Compare and Contrast Research Methods Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Compare and Contrast Methods - Research Paper Example research, the first thing that usually takes place is the identification of the topic to be researched on and the method/approach to be used in conducting the research. Normally there are four main approaches and research methods namely quantitative, qualitative, pragmatic/mixed methods. This paper will compare and contrast these research approaches and methods with others used in contemporary business research such as case studies, ethnography, focus groups, and informal and in-depth interviews. Quantitative research is among the most commonly applied research method, and is based on positivism. It involves the collection of data, which is then converted into numerical forms and calculated to give results from which conclusions are made. This type of research usually goes through a number of processes. The first process usually involves the formulation of hypotheses. A hypothesis in this case refers to the question that the research intends to address and involves predicting a possible outcome of the research. However, in order to conduct this research and verify the hypothesis, a number of instruments are normally used which include, among other things, observation checklist, computer tests or paper. Data collection is usually done using various methods such as interviewing, questionnaire, observation and computer packages among others (Johnson, 2008). Quantitative research is founded on an premise that only a one truth exists, which is independent of the researcher’s assumptions. This type of research is also based on objectivity since researchers are expected be impartial as regards their behavior attitudes and presence so as not to influento impact the research outcome. As a research, this school of thought requires the researchers to evaluate their methods and conclusions so as to identify any bias in the result. In this research, researchers are expected to go the extra mile to make sure that what is measure is really, what is supposed to be

Selection of interview candidates for the position of customer service Essay

Selection of interview candidates for the position of customer service representative - Essay Example Then insert a column for each candidate. One candidate at a time, rate each candidate on a scale of -2 to 2 (i.e., -2, -1, 0, +1, +2) across all considerations. The rating indicates the compatibility of each candidate to the consideration. +2 indicates "highly compatible", +1 indicates "somewhat compatible", 0 indicates neither "compatible nor incompatible", -1 indicates "somewhat incompatible", and -2 indicates "highly incompatible". Then, for each candidate, calculate the assessment score for all the considerations. The assessment score for each consideration is calculated by multiplying the weight of each consideration with the rating of the candidate with regards to the consideration. Finally, sum up the assessment score across all the considerations to derive the total assessment score. Perform the same procedure for all other candidates. The table below illustrates a simplified scenario in which there are only 2 candidates interviewed. Insert additional columns as necessary. Ca ndidate A should be hired as he/she has the highest total assessment score. After inputs from the employees and the facility manager, the aspects of a suitable printer, listed in order of importance as indicated by the weight, is tabulated in the below table. A higher weighting indicates a higher degree of importance. Construct a table, with the considerations or aspects of the qualities of a printer that the vendor should provide.

Economics, Goods and Services, Firms, Production, Supply and Demand Essay

Economics, Goods and Services, Firms, Production, Supply and Demand - Essay Example The essay shall focus on how goods and services’ supply and demand is influenced by consumers, how the changing needs and wants of consumer are met and how the different types of resources are used by firms for the production of goods and services. A market is a place where buyers and sellers meet in order to exchange goods and services. Market structure is comprised of buyers, sellers, buyer and seller entry barriers, size of the firm, product differentiation, market share and competition. With the above characteristics, one is able to determine where a particular firm is classified. Some examples of market structure are; Monopoly-here, companies are owned by the state, and other partner entry is not allowed. Oligopoly-here, the number of buyers is high than the number of sellers, thus competition is high. Monopolistic competition-here there is many buyers and many sellers for same products, different branding and very high competition. Perfect competition-an example is betwe en food bought in the stores and those from the market. The following are other market definitions: Economics is concerned with production, allocation and utilization of goods and services. Economics can be divided into; microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics deals with firms, buyers, and markets. Macroeconomics deals with growth, inflation and policies that affect economy (Wessels, 16, 2006). Consumers are those who benefit from goods and services. They are the users of produced products (Houghton, 20, 2009). Goods are useful items that are required and useful to individuals to satisfy their needs or wants. They can also be classified as tangible, since they can be touched unlike services, and can be stored for the future (Houghton, 15, 2009).  There are three types; inferior goods, which decrease in demand as consumer income increases; normal goods, which demand increase as consumer income increases; and luxury goods, which are non essential and are mostly considered an influence. Services are intangible, cannot be stored and are an activity that is done to an individual from another. Services are the other alternatives to goods. Services are done in order to provide help or as a profession (Houghton, 15, 2009).   Firms are organizations that deal with goods and services and their production to cater for the needs and wants of consumers. Firms can be businesses, corporations, or partnerships that have the main aim of producing goods and services for consumption (Rugraff & Hansen, 119, 2011). Production is the process of manufacturing goods from raw materials. Production is transforming raw materials that in their natural form do not have any benefits to consumers. After processing these raw materials, the products that come out can be used by consumers (Menger, Klein, Hayek, Dingwall & Hoselitz, 161, 2007). Supply is the distribution of goods and services to consumers. Supply is influenced by the demand for goods and services (Adil, 4, 2006).à ‚   Demand is the desire for a certain good or service by a consumer(s) who is willing to buy the good or service at a certain set price. Factors that influence demand are like price; of the good and other related goods (substitute), and also the price of the good and other goods (complementary) (Adil, 5, 2006).   Resources are the sources that products are extracted from. In economics, there are four main types of resources namely; land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship (Mankiw, 538, 2011).

