Business Consultants Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Consultants - Assignment Example This is because their skill set in general matches the required skill set of Event Planning in a satisfactory manner. This type of work requires extensive planning and an ability to deal with problems on the spur of the moment. It entails coming up with quick solutions to crises! Most of the team members possess these skills. Team members possess sound negotiation and leadership skills which are mandatory for an event management consultant firm. This is because organizing an event is a multi-faceted task which requires a lot of people working on a project. Without a leader things can get out of hand. Another reason why these members will be appropriate for the above mentioned firm is because their customer orientation and support of others is high in addition to them being assertive as well. In any consultancy firms, customer orientation and regard for customers is essentially required and can never be done without. This is because a touch point between the customer and the company i s the employee. Lastly, this type of work requires creativity and idea generation which most members of the group have. Pharmaceutical Marketing is different from mainstream marketing. Its target market comprises; doctors and medical institutions mainly. Therefore a different skill set is required for such a firm. Since it requires training of sales reps for pharmaceutical companies, an understanding of the sales person's job is required. The team scores high on sales men skills which is therefore fit for the firm. It requires a certain degree of sensitivity to market pharmaceutical goods. Marketers must be sensitive and responsive to the needs of the customer especially in this area because medicines are critical substances, often used in life and death situations. This is also a skill which the team members possess abundantly. Other than that being good with details and attention to details are qualities every consultancy needs. The team members aptly possess these skills. Work Place Etiquette: Work place etiquettes are extremely significant in order to establish ethical guidelines and code of conduct in a company. Consultancies dealing in this area need to have people who are persistent and committed to making things better in the organizational landscape. This is because etiquettes and codes of conduct take time in being implemented in organizations. Therefore; persistence is a key skill, which the team members do have. Also, the ability to be persuasive and to be able to reason with people is essential for this type of firm. This is because people often have conflicting views on work ethics and morals which need to be resolved. The team rates well on this attribute. Lastly, being a problem solver helps in this type of industry. The team members also rank high on this skill and would therefore be highly appropriate for this type of firm. References: 1. (n.d). Business Consultant; Speaker/Trainer/Writer. Retrieved 1st September, 2007 from Job Profiles, Your Guide to Career and Education Website: www.

Conservation of momentum Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Conservation of momentum - Lab Report Example During the experiment one should ensure that at least three readings for a particular step are taken then an average of the reading obtained so as to minimize the errors of parallax. The experiment needs to be done at least twice to confirm the recorded values and minimize the errors. The stop watch and all the apparatus used for the experiment needs to be observed before the beggining of the experiment to ascertain their efficiency. The experiment could also be done in an area with vacuum conditions in order to minimize the interferences in obtaining the readings due to air resistance. The two values for V obtain in part 1 and part 2 are not as close as they are expected. This is so due to the errors during the experiment. Without errors, the two values of velocity should be the same. Reanalyzation of the tale values using the largest h fails to make any significant change in the final results of v (Susan 10). The fact is that the two values fail to be as close as they are expected to be. However repeating the entire experiment while avoiding the experimental errors may give out values that are close to the theoretical

Music value chain

Music value chain 1. Introduction The music industry has been facing radical changes during the last few decades due to the introduction of IS technologies which have reshaped it in depth. More particularly the music value chain has been experiencing an intensive change and evolution in many aspects: the distribution to consumer is more direct, intermediating parties are reducing and prices are constantly changing. The internet, an open information system, legally and illegally paves the way to the creation of a fresh music product, offering more choices to consumers. Consumers are now able to listen to music in electronic forms: MP3s and ringtones are procured in a large scale through internet. The IS delivery vehicle has undoubtly added value to the consumers. But what about the â€Å"Big 4† music companies?[1] How have they accepted this major shift in their business industry? Have they tried to resist or more essentially are they able to resist and is that kind of reaction to their best interest? The industry that celebrated its success in the Nineties now has to restate its position. The numbers are alerting: â€Å"Die Welt† newspaper reports a 16% dropping turnover for sound storage media. Nonetheless the music industry story has not yet ended. It is rather being written from the beginning. Since the old business model does not function at all under the shade of the IS, companies have to use the new technologies and cope with the fast pacing development. In my opinion what is most of the times considered as danger could be proved a great opportunity. The music industry is not perishing; it is just reforming. People will always need music and music companies will continue to exist as long as they decide to adapt to the new IS reality. We are referring to a reformation of something that could be an entirely innovative business opportunity. Apple with the first online music store, i-Tunes, paves the way to a new era and steals a big piece of the music market pie. 2. The music industry: A continuously reshaping industry The music industry history is mainly a story of innovation that goes back to the 18th century. Music creation is as old as human existence but the effort to market and commercialize music counts only a few centuries; In the mid 18th century composers like Amadeus Mozart started searching ways to sell their music and performances to the general public. In the 19th century sheet music, a hand-written or printed form of musical notation, was the core product sold by the music industry but it conveyed an important limitation: it was addressed to a particular audience, people who could read music notation. In the 20th century the sheet industry was replaced by the â€Å"record industry†. The source that led to this reshaped environment was technological innovation. The label corporations commonly known as the â€Å"Big 6†: BMG, EMI, MCA, PolyGram, Sony and WEA, dominated the music industry. Today the â€Å"Big 6† have transformed into the â€Å"Big 4† after Sony merged with BMG. The following graph depicts each labels share[2]. The most important stages in music industrys evolution in the 20th century were: The introduction of cassettes (around 1960). The introduction of walkman: The era of transportable music begins (around 1980s). The introduction of CDs: CDs opened a window of wide capabilities for music consumers. (1990). At this point the music industry boomed: the market growth was huge and mark ups were fairly large. Nevertheless the CD fairy tale would soon come to an end: After 1995 the market started inevitably shrinking. The increasing internet penetration along with the large price decline of hardware and software enhanced the IT industry development. The music industry was not unaffected by the emerging transmission possibilities of digital information, which could take the form of music information as well. It was time for digital distribution and digital production to take the lead. The technological improvements created a safe ground for entrepreneurs to step in: They had the tools and it was about time to put them together and create the opportunity. Further on we will refer to two successful business models that give us a good idea of what the future music industry will be all about: Napster and Apples i-tunes. 