred blocks and transportation toys). During the preschool and early childhood years, boys are more likely to adopt fantasy and aggressive play (e.g., monsters or fighting) and girls are more likely to play house (Fein, 1981). One possible reason for our finding that boys and girls were similar in play preferences is that we broadly defined doll play to include play with action figurines (e.g., Batman, Spiderman, and robots), which are considered boy toys. With dolls defined this broadly, boys and girls did not differ. In the research literature, pretend play is not the only play category where boys and girls differ. In two studies of children between 4 and 12 years old, boys preferred rough-and-tumble play and girls preferred quiet play (Finegan et al., 1991; Saracho, 1990). Saracho (1990) found that boys are more likely to prefer physical and block play over dramatic and manipulative play, and girls were the reverse. In a review of electronic play, Salonius-Pasternak (2005) reported that boys spend more time in video and computer game play than girls. Our study found no differences between boys and girls in preference for gross motor, rough-and-tumble play, or video game activities. Gym sets, trikes and bikes, and playgrounds were preferred play activities for both genders. When genders are compared, preferences of boys and girls were remarkably similar. Boys were slightly, but not significantly, higher than girls in rough-and-tumble play (d = .26), and other areas that differed in previous studies (e.g., preference for video and computer games and drawing and coloring) were equivalent. The equivocal results between our study and those that preceded it may be explained by their different methodologies (e.g., our survey used parent report and listed both boy and girl examples of the play categories). Gender differences may not exist when broad play categories are measured. Age Comparisons When the ages of the children were compared, three categories showed significant differences across age groups. Rough-and-tumble play increased from 3 to 5 years old, and then decreased from 5 to 7 years old. As preference for rough-and-tumble play decreased, preference for video and computer games increased. Other researchers (Salonius-Pasternak, 2005) have documented the increase in computer game play, which begins at 7 years old and peaks in adolescence. As documented in the literature, pretend play increases during the preschool years (3 to 5 years old) and decreases after 6 years old (Fein, 1981), when rule-governed games begin to dominate play (Parham Primeau, 1997). Other categories showed expected trends, but differences among the age groups were not significant. Gross motor play (defined as bike, trike, tag, and gym set activities) did not decrease across the age groups and was consistently a highly preferred activity. Drawing and coloring, construction, watching television, and reading activities remained somewhat preferred throughout the age range. The development of play skills has been well documented by researchers (Rosenblatt, 1977; Takata, 1969); however, most research has focused on the first 2 to 3 years of life, which is when play skills change dramatically. Our study captured ages during which play preference is stable for certain forms of play and evolving for others. Takata (1969) conceptualized 4 to 7 years old as one play epoch. Dramatic role playing, social role playing, and realistic construction characterize this epoch. Play preferences appear to change substantially after 7 years old, which is when children prefer games with rules and social play in the context of organized games. Our findings regarding the effect of age on play preferences, which were significant but not dramatic, may reflect that our age range was essentially one play epoch (Takata, 1969). Differences Between Children With and Without Developmental Delays In our sample, children with developmental delays were primarily children with sensory integration dysfunction, autism, pervasive developmental disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or general developmental delays. Children with these diagnoses often have motor planning difficulty, sensory processing problems, and social and communication limitations without frank motor, manipulation, and mobility impairments. The play preferences of children with developmental delays were consistent with the performance limitations associated with these development disorders. Children with developmental delays preferred rough-and-tumble play significantly more than children with typical development. This preference may reflect the sensory needs of children with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, or sensory integration disorder. Rough-and-tumble play, such as wrestling and rough housing, provides children with deep tissue pressure and joint compression, which is the proprioceptive input that helps their systems organize and calm (Baranek, 2002; Blanche Schaaf, 2001). In addition, rough-and-tumble play does not demand fine motor skills or precision performance; it is play in which almost every child can participate and succeed. The other play category in our study preferred significantly more by children with developmental delays was object exploration. Object exploration reflects basic sensory motor play that predominates in children 1 to 3 years old and decreases during the preschool years as more skillful and symbolic play emerges. The higher preference by children with developmental delays probably reflects preference for simpler, lower demand play activities. In other play forms, typically developing children showed higher preference; they preferred drawing