Immortal Beloved (the story of Beethoven's life, with an emphasis on Essay

Immortal Beloved (the story of Beethoven's life, with an emphasis on romance - Essay Example er and life of the man whose letter contained the words of the title, Ludwig Van Beethoven, the famous composer of the late 18th/early 19th centuries. The film starts with Beethoven’s death. Schindler was his secretary and is charged with settling Beethoven’s final affairs. As he sorts through the various documents left behind, he discovers an old love letter, written in Beethoven’s hand, to someone he calls simple his ‘Immortal Beloved’. The woman is never provided with any further identification, but Schindler runs around Europe attempting to discover who this woman was. As he travels, he talks to many women who played a part in Beethoven’s life. Flashbacks from the women’s memories help to illustrate Beethoven’s life and reveal some of his brilliance, inspiration and imagination. His music provides the musical score. Through this exploration, a great deal is revealed about the composer and his times. The film portrays Beethoven as a sensitive madman, obsessed with his music and with women, in nearly equal order. As the movie is presented, it can be neatly divided into three main segments, each detailing the flashback memory of a different candidate for Beethoven’s beloved. In each one, some aspect of the composer is brought into sharper focus. While the focus of the story is on Beethoven’s love life, it also illustrates how he is also obsessed with the idea of turning his nephew Karl into his own prodigy. The battle that ensues over this child reaches epic proportions, finally forcing Countess Anna Maria Erdody to stand up against Beethoven in court. Besides this countess and Johanna, Karl’s mother, the other woman who is seen to play a big role in Beethoven’s life is Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, his patron and student. There are other women as well; making it difficult to determine just who Beethoven might have meant in his letter, but that is the point. The film, as in real life, never conclusively identifies one woman

