Audience Analysis Essay Example for Free

Audience Analysis Essay Communication is one of the most important skills that an individual can possess when presenting to a group of people. The audience should always be focal point of the presenter as communication is an important foundation and can often determine the success or failure of a message being received. When communication is done properly it can build respect and trust between groups and help identity the issues at hand. The presenter must have a good understanding of the audiences culture in order to effectively communicate with the group. In this assignment I have been asked to present quarterly sales information in an in-person meeting to a group of stakeholders that includes managers, salespeople, and customers. I have been asked to answer a number of different questions before I present my information to the audience. The following questions will be answered in this paper. 1.What are audience characteristics you need to consider?2.What communication channels would be appropriate and why?3.What are some considerations that you must keep in mind given the diversity of the audience?4.What would you do to ensure that your message is effective?Before you can prepare a presentation you must consider the characteristics of your audience. I know that my audience consists of managers, salespeople, and customers of this particular organization. Because I have identified my audience I now have a better understanding of the audiences knowledge of the subject. I also understand their interest in the subject; I understand that the different groups of individuals may only be interested in certain results of the quarterly sales information that is being presented. Managers and salespeople may have different subject knowledge than the customers. I will needs to address the different needs of all parties in attendance. I will have to customize certain parts of my presentation in order to address the specific needs of each group within the audience. I will also need to understand what the audience is expecting to learn from my presentation. I should be able to meet and exceed their expectations and the audience should walk away with their questions answered and explained as well as have a better understanding of the quarterly sales information that was presented to them. Because this is an in-person meeting certain communication channels are more appropriate than others. Power-point presentations would be an appropriate method of communication between the presenter and the audience. This is an effective method because it not only allows the presenter to discuss the statistics; but will also allow the present to show the audience the statistics in detail and all together as a group. Printed handouts or documents are another method of communication that would be considered appropriate in an in-person meeting. This method allows the audience to take part in reading the information provided and also gives them something to take with them from the meeting for future reference. Because the majority of the information is being presented orally, the presenter must consider their own body language and speech effectiveness to the audience. Body language and speech are both very important as the audience will be feeding off of the enthusiasm of the presenter. If the presenter gets the attention of their audience it is important to keep it in order to effectively communicate the information. Because there is diversity in the audience certain considerations must be kept in mind when presenting quarterly sales information. Each group will have different levels of interest in the information being presented. The customers will probably not have the same level of interest in certain aspects of the presentation as the managers and salespeople. Another consideration that the presenter must keep in mind is the information that is being communicated to the group. There is a certain amount of statistical data that the organization might not want all the members of the audience to know about. This information might be better presented in a managers only meeting. Other considerations that a presenter may want to keep in mind given the diversity of the audience is the average age, gender, culture background, education, economic status, and group memberships of the attending audience. These considerations individually may not have a big impact on the methods of communication chosen b y the presenter, but together will allow the presenter to understand the diversity of the audience to which the information is being communicated. To ensure that the presentation is a success and the information is received effectively I would make sure that I have a concrete agenda and use it. I would also make sure that I interact with the audience, for example when presenting the sales data I might ask the audience if anyone has any suggestions to help increase the sales in a particular area. I would ask some open-ended questions to help encourage audience participation. I would also ask the audience to participate in constructive group discussions and would frequently check for group consensus on particular issues and decisions. At the end of the meeting I would survey the group through E-mail, fax, letter to ensure that the information that was presented was received and understood. I would also make myself available to answer any questions that may need clarification on an individual level. References Locker, K., Kienzer, D. (2008). Business and Administrative Communication (8th edition). McGraw-Hill, 2008 New York, NY. Retrieved from the University of Phoenix web-site. Payne, B. (2008). Effective group Communication. Retrieved on April 24, 2009 from the world wide web at: http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DPI/nreninf.nsf/childdocs/-C835B1CE4BC7F1D04A2568B30004FC37-4FEBC5DEBF535AC1CA256BC8000410EB-5D3323C8EDE7C7EB4A256DEA00294D0A-B59DCFB30DB614C3CA256BCF000AD4E0?openPearson, Allyn Bacon (1995-2009). Demographic Characteristics of Your Audience. Retrieved on April 24, 2009 from the world wide web at: http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_public_speaking_2/24/6223/1593259.cw/index.html . Copyright  © 1995 2009, Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Allyn Bacon. McGee, J. Important Characteristics of your Audience. Writing and Designing Print Materials for Beneficiaries: A Guide for State Medicaid Agencies. Health Care Financing Administration, Baltimore, MD. HCFA Publication Number 10145. October 1999, page 66, and the Plain English Network Web site at http://www.plainlanguage.gov. Retrieved from the world wide web on April 26, 2009 at: http://www.talkingquality.gov/docs/section3/popups/characteristics_pop.htm

