Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 8

Annotated Bibliography Example Further, the readability of the book is not difficult since the authors used quite explicit and well elaborated methods and simple language for easy understanding. They pointed out that the age structure, for instance, dramatically has a huge impact on how consumers behave regarding a particular product. Arguably, a consumer may not likely use the same product which he/she used as a teenager in his/her later adult life. Accordingly, these factors contribute a lot in consumer behavior regarding a particular product which correspondingly affects the marketing strategy of an organization or firm. Again occupation, in this case employment has in one way or another great impact on product consumption since they can afford a number of consumable products which can otherwise be inaccessible to those without work. Income, agreeably determines who provides which goods and services and at what time. Assessment: Although the book by Quester et al. has a limited scope of study – New Zealand and Australia, - it offers very helpful insights into the external factors that affect consumer behavior and so the marketing strategies. This is a book by Michael Solomon published in 2009, meaning it is five years old. The choice of the book was influenced by the authors demonstration on how the external factor affects consumer attitude and its explicit explanation of those factors. Thus, it is a good resource for the subject matter. Michael Solomon is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Centre for Consumer Research. He has a primary research interest in consumer behavior, services marketing, branding strategy, symbolic aspects of products, and the psychology of fashion, decoration, and image. Further, he has published numerous articles and academic journals on these research interests. Accordingly, Solomon has established authority in his right especially regarding consumer

Requiment Essay Example for Free

Requiment Essay Healthcare United aims to be the number one provider of Healthcare professionals in Australia. Healthcare United is an organisation that currently employs 1,500 Healthcare professionals with two sites, in Victoria and NSW and seeks to expand its operations and open another office in Hobart. As an organisation our vision is to provide: The best qualified and trained human resources available for clients. Up-to-date technology in all services for both clients and staffs. Innovative best practices and procedures from both inside and outside the organisation. Best facilities and procedures in a competitive environment. To address the future needs of organisation, Healthcare United aims to recruit a future 500 or the best possible healthcare professionals available, in three stages, over the next five years. 2. Executive Summary Healthcare United is a healthcare provider and currently employs 1,500 Healthcare professionals with two sites, in Victoria and NSW. They recently developed a new strategic plan that involves opening another office at Hobart. Part of their HR plan is to employ 500 workers in three stages. An analysis and review of Healthcare United’s 2000 and newly developed 2010 policies and procedures for recruitment and selection have been conducted in this report. Conclusions have been made from the comparison between the 2000 Healthcare United recruitment and selection guidelines and the newly developed 2010 Healthcare United recruitment and selection policy and relevant legislation. Recommendations have been made for the changes necessary to improve procedures and the overall process of Healthcare United’s recruitment and selection policies and procedures, based on current research. 3. Purpose of Report The purpose of this report is to review analysis and compare Healthcare United recruitment and selection policies and procedures for the year 2000 and 2010 for the following 5 key areas: Timeframes Personnel involved Documentation Training Monitoring and evaluation Conclusions have been made from the comparison between the 2000 and the newly developed 2010 recruitment and selection policies and procedures. Recommendations have been made for changes to the 2010 policies and procedures to improve the newly developed recruitment and selection policies and procedures at Healthcare United. 4. Analysis and Review: Healthcare United 2000 and 2010 Recruitment and Selection Policies and Procedures The following is the analysis and review of 2000 and 2010 recruitment and selection policies and procedures: Key Area 2000 2010 Timeframe The whole selection process from: analyse the vacant position position description lodge an advertisement short-list applicants interview preparation interview applicants reference checks Total: 35 to 51 days The whole selection process from: analyse the vacant position position description lodge an advertisement short-list applicants interview preparation interview applicants reference checks Total: 14 to 21 days maximum. Personnel Involved HR department will assume major responsibility for the recruitment and selection of staff, the training of required personnel and supporting documentation. Managers will support the managers in role. Managers will assume major responsibility for the recruitment and selection of staff, the training of required personnel and supporting documentation. HR department will support the managers in role. Documentation All vacant and new positions will be advertised internally and externally for ten working days unless special exemptions apply and be advertised online and in leading national newspaper. All positions must first be advertised internally for a minimum of ten working days in the HU newsletter before being advertised externally for a period of ten working days. Training HR department will hold the training for all new employees. Manager will hold the training for all new employees. Monitoring and Evaluation HR department will monitor and evaluate each new employee about their work performance. Managers will monitor and evaluate each new employee and report it to HR department about their work performance. It can be noted from both the 2000 and 2010 Healthcare Uniteds recruitment and selection policy and procedures make no reference to all relevant legislation for the recruitment and selection processes. However 2010 policy and procedures briefly mention that Healthcare United is an equal employment opportunity (EEO) employer. 5. Conclusions and Recommendations 5. 1 Conclusions It can be concluded from the analysis and review of 2000 ; 2010 Healthcare United policies and procedures for recruitment and selection processes that 2010 policies and procedures are superior to those of 2000 in all key areas in term of efficiency and effectiveness of the recruitment and selection processes. For example, 2010 policy and procedure envisage a timeframe of maximum 3 weeks which is for efficient in selecting the best candidate when compared to the 2000 policy and procedures which specify selection processes requiring 35-51 days. Also, 2000 policy and procedure require participant of a large number of HR personnel when compare to 2010 where only the department managers are principally involved with the HR a support role only at all stages of recruitment and selection processes. 5. 2 Recommendations It is recommended that the newly develop 2010 policies and procedures for recruitment and selection should be adopted by Healthcare United for its recruitment and selection processes for future employment needs. However, the 2010 policies and procedures should include the provisions of legislative Acts, such as Anti- discrimination and the latest individual relation laws and regulations in addition to the EEO laws already included for the recruitment and selection processes.

