LAB Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LAB - Essay Example Also, in the earliest years of logging much of the work was done in the winter so that the logs could be moved on sleds. Per the previous question, there are two ways that logs were taken to the appropriate sawmills. The first it was by sled in winter or down the rivers. Although many Michigan men became wealthy in the logging industry the majority of the workers, like the lumberjacks made about $26 a month plus their room and board. This was not particularly much overall. Bare ground, abandon branches, and low lying stumps were all that was left behind after the loggers had left an area. The rivers no doubt suffered, they would have changed and been damaged from the constant use and devastation to the surrounding areas. These areas became had little protective groundcover and created immense fire hazards that often would threaten untouched woods and settled areas. So many people believed the propaganda being spread that the leads cleared by loggers was ideal for settlement and farming. For this reason many families spent all of the money they had on this land. However, the land was not fertile, the families could not pay their taxes, and the land became forfeit and given to the state. Ingham County was the first to be settled. The roads were little more than mud pits, uneven, and difficult to travel. Corduroy roads were roads made from logs, it most cases they were later replaced with planks roads, which were much smoother. The Michigan citizens in the 1960s and 1970s were concerned because the air quality was beginning to diminish, water pollution due to sewage and industrial waste. They began to take measures to improve and repair the damage being done to their home environment. The silo is a rounded tower-like building that is used for storing grains. Silage is the â€Å"finely chopped crops† that were fed to the farmer’s livestock (Michigan Historical Museum). A round

Adult learning and motivation Essay Example for Free

Adult learning and motivation Essay An exploration in to the multi-dimensionality of participatory behaviour; and what motivates adults to return to education. The research question that was initially formulated aimed to inductively generate a theory (Rothchild 2006; Cohen et al., 2000). Unfortunately, the initial question became subject to ethical challenges; and within a framework that would demonstrate rigour, validity and reliability, unsurprisingly; it was far better too approach/explore the multi-dimensionality of participatory behaviour; and what motivates adults to return to education. An enquiry designed around this approach has a better fit to a pragmatic framework (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007; Bryman, 2007) and the BERA ethical directives. Furthermore, this should help bolster the totality of coherence; or as Moss et al., (2009) would suggest as; ‘a chain of reasoning and logic’. Similarly, individual agency and how the experiences of adult learners’ are co/re-constructed (Clark 2011; Flowers 2009; p. 3) needed a greater relationship to an interpretivist epistemology (E891 Part 2: Action 2.9; Gage 1989). As the researcher primarily overlooked these factors that, in turn, determine what is seen as valid and invalid knowledge; then [those] factors would have been overlooked when inferences were made during the research process reducing the quality and internal and possibly external validity. Obviously, this incommensurability will be addressed before the researcher analyses any data generated (Bryman, 2007; p. 19). With these approaches better placed the researcher could demonstrate that generally social and cognitive phenomena are simultaneously quantitative and qualitative (Ercikan and Roth, 2006; p.16) and participatory behaviour is an outcome of the ‘meaning-made’ (Clark 2011) i.e. social-cognitive collocation. This would then show that cognition is co-constructed (Clark 2011) and re-constructed by experience resulting in the multiple interpretations that create the social realities in which people act (Flowers 2009; p. 3). It could be suggested that the initial ‘meaning-made’ is a primary motivator which persists until the time the learner feels satisfied (Park and Choi 2009), or, has achieved ‘what they set out to achieve’ (Gustafsson Mouwitz, 2008). This also implies that ‘meaning-made’ is mutable (Gibbons Bylsma 1984) and subject to further co/re-construction; adjustment; or complete abandonment. Research philosophy After extensive ‘Adult learner’ research and talking with tutors that instruct adult learners’ highlighted a distinct difference in the approaches from which children (Pedagogy – teaching method) and adults (Andragogy – teach how to learn) are taught. The implementation of informal learning methods, however, appears to have dominance in the adult education field (Gibbons Bylsma 1984). Therefore, in order to shape and advance the theory, research design and instrument/s required conducting a focussed literature review of several learning theories (see fig 1); namely, Knowles’s Andragogy Theory (Houde 2006), Cross’s Characteristics of Adult Learners (CAL) (Kohl-Frey