Bitsat Syllabus

This test is designed to assess the test takers’ general proficiency in the use of  English language  as a means of self-expression in real life situations and specifically to test the test takers’ knowledge of basic grammar, their vocabulary, their ability to read fast and comprehend, and also their ability to apply the elements of effective writing. 1. Grammar 1. Agreement, Time and Tense, Parallel construction, Relative pronouns 2. Determiners, Prepositions, Modals, Adjectives . Voice, Transformation 4. Question tags, Phrasal verbs 2. Vocabulary 1. Synonyms, Antonyms, Odd Word, One Word, Jumbled letters, Homophones, Spelling 2. Contextual meaning. 3. Analogy 3. Reading Comprehension 1. Content/ideas 2. Vocabulary 3. Referents 4. Idioms/Phrases 5. Reconstruction (rewording) 4. Composition 1. Rearrangement 2. Paragraph Unity 3. Linkers/Connectives Logical Reasoning The test is given to the  candidates  to judge their power of reasoning spread in verbal and nonv erbal areas.The  candidates  should be able to think logically so that they perceive the data accurately, understand the relationships correctly, figure out the missing numbers or words, and to apply rules to new and different contexts. These indicators are measured through performance on such tasks as detecting missing links, following directions, classifying words, establishing sequences, and completing analogies. Verbal Reasoning 1. Analogy Analogy means correspondence. In the questions based on analogy, a particular relationship is given and another similar relationship has to be identified from the alternatives provided. . Classification Classification means to assort the items of a given group on  the basis  of certain common quality they possess and then spot the odd option out. 3. Series Completion Here series of numbers or letters are given and one is asked to either complete the series or find out the wrong part in the series. 4. Logical Deduction – Reading Passage Here a brief passage is given and based on the passage the candidate is required to identify the correct or incorrect logical conclusions. 5. Chart LogicHere a chart or a table is given that is partially filled in and asks to complete it in accordance with the information given either in the chart / table or in the question. 6. Nonverbal Reasoning a. Pattern Perception Here a certain pattern is given and generally a quarter is left blank. The candidate is required to identify the correct quarter from the given four alternatives. b. Figure Formation and Analysis The candidate is required to analyze and form a figure from various given parts. c. Paper CuttingIt involves the analysis of a pattern that is formed when a folded piece of paper is cut into a definite design. d. Figure Matrix In this more than one set of figures is given in the form of a matrix, all of them following the same rule. The candidate is required to follow the rule and identify the missing figure. e. Rule Detection Here a particular rule is given and it is required to select from the given sets of figures, a set of figures, which obeys the rule and forms the correct series. BITSAT 2010 Chemistry Syllabus 1. States of Matter 1.Measurement: Physical quantities and SI units,  Dimensional analysis, Precision,  Significant figures. 2. Chemical  reactions: Laws of  chemical  combination, Dalton's atomic theory; Mole concept; Atomic,molecular  and molar masses; Percentage composition ;amp;  molecular  formula; Balanced  chemicalequations ;amp; stoichiometry 3. Gaseous state: Kinetic theory – Maxwell distribution of velocities, Average, root mean square and most probable velocities and relation to  temperature, Diffusion; Deviation from ideal behaviour – Critical  temperature, Liquefaction of gases, van der Waals equation. . Liquid state:  Vapour pressure, surface tension, viscosity. 5. Solid state: Classification; Space lattices ;amp; crystal systems; U nit cell – Cubic ;amp; hexagonal systems; Close packing; Crystal structures: Simple AB and AB2 type ionic crystals, covalent crystals – diamond ;amp; graphite, metals. Imperfections- Point defects, non-stoichiometric crystals; Electrical, magnetic and dielectric  properties; Amorphous solids – qualitative description. 2. Atomic Structure 1. Introduction: Subatomic particles; Rutherford's picture of atom; Hydrogen atom spectrum and Bohr model. 2.Quantum mechanics: Wave-particle duality – de Broglie relation, Uncertainty principle; Hydrogen atom: Quantum numbers and wavefunctions, atomic orbitals and their shapes (s, p, and d), Spin quantum number. 3. Many electron atoms: Pauli exclusion principle; Aufbau principle and the electronic configuration of atoms, Hund's rule. 4. Periodicity: Periodic law and the modern periodic table; Types of elements: s, p, d, and f blocks; Periodic trends: ionization energy, atomic and ionic radii, electron affinity, and val ency. 5. Nucleus: Natural and artificial radioactivity; Nuclear  reactions, Artificial transmutation ofelements. . Chemical  Bonding ;amp;  Molecular  Structure1. Ionic Bond: Lattice Energy and Born-Haber cycle 2. Molecular  Structure: Lewis picture ;amp; resonance structures, VSEPR model ;amp;  molecular  shapes 3. Covalent Bond: Valence Bond Theory- Orbital overlap, Directionality of bonds ;amp; hybridistaion (s ;amp; p orbitals only), Resonance;  Molecular  orbital theory- Methodology, Orbital energy level diagram, Bond order, Magnetic  properties  for homonuclear diatomic species. 4. Metallic Bond: Qualitative description. 5. Intermolecular Forces: Polarity; Dipole moments; Hydrogen Bond. 4.Thermodynamics 1. Basic Concepts: Systems and surroundings; State functions; Intensive ;amp; Extensive  Properties; Zeroth Law and  Temperature 2. First Law of Thermodynamics: Work, internal energy, heat, enthalpy, heat capacities; Enthalpies of formation, phase tran sformation, ionization, electron gain; Thermochemistry; Hess's Law. 3. Second and Third Laws: Spontaneous and reversible processes; entropy; Gibbs free energy related to spontaneity and non-mechanical work; Standard free energies of formation, free energy change and  chemical  equilibrium; Third Law and Absolute Entropies. . Physical and  Chemical  Equilibria 1. Concentration Units: Mole Fraction, Molarity, and Molality 2. Solutions: Solubility of solids and gases in liquids,  Vapour Pressure, Raoult's law, Relative lowering of  vapour pressure, depression in freezing point; elevation in boiling point; osmotic pressure, determination of  molecular  mass. 3. Physical Equilibrium: Equilibria involving physical changes (solid-liquid, liquid-gas, solid-gas), Adsorption, Physical and  Chemical  adsorption, Langmuir Isotherm. 4.Chemical  Equilibria: Equilibrium constants (KP, KC), Le-Chatelier's principle. 5. Ionic Equilibria: Strong and Weak electrolytes, Acids and Bases (Arrhenius, Lewis, Lowry and Bronsted) and their dissociation; Ionization of Water; pH; Buffer solutions; Acid-base titrations; Hydrolysis; Solubility Product of Sparingly Soluble Salts; Common Ion Effect. 6. Factors Affecting Equilibria: Concentration,  Temperature, Pressure, Catalysts, Significance of DG and DG0 in  Chemical  Equilibria. 6. Electrochemistry 1.Redox  Reactions: Oxidation-reduction  reactions  (electron transfer concept); Oxidation number; Balancing of redox  reactions; Electrochemical cells and cell  reactions; Electrode potentials; EMF of Galvanic cells; Nernst equation; Gibbs energy change and cell potential; Concentration cells; Secondary cells; Fuel cells; Corrosion and its prevention. 2. Electrolytic Conduction: Electrolytic Conductance; Specific, equivalent and molar conductivities; Kolhrausch's Law and its application, Faraday's laws of electrolysis; Electrode potential and electrolysis, Commercial production of the chemicals, NaOH, Na, Al, C12, & F2 7.Chemical  Kinetics 1. Aspects of Kinetics: Rate and Rate expression of a reaction; Rate constant; Order of reaction; Integrated rate expressions for zero and first order  reactions; Half-life; Determination of rate constant and order of reaction 2. Factor Affecting the Rate of the  Reactions:  Temperature  dependence of rate constant; Activation energy; Catalysis, Surface catalysis, enzymes, zeolites; Factors affecting rate of collisions between molecules; Effect of light. 3. Mechanism of Reaction: Elementary  reactions; Complex  reactions;  Reactions  involving two/three steps only; Photochemical  reactions; Concept of fast  reactions. . Radioactive isotopes: Half-life period; Radiochemical dating. 8. Hydrogen and s-block elements 1. Hydrogen: Element: unique position in periodic table, occurrence, isotopes; Dihydrogen: preparation,  properties,  reactions, and uses;  Molecular, saline, interstitial hydrides; Water:Properties; Struct ure and aggregation of water molecules;  Hard and soft water; Heavy water; Hydrogen peroxide. 2. s-block elements: Abundance and occurrence; Anomalous  properties  of the first elements in each group; diagonal relationships. 3.Alkali metals: Lithium, sodium and potassium: occurrence, extraction, reactivity, and electrode potentials;  Reactions  with oxygen, hydrogen, halogens and liquid ammonia; Basic nature of oxides and hydroxides; Halides;  Properties  and uses of compounds such as NaCl, Na2CO3, NaHCO3, NaOH, KCl, and KOH. 4. Alkaline earth metals: Magnesium and calcium: Occurrence, extraction, reactivity and electrode potentials;  Reactions  with non-metals; Solubility and thermal stability of oxo salts;  Properties  and uses of important compounds such as CaO, Ca(OH)2, plaster of Paris, MgSO4, MgCl2, CaCO3, and CaSO4; Lime and limestone, cement. . p- d- and f-block elements 1. General: Abundance, distribution, physical and  chemical  properties, isolat ion and uses of elements; Trends in  chemical  reactivity of elements of a group; Extraction and refining of metals. 2. Group 13 elements: Boron;  Properties  and uses of borax,  boric acid, boron hydrides & halides. Reaction of aluminum with acids and alkalis; 3. Group 14 elements: Carbon: Uses, Allotropes (graphite, diamond, fullerenes), oxides, halides and sulphides, carbides; Silicon: Silica, silicates, silicones; Tin and lead: Extraction, halides and oxides. . Group 15 elements: Dinitrogen; Reactivity and uses of nitrogen and its compounds; Industrial and biological nitrogen fixation; Ammonia: Haber's process,  properties  and  reactions; Oxides of nitrogen and their structures; Ostwald's process of nitric acid production; Fertilizers – NPK type; Production of phosphorus; Allotropes of phosphorus; Preparation, structure and  properties  of hydrides, oxides, oxoacids and halides of phosphorus. 5.Group 16 elements: Isolation and  chemical  react ivity of dioxygen; Acidic, basic and amphoteric oxides; Preparation, structure and  properties  of ozone; Allotropes of sulphur; Production of sulphur and sulphuric acid; Structure and  properties  of oxides, oxoacids, hydrides and halides of sulphur. 6. Group 17 and group 18 elements: Structure and  properties  of hydrides, oxides, oxoacids of chlorine; Inter halogen compounds; Bleaching Powder; Preparation, structure and  reactions  of xenon fluorides, oxides, and oxoacids. 7. -block elements: General trends in the chemistry of first row transition elements; Metallic character; Oxidation state; Ionic radii; Catalytic properties; Magnetic properties; Interstitial compounds; Occurrence and extraction of iron, copper, silver, zinc, and mercury; Alloy formation; Steel and some important alloys; preparation and properties of CuSO4, K2Cr2O7, KMnO4, Mercury halides; Silver nitrate and silver halides; Photography. 8. f-block elements: Lanthanides and actinides; Oxidation s tates and chemical reactivity of lanthanide compounds; Lanthanide contraction; Comparison of actinides and lanthanides. . Coordination Compounds: Coordination number; Ligands; Werner's coordination theory; IUPAC nomenclature; Application and importance of coordination compounds (in qualitative analysis, extraction of metals and biological systems e. g. chlorophyll, vitamin B12, and hemoglobin); Bonding: Valence-bond approach, Crystal field theory (qualitative); Stability constants; Shapes, color and magnetic properties; Isomerism including stereoisomerisms; Organometallic compounds. 10. Principles of Organic Chemistry and Hydrocarbons 1.Classification: Based on functional groups, trivial and IUPAC nomenclature. 2. Electronic displacement in a covalent bond: Inductive, resonance effects, and hyperconjugation; free radicals; carbocations, carbanion, nucleophile and electrophile; types of reactions. 3. Alkanes and cycloalkanes: Structural isomerism and general properties. 4. Alkenes an d alkynes: General methods of preparation and reactions, physical properties, electrophilic and free radical additions, acidic character of alkynes and (1,2 and 1,4) addition to dienes. 5.Aromatic hydrocarbons: Sources; Properties; Isomerism; Resonance delocalization; polynuclear hydrocarbons; mechanism of electrophilic substitution reaction, directive influence and effect of substituents on reactivity. 6. Haloalkanes and haloarenes: Physical properties, chemical reactions. 7. Petroleum: Composition and refining, uses of petrochemicals. 11. Stereochemistry 1. Introduction: Chiral molecules; Optical activity; Polarimetry; R,S and D,L configurations; Fischer projections; Enantiomerism; Racemates; Diastereomerism and meso structures. . Conformations: Ethane, propane, n-butane and cyclohexane conformations; Newman and sawhorse projections. 3. Geometrical isomerism in alkenes 12. Organic Compounds with Functional Groups Containing Oxygen and Nitrogen 1. General: Electronic structure, imp ortant methods of preparation, important reactions and physical properties of alcohols, phenols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, nitro compounds, amines, diazonium salts, cyanides and isocyanides. 