Economics, Goods and Services, Firms, Production, Supply and Demand Essay

Economics, Goods and Services, Firms, Production, Supply and Demand - Essay Example The essay shall focus on how goods and services’ supply and demand is influenced by consumers, how the changing needs and wants of consumer are met and how the different types of resources are used by firms for the production of goods and services. A market is a place where buyers and sellers meet in order to exchange goods and services. Market structure is comprised of buyers, sellers, buyer and seller entry barriers, size of the firm, product differentiation, market share and competition. With the above characteristics, one is able to determine where a particular firm is classified. Some examples of market structure are; Monopoly-here, companies are owned by the state, and other partner entry is not allowed. Oligopoly-here, the number of buyers is high than the number of sellers, thus competition is high. Monopolistic competition-here there is many buyers and many sellers for same products, different branding and very high competition. Perfect competition-an example is betwe en food bought in the stores and those from the market. The following are other market definitions: Economics is concerned with production, allocation and utilization of goods and services. Economics can be divided into; microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics deals with firms, buyers, and markets. Macroeconomics deals with growth, inflation and policies that affect economy (Wessels, 16, 2006). Consumers are those who benefit from goods and services. They are the users of produced products (Houghton, 20, 2009). Goods are useful items that are required and useful to individuals to satisfy their needs or wants. They can also be classified as tangible, since they can be touched unlike services, and can be stored for the future (Houghton, 15, 2009).  There are three types; inferior goods, which decrease in demand as consumer income increases; normal goods, which demand increase as consumer income increases; and luxury goods, which are non essential and are mostly considered an influence. Services are intangible, cannot be stored and are an activity that is done to an individual from another. Services are the other alternatives to goods. Services are done in order to provide help or as a profession (Houghton, 15, 2009).   Firms are organizations that deal with goods and services and their production to cater for the needs and wants of consumers. Firms can be businesses, corporations, or partnerships that have the main aim of producing goods and services for consumption (Rugraff & Hansen, 119, 2011). Production is the process of manufacturing goods from raw materials. Production is transforming raw materials that in their natural form do not have any benefits to consumers. After processing these raw materials, the products that come out can be used by consumers (Menger, Klein, Hayek, Dingwall & Hoselitz, 161, 2007). Supply is the distribution of goods and services to consumers. Supply is influenced by the demand for goods and services (Adil, 4, 2006).à ‚   Demand is the desire for a certain good or service by a consumer(s) who is willing to buy the good or service at a certain set price. Factors that influence demand are like price; of the good and other related goods (substitute), and also the price of the good and other goods (complementary) (Adil, 5, 2006).   Resources are the sources that products are extracted from. In economics, there are four main types of resources namely; land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship (Mankiw, 538, 2011).

Freedom,equality,justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Freedom,equality,justice - Essay Example The root cause of unjust acts in society, according to Karl Marx, lies in the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and resources. Marx considered equality as a purely political value, political notion, and that it belonged to the bourgeois class. However, Marx argued that this class of people use equality to perpetuate class oppression. Political equality according to Marx is a form of procedural equality. The legal system in society accords some people more justice than others. Therefore, this is why Marx considered elements of justice, freedom, and equality as inappropriate for serving as the foundation of his politics. On the other hand, Locke and Kant’s view on equality was that it is based on the amount of possession one owns. In the state of nature and even in today’s centralized authority, there exists inequality in distribution of wealth, depending on one’s level of authority. Therefore, the more wealth one has, the more he stands to achieve equality, m aking equality to be relative to inequality. However, they are of the opinion that the notion of equality, if practised appropriately is still essential in society as it is only through this that freedom can be achieved. This is a backing to Marx’s views, and to an extent shows that equality in society can be hard to achieve, as even communalist societies experience inequality in both power and wealth distribution. On justice, Marx argued that only the bourgeois have the right to justice in society, as this stems from the element of equality. Marx did not regard capitalistic exploitation as unjust on the side of the labourers. He only was against the means through which the bourgeois acquired their wealth and power. However, Kant thought that the concept of equality is associated with the political and social institutions in society. Marx rejected the egalitarian intuition and the fact that any equal standard could be used to formulate some ideal demand of justice. He maintai ned that rights are best if kept unequal. Marx criticized the political, claiming that egalitarianism is an unclear political concept. However, bourgeois equality is based on political equality, which lies on the bourgeois economy. Therefore, according to Marx, bourgeois concepts of justice, morality, and right came up as class interests, and not based on genuine causes. Charles Mills similarly acknowledges the role of class, gender, religion, education, and race, among others in classification of people in society. All these elements according to Mils are the basis of discrimination, inequality, and injustice in society. However, unlike Marx who regarded social stratification as major cause of injustice, Mills refers to the concept of race as the main force behind most evils in society. Social contract according to Mills is fictitious and a reconstruction of the civil society, the racial contract is â€Å"a 'naturalized' account of the actual historical record" (91). Mills argues that the contract concept is still important in the society despite its shortcomings. First, this can be a standard to measure the society’s potential of achieving their political ideals. However, this is only possible if using the contract concept; they can identify and remove obstacles that lie in their way to the achievement of these goals. In addition, the non-whites, in order to determine the moral awareness of the whites, who perpetuate exploitation with their acclaimed superiority, have used the concept of racial contract. Kant and Locke basing on their works in political philosophy share similar views on the racial contrac

