Discuss the importance of dreams in the play Essay Example for Free

Discuss the importance of dreams in the play Essay Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and author. He was a prominent figure in American literature and cinema for over 61 years, writing a wide variety of plays. Miller was born into a moderately-wealthy Jewish family in New York City. His father, Isidore Miller, was a ladies-wear manufacturer and shopkeeper who was ruined in the Great Depression. His mother, Augusta, was a housewife who valued literature and education. His sister, Joan became an actress. Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play by Arthur Miller and is one of his most famous and commonly revived works. Viewed by many as the American Dream of achieving wealth and success, Death of a Salesman made both Arthur Miller and the character Willy Loman household names. Some of the other titles Miller considered for the play were The Inside of His Head and A Period of Grace. The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. What the American Dream has become is a question under constant discussion, and some believe that it has led to an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and/or happiness. The American dream is a dream of having 2 children and living in a perfect house with financial security. This ideal is closely related to Horatio Algerism. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/American_dream In the play Death of a Salesman, dreams are discussed and shown in many different ways throughout the play. There are dreams that happen during ones sleep, hopes and ambition type dreams, day dreams, fantasies and national/cultural dreams. In this play all are explored, and the national dream focused on is The American Dream. Dreams in this play stimulate the characters reactions and actions; they also affect the way the play is structured and explain behaviour of both the past and present. The play is unusually structured; there are no scenes just three main sections, Act 1, Act 2 and the Requiem. Within Act 1 and Act 2, there are several dreams and possibly flashbacks but the audience is unaware of what is real or not. The American Dream features in the play but not informing the audience that The American Dream is what it is partly focusing on. On page 82, Biff says Weve been talking in a dream for fifteen years. First of all the reader thinks hes saying hes been taking in the dream for 15 years but reading the sentence over we see talking. The reader thinks that it means the American dream, and at this point in the play Biff realises himself and his family has been trying to live this dream but are unsuccessful. The American Dreams is partly to do with status and having the best of everything. It also focuses on popularity, success, ownership, wealth and your house and objects within it. The American Dream is linked to capitalism and consumer culture, which is when we are sold items we dont really need. This is a symbol of success and if you can afford these luxury items they are a fall back for your family. When someone dies their family receives insurance, not only life insurance but also insurance for the object used in the death, for instance a car. This is all part of Willys plan to make his family more wealthy. Willy is scared of becoming an ordinary man, which in those days was a man that can no longer afford the luxury items that Willy possesses, when Linda is talking to Biff on page 44 she says Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. Hes not the finest character that has ever lived. But hes a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. This shows the reader that Linda knows about Willys depression and that she knows he is becoming and has a fear of becoming a typical, ordinary man. This is not what Willy wants or wanted at all, Willy wanted to be well known around the country and great, successful. The depression that Willy held may have been caused by the lack of positive attention, his lack of progress in his job or his fear of becoming this ordinary man that he never wanted to be. Linda also knows that in his last months or weeks, herself and her sons need to make up to Willy and give him the most positive attention that they can. On page 44 Linda says Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person. This is also evidence to suggest Willys want for death. Willy is not progressing at all in his job, his ex boss son is now at the top of his career ladder but Willy, still near the bottom should have retired. But his dreams and passion to become rich and successful meant that he forced himself to carry on working and hope that one day these dreams will be fulfilled.

