Welfare Should Not Be Removed Completely - 1721 Words

Welfare should not be removed completely, for some actually need it, but it should be limited to prevent people from abusing the system and cheating taxpayers out of their money. Welfare is a program designed to help people in need, like the poor or the disabled, who want and diligently try to work, but lack the capability to find for a job that pays enough money for them to support themselves and their families. In that way, welfare is a beneficial program. There are people on the other hand who abuse welfare by being non-thrifty and improperly using the money to buy wants for themselves as opposed to needs for their families. So the question is, how to give a helping hand to those in need, but not allow abusers to cheat people in need†¦show more content†¦Perhaps the two biggest products that welfare abusers buy are drugs (like marijuana, cocaine, etc.) and cigarettes. Everyday addicts take their welfare checks that they were given to with the intention of buying necessities for their families like bread and milk, but instead buy addictive content such as drugs and cigarettes. Another way addicts get their hands on their â€Å"wants† is that the addicts will sell their food stamps for money to obtain these addicting products. â€Å"Approximately 20 percent of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients reported having used an illicit drug at least once in the past year.† (Vitter 3). Another way welfare abusers abuse welfare is by improperly investing their money in the wrong places. An example of this is an investment in â€Å"living large equipment† (like cars, big houses, etc.) The money obtained to support the non-working/thrifty man is unfortunately supported by the working man’s tax money. Unfortunately, people who do these perhaps maliciously intended actions have a tenacity to last on welfare for a long time (generations to be specific). If this trend keeps up, then America will be spending 1 million dollars on welfare (which is much more money than is needed to support people who are fairly, valiantly, and legitimately using welfare because those people honestly need the money to support their families and are trying to make a difference. Not all people on welfare are guilty of these foul

