Binding Performance Management System Changes and Organisational Essay

Binding Performance Management System Changes and Organisational Culture - Essay Example The packaging industry has become increasingly lucrative, but local and international competition intensified. By the late 1990s, the global sales of the industry reached $400 billion, with the U.S. making up $115 billion, followed by Asia and Western Europe. Consumer packaging accounted for 70% of sales, followed by industrial packaging revenues at 30%. The influence of packaging on marketing products cannot be undermined. For traditional retailers, packaging is seen as more influential than advertising in affecting purchasing decisions and customer loyalty. The industry trends are increased corporate consolidation, market segmentation of domestic consumer packaging markets, and vertical integration of packaging business models. The challenges for Sonoco come from its ability to respond to external threats and opportunities by managing its internal weaknesses and strengths. The opportunities are one-stop packaging business models with high flexibility and customisation levels, the c ontinued demand for market-oriented packaging, especially for consumer markets, availability of global talent, and becoming more receptive to diversity and environmental issues at national and international levels. ... Hence, the primary challenge for Sonoco is using its strengths to reduce its weaknesses, and to ultimately handle the opportunities and threats in the packaging industry. The main tasks of Hartley are as follows: 1) to reduce HR cost by 20%; 2) to improve the linkage between HR functions and business strategies; and 3) to standardise HR systems and functions. Overall, Hartley is in charge of transforming the HR structure and organisational culture. Hartley’s total approach included professionalising the HR system and making it more business-oriented. She designed policies that shaped compensation, performance management, employee development, and succession planning. In order to support these policies, she created an advisory HR council that was comprised of divisional HR heads and key individuals from corporate HR. She also formed an advisory team of divisional GMs to help attain high buy in. This study discusses the theoretical framework of the main concepts and issues of th e case. Performance management (PM) is a critical aspect of Sonoco’s HR change efforts because it is linked with its organisational issues of compensation, employee development, and succession planning. The vision of the PM system must be distinct, clear, and compelling. This vision can be connected further to the corporate vision, so that management levels and personnel understand how PM affects the overall direction of the company. Hendry et al. (2006) stressed the link between company vision and HR functions (51). Greer and Virick (2008) asserted that diversity management is connected to successful succession planning. Furthermore, PM changes must be

Employment Law for Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Employment Law for Managers - Essay Example However, this does not occur at the company since the employees consider Sam too young to manage them and therefore make it hard for Sam to operate (Emir & Selwyn, 2014). Failing to control the employees is not just a portrayal of Sam’s incompetence but also a breach of a contract he signed with the Frills and Spills Lingerie Company. Creation of a contract is always voluntary but binds both parties legally. Sam accepted the job after understanding the challenges he would meet. Furthermore, the position gives him authority over the employees. As such, he must control his team thus enhance the productivity of the company as he promised to by signing the contract. Among the implied terms of the contract that Sam beaches is his basic role at the company, which is to control the team of twenty employees thus ensuring the productivity of the company. Sam refuses to handle the employee despite the presence of appropriate ways of dealing with uncooperative employees. The twenty employees just as Sam are employees of the company. This gives the company direct authority over the employees. The company must therefore create a conducive environment for Sam to operate. Organizations have organizational cultures, which help harmonize the behavior of the employees. Through the organizational culture, an organization sets effective values to guide the behavior and interactions of the employees. Sam alone cannot create the culture. Such is a function of the company. By creating an effective organizational culture, the employer would create a favorable environment for Sam to carry out his duties. This implies that the employer is partially responsible for Sam’s predicament. Failing to instil discipline in the employees is a breach of the contract between the company and Sam since this results in a hostile environment, one in which Sam cannot operate thus meet his obligations. Key among the major defenses in a

Overview and Analysis of Research Methodologies

Overview and Analysis of Research Methodologies INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the research methodologies adopted for the research. A combination of both qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches was adopted by the researcher in order to attain a realistic result from the research. Specifically, the chapter discusses the range of methods used by the researcher for the research, research philosophy, research strategy and research methods used to gain data and data analysis. RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY Research philosophy is about the system in which the research problem should be fundamentally approached, and this includes: positivism, realism and interpretivism. (Davies, 2007) Positivism: The roots of positivism lie particularly with empiricism, which works with observable facts. The basic philosophy behind positivism is that, all factual knowledge is based on the positive information gathered from observable experience, and that any idea beyond this realm of demonstrable fact is metaphysical. Only analytic statements are allowed to be known as true, through reason alone. (Davies, 2007) Interpretivism is a view that believes that the world and reality are not objective and external, but are socially constructed and given meaning by people. This view is usually referred to as the qualitative approach and is based on an inductive procedure (Rea and Parker, 2006).