3. Recent trends and challenges emerging from the use of IT and IS in the music industry.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As stated the music industry has been experiencing a variety of challenges because of the fast pacing technological development. New forms of competition have entered the business game antagonising the â€Å"Big 4† and deeply transforming the music value chain. All major stakeholders in the business -artists, consumers and companies- have been affected in numerous ways. The music companies are on the side of the losers: They have tried to resist and have won some battles but they knew from the start that eventually the war would be lost. The technological development cannot be stopped as the earth will not stop revolving around the sun. a. Digital technologies. Which where the core technological developments that have led to the reformation of the music industry? According to Nguyen-Khac T. Q.[3], the parallel evolution of the following four technologies has created an amazingly new business environment: Software development has enabled a fast exchange of data through internet. Compression technology and encryption solutions are only some of the tools currently used by consumers. Additionally, the use of user friendly operation systems (like Windows in contrast to MS-Dos) has enabled people of different backgrounds, ages and abilities to take advantage of all benefits offered by a PC. Hardware development. Personal PC was not always a massive product due to its high cost. Throughout the years prices declined thanks to the decreasing costs that led to massive production (economies of scale). Transportation technology development and more essentially the appearance of internet. The innovation of P2P and network technology. The impact of the above development has been severe for the music industry. A demonstrative example concerning the way P2P affected the music industry was Napster. The illegal download platform Napster was a file sharing service which took advantage of the P2P file sharing technology. The way P2P works is depicted below.[4] Napster became popular in college campuses. The main idea was that each person connected to the network had to share a portion of his private music library in exchange to download everything anyone else had made available. The transaction costs were limited to the connection fee. The result was that all of a sudden an enormous library of music, of all kinds, was created. RIIA brought Napster to court and Napster eventually lost the trial however its pattern has been the source of inspiration for other similar concepts. Although Napster was shut down the decline of the â€Å"Big 4† revenues did not stop. In contrast it was enhanced by the negative publicity emerging by the law sue against Napster. In addition to Napster and P2P networks, the general hardware and software development has enabled consumers copy and save digital music data for private use on their computers. This phenomenon was called piracy but some consumers have considered it as a fair game since the music companies have gained millions for decades now by imposing prices with high profit margins taking advantage of the oligopoly they have created. Moreover consumers in the past were obliged to buy songs in the form of â€Å"album batches†, paying an entire album even though they were truly interested to obtain 2 or 3 songs which were worth spending money for. The use of new technologies enables consumers to resist to this type of constraints, imposed by the music companies. The music companies have iteratively launched campaigns against piracy nevertheless they cannot bend the existing consumer behavior which is based on the perception that exchanging music is a non harmful procedure containing no ethic al dilemmas. b. New technologies leading a new business model: The traditional model versus the new e-value chain model. Under the shade of IS and IT the music value chain has been transformed to an â€Å"e-chain†. In the traditional model there was a tangible product the CD but in the new model the product is intangible; it is the information itself. In the Australian Conference on Information Systems the following conceptual model was presented.[5] As depicted, in the new model, the MP3 file -now considered as the product- is distributed to consumers through online music stores, mobile content providers or artist websites. Moreover music can now be recorded in home studios instead of professional recording studios and be distributed in the already described ways instead of being sold in the form of CDs, through retail stores. The benefits acquired by this new model concerns mainly consumers but also the â€Å"music product† suppliers. First of all the cost of production is substantially reduced and the manufacturing costs are completely eliminated. Also intermediaries, mainly distributors are kicked out of the supply chain since they are not needed. All these changes have as a result a minimum cost for the music provider, easy and fast access to the product for the consumer who also has the chance to pick products (music tracks) in an appealing price and according to his preferences. This dynamic and flexible structure will eventually lead to the proliferation in the number of people involved in the supply chain. Additionally the role of the consumer and artist is now more essential. It is not anymore a game of four since there are no barriers (high production cost, competitive advantage due to full vertical integration) to enter this reformed music industry. c. Current market trends: The financial impact of IT and IS on the ‘Big 4 As previously analyzed the â€Å"Big 4† have developed an aggressive strategy against the new business environment emerging from the development of IS and IT. Even though they managed to shut down Napster practically they are unable to stop the creation of similar models. Even worse they insist on retaining the traditional model and hesitate to take the next step. Agility seems to be one of their least considerations and thats why it is no surprise each year their revenues are dramatically declining. Even if the music market is facing a shrinking trend, the digital sales piece of the pie is getting larger. According to IFPI revenues for cassettes, CDs and vinyl in the world dropped 25%, from $38.6 billion in 1999 to $29 billion in 2007.[6] Analysts at Forrester Research state that â€Å"music sales in the US will decline to $9.2 billion in 2013, from $10.1 billion in 2008†[7]. 