Capital Asset Pricing Model and International Research Journal Free Essays

string(33) " model is supported by the data\." International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 4 (2006)  © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2006 http://www. eurojournals. We will write a custom essay sample on Capital Asset Pricing Model and International Research Journal or any similar topic only for you Order Now com/finance. htm Testing the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM): The Case of the Emerging Greek Securities Market Grigoris Michailidis University of Macedonia, Economic and Social Sciences Department of Applied Informatics Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail: mgrigori@uom. gr Tel: 00302310891889 Stavros Tsopoglou University of Macedonia, Economic and Social Sciences Department of Applied Informatics Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail: tsopstav@uom. r Tel: 00302310891889 Demetrios Papanastasiou University of Macedonia, Economic and Social Sciences Department of Applied Informatics Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail: papanast@uom. gr Tel: 00302310891878 Eleni Mariola Hagan School of Business, Iona College New Rochelle Abstract The article examines the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) for the Greek stock market using weekly stock returns from 100 companies listed on the Athens stock exchange for the period of January 1998 to December 2002. In order to diversify away the firm-specific part of returns thereby enhancing the precision of the beta estimates, the securities where grouped into portfolios. The findings of this article are not supportive of the theory’s basic statement that higher risk (beta) is associated with higher levels of return. The model does explain, however, excess returns and thus lends support to the linear structure of the CAPM equation. The CAPM’s prediction for the intercept is that it should equal zero and the slope should equal the excess returns on the market portfolio. The results of the study refute the above hypothesis and offer evidence against the CAPM. The tests conducted to examine the nonlinearity of the relationship between return and betas support the hypothesis that the expected return-beta relationship is linear. Additionally, this paper investigates whether the CAPM adequately captures all-important determinants of returns including the residual International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) variance of stocks. The results demonstrate that residual risk has no effect on the expected returns of portfolios. Tests may provide evidence against the CAPM but they do not necessarily constitute evidence in support of any alternative model (JEL G11, G12, and G15). Key words: CAPM, Athens Stock Exchange, portfolio returns, beta, risk free rate, stocks JEL Classification: F23, G15 79 I. Introduction Investors and financial researchers have paid considerable attention during the last few years to the new equity markets that have emerged around the world. This new interest has undoubtedly been spurred by the large, and in some cases extraordinary, returns offered by these markets. Practitioners all over the world use a plethora of models in their portfolio selection process and in their attempt to assess the risk exposure to different assets. One of the most important developments in modern capital theory is the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) as developed by Sharpe [1964], Lintner [1965] and Mossin [1966]. CAPM suggests that high expected returns are associated with high levels of risk. Simply stated, CAPM postulates that the expected return on an asset above the risk-free rate is linearly related to the non-diversifiable risk as measured by the asset’s beta. Although the CAPM has been predominant in empirical work over the past 30 years and is the basis of modern portfolio theory, accumulating research has increasingly cast doubt on its ability to explain the actual movements of asset returns. The purpose of this article is to examine thoroughly if the CAPM holds true in the capital market of Greece. Tests are conducted for a period of five years (1998-2002), which is characterized by intense return volatility (covering historically high returns for the Greek Stock market as well as significant decrease in asset returns over the examined period). These market return characteristics make it possible to have an empirical investigation of the pricing model on differing financial conditions thus obtaining conclusions under varying stock return volatility. Existing financial literature on the Athens stock exchange is rather scanty and it is the goal of this study to widen the theoretical analysis of this market by using modern finance theory and to provide useful insights for future analyses of this market. II. Empirical appraisal of the model and competing studies of the model’s validity 2. 1. Empirical appraisal of CAPM Since its introduction in early 1960s, CAPM has been one of the most challenging topics in financial economics. Almost any manager who wants to undertake a project must justify his decision partly based on CAPM. The reason is that the model provides the means for a firm to calculate the return that its investors demand. This model was the first successful attempt to show how to assess the risk of the cash flows of a potential investment project, to estimate the project’s cost of capital and the expected rate of return that investors will demand if they are to invest in the project. The model was developed to explain the differences in the risk premium across assets. According to the theory these differences are due to differences in the riskiness of the returns on the assets. The model states that the correct measure of the riskiness of an asset is its beta and that the risk premium per unit of riskiness is the same across all assets. Given the risk free rate and the beta of an asset, the CAPM predicts the expected risk premium for an asset. The theory itself has been criticized for more than 30 years and has created a great academic debate about its usefulness and validity. In general, the empirical testing of CAPM has two broad purposes (Baily et al, [1998]): (i) to test whether or not the theories should be rejected (ii) to provide information that can aid financial decisions. To accomplish (i) tests are conducted which could potentially at least reject the model. The model passes the test if it is not possible to reject the hypothesis that it is true. Methods of statistical analysis need to be applied in order to draw reliable conclusions on whether the 80 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) model is supported by the data. You read "Capital Asset Pricing Model and International Research Journal" in category "Free Research Paper Samples" To accomplish (ii) the empirical work uses the theory as a vehicle for organizing and interpreting the data without seeking ways of rejecting the theory. This kind of approach is found in the area of portfolio decision-making, in particular with regards to the selection of assets to the bought or sold. For example, investors are advised to buy or sell assets that according to CAPM are underpriced or overpriced. In this case empirical analysis is needed to evaluate the assets, assess their riskiness, analyze them, and place them into their respective categories. A second illustration of the latter methodology appears in corporate finance where the estimated beta coefficients are used in assessing the riskiness of different investment projects. It is then possible to calculate â€Å"hurdle rates† that projects must satisfy if they are to be undertaken. This part of the paper focuses on tests of the CAPM since its introduction in the mid 1960’s, and describes the results of competing studies that attempt to evaluate the usefulness of the capital asset pricing model (Jagannathan and McGrattan [1995]). 2. 2. The classic support of the theory The model was developed in the early 1960’s by Sharpe [1964], Lintner [1965] and Mossin [1966]. In its simple form, the CAPM predicts that the expected return on an asset above the risk-free rate is linearly related to the non-diversifiable risk, which is measured by the asset’s beta. One of the earliest empirical studies that found supportive evidence for CAPM is that of Black, Jensen and Scholes [1972]. Using monthly return data and portfolios rather than individual stocks, Black et al tested whether the cross-section of expected returns is linear in beta. By combining securities into portfolios one can diversify away most of the firm-specific component of the returns, thereby enhancing the precision of the beta estimates and the expected rate of return of the portfolio securities. This approach mitigates the statistical problems that arise from measurement errors in beta estimates. The authors found that the data are consistent with the predictions of the CAPM i. e. the relation between the average return and beta is very close to linear and that portfolios with high (low) betas have high (low) average returns. Another classic empirical study that supports the theory is that of Fama and McBeth [1973]; they examined whether there is a positive linear relation between average returns and beta. Moreover, the authors investigated whether the squared value of beta and the volatility of asset returns can explain the residual variation in average returns across assets that are not explained by beta alone. 2. 3. Challenges to the validity of the theory In the early 1980s several studies suggested that there were deviations from the linear CAPM riskreturn trade-off due to other variables that affect this tradeoff. The purpose of the above studies was to find the components that CAPM was missing in explaining the risk-return trade-off and to identify the variables that created those deviations. Banz [1981] tested the CAPM by checking whether the size of firms can explain the residual variation in average returns across assets that remain unexplained by the CAPM’s beta. He challenged the CAPM by demonstrating that firm size does explain the cross sectional-variation in average returns on a particular collection of assets better than beta. The author concluded that the average returns on stocks of small firms (those with low market values of equity) were higher than the average returns on stocks of large firms (those with high market values of equity). This finding has become known as the size effect. The research has been expanded by examining different sets of variables that might affect the riskreturn tradeoff. In particular, the earnings yield (Basu [1977]), leverage, and the ratio of a firm’s book value of equity to its market value (e. g. Stattman [1980], Rosenberg, Reid and Lanstein [1983] and Chan, Hamao, Lakonishok [1991]) have all been utilized in testing the validity of CAPM. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) 81 The general reaction to Banz’s [1981] findings, that CAPM may be missing some aspects of reality, was to support the view that although the data may suggest deviations from CAPM, these deviations are not so important as to reject the theory. However, this idea has been challenged by Fama and French [1992]. They showed that Banz’s findings might be economically so important that it raises serious questions about the validity of the CAPM. Fama and French [1992] used the same procedure as Fama and McBeth [1973] but arrived at very different conclusions. Fama and McBeth find a positive relation between return and risk while Fama and French find no relation at all. 2. 4. The academic debate continues The Fama and French [1992] study has itself been criticized. In general the studies responding to the Fama and French challenge by and large take a closer look at the data used in the study. Kothari, Shaken and Sloan [1995] argue that Fama and French’s [1992] findings depend essentially on how the statistical findings are interpreted. Amihudm, Christensen and Mendelson [1992] and Black [1993] support the view that the data are too noisy to invalidate the CAPM. In fact, they show that when a more efficient statistical method is used, the estimated relation between average return and beta is positive and significant. Black [1993] suggests that the size effect noted by Banz [1981] could simply be a sample period effect i. e. the size effect is observed in some periods and not in others. Despite the above criticisms, the general reaction to the Fama and French [1992] findings has been to focus on alternative asset pricing models. Jagannathan and Wang [1993] argue that this may not be necessary. Instead they show that the lack of empirical support for the CAPM may be due to the inappropriateness of basic assumptions made to facilitate the empirical analysis. For example, most empirical tests of the CAPM assume that the return on broad stock market indices is a good proxy for the return on the market portfolio of all assets in the economy. However, these types of market indexes do not capture all assets in the economy such as human capital. Other empirical evidence on stock returns is based on the argument that the volatility of stock returns is constantly changing. When one considers a time-varying return distribution, one must refer to the conditional mean, variance, and covariance that change depending on currently available information. In contrast, the usual estimates of return, variance, and average squared deviations over a sample period, provide an unconditional estimate because they treat variance as constant over time. The most widely used model to estimate the conditional (hence time- varying) variance of stocks and stock index returns is the generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedacity (GARCH) model pioneered by Robert. F. Engle. To summarize, all the models above aim to improve the empirical testing of CAPM. There have also been numerous modifications to the models and whether the earliest or the subsequent alternative models validate or not the CAPM is yet to be determined. III. Sample selection and Data 3. 1. Sample Selection The study covers the period from January 1998 to December 2002. This time period was chosen because it is characterized by intense return volatility with historically high and low returns for the Greek stock market. The selected sample consists of 100 stocks that are included in the formation of the FTSE/ASE 20, FTSE/ASE Mid 40 and FTSE/ASE Small Cap. These indices are designed to provide real-time measures of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). The above indices are formed subject to the following criteria: (i) The FTSE/ASE 20 index is the large cap index, containing the 20 largest blue chip companies listed in the ASE. 82 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) ii) The FTSE/ASE Mid 40 index is the mid cap index and captures the performance of the next 40 companies in size. (iii) The FTSE/ASE Small Cap index is the small cap index and captures the performance of the next 80 companies. All securities included in the indices are traded on the ASE on a continuous basis throughout the full Athens stock exchange t rading day, and are chosen according to prespecified liquidity criteria set by the ASE Advisory Committee1. For the purpose of the study, 100 stocks were selected from the pool of securities included in the above-mentioned indices. Each series consists of 260 observations of the weekly closing prices. The selection was made on the basis of the trading volume and excludes stocks that were traded irregularly or had small trading volumes. 3. 2. Data Selection The study uses weekly stock returns from 100 companies listed on the Athens stock exchange for the period of January 1998 to December 2002. The data are obtained from MetaStock (Greek) Data Base. In order to obtain better estimates of the value of the beta coefficient, the study utilizes weekly stock returns. Returns calculated using a longer time period (e. g. onthly) might result in changes of beta over the examined period introducing biases in beta estimates. On the other hand, high frequency data such as daily observations covering a relatively short and stable time span can result in the use of very noisy data and thus yield inefficient estimates. All stock returns used in the study are adjusted for dividends as required by the CAPM. The ASE Composite Sh are index is used as a proxy for the market portfolio. This index is a market value weighted index, is comprised of the 60 most highly capitalized shares of the main market, and reflects general trends of the Greek stock market. Furthermore, the 3-month Greek Treasury Bill is used as the proxy for the risk-free asset. The yields were obtained from the Treasury Bonds and Bill Department of the National Bank of Greece. The yield on the 3-month Treasury bill is specifically chosen as the benchmark that better reflects the short-term changes in the Greek financial markets. IV. Methodology The first step was to estimate a beta coefficient for each stock using weekly returns during the period of January 1998 to December 2002. The beta was estimated by regressing each stock’s weekly return against the market index according to the following equation: Rit – R ft = a i + ? ? ( Rmt – R ft ) + eit (1) where, Rit is the return on stock i (i=1†¦100), R ft is the rate of return on a risk-free asset, Rmt is the rate of return on the market index, ? i is the estimate of beta for the stock i , and eit is the corresponding random disturbance term in the regression equation. [Equation 1 could also be expressed using excess return notation, where ( Rit – R ft ) = rit and ( Rmt – Rft ) = rmt ] In spite of the fact that weekly returns were used to avoid short-term noise effects the estimation diagnostic tests for equation (1) indicated, in several occasions, departures from the linear assumption. www. ase. gr International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) 83 In such cases, equation (1) was re-estimated providing for EGARCH (1,1) form to comfort with misspecification. The next step was to compute average portfolio excess returns of stocks ( rpt ) ordered according to their beta coefficient computed by Equation 1. Let, rpt = ?r i =1 k it k (2) where, k is the number of stocks included in each portfolio (k=1†¦10), p is the number of portfolios (p=1†¦10), rit is the excess return on stocks that form each portfolio comprised of k stocks each. This procedure generated 10 equally-weighted portfolios comprised of 10 stocks each. By forming portfolios the spread in betas across portfolios is maximized so that the effect of beta on return can be clearly examined. The most obvious way to form portfolios is to rank stocks into portfolios by the true beta. But, all that is available is observed beta. Ranking into portfolios by observed beta would introduce selection bias. Stocks with high-observed beta (in the highest group) would be more likely to have a positive measurement error in estimating beta. This would introduce a positive bias into beta for high-beta portfolios and would introduce a negative bias into an estimate of the intercept. (Elton and Gruber [1995], p. 333). Combining securities into portfolios diversifies away most of the firm-specific part of returns thereby enhancing the precision of the estimates of beta and the expected rate of return on the portfolios on securities. This mitigates statistical problems that arise from measurement error in the beta estimates. The following equation was used to estimate portfolio betas: rpt = a p + ? p ? mt + e pt (3) where, rpt is the average excess portfolio return, ? p is the calculated portfolio beta. The study continues by estimating the ex-post Security Market Line (SML) by regressing the portfolio returns against the portfolio betas obtained by Equation 3. The relation examined is the following: rP = ? 