Ethic case 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethic case 2 - Essay Example Socrates’ statement that â€Å"The unexamined life is not worth living,† summarizes his idea of good life. The examined life reveals that human lives and ways of living are unequal. Life appears on a hierarchical order. However, Socrates fail to clarify the precise ranking of life and does not provide where any given kind of life belong in the hierarchy. From his interaction with different people, Socrates gets first-hand information, which makes him to conclude that â€Å"unexamined life is not worth living.† He believes that Athens does not persevere to obtain what is good. About good life, Socrates exemplifies the enlightenment stance. His notion is that ethical virtue defines a good life, which entails the practice of specific proficiency or wisdom concerning ethical issues. According to Socrates, pragmatic wisdom about ethical issues entails knowing the meaning of virtues, which involves the riddance of irregularity in belief concerning the meaning of virtues. In his pursuit of true knowledge, he comments, "Certainly I would pride and preen myself if I had this knowledge, but I do not have it, gentlemen." As it appears, Socrates believes in true wisdom founded on

Non Probability Sampling Methods Essay Example for Free

Non Probability Sampling Methods Essay Non-probability sampling is that sampling procedure which does not afford any basis for estimating the probability that each item in the population has of being included in the sample. In this type of sampling, items for the sample are selected deliberately by the researcher; his choice concerning the items remains supreme. Non-Probability Sampling Methods: The common feature in non probability sampling methods is that subjective judgments are used to determine the population that are contained in the sample. The common groups are discussed below; 1. Convenience Sampling 2. Judgement Sampling 3. Quota Sampling 4. Snowball sampling Convenience Sampling This type of sampling is used primarily for reasons of convenience, researchers might either be in need of urgent data so cannot conduct a thorough research or it is simply to satisfy ones curiosity about a subject. This form of sampling is used mostly in marketing studies. For example; a new yoghurt processing company is interested in knowing opinions about the new product (issues like flavour of the yoghurt, consistency of the yoghurt and packaging). The perception is to produce what would best appeal to the customers. A private researcher has been hired and he asks his neighbours (convenient sample) their opinion about the yoghurt. Judgement Sampling The researcher’s personal judgement guides the selection criteria; his discretion that the selected members are representative of the entire population guides the findings. It is used mainly in product tests. For example a research team has been constituted to conduct a survey, if one of the members drops out; the principle investigator has the right to appoint a replacement. This would be done at the discretion of the principle investigator. 6.3.1.3 Quota Sampling This is a very commonly used sampling method in marketing research studies. Here the sample is selected on the basis of certain basic parameters such as age, sex, income and occupation that describe the nature a population so as to make it representative of the population. The Investigators or field workers are instructed to choose a sample that conforms to these parameters. The field workers are assigned quotas of the number of units satisfying the required characteristics on which data should be collected. However, before collecting data on these units, the investigators are supposed to verify that the units qualify these characteristics. Suppose we are conducting a survey to study the buying behavior of a product and it is believed that the buying behavior is greatly influenced by the income level of the consumers. We assume that it is possible to divide our population into three income strata such as high-income group, middle-income group and low-income group. Further it is known that 20% of the population is in high income group, 35% in the middle-income group and 45% in the low-income group. Suppose it is decided to select a sample of size 200 from the population. Therefore, samples of size 40, 70 and90 should come from high income, middle income and low income groups respectively. Now the various field workers are assigned quotas to select the sample from each group in such a way that a total sample of 200 is selected in the same proportion as mentioned above. 6.3.1.4 Snowball Sampling  · The sampling in which the selection of additional respondents (after the first small group of respondents is selected) is based upon referrals from the initial set of respondents.  · It is used to sample low incidence or rare populations  · It is done for the efficiency of finding the additional, hard-to-find members of the sample. 6.3.1.5 Advantages of Non-probability Sampling  · It is much cheaper to probability sampling.  · It is acceptable when the level of accuracy of the research results is not of utmost importance.  · Less research time is required than probability samples.  · It often produces samples quite similar to the population of interest when conducted properly. 6.3.1.6 Disadvantages of Non-probability Sampling  · You cannot calculate Sampling error. Thus, the minimum required sample size cannot be calculated which suggests that you (researcher) may sample too few or too many members of the population of interest.  · You do not know the degree to which the sample is representative of the population from which it was drawn.  · The research results cannot be projected (generalized) to the total population of interest with any degree of confidence.