Effects Of Bullying On School Achievement

Effects Of Bullying On School Achievement This chapter critically analyzes extant literature on the relationship of bullying and school achievement. Many studies have been made on the development of the learning process but literature is scant on how bullying impacts upon the intellectual development of children. There is even less research conducted to determine how perceptions of educators or school staff influence the learning process in children. To provide backbone to this study, the following areas of literature were reviewed: Literature on school achievement and theories on motivation that may be applied to bullying in the school environment. Literature on bullying, its definitions, identification of bully and victim, and types of bullying behaviors. Literature on the relationship of bullying and school achievement. Literature on the role of teachers in bullying prevention. School Achievement Definitions of school achievement vary. The term itself is often used interchangeably with academic achievement. Achievement is described as performance which features routine evaluation occurs (Spence Helmreich, 1983) and skills which children learn via instruction or direct intervention (Stetson, Stetson, Sattler, 2001). Other definitions specify the use of tests to measure achievement based on accuracy of solving problems in reading, mathematics, or spelling (Buhs, Ladd, Herald, 2006). Describing achievement among children is important not only in the educational setting. Research work on achievement gaps for instance has several implications not only for the academe but for the economic and social well-being of a particular community. Being able to compare and explain achievement gaps have become an imperative because of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (Magnuson Waldfogel, 2008). Closing the achievement gaps early on in elementary schools is an important step in ameliorat ing the impact of discrimination among minority children who grew up in the United States. At present, the achievement gap is still a reality. For instance, research has established that the entire academic advancement process earning outstanding grades, preparing for college, applying for aid, going through the complex application process for college, and obtaining good recommendation letters puts minorities such as Black and Hispanic students at a disadvantage (Downey, 2008). One way to break through the barriers of racial inequality is to close the test-score gap (Barton, 2003). Test scores account for a great percentage in determining high school graduation rate, preparation for college, and gaining a professional license in the future (Beltfield Levin, 2007). The measure for achievement is predominantly the test score on various stills such as reading, math, and vocabulary. Although the test score is just but one component and does not account for all factors related to acad emic achievement, is performs a gatekeeping function for consequential life course transitions (Magnuson Waldfogel, 2008, p. 2). For this study, school achievement is defined as a students degree of comprehension of proficiency and information with particular skills such as reading, mathematics, and spelling. The Ecological model of achievement School achievements is commonly assumed to be a cumulative function of family, school, and community experiences, and is therefore hard to measure (Rivkin, Hanushek, Kain, 2005). Since achievement is a holistic process where several factors come into play, studying achievement is an empirical challenge because complete family, community, and school histories, and such data are rarely if ever available (Rivkin, Hanushek, Kain, 2005). Efforts to understanding how achievement develops in children use theoretical models such as the Ecological model of development (Broussard Garrison, 2004). The Expectancy-Value model of development points to the influence of social contexts and interactions with other people as significant determinants of childrens achievement in the school setting (Eccles et al., 1983). The Expectancy-Value theory posits that achievement occurs upon the presence of an environment fit between childrens learning needs and their socialization experiences at various levels. Children start their early socialization within the family and soon progress into wider and more complex settings such as the school. It is in the classrooms and the school environment that children are provided a venue to pursue new life experiences which are crucial to the intellectual growth and development. When the school environment becomes incongruent to childrens needs, they may develop a low expectancy for success that may in consequence result to poor academic outcomes (Eccles et al., 1993). A poor person-environment fit may lead to rejection, frustration, violence, and victim ization. Alternatively, poor fit can lead to rejection and victimization whereby students become passively isolated from their peers. It is possible, therefore, that social experiences such as being bullied may reduce a students sense of competence for social and perhaps, academic situations. Further to the role of the aforementioned demographic characteristics, we were interested in the impact that students feelings about their school may have on their behaviour, in particular their involvement in bullying and victimization. School climate has been studied from different theoretical and methodological perspectives and with regard to a myriad of developmental and organizational outcomes (Kuperminc, Leadbeater, Emmons, Blatt, 1997). Social-ecological theorists suggest that perceptions are paramount in understanding the way in which individuals function within their environments (Lewin, 1935). This hypothesis has received support in a substantial body of research examining the role of percepti ons of school climate in a variety of important outcomes. For example, Solomon, Battistich, Kim, and Watson (1996) found that teacher supportiveness was associated with more positive behaviour in the classroom and positive perceptions of connectedness among students. In other research, Kuperminc and colleagues (1997) demonstrated that perceptions of school climate were associated with psychosocial maladjustment in adolescents, both in terms of internalizing and externalizing problems. Similarly, Griffith (1999) found that perceptions of an orderly and fair school with positive student-teacher relationships moderated both internalizing and externalizing problems among students. Students sense of connectedness to their school has been investigated as a buffer between exposure to violence and later violent behaviour (Brookmeyer, Fanti, Henrich, 2006) and the investigators found that students who felt more connected to their schools showed a reduction in violent behaviour over time. Feeling connected to school may make it more likely that stud ents will confide in teachers or peers about experiences of victimization, which may in turn help them to cope with these problems or avoid behaving violently themselves (Brookmeyer et al., 2006). In another study, Totura and colleagues (2009) found that perceptions