4. The future While the music companies remained oblivious to the technological changes the music economy was reshaping and a company unrelated to music made the decisive step to create an innovative business model based on online legal distribution taking advantage of the benefits provided by mp3 files. This company was Apple who literally took the bread out of the mouth of the music companies. In 2003 it officially launched the first online music store: i-Tunes. The price model used was very attractive to consumer: each download cost 0.99 cent. Apple managed to offer a one stop shop to customers by exploiting the internet and digital distribution options. This awe inspiring impetus in the music industry panicked the music companies. They tried to defend their market share against digital distribution through law sues and merges instead of being flexible and adoptive to the increasingly transforming environment and making use of the new tools offered by the development of IT and IS. That enabled Apple to made the check mat move. The core competencies of Apples platform are speed, usability and cost effectiveness. Apples success was remarkable; in its first two online weeks it sold over two million songs[8]. This fact was largely due to the highly integrated system used. The music companies, now more than ever, have to create their own business model of an online music supply pattern. The use of IT in music industry can be considered an order winner for Apple whereas for the â€Å"Big 4† an emerging necessity to keep them in business. Current trends show that the use of IT will become an order qualifier. While executives of the music companies like John Rose, a former executive of EMI appear reluctant, believing that nothing ensures â€Å"that digital economics can make up for the drop in physical†[9] Atlantic, a unit of Warner Music Group claims that half of its sales come from digital music product sales. The future belongs to the digital music business and even if the core product music tracks in the form of mp3- does not make up for the losses from CD sales there are many supportive products such as: ringtones, ringbangs, subscription services that can compensate. 5. Conclusion As analyzed the use of IT and IS has brought a revolution in the music industry: Customers attain more bargaining power since the monopoly of â€Å"The Big 4† converted into a world of many â€Å"dot† choices. The exploitation of the benefits created by the recent developments has proved profitable; i-Tunes and Atlantic are the most prominent examples. Hence, there is a great opportunity ahead, if innovation is perceived to generate revenues and if more direct distribution options are used to cut off costs. The music companies have a negative perception about the use of open information systems in selling music and tried ineffectively to fight back. Instead they should have tried to respond to the challenge and reform their business model in order to survive in the music market. Being reluctant to adopt the new technology only gives way to companies such as Apple to take the lead along with their business share. 6. Bibliography Arango T., November 26 2008. â€Å"Digital Sales Surpass CDs at Atlantic† New York Times. Emerson G. M., 2007. â€Å"The Apple iTunes Music Store: How Apple Got it Right†, Advertizing and marketing report. http://www.admarketreview.com/public_html/air/ai200308.html (Glen Emerson Morris has been a senior consultant for Yahoo!, Ariba, WebMD, Inktomi, Apple, and Adobe.) Moloney, Belinda; Cybulski, Jacob; and Nguyen, Lemai, â€Å"Value Perception in Music Information Systems† (2008). ACIS 2008 Proceedings. Paper 73 Nguyen-Khac T. Q., 2003. The music industry in a dilemma (research paper for the ITS conference Helsinki, August 2003. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_industry#History Sony BMG, Universal, Warner, EMI World music market sales shares, according to IFPI (2005) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_industry#History Nguyen-Khac T. Q., 2003. The music industry in a dilemma (research paper for the ITS conference Helsinki, August 2003 Nguyen-Khac T. Q., 2003. The music industry in a dilemma (research paper for the ITS conference Helsinki, August 2003. Moloney, Belinda; Cybulski, Jacob; and Nguyen, Lemai, â€Å"Value Perception in Music Information Systems† (2008). ACIS 2008 Proceedings. Paper 73 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_industry Arango T., November 26 2008. â€Å"Digital Sales Surpass CDs at Atlantic† New York Times. Emerson G. M., 2007. â€Å"The Apple iTunes Music Store: How Apple Got it Right†, Advertizing and marketing report. http://www.admarketreview.com/public_html/air/ai200308.html Glen Emerson Morris has been a senior consultant for Yahoo!, Ariba, WebMD, Inktomi, Apple, and Adobe. Arango T., November 26 2008. â€Å"Digital Sales Surpass CDs at Atlantic† New York Times.

Edgar Allan Poe?s ?The Philosophy of Composition? :: essays research papers

Shortly after Edgar Allan Poe had completed his masterpiece, â€Å"The Raven† and sold it for $15 in 1845, he composed an essay entitled â€Å"The Philosophy of Composition†. In the essay, he claims that writing a poem was a methodical process, much like solving a mathematical problem. Poe emphasized that a poem should be read and enjoyed in one sitting, thus concluding that a poem should be around 100 lines long (The Raven was 108 lines long). Poe also states that his method of writing a poem consists of writing it backwards. Each section of the poem relies heavily upon alliteration and alternating interior rhythms. Poe used a method to appeal to both popular and critical tastes by hitting upon the most melancholic of all subjects: the death of a beautiful woman. "The death†¦of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetic topic in the world – and equally is it beyond the doubt that the lips best suited for such topic are those of a bereaved lover". Of all the themes, he chose death, because it was an emotion that everyone can relate to. Poe believed that the most poetic use of the theme death was the death of a beautiful woman. Having the theme and subject planned out, he composed his poem backwards, adding uses of the word â€Å"nevermore†. The alliteration of â€Å"nevermore† builds tension, stanza by stanza. Poe wanted to create poetry of feeling, to be able to relate the reader with the narrator. However, it has been suggested that â€Å"The Philosophy of Composition† was a hoax, and it is unlikely that it is an account of his poem, â€Å"The Raven†. Scholars are skeptical because he enjoys revealing his secrets a little too much in that he loved to explain and analyze his writing skills.

On the Consequential Validity of ESP tests in Iran

The eventful facet of concept cogency has been defined in different ways. Harmonizing to Messick ( 1989 ) eventful cogency includes grounds and principles for measuring the intended and unintended effects of mark reading and usage in both the short- and long term, peculiarly those associated with prejudice in hiting and reading, with unfairness in trial usage, and with positive or negative washback effects on instruction and acquisition. However, this signifier of grounds should non be viewed as a separate type of cogency, say, of ‘consequential cogency ‘ or, worse still, ‘washback cogency ‘ ( Messick, 1998 ) . Whereas, Bachman ( 1990 ) and Bachman & A ; Palmer ( 1996 ) used the term impact to depict these effects of trials. The impact of trial usage operates at two degrees: a micro degree, in footings of the persons who are influenced by the peculiar trial usage, and a macro degree, in footings of the educational system or society ( Bachman & A ; Palmer, 1996 ) . In this survey, following the taxonomy of Bachman and Palmer, the effects of trials on instruction and acquisition are viewed washback effects and the effects on single interest holders i.e. , scholars, instructors, parents, and test takers ‘ household members, and society are considered as impact. Since a few decennaries ago, the impacts of different linguistic communication trials either at macro or micro degrees have been studied. The literature reappraisal indicates that there has been a general consensus that high-stakes trials produce strong washback. High-stakes trials are those whose consequences are used to do of import determinations which instantly and straight impact the trial takers ( Luxia, 2005 ; Madaus, 1988 ; Shohamy, 1993a, 1993b, 2001 ) and other stakeholders such as instructors who are assisting the trial takers to go through the trials, and the other participates who are engaged in course of study development and class designing ( Baily, 1999 ; Spolsky, 1997 ) . The term ‘backwash ‘ has been used to mention to the manner a trial influences learning stuffs and schoolroom direction ( Hughes,1989 ) , although in applied linguistics and linguistic communication proving