0 + ? 1 ? ? P + e P (4) where, rp is the average excess return on a portfolio p (the difference between the return on t he portfolio and the return on a risk-free asset), ? p is an estimate of beta of the portfolio p , ? 1 is the market price of risk, the risk premium for bearing one unit of beta risk, ? is the zero-beta rate, the expected return on an asset which has a beta of zero, and e p is random disturbance term in the regression equation. In order to test for nonlinearity between total portfolio returns and betas, a regression was run on average portfolio returns, calculated portfolio beta, and beta-square from equation 3: 2 rp = ? 0 + ? 1 ? ? p + ? 2 ? ? p + e p (5) Finally in order to examine whether the residual variance of stocks affects portfolio returns, an additional term was included in equation 5, to test for the explanatory power of nonsystematic risk: 2 rp = ? + ? 1 ? ? p + ? 2 ? ? p + ? 3 ? RVp + e p (6) where 84 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) RV p is the residual variance of portfolio returns (Equation 3), RV p = ? 2 (e pt ) . The estimated parameters allow us to test a series of hypotheses regarding the CAPM. The tests are: i) ? 3 = 0 or residual risk does not affect return, ii) ? 2 = 0 or there are no nonlinearities in the security market line, iii) ? 1 gt; 0 that is, there is a positive price of risk in the capital markets (Elton and Gruber [1995], p. 336). Finally, the above analysis was also conducted for each year separately (1998-2002), by changing the portfolio compositions according to yearly estimated betas. V. Empirical results and Interpretation of the findings The first part of the methodology required the estimation of betas for individual stocks by using observations on rates of return for a sequence of dates. Useful remarks can be derived from the results of this procedure, for the assets used in this study. The range of the estimated stock betas is between 0. 0984 the minimum and 1. 4369 the maximum with a standard deviation of 0. 240 (Table 1). Most of the beta coefficients for individual stocks are statistically significant at a 95% level and all estimated beta coefficients are statistical significant at a 90% level. For a more accurate estimation of betas an EGARCH (1,1) model was used wherever it was necessary, in order to correct for nonlinearities. Table 1: Stock beta coefficient estimates (Equation 1) Stock name beta Stock name beta Stock name OLYMP . 0984 THEMEL . 8302 PROOD EYKL . 4192 AIOLK . 8303 ALEK MPELA . 4238 AEGEK . 8305 EPATT MPTSK . 5526 AEEXA . 8339 SIDEN FOIN . 5643 SPYR . 8344 GEK GKOYT . 862 SARANT . 8400 ELYF PAPAK . 6318 ELTEX . 8422 MOYZK ABK . 6323 ELEXA . 8427 TITK MYTIL . 6526 MPENK . 8610 NIKAS FELXO . 6578 HRAKL . 8668 ETHENEX ABAX . 6874 PEIR . 8698 IATR TSIP . 6950 BIOXK . 8747 METK AAAK . 7047 ELMEK . 8830 ALPHA EEEK . 7097 LAMPSA . 8848 AKTOR ERMHS . 7291 MHXK . 8856 INTKA LAMDA . 7297 DK . 8904 MAIK OTE . 7309 FOLI . 9005 PETZ MARF . 7423 THELET . 9088 ETEM MRFKO . 7423 ATT . 9278 FINTO KORA . 7520 ARBA . 9302 ESXA RILK . 7682 KATS . 9333 BIOSK LYK . 7684 ALBIO . 9387 XATZK ELASK . 7808 XAKOR . 9502 KREKA NOTOS . 8126 SAR . 9533 ETE KARD . 8290 NAYP . 577 SANYO Source: Metastock (Greek) Data Base and calculations (S-PLUS) beta . 9594 . 9606 . 9698 . 9806 . 9845 . 9890 . 9895 . 9917 . 9920 1. 0059 1. 0086 1. 0149 1. 0317 1. 0467 1. 0532 1. 0542 1. 0593 1. 0616 1. 0625 1. 0654 1. 0690 1. 0790 1. 0911 1. 1127 1. 1185 Stock name EMP NAOYK ELBE ROKKA SELMK DESIN ELBAL ESK TERNA KERK POYL EEGA KALSK GENAK FANKO PLATH STRIK EBZ ALLK GEBKA AXON RINTE KLONK ETMAK ALTEK beta 1. 1201 1. 1216 1. 1256 1. 1310 1. 1312 1. 1318 1. 1348 1. 1359 1. 1392 1. 1396 1. 1432 1. 1628 1. 1925 1. 1996 1. 2322 1. 2331 1. 2500 1. 2520 1. 2617 1. 2830 1. 3030 1. 3036 1. 3263 1. 3274 1. 4369 The article argues that certain hypotheses can be tested irregardless of whether one believes in the validity of the simple CAPM or in any other version of the theory. Firstly, the theory indicates that higher risk (beta) is associated with a higher level of return. However, the results of the study do not International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) 85 support this hypothesis. The beta coefficients of the 10 portfolios do not indicate that higher beta portfolios are related with higher returns. Portfolio 10 for example, the highest beta portfolio ( ? = 1. 2024), yields negative portfolio returns. In contrast, portfolio 1, the lowest beta portfolio ( ? = 0. 5474) produces positive returns. These contradicting results can be partially explained by the significant fluctuations of stock returns over the period examined (Table 2). Table 2: Average excess portfolio returns and betas (Equation 3) rp beta (p) a10 . 0001 . 5474 b10 . 0000 . 7509 c10 -. 0007 . 9137 d10 -. 0004 . 9506 e10 -. 0008 . 9300 f10 -. 0009 . 9142 g10 -. 0006 1. 0602 h10 -. 0013 1. 1066 i10 -. 0004 1. 1293 j10 -. 0004 1. 2024 Average Rf . 0014 Average rm=(Rm-Rf) . 0001 Source: Metastock (Greek) Data Base and calculations (S-PLUS) Portfolio Var. Error . 0012 . 0013 . 0014 . 0014 . 0009 . 0010 . 0012 . 0019 . 0020 . 0026 R2 . 4774 . 5335 . 5940 . 6054 . 7140 . 6997 . 6970 . 6057 . 6034 . 5691 In order to test the CAPM hypothesis, it is necessary to find the counterparts to the theoretical values that must be used in the CAPM equation. In this study the yield on the 3-month Greek Treasury Bill was used as an approximation of the risk-free rate. For the R m , the ASE Composite Share index is taken as the best approximation for the market portfolio. The basic equation used was rP = ? 0 + ? 1 ? ? P + e P (Equation 4) where ? is the expected excess return on a zero beta portfolio and ? 1 is the market price of risk, the difference between the expected rate of return on the market and a zero beta portfolio. One way for allowing for the possibility that the CAPM does not hold true is to add an intercept in the estimation of the SML. The CAPM considers that the intercept is zero for every asset. Hence, a test can be constructed to ex amine this hypothesis. In order to diversify away most of the firm-specific part of returns, thereby enhancing the precision of the beta estimates, the securities were previously combined into portfolios. This approach mitigates the statistical problems that arise from measurement errors in individual beta estimates. These portfolios were created for several reasons: (i) the random influences on individual stocks tend to be larger compared to those on suitably constructed portfolios (hence, the intercept and beta are easier to estimate for portfolios) and (ii) the tests for the intercept are easier to implement for portfolios because by construction their estimated coefficients are less likely to be correlated with one another than the shares of individual companies. The high value of the estimated correlation coefficient between the intercept and the slope indicates that the model used explains excess returns (Table 3). 86 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) Table 3: Statistics of the estimation of the SML (Equation 4) Coefficient ? 0 Value . 0005 t-value (. 9011) p-value . 3939 Residual standard error: . 0004 on 8 degrees of freedom Multiple R-Squared: . 2968 F-statistic: 3. 3760 on 1 and 8 degrees of freedom, the p-value is . 1034 Correlation of Coefficients 0 ,? 1 = . 9818 ? 1 -. 0011 (-1. 8375) . 1034 However, the fact that the intercept has a value around zero weakens the above explanation. The results of this paper appear to be inconsistent with the zero beta version of the CAPM because the intercept of the SML is not greater than the interest rate on risk free-bonds (Table 2 and 3). In the estimation of SML, the CAPM’s prediction for ? 0 is that it should be equal to zero. The calculated value of the intercept is small (0. 0005) but it is not significantly different from zero (the tvalue is not greater than 2) Hence, based on the intercept criterion alone the CAPM hypothesis cannot clearly be rejected. According to CAPM the SLM slope should equal the excess return on the market portfolio. The excess return on the market portfolio was 0. 0001 while the estimated SLM slope was – 0. 0011. Hence, the latter result also indicates that there is evidence against the CAPM (Table 2 and 3). In order to test for nonlinearity between total portfolio returns and betas, a regression was run between average portfolio returns, calculated portfolio betas, and the square of betas (Equation 5). Results show that the intercept (0. 0036) of the equation was greater than the risk-free interest rate (0. 014), ? 1 was negative and different from zero while ? 2 , the coefficient of the square beta was very small (0. 0041 with a t-value not greater than 2) and thus consistent with the hypothesis that the expected return-beta relationship is linear (Table 4). Table 4: Testing for Non-linearity (Equation 5) Coefficient ? 0 Value . 0036 t-value (1. 7771) p-value 0. 1188 Residual standard error: . 0003 o n 7 degrees of freedom Multiple R-Squared: . 4797 F-statistic: 3. 2270 on 2 and 7 degrees of freedom, the p-value is . 1016 ? 1 -. 0084 (-1. 8013) 0. 1147 ? 2 . 0041 (1. 5686) 0. 1607 According to the CAPM, expected returns vary across assets only because the assets’ betas are different. Hence, one way to investigate whether CAPM adequately captures all-important aspects of the risk-return tradeoff is to test whether other asset-specific characteristics can explain the crosssectional differences in average returns that cannot be attributed to cross-sectional differences in beta. To accomplish this task the residual variance of portfolio returns was added as an additional explanatory variable (Equation 6). The coefficient of the residual variance of portfolio returns ? 3 is small and not statistically different from zero. It is therefore safe to conclude that residual risk has no affect on the expected return of a security. Thus, when portfolios are used instead of individual stocks, residual risk no longer appears to be important (Table 5). International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) Table 5: Testing for Non-Systematic risk (Equation 6) Coefficient ? 0 ? 1 Value . 0017 -. 0043 t-value (. 5360) (-. 6182) p-value 0. 6113 0. 5591 Residual standard error: . 0003 on 6 degrees of freedom Multiple R-Squared: . 5302 F-statistic: 2. 2570 on 3 and 6 degrees of freedom, the p-value is . 1821 ? 2 . 0015 (. 3381) 0. 7468 ? 3 . 3503 (. 8035) 0. 523 87 Since the analysis on the entire five-year period did not yield strong evidence in favor of the CAPM we examined whether a similar approach on yearly data would provide more supportive evidence. All models were tested separately for each of the five-year period and the results were statistically better for some years but still did not support the CAPM hypothesis (Tables 6, 7 and 8). Table 6: Statistics of the estimation SML (yearly series, Equation 4) 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Coefficient ? 0 ? 1 ? 0 ? 1 ? 0 ? 1 ? 0 ? 1 ? 0 ? 1 Value . 0053 . 0050 . 0115 . 0134 -. 0035 -. 0149 . 0000 -. 0057 -. 0017 -. 0088 t-value (3. 7665) (2. 231) (2. 8145) (4. 0237) (-1. 9045) (-9. 4186) (. 0025) (-2. 4066) (-. 8452) (-5. 3642) Std. Error . 0014 . 0022 . 0041 . 0033 . 0019 . 0016 . 0024 . 0028 . 0020 . 0016 p-value . 0050 . 0569 . 2227 . 0038 . 0933 . 0000 . 9981 . 0427 . 4226 . 0007 Table 7: Testing for Non-linearity (yearly series, Equation 5) 1998 Coefficient ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 Value . 0035 . 0139 -. 0078 . 0030 -. 0193 . 0135 -. 0129 . 0036 -. 0083 . 0092 -. 0240 . 0083 -. 0077 . 0046 -. 0059 t-value (1. 7052) (1. 7905) (-1. 1965) (2. 1093) (-. 7909) (1. 3540) (-3. 5789) (. 5435) (-2. 8038) (1. 2724) (-1. 7688) (1. 3695) (-2. 9168) (. 139) (-2. 7438) Std. Error . 0020 . 0077 . 0065 . 0142 . 0243 . 0026 . 0036 . 0067 . 0030 . 0072 . 0136 . 0060 . 0026 . 0050 . 0022 p-value . 1319 . 1165 . 2705 . 0729 . 4549 . 0100 . 0090 . 6037 . 0264 . 2439 . 1202 . 2132 . 0224 . 3911 . 0288 1999 2000 2001 2002 88 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) Table 8: Testing for Non-Systematic risk (yearly series, Equation 6) 1998 Coefficient ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 0 ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 Value . 0016 . 0096 -. 0037 3. 0751 . 0017 -. 0043 . 0015 . 3503 -. 0203 . 0199 -. 0185 2. 2673 . 0062 -. 0193 . 0053 1. 7024 -. 0049 . 000 -. 0026 -5. 1548 t-value (. 7266) (1. 2809) (-. 5703) (. 5862) (1. 4573) (-. 0168) (. 0201) (2. 2471) (-4. 6757) (2. 2305) (-3. 6545) (2. 2673) (. 6019) (-1. 0682) (. 5635) (. 4324) (-. 9507) (. 0054) (-. 4576) (-. 6265) Std. Error . 0022 . 0075 . 0065 1. 9615 . 0125 . 0211 . 0099 1. 4278 . 0043 . 0089 . 0051 . 9026 . 0103 . 0181 . 0094 3. 9369 . 0052 . 0089 . 0058 8. 2284 p-value . 4948 . 2475 . 5892 . 1680 . 1953 . 9846 . 9846 . 0657 . 0034 . 0106 . 0106 . 0639 . 5693 . 3265 . 5935 . 6805 . 3785 . 9959 . 6633 . 5541 1999 2000 2001 2002 VI. Concluding Remarks The article examined the validity of the CAPM for the Greek stock market. The study used weekly stock returns from 100 companies listed on the Athens stock exchange from January 1998 to December 2002. The findings of the article are not supportive of the theory’s basic hypothesis that higher risk (beta) is associated with a higher level of return. In order to diversify away most of the firm-specific part of returns thereby enhancing the precision of the beta estimates, the securities where combined into portfolios to mitigate the statistical problems that arise from measurement errors in individual beta estimates. The model does explain, however, excess returns. The results obtained lend support to the linear structure of the CAPM equation being a good explanation of security returns. The high value of the estimated correlation coefficient between the intercept and the slope indicates that the model used, explains excess returns. However, the fact that the intercept has a value around zero weakens the above explanation. The CAPM’s prediction for the intercept is that it should be equal to zero and the slope should equal the excess returns on the market portfolio. The findings of the study contradict the above hypothesis and indicate evidence against the CAPM. The inclusion of the square of the beta coefficient to test for nonlinearity in the relationship between returns and betas indicates that the findings are according to the hypothesis and the expected returnbeta relationship is linear. Additionally, the tests conducted to investigate whether the CAPM adequately captures all-important aspects of reality by including the residual variance of stocks indicates that the residual risk has no effect on the expected return on portfolios. The lack of strong evidence in favor of CAPM necessitated the study of yearly data to test the validity of the model. The findings from this approach provided better statistical results for some years but still did not support the CAPM hypothesis. The results of the tests conducted on data from the Athens stock exchange for the period of January 1998 to December 2002 do not appear to clearly reject the CAPM. This does not mean that the data do not support CAPM. As Black [1972] points out these results can be explained in two ways. First, measurement and model specification errors arise due to the use of a proxy instead of the actual market International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 4 (2006) 89 ortfolio. This error biases the regression line estimated slope towards zero and its estimated intercept away from zero. Second, if no risk-free asset exists, the CAPM does not predict an intercept of zero. How to cite Capital Asset Pricing Model and International Research Journal, Essays

