Identifying Themes and Patterns/Qualitative Data Analysis Tools
Order Instructions:
It is important to note that each section should have a separate reference list and most importantly it is critical to respond to all questions detail with credible scholarly sources not more than 5 years old. And it is important to note that for SECTION A, the PDF file for the article has to be attached with the final paper .The writer must follow proper instructions in completing this paper. It’s a total of 3 pages with 1.5 pages for each section.
SECTION A (1.5pages)
Identifying Themes and Patterns
Qualitative data analysis can be quite complex and time-consuming. Whether the research design is descriptive or uses a specific qualitative methodology such as phenomenology; the researcher will need to consider all the data that is generated from data gathering. Most qualitative data are gathered from interviews and the results examined for themes and patterns.
1. Please describe and discuss how themes and patterns emerge from the analysis of data.
2. Use the thematic findings from a credible qualitative nursing research study to demonstrate your description. Please attach the study with your final paper.
3. Provide at least three citations with full references to credible nursing scholarly articles supporting your definitions and discussion.
SECTION B (1.5pages)
Qualitative Data Analysis Tools
Because data analysis in qualitative research is such a tedious and time-consuming process; various electronic software programs have been created to support the swift and detailed analysis of large amounts of narrative data.
1. Please identify a specific qualitative research design and then choose the electronic data analysis software program you would use to examine the data generated from this research.
2. Describe the data analysis program and justify why you would use the particular program for the analysis of data.
3. Provide at least three citations with full references to credible nursing scholarly articles supporting your definitions and discussion.
Resources to consider for this paper.
Introduction to Nursing Research Incorporating Evidence-Based Practice
• Chapter 9: “Qualitative and Mixed Methods”
• Chapter 12: “Data Analysis”
• Chapter 13: “Research Critique Process”
Please retrieve and read the following journal articles
• Jacelon, C., & O’Dell, K. (2005). Demystifying nursing research. Analyzing qualitative data. Urologic Nursing, 25(3), 217–220.
• Jones, M. (2007). Using software to analyze qualitative data. Journal of Qualitative Research, 1(1), 64-76.
• Rothwell, E. (2010). Analyzing focus group data: content and interaction. Journal For Specialists In Pediatric Nursing, 15(2), 176–180.
• Ryan, F., Coughlan, M., & Cronin, P. (2007). Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. Part 2: qualitative research. British Journal Of Nursing (BJN), 16(12), 738–744.
• Smith, J., & Firth, J. (2011). Qualitative data analysis: the framework approach. Nurse Researcher, 18(2), 52–62.
Google the names of the following qualitative software programs to learn their potential for assisting researchers in their data analysis of qualitative data: QSR, Ethnograph, AnSWR, QUALRUS, MAXQDA
SAMPLE ANSWER
Identifying Themes and Patterns/Qualitative Data Analysis Tools
Section A
The data collection methods that are used in qualitative research results to ideas that can be comprehended better under the thematic analysis control. This encompasses a focus on the identifiable patterns and themes of behavior or way of life. The first step should involve data collection. Audiotapes should also be used. Using the transcribed conversations, experiences’ patterns can be listed. This emerges from paraphrasing common ideas. After this, all the data that is connected to already classified patterns should be identified. The identified patterns are then elaborated on (Tracy, 2013). All ideas related to a specific pattern are identified and put together with corresponding patterns. The related patterns are then combined and catalogued into sub-themes. Themes are then identified through bringing fragments or components of experiences or ideas together, that are normally meaningless if viewed personally. Themes and patterns arising from the stories of the informants are put together to create a detailed picture of the collective experience. As researchers gather sub-themes to gain detailed information view, he can easily see patterns emerging (Tracy, 2013).
When patterns emerge, the best thing the researcher should do is obtaining feedback from informants regarding the patterns. This may be accomplished as the interview is going on or by asking for feedback from the informants from transcribed conversations. Using the former, the researcher utilizes the feedback from the informants to establish the subsequent interview questions (Ryan, Coughlan & Cronin, 2007). Using the latter, the researcher transcribes the session or interview, and asks the participants to offer feedback which is then included in the theme analysis. The researcher then builds valid arguments through choosing the themes. It is necessary for the researcher to refer to the literature again so as to make inferences. This permits formulation of theme statements and development of a story line.
In the qualitative study, ten semi-structured interviews were carried out. All these were audiotaped. Moreover, field notes were taken. The interviews were also transcribed verbatim and recordings were compared with transcriptions so as to promote accuracy and comprehensiveness when identifying themes and patterns. The participants were also given transcript copies for review so as to promote accuracy (Braun & Clarke, 2013). Following review, the participants had a chance to meet with the researchers for clarification of any issues that seemed vital. Interpretations were made regarding why nurses left the nursing practice. The researcher also used hermeneutics that permitted him to probe further into contextual meanings available in the interviews. Research colleagues shared interpretive analysis as a measure of promoting proper interpretation. As analysis was going on, major themes and ideas were identified. Like themes were paired and recorded accordingly, while supporting documentation was coded. Themes were also identified from the transcripts. If a new theme was identified, the previous transcripts underwent rereading to see if this theme had already been identified in the previous interviews. The research team was keen on identifying all possible meanings related to the theme so as to promote a thorough analysis (MacKusick & Minick, 2010).
References
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. London: SAGE
MacKusick, C. I., & Minick, P. (2010). Why Are Nurses Leaving? Findings from an Initial Qualitative Study on Nursing Attrition. MEDSURG Nursing, 19(6), 335- 340.
Ryan, F., Coughlan, M., & Cronin, P. (2007). Step-by-step guide to critiquing research. Part 2: qualitative research. British Journal Of Nursing (BJN), 16(12), 738–744.
Tracy, S. J. (2013). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Section B
When using qualitative ethnography design, an electronic data analysis software program can be used. Qualitative social research depends on different approaches for organizing, systematizing, and analyzing the qualitative data. Presently, researchers increasingly use computer software for qualitative data analysis. Such software is known as a qualitative data analysis (QDA) software. Among the pioneer software programs, as far as qualitative data analysis is concerned, is MAXQDA (Rothwell, 2010).
MAXQDA is an acknowledged professional software that is commonly used for mixed methods and qualitative data analysis for Mac and Windows. The software has immense features that make data analysis very easy including coding and importing graphic files and PDF; Georeferencing, powerful multimedia features, and synchronization and transcription of text documents. By using this software, I would have an innovative, easy, and powerful ways of using analytical tools. This would greatly make my research projects successful (Smith & Firth, 2011). I can easily import data from spreadsheets, video and audio files, images, web pages, online surveys, focus groups, and interviews into the software. Consequently, the data is sorted into groups, which makes data analysis very easy.
The software offers insight into data sets while no interpretations are being suggested. Relying on content analysis, I can draw conclusions on the respective research objective. The software tool permits easy structuring, sorting, and analysis of huge data amounts. It also facilitates management of resulting evaluations and interpretations (Jones, 2007). Through the use of MAXQDA, this may be achieved through classifying materials into groups via a hierarchical coding system, assigning weights and colors to test segments, and defining variables. MAXQDA also permits different visual tools and easy analysis results’ access. The use of a QDA when dealing with qualitative research is extremely vital in fields such as educational science, medicine, political science, psychology, and sociology. In addition, it is very vital in market and businesses researches. In a nutshell, MAXQDA has been very effective in qualitative research studies (Jacelon & O’Dell, 2005). In fact, it has promoted the use of these kinds of research.
A successful claim of negligence must establish the existence of duty of care, breach of duty, verification of injury and causation. A duty of care arises from a legal obligation of care, observance or performance imposed on a party to safeguard the rights of another. The hospital and its employees owed a duty of care to Mrs. Smith on ground that she sought the hospital’s medical services and was attended to by the hospital’s employees. The hospital breached its duty by not making sure that Mrs. Smith could not contract a staph infection or that she got attended to immediately she got the infection. As a result of complications of the infection, Mrs. Smith contracted an autoimmune disease. The staph infection was caused by the negligence of Dr. Patrow, the hospital’s employee, who failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that the infection could not spread through contact such as changing gloves between each patient and washing clothes out of the room.
The doctrine of Respondeat Superior applies in this case. The hospital is liable for the wrongful acts of its employees due to the fact that it failed to ensure that there were adequate rules and procedures, that the rooms contained adequate gloves for every patient, that the physicians washed their hands out of the room, and that the staff members were properly trained on dealing with infections. Thus, the hospital is vicariously liable for the injury caused to Mrs. Smith by the negligence of its employees. Mrs. Smith is entitled to indemnification by the hospital for the injury. Mrs. Smith should be indemnified the costs incurred for treating the autoimmune disease.
Reference
Learnscape. (2012). Hospital Nightmare. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
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Project description
please answer all questions thoroughly. Please give a detailed rational for all multiple choice answers selected. please show all work on the calculations. the second
part of the assignment is on SPSS but i changed it to excel to upload here. if there is an email i can send the original to let me know because the excel may not have
all the data needed. thank you
Assignment 2
This Assignment is formed of two sections.
The FIRST SECTION includes questions from “Grove: Statistics for Health Care Research: A practical Workbook, Graded Questions” and other sources.
SGrove, S. K. (2007). Statistics for Health Care Research: A Practical Workbook. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders. ISBN:
9781455709960
== The SECOND SECTION includes questions related to analyzing and interpreting the data. Download and use the file “Sample_Data_Assignment2_Blackboard.sav”
This assignment includes 40 points and represents 20% of the course grade. Each question is one point.
Please write your name on the top of each page.
Section I: Grove: Statistics for Health Care Research
A practical Workbook
Instructions: For each exercise section – questions to be graded, in the book “statistics for health care research, a practical workbook”, answer only the specified questions written in bold. Show your calculations and provide rationale for your answers for full credit.
For example: for exercise 1, “questions to be graded”, you need to answer only questions 5 and 7.
Below are the list of the exercise numbers, title and the specific questions that you will need to answer. You need to read the sections in the workbook in order to answer the questions.
Exercise 1: Identifying Level of Measurement: Nominal
Answer questions: 5 and 7
5. What number and percentage of the 44 depressed subjects were treated with antidepressant medications? Do you think an adequate number received treatment with medication? Provide a rationale for your answer.
7. The researchers excluded persons from the study who had a history of psychiatric illness. Provide a rationale for excluding these persons.
Exercise 2: Identifying Level of Measurement: Ordinal
Answer questions: 2 and 7
2. What statistics were used to describe the demographic variable Estimated Yearly Family Income in this study? Were these appropriate?
7. Should the demographic variable Educational level be analyzed with parametric or non parametric statistical analysis techniques? Provide a rationale for your answer.
6. Looking at Table II, what descriptive analysis techniques were performed on the interval/ratio data?
9. Are there significant differences between the intervention and the control groups for any of the variables in Table I? Provide a rationale for your answer.
Exercise 4: Understanding Percentages
Answer questions: 4 and 6
4. What number and percentage (%) of the total number of respondents had a current CRC test?
6. Explain why the number of total subjects’ data in Table 2 is for 859 subjects when the total sample for the study was 869 subjects.
Exercise 5: Frequency Distributions with Percentages
Answer questions: 4 and 10
4. What level of education achieved by the mothers is the mode for this variable? Document your answer as both a frequency and percentage.
10. Do you think that this study and its results can be generalized to the United States? Provide a rationale for your answer.
Exercise 6: Cumulative Percentages and Percentile Ranks
Answer questions: 5 and 9
5. What number and percentage of nurses documented a different pain score from the grimacing patient’s self-reported pain score of 8?
9. Is this study only applicable to the elderly population? Do you think younger patients’ self-reports of pain are believed and their pain appropriately treated?
7. In Figure 2, which variable is placed on the x-axis? Which variable is placed on the y-axis?
9. Examine Figures 1 and 2 and compare their distribution patterns. Are the distribution patterns similar? Provide a rationale for you answer.
Exercise 8: Interpreting Line Graphs
Answer questions: 6 and 10
6. The breastfeeding rate post-intervention was greater than the pre-intervention rate over the 12 months of the study. Is this statement true or false? Provide a rationale for your answer.
10. What implications for practice do you note from these study results?
Exercise 11: Using Statistics to Describe a Study Sample
Answer questions: 3 and 8
3. What other statistic could have been used to describe the length of labor? Provide a rationale for your answer.
8. Can the findings from this study be generalized to Black women? Provide a rationale for your answer.
Exercise 15: Measurement of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode
Answer questions: 1 and 9
1. The following list represents the number of nursing students enrolled in a particular nursing program between the years of 2001 and 2007, respectively: 563, 593,
606, 520, 563, 610, and 577. Determine the mean, median, and mode of the number of the nursing students enrolled in the above program between 2001 and 2007. Show your calculations.
9. Assuming that ? = 0.01, which nursing specialties demonstrated a significant change in popularity between the stages 1 and 2 of the research questionnaire administration? Provide a rationale for your response.