Reflective Essay: Reflexivity and Bias in Research

Reflective Essay: Reflexivity and Bias in Research Entry No. 1: January 26, 2015, 8:15 pm My Role as a Researcher I approach the challenge of research in the doctoral level with some degree of apprehension as well as excitement. I have been in the field of business for more or less than a decade now, working in customer service management, so I can appreciate the importance of doing research especially in gauging customer satisfaction and determining how to leverage this to improve the companys competitive advantage. Ensuring customer satisfaction entails several factors. Nowadays, much of the world is hinged on the maximizing technology in order to provide information and choices for customers. Due to the saturation of the Internet nowadays, users are shifting in millions from their laptops to their smartphones. The smartphone is now the site of communication, decision-making, research, shopping, and purchasing. This has altered the way businesses do things. In a very urgent way, it pressures companies to be responsive to customers needs in a real-time manner. Mobile CRM is a novel way of handling customer relations. Using only their mobile devices like smartphones or tables, employees can now retrieve customer information and customer accounts remotely. Where previously, they relied on a laptop to do their work, mobile CRM achieves the same results in an efficient and convenient manner. The question now is how I consider myself or my role as a researcher in the doctorate research I plan to pursue. First, the novelty of mobile CRM and the lack of research in this area is what motivated me to choose this as the research topic. My research is about mobile customer relationship management (CRM) and how it influences customer satisfaction and competitive advantage in the context of Samsung in United Arab of Emirates. Second, I have a wealth of experience in customer relations and have been with Samsung for many years. Hughest and Tight (2013) suggest that a researchers role in the study requires identifying personal values, biases, and assumptions at the very beginning. In this manner, transparency, which is a crucial element in objectivity, is promoted. Ortlipp (2008) states that keeping a research diary is an excellent method of upholding transparency in research since it details the research process in a way that allows the researcher to reveal the nuances attached to his or her participation. As a researcher, I have been in customer relations for nearly a decade and I believe that my professional and personal experiences with Samsung will increase my awareness, knowledge and sensitivity to the key issues that my research will attend to. I have experience in implementing mobile CRM and I am fairly knowledgeable with the technology associated with it. This will aid me in recognizes the thoughts, views and experiences of the participants when I interview them. My experiences and worldview will also influence how I interpret and understand the data I collect. Entry No. 2: April 3, 2015 Bias what are mine? One of the biggest problems with qualitative research is bias. Much has been said and explained about the extent to which a researcher can influence the outcomes of the study and whether or not some form of control is needed over the qualitative research process, in what is referred to as the interpretive crisis (Denzin Lincoln, 1994). Interpretive research proceeds differently from positivist research because data is analyzed in an inductive manner. In this manner, the researcher proceeds from a set of facts and interprets them to develop a general theory about a particular phenomenon. This opens the researcher to various possibilities of bias. Unlike the quantitative survey which I am most familiar with, qualitative data collection methods feature the researcher as facilitator. My presence occupies a prominent feature in the conduct of the data collection itself because I am the instrument. Therefore, how I collect the data will impact its quality significantly. For this research, I am considering doing focus group discussions in order to gather the views of users and employees on the impact of mobile CRM. I will be using a semi-structured discussion guide. The focus group is a familiar method used in business research and I am more or less knowledgeable with its general concept. However, I learned to be more conscious of some of the disadvantages of the focus groups. Focus group involves a group of people who are gathered and asked what their attitudes are towards a product or service.   It is not merely a simple gathering where answers are drawn from a set of people; in focus groups, discussion is facilitated. The facilitator can steer the group participants and influence them based on what questions he/she poses. There is also interaction, so participants are free to influence others with their opinion.   A crucial limitation of focus group is the quality of the facilitation (Krueger, 1994). Therefore, should I decide to proceed with the focus group as my primary data collection methods, reducing bias should be a priority. Moderator or facilitator bias will be expected if the facilitator is not skilled enough. He or she should be skilled and competent enough to handle participants who tend to hijack the discussion. I am considering whether I should moderate the focus group or have someone else do it. I have to ensure that my facial expressions, tone, deportment, language style, and gestures do not introduce or facilitate bias. Yet, as Le Gallais (2008) asserts, bias will be present in every researcher since we are influenced by our race, gender, age, and social status. My race for instance, would be a factor in a multi-ethnic focus group. There would be likelihood that I would identify more with Emirati participants than non-Emirati participants and vice versa. Being male, there is also the possibility that in mixed-gender focus groups, my presence would not encourage female participants to share their views. These are things that I need to be specific about when designing the focus group. In order to get quality data, maybe it would be desirable to have all-female, all-male and mixed-group discussions. Another thing I should be careful about is the content of the discussion guide. A biased or leading question influences the participants views and does not reflect good research practice. The manner of asking the question can also be biased. Therefore, the instrument must be checked and validated by an expert to ensure that there are no biased questions. Entry No. 4: December 7, 2016 Reflexivity As I read on theories and worldviews, I realize the importance of the practice of reflexivity. Reflexivity is concerned with a researchers self-awareness and consciousness and being able to own a certain perspective. This requires one to undergo questioning ones self about theoretical positions and how one looks at reality. Being reflexive is an examination of what I know and how I acquired this knowledge I have now. As a qualitative researcher, I need to pay attention to the various socio-political, cultural, and ideological issues surrounding the issue of mobile CRM. For instance, mobile CRM operates under the presumption that the digital world is flat and that users can access technology equally. However, this is not the case. People utilize and appreciate technology based on their social status, age, gender and race. For instance, older customers who are not tech-savvy may not appreciate the delivery of information through mobile phones. Women and men use technology differently and are more likely to have different perceptions about how technology should be used. I recognize how reflexivity is important to me as a doctoral researcher. Being the instrument, I have the power and accountability to interpret the data and to present it to the whole world. I need to ask myself constantly what kind of baggage I carry which will interfere with my interpretation and conduct in the research process. Pe rsonal concerns, ideological conflicts, and health issues are some of the factors I can think of right now which might affect my role as researcher. References       Denzin, N.K. Lincoln, Y.S. (1994). Introduction: Entering the field of qualitative research. In NK Denzin and YS Lincoln (Eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. .Hughes, C. Tight, M. (2013). The metaphors we study by: the doctorate as a journey and/or as work. Higher Education Research Development 32 (5), 765-775. Krueger, R.A. (1994). Focus groups. A practical guide for applied research. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Le Gallais, T. (2008). Wherever I go there I am: reflections on reflexivity and the research stance. Reflective Practice 9 (2)145-155. Ortlipp, M. (2008). Keeping and Using Reflective Journals in the Qualitative Research Process. The Qualitative Report 13(4), 695-705.