2.Specific: Effect of substituents on alpha-carbon on acid strength, comparative reactivity of acid derivatives, basic character of amines and their separation, importance of diazonium salts in synthetic organic chemistry 13. Biological, Industrial and Environmental chemistry 1. The Cell: Concept of cell and energy cycle. 2. Carbohydrates: Classification; Monosaccharides; Structures of pentoses and hexoses; Anomeric carbon; Mutarotation; Simple chemical reactions of glucose, Disaccharides: reducing and non-reducing sugars – sucrose, maltose and lactose; Polysaccharides: elementary idea of structures of starch and cellulose. . Proteins: Amino acids; Peptide bond; Polypeptides; Primary structure of proteins; Simple idea of secondary , tertiary and quarternary structures of proteins; Denaturation of proteins and enzymes. 4. Nucleic Acids: Types of nucleic acids; Primary building blocks of nucleic acids (chemical composition of DNA ;amp; RNA); Primary structure of DNA and its double helix; Replication; Transcription and protein synthesis; Genetic code. 5. Lipids, Hormones, Vitamins: Classification, structure, functions in biosystems. 6.Polymers: Classification of polymers; General methods of polymerization; Molecular mass of polymers; Biopolymers and biodegradable polymers; Free radical, cationic and anionic addition polymerizations; Copolymerization: Natural rubber; Vulcanization of rubber; Synthetic rubbers. Condensation polymers. 7. Pollution: Environmental pollutants; soil, water and air pollution; Chemical reactions in atmosphere; Smog; Major atmospheric pollutants; Acid rain; Ozone and its reactions; Depletion of ozone layer and its effects; Industrial air pollution; Green house effect and global warming; Green Chemistry. . Chemicals in medicin e, health-care and food: Analgesics, Tranquilizers, antiseptics, disinfectants, anti-microbials, anti-fertility drugs, antihistamines, antibiotics, antacids; Cosmetics: Creams, perfumes, talcum powder, deodorants; Preservatives, artificial sweetening agents, antioxidants, and edible colours. 9. Other Industrial Chemicals: Dyes: Classification with examples – Indigo, methyl orange, aniline yellow, alizarin, malachite green; Advanced materials: Carbon fibers, ceramics, micro alloys; Detergents; Insect repellents, pheromones, sex attractants; Rocket Propellants. 4. Theoretical Principles of Experimental Chemistry 1. Volumetric Analysis: Principles; Standard solutions of sodium carbonate and oxalic acid; Acid-base titrations; Redox reactions involving KI, H2SO4, Na2SO3, Na2S2O3and H2S; Potassium permanganate in acidic, basic and neutral media; Titrations of oxalic acid, ferrous ammonium sulphate with KMnO4, K2 Cr2O7/Na2S2O3, Cu(II)/Na2S2O3 2. Qualitative analysis of Inorganic Sal ts: Principles in the determination of the cations Pb2+, Cu2+, As3+, Mn2+, Zn2+, Co2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, Mg2+, NH4+, Fe3+, Ni2+ and the anions CO32-, S2-,SO42-, SO32-, NO2-, NO3-, Cl-, Br-, I-, PO43-, CH3COO-, C2O42-. 3. Physical Chemistry Experiments: crystallization of alum, copper sulphate, ferrous sulphate, double salt of alum and ferrous sulphate, potassium ferric sulphate; Temperature vs. solubility; pH measurements; Lyophilic and lyophobic sols; Dialysis; Role of emulsifying agents in emulsification. Equilibrium studies involving (i) ferric and thiocyanate ions (ii) [Co(H2O)6]2+ and chloride ions; Enthalpy determination for (i) strong acid vs. trong base neutralization reaction (ii) hydrogen bonding interaction between acetone and chloroform; Rates of the reaction between (i) sodium thiosulphate and hydrochloric acid, (ii) potassium iodate and sodium sulphite (iii) iodide vs. hydrogen peroxide, concentration and temperature effects in these reactions; 4. Purification Methods: Filtration, crystallization, sublimation, distillation, differential extraction, and chromatography. Principles of melting point and boiling point determination; principles of paper chromatographic separation – Rf values. 5.Qualitative Analysis of Organic Compounds: Detection of nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorous and halogens; Detection of carbohydrates, fats and proteins in foodstuff; Detection of alcoholic, phenolic, aldehydic, ketonic, carboxylic, amino groups and unsaturation. 6. Quantitative Analysis of Organic Compounds: Basic principles for the quantitative estimation of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, halogen, sulphur and phosphorous; Molecular mass determination by silver salt and chloroplatinate salt methods; Elementary idea of mass spectrometer for accurate molecular mass determination; Calculations of empirical and molecular formulae. . Principles of Organic Chemistry Experiments: Preparation of iodoform, acetanilide, p-nitro acetanilide, di-benzyl acetone, aniline yello w, beta-naphthol; Preparation of acetylene and study of its acidic character. BITSAT 2010 Physics Syllabus 1. Units ;amp; Measurement 1. Units (Different systems of units, SI units, fundamental and derived units) 2. Dimensional Analysis 3. Precision and significant figures 4. Fundamental measurements in Physics (Vernier calipers, screw gauge, Physical balance etc) 2. Kinematics 1. Properties of vectors 2. Position, velocity and acceleration vectors . Motion with constant acceleration 4. Projectile motion 5. Uniform circular motion 6. Relative motion 3. Newton's Laws of Motion 1. Newton's laws (free body diagram, resolution of forces) 2. Motion on an inclined plane 3. Motion of blocks with pulley systems 4. Circular motion – centripetal force 5. Inertial and non-inertial frames 4. Impulse and Momentum 1. Definition of impulse and momentum 2. Conservation of momentum 3. Collisions 4. Momentum of a system of particles 5. Center of mass 5. Work and Energy 1. Work done by a force 2. Kinetic energy and work-energy theorem 3.Power 4. Conservative forces and potential energy 5. Conservation of mechanical energy 6. Rotational Motion 1. Description of rotation (angular displacement, angular velocity and angular acceleration) 2. Rotational motion with constant angular acceleration 3. Moment of inertia, Parallel and perpendicular axes theorems, rotational kinetic energy6. 4 Torque and angular momentum 4. Conservation of angular momentum 5. Rolling motion 7. Gravitation 1. Newton's law of gravitation 2. Gravitational potential energy, Escape velocity 3. Motion of planets – Kepler's laws, satellite motion . Mechanics of Solids and Fluids 1. Elasticity 2. Pressure, density and Archimedes' principle 3. Viscosity and Surface Tension 4. Bernoulli's theorem 9. Oscillations 1. Kinematics of simple harmonic motion 2. Spring mass system, simple and compound pendulum 3. Forced ;amp; damped oscillations, resonance 10. Waves 1. Progressive sinusoidal waves 2. Standing wa ves in strings and pipes 3. Superposition of waves beats 11. Heat and Thermodynamics 1. Kinetic theory of gases 2. Thermal equilibrium and temperature 3. Specific heat 4. Work, heat and first law of thermodynamics 5. nd law of thermodynamics, Carnot engine – Efficiency and Coefficient of performance 12. Electrostatics 1. Coulomb's law 2. Electric field (discrete and continuous charge distributions) 3. Electrostatic potential and Electrostatic potential energy 4. Gauss' law and its applications 5. Electric dipole 6. Capacitance and dielectrics (parallel plate capacitor, capacitors in series and parallel) 13. Current Electricity 1. Ohm's law, Joule heating 2. D. C circuits – Resistors and cells in series and parallel, Kirchoff's laws, potentiometer and Wheatstone bridge, 3.Electrical Resistance (Resistivity, origin and temperature dependence of resistivity). 14. Magnetic Effect of Current 1. Biot-Savart's law and its applications 2. Ampere's law and its applications 3. L orentz force, force on current carrying conductors in a magnetic field 4. Magnetic moment of a current loop, torque on a current loop, Galvanometer and its conversion to voltmeter and ammeter 15. Electromagnetic Induction 1. Faraday's law, Lenz's law, eddy currents 2. Self and mutual inductance 3. Transformers  and generators 4. Alternating current (peak and rms value) . AC circuits, LCR circuits 16. Optics 1. Laws of reflection and refraction 2. Lenses and mirrors 3. Optical  instruments  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ telescope and  microscope 4. Interference – Huygen's principle, Young's double slit experiment 5. Interference in thin films 6. Diffraction due to a single slit 7. Electromagnetic waves and their characteristics (only qualitative ideas), Electromagnetic spectrum 8. Polarization – states of polarization, Malus' law, Brewster's law 17. Modern Physics 1. Dual nature of light and matter – Photoelectric effect. De Broglie wavelength 2.Atomic models – Rutherf ord's experiment, Bohr's atomic model 3. Hydrogen atom spectrum 4. Radioactivity 5. Nuclear reactions: Fission and fusion, binding energy BITSAT 2010 Mathematics Syllabus 1. Algebra 1. Complex numbers, addition,  multiplication, conjugation, polar representation,  properties  of modulus and principal argument, triangle inequality, roots of complex numbers,  geometric  interpretations. 2. Theory of  Quadratic equations,  quadratic equations  in real and complex number system and their solutions, relation between roots and coefficients, nature of roots, equations reducible toquadratic equations. . Logarithms and their  properties. 4. Arithmetic,  geometric  and harmonic progressions, arithmetic,  geometric  and harmonic means, arithmetico-geometric  series, sums of finite arithmetic and  geometric  progressions, infinitegeometric  series, sums of squares and cubes of the first n natural numbers. 5. Exponential series. 6. Permutations and combinations, Permutations as an arrangement and combination as selection, simple applications. 7. Binomial theorem for a positive integral index,  properties  of binomial coefficients. 8.Matrices and determinants of order two or three,  properties  and evaluation of determinants, addition and  multiplication  of matrices, adjoint and inverse of matrices, Solutions of simultaneous linear equations in two or three variables. 9. Sets, Relations and Functions, algebra of sets applications, equivalence relations, mappings, one-one, into and onto mappings, composition of mappings. 10. Mathematical Induction 11. Linear Inequalities, solution of linear inequalities in one and two variables. 2. Trigonometry 1. Trigonometric ratios, functions and identities. . Solution of trigonometric equations. 3. Properties  of triangles and solutions of triangles 4. Inverse trigonometric functions 5. Heights and distances 3. Two-dimensional Coordinate Geometry 1. Cartesian coordinates, distance between two points, section formulae, shift of origin. 2. Straight lines and pair of straight lines: Equation of straight lines in various forms, angle between two lines, distance of a point from a line, lines through the point of intersection of two given lines, equation of the bisector of the angle between two lines, concurrent lines. .Circles and family of circles : Equation of circle in various form, equation of tangent, normal ;amp; chords, parametric equations of a circle , intersection of a circle with a straight line or a circle, equation of circle through point of intersection of two circles, conditions for two intersecting circles to be orthogonal. 4. Conic sections: parabola, ellipse and hyperbola their eccentricity, directrices ;amp; foci, parametric forms, equations of tangent ;amp; normal, conditions for y=mx+c to be a tangent and point of tangency. . Three dimensional Coordinate Geometry 1. Direction cosines and direction ratios, equation of a straight line in space and skew lines. 2. Angle between two lines whose direction ratios are given 3. Equation of a plane, distance of a point from a plane, condition for coplanarity of three lines. 5. Differential calculus 1. Domain and range of a real valued function, Limits and Continuity of the sum, difference, product and quotient of two functions, Differentiability. 2.Derivative of different types of functions (polynomial, rational, trigonometric, inverse trigonometric, exponential, logarithmic, implicit functions), derivative of the sum, difference, product and quotient of two functions, chain rule. 3. Geometric  interpretation of derivative, Tangents and Normals. 4. Increasing and decreasing functions, Maxima and minima of a function. 5. Rolle's Theorem, Mean Value Theorem and Intermediate Value Theorem. 6. Integral calculus 1. Integration as the inverse process of differentiation, indefinite integrals of standard functions. . Methods of integration: Integration by substitution, Integration by parts, int egration by partial fractions, and integration by trigonometric identities. 3. Definite integrals and their  properties, Fundamental Theorem of Integral Calculus and its applications. 4. Application of definite integrals to the determination of areas of regions bounded by simple curves. 7. Ordinary Differential Equations 1. Variables separable method. 2. Solution of homogeneous differential equations. 3. Linear first order differential equations 8.Probability 1. Addition and  multiplication  rules of probability. 2. Conditional probability 3. Independent events 4. Discrete random variables and distributions 9. Vectors 1. Addition of vectors, scalar  multiplication. 2. Dot and cross products of two vectors. 3. Scalar triple products and their geometrical interpretations. 10. Statistics 1. Measures of dispersion 2. Measures of skewness and Central Tendency 11. Linear Programming 1. Formulation of linear Programming 2. Solution of  linear Programming, using graphical method.

