Read questions and write answer about a few sentences Assignment - 3

Read questions and write answer about a few sentences - Assignment Example Statistical research involves the collection, interpretation, organization, analysis, and presentation of the data. In this case, statistical research requires careful planning of time and budgeting of resources involved in a successful outcome. In the article WSJ, the author takes us through two weddings based on the financial input. The expensive one does not result in a successful marriage while the less expensive one in most cases makes a successful marriage. Consequently, it can be concluded that what results from a successful statistical research are careful planning and wise spending of the available resources (Arends 3). In an article from Fivethirtyeight.com, the author revealed how the census bureau does clean their messy data. He claimed that the bureau do revise their data where they identify the possible errors in the name of the people by using an algorithm. In the event that a couple who is registered as an opposite sex couple but the name registered under male section appears to be a female name, the bureau considers the individual as the woman. Therefore, they assume that the couple is of the same sex hence changes its registration to same-sex marriage. The bureau argues that though doing this is unethical; the overall effect is minimal since it makes their data more accurate and realistic (Casselman). In the article written for GSA, the insights that I got concerning writing a recommendation letter is that it must be brief and in support of the candidate by emphasizing on the strengths, characters and weaknesses of the candidate. In regards to the other article designed for the students, the insights that come out clear are building rapport with the relevant professor and seeking for the recommendation letter in advance of the due

Explanation on the Evolution of the Federal Indian Policy from Washington through Jackson’s Administration Essay Example for Free

Explanation on the Evolution of the Federal Indian Policy from Washington through Jackson’s Administration Essay President Lincoln in his Gettysburg address told the nation that the state promotes a government of the people for the people and by the people. In Jackson’s time he stressed out what Thomas Jefferson believes that independent society is making dependent people independent (studyworld 1998). Both have spoken of people and a nation. Being once the heads of this super powerful nation, the yoke of responsibility on governing whose people and what nation is on their shoulders. It is a matter of whose will are being protected when what is put in question are the rights and obligations between the natives and the whites. For the rich and influential will sovereignty rule? During the Jackson administration it wasn’t so. Authority at that time must eliminate all the risk to carry on a business plan. We can never measure the enormous weights between love for ones country and the evil of greed but history repeats itself and is always a witness to the fall and rise of many cities and country’s. The past Jackson administration has its goals or measure to take. However, democracy is meant to give each one according to its due. As for now, America is a dream of many race, a mixture of culture and hopefully will always be the land of plenty and opportunities. It is so because it was the fruit of its enormous labor, tears and pain and good leadership of some honorable statesmen but more so of its people. Much to be said but humanity stands where humans are treated reverently. Many great leaders had fathomed this thought. Many so called good leaders have thrown out the weakest from the sinking ship in order to save a chosen few or the meanest. Jackson at first diplomatically covered the Cherokees land until pushing them to Mississippi as narrated in the book: the Trails of Tears. He injected in these so called savages that they can not just be hunters but also agriculturists (Native Indians are inborn hunters and naturally obedient but strong people in body and character). They asked the native inhabitants to transfer from one state to plant cottons but in reality the Native Americans do not dig to cultivate because during their times food is in abundance. On the other hand, that present administration intends to dig for gold and by all means will strive hard to become a super power that is known today. Despite the ruling of the Supreme Court on sovereignty, the Indians left their ancestral lands led by Chief Ross who at that time can only do the least he can do best when only destiny could dictate the future. Civilizations like industrialization or advancement are always paid for at a great price. Georgia’s effort to dislodge the Cherokees is more about oppressing than helping its inhabitants. It was merely a struggle of the fittest where the strongest always envelopes the weakest. Reformers of the past could have set their goals on advancement without due respect to Indians tribal customs and traditions. The present Indian law and nonetheless about five tribes is complex as we view the state government with the history of federal Indian policy. Though they are just minority compared to the whole U. S. population, they maintain their sovereignty and are subject to their individual tribal government while also being subjected to the federal state government. Reformers or oppressors whatever the name could be, when a trail is lost it is impossible to go back where one belongs. Native cultures are loss because the new school taught that their parents and grand parents learning are inferior to what is new (Montana 1993). After a century, efforts on behalf of the present government to regain the loss culture among the Native Americans is being acted upon, laws concerning sovereignty (House 2007) is upheld but only to few remaining 1. 7 Million Indians since most of them had already faded away together with their homelands. Reference http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/indiangb.pdf

Executive Summary of Students Quietly Undertaking to Encourage Apt Lear

Executive Summary of Students Quietly Undertaking to Encourage Apt Learning SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives Executive Summary This Project Management Plan is the result of the time and energy spent by the members of SQUEAL (Students Quietly Undertaking to Encourage Apt Learning), who have embarked upon the task of learning about management in an information environment. The path we have chosen is outlined in this document. SQUEAL is devoted to learning how to â€Å"work effectively within a larger organization and to assume managerial responsibilities,† and each of SQUEAL’s members works to achieve this goal through internal, external and personal factors. The Project Management Plan is a guide which SQUEAL has created for itself in order to accomplish our common goals in a timely and thorough manner. The Plan includes an Introduction, Goals and Objectives, a list of Deliverables, the Resources which Squeal has at its disposal, Constraints, Strategy and Actions, our Budget, Controls, a description of our Documentation process, the Review and Appendices. - 1 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives Table of Contents Executive Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.1 Table of Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.2 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..3 Team Characteristics†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 Ground Rules†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...5 Goals and Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...6 Deliverables†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...10 Resources†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...12 Constraints†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.14 Strategy and Actions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..17 Budget†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦20 Controls†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..21 Documentation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...22 Review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...23 Appendix A- Gantt Chart†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦A Appendix B- Budget Time Sheet†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦B Appendix C- Time Sheet†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.C - 2 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives Introduction Students Quietly Undertaking to Encourage Apt Learning (SQUEAL) is a dynamic team comprised of members Brooke Ballantyne, Andrea Freeman, Reece Steinberg and group leader, Carolyn (Cen) Campbell. SQUEAL was formed in January, 2005 in response to a Project Management assignment from Dr. Ken Haycock, ... ... Ending/Evaluation March 8th - April 6th $3,217 * The predicted budget was found by taking total estimated personnel hours multiplied by 20 and then adding all of the additional estimated costs from the Team’s Budget divided by 4. - 26 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives APPENDIX C- TIME SHEET - 27 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives Date Time Expended Details of Activity Total Hours in Phase 1 (Initiation / Concept): (aim for group: 24 individual: 6) timeline: January 10th - January 24th Total Hours in Phase 2 (Planning / Development): (aim for group: 48 individual:12) timeline: January 25th - February 21st Total Hours in Phase 3 (Implementation / Execution): (aim for group: 48 individual:12) timeline: February 12th - March 7th Total Hours in Phase 4 (Ending / Evaluation): (aim for group: 24 individual: 6) timeline: March 8th - April 6th - 28 - SQUEAL LIBR/ARST 570: Management of Libraries and Archives On Monday, January 24 2005, we, the members of SQUEAL, submit this Project Management Plan to Dr. Ken Haycock. All team members have contributed to the plan and agree to follow it to the best of our abilities.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Letters to Martha :: Charlotte Perkins Gilman Bibliography

Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Letters to Martha In January 1890, after two and a half years of depression and mental illness, Charlotte Perkins Stetson began to keep her journal again. Basking in the "steady windless weather" of Pasadena and the support of her friend Grace Channing, Charlotte slowly regained her strength, ambition, and ability to write. Concentrating on a new life on a new coast, her first brief entries express each day's essential details. On January 20, she says only "Began writing with Grace†¦". Charlotte does not record that on that clear, sun-shot Californian day, her thoughts turned once more to frigid New England and a friend from a former life. Despite her exhaustion, Charlotte gathered up a pile of stationery and began to write in a refined version of her usual scrawl. "Dear Martha", she wrote, "You knew and loved me once. You do not know me now, and I am not sure that you would love me if you did†¦ I have grown and changed wildly, darkly, strangely, beyond a mother's recognition, beyond my own." Perhaps here Charlotte paused, raised her head, and, contemplating her moonlit grove of orange trees, pondered Martha's reaction to her bold statements. Although these words were painful, Charlotte would not soften them for the sake of her gentle, distant friend. Bound still by a pact of "mutual understanding" nine years old, Charlotte owed Martha complete honesty in "word and deed". Nine years ago, before courtship, marriage, and childbirth, Mrs. Charles Lane of Hingham Massachusetts was simply Martha Luther and Charlotte's dearest friend. Their friendship began in 1878 when Charlotte was seventeen and Martha was sixteen. Both girls lived on the East Side of Providence: Charlotte on Manning Street and Martha on Arnold. They shared a love of reading, a desire to write, and had experienced a similar tragedy: the loss of a father. Martha's father, John Luther, died when she was fourteen. During Charlotte's childhood, her parents' separation reduced her father to a mere correspondent and occasional provider. Charlotte's numerous letters, diaries, and autobiography characterize her own mother as overly strict, disapproving, and physically distant. In her autobiography, The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Charlotte wrote that, denied affection from her mother as a child and adolescent, Martha became one of her "first memories of loving any one". At seventeen, athletic and energetic Charlotte roamed the streets and hills of Providence. One day she would attend a class at the Rhode Island School of Design, the next she would stride down the hill to browse through the shops, or go for a rousing, giddy carriage ride in Roger Williams Park with a pack of friends.