The Doctoral Research Process â€Æ

Question: Write an essay on The Doctoral Research Process ? Answer: Source: Maleki, M., Akbarzadeh Pasha, M. (2012). Ethical Challenges: Customer's Rights., 9(4), 5-21. The ecommerce business has opened up potential business opportunities. But there are various ethical issues that are arising which mostly surround the customers. There are various ways in which the ethics has affected the ecommerce business. This has increased the responsibility of the IT professionals towards increasing the trust of the consumers towards the e-commerce business by introducing certain ethical standards and abiding by those standards. This will make the ecommerce business more reliable and trust worthy (Jimerson, 2013). But the most worrisome activity for the customers as well as the developers is the trusting on the ecommerce sites (Fabregat, 2013). Technology has opened up new opportunities but it has also introduced certain illegal and immoral activities. The general society including the IT professionals has to abide by the ethical standards. There are some ethical challenges that are faced by the engineers while providing the service to the customers. But the IT professionals involved in the e-commerce business has to abide by the ethical principles so that the trust of the consumers increases and any kind of risk related to the ethics is avoided. This will increase the trust of the consumers and they will be able to trust more on the e-commerce sites. The e-commerce business activity will grow ('eCommerce', 2013). It is utmost important that the IT professionals follow the ethical guidelines which will increase the confidence of the customers. They must seek for possible solutions to encourage the trust of the consumers (Guptara, 1999). Source: Kenneth McBride, N. (2014). ACTIVE ethics: an information systems ethics for the internet age. J Of Inf, Com Eth In Society, 12(1), 21-44. doi:10.1108/jices-06-2013-0017 Ethical standards in the information systems are an important aspects and it increases the responsibility of the IT professionals to abide by the ethical guidelines. The information system forms an essential part of the social systems and the ethical and the social issues will be addressed by the cooperation of the IT professionals (Scott, 2002). It will lead to the successful implementation of the information system services. There are certain codes of ethics that the IT professional has to abide. These codes of ethics form an important part of the business. The customer trust and reliability towards the various information systems will increase as a result of the participation of the IT professionals in maintenance of the integrity of the IT industry. IT has opened up new opportunities but it has also introduced potential hazards. It has introduced various forms of illegal activities. It has also introduced various illegal activities regarding the use of the Internet. It is the res ponsibility of the IT professionals to build firewall protection and provide password protection so that the illegal activities can be prevented in an adequate manner. This will increase the trust and reliability of the customers. The illegal activities can be reduced to a considerable extent (Jin, Drozdenko Bassett, 2006). Source: Monk,,. (2015). Good engineers. European Journal Of Engineering Education, 22(3), 235. The IT professionals are responsible for making judgments and promoting the decisions. The code of practices is used by the IT professionals for the purpose of decision making. But the decision making process of the IT professionals is a tough job. The IT professionals have to keep a balance between the good judgment and the bad judgment. They have to use their wisdom to make decisions. The customers face certain ethical dilemmas which tend to break their trust. But the IT professionals have to ensure that the ethical values are preserved. The customers tend to be swayed away by the advertisements regarding the performance of a particular electronic product but it is the responsibility of the IT professionals to prepare the product in such a manner so that the trust of the customers is maintained. The products must deliver the high performance and it must be efficient (Derbyshire, 2008). This will make the device efficient and user friendly. The reliability and trust of the consumers will increase. Thus the IT professionals have to abide by the code of conduct and they must not suffer from ethical dilemmas. This increase the confidence of the customers and the reliability will increase (Bauml, 2013). Source: Monk, J. (2008). Ethics, Engineers and Drama. Sci Eng Ethics, 15(1), 111-123. doi:10.1007/s11948-008-9099-9 The IT professionals are seen to suffer from ethical dilemmas and they are not able to make wise choices between the available alternatives. The engineers must possess the skills to deal with the ethical issues that are faced by them. They must be able to deal with the ethical issues and make their engagement with people that are persuasive and know how to make negotiations. While IT professionals have obligations regarding the successful creation, establishment, operation, upkeep or transfer of hardware they are prone to have extra allegiances inside of the more extensive group and duties towards closer weave gatherings, for example, work associates and crew (den Bergh Deschoolmeester, 2010). These diverse gatherings have distinctive intrigues and worth things distinctively and this can create circumstances that set one obligation or worth against another. Defied by such circumstances the designer needs to make his or her own particular judgments and pass on them convincingly. Freq uently the circumstance is developing quickly so judgments lay on fractional or confounding information shaded by forceful feelings and passed on with differing degrees of ability and flurry. By and by, unpalatable results can rise in light of justifiable misjudgments or since a proficient's pride or willfulness makes they disregard choices, since different hobbies are purposely and untrustworthily distorted or on the grounds that activity to accommodate a problem is in light of flawed rationale. Such settings have the potential to prompt individual tragedies, and in this way recommend situations for screenwriters to abuse. While numerous contextual investigations barely concentrate on designing issues, dramatization is generally kept in touch with location a wide crowd and ordinarily conveys to tolerate a more extensive scope of human concerns which are obligated to impact the honing proficient. Periodically the sensational connection has a designing flavor and the outcome is valua ble instructive asset for building understudies. Formalized implicit rules, for example, are an aide and endeavor to suspect troublesome circumstances however they are likewise a rich hotspot for the playwright (Brunswick, 2009). The screenwriter's assignment is not to develop the code, in any case, to design circumstances where the tenets of the code create inconsistencies. The ethics and code of conduct of the IT professionals are as important as the code of ethics of the doctors. Violation of the ethical codes is subjected to punishment. There must be transparency between the customers and the IT professionals. The transparency of the procedures will make the system legal and it will not be subjected to any kind of illegal activity. The moral principles have to be followed. The reliability of the customers will increase. They will trust in ecommerce sites and the information that is presented in the internet. The awareness of the IT professionals has to be increased that will promote the awareness of the IT professionals towards the ethical values and guidelines. This will make the IT professionals more disciplined and they will focus towards the information users. The IT professionals have experience on the professional development and they must focus on the customer service (Cofta, 2006). References Bauml, U. (2013). eCommerce - Der Kunde ist im Netz.CON,25(6), 281-283. doi:10.15358/0935-0381_2013_6_281 Brunswick, S. (2009). eCommerce fraud time to act?.Card Technology Today,21(1), 12-13. doi:10.1016/s0965-2590(09)70019-2 Cofta, P. (2006). Convergence and trust in eCommerce.BT Technol J,24(2), 214-218. doi:10.1007/s10550-006-0063-4 den Bergh, J., Deschoolmeester, D. (2010). Ethical Decision Making in ICT: Discussing the Impact of an Ethical Code of Conduct.CIBIMA, 1-11. doi:10.5171/2010.127497 Derbyshire, S. (2008). The Ethical Dilemma of Ethical Committees.Sociology Compass,2(5), 1506-1522. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.00143.x eCommerce. (2013).CON,25(6), 311-311. doi:10.15358/0935-0381_2013_6_311 Fabregat, J. (2013). Explicit Training in Human Values and Social Attitudes of Future Engineers in Spain.Sci Eng Ethics,19(4), 1551-1556. doi:10.1007/s11948-013-9487-7 Guptara, P. (1999). Ethics and Values.Business Ethics,8(3), 196-198. doi:10.1111/1467-8608.00150 Jimerson, R. (2013). Values and Ethics.Journal Of Information Ethics,22(2), 21-45. doi:10.3172/jie.22.2.21 Jin, K., Drozdenko, R., Bassett, R. (2006). Information Technology Professionals Perceived Organizational Values and Managerial Ethics: An Empirical Study.Journal Of Business Ethics,71(2), 149-159. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9131-4 Scott, E. (2002). Organizational Moral Values.Business Ethics Quarterly,12(1), 33. doi:10.2307/3857647