community the term ‘washback ‘ is more widely used today ( Weir 1990 ; Alderson & A ; Wall 1993 ; Alderson, 2004 ) . Washback is by and large known as being either negative or positive ( Taylor,2005 ) . Negative washback is said to happen when the content or format of a trial is based on a narrow definition of linguistic communication ability, and so constrains the teaching/learning context. Positive washback is said to ensue when a testing process encourages ‘good ‘ instruction pattern ; for illustration, an unwritten proficiency trial is introduced in the outlook that it will advance the instruction of talking accomplishments ( Taylor, 2005 ) . The impact of a trial can be immediate or delayed ( Andrews, 1994 ; Andrews & A ; Fullilove 1994 ) . Harmonizing to these research workers, washback seems to be associated chiefly with ‘high-stakes ‘ trials, that is, trials used for doing of import determinations that affect different sectors. , for illustration, finding who receives admittance into farther instruction or employment chances ( Chapman & A ; Snyder, 2000 ) . Shohamy, Donitza-Schmitdt & A ; Ferman ( 1996 ) believe that the state of affairss in which admittance, publicity, arrangement or graduation is dependent on the trial are really of import and great attention is needed. Harmonizing to Taylor ( 2005 ) , linguistic communication trials can hold effects beyond merely the schoolroom. That is, trials and trial consequences have a important impact on the calling or life opportunities of single trial takers ( educational/employment chances ) . They besides influence educational systems and society more widely ; for illustration, trial consequences are used to do determinations about school course of study planning, in-migration policy, or professional enrollment for physicians ; and the growing of a trial may take publishing houses and establishments to bring forth trial readying stuffs and run trial readying classs. Bachman ( 1990 ) used the term impact to depict these effects of trials. Some linguistic communication examiners consider washback as one dimension of impact, depicting effects on the educational context ( Hamp-Lyons 1997 ) ; others see washback and impact as separate constructs associating severally to ‘micro ‘ and ‘macro â €˜ effects within society ( Bachman & A ; Palmer, 1996 ) . Most examiners locate both constructs within the theoretical impression of ‘consequential cogency ‘ in which the societal effects of proving are portion of a broader, incorporate construct of trial cogency ( Messick, 1989, 1996 ) . Consequential cogency has been extensively discussed among linguistic communication examiners in recent old ages ( Kunnan, 2000 ) . As eventful cogency is a complex impression, we try to analyze specific portion of it known trials effects on trial takers, instructors, and society. Although washback effects on instruction and acquisition has been both theoretically and through empirical observation discussed and several washback hypotheses were put frontward, rather a few empirical surveies have been carried out to research the ESP trials negative or positive effects on trial takers ‘ life and society at big. Therefore, the present survey purposes at researching the ESP trials ‘ effects on Persian interest holders ‘ life, and society. In making so, the undermentioned research inquiry was raised: What impacts do ESP/ EAP trials have on the life of campaigners for station alumnus surveies as good the system of higher instruction at Persian local universities?Method and processThis survey is portion of an extended probe to research ESP trials, constituents of maestro and doctorial enterance scrutiny to province universities, effects on maestro, Ph.D campaigners and ESP instructors. To merely set it, the intent of this component was to place and depict the effects which these trials may hold on the Persian interest holders including instructors, trial takers, parents and scholars ‘ household memebers, and society. A qualitative attack was selected because this facet of eventful cogency is underpinned by personal and organisational civilization and small of relevancy has been reported in the literature. Qualitative research is context based, therefore it is imperative for research workers to enroll participants in a crystalline mode. The participants were 16 maestro and 10 Ph.D pupils of different big leagues and 5 ESP instructors at different universities in Iran. Datas were gathered during face-to-face in-depth interviews. The research workers informed the participants of the intent of the research and obtained their written consent. The research workers besides obtained the participants ‘ permission to audiotape each interview for intents of content analysis and audit trail. The interviews were conducted in both an unstructured and a semi-structured mode. All participants were interviewed in privateness. Each interview began with the inquiry: ‘What do you believe of ESP trials effects? The reply to which was followed by inquiries designed to arouse specific effects of the mark trials, such as: ‘what was the most positive or negative effects of these trials? The participants were besides asked to depict their experiences, attitudes and beliefs about the ESP trials and their impacts on their life. The interviews lasted on norm for about 30 proceedingss. Interviewing took topographic point during all yearss over a six-week period, until the informations collected were being systematically duplicated. No new information was gained from the last three interviews, therefore informations impregnation was considered to hold been achieved. The interview informations were instantly transcribed verbatim and analyzed utilizing qualitative content analysis. Contented analysis is a subjective reading of the content of textual informations utilizing a procedure of systematic categorization. This procedure uses chiefly inductive logical thinking, by which subjects and classs emerge from natural informations under careful scrutiny and changeless comparing ( Strauss and Corbin, 1990 ) . One feature of qualitative content analysis is that the method, to a great extent, focuses on the topic and the context, and emphasizes differences between and similarities within subjects and classs. Another feature is that this method trades with manifest every bit good as latent content in a text. Manifest content consists of respondents ‘ existent words organizing constructs, while subjects are seen as looks of the latent content. In this survey the method of coding harmonizing to qualitative content analysis was used to deduce classs and subjects from the informations, which were identified from the first interviews and so tested and revised through analysis of wining interview ( Marvast, 2004 ) . To guarantee dependability and supply an appraisal of inter-rater dependability, the research worker and the research helper coded interviews separately, discussed the result, agreed on alterations and so individually coded the following interview. In the first five interviews, over 80 % of the codifications were shown to be consistent between the two research workers. These interviews were re-coded after a two-day interval by the same squad and found to be stable. The same cryptography strategy was so applied to a re-analysis of all interviews. The research workers besides reviewed and discussed the full interview coding to guarantee consistence.FindingssThe 31 participants consisted of 16 maestro and 10 Ph.D pupils and 5 ESP instructors. Four subjects were extracted from the interview informations utilizing qualitative content analysis: psychological, societal, fiscal, and household effects. Each of these chief classs is farther divided into subcategories which are described in ins ide informations in the undermentioned parts of the survey.Psychological effectsAbout all participants stated that ESP trials had great psychological effects. This chief class is subcategorized into emphasis, anxiousness, assurance, depression, learning efficaciousness, and