Aristotle’s Ten Categories

The ten Categories of Aristotle are derived from Aristotle’s Organon (Evans) and are classifications of individual words (as opposed to propositions) They consist of substance, quantity, quality, relation, place, time, situation, condition, action, and passion (Robin, 2004). Of the ten categories, Substance (ouisa) is consistently considered to be the most important as it is the fundamental element of all living things. Each individual thing has its own substance that is unique to that thing and does not belong to any other individual thing. Substance exists in two forms; Primary Substance and Secondary Substance. Primary Substances are absolute, concrete individual things that can exist in isolation to other things. Aristotle specified elements such as air, water and earth as primary categories because they are entirely independent of other beings. Secondary Substances are essentially properties of the primary substances and therefore cannot exist in their own right (Smith, Robin, 2004). Aristotle specified that whilst primary substances were restricted to genus, secondary substances were restricted to the individual species to which they belonged, â€Å"'man' is predicated of the individual man; but ‘animal' is predicated of ‘man'; it will, therefore, be predicable of the individual man also: for the individual man is both ‘man' and ‘animal'. † (Edghill, 2000). The remaining nine categories are utilized to help define and determine the details of the substance and what it is similar to and much of Aristotle's discussion of these categories concerned the way the categories are used in language. The second of Aristotle’s categories is Quantity, which as per the conventional meaning of this word, refers to the physical size of something. Quantity can be measured by numbers, weight, volume, area etc and thus the category is intended as a means by which substance can be measured and interpreted relative to one another. Quality is related to the inherent nature of something, that is its attributes or characteristics. Quality aspects generally cannot be described mathematically. Descriptive words such as â€Å"white†, â€Å"fat†, â€Å"larger† etc. ould generally characterize the quality aspect of the categories. Relation concerns the way in which one thing is related to another. This relationship could be a cause and effect relationship, a physical relationship or an equivalent relationship. The next category is Place. This refers to the physical location of an object or thing in its environment. Following this is Time. This category is concerned with a thing’s position with regards to the passage of time in the conventional sense or in relation to other events. The seventh category, Position, addresses the relative position parts of an object in relation to each other or the position of one object in relation to other objects. State is similar to quality but is concerned with the ongoing nature of an object as opposed to the inherent nature. So, for example, â€Å"easy going† would be classified as a quality whilst â€Å"depressed† would be classified as a state. The ninth category, Action, refers to the way in which a change to one object could impact another object or thing. Conversely, the tenth category, Passion or Affection, is concerned with the reception of a change and relates to the alteration that something else has on the object. Aristotle’s theory states that every single part of a sentence will fall into one of these categories. An example of a sentence that uses them all is as follows: â€Å" The naughty (quality), lone (quantity) boy (substance) crouched (position) beside his sister (relation) in their playroom (place) one afternoon (time), happy (affection) and content (state) as he stole her toys (action). †

Top Secrets of the Perfect Informative Essays

Top Secrets of the Perfect Informative Essays Informative Essay Writing: Useful Tips and Guides Various academic assignments require efforts and time for their accomplishment. If you are dealing with an informative essay, you should remember that in order to complete this exact assignment successfully, one requires enough time and exceptional writing talent. When you have an assigned topic for your essay paper, your task becomes much easier. The students, who have no topic assigned, need to figure out what to write about by themselves. Definitely, it requires a lot of time and nerves, maybe even a few sleepless nights. If you have no idea how to pick the best possible topic, you probably need professional help. It is beneficial to reach an expert online writing service, and order a complete informative essay, thus saving your time and nerves. Informative Essay: Main Characteristics and Meaning An informative essay is an exceptional type of academic paper, which reveals a specific topic and inform the readers about a particular person, event or an object. When writing a paper, imagine that your readers have no idea about the topic you are writing about, and make sure you explain it in details. You must provide a detailed and meaningful explanation revealing the main ideas and statements in simple language. For example, when you want to inform people about digital marketing and SMM promotion, try to explain the topic using such concepts as target audience, context, online testing, promotion campaign, install rate, total profit, etc. You must have enough knowledge to clarify every complex concept clearly. Therefore, when you want to perform an excellent informative essay, it is important to learn a few main writing scenarios. The first scenario is for people, who have an assigned topic, and the second one for students who need to select an interesting topic for an essay paper by themselves. Expert Instructions on How to Write an Informative Essay It is important for every student to know how to perform an informative essay properly. Since it will allow you to write any other type of essay papers in a less time further. The entire writing process of different essay papers is quite the same, thus includes the paper writing itself, editing and proofreading. Perfect essay papers of various kinds consist of the following parts – introduction, main body paragraphs, and conclusion. Besides, writing an informative essay allows you to improve your analytical abilities and writing skills significantly. How to Write an Outline Various academic assignments require an outline to make the writing process more convenient and the paper more professional. An outline is as essential, as an introduction, main body, and conclusion. It is also important not to forget about the list of references to include in your paper. There is no need to add any additional parts if you write a standard essay. An informative essay requires providing information about the importance of a research work instead of writing down a thesis statement. The outline of an essay paper may be the following: History of the research and Origins. Explain the reason for the research work and the origin of the analyzed problem. The main process revealed. Explain the main object in details and provide the explanation of complex processes in simple words. Advantages. This part of the text requires a list of benefits the analyzed object brings and its overall importance for people. How to Select a Perfect Informative Essay Topic? Use the following tips and guides to choose the best topic for your essay: Always select a very specific topic, avoid unclear and vague ones. There is no need to write about such concepts as â€Å"friendship† or â€Å"love† since you will find no specific data or materials to support your thesis. Avoid boring or too complicated topics. If you are not interested in the topic, you are writing about, there will be no use to write an essay at all. Choose the topic that is important for the people in your community. Always check essay requirements in advance to select the most appropriate essay topic. Be aware, an in-depth analysis before the start of the writing process is crucial for a perfect paper. You can find a lot of informative essay samples online to see how to properly format your own paper. Our writers always recommend students to focus on their vocabulary once performing an informative essay. It is crucial to work with a list of specialized terms related to your selected topic before starting to write a paper. Every student needs to understand the complex concepts and learn how to clearly explain them to readers. Examples of the Best Topics of an Informative Essay After delivering numerous successful informative essays for students all over the world, we can surely name a few of the best topics of an informative essay to help you to deal with your own topic. Digital Marketing. This up-to-date advanced method of marketing remains an important niche for a bunch of talented specialists nowadays. Make sure to reveal its benefits for clients and the difference between traditional and digital marketing. Legalization of marijuana. This is a central issue, which needs to be explained in details, including the meaning of the term, law regulations, the effect on human beings, and the consequences for modern society. Weapons Use. Explain in your paper how to better control weapons usage and prevent various tragedies that occur due to the neglect of the rules. People Addictions. Write down a few types of people addictions. Explain the best ways of getting rid of these addictions and the top methods of preventing other people from becoming addicted. The origin of the world. Discuss a few leading theories of the world origin, their strong and weak points, and the importance of this issue in modern world. If you still have no idea what topic to select for your informative essay, you can get more useful tips and guides from our writing experts, who are ready to deal with any academic assignment.

Evolution vs Religion essays

Evolution vs Religion essays Charles Darwins introduction of evolution, created the battle between evolution and religion. Still, to this day, the influence of Darwinism has people asking themselves where they came from. God, a higher spirit, or the process of evolution, are the two main choices to pick from. For many years, God was the predominant answer, but after the ideas of Darwin, scientists have taken the task to trace humans back to the beginning of existence and try to give a scientific explanation. Obviously, since no one really knows for certain what happened that resulted in the creation of man, it can only be determined on a personal basis; through religious beliefs and educated guesses. Its quite clear that without the influence of Darwinism, there would be no controversy. However, there doesnt have to be a controversy. The creation of man should be thought of as a combination of God and evolution. Before the thoughts of Darwin, most people concluded that their must have been a higher creator who had placed them on earth. So, for many years, they worshiped God tenaciously, and to this day some people still do. To change such an idea that has existed for so many years is hard to accomplish. Therefore, Darwins theory was considered outrageous. According to Steve Jones, in his book, Darwins Ghost, in 1991 a hundred million Americans believed that during the last ten thousand years, man was created by God the way he is now. Man wasnt created from a previous specie ( 1). Its most likely that there was a higher spirit that created the existence of life. It explains how the world began. If you sit and think about it enough, its frightening to consider that there could, possibly, never have been anything at all; just an empty space of nothing, with no living mammals, insects, trees, grass, or clouds. However, the fact that humans, along with the othe ...

OverClocking CPUs essays

OverClocking CPUs essays What CPU is More Stable When Over-Clocked What CPU is more stable when over-clocked? That is a good question and that is what got me interested in this project. One day a couple years, back I got a relatively old computer and I was upset at how slow it was and decided to find out if it was possible to make it go faster. For a long time I looked and did not see anything on speeding up the computer and then one day I came across it. It was called over-clocking, the word caught my eye and I decided to check it out. Over-clocking looked like a complicated process but I was willing to check it out. There were terms in the book and web pages like voltage, multiplier, bus speed, clock speed, jumpers, and BIOS. These words were confusing so I looked them up. The voltage is the amount of electricity flowing to the CPU at any given time. The typical voltage is usually between 3 and 5 volts depending on the CPU and the task. The multiplier was the number that the bus speed was multiplied to in order to find out the CPU speed or clock speed. The multiplier is also a type of governor like on an engine that limits the speed so as not to put out too much power. When you over-clock a CPU, you are essentially over-riding the multipliers original setting, by increasing it to get a higher clock speed. To increase or decrease the multiplier you have to use jumpers on the motherboard or electronic switches in the BIOS. Over-clocking to increase something past its normal speed at which it runs. Over-clocking a Central Processing Unit (CPU) means to speed up the bus speed or the clock speed past its original setting. People often over-clock a CPU to increase the system performance at very little cost. Most of the time, you only need to change a few settings on your motherboard to make your system run faster. When over-clocking first became popular, it only amounted to changing the CPU clock speed to the next highest model of computer. Nowadays be...