of school climate as being characterized by misconduct or as having higher adult monitoring impacted the likelihood that students with internalizing or externalizing behaviour problems would be classified as bullies or victims by teachers. In the current study, we predicted that students who indicated feeling that their school is a fair and safe place, that they feel connected to their peers, and that they perceive their teachers as helpful and supportive would report lower rates of bullying and victimization. Furthermore, we saw these perceptions as integral to understanding the overall climate of a school. Definition of Bullying The most comprehensive and extensively used definition of bullying is provided by Dan Olweus; very few studies exist that do not cite his original work (Dake et al., 2003; Dulmus et al., 2004). This study used the definition of bullying developed by Olweus (1993), which states, a student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students (Olweus, 1993, p. 9). Negative actions are further defined as when someone intentionally inflicts, or attempts to inflict, injury or discomfort upon another (p. 9). Negative actions can be verbal (including threatening, taunting, teasing, or name-calling) or physical (such as hitting, kicking, pushing, shoving, or pinching). Negative actions also may occur without verbal or physical interaction, such as making faces or gestures, intentionally excluding someone from a group, spreading rumors, or refusing to comply with the wishes of another. Different types of bullying are discussed in more detail in a later section. The definition emphasizes repeated interactions that are carried out over time. According to Olweus (1993), it is reasonable to assume that any time students are forced together within social environments where they have little choice over with whom they interact, tendencies to bully may arise. Further, some conflict among students is natural and expected. Students may come to school in an irritable mood because of a confrontation at home, or they might be tired or hungry. Students also may have a disagreement with one another that leads to a more serious altercation, though still not necessarily a bullying episode. The focus toward repeated interactions carried out over time is meant to exclude random interactions or isolated incidents that occur in a nonsystematic way. Random and isolated incidents are seen as somewhat natural, with less severe consequences for those involved. Thus, bullying is typically defined as occurring repeatedly and over time. Additionally, it is not considered bullying unless the targeted individual has difficulty defending him or herself against the bullying behavior. The overall intent is to focus on systematic victimization among participants with an imbalance of power or strength. Depending on the type of bullying that occurs strength may refer to physical, emotional, or mental strength. Differences in emotional or mental strength may be more difficult to identify than differences in physical strength. Regardless, two individuals of approximately the same physical, psychological or social strength that socially interact in an aggressive manner are not considered to be engaged in bullying behavior. There must be an imbalance in power or strength between the participants involved for the episode to be considered bullying. The next section addresses bullying in the school environment. Who bullies and who is victimized? Studies indicate that bullies often come from homes where physical punishment is used, where the children are taught to strike back physically as a way to handle problems, and where parental involvement and warmth are frequently lacking. Students who regularly display bullying behaviors are generally defiant or oppositional toward adults, antisocial, and are likely to break school rules. In contrast to prevailing myths, bullies appear to have little anxiety and to possess strong self-esteem. There is little evidence to support the contention that they victimize others because they feel bad about themselves (Batsche Knoff, 1994; Olweus, 1993). Students who are victims of bullying are typically anxious, insecure, cautious, and suffer from low self-esteem, rarely defending themselves or retaliating when confronted by students who bully them. They may lack social skills and friends, and they are often socially isolated. victims tend to be close to their parents and may have parents who can be described as overprotective. The major defining physical characteristic of victims is that they tend to be physically weaker than their peers-other physical characteristics such as weight, dress, or wearing eyeglasses do not appear to be significant factors that can be correlated with victimization (Batsche Knoff, 1994; Olweus, 1993). Victims often fear school and consider school to be an unsafe and unhappy place. The act of being bullied tends to increase some students isolation because their peers do not want to lose status by associating with them or because they do not want to increase the risks of being bullied themselves. A child being bullied leads to depression and low self-esteem, problems that can carry into adulthood (Olweus, 1993; Batsche Knoff, 1994). Bullying in the school environment An important feature of bullying is its essential public nature (Jeffrey, Miller, Linn, 2001, p. 145). Those who bully tend to do so in front of an audience of their peers. Therefore, bullying is best conceptualized as an interaction between the individual and his or her peer group, school, family, and community (Swearer Doll, 2001, p. 19). The seminal definition of bullying provided by Olweus also describes a behavioral interaction rather than an individual or a behavior. Thus, bullying interactions occur when individual characteristics of the child who is bullying are combined with the actions of their peers (including those of the individual who is being bullied), the reactions of teachers and other adults at school, the physical characteristics of the school grounds, family factors, cultural characteristics, and community factors (Swearer Doll). Therefore, propensities for bullying are the result of continued interactions between individuals and their immediate environment. Bullying has been commonly misidentified as occurring primarily in larger, city schools (Olweus, 1993). Results from Norway and Sweden show this to be invalid. Additionally, one study (Dulmus et al., 2004) done in a rural school setting reported that just over 82% of students experienced some form of bullying at least once in the three months prior to the study. Students who were called mean names, made fun of, or teased was the most common type of bullying experienced by students and being threatened or forced to do things and being called racist names were the least common types of bullying experienced. As many as 24.1% of students responded they had been threatened or forced to do things and 26.1% reported being called names based on race or color (Dulmus et al., 2004). Additional research has shown that the size of the class or the school appears to be of little importance for the amount of bullying found