Political Orientations and Its Impact on industrial relations

Political Orientations and Its Impact on industrial relations The following content will evaluate how and to what extent workplace representatives in the current era are important in trade unions. Trade unions are organisations that represent people at work and are principally concerned with protecting its members in the employment relationship. (Salamon. 1987. 81). A trade union consists of a group of workers who come together to organise and represent their interests in order to be more conversant and powerful when it comes down to cooperating with their employers. The trade unions or labour unions originated when groups of workers came together to form an organisation that works towards their well being (Edwards, March, 2003). The significance of the trade unions lie in the fact that they can negotiate wages, rules of hiring, recruitment and firing, working conditions, workplace security and safety policies, employee benefits, compliant processes, promotion policies, retirement benefits, etc. with the employers and the government on behalf of their members (Dine, 2007). The trade unions gain their strength due to the numbers of members who join them. Thus, providing the unions with the power to sometimes dictate terms to employers, governments and other parties and may influence the political, economic and social climate within a country (Dine, 2007). The unions also by virtue of their positions exercise power and influence on their members as well as non-members (Edwards, March, 2003). The essay will look at Trade Unions in UK and USA: Politi cal Orientations and Its Impact on the Industrial Relations aims to compare and contrast the political orientation of trade unions of the United kingdom and the United States of America and evaluate their differential impact on the industrial relations systems in both the countries. In an attempt to achieve this aim, this essay looked at the trade unions in the UK and the Labour Unions in the USA and made a comparative analysis of the differences and similarities between the two with regard to their political orientations. And, tried to analyze how these similarities and differences in their political orientations impacted the systems of industrial relations that existed in both the countries. The essay thus aimed at providing explanatory insights into understanding the relations that existed between the political orientations of trade / labour unions and the industrial relations systems of a country. The trade unions originated in Europe and spread across of different countries around the world during the industrial revolution (Ebbinghaus and Visser, 2000). The trade unions in the United Kingdom were established as early as 1867 and aimed at improving the socio-economic situation of members of the working class (Ebbinghaus and Visser, 2000). It soon turned into a movement that resulted in the formation of the present day Labour Party in the UK (McIlroy, Fishman and Campbell, April, 2008). With changing times and governments in the country, trade unions saw an upheaval in their power orientation, membership trends and structure (Josselin, January, 2001). What began as a movement by the blue collared industrial workers, are now being supported and participated in by white collared shop workers and office workers in the UK (Poole, 2003). Some of the main trade unions in the UK include the National Union of Mineworkers, the National Union of Agricultural Workers, the Association of C otton Spinners, the Operative Society of Bricklayers, the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, the National Union of Gasworkers General Labourers, the National Union of Railwaymen and the Transport and General Workers Union, etc (Ebbinghaus and Visser, 2000). These unions are members of larger bodies known as the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) (Reid, April, 2005). In the USA, the trade unions are known as the labour unions. These are similar to trade unions in the UK, however comparatively smaller in size of memberships. The Labour Unions in the United States exert its power or influence through its allegiance within the Democratic Party and other like minded organisations (Kochan, Katz and McKersie, 1994). The members belonging to the labour unions include public sector employees such as law-enforcements officers, educators, etc (Kochan, Katz and McKersie, 1994). These unions similar to the unions of the UK aim at improving the working conditions of their members along with negotiations for better wages, working conditions benefits, post retirement benefits, security and safety of workers, etc. Some of the examples of labour union organisations in the USA include the American Federation of Labor, the Workingmans Party, the Industrial Workers of the World, the Knights of Labor, the United Mine Workers, the Congress for Industrial Organisations , etc ((Kochan, Katz and McKersie, 1994). These unions fall under the umbrella of two major labour unions namely: the Change to Win Federation (CtW Federation) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO) (Kochan, Katz and McKersie, 1994). The aims or goals of the trade / labour unions in both the counties and in other parts of the world remain similar and yet there are differences in the way these unions / organisations are organised, structured, functioned and negotiated their power of influence. Black had suggested that trade unions, however big or small, have the ability to change the politico-socio-economic environment of a country and this is the reason for their power (Black, July, 2005). With the advent of media and worldwide communication systems, these unions are gaining further strength and the ability to influence governments, private business enterprises and the masses (Yates, May, 2009). Hence it is interesting to understand how these organisations exert or apply its power if at all on the political climate of a country and influence the systems of industrial relations. Comparison