American history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

American history - Essay Example On the other hand, withdrawing the army from was essentially an act of moral defeat for the United States in the war against the soviet communist totalitarianism. Such withdrawal could have allured the procommunist blocs around the world. As a result, the most difficult task for Nixon Presidency was to find out a decent exit route from the war. Overview of the American Dilemma in the War In fact, President Johnson’s failure to find out a decent exit from the Battle of Vietnam played a crucial role in the presidential election in 1969. As a result, Nixon was elected. But several issues that were crucial to the interest of America at home and abroad and also of Nixon himself were, in some way or other, entwined with his success to end the war. In the first place Nixon was confronted with the massive casualties that occurred on either sides of the war. Furthermore, he has to confront with the mass protest at home and abroad against the moral decay of the US Army in the events lik e â€Å"My Lai Massacre†, â€Å"Green Beret Affair† and the operation â€Å"Speedy Express†, etc. ... Such public insolence could have turned against the ruling party in the next election, if he had have failed to find out a decent exit from Vietnam. In national politics, Nixon’s dilemma was -as it is said in an article, â€Å"Richard M. Nixon - The Vietnam war†: â€Å"If [Nixon’s] plan involved escalation, Democrats could charge that he was abandoning attempts to reach a peaceful solution and could point to mounting American casualties and prisoners of war. If he negotiated a solution that led to the fall of the government in Saigon, Democrats could charge that he had abandoned an ally†.3 Indeed, this dilemma of Nixon played crucial role in shaping his policy for the Americans’ role in the Vietnam War. Now, even though Nixon successfully retained his position in the Oval Office in 1973, he failed to find out a safe and decent exit from Vietnam. There is no doubt that by perpetuating the US presence in Vietnam, he had been able to retain the big-bro ther image for his country in international power politics. But obviously, he had paid a high price for it.4 Sacrificing the United States’ image as the savior, Nixon’s offensive stance as well as his â€Å"Madman† earned him a bad reputation. Scholars often claim that his defensive stance would have helped more the causes of South Vietnam to survive as a democratic state than the â€Å"Madman Doctrine† could do. What Started the War? The Vietnam War started, in 1955, as a conflict between the communists-backed North Vietnam and the US-ally-backed South Vietnam. But in the 1960s, the United States began to involve in the war increasingly. As a result, the war, which was initially a colonial struggle between the French and the pro-communist northern

Report on the Corporate Communications at Toyota Motor Corporation Essay

Report on the Corporate Communications at Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) - Essay Example Report findings indicate that the corporation has adopted corporate communications structures aiming to brand itself as a leader in the automobile industry, setting the pace of appeal for automobiles, and trends of the industry across the world, while earning recognition as a global enterprise with a profound appeal. Toyota applies both product-led communications, based on its specific products and corporate-led communications, which revolve around the themes in its Global Vision. Advertorials promote Toyota’s environmentally friendlier cars while the leaf care logo conveys its commitment to environmental goals. Toyota also communicates through sponsorships and CSR programs in communities it serves by offering financial grants, and social welfare services through the volunteer time of Toyota associates. The corporative uses multi-cultural marketing strategies and diversity awareness panels to address the cross-linguistic communications barrier that lead to shortcomings in comm unications, to promote its global integration and diversity goals. The report recommends that Toyota should leverage on the new Information Technology outlets such as social media platforms to reinforce both its internal and external communications functions (The Wall Street Journal, 2013), to achieve optimum benefits and to address its information communication deficit. Introduction This report will examine the internal and external communications functions of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), the Giant Japanese automobile manufacture, highlighting both the best practices in communications functions, as well as communications shortcomings. Additionally, the report analyses the effectiveness of Toyota’s communications functions, and makes recommendations on how to improve them to achieve optimum benefits for the corporation TMC: Overview Headquartered at Toyota Aichi in Japan, Toyota Motor Corporation is a giant Japanese automobile maker that offers full range of vehicle models from mini-vehicles to large trucks; the corporation became the largest automobile manufacture in 2012 by production. Kiichiro Toyoda found TMC in 1937 as an offshoot from his father’s company Toyota Industries to manufacture automobiles (Flaccomio 2011, p.1); the Toyota Group is one of the Leading Conglomerates worldwide today. The Toyota Way, the corporation’s philosophy and strategy has evolved over the years, with a focus on core principles such as Lean Manufacturing and Just in Time Production; Toyota aims to achieve respect for people and continuous improvement. The company’s corporate goal is to keep improving its corporate value while continuously growing through global operations and innovative technology; Toyota’s strategy is enhanced technology, production, and marketing, as well as improved quality control, cost-competitiveness, and personnel development. Toyota pursues environmental goals, which influence corporate strategies (Menon & Menon 1 997, p.51), through improvements of its unique hybrid technology to create environmentally friendly products; Toyota’s goals entail pursuing sustainability at three levels, research and design, manufacturing, and social contribution. TMC Communications overview In 2002, Toyota took a new strategic direction articulated in the Company’s 2010 Global Vision program, which set out its long-term operational and strategic policies (â€Å"

Role of religion in Paleolithic era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Role of religion in Paleolithic era - Essay Example Religion defined the boundaries between the evil and the code. This means that every life revolved around religion as faith and a creed to the universe. This paper analyses the context of religion in the Paleolithic period citing specific examples. As a discussion platform, the paper will also explain the function of religion in the same regime. Religion defined the impressive accomplishment in the Paleolithic era. This elaborated the origin and existence to life with a detailed coverage of the creator of the universe. The context also highlighted expectations within the societal setting for every mankind (Judge & Langdon, 211). The belief of human existence allocated specific mandates and roles for a given community. Religion defined the existence of mankind in the Paleolithic era as a lifestyle. The early population believed in devotion and sacrifice dedicating life to observing a given religion. Christianity as doctrine served as the cornerstone of family establishment. The moral teaching revolved around a religious aspect where the spiritual holiness depicted a given lifestyle. Religion also acted as a moral regulatory to influence and condemn behaviors (Judge & Langdon, 171). Religious leaders acted as mediators between the living and the spiritual world. The context of religion depicted a given direction for any society in the Paleolithic period. Religion defined individual endurance to achieve a higher divine calling in the Paleolithic period. The early nations obtained a spiritual calling from exercising true religious morals and behavior. The society respected the spiritual community that also acted as the higher rank of a community. A given communal decision relied on the outcome of the religious society and group. Religion acted as the moderate between parties. In the first instances, religion connected man and god, while in the second instance religion united different communal parties. The religion also served as a companion to the early

Water pollution in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Water pollution in China - Essay Example In recent yearsï ¼Å'the world has been shocked at China’s rate of economic development. It was almost as if it happened overnight because all of a sudden China was a super-power in terms of its financial power. This has mostly been due to its several industries in the country which beside providing income for the people and revenue for the government, this has also come at a hefty price- pollution. The factories and production plants emit harmful gases and wastes which in turn pollute the environment. China’s environmental pollution problems have become a major concern around the world mostly because of its dense population, estimated at around 1 billion. Water pollution in particular is a very serious problem in China. To put this into perspective, China had an estimated 50, 000 rivers unfortunatley more than half of those rivers have since disappeared. A report from the Ministry of Environmental Protection indicates that, â€Å"Up to 40 percent of China’s riv ers were seriously polluted† and â€Å"20 percent were so polluted their water quality was rated too toxic even to come into contact with.† (Yongqiang, 2013). Water pollution not only threatens human health and development, but also jeopardizes China’s economic development plans (Economy, 2013). It is reported that water shortages cause an estimated loss of U.S. $11.2 billion (120 billion yen), while the its impact on human health has been approximated at U.S. $3.9 billion (41.73 billion yen per year). There has been a debate as to whether pollution should be dealt with austerely mainly because it will involve taking draconian measures against companies found liable. This will have a negative economic impact in the country. So the real debate is whether China wants to forego its economic development and in turn focus on eradicating pollution. This paper will look into the water pollution issue at length while seeking to answer whether economic development should be at the peril of the environment and humanity. The author is of the view that economic development should not be pursued at all costs. There are limits as to how far one can/should go in order to make profits. Currently in China there is no line to be crossed and companies are taking advantage of this. Pollution This refers to the contamination of air, water, or soil by substances which are harmful to living organisms. These substances may differ and they contaminate at varying degrees depending on their concentration. Ex amples of substances that may contaminate include; chemicals, waste (human and industrial) etc. These substances may also be referred to as pollutants. Water is very essential to not only human life, but also animal and plant life. In order for all these lives to be sustained, water is required but not just any water but clean and fit for consumption water. The quality of water which is declining at a very fast pace is mostly affected by human activities (Taylor, 2013). Some of the factors attributed to this include; population growth, the rise of urbanization, industrial production, among other factors. Industries are the largest source of water pollution and it is reported that several sources of water have a certain contamination level from industrial waste and chemicals (Spector, 2013). The management of waste water is a global challenge affecting various regions of the world. The existing sanitation- both industrial and municipal water treatment infrastructure is overloaded, th ey then seep directly into the environment thus contaminating the groundwater sources. Reports indicate that every day, approximately two million tons of sewage is discharged into the planet’s various water bodies- oceans, lakes and rivers. Currently, there are systems in place which have been set up to deal with such however they have thus far been unable to support the growing population and urbanization. Pursuing Economic Development at all costs Most companies have argued that focusing on pollution as

Conley vs.wilmut Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Conley vs.wilmut - Essay Example Conley stance is harsh and firm: human cloning should not be practiced because it interferes with God’s creation. Conversely, Professor Ian Wilmut is polite and puts himself on the hot seat to defend the practice. He remains objective and asks tough questions such as, if couples have been denied the right to procreate naturally, what is the harm in trying out new technology like human cloning (Wilmut, 2004). The topic on human cloning has brushed shoulders with high political icons and religious leaders. The ethical part has hit many headlines in the media world and raised eyebrows as to its interference with the natural process of human creation. Wilmut has remained extremely aggressive and has an ego driven attitude towards the whole process and the perception on human cloning (Conley, 1994). Human reproduction has occurred naturally since the dawn of time. However, with current advancements in technology and research, the potential for this to change is very high. Conley has done well to address the burning issue and has made great strides in evaluating the challenges that couples face when they are unable to conceive and bear (Conley, 1994) With his deep-rooted Roman Catholic beliefs, Conley remains a close-minded voice as to the effects of human cloning. Wilmut, on the other hand, is set on killing the stigma. Research has been done in hopes of solving some of these issues. Couples have been genetically challenged to have the right to live a life like any other normal human being (Wilmut, 2004). The pervasiveness of this discourse concerning  the dignity in  today’s world has  given  it a mask of the subject matter that has been  highly  contested and  made it vague. Wilmut has observed this in his sixth edition; this concept has become ubiquitous. Conley has claimed that cloning of human embryos has violated the sanctity of the human race. He recommends that it should not be