Exercise 16: Mean and Standard Deviation
Answer questions: 1, 4
1. The researchers analyzed the data they collected as though it were at what level of measurement?
a. Nominal
b. Ordinal
c. Interval/ratio
d. Experimental
4. Compare the mean baseline and posttest depression scores of the control group. Do these scores strengthen or weaken the validity of the research results? Provide a rationale for your answer.
Exercise 19: Determining Skewness of a Distribution
Answer questions: 1, 3
1. The age distribution of people diagnosed with cystic fibrosis is most likely to be:
a. negatively skewed.
b. normally distributed.
c. positively skewed.
d. bimodal.
3. Does a set of scores with most of its values above the mean have a negatively or positively skewed distribution? Provide a rationale for your answer.
Exercise 22: Scatterplot
Answer questions: 2 and 7
2. What type of relationship does Figure 22–2 illustrate? Provide a rationale for your answer.
7. Does Figure 1 from the Hitchings and Moynihan (1998) study have any outliers? Provide a rationale for your answer.
4. Without using numbers, describe the relationship between the Hamstring strength index 120°/s and the Triple hop index.
10. Consider the relationship reported for the Quadriceps strength index 120º/s and the Hop index (r = 0.744**, p = 0.000). What do these r and p values indicate
related to statistical significance and clinical importance? [alpha is set at 0.05].
Exercise 29: t-Test for Independent Groups I
Answer questions: 2 and 5
2. t = –3.15 describes the difference between women and men for what variable in this study? Is this value significant? Provide a rationale for your answer. [alpha is set at 0.05]
5. Consider t = –2.50 and t = –2.74. Which t ratio has the smaller p value? Provide a rationale for your answer. What does this result mean?
Exercise 36: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) I
Answer questions: 3 and 6
3. The researchers stated that the participants in the intervention group reported a reduction in mobility difficulty at week 12. Was this result statistically
significant, and if so at what probability?
6. Can ANOVA be used to test proposed relationships or predicted correlations between variables in a single group? Provide a rationale for your answer.
Section II: USING THE DATA SET DOWNLOADED FROM BLACKBOARD
“Sample_Data_Assignment2_Blackboard.sav”
1. Do frequency for the following variables and interpret the findings:
[1 POINT]
Age category, Gender, Bp (Blood pressure), Active (physically active), dhosp (died in hospital).
2. Do descriptive statistics and histogram with normal distribution and interpret the results for the following variables: [1 POINT]
Age (years), cost (total cost of hospitalization and rehabilitation), and log_COST (log transformed data to change it to normal distribution)
– Are these variables normally distributed?
3. Is there a difference between those who died in the hospital and those who did not die in the hospital in age (age at admission in years)? [1 POINT]
a. What statistical test you will use? Why?
b. Is there a statistically significant difference between the groups? Explain and interpret the finding
4. Is there a difference between the blood pressure groups in age (age at admission in years)? [1 POINT]
a. What statistical test you will use? Why?
b. Is there a statistically significant difference between the groups? Explain and interpret the finding
5. Is there a correlation between age (age at admission in years) and cost (total cost of hospitalization and rehabilitation)? [1 POINT]
a. Run correlation between the two variables and report the correlation coefficient (r) [direction and strength] and interpret the results.
6. Are there relationship between patient’s death in the hospital (dhosp) and the following variables: Bp (Blood pressure), Active (physically active). [DO
CROSS-TABLES] [1 POINT]
a. What statistical test you will use? Why?
b. Is there a statistically significant difference between the groups? Explain and interpret the finding
7. Write a summary report for the results of the study and its impact on nursing practice (i.e., summarize the findings from question 1 to 6) [Two POINTS]
SAMPLE ANSWER
Assignment on Epidemiology a7 Biostatistics
EXERCISE 1
5 What number and percentage of the 44 depressed subjects were treated with antidepressant, do you think adequate number received treatment medication
Of the 44 participants who were depressed subjects were treated with anti-depressants only 13% were reported to be using anti-depressants 37% were not being treated with any convectional interventions like exercise and herbal, which one would say was not significant enough to attribute antidepressants as an intervention strategy, also chi-square didnt attribute antidepressant as significant intervention strategy
The researcher excluded person from the study who had history of psychiatric illness
In a clinical trial, the investigators must specify Inclusion and exclusion criteria for participation in the study. Inclusion criteria are characteristics that the prospective subjects must have if they are to be included in the study, while exclusion criteria are those characteristics that disqualify prospective subjects from inclusion in the study. Inclusion and exclusion criteria may include factors such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, type and stage of disease, the subject’s previous treatment history, and the presence or absence (as in the case of the “healthy” or “control” subject) of other medical, psychosocial, or emotional conditions. One would say in this case
Exercise 2
What statistics were used to describe the demographic variable Estimated Year Family Income
Measure of central tendency, distribution and dispersion
7 should demographic variable education be analyzed with parametric or non parametric statistical technique
Education level here is ordinal variable therefore it will use non parametric statistical technique, Nonparametric methods are useful for analysis of nominal or ordinal data. They are also useful whenever questions occur concerning the underlying assumptions of a counterpart parametric procedure for interval or ratio data. In general, parametric procedures will have nonparametric counterparts, although the hypothesis tested will not always be exactly the same. For example, a parametric two-sample test for differences in means, may have a counterpart nonparametric test which is a two-sample test for differences in medians.
Exercise 3
Looking at Table 1, what descriptive analysis techniques were performed on interval and ratio data
The interval /ratio data was analysed using Descriptive statistics which analysis of data that helps to describe, show or summarize data in a meaningful way such that, for example, patterns might emerge from the data. Descriptive statistics do not, however, allow us to make conclusions beyond the data we have analysed or reach conclusions regarding any hypotheses we might have made. They are simply a way to describe our data., which consisted of Measures of central tendency: these are ways of describing the central position of a frequency distribution for a group of data. In this case, the frequency distribution is simply the distribution and pattern of marks scored by the 100 students from the lowest to the highest. We can describe this central position using a number of statistics, including the mode, median, and mean. You can read about measures of central tendency and Measures of spread: these are ways of summarizing a group of data by describing how spread out the scores are. Measures of spread help us to summarize how spread out these scores are. To describe this spread, a number of statistics are available to us, including the range, quartiles, absolute deviation, variance and standard deviation.
9.0 Are there significant difference between the intervention and the control groups of the variables
Chi square did not show any significance difference between the intervention and control group as the P<0.05 which rule out any significance difference
Exercise 4
what number or percentage(%) of the total number of respondents used CRT .
Each entry in the table contains the frequency or count of the occurrences of values within a particular group or interval, and in this way, the table summarizes the distribution of values in the sample. enerally the class interval or class width is the same for all classes. The classes all taken together must cover at least the distance from the lowest value (minimum) in the data set up to the highest (maximum) value, In case of our set of data the cumulative frequency and the percentage is 45% and the frequency is 24
6 Explain why the number of total subjects in Table 2 is for 859 subjects when the total subjects of the sample is stated as 869
Because of missing value and exclusion criteria
Exercise5
: Frequency Distributions w ith Percentages
Answer questions: 4 and 10
what level of educational achievement by the mother is the mode
We can easily the following formula is used to identify the modal group (the group with the highest frequency), which is 11 – 15 schooling years
Estimated Mode = L +
fm − fm-1
× w
(fm − fm-1) + (fm − fm+1)
where:
L is the lower class boundary of the modal group
fm-1 is the frequency of the group before the modal group
fm is the frequency of the modal group
fm+1 is the frequency of the group after the modal group
w is the group width
10 Do you think the sample can be generalized for the population of Whole of USA
Indeed NO s because the sample is not inclusive of all demographics although and seems not to include other races like Africa America, Hispanic among others also the sample too small
Exercise 6
Cumulative percentage and Percentile ranks
5.0 what number and percentage of nurses documented a different pain score from grimacing patients
25%
9.is this study only applicable to elderly population
The study is all inclusive and can be validly be used by elderly as well as younger patient
Exercise 7
In fig 2 which value is placed in Y axis and X axis
Y axis is the dependent variable while X axis is the independent variable
Examining figure 1 and 2 and compare their distribution patterns, are they similar in the pattern
Figure 1 shows a normally distributed data while Figure 2 show left skewed data, When you have a normally distributed sample you can legitimately use both the mean or the median as your measure of central tendency. In fact, in any symmetrical distribution the mean, median and mode are equal. However, in this situation, the mean is widely preferred as the best measure of central tendency as it is the measure that includes all the values in the data set for its calculation, and any change in any of the scores will affect the value of the mean. This is not the case with the median or mode.
Exercise 8
The breast feeding rate post intervention score were better than pre-intervention score as shown by the mean as well as standard deviation
The implications that it is necessary to advocate or promote breast feeding as post intervention as opposed to pre-intervention
Exercise 11
3 What other statistics could be used to determine length of labour
Mean, Mode, maximum, variance and Standard deviation
8.0
Can the findings from the study be generalized to include all black women
Yes, because the sample was adequate and it will be inclusive
Exercise 11
Determine mode, median and mean of the following nursing students enrolled in year 2001 to 2007
563, 593, 606, 520, 563, 610 and 577
Mean
To find the Mean, add up all the numbers, then divide by how many numbers there are:
563+593+606+520+563+610+577=576
Mode
To find the Mode, or modal value, place the numbers in value order then count how many of each number. The Mode is the number which appears most often (you can have more than one mode),in this case 563 appears twice
Median
To find the Median, place the numbers in value order and find the middle number (or the mean of the middle two numbers). In this case the mean of the 10th and 11th values:
563, 563,520, 577,593,606, 610
9 Assuming an alpha=0.01 which nursing specialty demonstrated a significant change in popularity between 1 and 2 in questionnaire administration, Cronbach’s alpha determines the internal consistency or average correlation of items in a survey instrument to gauge its reliability. Computation of alpha is based on the reliability of a test relative to other tests with same number of items, and measuring the same construct of interest Alpha coefficient ranges in value from 0 to 1 and may be used to describe the reliability
Exercise 16
The researchers analysed the data they collected as though it were at what level of measurement
Ordinal scale
4.- comparing the mean baseline and post test depression scores of control group, it is very clear that including the control group intervention strengthen the experiment because it give an opportunity to analyze the experiment holistically reducing bias in interpretation
Exercise 19 Skewness of a distribution
Bimodal
A histogram with two peaks is called “bimodal” since it has two values or data ranges that appear most often in the data. In a process that is repeated over time, we typically expect the data to appear in the familiar, bell-shaped curve of the normal distribution. Thus, the bimodal histogram can signal something out of the ordinary. When viewing this histogram, the data looks quite different – in fact, this second histogram almost seems to have a roughly normal distribution (or slightly skewed distribution) with a single peak
Negatively Skewed
negatively skewed distribution, the mode is higher than the median which is higher than the mean therefore in our case the data set has most of the score above the mean, meaning most of the 3rd moment about the mean is called skewness .In a negatively skewed distribution the tail of a distribution points toward the low scores
Exercise 22
The relationship is a positive significant relationship, where the dependent variable is influencing independent variable positively, increase in dependent variable leads to increase in independent variable
The figure 1 shows an extreme value, else called an outlier, which can be seen in the presence of a very large mean, and therefore interfering with normal distribution
Exercise 23 Pearson products-moment
There is a significant association between strength index 120/ s and triple hop index with p value less tha o.o5 The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is a measure of the strength and direction of association that exists between two variables measured on at least an interval scale
10 The R is a measure of the correlation between the observed value and the predicted value of the criterion variable. R Square (R2) is the square of this measure of correlation and indicates the proportion of the variance in the criterion variable which is accounted for by our model. In essence, this is a measure of how good a prediction of the criterion variable we can make by knowing the predictor variables, in this case are indicate 66% of the association
Exercise 29 ttest for independent groups
3.0 The ttest of -3.15 is significant at p<0.05 indicating a statistical significant difference between women and men, first because it is lower than critical value of the study, For a two-tailed test if the calculated value of t exceeds the tabled value, then report the p value in the table. For a one-tailed test, the p value is divided by two. So ‘p < 0.05’ becomes ‘p < 0.025.”
The table should include values for p=0.1 so that a one-tailed test can be conducted at the p=0.05 level, Negative t-values: The sign of a t-value tells us the direction of the difference in sample means,
6.0
We do report t test value as an absolute value, so whether negative or positive does not matter here therefore test with absolute value 2.50 is smaller than 2.74. Case I represents the null hypothesis (HO: µ1 = µ2) indicating that the mean of group one equals the mean of group two; both samples come from the same population. This would signify that the drug had no effect on blood pressure. The difference in the means is small, suggesting that they come from the same population. Case II represents the alternate hypothesis (HA:µ1≠ µ2), indicating that the mean of group one does not equal the mean of group two; the two sample means are from different populations. The difference in the means is too large to come from one population in most cases. Hence the means are probably coming from two different populations. A t-test decides which of these hypotheses to accept.