The Factors That Influence Travel Decision Making Tourism Essay

The Factors That Influence Travel Decision Making Tourism Essay This chapter consists of three parts. First is introduction, next is literature reviews that review the critical points of previous researches including substantive finding as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to this similar topic. Lastly, a conclusion to this chapter. Research in the area of travel motives is important in understanding and predicting the factors that influence travel decision-making (Cha, S., McCleary, K.W. and Uysal, M., 1995). Motivation is theoretically viewed as a state of need, a condition that serves as a driving force to display different kinds of behavior toward certain types of activities, developing preferences, arriving at some expected satisfactory outcome. (Backman, K.F. Backman, S.J., Uysal, M. and Sunshine, K.M.,1995) In particular, an understanding of motivation assist marketers efforts to achieve and satisfy individuals diverse desires and needs, key elements that influence the process of travelers decision-making (Crompton,J.L. and McKay S.L.,1997). Studies of motivation thus provide to predict travelers personal needs, expectations, achievements, or benefits sought (Formica,S. and Uysal, M.,1998). A brief review of travel motivation research (Table 1) published in three major tourism journals Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, and Journal of Travel Research revealed that existing studies have covered a wide range of the spectrum, there are included the sociology of travel motivation as a stimulator of actual behavior (Dann 1977; Mansfeld 1992); travel motivation of different niche markets (Clift and Forrest 1999; Dunn Ross and Iso-Ahola 1991; Hsu, Cai, and Wong 2007; Maoz 2007; Qu and Ping 1999; Rittichainuwat 2008); the development or empirical test of travel motivation measurements (Crompton 1979; Dann 1981; Fodness 1994; Ryan and Glendon 1998); differences in motivation among tourists with varied nationality and cultural backgrounds (Kim and Prideaux 2005; Maoz 2007), number of visits (Lau and McKercher 2004), destinations and origins (Kozak 2002), sociodemographic characteristic (Jang and Wu 2006; Fleischer and Pizam 2002), or environmental attitude (Luo and Deng 2008). Authors Study Dann 1977 A sociological study of travel motivation, with a focus on the push dimension of motivation. Crompton 1979 The motivation for pleasure vacation. Seven motivation factors were identified through interviews. Dann 1981 Based on a literature review on travel motivation, seven approaches of motivation study were identified. The utilization of different terminologies was also discussed Dunn Ross and Iso-Ahola 1991 Motivation of sightseeing tourists in relation to their satisfaction Mansfeld 1992 The role of motivation in travel behavior and its complex nature Paul 1992 Travel motivation of Canadian ecotourists Parrinello 1993 Relationship between anticipation and motivation in postindustrial societies in the context of Western Europe Fodness 1994 A measurement scale was developed for leisure travel with 20 items. Lieux, weaver; and McCleary 1994 Benefit segmentation of senior tourists from the United States Gnoth 1997 Development of theoretical model on motivation and expectation formation Formica and Uysal 1998 Benefit segmentation of visitors to a cultural-historical event in Italy Ryan and Glendon 1998 The Leisure Motivation Scale was applied to tourism with British holidaymakers. An abbreviated version of holiday motivation scale with 14 items was developed. Waller and Lea 1998 Relationship between authenticity seeking and enjoyment. The knowledge dimension of motivation was found to mediate this relationship. Clift and Forrest 1999 The motivation of gay men in relation to the type of destinations they preferred in the context of the United Kingdom Qu and Ping 1999 Motivation of cruise selection in the context of Hong Kong Goossens 2000 The role of emotional component of travel motivation in stimulating actual travel behavior Fleischer and Pizam 2002 Relationship between motivation and Israeli senior travelers income and health Kozak 2002 Differences of motivation among tourists visiting different destinations and tourist from different countries visiting same destination with respondents from the United Kingdom and Germany Sirakaya, Uysal, and Yoshioka 2003 Benefits segmentation of Japanese tourists to Turkey Lau and McKercher Differences of travel motivation between first-time and repeat visitors to Hong Kong Kim and Prideaux 2005 A cross-cultural analysis on travel motivation to South Korea among five national tourist groups Pearce and Lee 2005 Further development of the Travel Career Ladder by introducing Travel Career Pattern (TCP). The relationship between previous experience and motivation was explored by TCP. Yoon and Uysal 2005 Causal relationship between push-pull motivations, satisfaction, and destination loyalty. Pull factors were found to negatively influence satisfaction. Jang and Wu 2006 Influences of sociodemographic factors, economic status, health status, and positive and negative