Chartered Accountant in Montreal

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this report is to help me prepare for a career as a chartered in Canada, specifically in a firm in Montreal. I would like to graduate from John Molson School of Business with a grade point average that is higher than three so that I can then apply to the CA program and become a chartered accountant. Before I do all that, I need to get as much information as possible about the job and about the business field in general. In this report I will be using many different sources that will help me gain the information and the experience that I need.The first source is a book called â€Å"Successfully Managing your Accounting Career† by Henry Labus. â€Å"Montreal Financial: Small Business Accounting and Financial Consulting† is the blog that I will be using for this report from: http://www. montrealfinancial. ca/blog/. Accountants World Do More Do better is the discussion forum from: //www. accountantsworld. com/newforums/. The newsletter that I will be using is called The Accounting and Bookkeeping Tips Newsletter (www. accounting-and-bookkeeping-tips. com). â€Å"Issues in Accounting Education† is the peer reviewed journal that I am using for this report (http://aaahq. rg/pubs/issues. htm). As a primary source, my friend Michael Lewin will be available to help me in my career. The charitable organization I would like to volunteer for is the synagogue Hekhal Shalom. As an additional source I found the† Association Canada† (http://0-site. ebrary. com. mercury. concordia. ca/lib/concordia/docDetail. action? docID=10413264) repertoire where I can find association that have to do with the accounting job in Canada. A bar graph demonstrates how Montreal is the best city for continuing my education after my bachelor so that I can become a CA.A survey is also provided so that chartered accountants in Montreal can actually help me by telling me what they went through. Purpose Statement The purpose of this repor t is to help me prepare for a career as a chartered accountant in Canada, specifically in a firm in Montreal. BOOK REFERENCE Title: Successfully Managing Your Accounting Career Author: Henry Labus Date and Location of Publication: 1988 URL: http://www. flipkart. com/successfully-managing-your-accounting-career-book-0471633887 DescriptionThis book is about how life would be when I become an accountant; it basically explains everything there is to know about living the life of an accountant; such as: career planning, balancing home and career life, what is going on in the accounting fields. Justification This is the most relevant book for my specific carer search because it gives me a head up on what is coming up in my career plans and it gives me insight on the job itself and shows me what it is like. Most accountants have a hectic lifestyle and this book should show me how to balance my career and my personal life. BLOGTitle: Montreal Financial: Small Business Accounting and Financi al Consulting Author: Ronika Khanna, Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst URL: http://www. montrealfinancial. ca/blog/ Date & Time Last Viewed: Sunday November 7, 2010 Date of Most Recent Post: Thursday, November 4, 2010 Description This blog gives me general information about what is going on in the accountancy field and in business in general. It has many different categories that allow me to easily browse the blog. The author post fun and interesting information about accounting and financial related issues.Justification This is the most relevant blog for my specific career search because if I read the post that the author is making, it can give me a better understanding of the field that I am looking forward to work in. I can learn many different things that not everyone is aware of and that way I can have competitive advantage knowledge in my field. DISCUSSION FORUM Title: Accountants World Do More Do better URL: http://www. accountantsworld. com/newforums/ Date & Time Last Viewed: Friday November 5, 2010 Date of Most Recent Post: Friday November 5, 2010Moderated: Not Indicated Description This discussion forum informs me about many different topics in accountancy such as: auditing, ethics, taxation, technology, financial planning and much more. It shows me the full discussion about the topic that I choose and it is very easy to understand. Justification This is the most relevant discussion forum for my specific career search because, I can learn about every different aspect of the field; in order to become a chartered accountant in Montreal, I need to know as much as I can, and get as much help as I can get.It is also a great networking tool and an easy way to find different opinions from professionals in the accounting workforce. NEWSLETTER Title: The Accounting and Bookkeeping Tips Newsletter Author: N/A Subscription URL: http://www. accounting-and-bookkeeping-tips. com/accounting-basics-newsletter. htm Frequency of Distribution: Weekly Date & Time Last Viewed: Friday November 5, 2010 Date of Most Recent Issue: Sunday November 7, 2010 Description This online newsletter sends weekly e-mails about all sorts of different subjects that directly relate to my future career plans.It gives me marketing opportunities in the accounting industry; it shows me how to get involved in the business world and how to sell myself as a professional. Justification This is the most relevant newsletter for my specific career search because it only sends me valuable information about the accounting job but it also gives me tips and ideas of how to make myself work and shape me for my future profession. This newsletter keeps me up to date with news in the industry. PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL Journal Title: Issues in Accounting EducationPublisher: American Accounting Association Subscription Coordinates: http://aaahq. org/pubs/issues. htm, then click on submission information and it shows you exactly what to do to subscribe. Description This pe er review journal is very focused on the accounting field. It describes many issues that have to do with students in the accounting major and it illustrates different factors that affect the student accounting career choice. It reviews many journals that regard the accountancy field and more specifically the chartered accounting career. JustificationThis peer reviewed journal is most relevant to my job search because I am still in school and I don’t know what the future of my education can be like, so this peer review journal can help me learn about how a student behaves and copes with all the problems before I find my job, and I could read about many topics that have to do with my career choice. PRIMARY SOURCE Description My primary source is my friend Michael Lewin. He was a John Molson student that is currently working as a chartered accountant in Montreal, which is exactly what I would like to do.He is a reliable source because every time I need help or if I have a questi on about school, he will always help me. Justification This is the most relevant primary source for my specific career search because I know this man for a long time and he is very reliable, we come from the same high school as well as the same college, therefore he knows exactly what I have to go through in order to become what I want to be. CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION Title: Hekhal Shalom Synagogue Contact Coordinates: Rabbi Ronen Abitbol 825 Rue Gratton, Saint-Laurent H4M 2G4, QC (514-831-4530) DescriptionThis organisation is a place where Jewish people come to pray and study the bible. This is a charitable organization that helps Jewish people be more in touch with their religious side. It also helps young Jewish kids learn and study about the bible. This organisation gets a lot of donations from people who go there and it spends a lot of money for people that don`t have the financial capabilities to be happy. From my end, I can volunteer to help with the accounting department of th is organization by doing the basic book keeping or data entry so that I can be working with people who know the field and gain more experience.Justification This is the most relevant charitable organization for my specific career search because I actually go there to pray and study, therefore it would be a good deed for me to volunteer and give my time to the community and also it will allow me to learn and get the on hand experience that I am looking for in order to pursue my career plans. ASSOCIATION Source: Association Canada (http://0-site. ebrary. com. mercury. concordia. ca/lib/concordia/docDetail. action? docID=10413264) DescriptionThis source is the association repertoire of Canada; where I can find any association that I am looking for, including accounting associations. In order to get as much information as possible I looked up an association that is relevant to my career choice. Justification This is the most relevant association repertoire for my specific job search bec ause when I find all these different associations, I can contact them (either electronically or in person) so that I can ask questions about my future career plans.Since this is a Canadian association repertoire, it is easy for me to find the information I need because I want to work in Montreal. CONCLUSION In conclusion, this report states what I need to do to launch my career and help me gain as much information and experience as I can before I graduate and become a chartered accountant in the city of Montreal. BIBLIOGRAPHY Abitbol, Ronen. â€Å"Volunteer Work At Hekhal Shalom. † Personal interview. Associations Canada, 2010 Le Repertoire Des Associations Du Canada. Toronto, Ont. : Grey House Pub.Canada, 2010. Ebrary. Concordia, 2010. Web. 07 Nov. 2010. . Canada. Institue De La Statistique Quebec. Institue De La Statistique Quebec. Gouvernement Du Quebec, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 7 Nov. 2010. Interview. Accountants World Do More Do Better. 05 Nov. 2010. Web. 05 Nov. 2010. . Issue s in Accounting Education (2010). American Accounting Association. Web. 07 Nov. 2010. . Khanna, Ronika. Web log post. Montreal Financial: Small Business Accounting and Financial Consulting. 04 Nov. 2010. Web. 07 Nov. 2010. . Labus, Henry.Successfully Managing Your Accounting Career. New York: Wiley, 1988. Print. Lewin, Michael. â€Å"How to Become a Charted Accountant in Montreal. † Personal interview. The Accounting and Bookkeeping Tips Newsletter. The Accounting and Bookkeeping Tips Newsletter. 07 Nov. 2010. Web. 05 Nov. 2010. . APPENDIX Figures Source:http://www. stat. gouv. qc. ca/donstat/societe/education/etat_scolr/tab3_niv_sco_2006. htm Justification I found a set of statistics that shows how many diplomas above bachelor level are completed in Montreal and in other cities in Quebec.The statistics in this figure will help me prepare for my career because, I can see that Montreal is the city where higher levels of education (such as chartered accountant) are mostly distr ibuted and therefore I can keep studying in Montreal because I know that it is the better city to study in. SURVEY -Intro Paragraph Hello, I am a currently studying accounting at the John Molson School of Business in Montreal. This survey is given to you so that you can help me gain all the information and resources that I need in order to become a charted accountant in the city of Montreal. -RespondentsThis survey will be distributed mostly to accountants that are currently working in Montreal. It can also be distributed to teacher of the accounting field. -Justification The main reason why I want this survey to be distributed to the specific respondents is simply because they all had to go through the same process and they know all the problems and solutions. The responses from this group of people can help me in my career because I would like to follow their footsteps and with the information that they give me I can learn a lot of things. 1) What is the best school to do the CA p rogram? – Concordia b – McGill c – HEC d – Other _______________ 2) How would you rate working as an accountant on a day to day basis (1 being the best, 5 being the worst)? _____________ 3) Which field is more interesting and profitable; auditing or taxation? _____________ 4) What do you recommend I do if my GPA is lower than 3. 0? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5) What is the best city in Canada to work as a chartered accountant? a – Vancouver