Modern Day Epic Story Essays - Sports Cars, Coupes, Porsche

Modern Day Epic Story EPIC STORY Looking back I underestimated the true capability of Carrera. Carrera was a man of intellectual prowess and had a supernatural ability to open car doors and start them with his mind. He was only five foot six inches tall with a medium build and he always wore a fisherman's hat to hide the fact he didn't have any hair. Despite being only thirty-one years old, he managed to pull off the biggest car stings in the history of automobiles. With the help of unknown outside parties he managed to steal every type of sport car imaginable. He stole cars all over North America and was undetected by the authorities. If you haven't guessed by now, he got his name from a sports car. Does the Porsche Carrera sound familiar? Porsche was the car he favored over the most. Why he didn't prefer the Corvette or Ferrari I don't know. His name would become a crucial factor in the story later on. After so many news cases of reported stolen sports cars, the authorities had to step up their investigation in finding this elusive thief. This was about the time they turned to me. My name is Burt Carver. I am 48 years old and had been retired from the FBI for 3 years when they called me back. At first I was not particularly interested in returning to work. My wife didn't want me to go back because she wanted me to spend more time with her. I gave it a couple days of thought and then I decided to return for this case only. My wife wasn't pleased but my interest in sports cars caused me to return to work regardless of what she told me. I went back to my old stamping grounds where I had solved so many cases. After 3 years of being away, it felt good to be back at the J Edgar Hoover Building. Even though it was my first day back, I was all business. I sat down around a big table with a lot of rookies and my old boss, Heath McGregor. He and I had always been on good terms with each other. He told us that the only information on this car thief was that he traveled all over North America stealing very expensive sports cars. In each stolen car file, the dealers reported they had all sets of keys even though the car was missing. Heath recommended that a tip phone line should be advertised and that the person who helped bring about the apprehension of this assailant should be rewarded handsomely. Heath called the project Mission Z3, named after the BMW sports car. When we marketed the hotline, we got numerous calls. Many were bogus but one of the callers sounded convincing to us. The caller used a pay phone in order to keep his location secret. The caller's name was Webster Murdock and he described how sometimes while he was working at a Porsche dealership, a young bald man would come in and harass his boss. The guy would request private information that his boss couldn't disclose. One day Webster asked his boss what that guy was after and his boss said, ?He wanted information on where Porsche would be selling their brand new, very rare car?. When we learned of this new information we sought every Porsche dealership across America. Meanwhile, Heath learned of another robbery in which a Honda S2000 had been stolen. Heath was becoming frustrated about how the thief was getting away with more cars and wasn't even having to work hard to do it. After weeks of calling different sources, I finally reached a man who worked at a Porsche dealership in Orlando, Florida who remembered speaking to a ?short, bald gentlemen.? I flew down to Florida and interviewed the man. He recalled that the bald man's name was Carrera. I thought that that was a good name for a person who liked Porsche cars. I asked the dealer to give me the address and number to the Porsche showroom and thought I had an idea of how to catch this thief. When I returned to D.C., I told Heath about

Managing people

Managing people AbstractThe history of managing people has reflected prevailing beliefs and attitudes held in society about employees, the response of employers to public policy (for example, health and safety and employment legislation) and reactions to trade union growth. In the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, the extraordinary codes of discipline and fines imposed by factory owners were, in part, a response to the serious problem of imposing standards of discipline and regularity on an untrained workforce. In the 1840s common humanity and political pressure began to combine with enlightened self-interest among a few of the larger employers to make them aware of alternative ways of managing their workforce, other than coercion, sanctions, or monetary reward. Theorists also suggest that the ways in which organisations choose to manage their employees are in a state of transition. Labour management practices have assumed new prominence in the 1990s as concerns persisted about global compe tition, the internationalisation of technology and the productivity of workers.English: Watt's steam engine at the lobby of the H...It is argued that these market input push work organisations to adjust their system of managerial control strengthen effective utilisation of human resources.The assignment consist in studying the need for new approach to the management of people in order to reflect the way in which organisations are evolving at the start of the 21st century.To proceed I will first introduce the debate concerning organization evolution and the need for new approaches to manage people. Then I will carry out an review of new methods to managing people in the organisation context, as well as people management philosophy and practices which concentrate on the way in which organisation overall approach of people contribute to the effectiveness.I will conclude with the controversy between the Modernist and Post-Modernist paradigms in regard to management science and empirical research. A...

Basic discription of microbiology

Basic discription of microbiology Essay Basic discription of microbiology Essay Theyre out there! You cant see them but they can see you. Right at this very moment they are living on and in your body, and there is nothing you can do about it! This may sound like the beginning of a horror movie, but it isnt. It is actually a very basic description of a very broad subject: microbiology. Microbiology is a complex subject that spans out into a variety of areas. I am a person who is entering the health care field, and it is inparitive that I know the subject of microbiology and how if effects the world in which we live. Part one of this essay will deal with defining bacteria, viruses, fungi, microbes, and pirons. Part two of the essay will focus on indigenous micro flora that is on and in the body, and part three will describe the structure and replication procedure of viruses. Part one As stated by Prescott, Harley and Klein (1990) microbiology is the study of organisms that are usually too small to be seen with the naked eye. According to Jenson and Wright (1989) a pathogen is a disease-producing organism. They also describe microbes as organisms that are often too small to be seen without the aid of a microscope. Microbes, also known as microorganisms, can be broken down into four classifications that are bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. Prescott, Harley Klein (1990) describe bacteria as prokaryotic cells (cells that lack a true membrane enclosed nucleus). Bacteria are both small and simple in structure; they usually are between o.5 and 5cmm yet they have many characteristic shapes and sizes. Some bacteria are circular or oval shaped, they are known as cocci bacteria. Other bacteria are rod-shaped, they are known as bacilli bacteria, and some bacteria are spiral and coil-shaped and it is know as spirilla bacteria. Engelkirk Burton (1979) state that bacteria can reproduce asexually by simple division of cells and some bacteria reproduce sexually by conjunction. A bacterium is a waste producer of products and secretions. This allows pathogens to invade their hosts to cause disease some of these harmful diseases are Scarlet fever, an acute illness, characterized by a reddish skin rash, which is caused by systematic infection with the bacterium streptococcus. St. Anthonys Fire is another bacterial disease. St. Anthonys Fire which is an acute superficial form of celluitus involving the dermal lymphatic, usually caused by infection with streptococci and chiefly characterized by a peripherally spreading hot, bright red, oedematous. Its medical name is Erysipelas (Jenson Wright, 1989, p. 453). A third disease caused by harmful bacterium is Gonereah. A contagious bacterial infection spread through sexual contact, including vaginal, oral or anal sex. Also called the clap, it is one of the most commonly infectious diseases in the world. It is treated with antibiotics (Jenson Wright, 1989, p. 452) Viruses, as described by Englekirk Burton (1979), are a particular type of microbes that are very tiny in design, and they are classified as living cells. Viruses, like bacteria, are classified as prokaryotes. Viruss conceits of a core of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein shell. Some viruses have an outer lipid capsule. Viruses can cause disease and change the genetic make-up of a cell. They do this by injecting its DNA or RNA into the host cell. The host cell is then taken over by the genetic material of the virus. The infected host cell will then burst; thus infecting the surrounding cells. A disease caused by a harmful virus is A.I.D.S. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome which is caused by the human immonodeficiency virus (HIV) (Jenson Wright, 1989, p. 476) Another disease caused by harmful viruses is Rubella, (German measles) A viral infection which is dangerous to the fetus of pregnant women as it may cause various birth defects (Jenson Wright, 1989, p. 477). A third viral disease is Influenza, Commonly called the flu, influenza is a virus that infects the respiratory tract and may cause fever, headache, and general body aches, runny nose, sore throat, or cough (Jenson Wright, 1989, p. 477). According to Englekirk Burton (1979) .