Water pollution in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Water pollution in China - Essay Example In recent yearsï ¼Å'the world has been shocked at China’s rate of economic development. It was almost as if it happened overnight because all of a sudden China was a super-power in terms of its financial power. This has mostly been due to its several industries in the country which beside providing income for the people and revenue for the government, this has also come at a hefty price- pollution. The factories and production plants emit harmful gases and wastes which in turn pollute the environment. China’s environmental pollution problems have become a major concern around the world mostly because of its dense population, estimated at around 1 billion. Water pollution in particular is a very serious problem in China. To put this into perspective, China had an estimated 50, 000 rivers unfortunatley more than half of those rivers have since disappeared. A report from the Ministry of Environmental Protection indicates that, â€Å"Up to 40 percent of China’s riv ers were seriously polluted† and â€Å"20 percent were so polluted their water quality was rated too toxic even to come into contact with.† (Yongqiang, 2013). Water pollution not only threatens human health and development, but also jeopardizes China’s economic development plans (Economy, 2013). It is reported that water shortages cause an estimated loss of U.S. $11.2 billion (120 billion yen), while the its impact on human health has been approximated at U.S. $3.9 billion (41.73 billion yen per year). There has been a debate as to whether pollution should be dealt with austerely mainly because it will involve taking draconian measures against companies found liable. This will have a negative economic impact in the country. So the real debate is whether China wants to forego its economic development and in turn focus on eradicating pollution. This paper will look into the water pollution issue at length while seeking to answer whether economic development should be at the peril of the environment and humanity. The author is of the view that economic development should not be pursued at all costs. There are limits as to how far one can/should go in order to make profits. Currently in China there is no line to be crossed and companies are taking advantage of this. Pollution This refers to the contamination of air, water, or soil by substances which are harmful to living organisms. These substances may differ and they contaminate at varying degrees depending on their concentration. Ex amples of substances that may contaminate include; chemicals, waste (human and industrial) etc. These substances may also be referred to as pollutants. Water is very essential to not only human life, but also animal and plant life. In order for all these lives to be sustained, water is required but not just any water but clean and fit for consumption water. The quality of water which is declining at a very fast pace is mostly affected by human activities (Taylor, 2013). Some of the factors attributed to this include; population growth, the rise of urbanization, industrial production, among other factors. Industries are the largest source of water pollution and it is reported that several sources of water have a certain contamination level from industrial waste and chemicals (Spector, 2013). The management of waste water is a global challenge affecting various regions of the world. The existing sanitation- both industrial and municipal water treatment infrastructure is overloaded, th ey then seep directly into the environment thus contaminating the groundwater sources. Reports indicate that every day, approximately two million tons of sewage is discharged into the planet’s various water bodies- oceans, lakes and rivers. Currently, there are systems in place which have been set up to deal with such however they have thus far been unable to support the growing population and urbanization. Pursuing Economic Development at all costs Most companies have argued that focusing on pollution as

The theory of natural selection has been applied to human culture in Essay

The theory of natural selection has been applied to human culture in many different realms. How are the forces that produce diff - Essay Example In India, where social stratification still obviously persists, the rich became rich because he came from a rich family. In contrast, the poor cannot reach the same affluence because the society simply does not permit such occurrence. Second, there is differential reproduction (www.berkeley.edu). In the end of Jurassic era, the huge terrestrial animals might have gone extinct, but the boring creatures such as cockroaches continue to live on until the present. However, unlike in Biology wherein the favored group of creatures prospered, it is not the case in society. Rich Chinese clans, for example, only allow marriages among their family members, so as to maintain their huge assets within the same knit of people. Third, there is inheritance (www.berkley.edu). For example, in humans, the two-leggedness has been passed more successfully than four-leggedness, because the stand-up stance can better utilize their eyes in searching for new places to move on. The same absoluteness cannot be said about society. The traits inherited do not do anything to the social stratification. Among the rich, it is only the name that allows one to be in a favorable strata. However, not all family members do not really end up rich. Those that have become rich did not just have the name, but also the persistence and education This character, in turn, can only be molded with experience, not heredity. References Thorpe, R. S.

Effects That Poor Airline Customer Service Has Had On Passengers Essay Example for Free