and coloring and dolls and action figurines more than children with developmental delays. These play forms require fine motor and manipulative skills, and they require higher levels of cognitive ability, imagination, pretend, and understanding of symbols. In addition, the interaction of pretend play, age, and developmental delay was significant. At younger ages, pretend play was preferred more by children with typical development; this reversed at older ages, when pretend play was preferred more by children with developmental delays. Therefore, the children with developmental delays developed an interest in pretend play at older ages, which is when interest by children with typical development was diminishing. This finding contrasts with that of Sigafoos et al. (1999), who found that children with disabilities did not exhibit play forms beyond sensorimotor and functional play. Our contrasting findings may be explained because the children in our sample were less severely involved. Both groups were neutral (mean range: 1.81 to 2.45) for doll and action figurine play and pretend play. This neutral preference may reflect that the time spent in pretend play is minimal when compared to other play forms. Fein (1981) suggested that preschool children spend between 10% and 17% of their time in pretend play, which reflects only a small portion of boys and girls total play time. Sigafoos et al. (1999) observed that children with developmental delays spent 10% of their time in pretend play. When the types of play are rank ordered by preference, pretend play and doll and action figurine play have the lowest preference scores. Numerous studies have documented differences in play when children with disabilities were compared to children without disabilities. Research demonstrates differences in play skills (Mogford, 1977), object and social play (Sigafoos et al., 1999), and playfulness (Clifford Bundy, 1989; Okimoto et al., 2000). Sigafoos et al. (1999) followed preschool children with developmental disabilities for 3 years and documented that they primarily engaged in exploratory (28%) and functional play (57%) and that these percentages did not change over time. Baranek, Reinhartsen, and Wannamaker (2001) described the play of children with autism as lacking in imitation and imagination, containing fewer play repertoires, exhibiting decreased play organization, and exhibiting limited social play. Their play tends to lack flexibility and creativity (Craig Baron-Cohen, 1999). Functional play seems to dominate in children with autism with minimal evidence of pretend or symbolic play (Libby, Powell, Messer, Jordan, 1998). Differences in children with sensory integration dysfunction have been identified by Parham and Mailloux (2005) and may be more subtle than the differences seen in autism (Desha et al., 2003). The play of children with sensory integration dysfunction is often limited in play scenarios because they avoid certain play experiences that cause sensory feedback discomfort and they have restricted action repertoires due to perceptual difficulties and dyspraxia (Knox, 2005; Parham Mailloux, 2005). Using a sample of preschool age children (4 to 6 years) with sensory integration dysfunction, Clifford and Bundy (1989) did not find significant differences in play materials preferences but did find differences in how the children used toys. Our sample with developmental delays, which included autism, sensory integration dysfunction, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, showed trends similar to the literature in that the children preferred simple play forms (i.e., object exploration and rough-and-tumble play) to more complex and skilled play forms (i.e., drawing and coloring and pretend play). When all play preference categories are ranked, the order of preference differed between groups, but the top five preferences were the same. The primary difference between the groups was in rough-and-tumble play (ranked first for children with developmental delays and fifth for children with typical development). Object exploration was the least preferred for children with typical development and dolls were least preferred for children with developmental delays. Consistent with the literature that describes problems in social play in children with developmental delays, children with typical development had significantly higher preferences for playing with friends (d = .57) than children with developmental delays. Playing alone was significantly more preferred in children with developmental delays. Response to these items may reflect the childs preference or may relate to actual play opportunities and experiences. Delays in communication and social interaction may create barriers for children with developmental delays to play with peers (Baranek et al., 2001; Tanta, 2004). Clinical Implications The findings of our study confirm the importance of physical play because, almost universally, the study participants enjoyed, and often preferred, physical play. At the same time, the participants balanced their preference for physical play with more sedentary play forms, such as reading, watching television, drawing and coloring, and construction. The range of preferences may indicate the need for relaxation as one aspect of play (Parham Primeau, 1997). Children seem to have broad and varied play preferences because 6 of the 11 play forms were rated as somewhat to highly preferred. Individual play preferences appear to be best defined by the player and cannot be assumed based on age, gender, or disability status. Of concern is the preference of children with developmental delays t

English coursework †Hamlet refers to Claudius Essay