Mobiles retailing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mobiles retailing - Essay Example The mobile solution providers have made this possible through the provision of a wide range and convenient mobile platforms. Smartphone is making all this possible as their sales and eventual effectiveness in eCommerce is proving and surpassing Tablets. For instance in the US, a larger percentage of the mobile transaction come from the Smartphones and this trend is forecast to be more prevalent. The introduction of large sized smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy and iPhone 6 has been a boost as more consumers increasingly prefer Smartphone arena for mobile transactions and ordering. Despite the fact that the conversion rates on smartphone tend to be a lower compared tablet or desktop, they are increasingly preferred by owners since they generate more transactions because of significantly higher traffic. Looking at the rate at which the Japanese employ Smartphone for various mobile transactions (90%) the future looks bright for Smartphones in mobile retailing. For the US, the situation is likely to improve in future as higher mobile conversion rates are expected due to increasingly turning browsing into com pleted mobile purchases. One probably trend forecast to be more prevalent in mobile retailing in future is increased mobile retailing of Fashion and Luxury products. Luxury goods and fashion retailers are controlling the industry in m-commerce, and as more shoppers increasingly to embrace mobile services in and out of fashion stores, likewise these retailers are forecast to continue broadening the gap existing between leaders and laggards. Closely related to this, Fashion and Luxury products retailers are currently having the highest share of mobile transactions. The world has also witnessed the first ever shoppable social network that will continue trending. The introduction of Net Set app will allow various users to shop while socializing with the stylish Net-A-Porter community. Various online beauty products have been made possible

Case analysis Montego Bay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Case analysis Montego Bay - Essay Example In order to protect her store and keep her employees motivated, she agrees with Theresa Daley, operations director for Montego Bay, to test a new computerized scheduling system, which is expected to reduce payroll costs and improve productivity. Mahoney learns that the new system has several benefits; however, she is also weary that this system will disrupt the collegial and productive work environment she had created in the store. A careful examination of the business’ status shows that Mahoney, as a manager, has failed to create and maintain a working environment that motivates her employees. Motivation amongst employees improves the quality and productivity of work, since employees are triggered to work towards achieving a common goal. This paper describes how Mahoney can create a working environment that will motivate her employees by examining some theoretical perspectives on motivating employees. The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one of the theories that managers apply to create a working environment that motivates workers. This theory describes how people fulfill a range of personal needs in the context of their work. Maslow postulated that there is a common pattern of needs identification and satisfaction, which many people follow in the same sequence (Kaufman, 2004). According to this theory, a person has to satisfy the low-level needs (physiological and safety) before he or she pursues upper-level needs (social, esteem and self-actualization). Most employees usually have problems articulating what they want from a job. Mangers should, therefore, offer different incentives to workers so as to help them identify and satisfy each need in turn, and progress up the hierarchy. Mahoney, as the store manager, should recognize that her employees have different needs, and not all are motivated in the same way, and all do not move up the hierarchy at the same pace (Kaufman, 2004). Her duty is to adapt and change her style to fit the employees†™ needs, other than forcing them into something they are not. In addition, she has to test different techniques with every employee in order to determine which ones are considered effective, and which ones are not. The employees should be encouraged to follow their own self interests, which motivate them to pursue higher level needs and improve the quality of work. The workers should be motivated to higher levels of individual commitment and personal expectations. As an employee progresses though an organization, his employer should supply opportunities to satisfy high level needs on Maslow’s pyramid (Montana & Charnov, 2008). Another important theory of worker’s motivation is Herzberg’s motivator –Hygiene theory. Herzberg suggested hygiene factors, which do not create or motivate satisfaction and â€Å"motivators†. These include interpersonal relations, salary, supervision, working condition, and company policy (Montana & Charnov, 2008). Accordi ng to this theory, absence of dissatisfies can create job dissatisfaction, but their presence does not create or motivate satisfaction. Herzberg, therefore, established from a data that motivators are elements that enrich a person’s job. He came up with five motivators, which were strong determiners of job satisfaction: responsibility, achievement, advancement, recognition and the work itself. The hygiene factors constantly produce only short-term changes in job performance and attitude,

The Benefits of My Fantasy Football League Essay Example for Free

The Benefits of My Fantasy Football League Essay The difference between knowledge and intellect is remarkable, yet many times these words are used interchangeably. Knowledge refers to facts on a given subject; intellect refers to a person’s perspective, how they view, analyze, and interpret their environment . Unlike I.Q., intellect can and should be taught to our students, but instead our current schooling system is focused on ensuring students memorize the facts required to pass an exam. In his essay, â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism†, Gerald Graff explores the limits current education standards impose on our youth’s development. Graff presents the idea that perhaps the subjects that we normally associate with â€Å"anti-intellectualism† are just as capable of being subject of critical thought as Shakespeare’s plays. â€Å"Real intellectuals turn any subject, however lightweight it may seem, into grist for their mill through the thoughtful questions they bring to it† (Graff, 381). This idea is central to understanding the rest of Graff’s argument. If no subject is more deserving than another, then every subject—sports to science—should be utilized in the classroom as learning tools. Young students are motivated in complicated ways. The things that interest them are normally not academic texts of Plato or George Orwell. The author himself identified himself as a person who â€Å"hated books and cared only for sports† (Graff, 381). The only readings that interested him were sports novels and magazines. Over time, Graff developed the idea that his love for sports was not actually anti-intellectual as he had previously assumed, but was as intellectual as his university studies. He claims that had his teachers utilized his love for the workings of the sports world as an outlet to spark academic discussion and thought, he would have earned a stronger education. While Graff was postponing his English homework to have a debate with his best friend about who was the best pitcher in the 50s, he was practicing the skills that would later allow him to become a successful professor at the University of Illinois. Engaging in heated debates about baseball gave Graff opportunities to practice forming coherent arguments supported with evidence he had to collect and analyze while at the same time perfecting his conversation skills and logical thought patterns. What is the goal of elementary education if not to teach one how to learn and think? Sure, one needs to know their multiplication tables and Presidents, but the curriculum should be designed to teach students how to educate themselves in order to think critically about their world. The first step in education, according to Graff, should be providing the pupil with a topic they are interested in. Doing so gives students a bridge from their social life into the academic world and will yield students that are more interested and involved in their studies. Graff acknowledges that there are limits to this approach just like any other. A quote from his peer, Ned Laff, summarizes the challenge in education. â€Å"[The challenge] is not simply to exploit students’ nonacademic interests, but to get them to see those interests through academic eyes† (Graff, 385). Being a cognoscenti on the top songs of the decade is not enough, one should be able draw relationships between the trends of the songs in order to come to a general conclusion or theory that is applicable to other areas of life. Graff is careful to not belittle the classic academic texts and subjects. He claims that educators should use the topics their students are interested in as a gateway to more challenging topics. If one can teach a student to think critically about the implications of performance enhancing drugs in today’s athletes, then the hard part in education is complete. Once a student knows how to think critically, they can apply that technique to whatever subject they want to study for the rest of their life. It gives the power and responsibility of teaching to the student themselves. Graff ends his argument by appealing to the readers logic. Suppose he is wrong, and allowing trending topics in the classroom does not in fact motivate the student to become a student of the world. What does the educator stand to lose in trying? Even if all they ever are interested in studying are the current stats of the Baltimore Ravens, â€Å"they are more literate and reflective than they would be otherwise† (Graff, 386). I believe Graff presented a strong and valid argument worthy of discussion. I am able to relate on many levels with Graff. Often I find myself more interested in my fantasy football team than my college courses. Previously, I had assumed time spent on fantasy football was time wasted, but this essay has allowed me to develop a different perspective. In order to have a successful team, I had to decide what players would complement each other; this required close analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Memorizing and studying stats has allowed me to develop my statistical analysis skills, a skill that otherwise would be left unrefined. After each season, game, play, I have to reevaluate my thoughts on a player in order to take into account the new information. It has taught me that the greatest players make the same amount of novel mistakes as the worst players but repeat their errors only a fraction as often. If more of my teachers had exploited my love of sports earlier in my education, I might have a more accurate idea of my academic capabilities. Although I agree with the central tenets of Graff’s argument, I think he is overly critical and general of today’s educators. There are teachers who exploit every opportunity to intrigue their students, and they deserve to be acknowledged in any argument critiquing the current education system. These are teachers who go beyond the status quo of â€Å"teaching to the exam.† They are the educators who attempt to instill in their students a passion to learn, explore, and test the boundaries of their mind. It is also important to elaborate on my use of the word â€Å"teacher.† A teacher is not restricted to the classroom, but I have extended the term to encompass all one’s advisors, especially a child’s parents. I believe Graff would agree with my statement that a child’s parent plays a vital and irreplaceable role in the education of a child. Rather than discourage discussion of the popular topics, parents can facilitate classroom learning through critical discussion of subjects directly related to the youth’s life. â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism† details a not so unique argument in a way that is easy for the general public to sympathize with. It provides people with a justification for their â€Å"guilty pleasures† and encourages a more critical mindset no matter what you are doing. I would recommend the article to my peers, teachers, and teammates alike. Works Cited Graff, Gerald. â€Å"Hidden Intellectualism.† They say I say. Eds. Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., and Durst, R.. New York City: W. W. Norton Company, 2012. 380-386.

Decision-Making Models Essay -- Responsible Decision-Making Model

Decision-Making Models   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are several decision-making models to choose from in any given situation. Some of these models available on the Internet are the Responsible Decision-Making Model, the Ethical Decision-Making Model, the Ethics Toolkit PLUS Model, the Vigilant Decision-Maker Process, and some basic ones as well. In general, all decision-making models are the processes we use to make well-thought out decisions. There are three major elements of all decision-making models. These three elements are: how are criteria determined, how are alternatives generated, and how are alternatives evaluated against criteria (Scholl, p. 1). In this paper, we will use the Responsible Decision-Making Model to explain how the process works to help us make better decisions. The Responsible Decision-Making Model   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Responsible Decision-Making Model is a Power Point presentation that was on the Internet (Scarbo, slides 1-18). There are six steps to this decision-making model. The first step is to clearly describe the situation either in writing or aloud. The second step is to list any possible solutions to the situation. The third step is to share the list of possible solutions with another responsible person because he or she may have other solutions to add to the list. The fourth step is to carefully evaluate each possible solution using the six criteria. We will look at these six criteria in the next paragraph. The fifth step is to make a final decision on which sol...