of Political Orientations of the Trade / Labour Unions The trade unions in the UK and the Labour Unions of the USA share similarities and dissimilarities that impact their political orientations. In the UK, the trade unions find expression in the countrys politics through the Labour Party (Hyman, 2001). In the USA, on the other hand, the labour unions express themselves through the Democratic Party (Hyman, 2001). Weiss had suggested that the governments in countries are generally influenced and limited by the political, economic and welfare organisations with the countries (Weiss, 2004). Trade / labour unions are among the bodies that have the capability to influence the way a government makes policies on different subjects especially those which have the ability to directly or indirectly affect the workers of the country (Weiss, 2004). The free economy of the USA makes it difficult for the policy makers of the country to balance between the demands of the labour unions and those of the corporate enterprises (Frege and Kelly, November, 2004). In the light of the recent economic recession that hit the country in 2008, the political circles found it difficult to find a mid way between governmental regulations on worker benefits and corporate losses to meet those regulations. In the UK however, trade unions have had a significant influence on the way the economic and social development policies were laid out by the government (Clark, April, 2009). It is only in recent years, when the UK government has started to open up its economy to make it more liberal, have the political orientations of the trade unions lost their strong hold (Armingeon, March, 2006). It is interesting to understand here is that the Labour Party, which has strong ties with the trade unions, is the ruling party in the UK. The social orientation of t he trade unions in the UK has resulted in the centre-left orientation of the present ruling party in the country. In the USA on the other hand, the Democratic Party, the ruling party adopts a liberal approach. It however is similarly oriented (centre-left) as the Labour Party of the UK. The question that can be asked at this point is whether the orientations of the ruling parties in the two countries can be attributed to the political orientations of the trade / labour unions in both the countries. With changing times, the memberships of the trade / labour unions have taken a hit (Croucher and Cotton, January, 2009). This has not only impacted their ability to influence but also their own organisational strength (Kubicek, 2004). Both the countries, UK and USA, have liberal economies, making it difficult for the unions in the present day context to completely influence the rules, policies and strategies that govern the markets and consequently the political scenario (Jose, 2002). Thu s it can be stated that the political orientations of the trade / labour unions in the two countries have definite influence over the way in which the rules and policies are made by the governments in the two countries and that these impact the industrial relations systems. Impact on the Industrial Relations Systems The strength of the labour / trade unions lay in their ability to negotiate better working terms with the employers and get the governments in different countries to form labour laws that were labour oriented (Kelly and Willman, 2004). In the face of the changing times and the post communist era, the role of the labour / trade unions has started to dwindle (Clark, Delaney and Frost, March, 2003; Wahl, 2004). The question that remains is whether the labour / trade unions and their political orientations still have the ability to impact and influence the industrial relations systems in different countries. In UK, over the recent years, there have been fall in the membership of the trade unions (Crowley and Ost, 2001). One of the most commonly cited reason for this is the inability of these unions to use their political orientations and negotiating powers to benefit the workers (Frege and Kelly, 2003). Similar issues have been identified in the US as well. Studies have shown that the trade / labour unions are not being able to offer the collective bargaining coverage to all jobs in a country (Kubicek, 2004). This is not only reducing the faith that workers had on the labour / trade unions but also the influence that these unions had on the systems of industrial relations. There have been different causes cited for the diminishing influence and impact of the labour / trade unions in the UK and the USA. Kubicek had found that the labour / trade unions were lacking in a definite labour agenda and resources (Kubicek, 2004). Crowley and Ost had suggested that the trade / labour unions are no w merely regarded as the reflection of the former socialist endeavours and thought to no longer function as agents of the worker welfare (Crolwey and Ost, 2001). However, there have been instances where the political orientations of the unions have helped in preventing the government in turning completely capitalistic in its approach in the present day (The Trade Union Movement, New Labour, and Working-Class Politics. Workers Liberty). The economy of the UK and the changing economy of the USA (post the economic debacle) are changing the way the labour / trade unions and their political orientations are impacting the industrial relations systems in both the countries. Thus in conclusion, it can be said that the uncertainties created by the economic conditions in the USA and the UK are impacting the political systems and thereby changing the influence of trade / labour unions and their political orientations. These changes and impacts are being felt in the formal organisational conditions as well as the power of the employers, collective bargaining and industrial relations systems. The final outcomes being exhibited are in the form of democracy and / or oligarchy through competition, opposition, internal bargaining and finally, decentralisation of the decision-making power.