in the class or school (Dake et al., 2003; Olweus, 1993). There is a natural hierarchy of status in schools, commonly referred to as popularity, which exists among students. The top 15% of students can be classified as very popular, the next 45% as accepted, and another 20% as average or ambiguous (Thompson Cohen, 2005, p. 17). As a result, approximately 80% of children are not at serious risk of being bullied. On the other hand, the remaining 20% of students who are considered in the bottom of the social hierarchy are at serious risk for bullying (Thompson Cohen, 2005). Younger students also are at different stages of social development and may not yet understand that bullying is unacceptable behavior. However, recognition of bullying as unacceptable behavior is not always enough to deter it from happening. In addition, older students have generally had more opportunities to acquire the necessary skills and assertiveness to either respond more effectively to bullying or to cope with being subjected to such behavior (Smith, Shu, Madsen, 2001). Types of Bullying Olweus (1993) research initially distinguished between direct and indirect bullying. Direct bullying involves relatively open attacks on the target and may include words, gestures, facial expressions, or physical contact, such as hitting, kicking, pushing, shoving, and pinching. Indirect bullying is more covert and less visible, generally achieved through social isolation or intentional exclusion from a peer group. This can be accomplished through different methods and will differ according to age and development (Crick, Nelson, Morales, Cullerton-Sen, Casas, Hickman, 2001). For example, in early childhood, this might be accomplished by one individual simply telling another that they do not want to play together anymore. In middle childhood and adolescence, students may not invite others to join in some activity or may ignore an individual while paying excessive attention to another. The distinction between direct and indirect bullying has been further divided into three categories: physical bullying; verbal bullying; and relational bullying, which are discussed in the following sections (Liepe-Levinson Levinson, 2005; Olweus, 1993; Ralston, 2005; Smokowski Kopasz, 2005). Physical Bullying Physical bullying refers to hitting, pushing, shoving, slapping, kicking, tripping, and other such bodily attacks, as well as damaging anothers property (Howard, Horne, Joliff, 2001; Liepe-Levinson Levinson, 2005; Ralston, 2005; Smokowski Kopasz, 2005). Physical bullying is described as action-oriented and often uses direct bullying tactics (Smokowski Kopasz). Until recently, the majority of U.S. research about bullying has been conducted as a subset of aggression and has focused primarily on physical aggression (Griffin Gross, 2004). Aggression and bullying contain conceptual similarities, but their comparison largely depends on how each has been measured within individual research studies. Due to the relatively open nature of the attacks, physical bullying is considered the most visible and least sophisticated among the various types of bullying (Liepe-Levinson Levinson, 2005; Smokowski Kopasz, 2005). Less than one-third of all incidents reported by children involve physical bullying (Liepe-Levinson Levinson). Those who engage in physical bullying may become more aggressive over time and continue to manifest bullying in adulthood (Dake et al., 2003; Smokowski Kopasz, 2005). In addition, students who are targeted for physical bullying are generally targeted for verbal and relational bullying as well (Olweus, 1993). Research also shows that physical bullying is used more in lower grades (i.e., primary school) among younger students (Olweus, 1993). Verbal Bullying Verbal bullying is the most common form of bullying according to student reports in one study, accounting for nearly 70% of all reported incidents (Liepe-Levinson Levinson, 2005). Verbal bullying includes teasing, taunting, name-calling, racial slurs, or any instance where words are used to hurt or humiliate another. Due to the ease and quickness with which verbal bullying occurs, this type of behavior often goes undetected, making such interactions more difficult to respond to for teachers (Smokowski Kopasz, 2005). Verbal bullying often is a precursor to physical and relational bullying (Liepe-Levinson Levinson, 2005). Relational Bullying Relational bullying includes such acts as ignoring individuals, social isolation, intentional exclusion from peer groups, gossiping, and spreading rumors (Liepe-Levinson Levinson, 2005; Ralston, 2005; Smokowski Kopasz, 2005). Relational bullying also includes aggressive gestures, such as staring, rolling ones eyes, sighing, frowning, sneering, and other hostile body language (Liepe-Levinson Levinson). It is most powerful and prevalent at the onset of adolescence, when children are exploring their identities and expanding their social networks, also making it very difficult to identify. Verbal and relational bullying are quite common and are relatively unnoticed by teachers as students report these behaviors occurring more frequently than physical bullying (Griffin Gross, 2004; Hazler, Miller, Carney, Green, 2001). Oddly enough, physical bullying continues to attract more attention in the school environment. This is despite the widespread attention given to longstanding emotional and social forms of bullying as precursors to school shootings and suicides. This is most likely due to the visible nature of physical bullying and its relative ease of identification. Cyberbullying Historically, bullying primarily occurred in school during school hours; however, with the common use of computers and the internet since the 1990s, on-line bullying has become an increasing occurrence amongst adolescent girls (Li, 2005). The internet offers the perfect tool for mass, covert bullying due to its anonymity, its difficulty to regulate, and the removal of traditional social rules in regards to appropriate communication (Giuseppe, Galimberti, 2003). The nature of new technology makes it possible for cyber bullying to occur more secretly, spread more rapidly and be easily preserved (Li, 2006, p. 161). Bullying is a major problem in schools, and it seems to be on the rise with the widespread use of the Internet. Cyber bullying, according to Willard (2004) as quoted by Li (2006), can occur in various formats including flaming, harassment, cyber stalking, denigration (putdowns), masquerade, outing and trickery and exclusion à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it can lead to stalking, death threats and suicide (Li, 2006). Unlike face-to-face bullying, people often feel that cyberspace is impersonal and they can therefore say whatever they want. Further, it is reported that females prefer this type of bullying (Nelson, 2003; Li, 2006). Electronic bullying allows a persons identity to remain hidden and can pose less of a physical confrontation that face-to-face bullying. Relationship of Bullying and Academic Achievement Bullying behaviour is a social, group process that is prevalent in the school environment and there are well documented findings regarding the