The Fate of a Creative Person Essay Example for Free

The Fate of a Creative Person Essay The Fate of a Creative Person What is creativity? Who are creative people? What role do they play in our society? Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new (a product, a solution, a work of art etc. ) that has some kind of value. According to this definition we may conclude that creative persons are those people who are able to produce something new that has some kind of value, both personal and public. On the one hand, many scholars are sure that people reveal their creative abilities only when they are surrounded by positive things, when they have a loving family, good friends. On the other hand, some researches show that many people can create something only when their life is full of hardships and difficulties. Many writers devoted their works to description of creative people’s life. Among them are William Somerset Maugham, Kazuo Ishiguro, Mary Shelly and Ernest Hemingway. To my mind this fact proves that the fate of creative persons has interested people since long ago. To watch how the above mentioned writers reflected the fate of creative people in literature we decided to analyze the protagonists’ characters of the three novels: â€Å"The Painted Veil†, â€Å"An Artist of the Floating World†, â€Å"Frankenstein† – and a short story â€Å"The Snows of Kilimanjaro†. All these characters have both similar and different traits: they devoted their life to different fields of science and art (Walter Fane – to biology, Masui Ono- to painting, Victor Frankenstein- to study of chemical processes and the decay of living beings, Harry-to literature), but the end of their life is the same (all of them, except Masui Ono, died at the end of the book). Now let’s have a deeper look at these characters. Walter Fane is one of the main heroes in the novel â€Å"The Painted Veil† by W. S. Maugham. He was a young, poor but giving great hopes biologist when he first saw Kitty and married her, thinking that he really loved her. As the novel progresses Walter starts to understand that marriage with Kitty was the greatest mistake in his life. At first he put all the blame for distraction of their marriage on Kitty. She wasn’t fair to him when started to have affairs with Charles Townsend. But later Walter realizes that part of the blame was on him, it was he who proposed to Kitty without getting to know her properly. Walter tries to find the escape from the problems in science. He convinces Kitty in Charles’s shallowness, cowardice and deception and persuades her to move with him to China where he will be curing people of epidemic disease. This trip became a crucial moment both for Kitty and Walter, from this moment they started to understand and respect each other. Days and nights Walter spends at the laboratory trying to find the cure. People treat him as a saint, only Kitty at first doesn’t notice that he is a very intelligent, kind person, devoted to his job. I think he would be also devoted to a family if he had a good one. May be Walter hoped even that everything can be good in the near future, he notices that Kitty changes, she becomes more thoughtful, more sensible. But Kitty destroys his hopes when she understands that she is pregnant, but on Walter’s question â€Å"Who is the father? † she says â€Å"I don’t know†. Shortly after that Walter dies, supposedly in the result of experiments that he carries out in himself trying to find the cure. But the reader doesn’t know whether all this happened by accident or whether Walter did it deliberately, as his hopes for happy life had been destroyed. The tragedy of Walter’s life is in his deep involvement in science. Being absorbed by it since youth he failed to make out between true feelings and Kitty’s desire not to lag behind her younger sister and marry someone as soon as possible. So, from the example of this hero we can see that sometimes people of great creative potential are too devoted to their occupation, they are very successful in their job, but suffer in everyday life, being unable to accommodate to it. Another example of a creative person in literature is Masui Ono, an elderly man who devoted his life to paintings. His creativity, his art had a destructing character. He and some other painters and composers during World War II propaganded Japan’s involvement in the war and German’s support by their works. When a young man, Masui depicted in his works â€Å"a floating world†: beauty of nature, beauty of women, night pleasures- all the things that were not forever. But later when he matured, when he realized that his country was in crisis, that poverty and famine were progressing, Masui decided to do everything he could to help people. This decision seems very generous, but the way he embodies his plans and the results of these plans change the reader’s mind. In his pictures he calls people to join the army and help Germany to lead the war, hoping that the win in it will help his country to overcome all the difficulties. On the one hand, we can’t despise him, because everything he did was realization of his