communication report :: essays research papers

Communication Report Effective Communication Changes the World This flowing report takes a look at some of the methods of communication observed at Liberty Bell Component Inc. over the past seven weeks. The report may discuss three communication models: 1) an external email message from LBC’s sales department. LBC use email to communicate with their customer mentioned that they were offering a discount on marketable products, 2) a fax message from sales manager. LBC use fax message to complaint about the late delivered, and 3) an external letter from LBC’s sales manager. LBC invited their business members to join the Component Convention in 2005. Each communication model may include three subjects: models’ describe, analyze and recommendation. The report may describe each model in great detail, and analysis the communication with the information necessary for assessing the effectiveness. Describe and analyze the communication model of E-mail message *Please see Appendix I This is an external email message from LBC to the U.S. manufacture’s company. The email subject is â€Å"discount on marketable products†. In this email, LBC offered a special offer of a10% discount on all their products to their customers for only a month. They mentioned the products were very marketable, and it is their final stock and is now out of production. They highly recommend their customers take advantage of this offer and make large order. The tone of the message gave stress the benefits for the reader. In the end of the paragraph, LBC using highlight on the sentence to remind their customers LBC cannot accept the order once they have elapsed. Finally, LBC provided their contact information which including the phone number, fax number, email address, contact person, and company’s address. As we know the email service is always automatic showing the sender, the receiver, and the received day. Therefore, the receiver can clearly understand the sender is and when is the due day for the LBC discount. In this new electronic world, Email is an effective communication model for business to business. I believe strongly in the value of electronic mail in corporate. Email is cheaper and faster than a letter, less intrusive than a phone call, less hassle than a FAX. Using email, differences in location and time zone are less of an obstacle to communication. There is also evidence that email leads to a more egalitarian information structure. Email is more conversational than traditional paper-based media because the turnaround time can be so fast.