Science of Microwave Heating :: microwave oven

The microwave oven, a tool that we use often in our busy lives to heat up foods when we just don't have the time or patience for a conventional oven to do its work. How does this device work? It's pretty simple if we use the basics of physics to explain it. Vibrations from the high frequency radio waves cause the water and fat cells in food to generate heat through friction of the molecules. An example of this using a turkey shows the molecules positive and negative particles acting through these vibrations to cause friction. J. Carlton Gallawa -- http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/howcook.html "In microwave cooking, the radio waves penetrate the food and excite water and fat molecules pretty much evenly throughout the food. There is no "heat having to migrate toward the interior by conduction". There is heat everywhere all at once because the molecules are all excited together. There are limits of course. Radio waves penetrate unevenly in thick pieces of food (they don't make it all the way to the middle), and there are also "hot spots" caused by wave interference, but you get the idea. The whole heating process is different because you are "exciting atoms" rather than "conducting heat"." -- Howstuffworks.com From Wikipedia.org: "Microwaves, also known as Super High Frequency (SHF) signals, have wavelengths approximately in the range of 30 cm (1 GHz) to 1 mm (300 GHz)." and "A microwave oven uses a magnetron microwave generator to produce microwaves at a frequency of approximately 2.4 GHz for the purpose of cooking food. Microwaves cook food by causing molecules of water and other compounds to vibrate. The vibration creates heat which warms the food. Since organic matter is made up primarily of water, food is easily cooked by this method." From http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/howcook.html: "Microwaves possess three basic characteristics: * Just as sunlight shines through a window, microwaves pass right through some materials. Materials such as glass, paper, and plastic are transparent to and generally unaffected by microwaves. * Microwaves are reflected by metal surfaces, much as a ball would bounce off a wall. The metal walls of the cooking space actually form a cavity resonator. In other words, the enclosure is designed to resonate the microwaves as they are radiated from the magnetron tube. The principle of resonance may be illustrated using sound waves. When a piano key is struck, it produces sound vibrations or sound waves. Sometimes a note is played on a piano, and an object across the room, perhaps a wineglass, can be heard vibrating and producing the same sound.

Its Time to Understand Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide :: Free Euthanasia Essay

It's Time to Understand Euthanasia Your wife of 50 years is suddenly diagnosed with a terminal disease. She lies in a bed, motionless and unaware of her surroundings. The medication to ease her pain has been wearing off. She just lies there in pain and unable to communicate with the outside world. The doctors give her a month to live at the most. What would you do? Would you let her sit in a hospital bed in agonizing pain for the last few months of her life, or do you help her to prematurely meet her God? That is the topic of discussion in this paper: Euthanasia. Let's start by defining the term. Euthanasia is also referred to as "mercy killing." That is the killing of someone for their own good due to the pain and suffering they are enduring. Euthanasia also includes situations where the individual who is suffering makes the decision to die, a type of suicide actually. In today's world there are two types of euthanasia that are most common. The first are people who, perhaps because of serious illness or perhaps for reasons unrelated to their illness, are extremely depressed and say that they want to die (Johanson 1). Research has shown that the vast majority of these people are just asking for sympathy and don't really want to die but rather hear the calls of there loved ones begging them not to go on with the procedure. They want the attempt to fail. The second type of euthanasia involve people who are suffering from an illness that makes them unable to communicate (Johanson 2). These type of people are those who are in comas, paralyzed, or simply so sick that they cannot make meaningful sounds or other communication (Johanson 2). This is a much more accepted type of euthanasia. Especially in the Netherlands where Euthanasia is more common then the United States. There are two sides to attack this issue from. One being from the view of the Catholic Church and the other from a legal standpoint. Lets start with the legal standpoint. Who has the right to tell us when or when cannot die? Many feel that we have the right to do whatever we want to our bodies because they