behavioural and health consequences of bullying behaviour at school for both direct and relational bullying profiles (Kumpulainen et al., 1998; Owens, Slee, Shute, 2000; Williams, Chambers, Logan, Robinson, 1996; Wolke et al., 2000). However, there is a dearth of research that has considered the association between bullying behaviour per se and academic achievement among primary school children. Olweus (1978, 1983) first speculated that aggressive behaviour of bullies towards peers could be considered as a reaction to frustrations and failures at school. However, data from a large sample of boys from Greater Stockholm provided no evidence to suggest that aggressive behaviour was a consequence of poor grades at school. Rather, it was found that both bullies and victims had lower than average marks than neutral children (Olweus, 1978). In a recent study, Schwartz, Farver, Chang, and Lee-Shin (2002) reported that children who exhibited poor academic performance in school tended to emerge as frequent targets of bullying. However, it was only a subset of victimised children, the aggressive victims (or bully/victims) who were likely to be characterised by poor school performance (Schwartz, 2000). What remains to be established by research studies is whether poor academic achievement leads to bullying involvement or whether being bullied leads to poorer school achievement, possibly mediated by less participation in school. Research on peer rejection has also considered the relationship to academic achievement and school adjustment. Peer rejection is predominantly assessed by standardized scores that are comparable across classes and school, but does not take into account individual bullying roles within classes. Ladd (1990) considered the academic behaviour and school adjustment of children over the first year of school life and reported that rejected children had less favourable school perceptions, significantly higher levels of school avoidance and significantly lower school performance compared to popular, average, and neglected children. While the research is clear that students with behavior problems do less well in school (Shanahan 2000; McLeod Keiser 2004; Trzensniewski et al. 2006; Allard 2007; Buchmann et al. 2008), it is unclear whether engagement in bullying behaviors directly leads to negative academic outcomes (Miller 2008). Moreover, empirical research has provided mixed support for a cross-sectional relationship specifically between bullying behavior and academic achievement (Nansel et al. 2001; Spriggs et al. 2007). On the one hand, Nansel et al. (2001) found that persons who bullied others showed poorer school adjustment, both in terms of academic achievement and perceived school climate (p. 2097). Glew et al. (2005) criticized Nansel et al.s (2001) findings because although the authors found important evidence regarding the potential detrimental effects of bullying on self perceived academic achievement and school attendance, no objective measures of academic achievement or attendance were collected (p .1026). In contrast, these authors, utilizing objective measures of school performance, found that being a bully was not significantly correlated with lower achievement scores. More recently, Spriggs et al. (2007), using the 2001 Health Behaviors in School-Aged Children survey (HBSC), found that among a representative sample of sixth to tenth graders that bullying impacts achievement. Their results also indicated that this relationship varies by race. For Whites and Hispanics, being a bully, victim, or a combination of the two, was associated with poorer academic performance. However, for Blacks, bullying was not related to academic performance (Spriggs et al. 2007). Instead, Blacks family and peer relationships had a greater influence on achievement than did bullying. This paper presents a meta-analytic review of 33 studies, with a total of 29 552 participants, that examined the concurrent association between peer victimization and academic achievement. The results revealed a small but significant negative correlation between peer victimization and academic achievement under both the random-effects model (r=à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢.12, p This study utilized a multi-informant approach to investigate the concurrent association between peer victimization and school functioning in a sample of 135 Latino children (55 boys; 80 girls) in the third, fourth, and fifth grades. The children attended elementary schools in distressed urban neighborhoods. Victimization by peers was associated with low grade point averages (GPA) and poor academic engagement. The analyses showed academic engagement mediated the relation between peer victimization and GPA. Moderator analyses indicated that the negative association between peer victimization and academic engagement was exacerbated for children with numerous friends in their classrooms. Additional moderator analyses revealed that the negative association between victimization and engagement was stronger for children with many aggressive friends. Overall, the results extend past research by investigating mediators and moderators of the association between peer victimization and school f unctioning in an understudied population (Nakamoto, 2008). This short-term longitudinal investigation focused on associations between victimization in the peer group and academic functioning over a 1-year period. The authors used a multi-informant approach to assess peer victimization, symptoms of depression, and academic outcomes for 199 elementary schoolchildren (average age of 9.0 years; 105 boys, 94 girls). Frequent victimization by peers was associated with poor academic functioning (as indicated by grade point averages and achievement test scores) on both a concurrent and a predictive level. Additionally, the authors analyses provided some evidence that peer group victimization predicts academic difficulties through the mediating influence of depressive symptoms. Taken together, these results highlight the potential negative impact of victimization by peers on childrens academic functioning (Schwartz et al., 2005). Adjustment difficulties such as loneliness and depression are less likely to occur among students who are liked by their peers and who have friends in comparison to those children who are isolated and alone (Erdley et al., 2001). Thus, peer acceptance and reciprocal friendships may pevent socio-emotional maladjustment. In the context of school bulyying, students who are bullied may not gain a sense of protection from affiliation with a group (Beran Violato, 2004). These limited social skills and access to friends increase the likelihood of bullying. Furthermore, this lack of peer support may inhibit children from seeking academic support from teachers. If children do not trust their teachers to stop the bullying, they may not seek their assistance with academic difficulties. It is likely that children who are bullied disengage from their learning, experiencing little enjoyment and low consciousness for academic work. In addition, children whose parents provide little support for their education, are likely to experience