Analysis of Case Study for Skills and Knowledge - myassignmenthelp

The enablers of innovation mainly help in bringing the continuous stream of the innovation related strategies of the organizations. The innovation enablers help in the application of the skills, knowledge and the specific tools in the organizations. The five different types of enablers are discussed below, Introduction and change and the implementation of innovative ideas are sometimes difficult for the organizations. The driving forces of innovation can be described as the factors which help in the implementation of change in the organizations. The first driver of innovation in organizations is commoditization. This force relates to the pressure of driving the prices and the margins lower. The digital revolution in the external environment deals acts as a driving force for the changes to be implemented in the organizational processes. The advent of social media in the business world acts as a driver of innovation and helps in the creation of communities, sharing information and connecting the people instantly. Globalization is another major driver of the innovation in organizations. The levels of competition have increased due to the increase in the scope of business of the organizations. The high levels of competition further enable innovation and change implementation in the various organizations. The increasing turbulence in the business environment due to the changes in the economy and shift in the demographics acts as a driver of the innovation in the organization (Gupta and Barua 2016). The companies need to move in a faster pace to compete with the others in the market and improve their operations accordingly. The culture of the organization where change is to be implemented is also a driver of innovation. The enablers of innovation on the other hand are mainly related to the behaviour and the attitudes of the employees. The structure of the organization is a major enabler of innovation. The structure is mainly related to the hierarchy of the organization and the ways by which the instructions and directions related to change reach the employees. The skills of the employees of the organization play a major role in the implementation of change and innovative ideas (Rizos et al. 2016). The difference between the drivers and the enablers of innovation is that the drivers of innovation are mainly related to the factors of the organization and the external environment where it operates. On the other hand, the enablers of innovation are mainly related to the employees and the internal environment of the organization. The enablers mainly deal with the skills and the attitudes of the employees who are a major part of the entire change process (Hussein et al. 2016). The process of innovation in an organization is supported by various mechanisms which are discussed as follows, The organization which has been examined in the case study, namely, ACME, believed in the creation of innovative methods to perform business operations. The organization has a modern infrastructure and the research and development facility which is present in the company helps the employees in the process of thinking. The innovative ideas and nature of the employees are nurtured and encouraged by the management of the organization. The organization has been developing the research and development related facilities since the time of its establishment. The surplus revenues that are gained in the operations of the organization are invested in further developing the research and development related facilities. The owner of the organization also spends most of the time with the employees who are a part of the R & D team. This helps in fostering their talent and innovative ideas further and work in a collaborative manner (Bhanot, Rao and Deshmukh 2017).   Bhanot, N., Rao, P.V. and Deshmukh, S.G., 2017. An integrated approach for analysing the enablers and barriers of sustainable manufacturing.  Journal of cleaner production,  142, pp.4412-4439. Dubey, R., Sonwaney, V., Aital, P., Venkatesh, V.G. and Ali, S.S., 2015. Antecedents of innovation and contextual relationship.  International Journal of Business Innovation and Research,  9(1), pp.1-14. Gupta, H. and Barua, M.K., 2016. Identifying enablers of technological innovation for Indian MSMEs using best–worst multi criteria decision making method.  Technological Forecasting and Social Change,  107, pp.69-79. Hussein, A.T.T., Singh, S.K., Farouk, S. and Sohal, A.S., 2016. Knowledge sharing enablers, processes and firm innovation capability.  Journal of Workplace Learning,  28(8), pp.484-495. Kaushik, A., Kumar, S., Luthra, S. and Haleem, A., 2014. Technology transfer: enablers and barriers–a review.  International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management,  14(2), pp.133-159. Mageswari, S.U., Sivasubramanian, C. and Dath, T.S., 2015. Knowledge management enablers, processes and innovation in small manufacturing firms: a structural equation modeling approach.  IUP Journal of Knowledge Management,  13(1), p.33. Rizos, V., Behrens, A., Van Der Gaast, W., Hofman, E., Ioannou, A., Kafyeke, T., Flamos, A., Rinaldi, R., Papadelis, S., Hirschnitz-Garbers, M. and Topi, C., 2016. Implementation of circular economy business models by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): Barriers and enablers.  Sustainability,  8(11), p.1212. Tran, V. and Voyer, B., 2015. Fostering innovation: An organisational perspective.  British Journal of Healthcare Management,  21(3), pp.141-145.

The End or Basis of Being Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The End or Basis of Being - Essay Example In this article, I support Rufus’ argument that thinking is not a preserve of the intellect. First, I give reasons as to how decisions are made by humans, second, I argue concerning the possibility of thinking becoming the thing thought, and lastly, I evaluate the merits of the two arguments as presented by Rufus. Richard Rufus rejected the premise that we think by the intellect given forms in the way matter is. This standing by Rufus is true in several ways. Firstly as Rufus (4) argues, man is every created thing, and man constitutes a lesser world: thus in his being, man shares with all created things as below: living with plants, existence with stones, sensitive with beasts, thinking with angels, and finally man shares some aspects with God. This implies that man is a complex creature that shares many aspects with other beings, but yet has some peculiar characteristics make him special; the intellect. Intellect is the part of man lacking in other beings, which presents the difference. As other beings have some degree of knowledge and instincts, so does man share some commonalities with other beings. For example, if a deer escapes an attack by a lion through instincts though it has not sighted the lion, man must use the same instincts to make some decisions in some cases. This follows that man does not only depend on thinking through intellect, but shares other common modes of thinking with other beings. ... Therefore, we do not think by the intellect alone, but use other senses to make decisions that are different and unique from decisions made of intellect. Thinking is a matter of literally becoming the thing thought. Rufus (2) argues that agents are dissimilar at the start; but in the end, after being acted upon, they are similar. This implies that the sensitive part refers to the faculty, and because sensing is being acted upon, it is passive. At the end, when the sensing has been acted upon, the sensitive will be similar to the active, which is namely the sensible. To understand this, first we have to introduce the idea of potency and actuality. A matchbox is fire in potency. This means that the match box can be acted upon to become fire itself. It has the potency to cause fire. Similarly, when the fire has been caused through the matchbox, it then becomes actuality. Likewise, the human soul is a spirit in potency. Rufus (4) in explaining the nature of man elaborates man shares some common things with God. God by himself is actuality devoid of any potency. He is the end; implying God cannot be caused to be any other than God himself. Cindering we share some common aspects with God; God cannot be in corporeal nature but is in spirit itself. The soul is related to the spirit and is the aspect that makes humans to have a common aspect with God, which is devoid of other animals or beings. The human soul is therefore in potency that though being the essence of humanity, it has not yet attained the spiritual status; which is the actuality of the soul, in sharing common aspect with God, whom by himself has no matter. This implies once humans are dead; the soul attains its actuality, and can be related to God, whom is devoid of matter. Rufus (4) in explaining

Capital Punishment, A life and Death Issue Research Paper

Capital Punishment, A life and Death Issue - Research Paper Example Opponents also assert that the practice is overtly costly and racially biased while not realizing the intended outcome. Proponents think it is neither cruel nor unusual, quite the opposite, they think it fair and just. The objective of this study is to discuss the moral and legal concerns that literally are a life and death issue and is a key barometer when measuring a cultures collective conscience. The ‘eye for an eye’ faction not only accepts but insists that the death penalty be sustained and has supporting rational to back up their argument which will be covered comprehensively in this discussion. It will also take into account the opponents’ reasoning concerning why it should be eliminated along with the legal precedents concerned in an effort to achieve a comprehensive view of the capital punishment debate. Legal speaking, capital punishment is not unusual, by definition, unless one acknowledges the racial bias that exists throughout the justice system. The law cannot define whether it is cruel or not. Cruelty can be defined only by the collective social conscious of a society. The legal interpretation of the combined ‘cruel and unusual’ is open to debate, to some extent but the general usage of the word ‘cruel’ refers to vicious punishments that cause extreme pain. Most legal scholars agree that punishments that include body dismemberment or torture are unquestionably classified as cruel. The term torture was evidently open for debate during the past decade but the word means essentially the same universally; causing unwanted physical or mental anguish. The word ‘unusual’ is normally understood to mean going beyond what is an equitable application of punishment for an offense. For instance, if ten people were ticketed for a traffic violation and judge fined nine of them $150 but one was charged $1500, this punishment would be considered ‘unusual.’ Taken together in the phrase, †˜prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment’ signifies that the penalty should be apportioned equitably according to the specific offense committed. A ‘life’ prison sentence is an acceptable punishment but not if this punishment was imposed for jaywalking, that would be an obviously unacceptable sentence imposition because it is considered excessive and extreme given the nature of the offense. Excessive is a term that is also open to broad interpretation in both the legal and public realm. Some would contend, for example, that any amount of time imposed for ‘crimes’ such as the possession of drugs, prostitution and gambling should be interpreted as excessive consequently ‘unusual.’ The Supreme Court has on many occasions judged the merits of the death penalty and this action is interpreted as punishment which is cruel and unusual by the Constitution. The Court has consistently ruled the language of the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit t he death sentence as punishment. The Constitution was meant to be and is a malleable document, however. The judicial interpretation of the Eighth Amendment has evolved to some extent throughout the years. Therefore the Court could potentially reverse this standpoint at a future time as result of changing societal values. For instance, whipping convicted criminals was routine until the late Eighteenth Century. This practice is now considered to be inappropriate because society’s attitude changed to define it as a ‘cruel’ punishment. With respect to capital punishment, however, â€Å"

Portfolio management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Portfolio management - Essay Example Categorisation involves grouping potential components in to categories in order to facilitate further decision making. Usually, categories link their components with a common set of strategic goals. In this first step of implementing, it is important to establish what is going to be managed and as such, it is necessary to have an overview   of the extent and variety of potential and available work   and how it maps in to the organisations overall strategy. It is important at this stage to have to be aware of the extent and size of your mandate. This is the stage where one decides the terms, scope and defines the portfolio as well as gaining agreement on the basic portfolio model (Reilly & Brown, 2012). This is where on defines information such as: departments that are going to be covered, the category of work included for example whether the portfolio includes operations or projects, the categorization scheme which aids in balancing the portfolio in areas of importance to allow o ptimization of the overall allocation of resources.   For example, categories may include work that supports the business or grows the business. Work can also be categorised as high, medium or low risk. It is important that for every categorisation defined, some guidelines are set for how work should be balanced. Make sure that projects that are chosen are aligned to the goals and strategies of the organisation and also have the highest value. As such, understand the models that the organisation or department wants to employ.