Good Teachers Essay

Abstract A good teacher is hard to find. One that really loves to teach students and is effect in what they teach. I have only had a few who have inspired me to teach because of their ability to teach effectively. A good teacher is effective in what they teach and they inspire their students. I feel that every student should have the benefit of a great teacher. One that is prepared for the class and apt to teach with clarity and understanding. It is not always good to have one that is just doing it to earn an income. Good teachers are what make the world better, as we learn every day, and if we listen we are always in a class of some type. In this world of fast learning and growing job opportunities we have to be taught by the best teachers so we are able to stay on the top of our business –world. I feel that every teacher needs to be able to change their students’ lives and be experts in their field of teaching. The teacher has to understand how each student learns. Without a doubt we must be able to reach our world and be able to understand what we are trying to learn. â€Å"A Good teacher is someone that is able to make a difference in someone’s life† (Hassett). What makes a good teacher able to teach anybody? Most of people that go to class really want to learn and want to be there. One of the main things in a class room or class setting is for the class to feel free to learn. I feel that every teacher needs to go to college and not to an online school. They need to be able to be in a class room setting so they can understand what their teacher does to prepare them for their class and study. I think one of the most important things for learning is to see it in action and to be able to understand how the right way to teach, and not just trying to make something out of nothing. Most of the teacher need to  get a degree from an accredited college or university that is a reputable teaching institution and able to give the aspiring teacher the proper training. One of the main things in learning is to be preparing for class. The teacher needs to have paper and book and all the supplies. Most teachers need to be able to pass the state board for teaches for them to get their certification to teach in the state of Georgia. Most of teachers in Georgia are teaching without a license because there is a shortage of teachers. This is causing a lot of students to get teachers who have not really been qualified to teach. Teachers need to learn how to listen and to understand when a child is in need or has a special need. Every teacher needs some type of training as there is college just for teachers. The Time it takes to prepare for a class is important as it prepares the teacher to teach effectively. Most of the students will watch their teacher to make sure they know what they are talking about. There has to be a safe environment for the student to learn. Most of the students need to be push to the point where they can learn and how they learn. The teacher needs to be able to detect what learning style the student has. One of the most important things that I love is the fact that they took time out of their busy schedule to check on me and make sure I did not have to repeat the class. They sent information to make sure I could get it done and I am grateful for that. â€Å"A good teacher is someone that knows their craft, in other words, they know what they are teaching. A good teacher knows the ins and outs of what they are teaching. A good teacher enjoys teaching others, their craft and seeing their students learn† (Davis). A teacher also has a passion for people and gets an enjoyment of others success. A teacher shows their student that they care when no one else is showing the student that they care. A teacher’s job is not just a Job. As it is not just to go to work and get a paid check. It has to be a person’s passion; it’s what makes them thrive. Sometime they have to work on days when they don’t get paid just to make sure the students are learning and able to pass the test. A teacher has to show that they want to be there and really enjoy helping people. A teacher never needs to tell a student I got my degree you need to get yours. â€Å"A teacher must stay informed of what they are teaching, in other words if there is new material that goes along with their subject they should learn the new material. This is called personal development. † (Martin-Kniep). A teacher also gives discipline when it is needed because they realize if you do not show discipline in the time of need it can cause the student to have an unstructured life. â€Å"A teacher prepares their students to be successful and persistent in their goals in life. A teacher is a motivator to their students and they keep their students in a positive frame of mind† (Green). â€Å"One of the most important things that a teacher can do is be prepared for the students that come into their classroom. It does take time to make sure the teacher is prepared and ready to teach their class† (Davis). Most teachers really do not know what to expect from year to year and sometimes it gets even hard with the students, parents, and support system. Most of the students will have someone that they can have to come to the class but most of the parents in this day and hour are too busy to do anything but work and try to feed the child. I feel like† we must give the teacher some type of assistance to make sure they are successful as well as to make sure they have a clear plan of action to teach† (Christou). Most of the students will watch their teacher to make sure they know what they are talking about. This has been one of the most frustrating parts of a class and in any place where someone is trying to teach you something they don’t know themselves. A lot of the students do have a learning disorder and some of them will ask questions because they really don’t know what you are saying. They are trying to make sure they understand what is being taught by the teacher. It is not to try to cause problems but to try to understand what is being taught. And the teacher needs to know when the student is really playing and when they are not. As a lot of students have been sent to the office or outside because of asking a question that they really did not understand and someone might have laughed causing the teacher to think they were playing. They send the student outside. Thus making it even harder for the student to learn and to understand clearly what is being said. â€Å"There has to be a safe environment for the student to learn. A lot of the parents are thinking more and more about home schooling their children because it is a little safer and easier for a traveling parent† (Christou). I think if a student feels that he is not safe in the classroom he will not learn and he will always be looking around the room trying to see what is going on. He will begin to see things out of place and every time someone comes to the door or the window the student will be looking and not paying attention to the teacher at all. The main thing is that they student needs to be able to feel like they can ask any question and it not be a problem, and that no one will be laughing at them for the question that they have asked. A lot of students will shut down when they feel like they cannot express themselves, let the teacher know when they are in trouble, and need some extra help. Most of the students really need to know that the teacher is doing all they can to keep order in the class room and to make sure that it is a nice pleasant place to learn and to share idea and even to fuss sometime as long as it is going to help and bring about clarity. Without a doubt, all students need to be pushed and made to learn beyond their own understanding. There should not be a student in there who is not working their brain and able to sleep all day and still pass. Something is wrong with that and someone needs to retest that student and make sure they are on their grade level. A lot of students will not learn too well when the class is too slow for them. They will get bored really fast and not want to do nothing but cause problems because they are bored. I feel like a lot of the students that sleep in class and still walk out of the class with a passing grade need to be evaluated to determine their I. Q. â€Å"It’s about pushing students to excel; at the same time, it’s about being human, respecting others, and being professional at all times† (Leblanc). So they can make sure they push them to their max. Most students never really understand all the class room and it takes a great teacher to be like bridge between the class work and the grades. Sometimes the bridge does try to fall, but, it is a good bridge and it is able to keep the peace. Understand that sometimes it is overrun with words, people, and it has to be patient and understand that it will all pay off in the long run. In this day and hour every job is not just a job. There are many people today who are looking for a job and some of them just are able to pass test because of having book smarts. Some are only teaching in school for a paycheck and to be able to make a living. A teacher needs to be someone who loves what he/ she can do. They do not need to be thinking about a check or about paying bills. Most of them really need to be stable and able to keep their family and personal life separate. The person who wants to be a teacher needs to be more than just someone going for a job. As time passes it is important for the person to know why they are in the class room and to understand their role in shaping the lives of their students. They must understand that at this age most of the students will spend more time with them than at the house with their parents. Most of the students will begin to attach themselves to the class room as they will feel like they were trying to look forward and not behind. Most of them will find a teacher who they relate to and who they feel has their best interest at heart. It is important for teacher to understand that most of the students will watch their every move and how they react. Some of them will even try to copy how the teacher talks, walks, and even how some of them dress. Most of the students want to be a part of something or belong to something for a greater cause. So it is important that most teachers understand their role, be mindful of their actions and understand that someone will always be watching their every move. A teacher has to show that they want to be there and really enjoy helping people. I have always been in a class room where I have heard a lot of my teacher say â€Å"I got my degree now you’ve got to get yours† and some of them even have an attitude with it. This is one of the reasons why I hated school and why I felt that I was cheated of my education when I was in school. Most students really don’t want to be in school so when they already don’t want to be there, and run into something like this, it makes it hard for the student to look past what they see and hear. This is causing a lot of high school students to drop out at the 10th grade. They really do not understand that they are almost there. But we have to take control of this, put a stop to it, and let them know that we do care about them, want them to finish school, be able to learn and be productive in the world today. â€Å"Effective teachers should exhibit positive expectations to ensure each student believes they can excel. Transmitting positive reinforcement by telling each student they have high abilities and are a capable learner will allow students to excel to their highest abilities. In addition, setting positive expectations in the classroom will help students who do not have proper motivation and support at home† (Baker). A teacher never needs to tell a student I got my degree and what about you. Most of the student will always do what they hear and what they see. Most of them are smart enough to understand right from wrong. But it gets worst then they begin to see the teacher doing one thing and then doing something different. A good teacher is hard to find. One that really loves to be in the class with the student and is effective in what they teach. I have only had a few that have really left me with wanting to teach because of what they taught me and this is what a good teacher is. I feel that every student that goes to class should have the benefit of a great teacher. One that is prepared for the class and apt to teach with clarity and understanding. It is not always good to have one that is just doing it because of a Job. This is what makes the world better. As we learn every day and if we listen we are always in a class of some type. I want to be as clear as possible with everything I do and say so that it will help other teachers to take pride in their craft. APPENDIX A REFERENCES Brackett, Nancy. (January 2013) Effective Teacher. Retrieved from http://www. online-distance-learning-education. com/effective-teacher. html Christou,Aris. (June 22, 2006). Materials Camp Will Help Teachers Innovate. Retrieved from http://www. mse. umd. edu/news/news_story. php? id=658 Davis, James R. (Aug 4, 1993). Better Teaching, More Learning: Strategies for Success in Postsecondary Settings: 1st Edition. Green, Elizabeth. (March 2, 2010). Building a Better Teacher. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t. html? _r=0 Hassett, Marie F. PHD. (Winter 2000). What Makes a Good Teacher? Retrieved from http://www. sabes. org/resources/publications/adventures/vol12/12hassett. htm Leblanc, Richard PHD. (1998). Good Teaching: The Top Ten Requirements. Retrieved from http://www. appleseeds. org/good-teach. htm Martin-Kniep, Giselle O. (April 2004). Becoming a Better Teacher: Eight Innovations that works/ Editions 1. Toness, Bianca Vazquez. (May 23, 2011). What Makes A Good Teacher? Retrieved from http://www. wbur. org/2011/05/23/a-teacher.