academic difficulties. When these students also exhibit behaviour problems in the form of hyperactivity, aggression, and poor social skills, they may experience learning difficulties. Other studies, however, show contrary results. Hanish and Guerra (2002) examined the effects of peer victimization on levels of academic achievement and determined that peer victimization was correlated with concurrent and subsequent aggressive behavior, inattention in the classroom, delinquency, symptoms of anxiety and depression, rejection, and low popularity among classmates. It was not however, correlated with academic maladjustment or withdrawal. (p. 85). Being bullied may have affected some aspects of academic life such as inattention in the classroom and low popularity among classmates but it did not predict low achievement (Hanish Guerra, 2002). In addition, Woods and Wolke (2004) reported achievement levels to be similar between children who are victimized and those who are not. Some victimized children may experience poor achievement whereas others may not. Role of Teachers in Bullying Prevention The basic assumptions are that changing the environment is more powerful than changing individuals, that prevention is better than intervention, and that changing the environment requires support and understanding among teachers. Teachers understand the levels of influence and recognize the power of the family, the community, and the popular culture to influence behavior. What they often do not understand is the extent or limit of their sphere of influence. When teachers are asked to identify risk factors for the development of bullying, they generally rank the family and cultural factors such as television films, and pop music as having the strongest impact on childrens development of bullying behaviors. When teachers are asked to indicate which factors they can influence, they recognize for the most part, that their influence is limited to the classroom and school environment. Teachers are encouraged to focus their energy and resources on changing the areas within their sphere of influence, that is, the classroom and the school. Because of the amount of teacher contact with students, perceptions of teachers regarding student bullying forms an important first step in minimizing this risk. Research found that teachers considered bullying the second most serious student behavior after drug use, (24)

The Medias Influence On Society :: essays research papers

Unquestionably the media being newspapers, internet, radio and television, influence society. They can affect, have affected and will continue to affect the progression of life in this nation and around the world, as electronic technology continues to be the chosen mode of communication for a whole generation, offering direct, often anonymous influential information. The media presents "one minded" views that have the ability to reflect societies moods and influence the balance of power. - Death of Princess Diana on August 97 in a Paris Car accident is an example. - Australia t.v showed pictures of the car accident - which told the whole story - Public was influenced by this and felt sorry - The public layed 60 million floral tributes and gifts in her memory - mourners sharing grief - emotionally moving pictures during and after - funeral watched by millions - event which has become one of the most known in this century in history - Media influenced the public to love Princess Diana when the a survey showed by the Australia Bure of Stat showed the 50% of the Australian Population couldn't care much for the Princess before the accident, but after was mortified. - Proved my point The media can cause major shifting in public opinion in the role of authority. - Harry Knowles a journalist stated "it doesn't matter how much money, power or influence you have in today's world world, it can be undermined by the media through technology" - No longer do Hollywood celebrities or industrial giants take control over there future - Take for example US president George Bush - fell down stairs and was filmed on camera - Questions about health arose - and became an instant political issue with the media exploiting him - The image showed dazed Bush - this image did little for his campaign in the election - This collapse would have been brushed away by word of mouth but the probing camera transformed to the net, paper and so forth, shifted the view of the public with Bush for the election. - Prove argument - restate back to topic sentence. The media has progressed to a new public agenda with the advances of technology. - No media technology has ever transformed Australia's life as radically and as rapidly as todays technology - The media is driving the public agenda armed with satellites - 24 hour feeds - the potencial power of this new technology, backed by the media has been named the "global village", meaning the world as one

Characteristics of Women That Attract Men Essay

2.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research Sample We were searching for a characteristics of woman that attract men. After all, we distributed the questionnaire among Labuan Matriculation Colleges’ student (LMC) 2012/13 to get the specific answer. The questions are universal which can be answer by both gender, male and female. All the respondent are majority from Sabah and Sarawak, while some are from Peninsular Malaysia who studying in LMC. In this research, we were only focusing on teenagers, from age 19 to 20 as we believed, most individu starts to get serious in searching a life partner around this age circle. 2.2 Research Instrument Categorical and multiple-choices style of questions had been used in this questionnaire. Categorical style are most commonly use to determine the respondent’s life background, while, in order to prove the objectives, multiple-choices answer are given to help the respondents to answer bunch of questions. 2.3 Research Procedure After finished discussing the research’s topic, we combined all the ideas from the four heads of us to one paper. We justified the questions to be more specific and most important is , the questions must be interesting and easy to be answer. This is because, based on our own experienced, people will easily get bore when answering a question that sounds boring and difficult to answer, especially those question which you have to state a reason for some answer. So, in order to make sure the surveys is in the bag, we try to make it simple and easy as we can. Afterwards, we submitted the softcopy to our subject’s lecturer and wait for her approval. Next, we distributed the questionnaires to all the respondent in LMC during rest hour at cafeteria. There were 90 copies of questionnaire. 45 answered by male students age 19-20 while the rest answered by the opposite sex. It only took about 3minutes for each person to answer. Since both male and female can answer all the questions, we can see, there are a lot of different opinion between these two genders. Finally, making analysis is the hardest step to do when we have to check the answers one-by-one. However, it become easier when each of us showed cooperativity and helping each other.