effects on travel motivation among Taiwanese seniors Chang, wall, and Chu 2006 Benefits segmentation using the novelty seeking scale in the context of Taiwanese tourists to aboriginal attractions Nicolau and Mas 2006 Influences of travel distance and price on destination selection, with travel motivation as a moderator in the context of Spain Poria, Reichel, and Biran 2006 Relationship between perception of heritage as it is related to the tourists own heritage and motivation explored before the trip Snerpenger et al. 2006 Tourists and recreationist were comparing using Iso-Aholas motivation theory. The relationship between motivation and previous vacations was investigated. Swanson and Horridge 2006 Causal relationship between souvenir shopping and four motivational factors in the context of Southwestern United States Beh and Bruyere 2007 Benefits segmentation in the context of Kenya Hsu, Cai, and Wong 2007 A theoretical model of senior travel motivation in the context of China Maoz 2007 Travel motivation of Israeli backpackers, investigated in relation to national and cultural characteristics Luo and Deng 2008 Relationship between environmental attitude and nature-based tourism motivation Rittichainuwat 2008 Travel motivation to a tourism destination, using the disaster-hit beach resort in Phuket as an example. Comparison was made between domestic and inbound tourists, and between tourists of different ages and genders. Park and Yoon 2009 Benefit segmentation of rural tourism in the context of South Korea Table1. Brief Summary of Studies on Travel Motivation (Adopted from Cathy H.C. Hsu, Liping A. Cai and Mimi Li, 2009) Many researchers from different fields such as from sociology, anthropology, and psychology have investigated travel motivation since many years ago (Cohen, 1972; Dann, 1977; Crompton, 1979; Gnoth, 1997). Maslows hierarchical theory of motivation was one of the most applied in tourism literature (1970) and it was model as a pyramid whose base consists of the physiological needs, followed by higher levels of psychological needs and the need for self-actualization. Numerous tourism scholars have attempted to modify the model empirically, with the notable success by Pearce (1982), who projected a tourism motivation model that mirrors the model of Maslow, but free of prepotency assumption. Fulfilling Prestige Push Seeking Relaxation Factors Sightseeing Variety Gaining Knowledge Events and Activities Pull Adventure Factors History and Culture Easy Access and Affordable A review of past researches on tourist motivation indicates that the analysis of motivations based on the two dimensions of push and pull factors have been generally accepted (Yuan McDonald, 1990; Uysal Hagan, 1993). The concept behind push and pull dimension is that people travel because they are pushed by their own inner forces and pulled by the outer forces of destination attributes. Most of the push factors that are origin-related are intangible or intrinsic desires of the individual travelers. Pull factors, vice versa, are those that emerge because of the attractiveness of that particular destination, as the travelers perceive it. They include tangible resources and travelers perception and expectation such as benefit expectation, novelty and marketed image of the destination. A research model is then developing based on this theory at below diagram (adapted from Baloglu Uysal, 1996). Travel Motivation Crompton (1979) first sought to draw seven socio-psychological, or push motives such as escape, self-exploratory, relaxation, prestige, regression, kinship-enhancement, and social interaction) and two cultural, or pull motives that are novelty and education. The conceptual framework that he developed would giving impact the selection of a destination, and this approach implies that the destination can have some degree of influence on vacation behavior in meeting an aroused need. As Cromptons initial empirical effort, many studies have attempted to recognize push and pull motivational factors in different settings such as nationalities, destinations and events (Jang and Wu, 2006). Example incorporated Yuan and McDonalds (1990) study on motivations for overseas travel from four countries: Japan, France, West Germany and UK. While Uysal and Jurowski (1993) studied, the nature and extent of the reciprocal relationship between push and pull factors of motivations for pleasure travel with using data from the Canadian Tourism Attribute and Motivation Survey. Another study in Australia examined the nature and usefulness of the relationship between these two factors of motivation by utilizing canonical correlation analysis (Oh, H., M., Uysal, P. Weaver, 1995). Baloglu and Uysal (1996) claimed that the concept of product bundles is used to refer to the perceived significance of the interaction between push and pull items of motivation. This implies that certain reasons for travel may correspond to certain benefits that are to be valued and obtained at the destination spot. Based on the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, as discussed above, the individual tourist builds their perceptions, and the perceptions can be differ from the true attributes of the product depending on how the individual receives and process information (Gartner, 1993; Dann, 1996; Baloglu and Brinberg, 1997). A general conclusion can be drawn that the personal motives or called push motives and the view of the characteristics of the tourism destination (pull motives) determine perceptions. These motives interact in dynamic and evolving context (Correia, 2000), and the tourist motivation is seen as a multidimensional concept that indicates tourist decision (McCabe, 200 0). As tourism paradigm is related to human beings and human nature, it is always a complex proposition to study why people travel and what they want to enjoy (Yoon and Uysal, 2005). In most studies, it is generally accepted that push and pull motivations have