Effects That Poor Airline Customer Service Has Had On Passengers Essay Abstract The present research explores the issue of poor customer service that airline industry is said to practice with regard to their product and services. The paper examines this issue from the approach of triangulation of the data. It critically analyzes the situation from three perspectives. For the first one is the issue of customer satisfaction in accordance with recent empirical findings. The paper highlights what customer satisfaction empirically means. The next section explores the present operations and services provided by the airline industry from a number of sources. The last section examines and cross-examines the state of customer satisfaction to be found in the present day airline industry operations. At the end of the paper, findings of the research are discussed along with suggestions and recommendation for policy making and airline industry’s operation with relation to customer satisfaction. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the advent of new technology, extensive human intrusion in the mysterious space, and expedited communication in the twenty-first century, the demands, wants, and needs of the customers are said to be so finely met today as never before. With the state-of-the-art approach to any customer-related segments of today’s business world, it is claimed by the business sector in general that today’s customer is the luckiest one to have had so much ease of choice and liberty of opting from one product to another. This maxim goes from the small gadgets to the massive transaction held across countries. However, analyzing the perspective of the customer may not yield the same level of happiness and satisfaction from the side of the customer in today’s world. Airline business has seen a marvelous boom with the high-tech trend and massive investment throughout the world. As such, it becomes the point of this paper whether today’s airlines are really providing their customers the best of what is available to them. The present paper looks into the issue of the effects that poor airline customer service has had on today’s customer. The present study looks at the issue from a multifaceted approach. It aims to critically analyze the issue from a three dimensional view, that is to say, it extensively reviews current literature on customer-airline area; it goes on to investigate the point of view of the airline business itself and point out the major findings; as well as, the present paper critically analyzes the kinds of effects that the poor airline customer service has to have on the prospective customer. Customer Satisfaction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customer satisfaction that a customer derives from a product bears enormous significance for the success or failure of a particular product. A product however technically sound and however economic in terms of use and feasibility cannot be regarded as successful unless and until the customer defines it as satisfactory to their needs and wants. As such, success of a product, we can say, is related to the level of satisfaction that a customer derives from it. Today’s situation, particularly in US business market, is alarming. According to Maier (p. 20, 2002), â€Å"Keeping the customer satisfied no longer is the mantra of American businesses, as studies show a steady decline in customer satisfaction that is projected to continue†. As such, in this section of the paper, the present writer deems it appropriate to critically examine the notion of customer satisfaction; how important is it in today’s business world; and what significance does it hold for the airline customer service? This is important with relation to the understanding of the poor customer service that is reported in today’s airline context. This section is intended to serve as scaffolding or mirror to the later research and findings of our issue of the poor airline customer service. It is important for every firm to offer a bunch of values along with the material product that is the focal point of business to that firm. Only offering the product cannot prove to be successful for a firm’s business. Henceforth, the business firm which has at its disposal superior package of services in the competitive market can certainly win the customer with greater profitability and mounting volume of market reputation. Research has revealed that even most satisfied customer can entertain to defect. According to research while examining the link between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, it is known that customers, of any product whatsoever, come to feel satisfied with products at different levels and with different degrees of satisfaction. As such, the differential levels of satisfaction of the side of the customer have to give birth to a diverse range of conformity to the product of customer loyalty, â€Å"which in turn result in varying levels of behavioral disposition to patronage with a provider†. What this finding of the logical link suggests is that with regard to a product and customer satisfaction, the range of satisfaction is varied. However, another important point here is that although a customer may be satisfied with a product, they can opt for any other competitor’s product. This suggests that customer satisfaction may not necessarily bear customer loyalty. The point is that a customer opting for another competitor’s product may be allured by the services that the competitor is offering. â€Å"Therefore, firms have to strive to achieve higher levels of satisfaction than their competition by providing superior customer value†. This approach is basic to attaining what is regarded as â€Å"sustainable competitive advantage† (John, p. 07, 2003). Now the point of concern at this stage is that what kinds of business strategies are needed so that a firm can offer a bundle of service to address higher customer satisfaction that other firms in the competition cannot. The primary component here is to have a crystal clear understanding of the competitive market. John (p. 7, 2003) cites Pine and Gilmore who may regard such context of competition as â€Å"experience economy†. It is the very stage or state or level of competition â€Å"where products are quickly commoditized and firms compete on other aspects of the total offering†. According to this very researcher, there are three prime factors that contribute toward the success of higher or superior customer satisfaction oozing out of a product either material or service-related. The first is the employees of the firm that engineer the entire operation of the firm starting from the very scratch and ending it while in the front line interacting with the customer. The other is the processes that are observed by the firm both in the micro and macro level. The last one is the use of technology that the firm undertakes in order to address and meet higher customer satisfaction. All of the above must work in higher order harmony if superior customer satisfaction is needed. And, of the three, the least effective is the adoption of technology alone and depending on the use of technology alone. The author gives its reason. This is that technology can be easily replicated. A firm with required capital can do that. As far as the replication of processes and system goes, it should be noted that these two factors may also be at the disposal of any other competitors because â€Å"processes and systems can be designed appropriately to deliver customer satisfaction, but they can be relatively easily replicated†. However, what is significant in this connection is the attitude that the employees offer. A firm’s employees’ attitude is something that â€Å"less easily replicable† as such there is the entire focus of a competing firm should fall in order to meet superior level of customer satisfaction (John, p. 07, 2003). If we look at the present scenario of the services provided by the present day airline industry, one thing is to be noticed that the airline industry is giving more and more importance to technological advances which are apparent from bottom to top operations of the industry. Whether the airline industry does also offer higher customer satisfaction in connection with their employees’ attitude remains a point of concern which will be explored later in this paper. Before we move on, it is necessary to examine as to what it is that the customers in today’s context want from a product or firm so that they can derive superior level of satisfaction. In keeping with the view of John, (p. 08, 2003), it comes to our notice that there are three basic features which customers look for in order to feel highly satisfied by use of a product which can either be a service or a material product. Convenience is something that can be put on the top of the list. Customers want to be conveniently handled when it comes to opting for a product; they want ease of dealing, interaction, and productivity. Next is the matter of cost. Customers want to buy something as less costly as possible. And the last but not least is the quality of the whole product experience that remains with the customer for a considerably longer period of the former two. At this point in the present research, it has been highlighted as to what is customer satisfaction from the viewpoint of an industry as well as from the perspective of the customer themselves. Now it seems feasible to look at the present state of the airline industry so that a sound critical examination can later be made with relation to our point of examination, that is to say, it will later be explored what effects have been held by poor airline customer services on the customers; what are the causes and reasons for this poor customer service; as well as, how can these factors, causes, and reasons can be appropriately eliminated so that higher customer satisfaction can be obtained. Airline Industry in Today’s Context According to the observation of Dempsey and Goetz (1992), there are few industries that inspire the passion and rigor that the airline industry does. It is due to the cross-border voyages that airlines make letting their passengers feel the romance and allurement of the air-travel which is hardly as forcefully evident in other means of transportation as in the air travel. Henceforth, the airline industry can be viewed as â€Å"the most glamorous of industries† (p. 03). Another reason is the defiance to the law of gravity which â€Å"still gives many travelers sweaty palms on takeoff and landing†. And the highly critical issue with respect to the importance of airline industry is that â€Å"few industries are as â€Å"fundamentally important to the nations commerce, communications, and national defense as is aviation† (p. 03). Moreover, the present air travel has become an element of glamour that many people year to attach to. There are exclusive club memberships of entrepreneur power in the industry; celebrity chase of specific kinds of air travel with a bundle of exclusive services and things like that. In addition to the above, â€Å"ticket prices, route patterns, the margin of safety, and the identity of the carriers painted on the fuselages of aircraft on an unprecedented roller-coaster ride† is now a dream voiced in most of advertisement by the airline industry players. However, this very glamorous and alluring picture must be critically viewed with a magnifying-glass like examination so that hidden secrets and fallacies can be brought forward. One such is the poor customer service by the airline industry (Dempsey Goetz, p. 03-04, 1992). In today’s context of airline services, newer concepts and terms of air travel are emerging by the day which enhances the feeling of a customer to be going for an air travel. Today, global carriers, globalization, and mega carriers are catch words that may allure anyone intending to fly for any purpose. However, these terms remain without precise or definite definitions as do the agenda of customer service that the airline industry has to provide. It is note-worthy that the expanded canvas of airline industry is not something recent; in fact, it all can be chased as farther back as the 1930s. By then, Pan American airline was flaying transatlantic and transpacific; it also had a massive network in Latin America. The same time such carriers as the British and Dutch were expanding their services to (as they were known by then) their colonies at a distant location in Asia and East Indies. Moreover, â€Å"Pan American by the 1950s had a round-the-world service† (OConnor, pp. 57-59, 1995). In the present context of the twenty-fist century, however, things have taken a different stance in the business world; now market forces and competition is giving way to more and more mergers, amalgamation and business associations which may be seen as an approach toward more globalized airline industry. More foreign investment is coming to such countries as the US. Today, this all looks like so powerful an airline industry as never before. Air travel becomes more and more feasible so the services provided by the airline industry need to be critically examined with due attention so that real picture of this global trend can be taken (OConnor, pp. 57-59, 1995). Changing Trends in the Twenty-First Century Today, more than ever before, the climate for airline industry is every changing and opting to more and more uncertainty in terms of international scenario with relation to a number of waves flowing over the international scenario. The twenty-first century has experienced huge calamities like the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers which caused the airline industry to meet a sudden decline. As such uncertainty of business is more apparent today. The entire climate is wrapped in an element of fear which has given rise to issues such as what kinds of customer services do the airlines provide today to both their international and local customers? According to Doganis (2001), in this climate of continuous change and uncertain aura, the coming years for the airline industry will bring more complicated issues and critical problems and serious challenges with them. One more point here is that not only the structures of the airlines will undergo a change, â€Å"but markets too will become more unstable† (p. 211). What is essentially needed of the airlines in such a situation is that they must clearly define their corporate mission with regard to every single aspect of their operations from employees’ attitude to customer service. â€Å"The key issue which needs to be resolved is whether the airline is to be a global network carrier or a niche player† (p. 212). Moreover, the essence of this entire climate of change will put immense pressure on such areas as ticket prices, services provided by the customers, and it will be enhanced by the new entrants who will be carrying more sophisticated business strategies and tactics to destabilize the present market condition. In this very context, the issue of customer satisfaction seems to linger even more loose than every before. There is danger in the coming times that airline products will be commoditized in which the key player will be fare prices only (Doganis, p. 212, 2001). Thus now it is highly important to critically analyze what is happening in the domain of customer services and the experiences that today’s customers are having with regard to the poor customer service. Airline Industry and Customer Service   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this section of the paper, the writer highlights the pertinent issues which are regarded as the real cause for poor customer service by the airline sector. This is very significant if a through analysis of the effects is intended to be drawn. By bringing forward the issues of to the forefront attention, it will be easy to reach an empirical analysis. a) An overview Airline industry with regard to the services that are being provided by this very sector, is facing severe criticism from a number of critics from a number of areas of professional and general walks of life. For example, Reed, (usatoday.com, 2008) notes that the â€Å"shoddy service† of the airline is even coming to USA’s big airlines. In addition to this, Ramon A. Avila, professor of marketing and director of Ball State Universitys Professional Selling Institute, Muncie, Ind. makes a very clear warning about the poor quality of customer service by airlines: â€Å"When it comes to poor customer service, expect more bad experiences in the airline industry† (Avila, p. 01, 1999). There are heaps and heaps of complaints being logged by the day. If we look at the present situation, it seems that airline sector is degenerating instead of rising for a number of pluses on its credit in the twenty-first century. The things that have become commonplace in today’s airline climate are confusing fares with no predefined schemes or policies; the flights are getting more and more mismanaged; delays of flights are nothing but a routine now hinged on the practices of cancellation without regard of the passengers psychological and other troubles being suffered. Avil also notes that Expect rude treatment and expect companies to do the bare minimum because their bottom line is more important than a disappointed customer† (p. 01). The critic also maintains that it seems as if the airline industry is moving toward a fatal end due to so meager performance and stature in the overall picture. To him American airline industry is going to die. The most important point, according to Avil is that â€Å"Good customer service is the keystone to retaining and attracting consumers, and many businesses are missing the point† (p. 01). Although it is important to keep an impartial view of the entire situation, it seems equally important, as of now, whether or not the observations of Avil are up to the mark. For this very reason, a number of different sources will be analyzed to see if poor customer service has really become the norm of today’s airline industry or not. b) Airline industry in context of 9/11 terrorist attacks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As according to Russell (2007), â€Å"Airline customer service is notoriously bad†, a very important issue with regard to poor customer services by the airlines to the customers is linked to the more recent wave of global terrorism in which the Twin Towers of World Trade Center were hit nothing but by airplanes. A number of officials blame the poverty of service and operations of the airline industry to this horrible event. However, critically examining the situation reveals something else of the position, particularly of the US airline industry. According to Whalen (p. 33, 2004), although it seems very tempting to attach the poor airline services to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it is not the case altogether. The author reveals a different picture in this regard. The author states that the prime factors for such poor service by the US airline industry are the â€Å"decades-old legal and labor laws, and the U.S. bankruptcy code [which are] at the core of what is wrong with the airline industry† (p. 33). There is, as such, no other industry in the US which is so much kept on watch. And this really creates a problem. Washington, according to author, is busy in keeping the record of each and every activity taking place everywhere in the airline operations from bottom to top. This includes the airlines, their operational nature, watching of the airports, and so on. The author reminds of the 1991-92 crisis when â€Å"five major carriers [went] through bankruptcy† but the government â€Å"did little to change the basic economics† (p. 33). These rules and regulations are influencing the services and