and Schmid-Ruhe 2007; Crittenton Women’s Union 2012), Margin (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984) and Proficiency Theory (Gustafsson Mouwitz, 2008). Fig. 1 is showing the associated theories that characterize adult learners’ What becomes problematic is; adult learning has not been researched as vigorously as others areas of education, so the real challenge will be – as Hodkinson and Macleod (2010) encountered to anchor the line of enquiry in a combined paradigmatic harbor. In contrast to Hodkinson and Macleod (2010), the upcoming report will be combining the aforementioned theories with the following paradigms’ as they display a distinct homogeneity. Specifically, social (E891 Part 2: Action 2.5), and cognitive constructionism (De Abreu 2000), Interpretivism (E891 Part 2: Action 2.4; Gage 1989) with quantitative and qualitative data collection i.e. mixed methodology. A critical review of the initial report by Street (2013) and Holmes (2013) exemplified the scarcity of knowledge and understanding some had on the associated theories. Both commented on differing aspects of the line of enquiry, but these were conceptual in nature. Street (2013) illustrated that the researcher must remain aware of the macro/micro societal effect that the learning environment has on the adults lived/shared experience and Holmes (2013) suggested that there needed to be a better fit to the realities of the adult learner. With this in mind I re-conceptualized the report and reflected more specifically on the feedback and guidance. Therefore, in order to steer the paradigms so that they pull in the same direction, the aforementioned theories naturally occurring and overlapping dimensions will be grouped (i.e. constant comparison method; Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151) by their substantive statements (i.e. content analysis; Gillham, 2000; p. 137) and used to engender questions. This process generated four themes that naturally expanded upon their shared features. Social contact and Relationships Goal and relevancy orientated External expectations Internal expectations In order to check for consistencies/inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999; p. 217-8) between the questionnaires i.e. Phase 1 and Phase 2 and interview responses both datasets will be triangulated to assess the overall motivation/s toward participatory behaviour i.e. cross-sectional design (Bryman, 2006; p. 104). This ‘Mutual’ approach (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007) will be implemented during the adult learners’ regular session/s, which should (1) reduce bias (Nederhof, 1985) and attrition (Torgerson 2009), (2) be more pragmatic than experimental research (Torgerson 2009), (3) increase internal validity, reliability and research quality, (4) support external validity and (5) decrease demand characteristics due to any researcher effects. Research enquiries can be polarized into qualitative and quantitative classifications based on how phenomena are represented (Ercikan and Roth, 2006). But, the researcher firmly believes; if representative qualitative and quantitative data have shared aspects that are dependent on their counterpart for completeness (Ercikan and Roth, 2006; p.16; Bryman, 2006; Bryman, 2007), then the incorporation of cross-validation is warranted to best serve this enquiry. This strategy should ensure internal validity; especially when considering using complementary methods (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007). Moreover, as these quantitative and qualitative counterparts contain a fundamental element of the interactive dependency that is shared, and required, for individual understanding i.e. the connectivity of interactivity and the influence on representative individuality then the research must be aware to consider that both methods have shared and conflicting elements. Consequently, when considering multidisciplinary approaches, mixed methods i.e. quantitative and qualitative and triangulation one must be aware that incommensurability can exist between them. Brannen (2005) suggests that some methods become more feasible than others and deemed a better ‘fit’ as [they] provide more sensitivity when investigating complex social phenomena. Hence, certain methods, used in conjunction can become less than complimentary with the other. Additionally, Yin (2006) suggests that the ability to tighten the use of mixed methods so that they do in fact occur as part of a single study requires integration. The claim is that, the more that a single study integrates mixed methods, the more that mixed methods research, as opposed to multiple studies, is taking place (Yin, 2006). Furthermore, Houghton et al., (2010) highlight one of the ethical challenges, which have important implications for qualitative research, practical examples and solutions. The unpredictability of qualitative research means that an a priori prescription for ethical conduct is not always possible. Therefore, the researcher must be constantly mindful of the on-going impact that the research might have on those involved, while simultaneously being ethically sensitive and morally competent