sincere desire to help his country, and besides he also suffered as he lost his wife and his son in the war. But on the other hand, Masui and people having the same ideas, who were blind and couldn’t see the real political situation, led the country to even more critical situation, because the war brought nothing but ruins and dead bodies. In the period of reconstruction such people like Ono become outcast, some of them even commit suicide, some of them are too old and just spend their last years in loneliness. Ono in comparison with such people is not lonely, he has a family: two daughters and a grandson. He never stays at home alone, his elder daughter very often comes to visit him. But Masui isn’t lonely only on the surface, deep inside he is extremely lonely: his daughters don’t understand him, they watch at him like at an elderly man, all they feel is only pity. Masui’s past has influenced not only his own life but also lives of his children: his younger daughter couldn’t marry, because young men didn’t want to have any business with a family, that had contributed to the destruction of the country. So, the tragedy of such people like Masui Ono is that they failed to give their gift the right direction. People could have admired Ono’s works, but he didn’t manage to make out between art and politics, two things that are very rarely can be combined. The third novel tells us a story of Victor Frankenstein, a young man who became interested in science since the very childhood. His study at the university has inspired him to the terrific experiment-creation of a living being from dead people’s bodies. He becomes fascinated with the â€Å"secret of life,† discovers it, and brings a hideous monster to life. The monster proceeds to kill Victor’s youngest brother, best friend, and wife; he also indirectly causes the deaths of two other innocents, including Victor’s father. Though torn by shame and guilt, Victor refuses to admit to anyone the horror of what he has created, even as he sees that he loses control of his creature. As the novel progresses Victor turns from an innocent youth fascinated by science into a disillusioned man determined to destroy the result of his horrific experiment by all means. At first Victor doesn’t care about the results of his experiments, he cuts himself off from the society and carries his experiments out. He lacks humanity in spite of the fact that he was brought up in a big family, in which everyone loved and respected each other. He takes the responsibility of the God for making people alive, but can’t cope with the consequences. He realizes what he really had done only after the monster starts killing people who were close to him. The rest of his life Victor devotes to searching for the monster and killing him, but dies himself. His life and life of all his relatives-that is the price that victor payed for his thoughtless experiments. The example of this character, as well as the example of the character from the previous novel, one more time proves the fact that not always creative people know, how to use their gift. Instead of using it for peaceful purposes they are blindly wasting it or are directing it to dangerous innovations. Creation of the monster by Victor Frankenstein in the novel can be put on the same scale with creation of the atomic bomb. The protagonist of the short story â€Å"The Snows of Kilimanjaro† Harry is a writer, who during his travel in Africa infected his cut on the leg and is dying from gangrene. This character is as lonely in life as Masui Ono: he has a woman who loves him, but he doesn’t love her, she is reach and this is the main reason for Harry’s staying with her. In fact he was lonely all his life: he loved a lot of women but all of them left him because he was demanding too much. The problem of this character is that only at the end of his life Harry realizes that he didn’t manage to write about everything he wanted, that he did very little in this life. Lying on the stretcher in the last evening before his death, the hero recollects all the events he would like to describe in his books in details. Rich imagination of this person, imagination that wasn’t fully used, is revealed in the last minutes of the hero’s life: his death seems to him a flight on the helicopter to his destiny a snowy peak of Kilimanjaro. To make a conclusion I would like to say that a fate of a creative person has been quite a hot issue in literature for many centuries and is touched upon by many contemporary writers. Different writers took different protagonists for their books but many of them make such heroes unhappy outcast of the society. They can’t find their place in the world by different reasons: one of them are so absorbed by their ideas that can’t distinguish people’s true feelings, others can’t direct their creativity in the right way, others use only very small part of their talent and don’t perform their function in this world. If you have gift it means you were touched by God and you should create only good things using this gift. If your creativity brings destruction you will be punished by God.