Management and Leadership Paper on Parent Teacher Organization Assignment

Management and Leadership Paper on Parent Teacher Organization - Assignment Example Although education is a different domain of life compared to business, healthcare or infrastructure, yet it is an essential part of one’s life. The industrial revolution is said to have brought immense change in educational system in the United States and has left its insightful impact on administration and execution of educational system. Referring to educational institutions or schools as organizations, the parent-teacher organizations or parent-teacher associations are the informal or formal groups formed by parents and teachers of an educational institution or locality aimed at providing the best education and learning to their students. The growing appreciation of the fact that all aspects of value education and school improvement including tough set of courses, teaching and promoting active learning, rigorous assessments, and effective school management and classroom organization can be more successful with effective involvement of families and communities, through the P TO/PTAs. Research has proven that PTOs help in better liaison between parents and teachers with respect to students’ academic performance, social behavior, responses to environment and needs, psychological behavior and attitudes

Producing sustainable self compacting concrete Literature review

Producing sustainable self compacting concrete - Literature review Example Research Methodology The research methodology that I intend to implement entails collecting relevant data on the topic of self-compacting and concrete from different documents and compiling the databases to critically analyze the topic and arrive at an understanding that is more complete. The methodology also entails shading some light on questions that relate to the topic and on the results of the 9 mixes of cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, water, and fly ash. The work to be undertaken in this research involves doing a mixture of substances and finding out the results. Some of the risk assessment to consider in this research is such as; taking careful measures when mixing different substances, following given instructions carefully to avoid mistakes that can lead to inappropriate results and so on. Components in the Mixture Cement 584 2 584 2 Fine Aggregate (0/4mg) 987 3 987 3 987 3 Coarse aggregate (4/8mg) 526 526 5 526 5 Water 260 260 260 Fly ash 0% 5% 10% 20% NJ 50 1% 3% 5% W/C 0,445053064 0,445053064 0,445053064 Cement 584 2 584 2 Fine Aggregate (0/4mg) 987 3 987 3 987 3 Coarse aggregate (4/8mg) 526,5 526 5 526,5 526,5 Water 292,1 292,1 292,1 292,1 292,1 Fly ash 0% 5% 10% 20% NJ 50 1% 3% 5% W/C 0,5 0,5 0,5 Producing Sustainable Self Compacting Concrete Sustainability is the newest standard in the engineering sector. This new standard is proving according to research and many experiments to be one of a better future. In the Following paper, we shall discuss the production of self-compacting concrete cement, acrylic polymer, and fine aggregate sand. These are all part in the engineering sector of structures that are all around us. However, they are different in that they are the new technologies that most first world countries want to start using if they have not started already. The above new technologies are set to take the world by storm by their nature to create structures with a significant less affinity to deformity. The aforementioned precast concrete is a type of Self-compacting concrete. Production of a Sustainable Self-Consolidating/ Compacting Concrete According to numerous dictionaries, sustainability is the ability of maintaining a subject or an object. Dictionaries go further and state that the maintenance of an object has the ability to use the natural resource repeatedly without having to destroy the balance created naturally in the ecological system. In the construction world now, this definition states that manufactured concrete has the ability to utilize the natural resources without interfering with the ecological system. This brings forth an issue that the construction sector is experiencing. Is it possible to produce concrete that is friendly to the eco-system? The answer to this is yes it is possible (Park, 2010). Over a century ago, production of over ten metric tonnes of cement was produced in the construction sector. The whole world produces this amount. However, the amount of concrete produced was ro ughly around 40 million cubic meters. In the 1900 the total human population was roughly 1.64 billion people, the number now has more than quadrupled with the population staggering over 7billion people. In those times the amount of cement a person could use

St. Jude's Children Research Hospital Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

St. Jude's Children Hospital - Research Paper Example These organizations range from government bodies, insurance companies, charities to religious authorities. However, in United States of America, there is no universal health care system. The health care system in the US has always been under debate. In such a scenario, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is one of its unique kinds whose main aim is to perform vast clinical research in the quest of finding new treatment options and providing free medical care to children (Sisk, Elizabeth, Clare, Belinda, and Shawna). The research hospital was funded by independent individuals as well as organizational charities. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is not only one of the largest charitable hospital’s in United States but also among the pioneers in cancer research. St. Jude Children’s Research hospital treats the children from United States as well as from other parts of the world. Above all, the families in the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospita l do not have to give any money for the treatment of a disease that they cannot afford ("St. Jude Children Research Hospital†) The organizational structure of St. Jude research Hospital is run by highly effective team from different disciplines of health care system. The whole team is proactively dedicated to increase the work efficiency and developing Quality Improvement plans. St. Jude Children’s Research hospital leadership is very focused in monitoring the survival rate after the treatment. Within the hospital St. Jude Research Hospital has a Research Community that focuses on the survival rate of the patients. They have set different committees at organizational levels that perform their respective roles which are as follows, Steering Committee: Is the higher management committee that includes the leaders of investigators, head of the projects and chief executive officers. Their main role and duty is to

The Automobile in America (American History) Research Paper

The Automobile in America (American History) - Research Paper Example Cars had been invented many decades earlier, but its high cost limited access to the majority of Americans. The Ford Company in the 1920’s changed the industry forever. The company’s superior mass production techniques allowed Ford to lower the cost of producing an automobile dramatically. The Ford Model T was the car model that became a mainstream in the 1920’s when the price of the auto was reduced to $310, nearly $500 cheaper than a decade earlier (Kenney, 2001). The company had the best selling product in America which was a critical success factor that gave Ford a competitive advantage. The Ford Company valued the effort of its workers. The company created thousands of good paying jobs which helped the American economy. By the end of the 1920’s Ford had manufactured and distributed 15 million Ford T vehicles across America (Virgina). The proliferation of the automobile accelerated the speed of growth of the American economy due to the fact that the ab ility to commute freely increased commercial activity and the amount of work opportunities for

Inflation & The rise of cost Essay Example for Free

Inflation The rise of cost Essay Inflation can be defined as the rise of cost of goods and services in a country; and therefore the cost of living. Inflation can be measured when the cost of a product/service increases over a period of time and therefore decreases the value of money in an economy. Inflation is bad for the economy because of many reasons. One of the reasons is because inflation can decrease the value of money over time and therefore decrease the purchasing power for common people. Apart from that, it tends to create a lot of uncertainty in the economy for producers and buyers. When there is uncertainty in the economy, this leads to a lower level of investment as people are not confident enough to invest, and as a result this leads to a lower economic growth. Inflation also tends to discourage entrepreneurs to expand their businesses or to start a new business because of the high cost of goods and services. This therefore reduces competitiveness in the market which also affects international trades. When there are fewer businesses expanding or opening up, employment rate reduces which increases the level of unemployment rate. When unemployment rates are high, the crime rates increases as people find ways to survive and this affects the safety of the society. On the other hand, a lot of resources are wasted during inflation. For example, during the inflation period, people tend to save their money and spend less; therefore companies have a lower demand rate and have a high wastage on raw materials that were purchased earlier. High inflation rates also make the economy unsustainable as it’s not strong. Source from the US Inflation Calculator, 2009. The graph above shows the inflation rates from the year 2000-2009 in the US. As shown, there was a 3. 8% inflation rate in the year 2008, and has gone down to 0. 2% in 2009. References: US Inflation Calculator (2009) Retrieved on 28th March 2009. http://www. usinflationcalculator. com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/ Inflation fact sheet (2009) Why is Inflation Bad? Retrieved on 28th March 2009. www. reservebank. co. za/internet/Publication. nsf/LADV/C1E04C14CD41930A42257037003E1C24/$File/Factsheet2. pdf