Feeling Sympathy for Gertrude and Rhoda in The Withered Arm, by Thomas

Feeling Sympathy for Gertrude and Rhoda in The Withered Arm, by Thomas Hardy The Withered arm is typical of Hardy's novellas, as it is a tragedy. It involves two main characters, Rhoda and Gertrude. Rhoda and Gertrude both have their own different problems that the must face. Rhoda and Gertrude become friends after they first meet. Rhoda had an illegitimate child to farmer lodge who marries Gertrude. Before Rhoda and Gertrude meet Rhoda does not know what Gertrude is like so is bitter about the idea of her marrying farmer lodge who hardy hints Rhoda is still in love with. Rhoda is described to be old before her age and works as a milkmaid. She receives no help in the upbringing of the boy she had with farmer lodge so she works hard to care for him. The other milkmaids talk about her and they start to talk about the subject of farmer lodges new wife. This part makes you feel some sympathy for Rhoda as she is being talked about when she is still there. Because of the times Rhoda was not at all respected for bringing up a child on her own but instead she was treated as a social outcast. No one seemed to blame farmer Lodge for what had happened. The other milkmaids will think nothing of talking about her business when she is there. This makes you feel sympathy for Rhoda because in this day and age the farther would be forced to help at least financially with the upbringing of his son and Rhoda would be respected for her hard work in bringing up a child on her own. Rhoda is curious about the new wife and sends her son of to "check her out", as it would be. She wants to know what his new wife is like. Hardy gives the impression that Rhoda is jealous of the new wife or a least angry that he is taking a new... ...ge says that he is away on holiday. You feel sorry at her desperation as she is only doing this so farmer lodge will like her for her physical beauty but she does not seem to mind. The body that she touches happens to be Rhoda's son and farmer Lodge is with her. You feel sorry for both the women equally as much at the end of the story but for different reasons. Rhoda has had her whole life taken away from her however little it was and Gertrude has now died as a result of trying to improve her physical beauty. In conclusion I think that you can not feel more sympathy towards either woman as they are both in the same boat and it is because of each other that they had so much grief and hardship. If they had nether met or had anything to do with each other then they would not have been like they were. It was all a matter of situation and circumstances.

Workaholics Essay -- essays research papers

INTRODUCTION Why did I choose to write about workaholics? The main reason is that the general picture about these people is bad, but there are a lot of them around us and very often we admire them. They are doing exactly what they love – work – and they can never have enough of it. Although they spend most of their time working, surprisingly they are happy. They show so good results in what they do. But the consequences are great. Family life is disrupted, intellectual horizons narrow and the consequences to the workaholic's health are severe: fat, lack of exercise and stress. Why do people become workaholics? When a person becomes workaholic is there a way back? How should people around him act in order to keep both him and themselves happy? Lets start explaining what workaholics are, how they act and then we'll get answers to this questions. WHAT AND WHO ARE WORKAHOLICS?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The definition of workaholism from a dictionary would be someone who has a compulsion to work all time and a workaholic is someone who loves to work or who is addicted to work. How can this people work throughout the whole day and be happy and never tired knowing that they sleep only for 4-5 hours a day. Perhaps the main reason for this is that people evaluate themselves more on measurable things such as personal achievements and financial worth – not emotional wellness. People often tend to feel guilty if they are not constantly being productive, as they tend to consider relaxation a waste of precious time. They need work to feel good. Workaholics are people who put the work on first place. Usually they need to prove themselves to the their colleagues or their bosses so they would praise them. Sometimes workaholism occurs because the person works to avoid the pain. Workaholism is addiction and all addictions are in a way avoidance of pain. They work just t o cover the pain and not deal with it. Some of the workaholics became what they are because of greed. They can never have enough so they want to work as much as possible. Sometimes the hard workers are being referred as workaholics. While hard workers are ready to work some extra time to finish a project or to meet a deadline, the workaholic uses all his extra time to work. Workaholics don’t have hobbies except if they are related to the job such as golf games with business partners. Everybody thinks tha... ...usiness phone calls the workaholic will make [none can not be at the beginning, but after certain period of time if the whole procedure goes over and over again that can be established]. HOW CAN WORKAHOLIC TURN BACK TO NORMAL? All the methods offered for overwhelming workaholism are either group therapy or self-improvement courses. Both are based on describing what workaholism is, and how dangerous it can be for the entities. Also differentiating the hard working from workaholism. The two courses also tend to make the workaholics reasonable answers to questions like: How much is really enough for me? How long do I usually rest and is this enough? Is what I’m exchanging my life worth it? What summer vacations are for? And maybe the most important: What am I trying to prove and to whom I want to prove myself? Making the workaholic aware of what he has become and what is he actually doing is the first step to turn the person away from his addictiveness and make him get back to track and work normally. Reference: â€Å"Workaholics† – Marilyn Machlowitz *** â€Å"Journal of Applied Psychology† Nr.60 *** â€Å"The truth about burnouts† – Christina Maslach, Michael P. Leiter