Exercise 36 ANOVA
3
Participants in the intervention group reported a reduction in mobility difficulty at 12 weeks, ans this is significant as shown by P vale of <0.05
6.0 The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to determine whether there are any significant differences between the means of three or more independent (unrelated) groups therefore not appropriate in the case of one group
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See attached file for the assignment and all the instructions.
Coursework Assignment Brief
Semester:
Summer 2014
Module Code:
POG 220
Module Title:
Legal Aspects of Oil & Gas
Programme:
BSc (Hons) Oil and Gas Management
Level:
Level 5
Awarding Body:
University of Plymouth
Module Leader:
Vick Krishnan
Format:
An individually written assignment consisting of a written essay/report of 2,500 words.
Presentation:
Yes
Any special requirements:
All written work should be submitted on the Student Portal along with an acceptable Turnitin Report
Word Limit:
2,500 words
YOUR WORK MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA THE STUDENT PORTAL. HARD COPY OR EMAIL SUBMISSION WILL NOT BE MARKED.
Word Limit Penalty for task 1
10% under / excess No Reduction
20% under / excess 5% Reduction
30% under / excess 10% Reduction
40% under / excess 15% Reduction
50% under / excess 20% Reduction
Over 50% under / excess Half the total marks
Deadline date for submission:
The deadline date for submission is 5.00 pm on Wednesday 13th August 2014.
Learning outcomes to be examined in this assessment (please note that this is not the assessment task)
Demonstrate a good understanding of the substantive rules of international law applicable to the oil and gas industry
Evaluate the key principles of contract formation in international commercial transactions and key international law principles and trends in the oil and gas sector
Assess the effectiveness of international law in addressing the environmental impact of oil exploration and exploitation
Demonstrate a critical understanding of the importance of oil and gas law as a distinct subject, studied in a practical and commercial context.
Knowledge and understanding: Demonstration of detailed knowledge of the legal framework of oil and gas industry and the implications of national, regional and international law.
Cognitive/intellectual skills: Ability to analyse a range of information and to synthesise ideas, selecting appropriate techniques of evaluation.
Key/Transferable skills: Ability to manage information towards a given purpose and understand the relevance in the analysis of legal problems.
Practical skills: Ability to apply given techniques to the solution of particular problems.
Percentage of marks awarded for module:
This assignment is worth 50% of the total marks for the module
Assessment Task:
An Individual Essay/Report
What bargaining powers exist between host states and international oil companies at the commencement stages of Exploration and Production. In this respect, critically evaluate the concept of “relative bargaining power” in the contractual relationship between host-governments and international oil companies.
You must support your answer with relevant and appropriate examples.
Assessment criteria
Explanatory comments on the assessment criteria
Maximum marks for each section
Content, style, relevance and originality
Relevant, accurate content, demonstrating academic and literary research, as necessary and required by the Assessment Task.
50%
Format/Structure, Referencing and Bibliography
Full text referencing and bibliography using the Harvard citation method
Demonstrating the ability to critically analyse and/or evaluate the subject area. Emphasis will be placed on the ability to triangulate introduction, discussions and conclusion. Higher marks will be given to those that are able to introduce issues for further contextual exploration.
40%
General Guidance/Structure :-
You are required to develop a well presented and logically structured essay on the concept of ‘relative bargaining power’.
Basically you are evaluating the respective parties (Host States and IOC’s) bargaining powers and how the pre-contractual negotiations subsequently translate into a full blown E & P contract. Evaluate which party has more bargaining power and why is this so? Look at the following issues :-
(1) The asymmetry of information in the hands of the IOCs
(2) Their technical expertise, and
(3) They are financing the project development.
Compare this with concession agreements – how do these differ? Also look at royalty payments and returns, and see how these payments and returns affect the relative bargaining power of the parties.
You should aim to develop a number of competing arguments on the dynamics of the relationship between the host-governments and IOCs.
You are to provide a balanced view of the issues involved and whether contractual relationships are sustainable in the long-term in oil producing countries without strong legal frameworks for enforcing contracts.
A good structure and a coherent analysis which is supported with academic and literary evidence is very essential.
Marking Criteria for Task 1
Indicative Grade
UK% marks
Characteristics.
Distinction
70%+
Very high standard of critical analysis using appropriate conceptual frameworks.
Excellent understanding and exposition of relevant issues.
Clearly structured and logically developed arguments.
Good awareness of nuances and complexities.
Substantial evidence of well-executed independent research.
Excellent evaluation and synthesis of source material.
Relevant data and examples, all properly referenced.
Merit
69-60%
High standard of critical analysis using appropriate conceptual frameworks.
Clear awareness and exposition of relevant issues.
Clearly structured and logically developed argument.
Awareness of nuances and complexities.
Evidence of independent research.
Good evaluation and synthesis of source material.
Relevant data and examples, all properly referenced.
Pass
59-50%
Uses appropriate conceptual frameworks.
Attempts analysis but includes some errors and /or omissions.
Shows awareness of issues but no more than to be expected room attendance at classes.
Arguments reasonably clear but underdeveloped.
Insufficient evidence of independent research.
Insufficient evaluation of source material.
Some good use of relevant data and examples but incompletely referenced.
Pass
49-40%
Adequate understanding of appropriate conceptual frameworks.
Answer too descriptive and or any attempt at analysis is superficial containing errors and omission.
Shows limited awareness of issues but also some confusion.
Arguments not particularly clear.
Limited evidence of independent research and reliance on a superficial repeat of class notes.
Relatively superficial use of relevant data sources and examples and poorly referenced.
PASS MARK=40%
E
39-30%
Weak understanding of appropriate conceptual frameworks. Weak analysis and several errors and omissions.
Establishes a few relevant points but superficial and confused exposition of issues.
No evidence of independent research and poor understanding of class notes or no use of relevant data, sources and examples and no references.
It is recommended that you review the requirements of the assignment before submitting your work.
Students should conform to the conventions of the above assessment format in the preparation of their assignments. The relevant assessment criteria have been stated to enable and guide students in the preparation of their work. Achievement of the learning outcomes and the application of relevant theories to the assessment task should be demonstrated.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Bargaining Power Balance between the Host States and the IOCs
The discovery of the much coveted natural resources such as oil for most countries ignites extremely high national and personal dreams of riches and hopes of prosperous times. This is escalated by the recent dramatic increases in the prices of oil. However, the process of exploiting such prestigious resource is not without challenges to the host countries, most of which are developing (Rassel, 2012, p. 797). The challenges mostly involve overcoming commercial, legal, technical, and expertise requirements required in exploration and development (Guzman, 2010, p. 171). The key hurdles centre mostly on management issues leading to the need to invite international companies with expertise and resources to help in the exploitation and marketing of the energy resource. The major concern arises once the host countries find that the international oil companies (IOC) often possess superior financial resources, superior knowledge of the oil, and even more contract negotiating experience than them (Rassel, 2012, p. 797). For instance, some companies such as Exxon Mobil have more resources ($371 billion) than most of the countries they operate like Saudi Arabia whose entire GDP is $ 281 billion (Peacock, 2010, p. 131). As such, negotiation and maintaining of the contracts can be a heated affair.
Bargaining power is the relative ability of parties involved in a situation to exert influence over each other in which if both parties’ posses equal footing in the involvement, then they have equal bargaining power and unequal bargaining power if otherwise (Guzman, 2010, p. 171). As Rassel (2012, p. 797) notes, in negotiations, bargaining power can be conceptualized as the capacity of one party to dominate the other as a result of its power, size, status, or influence, or even through a combination of the different persuasion tactics. In most cases involving negotiations between host countries and IOCs, unequal bargaining power is manifested by one party, most often the IOCs.
Prospects of Relations between Host States and IOCs
The nature of the oil and gas industry is one in which large returns can be realized since the commodity value in the market above the cost for maintaining the factors of production and for earning profits. Conflicts between the host and the OIC more often emanate from the issue of returns sharing (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p). Bargaining between the host and the IOC determine the division of the rents that each party in the agreement is to receive (Rassel, 2012, p. 797). Although there is a divergent between the goals of the host and those of the IOC, there is equally an array of complementarity and such a platform for each of the two sides to realize their targets through cooperation (Guzman, 2010, p. 171). However, the challenge arises, as a result, of the great discrepancy that exists in terms of resources; financial and expertise, between the two parties whereby more often the IOC are better established than the host countries.
During the negotiation stage, for instance, IOC is highly motivated (Peacock, 2010, p. 131). The companies are likely to overlook the high initial cost involved in the development and exploration even in the instance that they encounter several dry wells. They will, however, be keen to recover all these costs rapidly once they have embarked on a successful production (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p). IOCs have a tendency of tailoring their negotiation style to suit their interpretations of the political environments in countries they operate. Having been accustomed to authoritarian regimes and civil strife in most of the countries they operate in, the oil companies will most likely bring a self-protective, uncompromising, feisty attitude towards negotiations (Guzman, 2010, p. 171). In such cases, the environmental and societal impacts of the projects are ignored during negotiations a result of which is conflicts and breaching of agreements in the after days. Oil contracts are the result of negotiations more so since they are varied and complex.
According to Rassel (2012, p. 797), investors seek and require legal and institutional stability especially in terms of political, societal inexperience in handling resources, and institutional conflicts. Although most companies would wish to avoid such situations, oil companies are more often forced by circumstances to operate in conflict zones since the resources are mostly fond in these countries (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p). These emerging countries normally do not possess sufficient domestic know-how be it financial, legal, or technical, for the development, management, and implementation (Solimene, 2014, n.p). As a result, they have to seek skilled and independent negotiators from the private sector, which is seen as more lucrative and professionally challenging in order to counter this superior experience that IOCs bring to the table.
Types of Contracts used in Oil and Gas production Agreements
Host governments are normally faced with the dilemma of the type of contractual system to use in terms of the concession or license agreement, a joint venture, a PSC, or a service agreement (Solimene, 2014, n.p). In concessions, the contracts grant the IOC a right to explore, develop, and to export the oil extracted in a specific area for which the company has received the exclusive production rights for a prescribed time. Economic and financial advisers and lawyers are needed to structure the bidding system (Peacock, 2010, p. 131). The terms of license are drafted by the host government in compliance with the applicable law. PSCs are agreements signed by the government and the extraction company concerning how much of the resource extracted each will receive (Vivoda, 2009, p. 517). The main difference between concessions and PSCs is that in concessions, the degree of professional support and expertise required is not as extensive as in the case of PSCs. There are also different commercial results achieved by each of the two types of contracts; concession and PSAs. In PSAs, the host nation can earn a signing bonus (Rassel, 2012, p. 797).
The Production-sharing Contract recognizes that ownership of the resource rests with the citizens and not with private parties. Just like in the case of the licenses, the IOC develops, operate, and manage the oil field bearing all the operational and financial risks (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p). In this type of contract, the host state has a number of benefits. For instance, depending on the period of depreciation, the host country can earn a greater share of oil proceeds early. The profits are shared according to the agreed percentages and the IOC is obliged to pay taxes (Vivoda, 2009, p. 517). However, this type of contract presents some challenges especially in developing countries with large number of issues to be addressed and the less reliable legal infrastructure. PSCs demand skilled negotiators and experts in legal, commercial, technical, financial, and environmental areas (Solimene, 2014, n.p). This is a daunting challenge for host countries with their dire lack of data and information than the IOCs. PCAs were introduced in Indonesia in 1966 and have since been adopted by over 40 countries across the globe like India and in Africa (Peacock, 2010, p. 131).
Rassel (2012, p. 797) postulates that a joint venture arises if parties wish to pursue a joint undertaking with agreements on profit sharing as well as operational, financial, and management risk allocations. Service agreements involve the contractor receiving a fixed payment independent of the discoveries or oil prices. Management decisions key to the process tend to remain within the government (Rassel, 2012, p. 797).
Across history the industry has been characterized by cyclical shifts in relation to the balance of power between the host countries and IOCs, a feature that is reflective of the cyclical nature of this industry (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p). The host states were consequently able to earn larger shares of the economic rent. In addition, these periods were characterized by very low degrees of compatibility between the IOCs and the host countries. Besides, during the late 1980s and 1990s, the relationship was more of cooperative with falling market prices, which resulted in the balance of power shifting to the IOCs (Solimene, 2014, n.p). As a result, there was higher compatibility between the hosts and the IOCs and the balance of power now shifting to IOCs. In a nutshell, this implies that the larger the rents for division, the more intensive the bargaining relationship between the two parties becomes.
Arguing from the Vernon’s obsolescing bargaining model (OBM)’s perspective of the relationship between the host and the IOCs, it is clear that the changing nature of the bargaining relations is a function of resources, constraints, and goals on both sides (Pate, 2009, p. 347). As discussed earlier in this paper, the initial stages of bargaining are seen to favour the IOCs, a feature attributed to their established resource base when entering the relationship as opposed to the less versed hosts mostly the developing nations that lack the same (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p). However, as the relationship proceeds the IOC’s assets are turned into captives with the bargaining power consequently shifting to the side of the host countries (Maniruzzaman, 2009, p. 79). Once the bargaining power is on the side of the host country, the government is at a position to impose more conditions on IOCs ranging from higher asset expropriation to taxes.