Johnson Wax

Case: Johnson Wax: Enhanced Case analysis: Define the problem John Sherman, the product development manager of Johnson & Company, had to take a decision about the future of Enhanced, a new instant hair conditioner. The issues faced by Johnson Wax are whether to launch ‘Enhance' right now, launch it after some modifications or abandon the product. They wanted a new product with the same success that Agree, the company first care product but they also wanted to reduce the costs of the product development process. Formulate the alternatives 1. Launch Enhance as it is right now 2. Make some modifications to the product or its positioning . Abandon the product Analyze the alternatives Current situation Johnson Wax is successful in a specific segment of the hair conditioning market with his product Agree. So they decided to offer another personal-care product line being Enhanced. This is an instant hair conditioner targeted toward woman 25-45 years old with dry hair and was formulate d to appeal to that audience. Market potential The market of the conditioner in which Johnson Wax want to introduce Enhance counts 6 important companies in 1978: Johnson’s Agree (15,2%), Wella Balsam (4,7%), Clairol Condition (9,95), Flex (13,4 %), Tame (5,4%), and Sasson. The firm has previously done Blind-Use test, which actually showed that the consumers don’t distinguish great differences between different brands of conditioner. Tests have shown that one of the most important dimensions for the customers is the conditioning factor. But during the phase of callback the respondents mentioned most frequently manageability and conditioning came third. This means that the company should reposition itself. The market is open for new products that focus on manageability. An incentive to launch the product is that Agree would lose less than half a share point to Enhance. Product design Enhance was available in two sizes for both regular and extra conditioning formulations. It had one facing for each size and formulation. Enhance was offered in 8 and 16 ounce sizes in either clear or opaque plastic bottles with nozzle tops. Research have shown that sampling is not successful and a waste of resources. Another way must be used to promote the product. One way is advertising on TV or in magazines with the use of a celebrity. The downside of this is, that it could be quiet expensive. Distribution channels The distribution channels that Johnson might and should use are wholesalers and retailers through a system of manufacturers’ representatives and factory salesmen. Johnson has created a well established network throughout the years and if they use it to distribute the Enhance product it will reduce transportation cost due to economies of scale. Another benefits will be the reduction of costs through the already established knowledge of the manufacturers’ representatives and factory alesmen. Pricing As suggested in the ‘Trail Estimation’, Enhance was offered in 8 and 16 ounces sizes at $1,31 and $1,94 respectively. With these figures the trial rate of Enhance was estimated at 23%. If we look at the comparison to all ASSESSOR-tested health and beauty aids products, we can see that Enhance can be placed in the group between 20-30 %, which indicates a group percentage of 27,1%. Afte rwards the repeat rate was estimated through telephone call back interviews and they came to the conclusion that the repeat rate among buyers in the laboratory was 60%. If we compare that to the all ASSESSOR-tested health and beauty aids products, we can conclude that Enhance has a high repeat purchase rate. The overall conclusion is that we can set the prices at the level suggested in the ‘Trial Estimation’ because survey have shown that those prices will be accepted by the customers. The steps to the optimal solution 1) Recommend a solution -Abandoning the product is not an option because of the investment already made,e. g. product development and Assesor-test. If we would abandon the product, these costs will be sunk costs. Launching the product as it is now is also not a good option. The MDS, as a result of the ASSESSOR test, was not encouraging about Enhances’ prospects. It is clear that some modifications has to be made. -The optimal solution is to launch Enhance, given the prospective that they will modify the product and subsequently reposition it. Surveys have shown that sampling is not successful so another way of prom otion must be proposed. 2) Plan of action 1. Keep the price at the trial estimations rates, those were very similar to those of the competition( $ 1. 31 and $ 1. 94 for the 8 and 16 ounce sizes. . Sell the product through the existing distribution channels of the Agree line( distributed nationally and overseas to wholesalers and retailers through a system of manufactures’ representatives and factory salesmen. 3. An important step to ensure success of the product is that we make some modifications to the product. The ASSESSOR results in the product acceptance indicates that those who made a repeat purchase will most likely mention manageability as the thing they liked most about Enhance. The company does not really focus on manageability as much as they do on conditioning and cleaning. The relative importance of ‘manageability’ is merely 23% in comparison to 33% for ‘conditioning’. Given the results of the likes and the dislikes of the customer, we can conclude that the company needs to focus more on the ‘manageability’ of Enhance. Manageability needs to be the primary characteristic, followed by conditioning. 4. Given the switch of primary characteristic, the advertising need to be adjusted and thus mainly focussing on the manageability of the product. Advertising needs to focus on the fact that Enhance leaves hair shiny, lustrous, soft and silky, body and fullness. In a nutshell, it makes hair more manageable. This can be realized through advertising in magazines and TV. 3) Contingency plan The prediction trial/repeat model estimated the base shore at 3,9% while the preference model estimates the base share at 3,8%. The Johnson Wax management had set a target market share of 10%. This is about three times as high as the estimations. If we modify the Enhance product we can assume that the market share will increase in the test, hence the adaptations in favor of the likes of the consumer. We will set a base share of 7,5%, which need to be pursuit within two years. If we do not accomplish this objective, we need to abandon the product.