University and Research Essay Example for Free

University and Research Essay Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Having spent 40 years in universities, I have had sufficient time to consider some of the idiosyncrasies, foibles and problems of these academic institutions. The purpose of this editorial is to discuss the current state of university research and explain why I find some aspects of the current situation disturbing. Changes that started during the second half of the 20th century and that have continued into the 21st threaten to bring about fundamental changes in the nature of universities. Some of the changes are commendable, for example, the large expansion in the proportion of the population attending universities, at least in the richer nations. Other trends are disturbing, especially the increasing tendency of governments and industry to view universities as engines for short-term economic gain. While universities certainly cannot ignore the context in which they function and the needs of society, responding purely to short-term economic considerations threatens to subvert the very nature of universities and some of the benefits they provide to society. So what exactly is a university and what is its purpose? I much prefer the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word â€Å"university† to some of the more utilitarian definitions in other dictionaries. The Oxford definition reads, in part, â€Å"whole body of teachers and scholars engaged in the higher branches of learning. † Thus, it is the community of faculty and students that is the essence of a university. The higher branches of learning in which teachers and scholars engage have 2 important products: the educated minds that are essential for the well-being of society, and new knowledge and ideas. Some of that new knowledge will enrich society by producing economic growth, directly or indirectly, but the benefits of new knowledge go far beyond economic gain. Universities have always been subjected to outside influences. The oldest European university, the University of Bologna, has existed at least since the 1080s. Some time before 1222, about 1000 students left Bologna and founded a new university in Padua because of â€Å"the grievous offence that was brought to bear on their academic liberties and the failure to acknowledge the privileges solemnly granted to teachers and students. †1 The outside interference came from the Roman Catholic Church, and, for several centuries, Padua was home to the only university in Europe where non-Catholics could get a university education. Both Bologna and Padua were student-controlled universities with students electing the professors and fixing their salaries. However, in spite of marked differences, there are similarities between what happened then and what is happening today, with important outside influences — then the dogma of religion, now the dogma of business — threatening to change the activities of the community of teachers and scholars. The seeds of what is happening now were sown in the years following World War II. Before the war the most important influence on a faculty member was probably the departmental chair, who in those days had power to influence in an important way what went on in the department. Nonetheless, a faculty member would have had access to departmental resources and would not necessarily have required outside research funding (although such funding was sometimes available from private foundations). The mechanism of funding research, and the amount of money available for research, changed greatly in the postwar years. In 1945, Vannevar Bushs landmark report to President Harry Truman, Science the Endless Frontier,2 had an important influence on university research. In this report, Bush stated, â€Å"The publicly and privately supported colleges, universities, and research institutes are the centers of basic research. They are the wellsprings of knowledge and understanding. As long as they are vigorous and healthy and their scientists are free to pursue the truth wherever it may lead, there will be a flow of new scientific knowledge to those who can apply it to practical problems in Government, in industry, or elsewhere. † Bush supported the idea that the US government should provide strong financial support for university research, but also supported the idea that the individual investigator should be the main determinant of the topics for investigation, with statements such as â€Å"Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown. †2 In the latter half of the last century, many countries adopted the model of granting councils, which used a system based on peer review to distribute money for investigator-initiated research. This model has been a great success, but it has also contributed to important changes in universities. Much more money has been available to support medical research, basic science research and engineering research than has been available for the social sciences or arts. Thus, decisions about support for different disciplines devolved from the universities to governments, who decided on the budgets of their various grant-giving bodies. Also, individual researchers who were successful in obtaining grants no longer depended as much on departmental facilities. In my opinion, this not only weakened the power of departmental chairs but also decreased collegiality within departments. With increased enrolments, as a university education became accessible to a greater proportion of the population, and an increased need for infrastructure for the larger student population and for complex research equipment, administrators became more concerned about sources of funding and consequently more detached from the faculty. There is always a tendency for senior academic administrators to speak and behave as though they were the university (when of course they are there to serve the community of teachers and scholars). This is of course a normal human trait, no different from the tendency of politicians to forget that they are elected to serve the people. However, this increasing detachment of senior university administrators from the faculty has facilitated the erosion of collegiality within departments and universities. The individual personalities of university faculty probably also facilitated this change. I learned recently, when looking at the literature on personality, that an inverse correlation between intelligence and conscientiousness has been demonstrated in a number of studies (see, for example, Moutafi et al3). Thus, it might be more than just my paranoia leading me to believe that the small proportion of university faculty who lack conscientiousness and collegiality is larger than in some other walks of life. The erosion of collegiality is not a matter of great significance, except that it probably played a role in making researchers more open to the efforts of governments to transform them into entrepreneurs. The most recent and possibly the most important change in university research resulted from the push by governments to commercialize the results of such research. In the United States, the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 encouraged universities to license to private industry discoveries made with federal funds. 4 The push by governments for commercialization of new knowledge grew during the 1980s and 1990s and continues to have an important influence on universities. Recently, Lord Sainsbury, the science and innovation minister in the United Kingdom, boasted that there had been a cultural change in universities there, which has resulted in a substantial increase in university spin-offs. 5 In 2002 the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada entered an agreement with the government to double the amount of research performed by these institutions and to triple their commercialization performance by 2010. 6 Although this agreement was reached in the absence of any broad consultation with the faculty who are supposed to commercialize their work, the universities seem to be well on track to achieve this objective, with a 126% increase in revenues from licence royalties between 1999 and 2001. 7Most major universities now have a technology transfer office, and at many universities success in commercialization is taken into account when faculty are considered for tenure. Will there come a time when success in commercialization carries the same weight as (or more weight than) teaching and research in the awarding of tenure? The end result of all the changes discussed above is that individual faculty members have become much more like entrepreneurs whose main allegiance is to the maintenance or growth of their own research programs and not infrequently to the commercialization of their research. The researcher exploring Vannevar Bushs â€Å"endless frontier† could be considered the modern equivalent of the homesteader taming the seemingly endless frontier of the 19th century American West. 8 This is not necessarily detrimental if a new generation of university research entrepreneurs provides the new knowledge that will benefit patients and society. However, the change in culture that made university faculty more like entrepreneurs also made them more open to the desire of governments to make them entrepreneurs in the economic sense. Although the nature of universities has been changing, there was no threat to the fundamental nature of universities until the drive for commercialization began. A recent report of the Canadian Association of University Teachers9 states that university administrators have been â€Å"building increasingly hierarchical management structures† that â€Å"place the future of academic medicine in danger. † The reports main concern is that â€Å"incentives to create commercializable products push economic concerns, rather than scientific and ethical considerations, to the forefront. †9In the fields of biologic psychiatry and behavioural neuroscience the emphasis on  commercial applications has already, to some extent, moved research priorities away from an emphasis on mental well-being to an emphasis on commercial products. There are many examples of this shift. For example, more research is being carried out on antidepressant drugs than on psychotherapy, even though in mild to moderate depression (the majority of cases) drugs and psychotherapy are approximately equal in efficacy. There is increasing evidence for the efficacy of exercise10,11 and fish oils12,13 in the treatment and prevention of depression. However, these strategies receive much less attention than antidepressant drugs. Even an established antidepressant treatment such as S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe)14 receives little attention. Searching the abstracts of the 2004 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, I found 179 with the key word â€Å"antidepressant† and only 4 with the key word â€Å"S-adenosylmethionine,† and none of those 4 was concerned with the antidepressant action of SAMe. SAMe is a major methyl donor and seems to work in a fundamentally different way from any product being investigated by drug companies. Surely we could expect that an antidepressant acting through a different mechanism would be a popular topic of investigation. However, SAMe is a natural product and not of commercial interest. Similarly, insights into what exercise or fish oils do to the brain may provide important insights into the pathophysiology of depression and its treatment, but these subjects receive little attention. Many basic science researchers investigating the mechanisms of antidepressants produced by drug companies do not receive funding from those companies. However, enough are lured by drug company research funds into working on topics of interest to the companies to significantly influence what are fashionable topics of research. Laboratories with funding from industry can often afford more trainees, who may then adopt a more industry-centred approach in their own research. While the availability of funds from industry has certainly influenced research, the pressure on university faculty to commercialize the results of their research will undoubtedly cause even greater distortion in the areas of research that are most popular. Granting agencies have increasingly tried to foster research in neglected areas by allocating funds to specific areas of research and requesting applications in those areas. Although this approach is certainly necessary, it has not done much to alter the effects of drug company money on research output. Also, in some ways it moves research even further away from the ideal in Vannevar Bushs report that â€Å"Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown. †2 This model was notably successful in the last half of the 20th century, but it may not survive the pressure to commercialize. While there is still much scope for curiosity-driven research, the curiosity of researchers is likely to be aligned increasingly with the interests of drug companies. As mentioned above, a cultural change has accompanied the increasing commercialization of university research. The pressure to commercialize has been critiqued in some quarters, but many university faculty have nonetheless embraced commercialization, or at least remained unconcerned about it. Are we far from a time when a researcher without a patent that is being commercialized will be regarded in the same way as those who do not publish regularly in the top journals? And how long will it be before governments make commercialization a mandate of granting councils and a requirement for the majority of grants? A fascination with the workings of the brain and how it can malfunction in mental illness is the usual motivator for researchers in neuroscience and psychiatry research. As a result, curiosity-driven research will always tend to serve the best interests of patients. Although research driven by commercial interests will certainly benefit psychiatric patients in some ways, it cannot serve their overall needs, as it is much too narrowly focused. The designation of funds by granting agencies for specific neglected topics will help but is unlikely to produce any large changes in the direction of research. Thus, the biggest losers from the pressure to commercialize will be psychiatric patients. In addition I am concerned whether students who are trained to focus on the short-term commercial implications of their research will be able to maintain the breadth of vision that is a characteristic of the majority of creative researchers. Changes due to pressure from governments to commercialize are not limited to researchers. The increased emphasis on commercialization in universities has in some ways distorted the perceptions of senior university administrators about the purpose of the institutions. For example, there seems to be a lack of concern about some of the sources of funds that universities receive. Universities now hold patents on many life-saving drugs. These patents sometimes limit access to the drugs, particularly in low-income countries. 15 In Canada, one-quarter of the faculties of medicine receive funding from the tobacco industry. 16 Perhaps a suitable future definition of a university will be a â€Å"whole body of teachers and scholars engaged in turning ideas into profit. † In 13th century Italy the response to interference by the Roman Catholic Church in the work of scholars was a move to another location to escape the interference. In the 21st century that option is not available even to the minority who are concerned about the drive to commercialize. However, the picture is not entirely bleak. Charitable foundations will remain immune to commercial interests. In addition, even though charitable foundations will probably remain relatively small players in the funding of research, there are promising signs. For example, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, created in 2000, has an endowment of about US$27 billion and is striving to use its money for the benefit of humankind in areas neglected by governments. This foundation is not involved in psychiatric research, but its focus on preventive approaches may help to direct interest to that important area. Research on prevention in psychiatry is still in its infancy and will certainly remain that way if short-term commercial considerations stay paramount. However, charitable foundations cannot be expected to have any large effect on the change in university culture brought about by the drive to commercialize. Although I would like to be able to end this editorial on a more hopeful note, I am concerned about these cultural changes, and I do not see any solution. Still, one lesson from history is that the communities of teachers and scholars making up universities have adapted to many changes over the centuries without changing the fundamental nature of universities, and they will surely continue to do so. I am just not sure how. Go to: - Footnotes Competing interests: None declared. Correspondence to: Dr. Simon N. Young, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, 1033 Pine Ave. W, Montreal QC H3A 1A1; fax 514 398-4370; simon. [emailprotected] ca Go to: - References 1. History. Padua (Italy): Universita Degli Studi di Padova. Available:www. unipd. it/en/university/history. htm (accessed 2004 Dec 13). 2. Bush V. Science the endless frontier. A report to the President by Vannevar Bush, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, July 1945. Washington: US Government Printing Office; 1945. Available: www. nsf. gov/od/lpa/nsf50/vbush1945. htm (accessed 2004 Dec 13). 3. Moutafi J, Furnham A, Paltiel L. Why is conscientiousness negatively correlated with intelligence? Pers Individ Differ 2004;37:1013-22. 4. Thursby JG, Thursby MC. Intellectual property. University licensing and the Bayh-Dole Act. Science2003;301:1052. [PubMed] 5. Sainsbury L. A cultural change in UK universities [editorial]. Science2002;296:1929. [PubMed] 6. Allan Rock welcomes framework on federally funded university research [press release]. Toronto: Industry Canada; 2002 Nov 19 [modified 2003 Jun 16]. Available:www. ic. gc. ca/cmb/welcomeic. nsf/558d636590992942852564880052155b/85256a220056c2a485256c76004c7d44 (accessed 2004 Dec 13). 7. Berkowitz P. Spinning off research: AUCC sets new tool to measure universities commercialization performance. Univ Aff [serial online] 2004;June/July. Available:www. universityaffairs. ca/issues/2004/junejuly/print/spinningoff. html (accessed 2004 Dec 13). 8. Kennedy D. Enclosing the research commons [editorial]. Science2001;294:2249. [PubMed] 9. Welch P, Cass CE, Guyatt G, Jackson AC, Smith D. Defending medicine: clinical faculty and academic freedom. Report of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Task Force on Academic Freedom for Faculty at University-Affiliated Health Care Institutions. Ottawa: Canadian Association of University Teachers; 2004 Nov. Available:www. caut. ca/en/issues/academicfreedom/DefendingMedicine. pdf (accessed 2004 Dec 21). 10. Salmon P. Effects of physical exercise on anxiety, depression, and sensitivity to stress: a unifying theory. Clin Psychol Rev2001;21:33-61. [PubMed] 11. Depression: management of depression in primary and secondary care. Clinical guideline 23. London (UK): National Institute for Clinical Excellence; 2004 Dec. Available:http://www. nice. org. uk/pdf/CG023NICEguideline. pdf (accessed 2005 Mar 8). 12. Nemets B, Stahl Z, Belmaker RH. Addition of omega-3 fatty acid.