letdown.Stress and anxiousnessMany of the participants acknowledged that they had experienced a sort of anxiousness before or even after ESP trials are administered. The undermentioned illustrations illustrate this subject. Clairvoyance trials are truly hard and the transitions are long. When I do non cognize the significance of unknown words, I become nervous and I do non try all the points. My public presentation on these trials influences my hereafter so believing about the consequence causes me emphasis. In fact, all trials are nerve-racking but linguistic communication trials are something different because a specific readying is needed ( participant 1 ) . Another participant described test effects as stressful. He said: The consequences are non announced shortly. Sometimes, I have to wait for approximately three months. During this clip, I ever think about the trial consequences. Such ideas cause me a batch of emphasis ( participant 3 ) . Ph.D campaigners besides acknowledged that the ESP subdivision of entryway scrutiny was awfully nerve-racking. A participant said: I had no jobs in content topics. My lone job was specific English. I about translated about 70 pages of my ESP book but the transitions given to us to be translated were unobserved. When I did non cognize the significances of some unknown words, I got confused. Such confusion led to my mental emphasis. That is why ; I could non hold a good public presentation. Even one point can do a alteration in the opportunity of admittance. When the consequences were announced, I noticed that if my mark on ESP subdivision were one point higher, I would go through the entryway test ( participant 12 ) .DepressionMajority of the participants argued that the consequences of the trials and trial phobic disorder greatly influenced and depressed them so that they could non analyze any longer. Such a sort of depression sometimes affected their day-to-day activities. The undermentioned illustrations illustrate this subject. You may non cognize about trial effects. The English trials sometimes turn out to be a sort of catastrophe in our life. Due to many known and unknown factors, we are depressed before and after taking linguistic communication trials. Sometimes we feel so down that we can non make anything. We can non even acquire out of bed to eat breakfast or tiffin. Even, we do non speak to anyone for a twosome of yearss ( participant 6 ) . Another participant stated: Regardless of trial consequences, whether to neglect or go through, due to the nature of ESP trials administered at province and nonstate universities in my state, I become down. The trials are non mensurating what I need. They merely test interlingual rendition ability of the pupils ; whereas, I do non necessitate interlingual rendition. I may go through the trial but I can non utilize ESP linguistic communication to run into my academic demands. My mark is non bad but I can non even compose a paragraph or sum up a transition. That is why ; I ever feel down ( participant 16 ) .DisappointmentThe participants of the survey believed that they sometimes felt defeated and gave up perusal. The undermentioned illustrations are given to exemplify this subject: I took Ph.D trial several times but I ever failed because of my bad public presentation in ESP subdivision of the trial. I got tired and eventually defeated. Even if I pass the ESP portion of the trial, I am non pleased because these trials do non mensurate what we need at all. Therefore, I ever felt defeated and planned to give up my analyzing for Ph.D scrutiny ( participant 8 ) . Another participant added: At first I was truly interested in analyzing for Ph.D entryway scrutiny but holding failed the trial several times I lost my motive and felt defeated. Such a sort of feeling lasted for a long clip. Despite the undependability and invalidness of these trials, they had great influence on the campaigners ‘ admittance. I got defeated and unwillingly gave up Ph.D ( participant 2 ) . As the participants do non cognize anything about the range of contents which are given in the trial, they may non try hard to acquire prepared. They believed that their cognition in English is limited and they may non be able to make their best in the unobserved contents. One of the participants said: The campaigners do non cognize how much readying is needed. The ESP texts are infinite. I remember I studied and translated more than 200 pages but the trial transitions were non in the scope of stuffs which I was familiar with. Even an unknown word confused me. That is why I am non certain I can reply all the transitions because they may be unfamiliar to me and this makes me defeated. I gave up analyzing ESP ( participant 10 ) . Furthermore, the participants acknowledged that their public presentation on ESP trials depends on their general linguistic communication public presentation to a great extent. As they are non good at general linguistic communication, they have no opportunity to larn ESP. They believed that they about know some proficient words which they can non utilize in context because of their general linguistic communication. As the consequences, they are hopeless to larn English for ESP/EAP intents. One of the participants stated: English linguistic communication is non given appropriate attending in our state. The clip allocated to learning English at secondary and third schools is non plenty. Teachers merely focus on grammar and reading. Because we have no exposure to reliable linguistic communication we easy bury what we learned in high schools. How one does anticipate us to larn English in such a sort of instruction system in which merely a few grammatical constructions and a twosome of words are taught. I studied English for approximately seven old ages but I can non even compose a short paragraph. I think the consequences of ESP trials indirectly disappoint the pupils. I myself am one of those defeated 1s. I think I ne'er pass ESP/ EAP trials such as IELTS or IBT TOFEl. In one of the Ph.D trial taken two old ages ago, the trial takers were asked to interpret a transition from Persian to English. Although I knew all words, I could non make the undertaking because I did non cognize how to unite the words t o do a text ( participant 18 ) .Self- assurance and efficaciousnessThe participants believed that their assurance is greatly influenced by these trials. They stated that by utilizing their short memory capacity they can memorise a list of proficient words and some specific transitions. They may achieve a good mark which leads to a sort of false assurance. They may believe that this mark indicates their true ability and may give up analyzing English. One of the participants said: I merely studied for two months. In fact, I got a good mark. Having seen my mark on ESP trial, I felt a high self-confident. I thought I could run into my all academic demands ; hence, I stopped reading my English books. During my maestro categories, I noticed how weak I was in English. I could non even interpret a paper. I had to apportion about all my clip analyzing English. You can non conceive of how hard it was for me to go through ESP classs in two semesters ( participant 17 ) . Refering the impact of the trials on assurance, another participant stated: When I saw my mark I became really confident and felt proud. Some of my friends failed the trial. I sneered at them. It was a great accomplishment for me. Majority of the trial takers failed these ESP trials but I passed. Therefore, it was a good bravery for me to take even hard trials. English trials differ from the other trials, so go throughing them successfully is truly of much significance in my assurance ( participant 13 ) . The consequences of the survey besides indicate that the pupils ‘ low tonss on ESP trials led to assurance waking up. One of the participants said: I have taken Ph.D entryway scrutiny three times. My tonss on capable trials were non bad, but I had no good public presentation in ESP sub-test of entryway