Focus Group Essay

Qualitative research Definition- it is a research, which is undertaken using an unstructured research, approach with a small number of carefully selected individuals to produce non-quantifiable insights into behavior, motivations and attitudes. Qualitative and quantitative research as two distinctly separate bodies of research – many studies encompass both approaches, with qualitative research being used to explore and understand attitudes and behavior, and quantitative research being used to measure how widespread these attitudes and behaviors are. Qualitative research can be used when managers need exploratory research. Managers use exploratory research to understand customer attitudes, emotions, preferences and behaviors. It can also be used in new product development or creative development research. Individual depth interview It is an interview that is conducted face-to-face, in which the subject matter of the interview is explored in detail using an unstructured and flexible approach. As with all qualitative research, depth interviews are used to develop a deeper understanding d of consumer attitudes and the reasons behind specific behaviors. This understanding is achieved through responding to an individual’s comments with extensive probing. The flexibility of this probing sets this interview approach apart from oter questionnaire-type interviews. Although there is an agenda of topics to be covered, the interviewers will use their knowledge of the research objectives, the information gained from other interviews and the comments of the respondent to select which parts of the dialogue with the respondent to explore further, which to ignore, and which to return to later in the interview. Not only is the depth interview flexible, it is also evolutionary in nature. Focus group Focus groups are depth interviews undertaken with a group of respondents. It is different to individual interviews in the number of respondents and interaction between participants. Several factors affect focus group Recruitment is a very critical element of group discussions and has long been a major quality-control issue in the UK marketing research industry. Group discussions are unlikely to achieve their research objectives if the wrong types of participant are recruited. The research proposal will set out the type of participants required for a group discussion. For example, if Colgate is researching a new type of toothpaste for a sensitive teeth. Their specification may request respondents who regularly purchase toothpaste with sensitive protection function. Respondents age (for example 25-64), living area, etc. Managers can also use Screening questionnaire to identify suitable respondents for its group discussion. The area that respondents are recruited normally should be in street or telephone interviews. The location that group discussions were held should let respondents feel comfortable. Locations such as viewing rooms or hotels for business should have no special facilities apart from audio type recorder. Food or snacks will also be provided to assist in relaxing the atmosphere. Time to hold the discussion should be well scheduled. Times should be available to target group. For example, outside working hours, times of available public transport etc. The number of groups should be 3-4. As the 3rd and 4th group can used to exam atypical views. * There are problems involving focus groups. For example in the case of overlapping dialogues from different speakers which may affect the transcript. * Moderators must learn to control such people and encourage those less willing to speak up and let their opinions be heard. Comparing to traditional group discussion, online group discussion or chat room is becoming popular. Apart from lower cost and possible time-saving, it can allow more people to be involved in observing the research, particularly if it is being carried out in a different region or country. However, a cheaper version of online group discussion or chat room where a group is recruited who are willing to discuss a subject online usually using text. It can be difficult to develop any real group dynamics and it is impossible to see people’s facial expression. Even with webcams, the video picture is usually so poor. Participants may also be distracted by events within their own office or home, as the environment is not under the control of the moderator. However, it may be useful with people who could be unwilling to attend a group discussion because of their geographical dispersal or their introverted nature. Projective techniques Projective techniques are techniques used in group discussions and individual interviews to facilitate a deeper exploration of a respondent’s attitudes towards a concept, product or situation. They enable respondents to express attitudes that they find difficult to verbalize. Projective technique projective techniques may gather ‘richer’ data than do standard questioning and discussion. There are many types of projective techniques. The most common three techniques are projective questioning. It is a projective technique that asks the respondent to consider what other people would think about a situation. An example of this could be â€Å"What do you think people in your street would think if they saw a BMW parked in your driveway?