Research Methodology Chapter | Qualitative Research

Research Methodology Chapter | Qualitative Research The aim of this chapter is to undertake a critical review of the research method used, including an awareness of alternatives approach and the basic research question is discussed. This chapter describes the approach that the researcher undertake in order to carry out the research needs of this paper. The research objectives are to examine the marketing strategies, how a company creates the good relationships between customer and the service provider in telecom sector. This chapter plays an important role as a part of dissertation because it discusses the methods available to the researcher and justifies the method chosen. Its implication lies on the fact that it supports the findings of the researcher by validating the selected technique as appropriate for the situation. In the first stage of this chapter researcher defined the methods and techniques in detail and in the later part of this chapter the reason has been provided which research method was suitable for this study of rela tionship marketing. A research methodology is a method for how research study is to be carried. It helps the researcher to answer questions authentically, completely and precisely. Research methodology refers to the procedural framework within which the research is conducted (Remenyi et al., 1998). There are many factors to be considered when choosing an appropriate research methodology, with the topic to be researched and the specific research question being primary drivers (Remenyi et al., 1998). (Kumar, 1999, Blaxter, Hughes Tight, 1996) argue that the basic characteristics of study are intend to be, a designed, careful, methodical and dependable means of finding out or deepening understanding. McGrath (1982) posit that the choices make it apparent that there are no perfect solutions, only a sequence of compromises. Patton (1990) expresses the same view: research, like diplomacy, is the art of the possible. Noteworthy, however, a methodology must not, regardless of all other conditions, dominate the research procedure. A preliminary framework for this study was developed from the literatures about the relationship marketing, the role of CRM, Customer loyalty and information technology to create relationships (Hagel and Singer, 1999; Peppers et al., 1999). This framework has the three usual parts of a system: inputs, processes and outputs. That is, inputs of Internet information about customers are processed and converged with a firms customer databases, to produce a series of strategic outputs such as improved customer relationship management. As a result of the diverse ways of understanding relationship marketing, no set of best practice has been promoted although several approaches nevertheless have been proposed (e.g. DeSouza, 1992; Rosenberg and Czepiel, 1984; Stone and Woodcock, 1995). It has even been suggested that no guidelines exist that guarantee an effective design, implementation, monitoring and measurement of a relationship marketing programme (Grande, 1996; Pinto, 1997). For example, when the term relationship marketing is used in so many different ways that confusion sets in (Palmer, 1998, p. 106) is it then not possible to identify activities that, if practised, can be presented as substantive evidence of the practice of relationship marketing itself? Also, how are programmes of relationship marketing implemented and subsequently monitored (Cravens, 1998; Gummesson, 1998)? Finally, Gummesson (1997) notes that the measuring of returns on relationship marketing is still in its infancy so in what way(s), if at all, are returns on relationship marketing measured? 3.2 Research Paradigm Research can be conducted in a number of ways. It is important to determine which paradigm is most suitable for this research. Paradigm offers a framework comprising an accepted set of theories, methods and ways of defining data (Hussey Hussey, 1997). There are two research paradigms exist: Positivist and phenomenological. The principles of these two paradigms will be discussed in terms of their relevant strength and weaknesses in order to justify the researchers choice. 3.2.1 Positivism Paradigm Positivism is that the social world exists externally and its properties should be measured through objective methods rather than subjective methods through sensation or intuition (Smith, 2002). Positivists emphasize on highly structured methodology and to develop quantitative data for an appropriate set of preconceived hypotheses is to be tested. They consider objective criteria rather than human beliefs and interests to determine the study area. (Smith, Thorpe lowe, 2002; Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 2003). According to Hussey (1997) research undertaken in this way will be precise, objective and the process of researching will have no affect on what is being researched. This type of research is performed in order to invent, confirm or reject an accepted theory. A key criticism of this approach is it is difficult to treat people as being separate from their social contexts and they cannot be understood without examining the perceptions they have (Hussey Hussey, 1997). However, consistency is high with generalisations being possible from data collected from a sample or population. In testing a theory, research will either attempt to prove or disprove a theory. Positivists emphasize on highly structured methodology and to develop quantitative data for an appropriate set of preconceived hypotheses is to be tested. They consider objective criteria rather than human beliefs and interests to determine the study area. (Smith, Thorpe lowe, 2002; Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 2003). 3.2.2 Phenomenological Paradigm Phenomenological (interpretive science) investigation uses qualitative and naturalistic ways to inductively identify individual experience in context-specific situation. This approach attempts to recognize and describe a phenomenon, rather than exploring for exterior reason or primary laws (Easterby-Smith, 1991; Remenyi et al., 1998). Because of criticism on the positivist paradigm, the phenomenological paradigm was developed. According to Bryman(1999) understanding human behaviour from the participants own frame of reference. The main advantage of using the phenomenological paradigm is its ability to enable the researcher to elaborate and embrace several different themes simultaneously to achieve a greater understanding of what is occurring in the phenomena. The major disadvantage of this paradigm is that the reliability is very low. Thus the generalizations to a wider population cannot be made to any degree of accuracy. 3.3 Research Methods In the perspective of data collection, Jackowicz (1995) defines method as a systematic and orderly approach taken towards the collection of data so that the information can be obtained from those data. One of the most difficult tasks of a researcher is to turn the data into information. To explain the difference between data and information, the main characteristics of data is that it is raw, specific, undigested and therefore largely meaningless; information in contrast of data is what comes out when data have been arranged in such a way that uncertainty is lessened, queries resolved, and questions answered. To get data to generate literature review, two paths are followed one is the theoretical concepts, and the other is investigation of secondary sources of data within telecom industry. The literature review is designed to give critique of the area of relationship marketing. Its aim is to create a background for the primary and secondary research. Within the methodological field in marketing research the two wide ways of quantitative and qualitative work have fascinated both appreciation and disapproval (Birn et al., 1990; Goodyear, 2000). Research can be classified into two dissimilar types Quantitative Method. Qualitative Method. In quantitative method data is gathered and analysed using statistical tools. The data is often gathered through surveys, interview, questionnaires, etc. Edem (1994) argues that quantitative methodology validate research findings and gives the researcher a security of completion or reassurance in contributing to the development of knowledge. Bryman (1993) condemns quantitative research methods for their obvious method and linearity, and their lack of concern over the influence of resource limitations. Gable (1994) considers quantitative research to be relatively weak when used with the objective of discovery and during data collection. 3.4 Qualitative Research Method The principal consideration is to identify research methods that increase ones understanding of an issue rather then build upon existing theories and test relevant hypothesis. This position is supported by Bell (1993), according to Bell Researchers who adopt a qualitative perspective are more concerned to understand individuals perceptions of the world. They seek insight rather than statistical analysis. (Bell, 1993) The selection of qualitative methodology dictates the character of data gathering approaches done in relationship marketing context which is largely inductive (Creswell, 1994; Cuba and Lincoln, 1994; Quinn-Patton, 1987). The inductive logic means research should evolve in an undefined pattern rather than a determined specific result oriented pattern. Research therefore emerges from the field research with the interactions between the participants and the interviewees, as well as through the observations. In essence, this means while researching on relationship marketing services the framework in the beginning will be limited and predetermined on few objectives, after that the research will be let to evolve itself. In most of the cases it is hard to dissociate all deductive aspects but the plan is to keep this to a minimum. It is for this reason that the use of qualitative rather than quantitative research methods shall be employed. With the decision to use qualitative method decided, it becomes necessary to consider the specific applications that shall be used. Basically, it is necessary to consider the resources available to the research process. Many of the constraints placed upon qualitative methods involved issues regarding the amount of time available to the process. According to Bell The extent of your data collecting will be influenced by the amount of time you have. this may seem a rather negative approach, but there is no point in producing a grandiose scheme that requires a year and a team of researchers if you are your own, have no funds and in any case have to hand in the project report in three months . (Bell, 1993) This position makes several valid points, reminding us that one must ensure that the resources that are available to the research process are utilised fully. A qualitative, rather than quantitative approach is chosen because it is considered that many of the key factors in relationship marketing are socially constructed. (Hirschman, 1986). Phenomenological method has been used to provide informative and interesting interpretations of behaviour by a growing number of consumer researchers. However, at the onset it is important to note that phenomenology is not just a set of techniques for gathering, analysing and interpreting data; it is as much a philosophy whose intellectual foundations need to be understood if the method is to be implemented in its true form (Christina Goulding, 1999). It is decided to take a phenomenological approach, rather than positivist one, the reason to choose phenomenological, it was considered the subject matter of the study was unlikely to be objectively determined, this being the criteria for the positivist approach (Easter by-Smith et al, 1999), and the approach was suited to the socially constructed phenomen a that is the chosen area of research. A qualitative is used to aim to draw first hand experiences, in-depth motivations and personal feelings of interviewees towards relationship marketing and its role in telecom industry. One fundamental importance to this study is the fact that qualitative research will disclose problems, answers and insights that may go unnoticed in a quantitative study using closed or list questions. This may have limited the usefulness of the study and would probably not do justice to the fascinating and dynamic nature of marketing strategy. 3.4.1 Benefits of chosen approach: The benefit of qualitative research starts firstly with the fact it is not very time consuming. As Gilmore and Carson (1996) advocates qualitative techniques are highly appropriate for marketing research in the services industry, given the dynamic nature of the service delivery and they mostly occur through human interaction. They felt that the examination of complex and dynamic service situations could be more effectively achieved since the qualitative research process offers an open, flexible and experiential approach. It provides with the subjective information which may help to analyze the complex questions that cannot be answered. Respondents are encouraged to answer in their own words providing rich, fertile, but disorganized data Jankowicz (1993). It also provides the opportunity and opens the doors for the new research areas because of richer source of ideas. The qualitative research literature ( Kirk and Miller, 1986; Cresswell, 1994; Carson et al., 2001) proposes that quali tative research in common is reliable, valid and trustworthy, the authors were mostly watchful of the reliability, validity and general matters that are connected with drawing conclusions and making implications from non-probabilistic, small samples (Patton, 1990; Bock and Sargeant, 2002). Because of time restraints and availability of resources, the qualitative approach was the best option for the researcher conducting a single study. The value of qualitative approaches has become more apparent in consumer research over the past ten years with a number of researchers gaining insight into the phenomena not easily understood through quantitative measures (Woodruff and Schumann, 1993; Masberg and Silverman, 1996). 