scrutiny. My friends who were good at English could go through the entryway scrutiny and enter the university. Such a failure in ESP trials caused me to lose my assurance and give up fixing for Ph.D scrutinies because I knew it does non worth the monetary value to pass clip larning English ( participant 6 ) . The consequences besides indicate that ESP trials will do a sort of false positive sense of learning efficaciousness among ESP teachers. The undermentioned illustration illustrated this subject. The alleged ESP trials administered at our universities merely lay accent on proficient vocabulary and proficient reading transitions. I am good at these accomplishments. I am able to learn these accomplishments really good. Because of such prepardness, I think I am a good ESP instructor and feel efficaciouse. However, when the pupils require to the other academic accomplishments, I about ever to hedge their petitions ( participant 19 ) .Social effectsThe 2nd emerged subject of the survey is categorized as the effects of the trials on the society at big. The participants acknowledged that the entryway exams peculiarly ESP sub-tests surely have great impacts on the society. The societal impacts can be subcategorized as: want from high instruction, unfairness and unethical issues, and credence of unqualified campaigners. Each of these subcategories is elaborated as follows ( participant 14 ) .Want from instructionThe participants acknowledged that the consequences of choice tests- eith er norm-referenced or criterion-referenced- will surely ensue in some campaigners ‘ want from instruction. They believed that ESP tests non unlike the other trials do hold such impacts. They believe the campaigners whose English is good can accomplish a good mark on ESP trials and are ranked higher than those with low English proficiency. Therefore, the 1s with low English proficiency are deprived from analyzing for maestro and Ph.D grades although their tonss on the content sub-tests are non bad in comparing with the other campaigners. One of the participants said: I answered about all points of entryway test except ESP points. That is why, I did non go through the trial but my friends who answered English points passed and were accepted in really good and modern universities such as Tehran universities. Two or three times I failed. Finally, I got tired and did non try entryway scrutinies to post graduation schools. I was deprived. Such a failure is merely due to my failing in English ( participant 20 ) . Another participant stated: If I had been able to reply the points of ESP sub-part of the Ph.D entryway scrutiny I would hold passed the trial and I could hold become a extremely educated individual in my state. In fact, my lone job was merely my failing in English. Damn English trial turned out to be a catastrophe in my life. As the consequences, the societey disadvantages the qualified people ( participant 18 ) .Injustice and unethical issuesParticipants of the survey besides stated that the ESP trials administered at our universities lead to injustice and unethical issues. That is, about all campaigners acknowledged that Persian people in different metropoliss do non hold entree to the same educational installations such as linguistic communication and trial readying institutes to larn a foreign linguistic communication ; whereas, they have to take the same norm-referenced trials. Therefore, any determination made based on the campaigners ‘ public presentation on these trials in which the campaigners d o non hold the same privileges, is to a great extent unethical and unjust. The undermentioned illustrations are given to exemplify this subject: In fact I do non hold with the policy of trial development and disposal which is presently practiced in our state. Some of the trial takers live in large metropoliss with adequate educational installations. They can go to linguistic communication categories. They can fix instructional stuffs easy. They benefit from really experient linguistic communication instructors. I do non hold the opportunity to do usage of these necessary things. In Iran, the Ph.D campaigners have to take the same trial. Those who began larning English at the earlier age and attended different linguistic communication categories can surely reply all linguistic communication trial points. Sometimes, the campaigners ‘ tonss on content classs are the same but their tonss on English trial are different. Therefore, I think it is non just and ethical to do a determination about the campaigner based on their differences in English tonss ( participant 12 ) . Another participant added: It is truly pathetic. I know some of the maestro pupils whose tonss on content sub-parts of the trial such as applied Chemistry, Physics chemical science were in fact below my tonss. His mark on ESP trial was 90 but mine was 40. He was accepted but I was non. Make you believe it is just? I am certain that neither can he compose a paper nor understand a talk in English. So why should he go through but I fail? . Truly, it is unethical ( participant 5 ) . The consequences of the survey besides indicate that although ESP trials play of import functions in credence or non credence of the campaigners into station alumnus schools ; no 1 knows for certain that these trials measure the scholars ‘ true ESP cognition. Therefore, deficiency of correspondence between ESP trial contents and mark linguistic communication usage state of affairs undertakings will do a sort of unethical and unjust issue. A participant mentioned: How does one cognize that ESP trials are reliable, dependable, and valid? Surely those with good tonss are accepted. Even one point is of import. But are those who scored high on ESP trials able to utilize linguistic communication in mark linguistic communication usage state of affairss? — — I truly doubt. Is it just to accept campaigners based on the consequences of such unimportant trials? — – These are non just and ethical ( participant 19 ) .Credence of unqualified campaignersAnother emerged subject is credence of unqualified campaigners. The participants of the survey believed that entryway scrutiny to third and station alumnus schools are all norm-referenced. In norm-referenced trials even one decimal is finding. Naturally, the mean mark and percentile rank of the trial takers are the standards for credence or non- credence. Therefore, ESP portion of the entryway scrutinies is of much significance. Assuming that the campaigners are all equal in their tonss on content trials but different from each other in ESP trial, those with a better mark on ESP trial are accepted. There are times when the more qualified campaigners are rejected and less adept 1s are accepted. These so- called Ph.D campaigners will be the hereafter directors, professors, etc. They may be less qualified than the 1s non accepted. The undermentioned illustrations are given to exemplify this subject. I think the campaigners should be accepted or rejected merely based on their tonss on proficient trials. How one is proficient in English is non of import. Those who are good at proficient topics are in fact more qualified to come in station alumnus surveies than those who are adept in English but weak at proficient topics ( participant 16 ) . Another participant stated If the campaigners are accepted based on their average tonss on proficient and ESP sub-tests of choice trial, it is more likely that a good mark one a one separate sub-test influences the mean mark and increases the chance of credence. ESP sub-test can besides hold the same function. Therefore, those campaigners whose average mark is positively influenced by ESP mark may be less qualified than those with proper tonss on proficient sub-tests but bad mark on ESP trial ( participant 11 ) .Fiscal effectsThe consequences of the survey indicated that linguistic communication trials peculiarly EAP entryway scrutiny trials have great fiscal effect for both persons and parents. The pupils who are serious about come ining a extremely