Although, mixing methods does provide an inferential narrative to the statistical outputs from quantitative analysis, it might not sufficiently negate the qualitative and quantitative dichotomy (Yin, 2006), or, necessarily produce the expected scholarly standard for presenting credible evidence (Maclure, 2005). These qualitative and quantitative complements are noticeably even arguably intrinsic facets of social/cognitive interaction/functioning; hence, the methods used to collect data in this enquiry will be trying to procure what happens when the internal interact/s with an external influence/s (Yin, 2006). This illustration provides a start for thinking about yet other types of mixed method research. The point is, if a relationship is completely absent— particularly where two or more methods address wholly different dependent, independent, or descriptive variables—the mixed methods are likely to form separate studies, not a single study (Yin, 2006). All these influences are important and relevant, but they are only some of the processes that, together, comprise a complex social world and unfortunately; understanding that the relevance and value assigned to learning by adults’ highlights the importance induced, does not necessarily liberate them (Hacking 1999; p. 2) from any disenfranchisement they could feel. Likewise, the researcher understands that the aforementioned factors are not the only variables that are existent; however, the researcher is of the opinion that those factors (see fig. 3 + 4) are the most prominent from the observations made and literature review conducted. Research Design Fig. 2 is illustrating the design and flow of data analysis that establishes the internal validity, reliability and quality of the research enquiry. Historical background Considering participation in adult learning since 1996 we see it has remained around 40% for those of working age (16 – 69) for seventeen years. These were either currently participating, or had recently participated in the last three years. Of those that did participate, there is an equivalent amount that has not participated since leaving full time education. Although, 80% of students’ currently participating intend on continuing in further education after they have completed the present course (see Tab.1). Whilst participating in Further Education and Lifelong Learning I observed a possible explanation for the existence of these variances (that being relevance and value). A possible explanation for the disordinal interaction (percentages decrease in the ‘Likely to learn in the future’ group whilst percentages for ‘Unlikely to learn in the future’ group increase) demonstrated in table 1 could be; the further in years an adult moves away from education the less relevance and value they attribute to returning to it. Or, is it as Siraj-Blatchford (2010) may suggest; that the adults are overscheduled and more committed to sustaining the home environment and maintaining a career with ‘on the job’ training. Multimodal Heuristics Informal learning is seemingly multimodal i.e. being valuable and relevant to the matter at hand and socially constructed through long/short term interactions (GTC 2006). The informal learning mechanisms that mediate influence shapes learning environments’ (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6), cognitive processes and our social interactions (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6). ‘Meaning’ then, is co/re-constructed by experience resulting in the multiple interpretations that create the social reality in which people act (Flowers 2009; p. 3). And as Vygotsky would state; context affects cognitive and by way of behavioural activities (De Abreu, 2000; p. 3) Bruner’s suppositional framework suggests that learners form new ideas or theories based upon what they already know (GTC 2006). His theory of learning, not only, related to the way childrens thinking developed, but it could also be applied to adults learning new and unfamiliar material (GTC 2006). Learners, as Bruner proposes, are creators and thinkers through the use of inquiry (GTC 2006). The process of which how learners dynamically construct knowledge is heavily in focus: implying the transformation of information, which suggests that Bruner’s theory of Constructivism falls into a cognitive domain (GTC 2006). Learners are provided with opportunities to construct new knowledge and new meaning from authentic experiences (Brockmann 2011). As a result, this exposes the pivotal role Multimodal Heuristics start to have when adults’ decide to return to education. For instance, a parent can reassure a frightened child that ‘shadow monsters do not exist!’ Although, a sibling can suggest leaving the light on to scare the monsters’ away. This indicates that informal learning can alter our worldview (e.g. ‘When did you stop believing in Santa?’) if it is seen to offer a plausible solution. This supports the concept of how informal learning can contribute to our understanding, cognitive processes (De Abreu 2000), social interactions, and the associated behaviours (Schwartz 1995; p. 5). These multimodal components; not only determine the level of commitment and motivation (Park Choi 2009) that is ascribed to the retention of relevant and valuable information (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984; p. 23), but also contributes to the ease of transfer and retrieval of that information (Ekey 2012). The characteristically pragmatic nature of adult learners’ (Abdullah, et al., 2008; Kohl-Frey and Schmid-Ruhe 2007; Crittenton Women’s Union 2012) also demonstrates this need/requirement for information to have applicability to their life. This is determined by the perceived applicability it has to their future experiences and interaction. The internal dimensions of meaning-making are also multimodal (Clark 2011) and seemingly derived from the combination of the value and relevance (or Multimodal Heuristics adults’ decide, through cognitive appraisal, their own level of involvement) assigned by the adult to measure applicability. Consequently, we could suggest that this is an ad hoc contribution to our social cognition (Aronson et al., 2005; p.57 – 64; De Abreu 2000; p. 4), our availability heuristics (Rules of thumb; Aronson et al., 2005; p. 74 75) and the associated behavior and schemas (Aronson et al., 2005; p. 59 61), which then assist navigation of social environments’. Unfortunately, understanding that the relevance and value assigned to learning by adults’ highlights the importance induced, does not necessarily liberate adults’ (Hacking 1999; p. 2) from the disenfranchisement they could feel in institutions where learning is delivered primarily from a traditionally pedagogical approach. Similarly, these interactions are situational and experienced directly by participation, so it will be difficult to generalize the results further than adult learning. Theory development Essentially, humans tend to seek out information that confirms what they think/believe to be most relevant or true to their experiences and/or future interactions; a relative cost-benefit/means-end (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6) cognitive appraisal that enables Multimodal Heuristic co/re-construction (Clark 2011). This process begins to filter out information that is considered worthless. The cost-benefit (Primary appraisal) and means-end analyses (Secondary appraisal), along with the personal value and relevance adults’ assign to learning (‘rule of thumb’ Gustafsson, L., Mouwitz, L. (2008); p. 5) appear to be hierarchical and Maslowian in nature. Additionally, an adult must consider, through means-end analysis, the benefit of actively participating and building upon their knowledge and experience, throughout their participation in learning. Ultimately mediating their need for satisfaction i.e. Socio-emotional negotiation and selectivity (Houde 2006). As a result, for the adult to consider participation Multimodal Heuristics must negotiate support for expectation and assess the benefit knowledge, learning and education have in recompense for reorganizing multiple obligations, and competing priorities (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 12). Therefore, is socio-emotional negotiation and selectivity a process of fragmenting information so that it creates a heuristic commensurability with an individual’s normative social and cognitive functioning, which therefore, influences behaviour i.e. influential connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity affecting the potentials for action? Fig. 3 is showing the internal framework of the decision making, and meaning-making, mechanisms that help generate mental constructs of multimodal heuristics. To some degree, we can compare the assessment of value and relevance to Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) description of Proficiency Theory, and, means-end and cost-benefit analyses to McClusky’s Margin Theory (1974, as quoted in Gibbons Bylsma 1984). These theories emphasize a need to be competent at tasks’ whilst being realistic about certain physical, mental and social capabilities. If there is conflict between primary and secondary appraisals this could be seen as a violation of expectation (Deffenbacher 1993), which may account for drop-out rates, serial signers’, absenteeism, non-participation in task relevant activities, specific course popularity, the cost-benefit/means-end analysis (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6; Geertz 1993; p. 4 5) for staying the course and societal perception of lifelong learning (Tab. 1). For instance, after asking my students’ (12 in total) if they had any questions about what had been learnt, they responded with â€Å"what would I do if†¦?† and â€Å"When would I use†¦?