(why appropriate to use) Saunders et al (2003) defines realism that is based on the belief that a reality exists that is autonomous of human thoughts and beliefs, and that can influence their perceptions either consciously or unconsciously. Management and Business research is often a mixture between positivist and interpretivist, perhaps reflecting the stance of realism. (Scheurich, 2007) The research issues will try to find out, the extent of employee involvement in the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in PZ Industries (NIG.) PLC as a case study. What they do well or not in this regard. Thus, the research philosophy is interpretivism rather than positivism. Deciding which research method will be adopted depending on what research philosophy is adopted is relevant in a research, Rea and Parker, (2006). For positivism, a deductive process involves the development of a conceptual and theoretical standpoint prior to its testing through empirical observation while for interpretivism, it involves an inductive procedure which is the reverse of deductive process. Interpretivism involves reflecting on recent and past experiences (Davies, 2007). Realism accommodates the use of both deductive and inductive processes (Scheurich, 2007). The research philosophy for this research is interpretivism; therefore, an inductive procedure is adopted.(why is it appropriate) RESEARCH STRATEGY A research strategy is the plan for the researcher to carry out his research. The main research strategies include experiment, survey and case study etc. The chosen research strategy for this research is the case study. According to Davies, (2007), case study is the development of detailed, intensive knowledge about a single case, or a small number of related cases. The advantages of using case study include: the detailed observations surrounding the case study method, allow us to study many different parts, scrutinize them in relation to each other, view the process with its total environment and also utilize the researcher’s capacity for versatility. As a result, case study provides us with a greater prospect than other available methods to obtain a holistic view of a specific research; this is not to say that researches based on case study have no shortcomings. A common criticism of case study is that it provides a limited basis for the traditional â€Å"scientific generalisation†. (Gomm, 2009)(explain what it means and introduce your company briefly and of what benefit will it be to the organisation) DATA COLLECTION Data collection is the most crucial process in a research or study and it comprises of two types: the primary data and the secondary data (Scheurich, 2007) SECONDARY DATA (Cancell this section entirely, it is not necessary) instead put multi-method approach i.e, why have you choosen questionnaire and interview methods) expantiate with reasons in your own words According to Scheurich, (2007), secondary data is that which the author has not been responsible for gathering ‘first-hand’. It therefore includes all the data gathered by someone else and presented in a variety of forms, such as journal articles, reports, archive materials, companies annual reports, newspapers and magazines, conference papers, internet and books etc. For this research, the secondary data collection related to TQM and employee involvement in the implementation and the objectives of this research mainly come from books, journal articles and internet search. PRIMARY DATA According to Scheurich, (2007), primary data is any data which the author has obtained ‘first-hand’ from its original source as part of the ‘applied’ aspect of his research. It therefore, does not include any data previously gathered by anyone else. Hence, primary data sources include: individual enquiry in the form of observation, conversations, questionnaires, interviews etc. For this study, telephone interview and questionnaire will be used for collecting the primary data.(why is it useful and possible barriers to it in your own words opinion) QUESTIONNAIRES Questionnaires are one of the most widely used data collection strategy. It provides an efficient way of collecting responses from a large sample prior to quantitative analysis, because each respondent is asked to respond to the same set of questions. (Saunders et al, 2003). Questionnaires can be associated with both positivism and interpretivism approaches of research. The response rate, the reliability and validity of data collected are two key criteria to a good questionnaire. (Scheurich, 2007) According to Davies, (2007), three main techniques exist in exploring peoples’ opinion and attitudes. These include: Closed questions: the respondent is required to select between a limited numbers of answers. Open-ended question: the participant is allowed to use his discretion in providing any answer to the questions and it’s either written down, verbatim or the researcher is armed with a list of probable pre-determined responses. Scales: limited choice of answers has been chosen to measure an attitude, an intention or some aspect of the participant’s behaviour. The key to designing scalar questions is to decide on what should be measured and then to select the relevant attributes by which they can be rated. In this study, closed questions and scalar questionnaire will be used.