The Impact of Algorithmic Trading on Mutual Fund Performance

The Impact of Algorithmic Trading on Mutual Fund Performance Abstract The paper is devoted to the mutual fund performance, tournaments and their interconnection with algorithmic trading. The theoretical research has been conducted with the purpose of understand the nature of tournaments in the industry of mutual funds.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Impact of Algorithmic Trading on Mutual Fund Performance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Then, the methodology was designed with the purpose to follow the risk-taking behaviour of competitors in tournaments. This allows us to draw a conclusion that endogenous benchmark is not spread in tournament behavior, while exogenous benchmark has stronger influence. Introduction Mutual funds’ functions are limited to helping people have a small share in big corporation. There are two main ways of getting profit from mutual funds, interest or dividends to the fund or the raise of security in value.1 There are a lot of adv antages of mutual funds, like professional management of investments, affordability, variety and diversification, high convenience and easiness in recordkeeping.2 Technologies have revolutionized the processes at the financial markets and influenced the trading of financial assets.3 Having implemented different electronic platforms and algorithms for trading, some market operators are aimed at competing with others instead of â€Å"trading with a counterparty that has no high-speed access†.4 Therefore, the mutual funds are affected as well. The necessity to adopt algorithmic programs is felt due to the increases of the expected performance.5 Tournament behaviour in the mutual fund industry is defined as â€Å"the intense competition between fund managers who alter their portfolio risk with the expectation of improving or maintaining their existing ranking relative to the relevant peer group†.6 Fund managers try to reach the leading top positions at the end of the year7 as these activities are used as the basis for the first decade of a new year. There is no much difference between middle and bottom positions in the mutual fund tournament rating, so, â€Å"the optimal response of a fund manager to its interim performance is an adjustment of her risk taking†.8Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Mutual fund tournaments cover â€Å"the attempts of rational fund managers to maximize their expected compensation by adjusting the risk of their portfolios in accordance with their relative performance over a year†.9 According to Wang, â€Å"managers increase their portfolio riskiness in response to the gambling incentives, which tends to have a negative effect on fund performance†.10 Such behaviour also impacts algorithmic traders as the decisions are based on specific information on the markets and the raise of portfolio riskiness means the variation in prices. Focusing attention on mutual fund performance and tournament behaviour, Lin, Chung, Lee conducted a deeper research and identified a direct link between competition fund managers and management risk choice. These activities influence future performance. Lin, Chung, Lee stress that â€Å"the tournament system provides fund managers with the incentives to alter their portfolio risks in an effort to catch up with the market or lock in their yearly performance†.11 Beckmann, Là ¼tje, Rebeggiani have proven that tournament behavior in mutual funds depends on overconfidence, risk assessment and gender differences.12 Mutual fund performance on the international arena is conducted via algorithmic platforms in a number of reasons. Algorithmic trading engines are more secure than human trading. Moreover, algorithmic engines allow monitor and modify funds. It can be concluded that â€Å"algorithmic trading systems capitalize on the ir advantageous ability to process high-speed data feeds and react instantaneously to market movements by submitting corresponding orders or modifying existing ones†.13 The spread of algorithmic trading systems in mutual fund tournaments is explained by the dynamic changing of the principles of financial relations, client needs, cost reducing strategies, emergence of new markets, etc.14Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Impact of Algorithmic Trading on Mutual Fund Performance specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Investors want to know the post risk-taking effect in the industry of mutual funds as this helps them understand â€Å"whether the change of risk-taking alters future fund performance†.15 This data helps algorithmic system predict the outcome of the affair and make decisions. Methodology The increase of declination of the risks may lead to wrong decisions, which, in their turn, are going to influence the situation at the fund market, as â€Å"markets always incorporate all available public information† for their needs.16 To follow the linkage between mutual funds and algorithmic trading, it is necessary to consider the risk-taking behaviour of competitors in tournaments.17 Considering closer the data which should be used for the research, it should be mentioned that sample funds should be referred to from France database for 5 past years. Only domestic equity funds are to be examined with at least 60% hold in common stock. We are not going to take into account specialist funds, closed funds and index funds.18 We expect to â€Å"alter risk-taking behaviour in response to [fund managers’] performance relative to competing fund managers†.19 The first step of our research is the examination of the monthly compound return of each fund taken in one tournament year: , where   is â€Å"the monthly change in the fund’s index series value† .20Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Next, we are going to explore â€Å"relationships between interim period performance and subsequent period risk† by means of calculating risk adjusted-return/ratio which represents the change in risk:21 , where is the intercept, is the gradient, denotes winners dummy variables denotes losers dummy variables.22 We are going to test two hypotheses, H0: b=0 and H1: b0. If the estimated coefficient is equal to 0, so we fail to reject the null hypothesis which states that â€Å"subsequent period fund risk is independent of ranking period performance†.23 If