† As there were only subtle variations in discourse, in regards to relevance and value, I feel this highlights (1) what comprises Multimodal Heuristic co-construction, and (2) what is required from information when it is presented outside of their interpretation of it. Moreover, adults maintain autonomy (Gibbons Bylsma 1984) by performing a cost-benefit analysis to justify their participation; being that peripheral or full (Swan 2005; p. 5). Firstly this, amongst others mentioned, will form the basis of ‘what counts as value and relevance evidence’, and, from which, quantitative data will be collected (questionnaire). Lastly, the quantitative data will be qualitatively complemented with a semi-structured interview to produce a rich narrative and attain thick descriptions (Geertz 1993). The semi-structured interview will be conducted with a subset of the surveyed group and will represent a cross-section of the adult learners’ in that group i.e. single parent, co-parent and a single male/female with no dependants. And as Denscombe (1999) and Brockmann (2011) found; interaction is situational and experienced directly by participation, making it essential to respect [their] views, with, further recognition given to the possibility that [their] priorities may not reflect the general consensus view or official theory. For example, Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) have reported; what is valued and encouraged in formal learning environments lacks to varying degrees explicit relevance in the workplace. Therefore, adults must demand a greater degree of relevance, value and satisfaction when deciding to return to, and participating in, education (Abdullah, et. al. 2008; Houde 2006). Fig. 4 is showing the internal framework of secondary appraisal that aims to justify the decision made and validate the perception of learning by paralleling meaning-made with the realities of the study. Illustrating, not only that the individual agency of these interpretations of relevance and value are co/re-constructed (Clark 2011) cognitively (GTC 2006) and socially (Hacking 1999), but also that adults’ apply this form of Heuristic Multimodality when seeking satisfaction from having their expectations fulfilled. Park Choi (2009) have reported that relevance and satisfaction, being sub-dimensions of motivation, are known to be interrelated with various course-related issues. Even though the societal influences mentioned in this report can modify (1) the assessment of relevance and (2) affect the personal satisfaction adults cultivate (Park Choi, 2009) they can also mediate and reinforce participatory behavior (Park Choi, 2009) by enhancing the importance adults’ induce when deciding an academic and/or social level of involvement (Gibbons Bylsma 1984). Furthermore, students’ have asserted that relevance is a significant mediator in their assignment of value. Many students’ have commented that relevance paralleled the value assigned to learning and their specific choice of subject(s). These statements were observed over time and place using a relative constant comparison method (Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151). Their comments demonstrated the application of a cost-benefit and means-end analysis e.g. â€Å"How relevant is†¦in the big scheme of things?†, â€Å"When would I use†¦?† and â€Å"I don’t see the relevance? Evidently, the use of Multimodal Heuristics acts as a mechanism that could also increase commitment, dedication and motivation (Park Choi 2009). In constant comparison data are compared across a range of situations, times, groups of people, and through a range of methods (Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151 2). The process resonates with the methodological notion of triangulation. The constant comparison method involves four stages: Comparing incidents and data that are applicable to each category, comparing them with previous incidents in the same category and with other data that are in the same category Integrating these categories and their properties Bounding the theory Setting out the theory The subjective ontological/epistemological view, research design and methodology exhibited in this report is sufficient and necessary to explore this direction of enquiry, if it were absent, it would prove problematic supporting a theory with an accompanying objective approach that advocates detachment (Flowers 2009; E891 Part 2: Action 2.2; Gage 1989; E891 Part 2: Action 2.5), when, in this case, it is more advantageous to explore the subjectivity of individual agency, participatory behaviour and situational experiences, motivation, and, the personal value and relevance assigned to learning, as these are closer to the truth. Instrument Design There will be two distinct phases to data generation; firstly, questions will be formulated from each of the four themes that CAL, Andragogy and Margin and Proficiency theories appear to create and then randomly assigned (Nederhof, 1985) to a questionnaire. A descriptive analysis of each question will be conducted to address whether the aforementioned multi-dimensionalities of adult learners’ are being considered. The strength of the trend in the agreement/disagreement should build a picture of the shared experiences. These questions will then be relocated back to the themes that created them, scored (Likert Scale; the higher the score the more relevance and value is attributed) and compared with the descriptive analysis to, not only generate a semi-structured small group interview schedule (Gillham, 2000), but also to get a sense of what is personally valuable and relevant about learning. This is an attempt to demonstrate; how meeting these multi-dimensionalities may be instrumental in