ranked university spend eventides, weekends and even holidaies fixing for the trial at assorted exam readying schools which provide a assortment of training services. The participants acknowledged that auxiliary instruction of this sort costs a good trade of money and the pupils and their households are willing to do such forfeits. The fiscal effects include text editions, linguistic communication establishment, private coachs, and test readying schoolroom disbursals. The undermentioned illustrations illustrate this subject. I am a pupil and I do non hold excessively much money. I spent rather a batch of money on purchasing text editions and sample EAP trials. I besides spent some money for trial readying categories. Even a penny was of import to me but I had to pass it to purchase the needed books ( participant 6 ) . Another participant stated: My English was non good. I decided to travel to some linguistic communication instructors to learn me. The private category tuition was someway high. Although paying that sum of money was truly hard I had to pay it because I had to ( participant 14 ) . Entrance scrutinies peculiarly linguistic communication trials sometimes have indirect fiscal effects. Participants argued that alternatively of blowing clip to larn English, they can work someplace and gain a great trade of money. One participant argued: I have Master of Science grade in Chemistry. I can hold a good occupation with a great salary but I determined to acquire prepared for Ph.D entryway scrutiny. I studied for about 12 months. If I had worked 12 months, I would hold earned about 12000 dollars. I merely studied difficult but I failed the trial merely because o my bad public presentation in English trials. My mark on the other topics was non bad. I am certain if I had got a better mark on English subpart of the trial, I could hold passed the trial successfully ( participant 9 ) .Family effectsThe EAP/ESP trials have besides some household effects. Participants acknowledged that the consequences of these trials influence the household members of the trial takers to a great extent straight or indirectly. They are emotionally, financially, and psychologically influenced. The undermentioned illustrations are given to exemplify this subject. As I had to analyze hard for the entryway scrutinies, I had no more clip to pass with my household ( my married woman and kids ) . Whenever they asked me to take them out, I did non hold, because I merely wanted to analyze. They got worried and they ever complained. Two or three times my married woman decided to disassociate ( participant 3 ) . Another participant stated: I am married and I have to pass a portion of my clip with my household. But because of the importance of scrutiny, I merely studied. When I was analyzing I could non gain adequate money. Therefore, I could non run into my household fiscal demands. It is their right to hold everything they like. They sometimes did non understand me and in fact felt depressed ( participant 13 ) . The trial takers ‘ psychological and societal jobs caused by trials indirectly influence their household members. One of the household members stated: Persian households are really emotionally closed. They can non be apathetic to each other. Whenever a household member feels worried, down, or disappointed, the other members have the same feelings. When I was fixing myself for the trial I had to travel to bed late and my household stayed awake ( participant 20 ) .DiscussionThe consequences obtained from a trial can hold seriouse effects for persons every bit good the programmes, because many of import determinations are made on the footing of the trials ‘ consequences ( Herman & A ; Golan, 1993 ) . Language scholars and the other participants may be influenced by official information about a trial prior to its administeration including advertisement stuffs from the trial publishing houses or by folk-knowledge such as studies from the pupils who have taken the trials earlier. They may besides be affected by several beginnings of feedback following trial administeration. These would include the existent trial tonss provided by the test hiting service, feedback from the trial takers such as what was easy or hard, what seemed just or unjust, expected, or unexpected, feedback from the monitors, and feedback from the instructors in reaction to the pupils ‘ tonss ( Baily, 1999 ) . Taylor ( 2005 ) besides believes that linguistic communication trials can hold effects beyond merely the schoolroom. Trials and trial consequences have a important impact on the calling or life opportunities of single trial takers. The impacts of different types of trials in different countries of the universe have been studied through empirical observation. The types of trials include national school scrutinies in Sri Lanka ( Wall and Alderson, 1993 ; Wall, 1997,2000 ) , Israel Shohamy et al. , 1996 ) , and Hong Kong ( Cheng, 1997, 1998 ) ; university entryway scrutinies in Japan ( Watanabe, 1997 & A ; 2004 ) ; and international proficiency trials ( Alderson and Hamp-Lyons, 1996 ) . Much of what was revealed by these surveies had to make with what Hughes ( 1989,1988 ) would name the â€Å" procedures † of instruction: the choice of content ( accomplishments, learning stuffs, exam readying stuffs ) , the methodological analysis instructors used and the ways in which they assessed their ain pupils. The findings associating to `participants ‘ frequently had to make with the emphasis and anxiousness felt by instructors and scholars. In line with findings of the above mentioned impact surveies, the consequences of the present survey indicated that maestro and doctorial ESP trials administered as national entryway scrutiny to Persian province universities influence scholars, ESP instructors and society in different ways. The first subject emerged from the content analysis of the interviews was describrd as the psychological effects. The psychological impacts were subcategorized into emphasis and anxiousness, depression, letdown, and false self- assurance and learning efficay. The findings of the impact surveies carried out in different parts of the universe merely confirmed scholars and instructors ‘ emphasis and anxiousness before and after trial administeration ; whereas, the consequences of the present survey indicate that in adition to emphasize and anxiousness, the scholars become down and defeated. Furthermore, their assurance is negatively influenced by such trials. Pearson ( 1988 ) says it is accepted that public scrutinies influence the attitudes, behaviours, and motives of the scholars, parents, and instructors. This influence is frequently seen as negative. The reappraisal of literature besides indicated that scrutinies distort course of study. The fidings of the present survey besides indicated that a chief negative effect of ESP trials on Persian ESP instructors is deformation of course of study. That is, they ignore linguistic communication accomplishments which do non lend straight to go throughing the test. Rather, they merely lay accent on learning proficient vocabulary and reading through limited learning schemes such as interlingual rendition to pupils ‘ native linguistic communication. As such a sort of learning method does non necessitate proficiency in the other linguistic communication accomplishments, the instructor think they are really efficaciouse. That is why, they think they have a high instruction efficaciousness. Participants of the survey besides reported that ESP/EAP trials have societal effects. Not unlike the findings of washback surveies, the consequences of the survey indicated that societal effects of ESP trials including want from high instruction, unfairness, and credence of unqualified campaigners are all negative. Therefore, in line with Davies, 1997 ; Messick,1989,1994, 1996 ; Hamp-Lyons, 1997a, 1997b, 1989,2000,1999 ; McNamara, 1999 reasoning for a professional morality among linguistic communication examiners to protect the profession ‘s members