Notably, the relationship between the host countries and the IOCs has since changed from a confrontational one to a more cooperative (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p). Besides, the shift in the way governments addressed the issue of contracts was followed by the deregulation, and less expropriation, and economic liberalization of the oil industry (Rassel, 2012, p. 797). Rassel, (2012, p. 797) notes that there is another emerging scenario in which the IOCs are seen as struggling to secure new oil reserves in the recent years, as a result, of increased competition.
Factors Affecting Bargaining Power between Host States and IOCs
Largely, several factors that are firm-specific affect the bargaining power of IOCs either as resources or constraints (Vivoda, 2009, p. 517). An IOC that has a reputable international presence is likely to command greater bargaining power that has the potential to achieving favourite investment terms in negotiations with the host state (Rassel, 2012, p. 797). Besides, companies with poor records on environmental conservation, as is the case with the infamous BP oil spill incident at the Gulf of Mexico, are less likely to attract good contracts to drill offshore areas particularly without very adequate regulation in place (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p).
An IOC’s reserve replacement acts s a key indicator of its bargaining power (Pate, 2009, p. 347). Reserve replacement is a good indicator to the ability of the company to sustain and expand their business in the coming days. As such it becomes an important measure of performance and a key factor in showing the value of the company in the financial markets since it measures the ability of the company to continue operating as a viable entity (Solimene, 2014, n.p). In this effect, if the IOC is unable to do stock replacement annually, then it would be perceived as performing poorly both in the market and in terms of its bargaining power (Maniruzzaman, 2009, p. 79). Alternatively, if they are to reproduce all their products and consequently secure access to additional reserves, then their bargaining power is enhanced (Rassel, 2012, p. 797). The five major companies were able to replace 99.7 percent of oil they produced between 1998 and 2002, seen as being at the break-even point while between 2003 and 2007 they were only able to replace 51.7 percent of the oil they produced (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p).
The country of origin of the IOC has a direct impact on their bargaining power relative to a given host country. This is so because of the different political, colonial, historical, and cultural factors. The political climate is likely more accepting for an IOC from a home country with stronger historical ties and greater cultural proximity (Vivoda, 2009, p. 517). Such ties are an important source of better perception of the reputation of the IOC by the host government because of the perceived closer fit between the management approaches of the company with what is common locally. The institutional distance has implications on the company’s legitimacy capacity in the host state (Maniruzzaman, 2009, p. 79). Institutional distance in this effect refers to the similarities or differences between the regulatory, normative and cognitive institutions of the two nations (Shaw and Cooper, 2009, n.p). When the institutional distance is high, the host government is likely to perceive of the IOC stereotypically, which is likely to affect the relationship between the two parties negatively making it difficult for them to reach a consensus (Rassel, 2012, p. 797). For example, in the case when the government of the U.S. engages in negotiations concerning American-based IOCs with host governments, the support tends to weaken the IOCs due to the high institutional distance in terms of the unfriendly anti-American cultural and political context of the host nations (Vivoda, 2009, p. 517).
Legal frameworks governing oil exploration are complex, multi-layered, and in most cases, contain components that are ambiguous. Contractual relationship between the host government and the IOCs is undoubtedly affected by the intertwinement and complexities of the various legal, institutional, constitutional, policy, and agency systems (Rassel, 2012, p. 797). The system of these prerequisite requirements that govern the oil and gas sector policy and exploration consequently impacts on its developement and implementation which entails several aspects and stages each of which has distinct with legislative and legal instruments (Maniruzzaman, 2009, p. 79). There exists a considerable degree of legal uncertainties, disparities, and ambiguities that lower the legal predictability in Oil and Gas contractual arrangements (Solimene, 2014, n.p). This has, in some cases, generated serious rifts and tension between the two parties as is the case in Iraq in 2008/9. The Iraqi oil and gas industry witnessed a period of changes of contracts with new elements in the legal and governing framework (Iraq Oil & Gas Report’ 2013, p. 45). The Iraqi service contracts form an important milestone in shaping future relationship between host countries and IOCs.
Conclusion
Most host states seek IOCs in order to access the managerial and technological skills they have to offer. The degree of managerial and technological skills that an IOC possesses vis-a-vis the host country can be taken as the key factor promoting their bargaining power. The main rationale behind this concept is that the superior and complex managerial and technological skills make it difficult for the hosts to engage with the IOCs because these developing countries have a shortage of the same (Maniruzzaman, 2009, p. 79). In this case, therefore, the host’s bargaining power is more when it has valuable natural resources desired by the IOCs. Notably, countries that have smaller reserves are less likely to attract a lot of IOCs. For instance, the more established IOCs may have more interest to invest in the more established countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia as compared with Egypt and Malaysia. The rationale in this argument is on the basis of reserve longevity and potential profitability
References
Guzman, AT 2010, ‘International Soft Law’, The Journal Of Legal Analysis, 2, p. 171
‘Iraq Oil & Gas Report’ 2013, Iraq Oil & Gas Report, 1, pp. 1-99
Maniruzzaman, Pm 2009, ‘The Issue Of Resource Nationalism: Risk Engineering And Dispute Management In The Oil And Gas Industry’, Texas Journal Of Oil, Gas, And Energy Law, 5, p. 79.
Pate, TJ 2009, ‘Evaluating Stabilization Clauses in Venezuela’s Strategic Association Agreements for Heavy-Crude Extraction in the Orinoco Belt: The Return of a Forgotten Contractual Risk Reduction Mechanism for the Petroleum Industry’, The University Of Miami Inter-American Law Review, 40, p. 347.
Peacock, B 2010, ”A virtual world government unto itself’: uncovering the rational-legal authority of the IOC in world politics’,Proceedings: International Symposium For Olympic Research, p. 318.
Shaw, T, & Cooper, A 2009, The Diplomacies Of Small States : Between Vulnerability And Resilience, Basingstoke [England]: Palgrave Macmillan.
Solimene, F 2014, ‘Political risk in the oil and gas industry and legal tools for mitigation’, International Energy Law Review, 2
Vivoda, V 2009, ‘Resource Nationalism, Bargaining and International Oil Companies: Challenges and Change in the New Millennium’, New Political Economy, 14, 4, p. 517.
Vivoda, V 2011, ‘Bargaining Model for the International Oil Industry’, Business & Politics, 13, 4, pp. 1-36
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Assessment Task – Scenario –The Energy Awareness Company
You work as a Consultant for a hypothetical organisation named The Energy Awareness Company which specializes in providing presentations to increase awareness in relation to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of products that are used in today’s society. There is a forthcoming energy event in which The Energy Awareness Company will be required to participate. You have first been requested to write a report which both shows an analysis of the impact of LCA on the environment and also provides strongly justified recommendations of how oil organisations (involved in upstream, mid-stream, and downstream activity) can use their understanding of LCA to lessen their impacts and also possibly encourage their consumers to also lessen their impacts. This report will be submitted to the organizers of the event. You will be required to do the following in your report:
Provide a critical analysis of the measures which an oil organisation involved in upstream, mid-stream, and downstream activity can put in place to show concern of environmental management and sustainability issues in relation to Life Cycle Assessment;
Assignment outline
Your work must be presented in a report format (2,000 words). It is important that your report is properly structured. Remember that this assignment account for 50% of your module assessment. Hence, poor performance will have a big impact on your overall module grade. An executive summary is not necessary in a report of this size.
Your report should include references to the appropriate environmental management for sustainability and development literature (textbooks, journals and websites) as well as appropriate sources related to the oil industry. Care should be taken when consulting websites, they are not all equally authoritative (for example Wikipedia is not peer-reviewed; therefore is not considered an academic reference website). A minimum of 5 different academic references must be cited, but a well-researched report is likely to cite many more.
You are advised to keep a back-up copy of the report until you receive your grade and regularly back-up your work on a computer storage (Dropbox and GoogleDrive are good examples). A disk crash is not an acceptable reason for late submission.
It is recommended that you review the requirements of the assignment before submitting your work.
Sections like the ones shown below should be included in your report. This is only a guideline so you may diverge as you see fit.
Title Page
A relevant specific title that reflects the main points of the report
Table of Contents
Introduction and Background
The case context and the company
What is the problem or the opportunity?
What is the purpose of the proposal?
What are your sources of information?
The Business Case – a critical analysis of the impacts of Life Cycle Assessment measures which oil companies have put in place to show concern of environmental management and sustainability issues relating to their business operation.
Recommendations
Bibliography
Appendices
Reflective Log – this should be 500 words in length and must address your reflection of your learning on the Environmental Management for Sustainable Development module. You should consider how your studies on this module has helped you with your academic progression (using the examples of skills which you have developed upon is suggested; please ensure that you use appropriate examples and reflect upon them). Your Reflective Log must be submitted separately from your assignment.
Instructions for the Reflective Log
When writing your reflection you must consider what you have experienced (for example, an academic skill), think about what happened (be clear about how this happened during the module), then detail what you have learned from the experience and how this improved skill will help with your continued studies.
Showing that you understand that of your self-improvement is very important for your reflective writing (self-improvement: learning from experiences and wanting to improve some area of your life).
Marking Scheme
Indicative Grade
UK% marks
Characteristics.
Distinction
70%+
Very high standard of critical analysis using appropriate conceptual frameworks.
Excellent understanding and exposition of relevant issues.
Clearly structured and logically developed arguments.
Good awareness of nuances and complexities.
Substantial evidence of well-executed independent research.
Excellent evaluation and synthesis of source material.
Relevant data and examples, all properly referenced.
Merit
69-60%
High standard of critical analysis using appropriate conceptual frameworks.
Clear awareness and exposition of relevant issues.
Clearly structured and logically developed argument.
Awareness of nuances and complexities.
Evidence of independent research.
Good evaluation and synthesis of source material.
Relevant data and examples, all properly referenced.
Pass
59-50%
Uses appropriate conceptual frameworks.
Attempts analysis but includes some errors and /or omissions.
Shows awareness of issues but no more than to be expected room attendance at classes.
Arguments reasonably clear but underdeveloped.
Insufficient evidence of independent research.
Insufficient evaluation of source material.
Some good use of relevant data and examples but incompletely referenced.
Pass
49-40%
Adequate understanding of appropriate conceptual frameworks.
Answer too descriptive and or any attempt at analysis is superficial containing errors and omission.
Shows limited awareness of issues but also some confusion.
Arguments not particularly clear.
Limited evidence of independent research and reliance on a superficial repeat of class notes.
Relatively superficial use of relevant data sources and examples and poorly referenced.
PASS MARK=40%
E
39-30%
Weak understanding of appropriate conceptual frameworks. Weak analysis and several errors and omissions.
Establishes a few relevant points but superficial and confused exposition of issues.
No evidence of independent research and poor understanding of class notes or no use of relevant data, sources and examples and no references.
Guidance on using TURNITIN Text matching software
Introduction
The purpose of this guide is to provide a brief explanation for students on how to use Turnitin. Students are required to include a Turnitin report with all their coursework assignments before they are submitted for marking by their tutors. In order to produce a Turnitin report, students are required to understand and to utilise the Turnitin facility in the Student Portal.
Accessing Turnitin
To access Turnitin, students must have a unique user profile in the Student Portal. The user profile comprises a username and a password both generated by GSoM. To request your username and password, please just email portal@greenwich-college.ac.uk
Select MY STUDIES, TURNITIN – and choose the submission area for the subject/ module, assignment and lecturer
Click on the SUBMISSION AREA button and follow the instructions on screen
If you are in any doubt, contact the Portal Services team who will be only too happy to help you.
We also run seminars most Monday evenings during each semester to demonstrate how to use the Portal and TurnItIn.
A text match (Originality Report) will usually be produced within 24 hours.
Accessing the Originality Report
Login to the Student Portal as before
Click on MY STUDIES, TURNITIN
Again choose the submission area for the subject/ module, assignment and lecturer
Click on SUBMISSION HISTORY
Click on REPORT link against the top entry in the list. This is your latest TurnItIn report.
Now you have generated the originality report your submitted work should be showing on the left hand side with the matching websites on the right hand side.
Scroll through the work and review the highlighted areas.
The originality index will give you a percentage indication of the proportion of your work that matches others sources. If TURNITIN indicates a high percentage score overall, (for example 15% or higher) then you should consult your module leader or dissertation supervisor as appropriate. As a guide, matches against individual sources should not normally show more than 1%, unless, there are very good reasons for this practice, such as the need to keep the contents of the originating sources in their exact formats to meet the requirements of the assessment tasks.
If your text match is higher please see your respective module leader for precise guidance in preparing assignments.