the poor quality of the services is directly related to them. Therefore, in the entire US airline industry seems to have been locked in a known financial cycle of growth and stagnation, which if hereby followed by economic default and bankruptcies. According to the author, this entire situation is directly influencing the customers of the airlines who have to suffer a poor level of services. Moreover, â€Å"Overcapacity exerts downward pressure on ticket prices, generating fares that dont allow the airlines to cover the cost of providing service, making the average private airline look more like a public utility think of Amtrak with wings† (Whalen, p. 33, 2004). From this very viewpoint, it is very easily noticeable that there is little to go to the credit to such events as the wave of global terrorism but to the policy making and regulation of the US airline industry. According to the context discussed above, one this must be noted that the customers have yet to suffer. It seems that no attention is being paid to this very area which is both disappointing as critical both for the US authorities and the airline runners. Poor Customer Service Examined   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we wish to take examples or incidents in which poor airline customer service is intended to be reported, there is no doubt in stating that there are load and loads of such instances that would require tones of paper to be put down and which may not end as the situation continues by the very day. However, to the point of this paper, take the example of the great airline disastrous time of January 2, 1999. It was when a massive snowstorm had his Detroit the afternoon of the day. This virtually gave birth to historical crack downs in the area of customer service. It stranded many airplanes of Northwest Airline on snow-coated taxiways and tarmacs. It was not possible, then, to deplane many of the passengers mounting to more than 7000 who were then returning from New Year’s vacations. Their waiting spanned as long as eleven hours. The available food was insufficient in case of a number of planes; and what is more, many of the planes’ toilets became overflowed. Although the airport had closed, Northwest persisted to hope that the planes would take off; it was all forced in spite of the pleas that the on-site managers of the very company had recorded. This all resulted in what can be regarded as the nightmare of air travel in which the travelers had to let go of even their basic rights (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Specifically looking at the canvas of the poor customer service by the airline in this regard purports us to look more closely at the issue. Major areas of customer dissatisfaction in this respect are quoted as of the following. These all examples that follow are caused for the Deregulation act that is the root cause of these and other possible poor customer service in which the customer does not entertain any right even to voice their genuine concerns. Delays and Cancellations of Flights   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is the matter of everyday when the customers have to face delays and cancellations of flights for nothing but a number of various reasons. It is possible that in some cases the contract between the airline and the passenger may even be breached. It was the day of August 4th, and the year was 2000, when United Airline’s night-scheduled flight – destined from Washington D.C., to Paris – just stayed in the airport for countless hours only before the airline merely cancelled the en route schedule for â€Å"mechanical reasons†. However, the later published report revealed something that surprised the common and innocent citizens. The reports said that the flight cancellation had nothing to do with any mechanical reason whatsoever. It was actually that the United pilots had just turned down the idea of taking the plane off because Stephen Wolf, former United Chairman was on the flight as a passenger. This single instance is so horrible with regard to a number of passengers who had to suffer only because some people in the cockpit were playing the ego game. What is to be said to Stephen Wolf, who, whatever his past status to the United Airline was, was merely a traveler who really did buy a ticket on the flight. And the passengers were not able to hold any say due to the Deregulation Act. Inattentive Provision of Alcohol   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inattentive provision of alcohol is also permitted as a service onboard to passengers. This service may be harmful in a number of reasons because of disciplinary actions caused by drunken passengers to the common citizens. In one instance, a flight attendant continued to serve alcohol to a group of inebriated passengers onboard of first-class passengers; afterwards, the drunken person insulted a fellow traveler; it was later to cause great controversy and mayhem because the passenger sued the flight attendant and the airline. However, what about a number of other innocent citizens that were also onboard the plane and could do nothing but suffer the entire scene of drunkenness and insult? The court, as such, plainly ruled the suing passenger for the same reason as the Deregulation Act (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002) Lost Baggage and Other Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A couple on the honeymoon trip was on their schedule flight to Anguilla from New York City. The couple lost one of their two suitcases en route. They made repeated phone calls to the airline’s concerned office nothing but to track down their lost bag. All that the representative of the airline did was to repeatedly tell the couple that the airline knew the exact location of the lost bad and that it is just coming along their way. So they asked the couple not to worry. However, this very effective communication by the airline came to a fiasco as the bag was never found. The enraged couple rightly went forward and sued the airline. None the less, a surprise waited to compensate their psychological sufferings, the accused fraud they the airline did with them, and the negligent behavior of the airline. The surprise was that the couple had no remedy and this was just because of the Deregulation Act (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Besides these instances and incidents, there are a number of other incidents that can be quoted here. Feltner, in her article â€Å"Airline customer service ratings down, and it show† discusses at length the massive misadventure that the author had to undergo while on board of a flight. So many things happened to the author which are discussed at length. According to the author, â€Å"the Airline Quality Ratings survey showed poorer performances for 16 of 18 U.S. carriers over the year before† and â€Å"J.D. Power and Associates released the results of the 2007 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, which included similar findings† (Feltner, 2008, smartertravel.com). The author goes on to discuss the poor ratings report and lower customer satisfaction rankings. She cites that â€Å"The new report shows customer satisfaction rankings for seven out of nine major airlines, as well as low-cost carriers†¦dropped this year† (Feltner, 2008, smartertravel.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All this mayhem on the part of the airline industry has caused great panic and psychological distress on the part of the customers. Either it is the Deregulation Act of the legitimate law, or competition, or inappropriate rules or labor law, the entire burden is left dangling on the week shoulders of the customer who is already burden with so many other societal, social, and ethical problems. There seems to be no way out with regard to the problems that customers have to undergo on the hands of the airline poor performance and poor customer service. In the next section of the paper, the present writer discusses the requisite measures that need to be taken if poor customer service has to be eliminated or at least has to be reduced to a tolerable level. One such important point is the notion of customer relation management. This specific area and studies in this area are examined in the following section so as to reach a possible ground that leads to a healthier climate in which the ill-struck airline customer can experience better services by the airlines and breathe in fresh air. Poor Customer Service and Customer Relation Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To the present day, what is required to meet higher customer satisfaction in the lucrative business of airline is known as Customer Relation Management or CRM. It was actually in the 1980s that airlines started to introduce frequent-flyer segments of their program in order to enhance the loyalty level of their prospective customers. This trend gave birth to a new approach in marketing known as CRM. In today’s context, CRM programs are used in a number of businesses with focus on customer satisfaction. However, when it comes to the airline industry, it is not very surprising to note that the situation is not very satisfactory here. According to Binggeli et al. a survey was conducted for 17 major airlines around the globe. This very survey disclosed that even the most technologically equipped and sophisticated of the airlines â€Å"have only a rudimentary understanding of who their most valuable customers are or could be, which factors affect the behavior of these customers, and which CRM levers are most effective in ensuring loyalty† (p. 06, 2002). What in subsistence was being practiced was that airlines lagged behind best practices in CRM due to the fact that they were merely self-satisfied; they, as such, gave little importance to systems which were not functional and which were non-critical; or they did not worry about grasping financial implications of getting matters in the right place. â€Å"The result: today. Airlines [sic] know only marginally more about the people who fly on their planes than they did ten years ago† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the researchers, today, more than ever before, the airlines need to make an urgent approach toward effective implication of the CRM approach if they really want to make a difference. This is fairly for the reason that if an airline adopts the CRM approach, there is empirical evidence that such an airline can easily increase its revenue by as high as 2.4 percent growing by every coming year, â€Å"representing a bottom-line annual impact of $100 million to $250 million for a large carrier† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the present scenario, most of the working airlines do not have sufficient feasible conditions and lack systems and other processes that are required to implement a CRM program and therefore they do not have absolute or reliable data on their customers. For example, though airlines have contact with their customers through a number of channels, such as the Internet, customer service desks, airports, and airplanes, what is simply the matter, data on these sites are not collected with a consistent pursuit or are not accurate at any of these points of customer-interaction activity. (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most of the airlines cannot recognize their most precious customers, â€Å"because their frequent-flyer programs are little more than general-ledger systems that track accrued and spent miles. Although a general correlation does exist between the tiers of a frequent-flyer program and the value of the customers enrolled in them (meaning that in most cases a frequent flyer in the elite category is the most profitable kind of customer), further analysis can prove illuminating† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). It must be noted in the same connection that different customers within the very tier usually hold widely differential degrees of value to different airlines, additionally, a small but noteworthy number of customers in the category of lower tiers. In this example, we can take the regular customers who let go of full fare out of their pockets. Such passengers can carry great value for the airline as compared to those customers who travel in the upper ones. (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). One more critical problem is the reality that they scarcely know how much money their customers let go of with their competitors in the very market. For example, it is possible that a customer who travels by airline A, may also extensively travel by airline B, and â€Å"would thus be a more fruitful target for marketing than its own frequent travelers† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). Thus what is required in the overall picture to meet greater customer satisfaction is CRM approach which not only has to yield great profitability conditions and enhanced market reputation for an airline, it also goes a long way on the continuum of customer satisfaction that can definitely satisfy today’s aggrieved and frustrated customer. The Experience of Singapore International Airlines   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One airline that has surprised the critics of airline customer focus is the Singapore International Airlines. According to Smith (customerservicezone.com, 2008) Singapore International Airlines (SIA) is â€Å"so superior that it leaves other carriers in its vapor trails†. The very point that the author makes here is that the entire success story of the SIA is that â€Å"It places the needs of passengers first, and offers services above and beyond the ordinary†. With this airline, even the experience in the economy class is something that a traveler forgets hard. It is simply a remark that all classes seem to enjoy benefits with equal share of customer satisfaction. â€Å"One of the primary reasons Singapore Airlines provides superior service is because they only hire people that enjoy a service roleenjoy serving others† (Smith, 2008). Thus the example of SIA should be an eye-opener for other airlines too. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be fairly stated that there a number of complex matters which give birth to poor customer service by most of the present day airlines both public and private. If customer satisfaction means superior services on the part of airlines, it can be openly calimed that most of the airlines both local and global fail to meet this criterion. Although it is a right remark to suggest that much of this is credited to the regulations and rules that a government (in this case USA and the Deregulation Act along with decades-long labor laws, for insatnce) holds, it is not right to suggest that only government rules and regulations are solely responsible for a number of dissatisfactory segments of poor customer service by the airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A number of airlines do not practice such important approaches as CRM due to a number of reasons. Whatever they want, one thing empirically becomes clear that today’s customers continue to suffer on the hands of the airlines. Moreover, as quoted above, the suffering customers do not find a proper channel to voice their concerns with relation to massive frustration caused by airlines. Today, â€Å"little attention is being paid to the effect poor internal customer service has on overall customer satisfaction† which is a real problem (Harrison, n.d. principledprofit.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now according to my personal analysis of the entire situation, the poor customer service can only be reduced to an acceptable level only if three-dimensional approach is adopted. On this triangle first come the government that need to make policies that support the customers as the most important part of any airlines related rules and regulations. Next corner of this triangle is the airlines themselves that need to make sure that their customers do not feel that their services are still poor. For this very issue they need to look more closely at the area of customer contact and gather as many data as possible and sort them out in a technically sound manner so that they can be used to make sound empirical investigations. The last corner of this triangle is the customer themselves and airlines need â€Å"information about prospective new customers† (Hagel and Rayport, p. 3, 2002), for successful operations. Unless and until the customers are not considered an integral part of any policy and regulation, no better improvement toward the present meager state of poor customer service can be carved on the canvas of airline business. For this reason the customers must be involved in the process of change and alterations of any kinds. References    Avila, A. R. (August, 1999) Customer service is bad-and getting worse! USA Today. (128) 2651. Page Number: 10. COPYRIGHT 1999 Society for the Advancement of Education; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group Binggeli, U., Gupta, S., Poomes, C. D. (2002).CRM in the air. The McKinsey Quarterly. Page Number: 6+. COPYRIGHT 2002 McKinsey Company, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group. Dempsey, P. S., Goetz, A. R. (1992). Airline deregulation and Laissez-faire mythology. Westport, CT.: Quorum Books, pp. 05-30. Doganis, R. (2001). The airline business in the twenty-first century. London: Routledge. pp. 200-225. Feltner, M. (2008). Airline customer service ratings down, and it shows. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/airline-customer-service-ratings-down-and-it-shows.html?id=2382874 Hagel III, J., Rayport, J. F. (2002). The coming battle for customer information. The McKinsey Quarterly. Issue: 3. Page Number: 64+. McKinsey Company, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group Harrison, C. (n.d.) Turning customer service inside out! How poor Internal customer service affects external customers. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.principledprofit.com/internal-customer-service.html John, J. (2003). Fundamentals of customer-focused management: competing through service. Westport, CT.: Praeger. pp. 05-30. Lindsey Russell (March, 2007). Surviving Airline Customer Service How to Cope with a Flawed System. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/166932/surviving_airline_customer_service.html Maier, T. W. (2002). Customer service is an oxymoron. Insight on the News (17) 1. Publication Date: January 1, 2001. Page Number: 20. COPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group. OConnor, W. E. (1995). An introduction to airline economics. Westport, CT.: Praeger, pp. 25-65. Reed, D. (2008). Airlines may never fly right on customer service, experts warn. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-10-16-bad-airline-service_N.htm Rosenthal, D. H. (2002). Legal turbulence: the courtss [sic.] misconstrual of the airline deregulation acts Preemption Clause and the effect on passengers rights. Duke Law Journal (51) 6. Publication Year: 2002. Page Number: 1857+. COPYRIGHT 2002 Duke University, School of Law; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group Smith, G. P. (2008). Secrets of superior customer service: Singapore International Airlines. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://customerservicezone.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=5769 Whalen, C. (March, 2004). The plane truth about airline woes; its not fallout from the 9/11 attacks that is causing the airline industry to crash, aviation experts contend but government overregulation and loose bankruptcy laws. Insight on the News. Page Number: 33. COPYRIGHT 2004 News World Communications, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