and persons from the abuse and maltreatment of the trial, it could be argued that ESP trials in Iran are unjust and violate moralss premises. Sing the usage of ESP trials use as instruments of societal policy and control and their gate-keeping map ( Spolsky, 1997, 1981, 1994 ) , it could be argued that ESP trials in Iran will take to acceptance and rejection of some campaigners whom we are non certain of their true ability ; accord ingly, the society does non profit from the qualified campaigners and some qualified campaigners are deprived from instruction while it is their ain civil and societal right to be accepted in universities. ESP trials practiced at Persian universities, to set in words of Shohamy ( 1997, 1993,1998, 2000 ) , contain contents or employ methods which are non just to all test-takers. As the consequences, utilizations of such trials which exercise control and manipulate stakeholders instead than supplying information on the proficiency degrees seem to be against moralss of linguistic communication testing. Fiscal impact of ESP trials on trial takers was the 3rd subject emerged from the content analysis of the present survey informations. Due to the impacts of the enterance scrutinies on the calling or life opportunities of single trial takers, they have to pass a great trade of money for readying categories, sample trials, and even private tuition. As bulk of the trial takers are pupils or unemployed, it is someway hard for them to gain money. Therefore, their life is greatly influenced by the consequences of trials. Furthermore, the trial takers who are bread victors of the household can non fulfill their households financially, because they do non hold clip to work someplace to gain money. Furthermore, the consequences indicated that the trial takers ‘ household members such as parents, kids, hubbies, and married womans, are all straight or indirectly influence by the trials effects. The findings of the other surveies indicated trial effects on the scholars ‘ parents ; whereas, this survey showed that in add-on to scholars ‘ parents, their kids, hubbies, and married womans were all influenced by psychological, societal, and fiscal effects of the trials. Such clear difference between the findings of this survey and the other surveies is profoundly rooted in the differences between the cultural and societal values of the scholars. In Iran, household members closely related and experience sympathy with each other. About all effects reported by the participants were negative. That is, niether do they ensue in great inventions in acquisition and learning ESP nor do they hold posotive and good effects on the interest holders. The great negative effects of ESP trials, acoording to Kiani, Akbari, and Alibakhshi ( forthcoming ) are due their deficiency of straightness and genuineness. They believe that reliable trials will surely take to great posotive effects. Another justification for such negative effects is the intent of ESP trials and the decicisions which are made on the footing of trials. Naturally the negative effects of norm-referenced trials are more serious than criterion-referenced 1s.DecisionThis survey was an effort to expolre the effects of ESP trials on trial takers and instructors ‘ life and society. The premise is that valid trials have posotive effects on the interest holders, society and educational systems and invalid trials have negative effects on all interest holders an d distort course of study. The consequences of the present survey showed that the effects of the ESP trials were all negative. Therefore, it could be concluded that these trials lack eventful cogency which is a chief constituent of costruct cogency ( Messick, ) . Sing such a fatal defect in ESP trials, we suggest that great alterations in the contents, intent and determinations made on the footing of these trials consequences are needed so that we can do a alteration in learning ESP at our local universities. That is, it is concluded that the invalid trials should non be used as the instruments which filter the entery and nonentry of some candiadates to province universities. Furthermore, any determination made on the footing of invalid trials is against the critical issues of equity and moralss. Therfore, it is indispensable that the trial developers try to devlope more reliable and direct trials, because reliable and direct trials have a good washback cogency.

Two Main Approaches to Learn About Nature in the Process of Science

In the process of science, scientist use two main approaches to learn about nature; Discovery Science and Hypothesis based science. With Discovery Science, scientist observe and describe objects, and with Hypothesis based Science, scientist make a hypothesis, make deductions and then test the predictions. In our everyday lives we use Hypothesis based science to solve many different problems. There is a criterion that is needed in order to have a hypothesis-based scientific study. To start you must have an observation and generalizations from discovery science. You must have questions and tentative answers to the questions. You must also have deductions that will lead you to predictions. And lastly be able to test the predictions to see if the hypothesis is falsiable. In experiments the use of control groups and experimental groups helps to control the variables. A large sample size is always a better choice than a small sample size to eliminate the possibility of chance. A case study of hypothesis-based science is both different from and similar to a case study from every day life. The two are similar in many ways. Both studies require that you make an observation as well as make a hypothesis from the observation. They are also similar in the fact that they both need a prediction, and both predictions needed to be tested in order to see if they are falsiable. The two are also very different from each other in other aspects. A hypothesis based science study needs to have two different groups of subjects; an example would be an experimental group and a control group. Hypothesis based science also needs to factor in sample size. With a case study from every day life there are a lot less factors that you have to be concerned with. The basic differences between the two are as follows: Everyday Life -Hypothesize using testable and falsifiable hypotheses -are predicted by using If-Then statements -Test predictions -Conclude the findings Hypothesis Based Science -The above steps but with tighter regulations -Experimental and control groups are required -Sample size must be large enough to generalize results -Must be an experimental variable An experiment of my choice that I researched is a double-blind study evaluating the long-term safety of varenicline for smoking cessation (WILLIAMS Kathryn E. ; REEVES Karen R. BILLING Clare B. ; PENNINGTON Ann M. ; GONG Jason) This experiment asses the safety of long term varenidine for smoking cessation. Subjects were chosen at random, and it was large sample size of 376. There was a control group and an experimental group. The experimental group received varenicline and the control group received a placebo. Subjects were monitored by weekly visits that after week eight turne d into visits of every 4 weeks. Subjects vital signs were documented each visit along with smoking status. All subjects were also provided with a brief counseling. The conclusions of this study were: â€Å"Varenicline 1 mg BID can be safely administered for up to 1 year. Varenicline was also a more effective smoking cessation aid than placebo throughout the study, supporting both its short- (12-week) and long-term (52-week) efficacy† I chose this study because I think that it fits the criteria and demonstrates the basic considerations in a good designed study. I can use my knowledge of the scientific method when reading medical journals to figure out the authenticity of the experiment. This will help me as a nurse to comprehend the research being presented on specific diseases as well as treatments.