we manage to reject this hypothesis, we will focus on the alternative hypothesis aimed at exploring the central prediction of the tournament hypothesis: â€Å"funds with below benchmark returns in the first part of the year (losers) increase their total risk in the remaining part of the year, relative to better performing funds (winners)†.24 The age of funds should be related to the mutual fund performance and tour nament behavior. Therefore, having classified funs into two categories, ‘young’, which have been existing less than two years, and ‘old’, which have been existing for more than four years. The hypothesis is as follows, the investors â€Å"would be more strongly influenced by poor short-term performance history than for a fund that has been around for some time†.25 Referencing to the previous equation, we are going to utilize the following augmented dummy variable: Conclusion Using the data of France mutual funds performance, we have tested a number of hypotheses which might point to the absence of strong evidence of tournament behavior using endogenous benchmark, however, exogenous benchmark is predicted to be used in the tournament behavior. Furthermore, the impact of the choice of ‘young’ and ‘old’ funds in the mutual funds tournament may be used for changing some parameters in the algorithmic trading system to make the decisions better and more profitable for the investor. Young funds are considered to be more risky, thus, the fund’s performance should be double checked in case of using those. Bibliography A guide to understanding mutual funds, Investment Company Institute, Washington. Beckmann, D., Là ¼tje, T., Rebeggiani, L., 2007. Italian asset managers’ behavior: Evidence on overconfidence, risk taking and gender. Discussion paper, 358, pp. 1-26. Benson, K.L., Hall, J., Lim, X., 2010. Semi-annual mutual fund performance in up and down markets. [pdf]. Broihanne, M., n.d. Funds tournaments and equity portfolio managers risk-taking, [pdf], pp. 1-24. Erturk, K., Ozgur, G., 2009. What is Minsky all about, anyway? Real World Economics Review, 50, pp. 3-15. Gomber, P., Gsell, M., 2009. Algorithmic trading engines versus human traders – do they behave different in securities markets? CFS Working Paper, 2009/10, pp. 1-15. Gsell, M., 2009. Technological innovations in securitie s trading: The adoption of algorithmic trading. Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, pp. 1-13. Gsell, M., n.d. Assessing the impact of algorithmic trading on markets: A simulation approach. [pdf], pp. 1-12. Hallahan, T., Rahim, V., Iorio, A. D. n.p. Risk shifting in Malaysian managed funds – panel data analysis of conventional and Islamic funds. School of Economics, Finance and Marketing. [pdf], pp. 1-42. Hallahan, T., Rahim, V., Miisa, I., Yacoub, A., O’Neill, B., Backulja, M., 2009. Tournament behavior in Malaysian managed funds: A non-parametric analysis. Working Paper, 005. Hendershott, T., Riordan, R., 2009. Algorithmic trading and information. [pdf], pp. 1-40. Jans, R. Otten, R., 2008. Tournaments in the UK mutual fund industry, Managerial Finance, 34(11), pp. 786-798. Kempf, A., Ruenzi, S., 2005. Tournaments in Mutual Fund Families. Discussion Paper, 05-20, pp. 1-35. Khan, M. F., 2006. Financial modernization in 21st century and challenge for Isl amic banking, International Journal of Islamic Financial Services, 1(3), pp. 1-4. Ko, K., Ha, Y., 2010. Mutual fund tournaments and structural changes in an emerging fund market: The case of Korea. FnGuide Research Grant, pp. 113-138. Lin, M., Chung, H., Lee, C., n.d. Mutual fund tournament test: Do shareholders benefit from fund managers’ risk-taking behavior. [pdf]. Wang, X., 2010. On time varying mutual fund performance. Rotman School of Management, Toronto. Footnotes 1 A guide to understanding mutual funds. Investment Company Institute, Washington, p. 3. 2 A guide to understanding mutual funds, p. 4. 3 Terrence Hendershott, Ryan Riordan, 2009. Algorithmic trading and information. [pdf], p. 2 4 Markus Gsell, n.d. Assessing the impact of algorithmic trading on markets: A simulation approach. [pdf], p. 11. 5 Markus Gsell, 2009. Technological innovations in securities trading: The adoption of algorithmic trading. Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems. 6 Karen L. B enson, Jason Hall, Xander Lim, 2010. Semi-annual mutual fund performance in up and down markets. [pdf], p. 1 7 Alexander Kempf Stefan Ruenzi, 2005. Tournaments in Mutual Fund Families. Discussion Paper, 05-20, p. 2. 8 Kempf Ruenzi, p. 2. 9 Kwangsoo Ko Yeonjeong Ha, 2010. Mutual fund tournaments and structural changes in an emerging fund market: The case of Korea. FnGuide Research Grant, p. 116. 10 Xiaolu Wang, 2010. On time varying mutual fund performance. Rotman School of Management, Toronto, p. 26. 11 Mei-Chen Lin, Huimin Chung, Cheng-Few Lee, n.d. Mutual fund tournament test: Do shareholders benefit from fund managers’ risk-taking behavior. [pdf], p. 24. 12  Daniela Beckmann, Torben Là ¼tje, Luca Rebeggiani, 2007. Italian asset managers’ behavior: Evidence on overconfidence, risk taking and gender. Discussion paper, 358, p. 1. 13 Peter Gomber Markus Gsell, 2009. Algorithmic trading engines versus human traders – do they behave different in securities markets? CFS Working Paper, 2009/10, p. 13. 14 M. Fahim Khan, 2006, Financial modernization in 21st century and challenge for Islamic banking, International Journal of Islamic Financial Services, 1(3), p. 1. 15  Lin, Chung, Lee, p. 4. 16 Korkut Erturk Gokcer Ozgur, 2009. What is Minsky all about, anyway? Real World Economics Review, 50, p. 6. 17 Marie-Helene Broihanne, n.d., Funds tournaments and equity portfolio managers risk-taking, [pdf], p. 4. 18 Benson, Hall, Lim, p. 4. 19 Rob Jans Roger Otten, 2008, Tournaments in the UK mutual fund industry, Managerial Finance, 34(11), p. 786. 20 Terrence Hallahan, Vikash Rahim, Imad Miisa, Amel Yacoub, Ben O’Neill, Milica Backulja, 2009, Tournament behavior in Malaysian managed funds: A non-parametric analysis. Working Paper, 005, p. 15. 21 Terrence Hallahan, Vikash Rahim, Amalia Di Iorio, n.p., Risk shifting in Malaysian managed funds – panel data analysis of conventional and Islamic funds. School of Economics, Financ e and Marketing. [pdf], p. 8 22 Hallahan, Rahim, Iorio, p. 8. 23 Hallahan, Rahim, Iorio, p. 8. 24 Hallahan, Rahim, Iorio, p. 9. 25 Hallahan, Rahim, Iorio, p. 10.