The Energy Awareness Company Business Report Particularly of an Oil and Gas
Organisation and Their Impact on LCA (Life Cycle Assessment)
Introduction and Background
Awareness of the significance of environmental concerns has become a key consideration to the operations of the oil industry and regulations in the last decades. There is a greater realization that sustainable exploitations can only be realized through environmental protection; as an integral part (Vallero, 2014, n.p). Gas companies should rely more on guidelines on environmental management across the field of oil exploration and production. The continued adoption of the best practices as well as the implementation of comprehensive and eco-friendly technologies and systems by oil companies and contractors is essential.
Purpose of the Report
The aim of the EcoFriedly Consultancy Company is working closely with other likeminded organizations like The Energy Awareness Company in addressing the issue of environment protection through identifying potential risks and remedies, developing appropriate mechanisms for improvements, and raising awareness on the same.
Importance of the Report
In recent times, the ecological side effects of oil exploration activities has been an area of concern attracting attention across the different stakeholders in the industry. In this regard, the Energy Awareness Company has been actively engaged in addressing the environment protection challenge through creation of awareness. The company recognizes the major issues faced by the oil companies as marine and freshwater discharges, oil spills, habitant protection and biodiversity, and soil and groundwater contamination.
The report used reports from the UNEP as a basis for integrating protection and regulation of environment issues that control the exploration of oil (Geraldes Castanheira et al., 2014, p.681). Deriving from the rich experience of UNEP in environmental issues concerning the oil industry, the information gained will be a good starting point in the improvement of programmes, policies, and regulations in minimizing the environmental impact of these activities (Carvalho et al., 2014, p. 37).
Scope of the Report
The purpose of this LCA impact analysis presentation is to evaluate the environmental impact of the entire production chain of oil and gas production. Firstly, the analysis presents the environment impact of the LCA and recommendations on how oil organisations can implement their understanding of LCA to minimize their impacts on the environment. The principal aim of the presentation is to raise awareness on the potential impacts of oil and gas companies on the environment as a foundation for informed decision making.
The Business Case
The LCA Assessment
Through the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) oil and gas companies would be better equipped in making more informed and sustainable decisions by better understanding of the environmental effects of exploitation processes and activities. LCA is an effective technique for assessing the environmental aspects and potential implications associated with the process, product, or service. Such an outcome is achievable through establishing an inventory of relevant material and energy inputs in relation to their environmental releases (Führ et al., 2010, n.p). It also investigates the likely environmental implications associated with identified releases and inputs. In addition, it interprets the outcomes to assist companies in making more informed decisions. As such LCA is undertaken through a four-stage process involving goal and scope definition, inventory evaluation, impact assessment, and the interpretation. Companies stand to benefit greatly by incorporating environmental performance based on the LCA concept into their decision making process.
LCA analysis framework
(Adopted from Carvalho et al., 2014, p. 38).
LCA tools are wired to assess the ecological implications associated with certain processes and products. With development of technology and science, there are new demands from the society concerning company’s responsibilities with their activities (Ismail et al., 2013, p. 3401). As such, the algorithms used in every category must be verified for accuracy and data input improved. Assumptions, input data, and algorithms must be accountable enough to allow third-party user reviews. The proper role of LCA in the process of decision making ought to be out rightly defined and presented in a manner that is appropriate in environmental preservation. As such, the LCA technique is designed such that it adds crucial information on environmental impact in the oil industry. LCA comprehensively offers a system’s potential environmental impacts which include all inputs and outputs (Carvalho et al., 2014, p. 38).
Conventional liquid fuels exploitation technologies have previously been developed using the simple pathway averages in full-fuel-cycle models like the GHGenius and GREET models (Menten et al., 2013, p. 111). However, these models are seen as too coarse for the modern LCA applications. The unconventional fuels sources such as oil shale deposits in Utah and Colorado and the shale oil and gas resources of North America are important given the depleting trend of these resources.
The big question for the employees on the basis of the LCA tool is how to do operations and projects can be done sustainably. This is a key starting point for embedding sustainability in the company. Sustainability alternatives should be through investigations using life-time cost benefits to identify the most sustainable approaches that are also cost effective for the organization. It is important that companies adopt sophisticated information systems that deliver timely and accurate data such that they are capable of sharing information on accidents and incidents even globally. For companies in the oil industry to achieve social licenses to operate in ecologically sensitive areas then they must exhibit superb record of environment responsibility (Geraldes Castanheira et al., 2014, p.684).
LCA analysis has also identified that many oil projects get delayed as a result of adverse reaction from the local community. A ‘tick box’ approach to consultations with the community is a dangerous starting point for any company. The LCA recommends that early professional and well directed consultations with the community to achieve long-term positive outcome for the company (Menten et al., 2013, p. 112). The likelihood of hydrocarbons presence under the seabed is investigated using high-intensity sound.
Oil Exploitation LCA Assessment
During the drilling process, mud is normally circulated between the platform and the well through a riser pipe. Mud is also helpful in maintain well pressure and the stability of the wall, to lubricate and cool the drill, as well as to carry the chips generated during the drilling process. Through this drilling, two types of mud are produced; the water based muds and the oil based muds. Discharging the water based muds to the sea bed with their residual oily mud contamination has been found to cause changes to the seabed through a combination of smothering, toxic and organic enrichment effects and are not allowed.
The drilling process also generates large amounts of water recovered with the hydrocarbons (Carvalho et al., 2014, p. 38). Through stringent standards of cleaning, some of the water is re-injected to maintain reservoir pressure. However, the bulk of it is often discharged to sea. Notably, in the recent past has been characterized by maximum recovery of oil in the UK North Sea fields. With the low levels of oil produced water the overall amount of oil discharged with the water within UK will continue to rise in the next coming years despite the improvements in technology (Kelly et al., 2014, p. 190). In this context, there is an increased attention in terms of regulation in production water discharge. Attention in monitoring in the oil and gas industry is currently focused on detecting more subtle changes in contamination trends.
In risk management and safety for every project it is crucial that risk is identified, assessed, and managed from the very onset since this will direct the success of the same. LCA analysis has also identified that strong safety culture delivers greater efficiency and productivity. Besides, when standards are ignored, and less attention is paid to working safety, it is very likely that incidents and accidents start to be experienced. Maintaining high standards of safety requires discipline and reinforcement from all angles and at all times.
Natural Gas Exploitation LCA Assessment
LCA major environmental sustainability analysis findings in natural gas exploitation include air emissions, water missions, solid waste, energy requirements, and resource consumption. The basis for analysis chosen was the functional unit. In terms of air emissions, the gas emitted in greatest quantities is CO2 which accounts for 99wt% of the overall air emissions (Menten et al., 2013, p. 114). The overall level of greenhouse gases produced should be quantified to establish the global warming potential (GWP) of the exploitation processes. The GWP of the process is a combination of CO2, N2O, and CH4 emissions. CO2 remains the major contributor to GWP accounting for about 89.3% (Laurent et al., 2014, p. 580). In regard to resource consumption, fossil fuels, minerals, and metal are used in the exploitation process. Oil and natural gas are the main consumption requirements followed by iron, and limestone. LCA analysis places water emissions as small compared to other emissions. Water pollutants are primarily from the material manufacturing used for plant and pipeline construction. The solid waste from the system LCAs has been found to be the miscellaneous non-hazardous waste with total solid waste standing at 201.6lt/Kg gas (Al-Sarkal and Arafat, 2013, p. 56).
Recommendations
It is recommended that companies consider a process-based LCA method in assessing the environmental burdens of their life cycle assessment. In this approach, the company itemizes the inputs in terms of the materials and energy resources as well as the outputs in terms of the wastes and emissions to the environment. The main issue with the process-based LCA is in defining components of the analysis and that which will be excluded. Oil and gas companies should be proactive in evaluating and producing new engineering and operational techniques focused on pollution prevention (Menten et al., 2013, p. 124). Improved management and operational techniques well implemented would assist in preventing and reducing pollution.
References
Al-Sarkal, T, & Arafat, H 2013, ‘Ultrafiltration versus sedimentation-based pretreatment in Fujairah-1 RO plant: Environmental impact study’, Desalination, 317, pp. 55-66
Carvalho, A, Mimoso, A, Mendes, A, & Matos, H 2014, ‘Review: From a literature review to a framework for environmental process impact assessment index’, Journal Of Cleaner Production, 64, pp. 36-62
Führ, M., Lechner, S., & Kilian, B. (2010). The European Impact Assessment and the Environment. Heidelberg: Springer.
Geraldes Castanheira, É, Grisoli, R, Freire, F, Pecora, V, & Coelho, S 2014, ‘Environmental sustainability of biodiesel in Brazil’,Energy Policy, 65, pp. 680-691
Ismail, Z, Tai, J, Kong, K, Law, K, Shirazi, S, & Karim, R 2013, ‘Using data envelopment analysis in comparing the environmental performance and technical efficiency of selected companies in their global petroleum operations’, Measurement, 46, pp. 3401-3413
Kelly, K, Wilkey, J, Spinti, J, Ring, T, & Pershing, D 2014, ‘Oxyfiring with CO2 capture to meet low-carbon fuel standards for unconventional fuels from Utah’, International Journal Of Greenhouse Gas Control, 22, pp. 189-199
Laurent, A, Bakas, I, Clavreul, J, Bernstad, A, Niero, M, Gentil, E, Hauschild, M, & Christensen, T 2014, ‘Review: Review of LCA studies of solid waste management systems – Part I: Lessons learned and perspectives’, Waste Management, 34, pp. 573-588
‘Life Cycle Analysis Perspective on Greenhouse Gas Savings’ 2012, Credo Reference Collections
Menten, F, Chèze, B, Patouillard, L, & Bouvart, F 2013, ‘A review of LCA greenhouse gas emissions results for advanced biofuels: The use of meta-regression analysis’, Renewable And Sustainable Energy Reviews, 26, pp. 108-134
Vallero, D 2014, Environmental Impacts Of Energy Production, Distribution And Transport, n.p.
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Logistics and Operations Management: Has the improvement in High St. Retail Logistics made us all more loyal Customers?
Introduction
Improvements in High St. retail logistics has had a huge impact on consumers given the ease with which they can now access the products of multinational retail consumer chains that were once not that accessible. However, the question as to whether these improvements have made consumers more loyal begs a much deeper analysis of the supply chain management process, and its evolution over the past few years. Since the 1990s, supply chain management simply referred to ways in which a company could get their products to their consumers in time once they had placed their orders (Haug, 2013, P.628). Therefore, this process involved one company in its efforts to satisfy the demand for its products in the markets where it had a presence and was never thought of as incorporating other aspects of the company such as production, relationship with other business partners and timely product launches. However, in recent years, supply chain management has emerged as a crucial part of company operations and currently, the process of choosing a supply chain management system involves answering questions such as: how well do we embrace product variety? How effectively are we marketing our products, and are our business models innovative through supply chain management to give us a strategic advantage over our competitors (Lichocik, & Sadowski, 2013, p.121)? The improvements in High St retail logistics have created global retail giants, but now we assess the creating of their business model to study their strengths and weakness as we seek to finds out whether they have created a more loyal base of customers.
Findings and Analysis
Cross-functional Integration to Cross-Enterprise Integration
One of the new questions that have greatly transformed supply chain management relates to how the company coordinates functions across several companies and also across different departments within the same company so as to supply products to the market. Since the 1980s, companies have looked for ways to implement cross-enterprise integration such as the just-in-time systems that were implemented by many automakers during this period that contributed greatly to cross-enterprise integration (Trentin, 2011, p.1707). Other such initiatives include those pioneered by Dell Computer’s and Wal-Mart that saw the integration of their vendor management systems, but there were other initiatives such as ECR that were industry-wide or public initiatives within the fast-moving consumer goods industry (Chan, & Prakash, 2012, p.4675). These public initiatives revolutionized the respective industries where they were implemented, but they also levelled the playing field in that all the companies within the industry now had similar supply chain systems and they had no competitive advantage over each other in terms of supply chain management. For the smaller companies, this was a welcome situation as the larger companies had superior capacity and had superiority in terms of supply chain systems, but the integration efforts gave them equal access to the same systems as the large corporations. The implementation of industry-wide cross-enterprise integration increased the efficiency of supply operations for the smaller companies, but the larger companies may have not benefited significantly from the integration. However, the cross-enterprise integration spearheaded by individual companies for their vendors and trading partners are unique and have greatly distinguished companies such as Wal-Mart and eBay from their competitors and earned them customer loyalty.
Evolution of Market Mediation from Physical Efficiency
The evolution of market mediation was driven by the need to minimize supply costs and still meet demand while at the same time reducing the production and distribution costs. Initially most companies were focussing on physical efficiency where they strived to produce enough products to meet the demand from the market based on the fact that costs associated with this approach were easy to assess as they were in the control of the company. However, recent developments in technology have largely increased the mediation costs that are the costs involved in matching the supply of products to the market demand at any particular time. This is especially true for companies in the technology industry that have uncertain demand driven by a rapidly changing environment that requires them to keep innovating or lose their market share. For technology companies such as Sun Microsystems, they faced significant problems in meeting the demand for their products given that their complete solutions consisted of many different parts from various factories within the company and from other manufacturers. Sun’s initial approach was to assemble all the components from the different factories and manufacturers at a staging facility after which they were repackaged then delivered to the client as one system, but this usually resulted in high mediation costs. Therefore, Sun has decided to partner with logistics companies so that different components are assembled at different points while enroute to the customer, which has resulted in significant savings in mediation costs. Most industries require companies to pay attention to both their physical costs and mediation costs so as to minimize costs and increase efficiency (Haug, 2013, P.631).