been primarily utilized in studies of tourist behavior. The discoveries and issues undoubtedly play a use role in attempting to understand a wide different of needs and wants that can drive and influence tourist behavior. Nevertheless, Yoon and Uysal (2005) said that the results and effects of the motivation studies of tourist behavior need more than an understanding of their needs and wants. In tourism destination management, it was generally agree that maximizing travel satisfaction is crucial for a successful business. The evaluation of the physical products of destination as well as the psychological interpretation of a destination product are important for human actions (Swan and Comb, 1976; Uysal and Noe, 2003), which could be further represented as a travel satisfaction and destination faithfulness. Both concepts can be examined within the context of a tourism system representing two major components of the market place, namely, demand (tourist) and supply (tourism attractions) which demand refers to motives (push factors) that sustain tourists desire while supple relates to destinations characteristics (pull factors) (Jurowski et al., 1996). Push and pull factors have generally been characterized to two separate decisions made at two separate period in time one focusing on whether to go, the other on where to go. For instance, Dann (1981) noted that once the trip has been decided upon, where to go, what to see or what to do (relating to the specific destinations) can be tackled and this make a conclude that, analytically, both logically and temporally, push factors precede pull factor. Although these two factors has been viewed as relating to two distinct decisions, several researchers have distinguished that they should not be viewed as operating entirely independent of each others. For example, it has suggested that people travel because they are pushed by their own intrinsic forces and simultaneously pulled by the extrinsic forces such as the destination and its attributes (Cha, McCleary, and Uysal 1995; Uysal and Jurowskil, 1994). However, Crompton (1979) argued, push factors may be useful not only in explaining the initial arousal, energizing, or push; to take a vacation, but may also have directive potential to direct the tourist toward a particular destination (p.412). Several empirical examinations of push and pull factors had been reported in the travel and tourism literature. Of the prior research that examined the students and/or spring break travel market (Butts, F.B., J. Salazar, K. Sapio, and D. Thomas, 1996; Field, 1999; Hobson and Josiam, 1992,1996; Hsu and Sung, 1996,1997; Sirakaya and McLellan, 1997), there have been no investigations of push forces and only a handful of attempts to study the pull factors influencing students destination choice decision. In another study, conducted by Hobson and Josiam (1992), students were asked to list their primary reason for choosing a spring break destination and most responses referred to the influence of friends and/or family living near or going to the destination, other reasons referred to destination-related attributes such as the destination having s spring break party reputation, warm weather, affordable pricing, quiet environment, good skiing, or good beaches.

Evidence based practice and the reflective practice

Evidence based practice and the reflective practice From my point of view, I believe that the two main sorts of research evidence that could inform educational practices are the evidence based practice and the reflective practice. I still have on my mind the words of Ravitch, I am deeply grateful that my treatment was based on medical research and not education research. Otherwise, I would not be here to tell my tale (Ravitch, 1998, p.33) and her insistence from her experience that educators have something to learn from physicians as she was also educators. The evidence based practice was first introduced on medical research as evidence-based medicine. Their main source was the development of a particular kind of medical research the randomised controlled trial (RCT) which was designed as a way to assess the value of new drugs in order to check the claims of their manufacturers (E891 Educational Enquiry, Study Guide, p.18). However, there is a movement in the late 1990s, in several countries and also in the UK, for both educational practice and educational policy to become more evidence-based-or at least evidence-informed (E891 Educational Enquiry, Study Guide, p.15). From my own experience of teaching prof essional practice has always been informed by evidence. What we teach on the class is based on evidence. It is a fact that reliance on a body of scientific knowledge has been treated as a defining feature of any profession, and has figured largely in the attempts by many occupations to gain this status. Looking back, in the beginning of the twentieth century it was taken to be one of the traits that marked professions off from other occupations (Flexner, 1915). The movement for evidence-based practice does not repeat the ideas of the definition of a profession, it does involve distinctive requirements. It proposes that practice should be guided much more directly by research evidence than previously. Furthermore, education as a profession, or a collection of professions, has always been a complex and contested one. It is well known that, in most countries, schoolteachers have never gained any autonomy and power achieved by other professions such as lawyers and doctors. In addition, the main body of knowledge on which their practice was supposed to be based was very often subject knowledge. Thus, in recent decades, in the UK and some other societies, a weak grasp of subject knowledge on the part of primary-school teachers, especially in the areas of science and mathematics, has been held responsible for what has been identified as poor levels of educational performance (Traianou, 2007, p.11). In contrast to this, research knowledge has been shaping the educational practice well before the evidence-based practice began. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, the two famous educational researchers have worked a few decades ago and their ideas have been generated diverse recommendations for educational practice. It is obvious since Piagets name often has been invoked by advocates of discovery learning and progressive education two approaches that strongly emphasise the autonomy of the learner. Furthermore, his work also highlights the important role that cognitive structures play in childrens learning, and, more generally, that what learners learn will depend on where they are starting from (E891 Educational Enquiry, Study Guide, p.18). At this point, it is also important to mention that Vygotsky drew on Piagets work, and they both believed that learners should actively construct their understanding of the world. They both denied that learning is a passive response to external stimuli but it has implications well beyond the contex t of childrens learning. Indeed, it carries an important message about all forms of education. In addition, Hargreaves literally mentions Teaching is not at present research-based profession and he continues I have no doubt that if it were, teaching would be more effective and more satisfying (Hargreaves, in Hammersley, 2009, p.3). The medical profession has gained a lot of prestige lately due to the growth of its research which mainly is based on evidence based practice. In contrast, the teaching profession did not take such a step. Very rarely, teachers would look on other professional fields to examine and learn from their structure (Hargreaves, in Hammersley, 2009, p.4). As a teacher, I certainly understand that even though we heavily rely on what we learn from our own experiences which are private trials which might be right or wrong. In contrast, in the evidence based medicine process they convert the information needs into answerable questions, track down with the maximum efficiency the best evidence with which to answer, critically appraise that evidence for its validity and usefulness, apply the results and evaluate performance (Hargreaves, in Hammersley, 2009, p.13). Reflective practice can be traced way back before the twentieth century, while much of what is involved in the notion, for example the idea of phronesis outlined by Aristotle. However, the statement by Schà ¶n that In recent years there has been a growing perception that researchers, who are supposed to feed the professional schools with useful knowledge, have less and less to say that practitioners find useful(Schà ¶n, 1987, p. 10) does really disturb a lot since the reflective practice was happened a long before and has not just developed. Furthermore, Schà ¶n stated that it is modified by reflection-in-action (the ability to think about what one is doing while doing it) and reflection-on-action (the capacity to reflect after the event on what has happened and on its implications for ones practice) (E891 Educational Enquiry, Study Guide, p.41). Developing these abilities, these forms of reflection that professional skill and wisdom can be built up in the course of experience, an d these capacities are important because real-world problems do not usually present themselves in ways that would match the technical knowledge produced by research. The notion of reflective practice has been under different names in the early 1970s, came to the fore in the 1980s through the works of Schà ¶n, Valli and Elliott. This notion places as much emphasis on teachers own evaluation of their practices as on the planning and management skills into which such evaluation feeds( Moore, in Hammersley, 2009, p.122). One of the recent recommended techniques in the reflective practitioner discourse is the developing of teachers own diary or journal that can systematically reflect. With this method, teachers can improve themselves and develop their own valid teaching method. As usual, the introduction of new ideas was accepted by less experienced teachers rather than more experienced ones. As Mitchell and Weber (1996) stated experience teachers suggest that they are just likely to cause concern, confusion and misguided behaviour through their over-personalization of teaching activity (Mitchell and Weber, 1996, p.34). Up to this point, I have described the two main sorts of research evidence that could inform educational practice. Furthermore, I will mention differences and significant similarities. Hargreaves and others who have concerned how research serves evidence based practice are not simply putting forward a particular view of the relationship between research and practice. It is clear that they think educational research needs to change in character, although neither Ravitch nor Hargreaves insists that it must take the form of randomised controlled trials (E891 Educational Enquiry, Study Guide, p.26). However, from the point of view of advocating evidence-based practice, the practices of professionals are based on knowledge that must be eliminated in favour of procedures determined by sound, scientifically validated research evidence. In contrast, Schà ¶ns perspective, those traditional practices are seen as skilful and principled strategies that cannot be bettered by the substitution of research based knowledge; rather, they can only be improved by further reflection in and on professional practice (E891 Educational Enquiry, Study Guide, p.41). In addition, Moore sugge sts that, the reflective practitioner discourse was not influential in official circles during his times. He insists that there are connections between each model and particular approaches to educational research. In a sense, the competences discourse has an affinity with quantitative method, and the reflective practitioner model with qualitative method (Moore, in Hammersley, 2009, p.127). In my opinion, I believe that