(explain why you used it properly in your words opinion) Questionnaire design is important to quantitative data collection. Most of the style of the quantitative method is attitude scaling. There is an example question ‘Reward system’ below Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree I am satisfied with the organisation’s reward system 1 2 3 4 5 The advantages of choosing questionnaire method are time saving for participants and guarantee the accuracy of questionnaires, because the pattern of questions are the same .The next stage is to identify the number of sample(say how you encouraged them to do so). The questionnaire will be designed with 25 questions in four A4 papers(because†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.). There are about 400 people in PZ Industries (NIG.) PLC head office in Lagos, comprising of 5 departments and the questionnaire will be distributed to 100 people who are working in different departments and holding different job positions (managers and employees). Based on the number of people working in each department, the questionnaire will be distributed in the following order: HRM department = 30 Purchasing department = 20 Product department = 15 Finance department = 10 Marketing department = 25 Before this explain the rationale behind your choosing this departments and how they were encouraged to participate) Because of the long distance, the distribution and collection of questionnaires will be e-mailed to the researcher’s friend who is equally a manager in one of the branches of PZ Industries (NIG.) PLC at IIupeju, in Lagos state. He will print 100 questionnaire copies and help the researcher to distribute and collect these questionnaires, then post to the researcher.( more on question design like objectives and questions that answers them) INTERVIEWS According to Scheurich, (2007), interviews are associated with positivist and interpretivist philosophies. This is an approach where the selected respondents are asked questions about what they do, think or feel. A positivist method suggests ‘closed questions’ which have been designed prior to distribution. An interpretivist method suggests ‘unstructured questions’, where the questions have not been designed in advance. There are five different interview styles: structured interview, semi-structured interview, focus group interview and telephone interview.(which did you choose and reason because , reason problemstec) Although the questionnaire has provided the researcher with the main data about what PZ Industries (NIG.)PLC does well or not in the involvement of employees in the implementation of TQM from the participants, the reasons and thoughts of their opinion cannot be ascertained. Thus, four telephone interviews will be utilized in this research (the CEO who is very familiar with the organization, HR manager who knows the employees needs and wants and their level of motivation in doing their job, the marketing manager who well know marketing and front- line employees, Product manager who well knows about quality of their products and back-line employees). The purpose of the interview is to find out what is, in the mind of the interviewee that cannot be known directly (Scheurich, 2007). The interview method is a very good complement to the questionnaire. Telephone interview allows interviews sometimes with individuals otherwise not accessible because of one reason or the other. It therefore involves speed, access and lower cost. There are also disadvantages with interview method for qualitative data. This particularly relates to the complexity in establishing the needed trust, usually so important for obtaining this type of data (Davies, 2007). However, in this research, the researcher is quite familiar with these interviewees, so this eliminates the problem associated with trust when interviewing people over the phone. The findings from above analysis will be linked to theories and opinions with the intention of drawing a conclusion and making adequate recommendation. data requirement table with how each objective each objective is been meant ie.like the one you did befor but put obj I : question so and so 1 ,7 ,8,23) (what questions dis you ask and why ,link to objectives) and refer to interview schedule appendix that you have prepared and refer to them) SAMPLING Whatever your research questions and objectives, you will need to collect data to answer them. If you collect and analyse data from every possible case or group, it is referred to as census, but for many research questions and objectives, it will be impossible for the researcher ,either to collect or analyse all the available data, owing to restrictions of time, money and often access (Saunders et al, 2003). According to Saunders et al,( 2003), sampling technique provide a wide range of methods that enable the researcher to minimize amount of data the researcher need to collect, by considering only data from a subgroup, rather than all possible cases or elements, and which can be categorised into two broad groups of probability sampling and non-probability sampling. Probability samples, are notable by the fact that each population element has a known, non zero chance of being selected in the sample, but with non-probability samples, the reverse is the case, where there is no way of estimating the probability that any population element will be included in the sample, and thus, there is no way of ensuring that the sample is representative of the population. This study will be based on non- probability sampling because the sample size is not critical. The size of the interview is 4 persons, and for the questionnaire, it is 100. The choice of interviews within the sample will be based on managers holding different job positions in the organisation and whose ability to contribute meaningfully to the topic under research is not in doubt. DATA ANALYSIS Quantitative data analysis can be categorized into two types: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics deals with quantitative data that are summarised or displayed in the form of charts, tables, percentages and averages. This type of statistical method is commonly used in management research for analysing data obtained from investigations of a limited nature (Davies, 2007) Inferential statistics may involve the application of descriptive statistics, but have the main aim of drawing results from the data with regard to a theory, model or body of knowledge. Also, this frequently involves reaching a conclusion from a ‘sample’ to generalize to the ‘total population’. This type of statistical method is therefore important to those whose research undertaking is based on positivism (Davies, 2007) The research philosophy for this research is interpretivism, thus, an inductive process is adopted. Therefore, the descriptive statistics is adopted in this study, because the questionnaires are to be collected from limited respondents and using SPSS (Statistical package for social sciences) or Excel to analyse the data. A percentage table will clearly show the results of the same sort of questions. Take sample question as an example Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Reward system n=100 1 1% 3 3% 7 7% 64 64% 25 25% From the above table, it can be seen that most of the employees at PZ Industries (NIG.)PLC are not satisfied with the reward system in place in the organisation, thus, the organisation is not doing well in this aspect to motivate employees to put in their best, in the implementation of TQM strategy.