Hamlet refers to Claudius as a â€Å"Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain! † How far do you share his view? A villain is usually driven by something, usually power or money. Claudius has two of the greatest motives, power and lust. â€Å"My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen† Claudius lists the things he committed the murder for. Crown signalising power comes before queen, Gertrude. Villain’s motives are sometimes unimportant. Iago has no real motive to completely ruin people’s lives but does it because he enjoys it, only an extremely evil villain would gain pleasure through the suffering of others. Claudius has far greater motives. Firstly he would gain great power, a thing desired by many. He would also then have Gertrude whom he does care for and wants. Claudius has a tremendous talent at controlling and influencing people, whether it is through their views or their actions. Claudius switches Laertes’ anger from himself to Hamlet with ease â€Å"I am guiltless of your father’s death† to do that you would have to be a very convincing liar and be good at deceiving. Claudius then invites in a mad Ophelia to deceive Laertes, and to make him believe Hamlet is the culprit. Claudius’ manipulation of Hamlet’s feelings is apparent early on in the play showing his true self to be a sly, cunning and extremely clever man. All these qualities are shown in his opening speech as he addresses the court; Claudius speaks about the issue of his brother’s death, â€Å"our dear brother’s death, the memory be green† then, in a few sentences, moves on t the subject of his marriage, â€Å"Therefore our sometimes sister, now our queen† Claudius addresses his authority by referring to his wife as Queen letting all know that he is King. This is a very efficient and to the point statement showing Claudius’ intelligence, a characteristic common in the best and most evil villains. Claudius changes the subject â€Å"For all, our thanks† again it is simple and with minimum fuss. Claudius moves on to the next subject; a possible attack from a neighbouring country. He makes light of the situation by belittling the opposition; â€Å"Young Fortinbras, Holding a weak supposal of our worth† he calls the King young, immediately bringing to mind the thought of a child, not a very intimidating opponent. He also says ‘our’; gently letting the court he is the new King. â€Å"So much for him† these are the final words on the subject. Claudius has covered the death of his brother, his marriage with his former sister and a possible invasion and left the court laughing, smiling and joking. He is extremely clever to have done all this without arousing any suspicion and win over the court days after the death of the former King. Claudius ability to manipulate is obvious. Claudius’ talent for influencing and manipulating people continues throughout he play, showing a theme common in many villains. In Star Wars, The Emperor is a villain who desires power and is truly evil. Claudius desires power and kills his brother to have it. The Emperor shares the ability to manipulate others, instead of killing a foe he would try to influence them to join him. However the greatest evil quality that The Emperor and Claudius have in common is their emotionless reaction to the suffering they cause to others. When Claudius drives Ophelia mad through ignoring her and abusing her he is then comfortable to use her to manipulate Laertes. The Emperor shows no concern when he destroys a planet and it’s population. Claudius also puts people down, an already depressed Hamlet is one of his targets. â€Å"‘Tis sweet and commendable† Claudius ignores how Hamlet is feeling about the death of his father. Saying someone’s mourning is ‘commendable’ is insulting. He continues to put Hamlet down by again ignoring how Hamlet feels and telling him to cheer up, â€Å"‘Tis fault to heaven, A fault against the dead, a fault to nature† Claudius continues to repeat the word fault making Hamlet feel his mourning is wrong. Claudius has good qualities in him that are unusual in villains. He makes an attempt to repent â€Å"My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent† but he feels he cannot be forgiven because his sin is too great. Villains like Iago form Othello and Ming the Merciless both show no conscience at all. Claudius is also spiritual in the way that he understands God and knows what sin is. Spirituality isn’t something a truly evil villain has. Claudius shows caring and feels affection for Gertrude â€Å"She is so conjunctive to my life and soul† an incredible thing to say about someone, he shows a love for Gertrude. â€Å"O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven† Claudius knows that the things he has done are absolutely awful. He uses a disgusting word to describe his actions, the word rank. A villain of real evil wouldn’t have such a conscience. This shows Claudius not to be evil at his core. Claudius does not fully repent. Because he knows that he doesn’t really mean his apology, â€Å"Words without thoughts never to heaven go† Claudius is not an evil character. He does disgraceful things and harms people but he does not gain pleasure from hurting people, something truly evil. He does the evil acts because of the results, in his case power. Claudius’ deliberate ignorance of emotion and ability to manipulate shows him to be disgusting and harmful. Claudius is a treacherous, lecherous, kindles villain but not remorseless. Although he did not repent because of his greed he tried to and it is because of this he is not an evil person. Claudius is however an awful person who deserves no sympathy. Hamlet’s opinion of Claudius isn’t far from the truth.