there could be another similarity due to the fact that both are considered to be unrepresentative. It cant be presumed that all subjects taking part in RCT trials are representative of the people who will eventually be taking the drug or treatment and the data that a teacher personally gathers from his/her own classroom conditions cannot be presumed to apply to all conditions. Both of them have the same goals which are to enrich the corpus of knowledgeand to inform educational practice. Also, they both rely on philosophical grounds positivist one and interpretivist (E891 Educational Enquiry, Study Guide, p.79). On the other, it cannot be presumed that all subjects taking part in RCT trials are representative of the people who will eventually be taking the drug or treatment and the data that a teacher personally gathers from his/her own classroom conditions cannot be presumed to apply to all conditions. Nevertheless, it seems to me that they share a lot o f points in common, such as theirposition with theory, which they dont question as both tend to look at teaching strategies rather than the sense of teaching and what is taught. To sum up, I would not disagree that RCTs provide measurable outcomes, and the reflective discourse emphasises the practitioners experience, this doesnt mean that it ignores the skills and techniques needed but that it tries to look at the wider picture. so if their spectrum of research and practice is limited what part does critical theory of research play as I see it to be connected to reflective practice. The Cyprus educational system unfortunately has been very weak as far as the new teachers are concerned, especially the ones that teach in secondary and high schools. A lot of them enter the teaching classrooms without any educational experience apart from the fact that they are graduates of universities. The same fact has happened to me also. Suddenly, I found myself from the hotel industry to teach in the school hotel labs and classrooms. From that day on I had to find a way of how I could become more effective within the classroom and be more efficient with my students. Having studied part one of the study guide for the course I am more confident to explain which methods I use during my teaching courses. However, I remember that I always mention to my colleagues that the teaching plans I have, are never stable. Every time I conclude with the lessons, I keep change them. I used to judge myself (reflective) what went right and what needed a change and I was doing it. Without realisi ng, I was using the reflective method and in a sense I was improving myself. However, as a teacher in a technical and vocational school, I spend most of my teaching hours in the lab rather than in the normal classrooms. From what I have studied up to now, I find myself that I used both educational methods of teaching, i.e. evidence based practice and reflective methods, not only for improving my teaching methods but also for the benefits of my students. The evidence-based practice, I use it a lot when I teach Food technology, Wine making or Food and Drink cost course. In all these courses the results from previous statistics which can be found through research are very useful not only for the teacher but for the students also. For instance, in order to produce good quality wine the evidence shows that there are certain parameters which are very essential such as the % of the sugar on the grapes, or how many days they should stay for fermentation, and e.t.c. This is happening with all the above mentioned courses and believe me students understand better when I use evidence-based practice because I can claim that throughout the years the research experience on developing the course has never been wrong. On the other hand, reflective practice is mostly used in the labs. Since a lot of the students work is done within the lab with practice on the lab exercises. I usually teach cooking and baking. All the other vocational teachers as well as I, were using reflective practice even though we could not understand that we were using it. What do we usually do? We explain to our students how things should be prepared, cooked and be ready to be served. As a teacher, I know from the beginning how the final product should be since I have worked through the reflective practice many times. I explain to the students the process and the directions needed to be followed and I guide them throughout the lesson. A single mistake or a small misunderstanding from the students, results are off truck. This can happen not only with cooking and baking but also with carpentry, electricians and any other specialization existing in the technical and vocational schools. References E891 Educational Enquiry, Study Guide, (2007), The Open University Flexner, A. (1915) Is social work a profession?, paper presented at the National Conference of Charities and Corrections, Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Corrections at the Fortysecond Annual Session held in Baltimore, Maryland, May 12-19, Chicago, Hildmann. Hargreaves, D. (2007) Teaching as a research-based profession: possibilities and prospects (The Teacher Training Agency Lecture 1996) in Educational Research and Evidence-based Practice By in Hammersley, M, 2009, Sage Publication, London. Mitchell, C. and Weber, S. (1996) Reinventing Ourselves as Teachers: Private and Social Acts of Memory an Imagination, London: Falmer Press. Moore, A. (2007) Beyond reflection: contingency, idiosyncrasy and reflexivity in initial teacher education in Educational Research and Evidence-based Practice By in Hammersley, M, 2009, Sage Publication, London. Ravitch, D. (1998) What if research really mattered?, Education Week, 16 December, vol. 18, no. 16, p. 33. Schà ¶n, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco, Jossey Bass. Traianou, A. (2007) Understanding Teacher Expertise in Primary Science: A Sociocultural Approach, Rotterdam, Sense Publishers.