(how did you you analyse the qualitative data like†¦giving iterpterations to what was said duing the interview session†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. and quantitative data Ms excel (reason and why talk more please) LIMITATIONS The results from 4 interviews and 100 participants in PZ Industries (NIG.) PLC may not be representative of what would be found in the larger number of employees. The people invited to take part in the questionnaire, may influence the outcome, because some respondents may respond in a way that the organisation want them to respond, rather than giving their genuine opinion, because of fear of repercussions. The researcher would have preferred to interview more of the employees at PZ Industries (NIG.)PLC by himself, instead of relying on the marketing manager and product manager to give the opinion of front-line employees and back-line employees respectively during the interview, but this was not possible because of distance problem. Sample distribution was also limited by distance; the researcher could not personally distribute and collect the questionnaires, so, maybe respondents to the questionnaire at PZ Industries (NIG.)PLC may not cover all departments as intended. (ETHIC CONSIDERATIONS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..ONE OR FOUR PARAGRAPHS) EXAMPLE : SPEAK ON CONFIDENTIALITY AND GIVE REASON MAYBE TO REASSURE THEM ETC AND LOOK FOR OTHER REASON YOU CONSIDERED LIKE †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦THEN GIVE REASON †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.LOOK AT APPENDIX 1) *** Generally ,put every thing in past tense as if you have done it) ****(your data anlysis should be change to findings and conclusions as chapter four as in the paper she gave you in discussion @ office) **** conclusions and recommendations as chapter 5 *** write an action plan and reflective statement(5 pages of refective statement) like u did with hrm in context despite u telling them u don’t need cipd , she said it’s a requirement) (multi method approach) Multiple Methods in ASR by Jerry A. Jacobs, Editor, American Sociological Review In recent years, the American Sociological Review (ASR) has featured papers based exclusively on ethnographic research (e.g., Timmermans, 2005), interview data (e.g., Tyson et al., 2005), and sociological theory (e.g., Frickel and Gross, 2005). However, a series of papers that combine different types of data and approaches in the same study are especially noteworthy. One quarter of the papers I have accepted for publication in ASR since becoming editor in 2003 draw on more than one research method. This brief essay highlights some of the ways that authors have employed such multi-method1 research to provide a more informative account of the social world. Interviews and Surveys Several authors of ASR papers have conducted interviews in order to refine the questions employed in a subsequent statistical analysis. In this approach, the qualitative investigation helps to clarify the nature of the issues under investigation, but the â€Å"real proof† is presented in the statistical analysis. For example, Benson and Saguy (2005) interviewed 150 journalists, politicians, activists, and academics in their study of the media coverage of social problems in the United States and France. However, the empirical heart of their article was a statistical analysis of 750 articles on immigration and 685 articles on sexual harassment in these two countries. Similarly, Uzzi and Lancaster (2004) conducted in-depth interviews with a small number of lawyers and clients before embarking on a study of social ties and pricing patterns in large U.S. law firms. Qualitative data play a more central role in the research of Cherlin and his colleagues (2004) on abuse in families. After conducting a survey of more than 2,000 families, Cherlin et al. followed up on 256 of these families with a series of repeated, open-ended interviews over a period of 12-18 months. They found that reports of abuse surfaced increasingly as respondents came to know the researchers over this extended series of interviews. Thus, in this study, qualitative data played a key role in obtaining a more complete and accurate measurement of the phenomenon under investigation. Qualitative data are also sometimes used to help clarify the meaning of the responses to survey questions and to better understand the social processes that might produce broad outcome patterns. For example, Edgell (forthcoming) and colleagues interviewed respondents in four cities to follow up their national survey of attitudes toward atheists. The qualitative data helped establish that attitudes toward atheists are not generally the result of face-to-face encounters but rather represent a symbolic affirmation of the role of religion and skepticism about the moral standing of those who would reject a role for religion in their lives. Similarly, Giordano and colleagues (forthcoming) conducted a survey of more than 1,000 adolescents and then asked more detailed, open-ended questions of a subset of 100 respondents. They drew conclusions about gender differences in confidence, engagement, and power from both types of data. Multiple Quantitative Approaches Multi-method studies are not limited to the blending of qualitative and quantitative research but can also appear in the artful combination of different quantitative methods in the same study. Pager and Quillian (2005), for example, combined a social experiment with a follow-up survey in their study of racial discrimination in hiring practices. The first portion of their study uses an â€Å"audit† methodology, sending â€Å"testers† to apply for jobs at various employers who had advertised positions. This experiment is designed to