The Effects of Athlete Self-Confidence

The Effects of Athlete Self-Confidence 2.0 Introduction The purpose of this review is to provide a critical analysis of the available literature on sources, levels and importance of self confidence. It explores theories relating to self-confidence and the various measurements that have been used in recent years to assess this construct. The focus of the review will aim to analyse firstly self confidence and the importance of it among sport performers, it will highlight various studies and identify that self confidence is spilt into constructs, which in turn leads on to identifying self efficacy and sport confidence. The review will also look at different sources of sport confidence and which are most salient to elite and non elite athletes, and finally it will give a brief rationale to why the study is being taken out. 2.1 Self confidence Defining self-confidence within the sport psychology literature has emerged as a difficult issue (Taylor Wilson, 2005). However, Vealey and Chase (2008) defined self-confidence as the belief in ones abilities to achieve success, and is often identified as an important mental skill for success in sport by those individuals engaging in competitive sports, including both athletes and coaches. Self confidence is suggested to be the paramount contributor and the most critical cognitive factor affecting an athelets success (Spink,1990). Similarly, (Vealy et al 1998), suggests that self confidence is widely accalaimed by theorists, researchers, and practioniers as the most critical psychological characteristic influencing a sport performance. This ultimately suggests that self confidence is a subject topic central in influencing an athletes performance and in turn crucial in investigation. Lirgg (1991) similarly to Vealey (1998) stated that Self-confidence has been the subject of much research in recent years in the sport psychology literature (p,294-310). The perception of ones own abilities has been frequently cited as a mediated construct in attainment strivings and as a psychological factor affecting athletic performance. One of the most important relationship is between confidence and performance, from past literature Weinbourg Gould (2003,p,311) state is clear that there is a positive relationship between confidence and performance (Vealey 2001), however the factors affectiong this relationship are less known. Factors such as organizational culture, gender and age have been suggested as important. Taking into account relationships confidence has with different mediating factors, it is also important to recognise it as a complicated construct. Confidence has been operationalized in numerous ways (Feltz, 1988). It has been categorised into constructs such as self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986, 1977), perceived competence, sport-confidence(Vealey,1986 Vealey 1998 et al), expectancies (Rotter, 1954), and movement confidence (Griffin Keough, 1982) these have all been proposed as measuring an individuals perception of his or her abilities (Lirgg 1991). Self confidence affects the way one feels, thinks and behaves, and thus has an important influence upon sporting performance, Bandura.,(1997) Jones and Hanton,(2001). Self confidence might be something one feels one day therefore unstable or it may be part of oness personality. It has been thought by Clifton Gill, (1994) that a high level of self confidence is one of the most consistently reported psychological characteristics of elite athletes ( p,150). However, despite claims about the importance of self confidence to performance, Feltz (2007) declares that its relationship with performance has not been clear in much of the sport science research in turn suggesting areas for development in research. However in contrary to Feltz (2007) a psychological research study conducted by Jones et al (1994) and Edwards Hardy (1996) illustrate the importance of high levels of confidence in athletes success. The research presented a positive correlation between self confidence and skilled performers, however it is still in debate as to whether the relationship perceived is a casual or a direct one (Feltz 1988). Taking into account this literature review, it was copiously apparent that during conducting interviews Jones Hardy found that within athletes minds, self confidence was extrememly significant especially if they were to attain the levels of performance which they sought (Jones,Hardy Gould 1996). This in turn reinforces the consequence of self confidence on performance and how it must be present if success is required. An additional study that has been conducted to emphasise self confidence in athletes is Mahoney et al (1987) who carried out an experiment which identified psychologic al skills in elite and non elite performers. There use of instrumentation was a questionnaire they issued it to 713 athletes from 23 sports, the results proved that elite performers had higher and more stable levels of self confidence than the non elite athletes therefore was suggested that there were major differences factoring between elite and non elite performers. Another theory surrounding the notion of self confidence was founded by Feltz (2007) who identified the self concept theory, he emphasises that even though a number of terms are associated to self-confidence it should, however not be confused with the construct, and that Self-concept represents an amalgamated view of oneself that is developed during evaluative experiences and social interactions. In congruence with what Bandura has previously distinguished, Fetlz (2007) also recognizes however, that a global self-concept will not envisage the intra-individual variability in performance as well as self-confidence discernment which vary across activities and circumstances. Within the domain of self confidence there appears to be two main approaches to the study and measurement of self confidence in sport: sport confidence and self-efficacy. Sport confidence (Vealey, 1986) refers to the belief that an athlete possesses about his or her ability to be successful in sport in general (trait sport confidence) and in specific sport competitions (state sport confidence). Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986) refers to an individuals belief in his or her capabilities to be successful in executing specific tasks and skills in specific situations, and is measured in terms of the strength, level, and generality of self-efficacy. Banduras (1986) self efficacy theory and Vealeys (1986) sport confidence model present quite diverse approaches to confidence. Self efficacy is very much a situation specific conceptuilaistion in comparison to the sport confidence model which is far more generalised. An explicit strength that the sport confidence model exemplifies is is its parsim onious approach, this is proven on the basis that its logical and in turn an accurate tool for sport psychologists to use. However at a more contextual level the specificity of self efficacy can be used more efficiently. Feltz and Chase (1998) stated that Vealeys notion of sport-confidence shares similarities with Banduras conceptualization of self-efficacy on the basis that they are both built around the social cognitive theory. Subsequently, both can be regarded as cognitive mechanisms through which individuals mediate their motivation and behavior within a goal context. 2.2 Self efficacy: Self efficacy is an identifiable and important attribute within sport. Coaches, players and psycholoigists all recognize the power-full and imperative effects that this psychological construct can have on behaviour, feelings and thoughts (Feltz,short Sullivan 2008) . It is important to understand that expectation of efficacy will by no means produce a desired performance, providing that the component cabilities are lacking. A study that has become increasingly accepted is that of Banduras (1977) self efficacy theory, this theory was initially progressed within the construct of social cognitive theory (Feltz Chase,1998). The theory proclaims that individual self confidence derives from self efficacy levels. Self efficacy simply represents a form of situation specific to self confidence (Hardy ,Jones Gould,1996). Feltz states that the terms self confidence and self efficacy have been used to describe ones perceived capability to accomplish a certain level of performance. Bandura defines self efficacy as; The conviction one has, to execute successfully, the behaviour required to produce a certain outcome and thus, can be considered a situational specific slef confidence. Whereas, Vealey (1986). Defines self efficacy as the belief or degree of certainty individuals possess about their ability to be successful in sport (p.222). Short Stewart (2008, p223) states that Self-efficacy is defined as beliefs in ones capabilities to organise and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments (Bandura, 1997: p.3). Both self confidence and self efficacy relate to individuals perceived capability to aquire a certain level of perfromace (Bandura, 1986; Feltz, 1988). The fundamental principle surrounding the self efficacy theory is that different levels of self efficacy in turn predict actual performance assuming that necessary skills and incentives are present ( Weiss, Weise and Kilint 1989). Self-efficacy is not considered, by Bandura (1977, 1986, 1997), to be a synonym for self-confidence. However, many people concerned in area of sport psychology often use the terms interchangeably since the latter is far more familiar to athletes and those not in the academic arena. Short and Stewart (2008) claim that Bandura (1997) prefers the use of self-efficacy over self-confidence ( p.224). In relation to athletes Hardy, Jones and Gould (1999) suggest that elite athletes with high levels of self efficacy put under a high pressured situation should in turn allow them to maintain their commitments to difficult goals, and increase persistence. This will in turn allow them to attribute their failure to unstable factors appose to stable factors this therefore can draw comparison with how non elite athletes attribute their failure which inturn are down to factors such as; stable factors. Different people who inhabit similar skills such as an elite athelte, or undeniably the same person under different situations might perform poorly, adequately or exceptionally well depending upon fluctuation in their personal effeicacy beliefs (Hays et al, 2007). This is sustained by Bandura (1997) who states that self efficacy beliefs are an important contributor to performance accomplishments, whatever the underlying skill of the performer is (Hays et al 2007). Similar to other subject topics in sport psychology the focus of self-efficacy research studies has varied over time and is reflective of the paradigmatic evolution of the field, Short Sterwart (2008). Bandura (1997) states that the study of self efficacy beliefs in sport should not be limited to physical proficiency it can include all aspects of performance, like game situations, selecting effective strategies, predicting opponents actions, using imagery, managing pressure and distractions. Bandura (1977) questioned how efficacy beliefs are formed, Bandura (1997) theorizes that they are a creation of an intricate process of self appraisal and self persuasion that therefore depends on cogniotive processing. He then branded these sources as past performance accomplishments, Vicarious experiences, Verbal persuasion and Emotional arousal. According to Bandura (1986, 1997) past performance accomplishments is said to be the most significant source of efficacy information for athletes because they are based on their own experiences. There has been overwhelming support for the influence of past performance accomplishments on self-efficacy beliefs (Short Stewart, 2009). Moritz et al. (2000) established, that as an athelete increases thier experience on a specific task over time, performance consequently develops into a stronger predictor of self-efficacy than self-efficacy is of performance. Secondly there is Vicarious experiences, this is derived through observing and comparing oneself with others or with norms (Feltz et al., 2008). It is apparent that through sport, athletes will always be sizing themselves up against other athletes (Short Stewart, 2009). An example of this is based on Weinberg et al. (1980) results, Bandura claimed that a formidable-looking opponent instils lower efficacy beliefs than does one who loo ks less impressive (1997: 18). Consequently, an opponent who appears intimidating will as a result cause their opponents efficacy beliefs to instantly decrease in comparison to an opponent who did not exhibit those qualities. Another source of efficacy, verbal persuasion, takes place when significant others express their support for ones capabilities to succeed. This can comprise of, coaches positive feedback, parents encouragement, and self-talk. Verbal persuasion is an essential factor in motivating individuals to persist in their efforts, if persuaders assessment is within realistic bounds, although on its own is limited (Bandura, 1977). The last source is, physiological efficacy this can manipulate self-efficacy, due to the association people make between the level of physiological arousal/specific emotions and their performances. To illustrate this, an athlete can associate nervousness (e.g. sweaty palms) with a bad performance, feeling nervous about a game could lower his/her self-confidence. Therefore as a result of this it is apparent, that how arousal is interpreted by an athlete influences peoples self-efficacy. Performance accomplishments Vicarious experience Verbal persuasion Emotional arousal Efficacy expectations Maddux (1995) and Schunk (1995) have since proposed there are six sources of efficacy predictors. They have created a separate category for imaginal experiences instead of including it as part of vicarious experiences and have split physiological states from emotional states. Thus, developments from Banduras (1997) self-efficacy theory have led to more sport specific models being introduced (Vealey, 1986, 1998). 