“Hedonism” By Jessica Shelby Essay

Oscar Wilde’sThe Picture of Dorian Gray is a prime example of hedonism, a movement in the late 1800’s that claims pleasure to be the prime goal in one’s life. The focus of the novel is the beauty of Dorian Gray, his self-destructive search for pleasure, and the corruption of both the lives he has encountered and his own soul. Beauty and pleasure are the focus of all characters and scenes depicted in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde’s timeless novel vividly portrays the hedonism ideals as the theme of the Picture of Dorian Gray with its characters’ mentality, roles, and eventual demise. The hero of the novel, Dorian Gray, is introduced as an innocent, beautiful young boy until he-in a mad instant- prays that his beauty shall live on while his portrait bares the resemblance of his shame and disgrace. Basil Hallward, the painter of the doomed portrait, praises Dorian for his timeless beauty and innocence. Basil is obsessed with Dorian, and his pleasure is found with the ideal of Dorian that allows him to paint so elusively. The corruption of Dorian begins with Basil’s adoration, but it is lofted with Lord Henry’s hedonistic ideals and all around negative influence. Lord Henry teaches Dorian to cherish his youth and beauty, all the while filling Dorian’s mind with selfish ideals of pleasure and beauty. â€Å"I believe that if one man were to live out his life fully and completely, were to give form to every feeling, expression to every thought, reality to every dream- I believe that the world would gain such a fresh impulse of joy that we would†¦ return to Hellenic ideal- to something finer, richer, than the Hellenic ideal.† With musings such as this, Lord Henry begins his takeover of young Dorian’s mind, ideals, and eventually his soul. Dorian tries to redeem himself, but with a few words from Lord Henry, he is back in the pursuit of pleasure. For example, Dorian realizes his injustice to Sybil Vane and intends to apologize. Then, Lord Henry tells him of her death and makes it sound glorious- like the perfect ending to a delightful play.  Rather than dwelling in the death of a loved one, Dorian tosses the matter aside. Dorian develops in the novel. He begins lofty collections, but eventually bores of them. Then, Dorian searches for pleasure in religion; he even considers converting to Catholicism-not because of any interest in God, but because he fancies the customs. However, Dorian soon grows weary of that and begins to seek refuge with opium, experimentation, and the finding and destroying of romances. All of the lives that Dorian touches are blasphemies, banished, or buried. The women who have met Dorian cannot walk about shamelessly, because â€Å"Prince Charming†-as Sybil Vane christened young Dorian- has taught them shame, has disgraced them, and found pleasure with his shameless use of them. The men who have befriended Dorian either are banished from London, living in Opium dens like Adrian Singleton, or have taken their own lives like Alan Campbell. Meanwhile, Dorian remains gorgeous, but his picture grows hideous. Even in the growing bestial creature on the unfortunate canvas gives Dorian pleasure. Dorian is so pleased that he bares no shame; the thing behind the cloth that lives in the canvas is destined to that. Not Dorian, however, he can seek pleasure with no outward consequences. Not until Dorian-in, yet another fit of rage- stabs the portrait transferring all of his sins, shame, and corruption to his own flesh and blood and his once luminous beauty takes its place on the canvas. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, not only depicts the hedonistic ideals, but it also portrays why the movement cannot last in society. Yes, the novel is factual, and it is highly unlikely that a portrait will bare a man’s shame while he remains forever young. However, â€Å"sin is a thing that writes itself across a man’s face,† and if all of society was in pursuit of selfish pleasure, not only will there be no society, but those who did live such lives would be outcast. For example, all of those in the novel not as fortunate as Dorian to be forever innocent looking were banished from London, not able to show their face, or so ashamed that they resorted to taking their own lives. Oscar Wilde’sThe Picture of Dorian Gray is a prime example of hedonistic ideals because of the characters, their actions, and  demise.