compare the success of Black and White applicants who are portrayed (fictitiously) as having or not having criminal records. Pager and Quillian returned to the same employers six months later to conduct a survey of the employer’s attitudes about hiring different types of employees. In addition to uncovering discrepancies between employers’ deeds versus words, this follow-up survey allowed a comparison of the insights that can be gained from survey versus experiment. In another case, You and Khagram (2005) combined aggregate national data (i.e., one data point per country) with a multi-level statistical analysis of survey data from 30 countries. They used the survey data to bolster their claim that countries with more inequality have more corruption because there is a higher normative acceptance of corruption in countries characterized by higher levels of inequality. Historical Analyses Historical studies often combine various types of data. For example, Somers and Block (2005) principally examined historical documents in their investigation of welfare reform in Great Britain in the 1830s and the United States in the 1990s. They supplement this qualitative analysis of political texts with a statistical portrait of welfare expenditures before and after reform in both countries. Similarly, Riley (2005) draws on archival, statistical, and spatial data in his study of the connection between civil society and the rise of fascism in Italy and Spain. Wilde’s (2004) study of the success of the reform movement during Vatican II is primarily a qualitative analysis of archival documents, but her summary of the vote counts is an indispensable element in her story. Molnar’s (2005) study of debates among Hungarian architects drew on interview data as well as historical documents and supporting statistics. The 1950s time period she studied is recent enough that parti cipants were still alive and available for interviews. Schwartz and Schuman’s (2005) paper, â€Å"History, Commemoration and Belief,† draws from an especially broad range of sources. They show that while the reputation of President Lincoln as a great leader has remained strong, the basis for this belief has shifted from Lincoln as the â€Å"savior of the union† before the Civil Rights movement to Lincoln as the â€Å"great emancipator† since that time. They support this claim using data from surveys conducted over a 50-year period, as well as analyses of history textbooks, the writings of leading historians, and cultural symbols such as statues and memorials. Their theoretical point is that the study of commemoration as portrayed in statues and celebrated in parades should be accompanied by research on how these commemorative activities are received, as tapped by surveys and other measures of popular beliefs. Thus, in their view, a complete assessment of issues of collective memory requires multiple sources of data. Obstacles While multi-method research can be a fruitful research strategy, this approach is neither necessary nor sufficient for completing a high-quality study. Designing, collecting, and analyzing data from across diverse methodological styles is often only possible under the aegis of a large research project. Dissertation writers, for example, may wish to combine methods but may lack the time and money to complete each facet of the study effectively. Many seasoned investigators also face obstacles that put this strategy out of reach. Moreover, the presentation of different types of data in a single article presents its own challenges. For example, space constraints may prevent the full presentation of qualitative findings. It can be difficult to achieve a substantive and stylistic balance between diverse genres of research. And sometimes different sorts of data speak to somewhat different issues. In short, multi-method papers present their own challenges and thus require at least as much skill and insight to be effective as do single-method studies. Many sociologists view the social world as a multi-faceted and multi-layered reality that reveals itself only in part with any single method. While there are precedents for most if not all of the approaches described above, their use by so many scholars is striking. Multi-method research is more common in the context of journal articles than was the case a decade or two ago. It is also significant that so many sociologists are combining methods rather than trying to herald a single approach as the right way or the best way. Notes 1 I use â€Å"multiple-method research† to refer to studies that draw on data from more than one source and present more than one type of analysis. Such research often, but not always, combines quantitative and qualitative data.Hierarchical linear models typically draw on data from different sources but combine them in a single statistical analysis. Studies that exclusively rely on this very useful method would not qualify as multi-method. Of the 66 papers I have accepted for publication thus far, nearly 26 percent (17) fit my multi-method definition. References Benson, Rodney and Abigail C. Saguy. 2005. â€Å"Constructing Social Problems in an Age of Globalization: A French-American Comparison.† American Sociological Review 70(2):233-259. Cherlin, Andrew J., Linda M. Burton, Tera R. Hurt, and Diane M. Purvin. 2004. â€Å"The Influence of Physical and Sexual Abuse on Marriage and Cohabitation.† American Sociological Review 69(6):768-789. Edgell, Penny, Joseph Gerteis, and Douglas Hartmann. Forthcoming. â€Å"Atheists as ‘Other’: Moral Boundaries and Cultural Membership in American Society.† American Sociological Review. Frickel, Scott and Neil Gross. 2005. â€Å"A General Theory of Scientific/Intellectual Movements.† American Sociological Review 70(2):204-232. Giordano, Peggy, Monica A. Longmore, and Wendy D. Manning. Forthcoming. â€Å"Gender and the Meaning(s) of Adolescent Romantic Relationships: A Focus on Boys.† American Sociological Review. Molnar, Virag. 2005. â€Å"Cultural Politics and Modernist Architecture.† American Sociological Review 70(1):111-135. Pager, Devah and Lincoln Quillian. 2005 â€Å"Walking the Talk? What Employers Say Versus What They Do.† American Sociological Review 70(3):355-380. Riley, Dylan. 2005. â€Å"Civic Associations and Authoritarian Regimes in Interwar Europe: Italy and Spain in Comparative Perspective.