† The advantage of projective questioning is that it usually reflect the opinions of the respondent without causing them any embarrassment. Managers can get more objective answers. Word association tests It is a projective technique that involves asking respondents what brands or products they associate with specific words. In marketing research, word association is typically used in conjunction with brand names or celerity endorsers. This can assist marketers in developing communication objectives and strategies to position or differentiate their brands from those of competitors. In addition to the direct outputs of word association, the technique is also very useful as a way of warming up a group by getting everybody contributing and involved. Brand personalities Brand personalities involve respondents imagining a brand a person and describing their looks, clothes. Lifestyles, employment etc. For example, if ‘Nokia’ was a person, what type of person would he or she be? The answer could be such as a modern, relatively young slightly quirky male. This could compare with other brands. Developing brand personification can help to verbalize the imagery and vocabulary associated with the brand. Sentence completion Sentence completion involves providing respondents with an incomplete sentence or group of sentences. Respondents are then asked to complete them. For example, ‘Tesco, as a supermarket, is†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ in many way, sentence completion is similar to word associations, although it can enable researcher to put the respondent’s thinking process into a proper context. Observation research Observation is a data-gathering approach where information on the behavior of people, objects and organizations is collected without any questions being asked of the participants. Observation can take a quantitative format where a large number of events or people are observed and the outputs are analyzed using statistical method. The major advantage of it over surveys of respondents is that the data collected do not have inaccuracies as a result of memory error or social desire bias. The data recorded reflect the actual behavior that took place. For example, video record gives a true representation of rental behavior. Observation overcomes the high refusal rates that may exist for some survey research. However, observation cannot investigate reasons behind behavior. Also, only public behavior is observed. Examples of what can be observed are consumers behavior in store, family consuming behavior at home, comments on the internet. Typical methods of observation are internet monitoring (club card, cookies), in-store observations (CCTV), mystery shopping(researchers participant into observation to look at process not the outcome of number of satisfaction), content analysis(how many time that the word appear in the article), ethnography(could be costly and have ethical issues). Ethical problem Questionnaire A questionnaire is the research instrument designed to generate the data necessary for accomplishing a project’s research objectives. Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as focus group, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. However, questionnaires also have many of the same problems relating to question construction and wording. The effect of questionnaire might also limited by the location that respondents do the questionnaire. For example, respondents who did questionnaire in high street could be affected by noise. There are many types of questionnaire. There are open-ended question, closed question, scaling questions. There are many factors when comparing Focus group, depth interviews, projective techniques, observation and questionnaire. In terms of degree of structure, focus group are relatively high as managers will guide and control the whole discussion until all tasks are finished. In terms of probing of individual respondents, depth interviews are high and focus group and questionnaire are low. Moderator bias in depth interviews are high and others are medium. Observation has none effects in terms of both probing of individual respondents and moderator bias. Focus group is also high in discovering innovative information. Projective techniques and observation are high in uncovering subconscious information and obtaining sensitive information. Questionnaire and projective techniques are involving unusual behavior or questioning.