3.5 Data Collection Methodology Basically the data was collected in two stages, shown below. First Stage: Theory Study The first part of the research was completed by examining and reviewing previous literature, which facilitated to develop the themes which were discussed in more depth by the later stage of the research study. Second Stage: Focus Groups exploration In the second stage the researcher is trying to demonstrate the need for the appropriate approach from all the available methods in qualitative research methods because of the exploratory nature of the study. Convenient sampling method was used fort he chosen method: focus groups. Convenience sampling is the method used for selecting the sample for the chosen research methods: focus groups and semi-structured interviews. Although these methods of non-probability sampling are less scientific than the more robust methods of probability sampling (Zikmund, 2000), it is appropriate for the purpose of this study as it is best utilized for exploratory research (Zikmund, 2000). The groups enabled the researcher to explore themes, and expressed feelings much better than the questionnaire, which would not have enabled the expansion of topics in the same way. According to (Morgan and Krueger, 1998) The goal in focus groups is to gain an understanding by hearing from people in depth and this requires selecting a purposive sample that will generate the most productive discussion in the focus groups. A purposive sampling strategy chooses the focus group participants according to the projects goals. Focus groups are a qualitative technique allowing for the explicit use of group interaction to produce data and insights that would be less accessible without the interaction found in a group (Morgan, 1990). Focus groups are an admirable technique at establishing the why behind the informant perspectives (Morgan, 1990). Focus group is an addition to an individual interview as focus groups are thought to produce more critical explanation than personal interviews (Watts and Ebbutt, 1987). The focus allows the interaction between the people of different races and careers to express them their feeling and share their thoughts or experiences. Different people are gathered and brought into conversation for a focuses discussion related to a specific subject or question the results are used to increase understanding of that particular topic. In market research focus groups have been exercised to learn about consumers approaches and feelings as well as developing marketing strategies (Crabtre e and Miller, 1992; Hedges, 1985; Keown, 1983). This method is open-ended. That is, they use a form of questioning in which the respondents are encouraged to answer in their own words while the researcher may have an idea about the kind of answers that should be expected, it is not possible to specify assumptions in advance. In focus groups the moderator asks a question to each member in turn. Inside these restrictions, though, the meaning has reasonably broader limitations and several ways of collecting data are viable (Mitchell and Branigan, 2000). The focus group is relatively unstructured and unrestricted; they provide bulky amounts of productive but disorganized data. Some new forms of focus groups are also emerging these days as online focus groups they have facilitated qualitative research to be the beneficiary for the electronic development. Conducting online qualitative research is getting more famous and significant as a method of gathering information and data to know the methodologies and its key benefits (Sweet, 2001). Focus are not always easy to plan and execute as Atiken (1996) argues the benefits of focus groups, but also point out that they are not easy to arrange, run and report on. Focus groups are also helpful if the respondents are friendly towards the researcher as qualitative interviews this also depends on the association between interviewer and interviewees in raising an open dialogue which can allow a joint construction of understanding in the interview (Kvale, 1996). Overall the chosen methodology which has suited the study better than that of a more quantitative nature, as the properties involved are not physical or easily measurable In the paradigm of qualitative research focus groups have many advantages and disadvantages that can be taken into consideration while exploring the research better synopsis could not be found on the limitations and strengths of the focus group method as qualitative consumer research than one written by Morgan and Spanish (1984, p. 260): In essence, the strengths of focus groups come from a compromise between the strengths found in other qualitative methods. Like participant observation, they allow access to a process that qualitative researchers are often centrally interested in: interaction. Like in-depth interviewing, they allow access to the content that readers are often interested in: the attitudes and experiences of our respondents. As a compromise, focus groups are neither as strong as participant observation on the naturalistic observation of interaction, nor as strong as interviewing on the direct probing of informant knowledge, but they do a better job of combining these two goals than either of the other two techniques. The researcher believes this is a useful combination and one which, for some types of research questions, may represent the best of both worlds. The focus group enables the researcher to explore themes, and expresses feeling much better than questionnaire. As Lovelock (1996) posits, focus group have been used very effectively to illicit useful information about likes, dislikes, wants and desires of the participants. Focus groups have these disadvantages which comprises of standing, information and cultural differences among respondents, group domination by intellectual persons, forceful agreement and are deficient in inconsistency in viewpoints (McDonald, 1993; Ulmenstein, 1995). The outcomes of the focus groups are unstructured. This deficiency of structure possibly will leave participants lacking a sense of completion and may provide respondent disappointment (Van de Ven and Delbecq, 1974). 3.6 Focus Group interviews The qualitative part of this study was designed to include both focus-group and semi structured interviews. It included two different kinds of tools for interviewing and collecting the qualitative data in order to achieve appropriate richness in terms of understanding the variables behind the relationship marketing and customers evaluations in the telecom sector. The researcher himself acted as a moderator because he knows that moderator can have a deep impact on the usefulness of focus groups, in view of the fact that he can control equally the content of what is said by respondents, (Myers, 1998) and manage of participation (Morgan, 1996). The researcher before deciding the participants of focus group always kept the goals in his mind about the different styles, status and experience participant remain involve. The first part of qualitative study involved two focus groups moderated by a research professional. Two sessions were conducted, including a two hour discussion per group. The two focus groups consisted of three people each. Some of them were students; users and the rest of them were from different call centres. This criterion was set partly because researcher want to compare the results under investigation to other groups. Prior to interviews, formal introductory letters stating the research objectives were sent to interviewees in o rder to remind and trust along with establishing relationship. These will be followed up by telephone calls and re-inforcement of research objectives which will enable interviewees to address any queries they have prior to the interviews. Semi-structured interviews of approximately forty minutes to one hour are used from the people who are working in call centres for managing customer relations and providing customer service. Focus group are also a consideration for this research, because interaction among respondents might have stimulated new ideas and thoughts that may not have arisen during one to one interviews, group pressures are immediate, the greatest potential for distorting the focus group research is during the group interview itself (McDaniel and Gates,1996) For example, focus group may be subject to unstructured discussions which drift far from research objectives. Furthermore focus group may also contain introverted and non-respondents. But for the research of relationship marketing in telecom industry focus group is a good option. From the 1970s, focus group used mainly in the sphere of market research (Morgan, 1997). They are now widely used in anthropology, communication, education, marketing, political science, psychology, nursing and public health. It is not easy to define an interview questions because of the variety of the types of interview. According to Patton (1980), it is a useful starting point: the purpose of interviewing is to find out what is in and on someone elses mind. Researcher interview people to find out from them those things we cannot directly observe. A variety of open-ended questions are considered for inclusion in focus group discussion and in interviews. A key consideration during the discussion is the accuracy of the information collected. Interviews and group discussion will not be capable of being repeated due to time constraints and professionalism. Throughout the session, questioning was purposeful to acquire the reason what participants feel about relationship marketing in current business. The best the researcher could do was to encourage the respondent to express their thoughts and experiences. Researcher tried let the discussion remain focused as he has to play the key role throughout. Analysis of the outcome of the groups was undertaken by collating the comments made and categorizing responses. According to Marshall and Rossman (1989), the advantages of interviewing that face-to-face meeting with informants obtains large amount of expansive and contextual data which facilitate access for immediate follow-up. Data collection for clarification and omissions is possible. Data are collected in natural setting because data obtains on non-verbal behaviour and communication. Interview facilitates analysis, validity checks, and triangulation, which also provides background context for more focus on activities, behaviours, and events. Interviewing is great utility for uncovering the subjective side, the natives perspective of organisational processes. Some of the disadvantages of interviewing that data are open to misinterpretation due to cultural differences, especially in diverse society. Depends on the co-operation of a small group of key informants and procedure are not always explicit. Interviewing depends on researchers opportunity or characteristics because data are often sub ject to observer effects; obtrusive or reactive because its dependent on the honesty of those providing the data , dependent on the ability of the researcher to be resourceful, systematic and honest; to control bias. 3.7 Analysis: Unquestionably, data analysis is the most composite and puzzling of all of the phases of a qualitative project (Thorne, 2000).Therefore, to analyze the data, it was important to choose a relevant method which suited the research approach. Considering all possibilities available Grounded Theory was decided to be the most suitable form of analysis, as grounded theory offers a way of attending in detail the qualitative material in order to develop systematically theories about the phenomena which have been observed (Turner, 1983). It also gives internal validity to a study because of its systematic processes. The discussion from each focus group was listened to a couple of times, and the transcription read a couple of times so as to develop a familiarity to the researcher with the content, as Hague and Jackson (1999) points out that with interviews it is generally good practice to transcribe them into typed up context and carry out analysis with this material. A lot of revelations became and most noticeable being the differences and similarities between the groups. The researcher spent time on examining upon the different parts of the discussions so as to attain a right understanding of what was actually meant by the respondents. Interpreting the data and simplifying meaning from the analysis (Miles and Huberman, 1994) is difficult task. All the emerging ideas were examined further at each stage of analysis, with the regular refining which formed the recoding stage of the grounded theory process. All through this analysis stage an attempt was made to relate the concepts to the previous re search where possible. Accessibility is essential to people within the organizations i.e. telecom industry that are involved in customer relationship management, management of customer data to retain the data of existing customers. Such sources would give key insights into how organizations are responding to the threats and opportunities of relationship marketing in the electronic age and with a freshness and energy that would deliver inspirational and perhaps leading edge thinking into e-marketing and the link with content. In summary the methodology of this research is developed from the question, to get better understanding of the concept relationship marketing. How content is being used to build relationship with existing customers. Throughout the development of the methodology, the most suitable research design methods is chosen with regards to this question alongside other more practical considerations. The limitations of research methodology are included accessibility to the research population of interest and time constraint. A major consideration in this study was perceptual and subjective bias although this is likely to apply to any research of this type and topic. However, ultimately the interpretation of the results is subject to the researchers own perception especially due to the researchers natural interest in the subject matter. 3.8 Methodological Critique This section reveals the flaws and defects which may have resulted because of the chosen methodology. Firstly, the qualitative approach was chosen but some practitioners who still believe that the qualitative research even now experiences from an uncertain image (Coldwell, 1990). The qualitative research which does not meet the requirements of validity and reliability as opponents of qualitative research time and again refer to the fact that this kind of research does not meet the demands of validity and reliability, standard which are usually viewed as the basis of any research. Indeed, as a consequence of the relative choice and lack of structure and inflexibility characteristic of most qualitative research methods it is simple to question validity and reliability in their conventional sense (Kirk and Miller, 1986; Warren, 1991; Warren and Cragg, 1991). Even the selected sample size was too small and cannot be said to provide the accuracy for the research as the small, qualitative study cannot maintain the power; mainly the sample studied cannot stand for the whole population sight and feelings. Methodological triangulation can be utilized to improve the reliability and validity of the facts (Denzin, 1989). Triangulation, whereby methods are derived from se veral sources, ideally using both qualitative and quantitative data would have been a superior approach this enhances validity (Threlfall, 1999). It would have also allowed cross referencing of data. As the researcher himself was the moderator, so it cannot be said a perfect condition for the focus group because a moderator for the focus group facilitation should be experienced and have some topic background, if available, would be an ideal moderator (Seggern and Young, 2003). The methodology of using focus groups and the availability of past research allowed the researcher to have data from different sources. The participants were known to the researcher and the majority were friends and colleagues, so the biasness to the discussion could have been created by them and the direction given by the moderator at times did not allow the respondents to express their true view, as the data acquired from the focus group is likely to symbolize the preconceived thoughts of the moderator as the approach of the subject interviewed (Threlfall, 1999). The group discussion in the focus group may let the respondents to leave the major conflicting views as it has been argued that group interaction can also be a major disadvantage of focus groups as it may inhibit the exchange of opinions and ideas and lead to the loss of minority or opposing points of view (Gordon and Langmaid, 1988). The discussion for this kind of study have provided the researcher with the substantial amount of data, some of which were relevant to the study and much which had no direct connection with the topic investigated because participants focus on one another rather than the researcher (Kitzinger, 1994). During the focus group discussion, respondents engaged in active talks to reach a same view for the group and it was hard to correctly record this conversation with a tape recorder, since on many occasions more than one respondent was conversing at one time. There is a possibility that the topic remain less or more inert throughout the discussion because the guide given by the questioner which may escort them the other way (Threlfall, 1999). In other terms researcher can say that the information gathered