† American Sociological Review 70(2):288-310. Schwartz, Barry and Howard Schuman. 2005. â€Å"History, Commemoration, and Belief: Abraham Lincoln in American Memory, 1945-2001.† American Sociological Review 70(2):183-203. Somers, Margaret and Fred Block. 2005. â€Å"From Poverty to Perversity: Ideas, Markets, and Institutions over 200 Years of Welfare Debate.† American Sociological Review 70(2):260-287. Timmermans, Stefan. 2005. â€Å"Suicide Determination and the Professional Authority of Medical Examiners.† American Sociological Review 70(2):311-333. Tyson, Karolyn, William Darity Jr., and Domini Castellino. 2005. â€Å"It’s Not a Black Thing: Understanding the Burden of Acting White and Other Dilemmas of High Achievement.† American Sociological Review 70(4):582-605. Uzzi, Brian and Ryon Lancaster. 2004. â€Å"Embeddedness and Price Formation in the Corporate Law Market.† American Sociological Review 69(3):319-344. Wilde, Melissa. 2004. â€Å"How Culture Mattered at Vatican II: Collegiality Trumps Authority in the Council’s Social Movement Organizations.† American Sociological Review 69(4):576-602. American Sociological Review 70(1):136-157. (ANOTHER ARTICLE) THE POTENTIAL AND THE PROBLEM An extraordinary surge in the methodological diversity of clinical research studies has occurred during the past 2 decades, with a recent dramatic rise in the scope and sophistication of mixed methods designs.1,2 Mixed methods (also known as multimethod) research involves integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches to generating new knowledge3 and can involve either concurrent or sequential use of these 2 classes of methods to follow a line of inquiry.4,5 Combining methods activates their complementary strengths and helps to overcome their discrete weaknesses.6 Increasingly, integrated mixed methods designs allow researchers to follow emerging questions, rather than limiting their research to questions that are amenable to a particular method.7 Multimethod research brings together numbers and narratives, description, hypothesis testing, hypothesis generation, and understanding of meaning and context to provide fuller discernment and greater transportability of the phenomenon under study. In the past, proponents of quantitative and qualitative methods have been divided into separate camps with different skills and world views.8 The benefits of integrating these methods, however, are increasingly recognized and acted on in the medical and health care arena,1,2,6 as they have been for a longer time in the ethnographic tradition from anthropology and the case study tradition from educational research.7,9 Among many examples, a 1999 National Institutes of Health task force issued guidelines for rigorous qualitative and multimethod research.10 Two years ago, the (US) National Cancer Institute hosted a conference on mixed methods research that identified multimethod research as an important approach to solving some of the most intractable problems in cancer control research. An article by the Medical Research Council on the design and evaluation of complex interventions to improve health11 identified the use of mixed methods as essential. Even so, the dramatic advances in the scope and sophistication of conducting mixed methods research have not been met with parallel progress in ways of disseminating the results of mixed methods studies. From our point of view, a major dilemma is that the results of multimethod studies often are segregated in different publications that reach limited and often nonclinical audiences. For example, Wilson and colleagues12 reported in JAMA on the ineffectiveness of nicotine gum in smoking cessation, while in Social Science and Medicine, Willms13 reported qualitative findings from the same study that the meaning patients attributed to their cigarettes was more influential in stopping smoking than either counseling or nicotine gum. Both articles have important messages, but the JAMA article does not reference the other, and they are published in journals with very different readers. Thus, different fields only come to know part of the research—reminiscent of the story of the 4 blind men each feeling a different part of the elephant and thus unable to develop a coherent idea of the whole. REFERENCES Davies, M., B., (2007) Key Concepts in Social Research Methods, New York, Palgrave, Macmillan LTD Gomm, R., (2009) Doing a Successful Research Project, New York, Palgrave, Macmillan LTD Rea, L., M., and Parker, R., A., (2006) Designing and Conducting Survey Research, San Francisco, Jossy-Bass Saunders, M., Thornhill, A., and Lewis, P., (2003) Research Methods for Business Students, 3rd edition, London, Pearson Education LTD Scheurich, J., J., (2007) Research Methods in the Postmodern, London, Falmer Press

Native American Essay -- essays research papers

From as early as the time of the early European settlers, Native Americans have suffered tremendously. Native Americans during the time of the early settlers where treated very badly. Europeans did what they wanted with the Native Americans, and when a group of Native Americans would stand up for themselves, the European would quickly put them down. The Native Americans bow and arrows where no match for the Europeans guns and cannon balls. When the Europeans guns didn’t work for the Europeans, the disease they bought killed the Native Americans even more effectively. In a poem by Louise Enrich called Dear John Wayne a line from a cowboy and Indian movie states the position of many European settlers in the Americas "Everything we see belongs to us". Native Americans did not like the way they were being treated. Every generation that passes, there would be fewer and fewer Native Americans around the Americas. Native Americans were dying like flies flying around bug spray mist. If it were not a war (The French and Indian war) that were killing them off it would be European disease (Cow and Small pox). The Native Americans saw what the Europeans were doing to their lives, they wanted their old way of life, and they wanted the Europeans to go away. In the movie Smoke Signals a line that was said by a character called Arnold Joseph represents the feelings of the Native Americans "Poof! The white people are gone". The Eur...