2.3 Vealeys Conceptual Model of Sport Confidence Although the theory surrounding self efficacy advanced the area of self confidence enormously it was applied through the wide field of clinical psychology. Vealey (1986) proposed a more applicable and conceptualised model, which has been evidently expanded within the discipline of sport psychology. Vealey believed that the sport confidence model would allow for a more consistent prediction of behaviour across the diverse sporting situations. Delving in more depth in to the subject topic of sport confidence shows that there are three constructs. Firstly trait sport confidence this is considered by (Weinbourg Gould 1999,p,286) the belief or degree of certainty individuals usually posess about their ability to be successful in sport A trait in an individuals personality is predominately stable. Then secondly state sport confidence is (Vealey, 1986, p. 223). state sport confidecnce which is defined as the belief or degree of certainty individuals possess at one particular moment about their ability to be successful in To further this model an extra construct was added, which is comepteive orientation, this progresses from the proposal that success means different things to different people. This construct accounts for individual differences in defining success in sport (Vealey,1988). Competitive orientation was incorporated within the model based on Maehr and Nicholls (1989) idea that success equates to different things and subsequently to different people. Vealey (1998) predicted that SC-trait interacts with competitive goal orientation to elicit a SC-state that directly influences behaviour and performance. Vealey developed three tools in which would allow to test the relationship shows within the model; firstly the state sport confidence inventory (SSCI), Trait sport confidence inventory (TSCI), and the competitive orientation inventory (COI). It has also become apparent that researchers have used the competitive state anxiety inventory-2 (CSAI2), to measure confidence levels in sport situation. A limitation of Vealeys (1986) conceptual model of sport confidence was that it withdrew from compriseing social and organisational factors on the development of athletes. For example, significant others such as coaches and families can have an momentous impact on many athletes confidence levels and research has supported that perceived cultural appropriateness of an activity has been shown to affect confidence levels in males and females (Clifton Gill, 1994; Lirgg, 1991; Lirgg et al., 1996). Vealey et al. (1998) suggested that athletes rely on sources of confidence depending on the activity they are engaged in. Therefore a new model was proposed by Vealey (1998). 2.4 Sources of sport confidence There have been two programmes of research that have investigated the sources of sport confidence. Sources of sport confidence can be defined as the sources that athletes use for judgment of their confidence, for example, where they derive their confidence from. Firstly, Vealeys model of sport confidence which was originally developed over 20 years ago, has now been refined to include sources of sport confidence. The model predicts that demographic, personality characteristics and organizational culture can influence athletes sources of sport confidence. Demographic characteristics include any personal characteristics, such as: age, sex, type of sport. Personality characteristics, attitudes and values of athletes comprise of competitive orientation and self-esteem. The organizational variables encompass motivational climate, competitive level, types of sport, goals, structural expectation of particular sport programmes (Vealey, 2001). Secondly Hay et al.s (2007) recently published a qualitative study on the sources and types of confidence in sport. Short et al (2008) drew comparisons and similarities with Banduras theory of self-efficacy (see table 1). In addition, they also contain unique sources that are specific to athlete populations. The connotation of investigating the sources of confidence in sport has been speculated to have practical and theoretical implications. Firstly theoretically, these sources provide a foundation for levels of self-confidence and subsequent affect (e.g., how an athlete feels), cognition (e.g., what athletes think about during sport) and behaviours (e.g., how an athlete responds). Then looking from a practical standpoint, self-confidence is viewed by numerous athletes as unstable; this over time would seem to be a function of the sources upon which confidence is based (Vealey Sinclair, 1987). It is crucial therefore that when assesing athletes that the investigator identifies the most important aspects to the athlete, before intervening to enhance that confidence. In Short Stewarts (2008) chapter it is identified that Vealey et al (1998) sought to recognize the sources of sport confidence for athletes. Her data was based on samples of high school and intercollegieate athletes. This instantly draws comparison with Hays et al (2007) who sought after sources and types of confidence for identified world class performers. Nevertheless they both illustrate similarities between each other as they both sought after the most important and most valued sources of sport confidence employed and utlised by athletes within a sporting context (shortStewart, 2008). During a study of 500 high school and collegiate athletes from a variety of sports, Vealey et al. (1998) identified nine sources of confidence. These were mastery (i.e., improving or mastering skills), demonstration of ability (i.e., demonstrating or showing off abilities to the opponents), physical/mental preparation (i.e., feeling physically and mentally prepared for competition), physical self-presentation (i.e., ones physical self-image), social support (i.e., perceiving support, positive feedback and encouragement from significant others in sport), vicarious experience (i.e., watching others perform successfully), coachs leadership (i.e., believing coaches leadership abilities), environmental comforts (i.e., familiar with surroundings in environment) and situational favourableness (i.e., feelings that situations are going their way) (see table 1). It is apparent that these sources overlap with the sources that were identified by Bandura (1997) highlighted in the self-efficacy th eory, though are more specific to the context of competitive sport, and also see that there is similairites with Hay et al (2007). Vealey et al. (1998) further examined which sources were the best predictors of sport confidence levels. Futhermore within Vealeys study it was found that several sources were deemed more important than others such as; physical/mental preparation,social support and mastery among was rated in their top five. Vealey also found that other characteristics had an impact on the sources, Vealey identified an aspect such as gender affected the salience of the sources of sport confiedence, (Vealey et al 1998). These nine sources formed the sub-scale structure of the Sources of Sport Confidence Questionnaire (SSCQ; Vealey et al., 1998). Presently, the SSCQ is the only questionnaire designed to assess athletes sources of confidence. Nevertheless, justification for the SSCQ is based upon high school and collegiate athletes and therefore can not be generalised for all athletic groups. Wilson et al.s (2004) study considered the sources of sport confidence in master athletes and even though results were similar, it was infact unsuccessful in replicating the nine sources of confidence in Vealeys et al. (1998) SSCQ. As an alternative then, there were fewer items and the situational favourableness factor was removed. Participants in phase four competed in a team sport. This inventory does not compute self-confidence as a multidimensional construct as it only accounts for the sources of sport confidence, and also does not take into account different types of sport confidence that is evident in more recent research on world class athletes (Hays et al., 2007). Hays et al (2007) suggested that the organisational culture of world class sport differed from other results within previous studies taken out by psychologists such as Magyar Duda,(2000) where they used intercollegiate athletes. It was proven that they differed in terms of where their confidence derived from and whether it is from alternative sources. Flecther,Hanton Mellalieu,(2006) who also identify that organizational culture of world class sport, reinforce that it is likely to differ significantly from that of high school athletes, due to reasons such as; world class athletes are constantly being subjected to additional organizational stressors that will most probably not be present in lower level competition, Hays et al (2007, p436). Demaine and Short (2007) also conducted a study on the sources of sport confidence to examine differences in the sources of sport confidence according to sport involvement factors (i.e., age, total years playing, playing time and athletic scholarship). Participants used were 265 female college basketball players they completed the TSCI and SCI. It became evident thro Results showed that the most popular sources, in order, were: social support, coaches leadership, physical and mental preparation, mastery, demonstration of ability, vicarious experience, environmental comfort, situational favourableness and physical self-presentation. The sources identified by athletes did not differ according to the sport-involvement factors; however, these variables together predicted sport confidence. All of the studies identified in this section refer to quantitative methods. More recently qualitative methodologies have been adopted. 2.5 Individual Differences As well as the research analysed above, many studies have been conducted to understand individual differences such as gender, performance level, and sport type. Results from studies that scrutinize gender difference in self-confidence have been ambiguous. Several studies present that male athletes demonstrate a higher self-confidence than female athletes (Meyers LeUnes, 1996; Trafton et al., 1997), yet, other studies account that there is no apparent gender difference (Cox Whaley, 2004; Perry Williams, 1998). Even though the disparity in the level of confidence between male and female still is uncertain, gender difference seems to subsist in sources of confidence. Within the study by Vealey et al. (1998), females perceived social support and physical self-presentation as more important than the male participants. Previous studies have supported this (e.g., Jones et al., 1991). Hays et al.s (2007) and Gill (1998) studies established that in fact male athletes sources of confidence centred around competitive outcomes. In contrast, the females identified good personal performances as a source of their confidence. However, looking aside from gender and any other characteristic said to affect ones self confidence, Williams (2006) states that if athlete is sufficiently motivated and have become aware of the relationships between their thoughts and behaviour they can in turn develop their self confidence. Self confidence is not only critical to sport performance but also to central to a wide array of behaviours in the wider world out side of sport. An additional individual difference is skill level, it can have a immense influence on levels of self-confidence. Early research conducted by Mahoney et al. (1977) established that the level of pre-competition self-confidence was one of the important differences between US gymnasts. It was reported that the Olympic qualifiers alleged higher, more stable levels of self-confidence in comparison to non-elite athletes. Studies by George (1994) and McPherson (2000); have also supported this statement. Another investigation by Perry and Williams (1998) looked into to the comparison of levels of confidence within different skill levels of tennis players (novice, intermediate, advanced). It was found that the advanced skilled level athletes had significant higher self-confidence than that of the intermediate and novice skilled athletes, however the difference between novice and intermediate athletes deemed no noteworthy difference. A study more recently investigated by Hays et al.s (2007) ex plored how important world class performers rated self confidence. It was exposed that for them have a sense of feeling self-confidence in turn was associated with a triumphant sporting performance, therefore when experiencing low levels of sport confidence, the athletes were probable to a poor performance. It is noticeable that Elite studies principally engage in male athletes (Gill, 1992) and therefore more studies including females would be desired. 2.6 Rationale The literature that has been conversed in this chapter demonstrates the predominate finding that those who possess high levels of confidence are more likely to be successful. The early quantitative research of Vealey has been used as a foundation of sport confidence, recently Hays et al (2007) identified the need for specific research to be specific to elite and non elite athletes. Individual differences such as gender, sport types and performance levels need further investigation. It is therefore the intention of the author to illustrate a comparison of elite and non-elite female netball players of their sources and levels of confidence along side with how important they deem it. It has been devised to try and illustrate the diversity between an athlete who plays under high pressure and strict regime to a player who plays socially, training once a week and occasionally competing in friendly games. Vealey (2001) suggests that more research is needed to fully understand how self confi dence is manifested in the unique context of sport (Hays et al, 2007, p,436).This therefore has a direct impact of the study being taken out as Netball is predominately female led and in relation to the study only female participants will take part. Hypothesis That elite will have higher levels of self confidence and non elite and that elite athelets will rate different sources of self confidence higher and lower than that of non elite ethelets and that there should be a considerable difference