Focusing on Demand instead of Supply
Companies are no longer just focusing on supplying the amount of products that the market demands, but they have shifted their attention to how they can affect the nature of demand by the market so as to match the demand to their supplies. As much as companies are still focused on improving their supply capability they have realized that they can manage demand better by coordinating with the sales and marketing departments so that they can get adequate information about demand and improve the supply management process. The first concern for supply chain managers is the bullwhip effect that is usually caused by demand variability across the supply chain, which causes the demand variability to increase at all levels of the supply chain including manufacturers and suppliers. Supply chain managers in most industries are struggling with this phenomenon where the final retailer has variable demand, but the variability increases as he places orders to his suppliers who then increase the variability as they place orders with the manufacturers. Companies are now focusing on mitigating the bullwhip effect within their supply chain by improving their pricing structures, the incentives offered and by restructuring the planning and ordering processes. Many companies are also investing in better ways of acquiring demand information so that they can easily detect shifts in customer demand and adjust their supply accordingly, but in order for this to work, the supply chain should be extremely reactive to changes in demand so as to adjust supply according to updated demand information. Companies such as Japan’s 7-eleven have adopted such systems and they have reaped significant rewards such as having a stock turnover of 55 times in a year (Iyer, Srivastava, & Rawwas, 2014, p.55). Another crucial strategy is the demand-based management system where the company’s marketing efforts and their demand-management systems are integrated with the supply chain activities. This strategy reduces costs drastically and causes a significant increase in the profits earned given that the products presented to the market are fully aligned with what the company can efficiently supply. The airline industry has effectively implemented this strategy through the yield-management approach where ticket prices are constantly adjusted to match the market demand.
Evolution of Collaborative Product, Process, and Supply Chain Design
Companies are now shifting their efforts from designing their own products to minimize product costs to how they can collaborate to design products, processes and supply chains in order to minimize their costs. This new design model is known as designing for the supply chain where marketers, designers and supply chain managers collaborate in the product design process so that supply chain management issues are identified and tackled during the early stages of the design process (Cannella & Ciancimino, 2010, p.6742). This strategy is particularly viable to high-clock-speed industries where there is extremely high speed of evolution in technology and production technologies coupled with extremely short product lives. In such industries, the development of new generations of products may require drastic changes in the technology used and the suppliers used by the company, which will definitely affect the structure of the supply chain given that the location of suppliers has a significant influence on the location of production facilities and lead times. The use of technology based systems that manage vertical and horizontal collaboration within industries is the key to enhancing collaboration in product development with examples of such software including Agile Software, which is mostly used in the electronics industry and the Freeborders software that is prominent within the apparel industry (Tse, et al., 2012, p.7185). The high-end retailer Dillard’s discovered that its products reached the market much faster when it started a collaboration program with some of its suppliers when designing its private-label clothing line, which was followed by a significant reduction in the shortage of Dillard’s products in the market. Technology companies have also implemented this strategy to significant reductions in costs, such companies include Hewlett-Packard that implemented postponement effectively to store generic safety stocks and protect future product supply.
Breakthrough Business Models that Evolved from Cost Reduction
The surest way to achieve success is when companies combine new supply chain management strategies with innovative marketing strategies to create a formidable market force. Companies such as Dell and IKEA are two companies that have implemented unique marketing and supply chain strategies to dominate their respective markets and become market leaders. Dell uses a build-to-order strategy where it does not keep inventory, but rather customers specify the properties of the unique products they require through the Dell website after which the products are made and delivered to the customers. This model has worked extremely well for Dell that has dominated the personal computer industry as compared to their competitors who use the build-to-stock supply chain system (Haug, 2013, P.628). On the other hand, IKEA uses the build-to-stock supply chain system in an industry where most of their competitors use the build-to-order system that is much slower, and IKEA faster system has made them market leaders. These changes in business models usually occur as a result of more collaboration and sharing of information within the supply chain system that causes the company to make changes as they adopt go-to-market strategies only to end up with breakthrough business models that are aligned with the market demand.
Conclusions
In the analysis above, it is clear that the improvements in High St. retail logistics did not automatically create more loyal customers, but increased the efficiency of supply operations and the ease and speed of meeting customer demand. Cross-functional and cross-enterprise integration was the first strategy to significantly benefit the customer who gained easy access to products from both large and small manufacturers and the increased coordination between companies must have led to better quality products for the customers. Market mediation also impacted the customer positively because as the companies minimized their mediation and physical costs the benefits eventually trickled down to the customer who was now paying less for the same products than he was paying in the past. The reduced mediation costs were also quite significant to the manufacturers who now had extra revenue to invest in further supply chain strategies and realize further reductions in costs. By focusing on the demand as opposed to focusing solely on supply, companies were able to predict customer demand much better in their forecasts and means that customers benefitted greatly because now there were less product shortages and the products they needed were always available in the market (Strozzi, Noè, & Zaldívar, 2012, p.2048). Companies also benefited from focusing on demand by mitigating the bullwhip effect and getting better demand information that drastically reduced mediation costs. The increased collaboration between companies in the design of new products greatly benefited the customers who were able to get new generations of products in time and companies also benefitted from postponement that significantly increased their profits. Lastly, the breakthrough business models implemented by companies ensured that customers got the exact products that they preferred tailored to their specifications and the companies became market leaders in their respective industries.
Recommendations
My topmost recommendation for these companies in future is that they should develop products tailored to specific groups of customers with unique needs or even start tailoring some of their products to individual customers. More companies should implement customer interface systems such as the one implemented by Dell where they can interact with their customers and address their unique needs. Companies should also integrate their Customer Relationship Management systems (CRMs) with their supply chain management systems so that they can offer customers with unique products specifically tailored to their needs. The future for these companies lies in collaborating more with suppliers and designers in their efforts to bring more tailored offerings to their customers.
Major benefits of IT systems
The major benefits of IT systems are weaved throughout the whole report. They are:
Dell and Wal-Mart used IT systems to integrate their vendor management systems to become market leaders in their respective industries (cross-functional integration). EBay uses IT systems for effective cross-enterprise integration.
Companies such as Japan’s 7-eleven have adopted IT systems that allow them to collect data about supply and customer demand and they have reaped significant rewards such as having a stock turnover of 55 times in a year (focusing on demand not supply). Airlines also use similar IT systems to regulate ticket prices.
Companies in the electronics industry use IT systems such as Agile Software to facilitate horizontal and vertical collaboration, while those in the textile industry use Freeborders.
Dell uses an IT system, its website, as a revolutionary marketing tool to tailor products to customers’ expectations.
References
Cannella S. & Ciancimino, E., 2010, ‘On the Bullwhip Avoidance Phase: supply chain collaboration and order smoothing.’ International Journal of Production Research, 48(22), 6739-6776.
Chan, F. T.S. & Prakash, A. 2012, ‘Inventory management in a lateral collaborative manufacturing supply chain: a simulation study.’ International Journal of Production Research, 50(16), 4670-4685.
Haug, A., 2013, ‘Improving the design phase through inter-organisational product knowledge models.’ International Journal of Production Research, 51(2), 626-639.
Iyer, K. N. S.. Srivastava, P. & Rawwas, MY. A., 2014, ‘Aligning Supply Chain Relational Strategy with the Market Environment: Implications for Operational Performance.’ Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, 22(1), 53-72.
Lichocik, G. & Sadowski, A., 2013, ‘Efficiency of supply chain management: strategic and operational approach.’ LogForum, 9(2), 119-125.
Strozzi, F., Noè, C., & Zaldívar, J., 2012, ‘Divergence control of a one-level supply chain replenishment rule.’ International Journal of Production Research, 50(7), 2046-2057.
Trentin, A., 2011, ‘Third-party logistics providers offering form postponement services: value propositions and organisational approaches.’ International Journal of Production Research, 49(6), 1685-1712.
Tse, Y.K.et al., 2012, ‘Improving postponement operation in warehouse: an intelligent pick-and-pack decision-support system.’ International Journal of Production Research, 50(24), 7181-7197.
Das, K., 2012, ‘Integrating reverse logistics into the strategic planning of a supply chain.’ International Journal of Production Research, 50(5), 1438-1456.
APPENDICES
Wal-Mart Sales growth due to improvements in logistics and supply management
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for this paper, they are 3 main questions to respond to, it is critical for the writer to clearly respond to this 2 main questions using scholarly sources to support the points and properly citing all work in APA format. Questions should be thoroughly responded.
Information Systems Development
once an organization makes the decision to implement an information systems technology, the next step is to determine whether the system should be developed internally or externally. There are risks and benefits to either approach. Internal development can be costly. On the other hand, it “bakes” into the organization the critical skills necessary to not only maintain the system but to also enhance it over time. External development, whether on- or offshore, can realize considerable savings and allow the company to focus on its own core competencies. The trade-off can be a system that is less customized or adaptable to existing systems, as well as a continued reliance on the vendor for maintenance and upgrades.
This week, you will explore the critical factors to take into consideration when making such a decision, bearing in mind organizational strategy as the primary context for the development of information systems.
There are advantages and disadvantages to in-sourcing and outsourcing, For this week’s paper, respond to the following:
• What are the critical success factors in taking the decision to outsource IT functions? Which functions, if any, can/should be outsourced? What are the risks associated with outsourcing or offshoring?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of short cycle time development? Do these mitigate the decision to outsource?
• What cultural barriers exist when offshoring IT development? Can these barriers be overcome? If so, how?
Resources to be used for the paper
Articles
• Baskerville, R., & Pries-Heje, J. (2004). Short cycle time systems development. Information Systems Journal, 14(3). Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.
This article examines a new form of development referred to as short cycle time systems development.
• Tafti, M. H. A. (2005). Risks factors associated with offshore IT outsourcing. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(5/6), 549–560. Retrieved from ABI/INFORM global database.
This article presents a framework to assess risk factors associated with offshore outsourcing of IT development.
• Gottschalk, P., & Solli-Sæther, H. (2005). Critical success factors from IT outsourcing theories: An empirical study. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(5/6). Retrieved from ABI/INFORM global database.
This article applies 11 management theories to rank critical issues in IT outsourcing using case studies and interviews as its methodology.
• Meso, P., & Smith, R. (2000). A resource-based view of organizational knowledge management systems. Journal of Knowledge Management, 4(3). Retrieved from ABI/INFORM global database.
This article asserts that the only true strategic asset is intellectual capital and that IT development of knowledge management systems must take into consideration the “socio-technical” perspective.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Information Systems
When outsourcing IT functions, there are key success factors that should be taken into consideration. The first factor is the cost of outsourcing as compared to that of an in-built information system. However, the cost should not be the chief factor to consider as some information systems might be very cheap but not very effective according to an organization’s need. Another factor is the security of the organization’s information. Some information systems need to be managed locally and confidentially; therefore, outsourcing may compromise the security of the information. Specificity of assets is another factor that should be considered. One should consider the ability of the outsourced information system to fit the specific organization’s needs. Most outsourced systems are designed in such a way that they can be used by any organization. Degree of uncertainty of the information systems is another critical factor. The IT world is ever evolving, and when considering outsourcing, it is important to weigh between the ability of the outsourced system to be overtaken by technology against an inbuilt system. Frequency of transactions in this regard means how often the information system will be used. For instance, outsourcing may be effective for transactions, which are done once for a long period of time (Gottschalk & Solli-Sæther, 2005).
According to Tafti (2005), insecurity of information is one of the risks associated with outsourcing. The systems like payment processing system should never be outsourced at any instance. Another risk factor is unsuitability of the information system in regard to the organization’s objectives and needs. Each system has got its own specific users; outsourcing may not meet the specific needs of the users who may employ the outsourced system. For example, in a salary processing system, not all employees may be entitled to house allowance but most information systems include this as one of the details in processing the salary.
Short cycle time gives an organization the ability to distinguish a mediocre team from serious one. The short cycle time sets out a target to a team member on what is to be achieved within a given period of time. This helps reduce the risk of delayed delivery of customers’ software due to issues of incompleteness of the process. Short cycle time development helps in dealing with the factors of economic changes. When developing software for a long time it may be affected by changes in the economy for example inflation which may result to higher prices of hardware than the price that was planned for. The IT world of today undergoes changes now and again, short cycle time development helps in development of software at the right time when it’s relevant to the users before they are overtaken by other new inventions. The short cycle time development is very appropriate in delivering emergencies, software’s that are needed within a very short time. Its quick and this saves on time and cost through the consolidated efforts of team members (Baskerville, & Pries-Heje, 2004).