Fragment – Changes In Life

Incidents occur in one’s life daily. Most of the time people enjoy talking about â€Å"what happened today† because most of the time it’s usually funny and it isn’t really considered anything serious. Some happenings in our lives are very serious and aren’t as easy to talk about with others. Even though this is true it does help the person feel better to talk about their problems whether they realize it at first or not. Changes in life like these can change you both physically and mentally for the rest of your life depending on the severity of the situation. In early August of `96 my life at home became a living nightmare. I don’t really know what it was that started this thing between me and my parents but I do remember that they were always doing anything they could to just annoy me. I doubt this was intentional but at the time it seemed that it was. They would find any excuse to yell or blame me for things that didn’t even involve me and they wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say at all. They were right and I was wrong, that’s the long and the short of it. It got so bad that I hated being home. I would do anything and go anywhere just to get away from my parents; even if it meant going somewhere that I had always hated going before. When I couldn’t get out of the house I tried my best to stay in my room and keep the door closed. When they decided that they didn’t want me in my room where they couldn’t fuss at me they came up with this big idea that I was trying to hide something from them. They must have spent a lot of time trying to decide what I was trying to hide because they came up with the only halfway smart thing I had heard from them in almost a month. They had decided that I was smoking. Too bad for them; they were wrong. Until their accusation, I hadn’t touched a cigarette but after that I did. I spent countless hours thinking about the things that were going on with my life. For almost a whole month I thought about ending my life and my problems, I thought about how I could â€Å"fix† my life by getting away from the house legally, and I wondered what their reasoning for doing this to me was. I finally decided that the smart thing to do would be just do something to get away from them legally but my next question was how then I got a tip as I was scanning through the newspaper one evening. I was going to get a job and that would keep me away from home. I applied to the first ad I saw in the paper and strangely enough, I actually got a call from Ramada Inn in less than 3 days after applying. I went to 2 interviews and apparently passed with flying colors because I got the job about a week later. After working there for about 2 or three weeks the things happening at home had came to and end but I had finally gotten my first taste of real life with my job and it wasn’t too sweet. To tell the truth it was terrible. I found out the real reason they hired me. It wasn’t because I was so qualified or whatever, it was because the place couldn’t get anyone to work. The reason for that was the boss was a real pain in the rear. So now, I didn’t have to worry about problems at home; I now had to worry about problems at work but at least I was getting paid for putting up with their crap. I guess that’s the price you have to pay and for me getting a job and getting rid of the problems at home ended up saving my life. In my lifetime I have seen a lot of weird things and have had lots of experiences that have changed my life in one way or another and I’m sure that there are going to be lots more of them to come but these that really stand out in my mind are mainly because they happened quite recently. In my mind, I know that I am lucky that these â€Å"happenings† did only affect me mentally and didn’t go as far as to affect me physically because had they succeeded, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I know now that it would have only been a long term solution to a short term problem but at the time it seemed like suicide was going to be my only way out. I began getting very frustrated with the events going on in my life and just wanted to end them all. Looking back on what I thought at the time, I am glad now that I just kept telling myself subconsciously things would get better with time. The thing is, the resolution of my problems took longer than I wanted them to. I’d say that if these problems both with my family life and my so called â€Å"work life† had continued much longer, I would have disregarded anything my friends had told me and that I had told myself about things getting better and would have ended my life as you and I know it. You know, the more I think about it in writing this, the more I believe that I probably wouldn’t have ended it totally because I seem to have really bad luck. You may ask what this has to do with anything but I figure that if I had tried to kill myself, I would have ended up being found and taken to a doctor and they were able to save my life but I would have ended up being a vegetable but knowing some people, they probably think I’m a vegetable already.