Family Nursing Diagnoses Essay

The family discussed in this paper consists of five children belonging to two parents. Included are the father (PF), age 60, the mother (EF), age 54, and five children (CF, JF, AF, KF, KF), whose ages are 18, 16, 14, 12, and 9. All of the children are biological to the two parents who have been married almost 30 years. The father is a small business owner of a furniture store in downtown. He is the sole financial support of the family. The mother is a stay at home mom and home-schools the three younger daughters. The children are all almost two years apart except for the youngest. The oldest son, CF, lives at home and has just graduated high school after being home-schooled by his mom for most of his grade school life. He will be attending college in the summer and fall. The second son, JF, lives at home and is going to be a junior at a private high school in Raleigh this coming school year. The three younger daughters all live at home and are home schooled by their mom. In general, the family stays very busy with their individual lives. They make time almost every night before bed to get together and have family worship. The kids would like it if they had more time with their dad but say that he works a lot and that it is okay because they understand why. The mom would like to have more time to plan meals for dinner but is so busy that she has to buy their meals from a company that pre makes them and freezes them. The mom says that she used to be able to cook before she had kids and even had time to exercise but now she just barely has time in the day to get  everything done on her list. The husband spends six days a week at work, 12 to 14 hours every day. It is all he has known for the past 30 years. He would like more time to spend with his kids but somebody has to run the business and ensure that the family is provided for. The whole family agrees that they wish they did more together as a family outside of their home and going to church. Their biggest concerns are a lack of time and a conflict in everyone’s schedules as well as a desire to work on their diet and nutrition. After asking them, they would love to go to the park together and go on vacation as a family more often than once a year, which is stressful enough to plan that. The wife hopes to be able to start cooking meals again for the family and planning healthier snacks for the kids. The husband says that he pretty much eats pepperoni pizza every day. The family is very close to their extended family, which is huge. For the most part, the family spends as much time as possible with the mom’s parents. The kids all have strong bonds with their grandparents. These relationships are very important to the family. Using the Friedman Family Assessment Model helped me to gather and organize my verbal conversations I had with the family. It was helpful in pinpointing appropriate nursing diagnoses and health issues for this family. The family structural assessment was broken down into communication, roles, power, and family values. Communication between the family members was easily assessed from conversation. The three younger girls tell me that they get along most of the time and do everything together. That being said however, the oldest daughter, 14, expresses that she sometimes feels held back from doing teenage things because her two younger sisters cannot be included. The boys share a room together and get along quite well. It is important to note that they both have very different schedules and do not spend a whole lot of time together like they used to be able to do. They both tell me however, that they are still best friends. The oldest brother jokingly says that his younger brother, JF, can be really annoying and loud sometimes and then the whole family chimed in saying, â€Å"Oh yes that’s our JF!† JF agreed smiling. Between the mom and dad there was little emotional  conversation noted and it got very awkward when I started to ask about their communication. The dad said shortly that it was â€Å"just fine.† The mom obviously disagrees because she rolled her eyes at me. Seems to be a lot of tension between the parents when it comes to communication. The mom later told me that they are working on it and some days are better than others. The dad was very good about keeping the kids under control when it came to family meetings with me. At times, everyone would be talking and it could get loud but PF would get the kids to be quiet and remind them to be respectful of whomever is speaking. I can see that the kids all respect and love their father. He is constantly joking around with them and can be very sarcastic. The kids love this but the wife, not so much sometimes. The family’s roles were very clearly defined. The mom makes the rules at home. She actually does a lot for the home as far as maintenance and improvements go. She also pays all of the bills and manages all of the money. The mom also home-schools the three youngest girls and spends her days taking them to different classes and activities. The mom is also the disciplinarian of the kids when it comes to grounding them or even taking the door off of their bedroom. On top of everything, the mom also makes sure there is food on the table every night. Over the last few years this has been a struggle for her because she does not have the time to plan healthy meals like she used to. She is not even able to cook them anymore and has to buy their meals from a company that pre-makes them and freezes them. The dad stays busy running the small furniture business downtown. He gets home from work around 6 o’clock every night and is exhausted. He does all of the yard work, with the help of they boys, and he says that he enjoys it because he gets to get up on his big tractor. The dad also manages the rental house they have next door. There is a lot of stress on the dad being the sole financial provider of the household. Community and public health nursing assesses the relationship of variables in the community with the patients and overall health. Personal