One disadvantage of the short cycle time system development is that the system can be developed within a very short time, not taking into consideration how it will serve for a long time. Some systems are developed and work out correctly at their initial time of introduction, but later on, it crashes down immediately after it is launched. Such problems occur because the system developers never take their time to fully analyze the system. Another disadvantage of the short cycle time development is that the period for user education may not be enough to full equip the users on how to use the new software before it’s launched. They may be trained but they may not be very confident enough in handling the new software. This does not mitigate the fact that a system can be in-built in order to meet the needs of the organization. Proper planning can be done and by employing the appropriate expertise, the system can be developed effectively (Baskerville, & Pries-Heje, 2004).
The bureaucratic nature of an organization can become a barrier in off-shoring IT development. This involves the procedures that are encountered in signing off the deliveries at the various stages in the system development lifecycle. Lack of management commitment can influence the software development and implementation. If the management lacks commitment then the whole project may fail due to issues such as financing of the project in a timely manner. Technophobia is also another barrier towards software development within an organization. If the users are technophobic then there may be a problem along the software development life cycle when they shall be required to test and be educated on the software before it is launched. It’s necessary that the management confirm and understand the necessity of the software before its development begins. They should commit fully towards financing the project and sustaining the project through continued maintenance.
References
Baskerville, R., & Pries-Heje, J. (2004). Short cycle time systems development. Information SystemsJournal, 14(3). Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.
Gottschalk, P., & Solli-Sæther, H. (2005). Critical success factors from IT outsourcing theories: An empirical study. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(5/6). Retrieved from ABI/INFORM
Meso, P., & Smith, R. (2000). A resource-based view of organizational knowledge management systems.Journal of Knowledge Management, 4(3). Retrieved from ABI/INFORM global database.
Tafti, M. H. A. (2005). Risks factors associated with offshore IT outsourcing. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(5/6), 549–560.Retrieved from ABI/INFORM
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For this paper, they just want the writer to comments on the different sections starting from A-D. they writer will be polite and gentle in his or her critic of the post, and it is important that the writer use at least one credible source to support his or her point in APA and reference it at the end of that section. No cutting and pasting , watch out for plagiarism and each section should at least be a paragraph. use the same paper , and respond at the end of each section .
will upload it in the file section so that the format does not change since it has boxes
SAMPLE ANSWER
In At least 1 paragraph, comments on each of this post with at least one citation, offering your thoughts about the post, or expanding on some points that you felt needed some more thoughts and explanation. Avoid cutting and pasting use proper paraphrasing in this paper, and complete each section by writing the reference list in APA before going to the next section. Importantly you have to support each respond with a credible source and reference it at the end of that section .
SECTION A
What are your thoughts and comments about this post?
According to Bowell and Cannon (2014), data can be classified using measurement scales. There are four that are commonly used; nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio (Boswell & Cannon, 2014).
Type of Data
Sample
Statistical Procedure
Nominal: Data are categorized or labeled without any intrinsic ordering to the categories (Plichta & Kelvin, 2013).
Classifying people according to their gender.
Chi-square test
One sample t-test
Ordinal: Data are placed in the order of what is important or significant (Plichta & Kelvin, 2013).
Researchers measuring the level of satisfaction in patient wait times in the ER.
Mann-Whitney U test
Kruskal-Wallis test
Interval: Data has the identical interpretation throughout, the order and the exact differences between the values are known (Plichta & Kelvin, 2013). There is no absolute zero (Bowell & Cannon, 2014).
The difference between a temperature of 38*C and 39*C is 1 degree.
Student t-tests
Pearson correlation
McNemar’s test
Mann-Whitney test
Ratio: Data has an absolute zero and represents equal units (Plichta & Kelvin, 2014).
The time it takes for nursing students to hang IV fluids
Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Central Tendency
t-Test
Having the position of wound nurse in a skilled nursing facility, the use of evidence-based practice protocol has played a major role in how wounds are properly cared for. Recently, a resident returned to the facility with orders for wound care that contradict evidence-based practice to appropriate wound therapy. Another skilled nursing facility had used this wound care technique, leading to a citation for inappropriate wound care. According to Bolton (2005) to improve patient outcomes and to answer common clinical issues evidence based practices need to be utilized. These strategies not only provide tools to give the best patient care, but also the development of cost-effective care (Bolton, 2005).
Boswell, C., & Cannon, S. (2014). Introduction to nursing research: Incorporating evidence-based practice (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.
Plichta, S., & Kelven, E. (2013). Munro’s statistical methods for health care research (6th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
Respond here with in one paragraph minimum with at least one citation in APA
While the writer states that the ratio, interval, ordinal, and nominal measurement scales are the commonly used, my take is that these are the only measurement scales. I agree with the writer that nominal scales have no intrinsic ordering; ordinal scales follow order; interval scales have no absolute zero and the exact variation between values is known; and the ratio scale has an absolute zero. I admire the fact that the writer acknowledges the significance of evidence-based practice in leading the nursing practice. The practice improves patient outcomes and assists in answering the common clinical issues. It also promotes cost-effective care. However, the writer should have emphasized on the strong link that exists between the collected data and evidence-based practice. In this case, the credibility of the data should be a key factor. Individual patient care is also emphasized through the practice (Moorhead, 2013).
Reference
Moorhead, S. (2013). Nursing outcomes classification (NOC): Measurement of health outcomes. St. Louis, Mo: Elsevier/Mosby.
SECTION B
What are your thoughts on this post ?
Type of Data
Example
Statistical Procedure
Nominal (numerical values to identify or label values for coding of variables)
Binomial, Chi-square, Fisher’s exact test, McNemar, and Factorial logistic regression are just some examples used under Nominal statistical value
Ordinal (designed to show representation of measurements of no true zero value but to align them in a meaningful order from a lower category or rank to a higher rank)
Ranking of military, depression ratings, rating pain
Pain scale
could use the Likert scale with 0-3 with 0 be no pain and 3 be severe pain
Median, Wilcoxon-Mann Whitney test, Kruskall Wallis, and Friedman test are just some examples used under Ordinal statistical value
Interval (no true zero and are represented with equal numerical intervals between the values which allows for researchers to add and subtract equally across the scale to gain an observable measure)
GRE, SATs, MCAT, Fahrenheit degrees
98 degrees temperature
Or
480 reading score on SAT and 500 on math for SAT
T-test, Wilcoxin-Mann Whitney test, Kruskall Wallis, ANOVA, Friedman, and ordered logistic regression are just some examples under Interval statistical value
Ratio (combining the values of the interval system with the combination of a true zero value allowing for equal intervals between each value representation)
Weight, pulse, Blood pressure, height
Zeroing the bed upon arrival of a CHF patient to ensure that accuracy of weights and follow up weights
Multiple regression, MANOVA, factor analysis, T-test and paired t-test, ANOVA, and canonical correlation are just some examples under Ratio statistical value
UCLA (2014).
Quantitative analysis uses numerical values to define and explain the outcomes that have been represented by the research and can commonly be referred to as statistical analysis (Boswell & Cannon, 2014). Numeric data that make up and represent these areas of quantitative analysis can be classified into four divisions of measurement scales: Interval, Nominal, Ordinal, and Ratio. Interval scales has no true zero and are represented with equal numerical intervals between the values which allows for researchers to add and subtract equally across the scale to gain an observable measure (Plichta & Kelvin, 2013). Some common examples that can be used for interval scales are standardized tests such as the SAT, MCAT, and the GRE scores. The nominal scale is used as a measurement device to apply numerical values to identify or label values for coding of variables (Boswell & Cannon, 2014). Some common examples of these types of coding that may be applied under nominal scales may be numerical values for religion, gender, or ethnicity. These numbers are not concerned or represented in any particular order. This may be used to measure values in nursing staff when taking statistics for survey ratios on gender and applying a numerical value. Ordinal measurements are designed to show representation of measurements of no true zero value but to align them in a meaningful order from a lower category or rank to a higher rank (Plichta & Kelvin, 2013). Some common examples of this would be to rankings in military or to use this in the healthcare field to rate pain, depression, or satisfaction. A zero can be used as a ranking scale in this instance but does not mean that it is valued as a zero. A Likert scale can be used to compare pain rating scales even though a zero may used on this rating scale it may not be classified as a true zero and the other values in ranking based on the value of pain. The ratio scale can be described as combining the values of the interval system with the combination of a true zero value allowing for equal intervals between each value representation (Plichta & Kelvin, 2013). Common examples of this scale would be to describe patient’s weight, pulse, and blood pressure. All of the following examples at the measurement of zero represent the absence of the device being measure or the measurement in question and without the result being “zero-ed” the number can’t be accurately assumed (Plitcha & Kelvin, 2013). For instance, when a patient is admitted to a hospital, and they are entering with a diagnosis of CHF we must obtain a baseline weight by zeroing the bed to get a baseline weight to make sure that the following weights are therefore accurate on the ratio scale. Statistics may be used in our own evidence based practice because through research and data analysis the numeric values help to explain the outcomes of the research at hand. These statistics can help to display the way that variables can be differentiated and utilized to represent the statistical data based on how we chose to measure the device as deemed appropriate. With the appropriate measures of the scales and quantitative analysis from the data it can gain great insight to nursing for the future.
References
Boswell, C., Cannon, S. (2014). Quantitative Analysis. In B. Boswell and S. Cannon (3rd ed.), Introduction to nursing Research: Incorporating Evidence-Based Practice (pg. 338-362).
Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
Likert-type Scales, Statistical Methods, and Effect Sizes (2012). Communications of the ACM, 55(5), 6-7. doi:10.1145/2160718.2160721
Plichta, S.B. & Kelvin, E.A. (2013). Organizing, Displaying, and Describing Data. In B. S. Plichta and E. Kelvin (6th ed.), Munro’s Statistical Methods for Health Care Research (22-25). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Respond here with in one paragraph minimum with at least one citation in APA
The writer amazingly defines the nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales. On the same note, I consider the examples given to be perfect. However, my take is that the statistical procedure should be as follows; nominal (mode), ordinal (median and mode), interval (arithmetic mean, mode, median, range, and standard deviation), and ratio (mode, median, arithmetic mean, geometric mean, harmonic mean, coefficient of variation, and studentized range) (Ingham-Broomfield, 2008). I agree with the writer that quantitative analysis utilizes numerical values and the numeric data used is normally, ratio, interval, nominal, and ordinal. Agrreably, interval scales have no true zero. The ordinal values have a meaningful order.
Additionally, nominal scales can simply be referred to as names or labels, are mutually exclusive, have no overlap, and there is no numerical significance. Ordinal scales can simply be remembered through the word order. Ratio scales is the overall measurement scale (Ingham-Broomfield, 2008).
Reference
Ingham-Broomfield, R. (2008). A nurses’ guide to the critical reading of research. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 26(1), 102-109.
SECTION C
What are your thoughts on this section below?
Identification of questions about practice and patient outcomes is becoming a mainstream function in modern nursing practice (Siedlecki, 2008). Today’s nurses are being challenged to ask why phenomena occur in the healthcare setting and healthcare providers should be concerned with the acquisition of evidence with which to base their practice models. The PICOT question format is useful for quantitative research because it defines essential elements which must be in place for valid study framework (Boswell & Cannon, 2014). The nature of quantitative studies is to examine etiologies for experiences through the use of numeric and scientifically collected data (Pierce, 2009). In the discussion question, the adult clients with CHF and the other adult clients on the cardiac unit are the independent variables measured in a nominal scale to describe the existence of CHF and the absence of CHF upon admission. The dependent variable in the presence of a nosocomial infection also measured nominally for the presence of the infection. The chi-square test would be acceptable for this study as it is used to determine the relationship that may or may not exist between nominally measured variables in a study (Boswell & Cannon, 2014). The chi-square test will provide the statistical answers about the development of nosocomial infections in the population sample admitted with CHF.
Boswell, C., & Cannon, S. (2014). PICOT, Problem Statement, Research Question, and Hypothesis. In C.B. Boswell & S.C. Cannon (Eds.). Introduction to nursing research: incorporating evidence-based practice (6th Ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Pierce, L.L. (2009). Twelve steps for success in the nursing research journey. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 40(4), 154-163.
Siedlecki, S.L. (2008). Making a difference through research. Association of Operating Room Nurses Journal, 88(5), 716-
Respond here with one paragraph minimum with at least one citation in APA
It is impressive that the writer was keen to mention that nurses’ concern about patient outcomes and practice is very key in the present day healthcare environment. There is also a major concern as to why phenomena occur and how credible evidence can be acquired so as to promote the evidence-based practice. It is noteworthy that the writer recommended the PICOT questions for a valid study framework in quantitative studies (Giuliano & Polanowicz, 2008). Moreover, the writer is keen to note that quantitative studies use scientific and numeric methods of data collection. In the PICOT question, the writer identified the variable to be the nosocomial infection (dependent variable) while the independent variables are CHF patients and other cardiac patients. My take is that the cardiac unit is another dependent variable since there are other patients suffering from other diseases but are in other units. I also agree that the Ch-square test is more appropriate for the study.