A Social History Of Truth :: essays research papers

Review of The Social History Of Truth by Steven Shapin Chapter 1 When someone says that something is true,they are usually stating that it corresponds to the facts of how things really are. Academic philosopher’s distiningish what is true and what is taken to be true by a process of sorting?No single being can constitute knowledge. All one can do is offer claims, with evidence, arguments and inducements to the community for its assessment.Knowledge is the result of the communities for its evaluations and action. Trust and the order of society went hand in hand.Richard Rorty believed that if epistemological differenting motion of the truth occurred. Then an “inforced'; agreement should be reached. Popper pointed that most of what we know about the world is based on the observations and communications of others. Trust is a great force in science. It is an unending means for the extension and modification of knowledge. Communication of the world around us through reports is very important in our understanding. Reports may vary because individuals are differently situated in time and space. What one man sees may not be what the others see because they have different points of view or perception of the same scene. Trust is the power of the social world. Trusted persons make some set of their future actions predictable when they make promises and they agree to forgot a certain amount of free action. It is this recognition of free action is at the center of the culture that justifies trust and allows trust to b accomplished and social order to be built and sustained.Chapter 2 Gentlemen were the only ones that possessed the quality of truthfulness. This quality was grounded in his placement in social, biological and economic circumstances. According to Sir Thomas Smith England was made up of four estates: king, major and minor nobility, gentlemen and yeomen. All were considered gentlemen except the yeomen. Gentlemen made up one to five percent of the Englis h population. This small percent held all of the wealth and political power and spoke on behalf of the rest.Gentlemen were characterized according to their wealth. Much of their income came in the form of rents and agricultural land tilled by the unfree. The gentleman was under no obligation to work and was free of want. Aristotle characterized gentlemen to have ancient riches and virtue. The gentleman could also be characterized by their idleness.

Lack of Economic Equality in Society Essay -- Economics Wealth

"Everywhere in the world there are gross inequities of income and wealth. They offend most of us" stated Milton and Rose Friedman in "Created Equal" (280) . Economic inequalities cause poverty, this disparity fuels social conflict. This economic oppression thrives within the heart of all societies. Poverty is recognized in many forms: hunger, homelessness, being ill without the ability to seek medical attention. Poverty also includes powerlessness, lack of freedom, spurred on by lack of representation. During economic change, whether gradual or suddenly, the fallout has an effect on all people. Social inequality is deeply and tightly woven throughout the world, defined by race, ethnicity, gender, or age differences. These inherent traits can dictate wealth, education, power or prestige, unfortunately, the female gender is most victimized. Women represent a staggering 70 per cent of the populous living at poverty levels. Gender alone should not be the determining factor regarding placement within society, experience and equal productivity should dictate compensation especially for similar scopes of work. Throughout history, male and female positions have been subjected to an enduring binary placement relating to jobs, income, and wealth. Women's economic history exemplifies centuries of sex prescribed inequality within the labor markets, within the structure of political rights, human rights or civil rights. Recent advances have buffered these inequalities in part, but true balance of equality has yet to be reached. The economic experience of women reflects the paradox of inequality, distilled within the c... ...tatus, education, employment, wealth and political power. Some writers prefer the terms "subordinate group" and "dominant group" rather than "minority" and "majority?. Even though women make up the majority of people in a number, women are still considered a minority and hence will continue their struggle for equal recognition. Ultimately, until a balanced representation is complete the struggle will continue. Any notion that society can change overnight is not realistic. Progress has been made, more in some areas of the world as opposed to others. The world should recognize the power and strength that women have, further, the power and strength they have not abused. Women?s contribution to society as workers, companions, mothers should be honored as opposed to oppressed, without gender being a considering factor.

Wawa Research Paper

The top of the hierarchy was still under development but included sales/production, forecasting and replenishment system. In the middle was an under development strategic sourcing program. At the bottom was the operational master data set: articles files for warehousing, ordering, pricing and scanning up to 45000 SSW. This technology was used to keep records of inventory, orders being processed for suppliers and keep records of the past months orders, which could be used as information to make many Important decisions.An important part of the new IT architecture was the Introduction of Dif (Demand Influencing factors). This system would forecast the changes (holidays, promotions and weather) and factor these changes Into the recommended order that It generates for the stores. Way also started selling gas as convenience stores when it comes to gasoline procurement. In the past they had seven or eight carriers that monitored the gas supply in their assigned stores through technology an d they communicated once a day and these carriers did everything for Way.The technology strategy required Way to unite WBI, NCSC and the Fresh Channel integrated under one banner to create a competitive advantage and be cost- effective. The IT strategy was effective for Way. The Dif that would automatically take demand influencing factors into account and forecast and replenish the system. This system saved a lot of time, energy, and effort for the store managers as rather than having to remember the fact that something is on promotion next week or that the demand has changed due weather/holidays this system takes all the factors into consideration and generates a recommended order.This gives the store manager more