“A Visit to Grandmother” and “My Father Sits in the Dark” Essay

Family is group of persons closely related by blood. As children, parents raise and teach values and many important lessons of life to innocent youngsters. As adults, each individual still calls his or her family members when the individual had a bad day or needs someone to talk to. However, despite how close a family is, family members still encounter problems communicating with each other. For example, in both stories, â€Å"A Visit to Grandmother† by William Melvin Kelley and â€Å"My Father Sits in the Dark† by Jerome Weidman, the characters dealt with communication problems within their families. In the story, â€Å"A Visit to Grandmother,† Chig and his father, Charles, decided to go back home to visit their family. When Chig and Charles arrived home, Charles’ family was ecstatic to see him and they started reminiscing about the old times. During this visit, Charles realized how his lack of communication had caused him years of separation from his family. Additionally, in â€Å"My Father Sits in the Dark,† the main character was curious about why his father often sat alone in the darkness staring at the corner. From this story, we can see how the father and son’s relationship progressed. From my experiences, language and cultural differences can also destroy a family’s relationship. Families may encounter many relationship problems due to a lack of communication. A family will fall apart when family members do not converse with each other frequently. Nowadays, people are so occupied with their lives that people do not even have time to sit at the dinner table to enjoy a family dinner. People often feel that it is difficult to find time to spend with family members. For example, in the story â€Å"A Visit to Grandmother,† Charles’s mother failed to divide her time equally between her children. Charles felt unloved as his mother usually spent more time and energy on GL, Charles’ brother. At the age of fifteen, Charles left his family because he thought â€Å"nobody loved [him]† (453). During Charles’ visit back home, he accused his mother of playing favorites with his brother. However, contrary to what Charles thought, his mother explained, â€Å"I paid more mind to GL. I had to. GL could-a ended up swinging if I hadn’t. But you was smarter†¦and I tried to show you that by letting you do what you wanted to do† (465). In this argument, Charles finally confronted his mother about his feelings towards her past actions. This confrontation revealed the problems of their  relationship, which is lack of communication. Since Charles grew up in a big family, he was unable to receive the same attention as his siblings. This misunderstanding would never have occurred if Charles and his mother had talked more frequently. Nevertheless, as family members spend more quality time together, their bonds will strengthen and the family will be more unified. Open and honest communication can resolve a lot of family relationship troubles. By talking, family members can express their troubles, interests, and love for one another. Effective communication is the key aspect to maintain a strong and healthy family. For example, in the short story, â€Å"My Father Sits in the Dark,† the author, Weidman, introduced to the readers a relationship where communication brings the father and son’s relationship together. The narrator noticed that his father likes to sit alone in the dark. On multiple occasions, the narrator asked his father why he does not turn on the lights. After persistent questioning, the narrator’s father finally answered, â€Å"I can’t get used to lights. We didn’t have lights when I was a boy in Europe. (210)† By talking to his father, the son found out that the reason that his father likes to sit in the dark is because his father is not use to artificial lights. Afterwards, the narrator felt content that his father was able to share with him his past. â€Å"My heart skips a beat and I catch my breath happily. I begin to think I understand,† thought the son gladly (211). The relationship between the father and son had developed because they were able to communicate with each other. The son communicated with his father effectively and was finally able to understand the reason his father sat quietly in the darkness. Listening is also a part of communication. The son cared about his father and took time out of his life to learn more about his father. The son felt satisfied that he and his father can talk and share stories and memories with each other. Without communication, family members are not able to understand each other and thus are secluded to their own world. Sometimes, communication problems can occur between parents and children because of language and cultural communication differences. For instance, my family immigrated to the United States when I was eight years old. As I grew  up in the United States, I became influenced by the American culture. By coming here at such a young age, my Chinese deteriorated; consequently, I found it hard to communicate with my parents. I remember one Friday night as I was watching â€Å"Friends† on television; my father came over and started watching with me. However as the show progressed, my father did not understand the plot, so he left to watch his Chinese news. When he abandoned me, I felt unworthy. I realized that he did not understand the show but I wished that he would have stayed to enjoy my company. However, instead of telling him that, I just kept the feeling buried inside of me. Even today, my father and I do not communicate as much as I would like to. My poor Chinese and his poor English prevent us from becoming very close. Communication in a family is a key aspect to the unity of the family. Every family encounters communication problems. In â€Å"A Visit to Grandmother,† Charles’ mother explained that she loves him as much as she loves GL. However, Charles still had a hard time believing his mother and accepting her explanation. Charles will never forgive her, because she is â€Å"thirty years too late. (491)† In this case, Charles and his mother both have faults. Charles could have shared with his mother what was bothering him; Charles’ mother could have spent more quality time with Charles. When communication is scarce in a family, family members have no way of understanding each other’s problems and thoughts. Meanwhile, in the short story, â€Å"My Father Sits in the Dark,† at first the father was reluctant to share with his son his past. However, only after communicating, the son was able to understand the truth. Family adds stability to a person’s life. Family is a place of warmth and comfort, which can not be easily substituted by other places. Without communication, family connection can be easily destroyed and family relationship can be separated. From my own life, I do not understand my father because we don’t communicate regularly. Only with each family member’s inputs and efforts in communicating with each other, positive family relationship can be built and maintained.

Textuality - Definition and Discussion

Textuality - Definition and Discussion In linguistics  and literary studies, the property by which successive sentences form a coherent text in contrast to a random sequence. Textuality is a key concept in post-structuralist theory. In their study Translation as Text (1992), A.  Neubert and G.M. Shreve define textuality as the complex set of features that texts must have to be considered texts. Textuality is a property that a complex linguistic object assumes when it reflects certain social and communicative constraints. Observations The Domains of Texture, Structure, and ContextThe three basic domains of textuality . . . are texture, structure, and context. The term texture covers the various devices used in establishing continuity of sense and thus making a sequence of sentences operational (i.e. both cohesive and coherent). . . .Another source from which texts derive their cohesion and acquire the necessary coherence is structure. This assists us in our attempt to perceive specific compositional plans in what otherwise would only be a disconnected sequence of sentences. Structure and texture thus work together, with the former providing the outline, and the latter fleshing out the details. . . .In dealing with structure and texture, we rely on higher-order contextual factors which determine the way a given sequence of sentences serves a specific rhetorical purpose such as arguing or narrating (i.e. becomes what we have called text).(Basil Hatim and Ian Mason, The Translator as Communicator. Routledge, 1997) What Is a Text?There are various senses in which a piece of writing may be said to be a text. The word text itself is the past participle stem of the Latin verb texere, to weave, intertwine, plait, or (of writing) compose. The English words textile and texture also derive from the same Latin word. This etymology of the word text is apparent in expressions that refer to the weaving of a story, the thread of an argument, or the texture of a piece of writing. A text may thus be taken to be a weaving or a network of analytic, conceptual, logical, and theoretical relations that is woven with the threads of language. This implies that language is not a transparent medium through which arguments are expressed, . . . but is interwoven with or provides the very filaments of the substantive arguments themselves.(Vivienne Brown, Textuality and the History of Economics. A Companion to the History of Economic Thought, ed. by W. J. Samuels et al. Blackwell, 2003)Texts, Textuality, and TextureThe p roper business of literary criticism is the description of readings. Readings consist of the interaction of texts and humans. Humans are comprised of minds, bodies and shared experiences. Texts are the objects produced by people drawing on these resources. Textuality is the outcome of the workings of shared cognitive mechanics, evident in texts and readings. Texture is the experienced quality of textuality.(Peter Stockwell,  Texture: A Cognitive Aesthetics of Reading. Edinburgh University Press,  2009) Textuality and TeachingAs I see it, textuality has two aspects. One is the broadening of the objects we study and teach to include all the media and modes of expression. . . . Expanding the range of texts is one aspect of studies in textuality. The other . . . has to do with changing the way we look at texts to combine the perspectives of creator and consumer, writer and reader. Both of these aspects of textuality have to do with helping students open their minds and expand their vision of how texts work and what they do. The larger goal of textuality is the opening of a wider world of culture for students . . ..The study of textuality involves looking at works that function powerfully in our world, and considering both what they mean and how they mean.(Robert Scholes,  English After the Fall: From Literature to Textuality. University of Iowa Press, 2011)  Ã‚   Also Known As: texture

Have race relations changed among different races today Essay

Have race relations changed among different races today - Essay Example e higher among minority groups when compared to Caucasians, but these groups have been shown to earn much less than what their Caucasian counterparts earn. There tends to be very little likelihood of either African American or Latino men to be given employment as managers or as professionals and they are more likely to only get jobs, which involve labor. This also applies to women from minorities who have to work much harder and for lesser pay than their counterparts do in order to get positions of authority (Phelan, 376). While there are still instances of discrimination, there have been changes in the racial relations between the different races in the United States today. This can be seen through the increasing levels of intermarriage as well as the formation of strong friendships between them. It can therefore be said that despite the fact that the racial relations in the United States still have a long way to go before they are equal, there have been enough changes to put this process on the right

Crime Theories Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Crime Theories - Assignment Example The paper outlines why the theory chosen could be recognized as the most relevant in terms of being a cause of digital crime. The paper concludes with two examples of non-digital crimes that could be considered caused by this same theory. Self-control is a theory that has been suggested to digital crime research. This theory was established by Travis Hirschi and Michael Gottfredson in the 1990s, A General Theory of Crime. It considers the causes of crime as an out of control action and that individuals respond to this coercion merely when they have a low self-control (Cullen & Agnew, 2006). In reference to their book, A General Theory of Crime, the authors illustrate the significant attributes that classify people with or lack of self-control (Hirschi, & Gottfredson, 1990). People with low-self control are irresponsible, insensible, material in place of mental, risk takers, thoughtless and non-verbal, and they will be inclined to take part in crime and corresponding actions (Hirschi, & Gottfredson, 1990). Individuals with attributes of low self-control are known to take part in abnormal actions since they desire to achieve burning fulfillment and pleasure. On the other hand, people with self control have the ability to slow down their burning fulfillment needs. These people are associated with certain positive attributes. These include the following. They are cautious, sentimental, vocal and thoughtful (Hirschi & Gottfredson, 1990). People with self-control know the outcomes of taking part in abnormal actions like crime in general and have the power to stop or slow down their fulfillment needs. Ultimately, individuals with low self-control have features that lead them to committing crime, like digital crime. This selected theory is the most applicable cause of digital crime. This is due to the fact that, digital platforms have elements that can lure many people to seeking gratification upon