Reference
Giuliano, K., & Polanowicz, M. (2008). Interpretation and use of statistics in nursing research. AACN Advanced Critical Care, 19(2), 211–222
SECTION D
What are your thoughts on this section below ?
PICOT questions help to process and formulate quantitative data through problem statements conducted by the designated appropriate acronym that has been created to help nurses and researchers place together important foundations and fundamental parts of these problem statements (Boswell & Cannon, 2014). When breaking down the acronym: P stands for population of interest, I stands for intervention, C stands for comparison, O stands for the outcomes of the data analysis, and T stands for time that has elapsed to achieve the outcomes during the process (Stillwell, Fineout-Overholt, Melnyk, & Williamson, 2010). PICOT can help nurses better understand research topics by bringing together the topics within the literature for review and allowing for researcher to gain insight into new perspectives and etiologies, predictions, or therapies that can change the course of our care and thinking. Variables are the measurement or value for which a certain characteristic is being recorded or measured to display value or meaning (Plichta & Kelvin, 2013). When using the problem statement as described above, “Adult clients who are admitted to the cardiac unit with congestive heart failure are more likely to develop nosocomial infections than other cardiac clients admitted to the cardiac unit,” it is important to try and determine the independent and dependent variables of the above statement and break it apart from the above PICOT setting to best understand the quantitative data. For the PICOT I chose the etiology setting as it seemed fit for this question due to the risks factors and relation to the conditions described under the segments by Stillwell et. al, (2010).
P- patients admitted to the hospital
I-CHF
C- without CHF
O-higher risk for developing nonsocial infections
T- time of stay in cardiac unit
The Independent variable: CHF clients and non CHF clients are the two independent variables because they are two classifications that are chosen and both stand alone and are not changed due to the other variable.
The Dependent variable: Is the nosocomial infection because this factor could change based on several measures being studied and as per the question this is the key factor that is to be studied.
I believe that the level of measurement for both will use the nominal scale due to the fact that it probably will include patient identification, gender, with no indication of order for number representation (Boswell & Cannon, 2014). When reviewing the data accumulated from the resources from UCLA (2014) chart of statistics for 2 independent values and one dependent value under the categorical or nominal would result in a: Factorial logistic regression, multiple logistic regression, or a discriminate analysis statistical test for these results.
References
Boswell, C., & Cannon, S. (2014). Introduction to Nursing Research: Incorporating Evidence-Based Practice. (3rd ed.). Burlington, WA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Plichta, S.B. & Kelvin, E.A. (2013).Organizing, Displaying, and Describing Data. In B. S. Plichta and E. Kelvin (6th ed.), Munro’s Statistical Methods for Health Care Research (22-25). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Stillwell, S., Fineout-Overholt, E., Melnyk, B., & Williamson, K. (2010). Evidence-based practice, step by step: asking the clinical question: a key step in evidence-based practice. The American Journal Of Nursing, 110(3), 58-61. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000368959.11129.79
Respond here with one paragraph minimum with at least one citation in APA
I agree with the writer that the PICOT questions are particularly useful in quantitative studies. Another noteworthy statement is that problem statements are developed using designated proper acronym and this is very useful in ensuring that the fundamental parts and foundations of the study are incorporated. The writer argues that the PICOT questions are useful when reviewing literature so as to identify new research areas (Boswell, Boswell & Cannon, 2014). The definition of the acronym PICOT can really be useful to readers without knowledge on the same. This writer also identifies the independent variable to be the non CHF patients in the cardiac unit and CHF patients while the dependent variable is the nosocomial infection. I agree with the writer that the nominal scale is the most appropriate measurement level. However, I would suggest the use of Chi-square test as opposed to the tests recommended by the writer.
Reference
Boswell, C., Boswell, C., & Cannon, S. (2014). Introduction to nursing research: Incorporating evidence-based practice. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
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My assignment requires a paper written as a letter of recommendation. Sources/references aren’t needed. I’ll attach detailed instructions. Thank you
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Request for a Letter of Recommendation
Name of the writer xxx
Address xxx
Email
Telephone
Date 19/7/2014
To the instructor
Florida International University
Address xxx
Dear Sir/Madam
RE: REQUEST FOR A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
I am delighted to seize the opportunity to write this letter to you, which is primarily aimed at requesting for your recommendation. I have earned a scholarship at an international university and it is mandatory that I get a recommendation from an important figure in the course of my life, such as you. It is on this ground that I humbly make this request to enable me pursue my career and achieve my dreams.
My name is XXX; I have studied at Florida International University for the last four years, where you have been my instructor for the last two years. I have had a cordial working relationship with you for the period we have known each other. At one point, you gave me an opportunity to talk to elementary students on the use of drugs during an initiative dubbed, ‘giving back to the community’. The programme was one of the initiatives of the university to participate in corporate responsibility.
I am a dedicated and a hardworking individual. This is manifest from my exemplary performance in my studies as well as co-curricular activities. I have won various awards at the university in different categories. I was awarded with a first class division in my studies. In addition, I received numerous awards in various categories in academics. In co-curricular activities, I participated in athletics and managed to win two silver medals. I also participated in various programs at the university such as providing training and counseling services at the various high schools in the state. As a leader of the university student body, I managed to spearhead an initiative geared at promoting creativity among the university students. I also worked as a volunteer after my studies, with the United Nations for duration of three months. These opportunities allowed me to put in practice my skills and knowledge, as well as to learn more skills of working with others. I came to embrace the spirit of teamwork and unity working together with my fellow colleagues. I am creative and embrace new ideas. Working as a volunteer with UN, I managed to develop a program that was adopted to help in reduction of poverty in the third world countries.
I would like the letter to be mailed to the director of foreign studies -University of Boston. The board of the University has the mandate of reviewing the letter and ascertaining the authenticity of the information provided. The letter should reach the office before the end of the month on 29 July, 2014. The university is very strict on deadlines and any letter that is accessed after the date is cancelled. I have enclosed a preaddressed stamped envelope to facilitate the sending of the letter to the above-mentioned institution.
As I conclude, I would like to send my gratitude for taking your time to go through the letter and to provide a recommendation. I hope that this opportunity will impact on my studies and make me realize my dreams. I furthermore, extend my thanks in advance as I wish you all the best in your endeavors. I am available and you can reach me through my email or telephone number provided in case of any questions for clarification.
Thank you in advance
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Quantitative data collection instruments and sampling methods available to researchers
Order Instructions:
Research at least three quantitative data collection instruments and sampling methods available to researchers using the text and additional resources from the University Library.
Identify two articles in the University Library: one in which the business problem is researched using a descriptive statistical method and another using an inferential method.
Summarize each of the data collection instruments, sampling methods, and the statistical methods.
Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper in which you compare and contrast each of the approaches:
•What are the strengths and weaknesses of each sampling approach?
•What are the specific situations in which you would choose to use each of the instruments and designs?
•What are the strengths and weaknesses of each statistical approach?
•How can they be used most effectively in a combined approach?
•Which methods are more appropriate for research in your own business and functional area?
Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines
SAMPLE ANSWER
Quantitative data collection instruments
Introduction
Business is often faced with the need to conduct studies towards certain issues. Research often seeks to increase production, reduce losses, determine new markets, and improve old products. The methods obtained should give as clear a picture as possible to determine the most reasonable course of action. The most reliable method should always be applied to research work if possible.
Data Collection Methods
In statistics, data collection is a vital process. It helps analysts to analyze the data collected and determine the best possible action. Various data collection methods may be used. The method used should be based on the data accuracy of data required, the size of the population and available resources (Good, 2013).
Census
This method involves the collection of all the data available for analysis, and from the entire population. This method of data collection is very expensive and time consuming for large populations. It is, however, very accurate as it is capable of reproducing the actual field data and is unlikely to be biased.
Sample data collection method
This is the collection of data from only a part of the entire population. The data is then assumed to be representative of the population data. To improve on the level of accuracy, the data may be stratified so as to ensure that it is representative. A big sample is also more accurate since it is more inclusive. This method is cheap and less time consuming.
Administrative method
Sometimes, data is obtained as part of the usual day-to-day activities of the business. Retail outlets may use the gender, age, marital status and shopping preferences to their advantage. They may therefore opt to collect this data during the day-to-day running of their business for their loyal customers. Hospitals on the other hand collect these details as a part of their business.
Comparison of Data Collection Methods
The most cost effective method of data collection is the administrative method. In this case, the institution does not have to provide for research to be conducted and the data is always available. The data collected this way is also reliable due to the trust that is built between the business and the consumer. Sample method is more effective for large populations. It is the less time consuming and cheaper than census method. They are however both more expensive and less reliable than the administrative method.
Sampling Methods
Sampling is the determination of the sample size. It involves both the selection of the sample size and the members of the samples. A good sample should be such that it is representative of the actual population. It should also provide as accurate information as possible. Different methods are used towards this selection.
Random sampling
This is the simplest method of sampling. Each member of the population stands an equal chance of being selected in the sample. This chance of being selected is usually known and is mainly dependent on the sample size and the population size. For very large populations, the possibility of identifying every member of the population becomes minimal. This results in a biased sample.
Systematic sampling
This is also referred to as the k-th name selection technique. After the sample size has been determined, the sample is selected by picking every k-th member of the population. This method is as workable as random sampling provided that the population does not have any hidden order. It is easier than random sampling to execute. This method is often used to select samples from lists or computerized data.
Stratified sampling
This method is favorable to random sampling since it reduces the sample error. It involves grouping the members of the population into categories according to their similarities. These groups are known as stratums. Random sampling is then used to select small samples within these samples. To determine the sample to be selected from each sample, fractional representation of each subset is considered.
A comparison of Sampling Methods
Random sampling is the most commonly used method of sampling. It is cheaper than other methods and less time consuming. On average, it is usually representative of the population. Systematic sampling is as good as random sampling. It however suffers the risk of having a hidden trend in the sample in which case it often biases the sample. Stratified sampling is the most representative sampling method. Every member of the population is adequately represented (Tuggle, 2012).
The article China: Commercial Banking Report, was obtained by the use of administrative data collection method. Every banking company is required to give their financial records to the rightful authorities. The authorities, on the other hand, have a very easy time getting access that would provide for the composition of this article. The data that would be required in this case would be Banks’ Bond Portfolios, 2014, Loan/Deposit & Loan/Asset & Loan/GDP ratios, 2014, Total Assets & Client Loans & Client Deposits (US$bn), and US$ Per Capita Deposits, 2014. With this information, the rest of the article can be written (China: Commercial Banking Report, 2014).
The case of the Chinese banks is a unique one. Due to the ease of access to information, and the small population, it was possible to involve all the banking institutions. This way, the accuracy of the information was maximised.
The inferential statistical method is used in this case. The data obtained about specific banks is analysed to determine the economic situation of China. The trends are also observed and used to obtain forecasts for the industry. Since the data obtained is further analysed to obtain inferences, the method can only be said to be inferential.
The article The Toyota Group and the Aisin Fire by Toshihiro Nishiguchi and Alexandre Beaudet, is another unique article. In this case, the information was obtained from different workers and witnesses of the two companies randomly. In this case, the willingness to contribute to the research and the possession of information were the only things that mattered. In this case, the timeline of the events that occurred after the plant was on fire were the most important. Other data that was collected included the dates of the events, the losses, and the contributions towards recovery. To substitute the information obtained this way, the records of the events was also obtained from other sources. Good sources in this case included other publications, bank records and the information that had been granted to the authorities (Nishiguchi, & Beaudet, n.d.).
The sample was selected at random. In this case, all the witnesses that were willing to divert information were allowed to do so. As mentioned above, to complicate the method further, the data was compared with other sources so as to obtain the most reliable data. The statistical method used in this case is descriptive. The information obtained was only rearranged to presentable form and then granted to the readers. In this case, no inferences are made. The reader is left to his own devices to make any conclusions where necessary.
The most appropriate sampling method that may be used in the communications industry, say, to determine the consumption of airtime by mobile phone users, would be systematic sampling. All customer information is available within databases. It would be therefore very easy for a statistician to select every k-th consumer and obtain their consumption information. The information should be used to infer to determine the future of the industry or to understand consumer-calling habits. Once the habits are obtained, it is possible to inference towards making use of consumer in formation in terms of encouraging calls during hours when consumers hardly call and to create new products. The statistical method that would be most appropriate would therefore be the inferential method (Beaulieu, 2012).
Conclusion
In statistics, it is the role of the statistician to present reliable data. For data to be termed as reliable, it has to be representative and accurate. The statistician then selects the methods that are most reliable for his case. He is also challenged to keep the costs and time used as low as possible since they are often the reason why research is often carried in the first place. A census is conducted whenever a small population is being analyzed. This maximizes the accuracy of the information presented. If a census is impossible, other methods may be used but a high sample size is highly encouraged.
References
Beaulieu, D. (2012). An Introduction to Sampling in Statistics. New Delhi: World Technologies.