upbringings, culture, religion, and ethnicity are all variables that are considered in order to have a basic understanding of the community’s framework. After doing the family assessment, using my windshield survey, and current  research, nursing diagnoses related to this family and interventions with potential outcomes will be discussed. Nurses are advocates for patient whether it is within a hospital or in community health nursing. Advocacy in community health is the nurse advocating the family or community’s needs to organizations and businesses that can or are supposed to help the community. Incorporating Jean Watson’s theory of caring is important when providing education for a family within a community. Watson’s theory uses a contemporary holistic framework viewing the persons into dimension of body, soul, and mind. Nursing is always changing yet the foundation and values will forever stay the same; evident by Watson’s theory of caring. This caring theory is a moral/ethical foundation for professional nursing. Caring science is a sacred science that acknowledges the connection of nurses with the human-environment field (Watson, 2012). The nursing profession must be careful in sustaining meaningful, ethical, philosophical foundation to its’ science and theories (Watson, 2012). There are three nursing diagnoses that apply to this family based off of the assessment: knowledge deficit related to emotional state affecting learning, imbalanced nutrition more than bodily requirements related to lack of knowledge of nutritional needs, food intake, and/or appropriate food preparation, and lastly, activity intolerance related to insufficient sleep or rest periods. Healthy People 2020 leading health indicator of nutrition, physical activity, and obesity applies to this family’s vulnerability. Most Americans do not eat a healthy balance diet in combination with no getting enough exercise therefore leading to obesity (Healthy People 2020, 2015). Generally speaking, the family is not obese, however, a few are a bit overweight and the boys and dad have no muscle tone due to either stress (on the dad’s part) or lack of physical activity (on the boy’s part). Three interventions related to the nursing diagnoses and the Healthy People 2020 LHI include; educating the family on time management and prioritization, having a family dietician consult meeting with the family on better eating habits and balanced convenient meals, and establish guidelines and goals with the family for physical activity. A recent study done on time management shows the effectiveness of time prioritization coaching (Boniwell, Osin, & Sircova, 2014). This article may be an effective tool in  addressing the family’s imbalance of time management and perspective therefore resulting in improved stress over a lack of time. Conflicting values may be a closed mindedness towards approaching time management through coaching and the family will therefore not make improvement on time management. Due to the nature of coaching, there may be some ethical issues such as upholding a professional relationship, maintaining expertise, respect, and competence in coaching. That being said, the family could benefit a lot in time prioritization coaching. In order to address the imbalance of nutrition diagnosis, a recent clinical study shows that online dietician services can help families with what they eat on a specialized personal level. With the Internet ever evolving, why not be able to meet with a dietician onl ine that can evaluate the family’s nutritional status and provide healthy interventions (Brandt, Pedersen, Glintborg, Toubro, Nielsen, Eysenbach, Sendergaard, 2014). This may be just what the family needs; internet-based interactive and personalized weight management. Family values may differ in that they do not feel they need to spend money on a dietician program of any kind and know what is healthy and what is not. Basically, the family may be somewhat in denial therefore preventing the family from receiving education and personalized information to improve their diet. Ethical issues include the risk for developing an eating disorder, maintaining a professional relationship, and the management of patient data must be secure. Addressing the nursing diagnosis of a need for physical activity will require improvement on time management. The family needs to be provided with a list of activities that can be done together as a family and on their own. The mom would love to join a gym but in the past when she does join she never finds the time to go. In order to solve this problem, the mom needs to sign up for classes that are at a scheduled time so that she can put these times in her schedule and make the time for her to go. A conflicting value of the mom may be that she feels she should be spending that time with the family instead of on herself, which would prevent her from getting the physical activity she needs to improve her health. Ethical considerations for improving the family’s physical activity include respecting the individual’s wishes, offering a non-judgmental environment, and protecting the individual’s information. References Boniwell, I., Osin, E., & Sircova, A. (2014). Introducing time perspective coaching: A new approach to improve time management and enhancing well-being. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching & Mentoring, 12(2), 24-40. Brandt, C. J., Brandt, V., Pedersen, M., Glintborg, D., Toubro, S., Nielsen, J. B., Eysenbach, G., Brandt, K., & Sendergaard, J. (2014). Long-term effect of interactive online dietician weight loss advice in general practice (LIVA) protocol for a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Family Medicine, 1-6. Healthy People 2020. (2015). Leading health indicators. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/Leading-Health-Indicators Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2012). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (8th ed.). St. Louis, Mo: Mosby Elsevier. Watson, J. (2012). Human caring science (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.