Nutrition, Exercise, And Recovery - 1988 Words

To have a healthy career, athletes need to maintain the following concepts: nutrition, exercise, and recovery. An athlete that is in the pros, college, or even high school, has to make time to do all of these things. Not only does it contribute to the success of the athlete, but also their health. Staying on a schedule also does this. Making a commitment to do this on a daily basis for an athlete is unbelievable. It takes a lot of dedication to do what athletes do to keep a high performance. Focusing on what is at stake at a young age is crucial when it comes to health and sports. In nutrition there are several important factors when it comes to athletes and their sport. Each sport requires athletes to tackle nutrition in their own way.†¦show more content†¦Different events require eating different types of carbs. For example, eating fruits and at least three colors of vegetables, prepares your body with enough energy for the day as well as for the following day. The next source of nutrition that you need is protein. Protein is one of the most essential nutrients for the body. It builds and repairs both muscles and bones. For athletes and most people, it is important to eat high amounts of lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, beans, and nuts. You could also take supplements to gain weight. Although, when I arrived to college I was told that the only time you need to take supplements is when you do not receive enough protein in your diet. Also, athletes need to stay away from fatty foods, such as fast food restaurants. The foods there can slow an athlete down. Our nutrition trainer for my sport always tells me to stay away from greasy food and that we need to eat our natural nutrients. When I first arrived at college I weighed about 320 pounds. My nutrition trainer would go with me when I ate and would show me what to eat to lose weight. Three months later I weighed 290 pounds. For an athlete, hydration is the main component to their diet. It is not only essential for losing weight, but also for keeping their body in shape on and off of the field. When I first started playing sports, hydration was the first thing that I learned. It would have been impossible to complete the long

Key Financial Ratios - 628 Words

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Name Post Email Talk of the Town 3 Here is why women find it more difficult to lose weight 3 Debt mutual funds or bank fixed deposits?- Business News 2 Indias farm sector imports on a rise: Key facts- Business News 2 Maruti bets on new premium NEXA outlets to shed mass market tag 2 As red-hot sales in China weaken, Apple touts Indias growing appetite for iPhones 2 Budget may clarify on coal import duty #Discover ECONOMY CORPORATE MARKETS MONEY INDUSTRY TECH OPINION PHOTOS VIDEOS MAGAZINE PROPERTY PUBLICATIONS: India Today | India Today - Hindi | Business Today | Cosmopolitan | Mens Health | Wonder Woman | Money Today | Prevention | Readers Digest | Good Housekeeping | Travel Plus | Golf Digest India | Design Today | Time | Harvard Business Review | Gadgets Gizmos TELEVISION: Aaj Tak RADIO: Oye! 104.8FM EDUCATION: Vasant Valley | Online Courses | U Learn Today | India Today Education ONLINE SHOPPING: Bag ItShow MoreRelatedKey Financial Ratios : Companys Liquidity, Profitability, And Other Investment Related Ratios1094 Words   |  5 PagesIn this section, we will assess Graincorp past performance and several main financial ratios that are related to company’s liquidity, profitability, and other investment related ratios. 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