maintaining learner participation (Park and Choi 2009). Furthermore, by mapping these realities, establish whether they support the general consensus view of these adult learning theories. An opportunity sampled group (16 – 35+) will be surveyed using this questionnaire (13 in total) with a small group interview being administered to a subset of the surveyed group (5 in total). Ideally, this subset should be representative of the adult learners’ in that educational facility. Even though the whole group will be opportunistically surveyed; in phase 2 every effort will be made to be more purposive. In order to support internal validity and ensure the reduction of any bias the incorporation of a ‘social desirability’ measure (Nederhof, 1985; SDR) will be added to the questionnaire. Certain questions will be cross referenced with one another to assess whether the adult learners’ are responding in a socially desirable way. This local blocking technique should increase the internal validity of the questionnaire, enhance the internal consistency of the small group interview questions, reduce bias and maintain rigour when all the data is analysed. This should also allow individual agency (E891 Part 2: Action 2.4; Gage 1989; Denscombe 1999), shared experience and the personal value and relevance attributed to learning to be highlighted. Due to the amount of data that could have been reported the evaluation will be specifically limited to the triangulation narratives of the ‘Theme Summaries’, interview data i.e. content and descriptive analysis (Clark, 2011). The researcher firstly formulated questions from these naturally occurring themes and searched for consistencies and inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999) between the summary narratives (Gillham, 2000) and statistical outputs from the descriptive analyses (Bryman, 2007). Phase 1 As there were 30 questions generated from the four themes the in-depth analysis of each question will be triangulated and presented in the theme summaries. In an attempt to expose any consistencies/inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999; p. 217-8) in the responses the data will be compared against the learning theories that created them: ensuring validity. Consequently, due to the amount of quantitative data generated from the in-depth analysis of the individual questions, this report will only include the second stage of Phase 1 i.e. descriptive analysis and theme summary triangulation. The interview responses from Phase 2 will be further triangulated with these summaries and content analysed to highlight the adult learners’ realities and ascertain what influences their decisions and motivates them to return too education i.e. by constant comparison method. Theme Summaries Social contact and Relationships Q1, Q2, Q6, Q7, Q17 Q19 and Q30 The adult learners’ appear to value social interaction and feelings of reciprocal respect whilst participating in learning, which demonstrates that the adult learners’ value a sense of ‘belonging’ (16/21). However, there is a small percentage that does not see ‘belonging’ as being of value. Therefore, the feelings of reciprocal respect and support cannot be generalised as influencing their decision to continue in learning. Internal expectations Q10, Q13, Q14, Q15, Q18, Q22, Q26, Q28 and Q29 This theme relates to the adult learners satisfaction. Satisfaction, being a sub-dimension of motivation, is something that must be regarded as paramount in the adult learning experience. The consistent attendance of the adult learners’ at the session/s is testament to their satisfaction with the course and the delivery thereof (18/27). In essence, if the adult learner considers that the potential learning opportunity is not transferable to the workplace, is not satisfied, or perceives it as inadequate at providing improvement to their problem solving capabilities could ultimately diminish their motivation to participate. Goal and relevancy orientation Q3, Q4, Q5, Q9, Q11, Q16, Q20, Q23, Q25 and Q27 External expectations Q8, Q12, Q21 and Q24 As these last two dimensions, respectively and comparatively, share a greater degree of similarity they will be interpretatively combined and presented together. Looking at these from a political perspective; the demand for lifelong learning to have greater prevalence in society sets an industry standard that demands conformity to it. Subsequently, this appears to facilitate the re/co-construction of self-directedness and the personal interests of adult learners’ so that they begin to mirror ‘what is required of them’; which is indicative of a cost-benefit/mean-ends analysis. Therefore, some adult learners’ might be so focussed or motivated on getting the qualification that they adjust their sense of self-direction in order to reorganise their lives and satisfy what is required of them i.e. Mutability for the betterment of self. It could also be suggested that the pressure too have certain qualifications encourages participatory behaviour in some adult learners’ and determines the relative conformity to industry demands and learning the required skills i.e. something they adapt to rather than