Bauhaus History of Design Essay

The Bauhaus was the first model of the modern art school. The Bauhaus curriculum combined theoretic education and practical training in the educational workshops. It drew inspiration from the ideals of the revolutionary art movements and design experiments of the early 20th century. A woodcut (shown right) depicted the idealized vision of Walter Gropius, a â€Å"cathedral† of design. Bauhaus 1919-33 The Bauhaus began with an utopian definition: â€Å"The building of the future† was to combine all the arts in ideal unity. In order to reach this goal, the founder, Walter Gropius, saw the necessity to develop new teaching methods and was convinced that the base for any art was to be found in handcraft: â€Å"the school will gradually turn into a workshop†. artists and craftsmen directed classes and production together at the Bauhaus in Weimar. This was intended to remove any distinction between fine arts and applied arts. Of course, the educational and social claim to a new configuration of life and its environment could not always be achieved. And the Bauhaus was not alone with this goal, but the name became a near synonym for this trend. The Bauhaus occupies a place of its own in the history of 20th century culture, architecture, design, art and new media. One of the first schools of design, it brought together a number of the most outstanding contemporary architects and artists and was not only an innovative training centre but also a place of production and a focus of international debate. At a time when industrial society was in the grip of a crisis, the Bauhaus stood almost alone in asking how the modernisation process could be mastered by means of design. Founded in Weimar in 1919, the Bauhaus rallied masters and students who sought to reverse the split between art and production by returning to the crafts as the foundation of all artistic activity and developing exemplary designs for objects and spaces that were to form part of a more human future society. Following intense internal debate, in 1923 the Bauhaus turned its ttention to industry under its founder and first director Walter Gropius (1883–1969). The major exhibition which opened in 1923, reflecting the revised principle of art and technology as a new unity, showcased the full spectrum of Bauhaus work and prototypes. The Haus Am Horn provided a glimpse of a residential building of the future. In 1924 funding for the Bauhaus was cut so drastically at the instigation of conservative forces that it had to seek a new home. The Bauhaus moved to Dessau at a time of rising economic fortunes, becoming the municipally funded School of Design. Almost all masters moved with it. Former students became junior masters in charge of the workshops. Famous works of art and architecture and influential designs were produced in Dessau in the years from 1926 to 1932. Walter Gropius resigned as director on 1st April 1928 under the pressure of constant struggles for the Bauhaus survival, He was succeeded by the Swiss architect Hannes Meyer (1889–1954) whose work sought to shape a harmonious society. Cost-cutting industrial mass production was to make products affordable for the masses. Despite his successes, Hannes Meyer’s Marxist convictions became a problem for the city council amidst the political turbulence of Germany in 1929, and the following year he was removed from his post. Under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) the Bauhaus developed from 1930 into a technical school of architecture with subsidiary art and workshop departments. After the Nazis became the biggest party in Dessau at the elections, the Bauhaus was forced to move in September 1932. It moved to Berlin but only lasted for a short time longer. The Bauhaus dissolved itself under pressure from the Nazis in 1933. Architecture â€Å"The building is the ultimate goal of all fine art,† the Bauhaus manifesto proclaimed back in 1919. Architecture training at the Bauhaus in Weimar was initially the prerogative of Walter Gropius private architectural practice and for a short time courses were run by his partner Adolf Meyer and in association with the â€Å"Baugewerkschule† (building trades school) in Weimar. The Bauhaus workshops were involved in these efforts through Gropius’s office. This collaboration produced the Haus Am Horn in 1923. Some new methods based on specific types and standardisation were employed not only to produce new architecture but to anticipate a new lifestyle through this architecture. In 1927 Walter Gropius offered Hannes Meyer a position in charge of architecture classes. That year Hannes Meyer began to put together a curriculum which included all relevant subjects such as planning, design, draftsmanship, construction, town planning. Architecture for Walter Gropius and Hannes Meyer alike mainly denoted the â€Å"design of life’s processes†. Hannes Meyer went far beyond Gropius’s â€Å"study of essentials†, which focused too much on the object for his taste, turning his teaching programme into one where the concrete conditions in society and the factors determining architecture and its use formed the starting point for all planning and design. The habits of the future residents of an estate or a house were studied in scientific detail. From 1930 to 1933 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe carried on with much of what had been started under his predecessors. At the same time Mies van der Rohe streamlined the curriculum to produce something like a system of courses which left almost no room for utopian experiments. The majority of the new student intake at the Bauhaus had already completed a course of studies, and the Bauhaus became a â€Å"postgraduate school†. Mies van der Rohe’s teaching focused on the design of specific buildings whose appearance owed nothing to Gropius’s â€Å"study of essentials† or to the collective satisfaction of â€Å"the people’s needs†, but which were to be â€Å"the spatial implementation of intellectual decisions† (Mies van der Rohe) in an aesthetically consummate fashion.