time to focus on many different things. In my belief their gas supply strategy was very effective. Way had an advantage when it came to gas distribution as they never owned a gasoline truck and never hired a gasoline driver or invested money in logistics. They were virtua l when it came to gas distribution. The store managers never had to worry that the fuel would run out; they Just had to focus on selling it. I think this system increased Haw's profit margins for selling fuel, as they did not have a lot of capital investment.Their strategies in technology helped the firm become more customer focused, which was their mission to simplify daily lives of people. Way technology strategies helped in reducing a lot of workload for the workers in the store so they could concentrate on customers. Way was in the process of developing a new systematic supply chain as their egoistic had reached capacity and their vendors had been inconsistent in supplying the stores. Way wanted to own the software but not the hardware. They wanted a consolidated facility, owned and operated by a third party.If they wanted to build their own distribution centre, it would have cost them at least the equivalent of 10 to 11 new stores. Way choose Mclean Company of Texas, as they we re by far there largest convenience store distributor in the country. They were in a strategic â€Å"100 – 100 partnership†. NCSC was a 220,000 square-feet building and had 5 different imperative zones. The NCSC used to dispatch trucks between 1 am and 4:mama and every store had consistent deliveries with a 2-hour EAT. This allowed the management to plan for enough labor so they could shelf the products upon arrival.In the convenience story industry many of Haw's competitors did not realize that delivery timings were affecting their customers. It has happened to me a number of times when I go to a 7-11 and if they are getting a delivery their parking lot will be full and the store will be over crowded and understaffed as most the workers are emphasizing on shelving he items instead of paying attention to customers. NCSC handled 1800 SKU and it turned over products in ten days. Although Way owned the inventory, Mclean use to do everything for Way.They used to give order s to the vendors, manage inventory and inform Way how much they owe to the vendors. NCSC was able to such that all the Way stores could be reached in a day. Way did not want to waste capital on building their own facility as their competitors suffered by doing so. NCSC had only 6 Way employees and their Job was to maintain relations between Haw's marketing department and Mclean merchandising department. This also is a very important lesson for their competitors, as they also should maintain good relations with their distributors because one party cannot succeed at the expense of others.Bluebells stated that the relationship is like a marriage. Most employees of Way and Mclean consider this a strategic partnership and their partnership was a testimony for other players in the industry. NCSC was impressive in the technological aspect also. It promised to be an impressive array of third party logistics, cross docking, virtual management and mutual adjustment within and amongst organiza tions. Operations in NCSC and Fuel supply were meticulously choreographed, tightly coupled and highly efficient..Outsourcing this process, like the NCSC and Fuel channel, to experienced companies would allow Way to develop an efficient distribution network at a significantly less cost, and concentrate the majority of their resources on the customers. Haw's SCM going forward was quite impressive as well. They were going to implement the fresh channel. Fresh channel would be a central kitchen where food items could be prepared which were previously made in stores. This was done in order to maintain uniformity and increase the flexibility. Way has one of the most impressive and effective distribution channels in the industry.Going forward I think the company should continue its traditions of giving the customer more importance. Way should find another company like Mclean or offer Mclean a contract for another location so they could expand on their stores and be NCSC was expected to las t until 2012 but it is already full at the moment, which gives the organization very little room for growth. The Fuel Channel is one of Haw's best supply channel so I think they could add more gas stations to their stores as I have seen many Haw's thou gas stations.This would help the company expand their market and geographical radius. I think Way should also have websites or mobile phone applications, which tell the customers about the number of people in the store or the approximate waiting time. They should also let customers order their food from their kitchen freshly made in the store online. I consider Way to be green to an extent as they have reduced their number of truck deliveries and Fuel channels do not even use one truck. Way is virtual in gas distribution. Way could start using recycled labels on their private products.

Economies Of Scale Scope Essay

Economies of Scope: An economic theory stating that the average total cost of production decreases as a result of increasing the number of different goods produced. For example, McDonalds can produce both hamburgers and French fries at a lower average cost than what it would cost two separate firms to produce the same goods. This is because McDonalds hamburgers and French fries share the use of food storage, preparation facilities, and so forth during production. Another example is a company such as Proctor & Gamble, which produces hundreds of products from razors to toothpaste. They can afford to hire expensive graphic designers and marketing experts who will use their skills across the product lines. Because the costs are spread out, this lowers the average total cost of production for each product. Economies of scale are the cost advantages that a business can exploit by expanding their scale of production. The effect of economies of scale is to reduce the average (unit) costs of production. Here are some examples of how economies of scale work: Technical economies of scale: Large-scale businesses can afford to invest in expensive and specialist capital machinery. For example, a supermarket chain such as Tesco or Sainsbury’s can invest in technology that improves stock control. It might not, however, be viable or cost-efficient for a small corner shop to buy this technology. Specialisation of the workforce Larger businesses split complex production processes into separate tasks to boost productivity. By specialising in certain tasks or processes, the workforce is able to produce more output in the same time.