adapted for them (Q8, Q9 and Q10). Conformity, in this sense, would then act as a pre-determinant to achievement; the perception of economic sustainability and upward mobility and what value, and relevance, learning has. Not surprisingly, this could be one reason why thousands of people leave their jobs: they only took the job because it is what was demanded of them, which is in direct conflict with their personal interests, self-directedness and life goals. Which also illustrates that cognition can be influenced by social interaction and be co/re-constructed by experience and meaning-made. The questionnaire included items that let the participant assess the value and relevance they attribute to learning as an adult. The overall strength of this agreement was guided by their experiences as an adult learner. However, some of the diagnostic questions seemed to be complex and ask two things of the participant. As this is a major source of error (Hammersley et al., 2003) the validity of those questions will be scrutinised as the participants may have weighted one aspects of the complex question more important than the other aspect, hence, an adumbrated response i.e. a decrease in validity. However, all of the responses were reduced to one mean average for that individual question, and as these were pooled from the four themes that characterise adult learners’ it reduced sampling error and bias. Furthermore, as there was a two stage analysis in phase one the validity of the research instrument is strengthened; especially when we factor in the use of the SDR measure to control for bias (Nederhof, 1985) and the encouragement of omission (Hammersley et al., 2003) when the participant had no opinion. What we cannot suggest at this stage of the analysis, however, is that the shared experience led to a shared meaning. As Denscombe (1999) ascertained; the perceptions of the individual are not always consistent with the general consensus view (Brockmann, 2011) of the group as a whole. This extends to the meaning-made and the individual nature of the meaning-making process. The surveyed group cultivated differing levels of relevance and value from their shared experiences. But, this was seemingly determined by the level of relevance and value that was extrapolated from their continued participation. Hence, the individual agency of meaning-making is an outcome of the level of value and relevance attributed to the shared experiences of learning as an adult, the level of satisfaction and a sense of mutability for the betterment of self. Phase 2: Narrative of Qualitative data Before the triangulation, constant comparison and content analysis the researcher must point out that (1) this was a small scale study, (2) the interviews was held in a small group so full disclosure by each participant was not always possible and (3) the results should not be over generalised to other adult learning situations. All that is being sought is an insight in to the connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity and the subsequent influence on representative individuality; the multidimensionality of participatory behaviour and what the adults felt their motivations for returning to education were and still are. This should (1) map the external/internal influences on the adult learner; (2) expose the dimensions behind this seeming connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity that create the potential/s for designated types of action i.e. Multimodal Heuristics and (3) if the analysis supports the researcher’s theory and the adult learning theories that feature in this enquiry. Some of the interviewee’s shared a meaning to one degree, but had a different meaning-making process before reaching that decision; the salient feature was a shared-meaning in a shared-goal in reaching university or attending a higher level course from the successful completion of the current course of study. This gave them a common ground on which to build upon ‘what learning means’ to them on an individual basis whilst allowing the shared-meaning element distinguish and define their individual social relationships in the class; whom they sought clarification from; what level of involvement they chose and what comparative judgements they begin to make on others in the session/s. Walter: â€Å"Well I think if you do†¦ I think if you do†¦like, we are social people, things†¦we are social and that’s that, that’s what we are†¦we are designed to be social people, if we exclude ourselves we do not, you know, we lose all basic human function, it’s like the guy at the front, you know he doesn’t †¦ he can exclude himself, he doesn’t do anything, he doesn’t enjoy being here, doesn’t have any excitement about coming and learning†¦if you exclude yourself from everyone else you’ll probably not learn!† Serena: â€Å"I like learning with a group but then it’s dependent on what I do with that information†¦but when it’s writing things down or posters and stuff I can’t have other people touching.† This illustrates that the need to feel self-directed and sometimes being free from outside interference is just one of the commonalities we start to see in the participants responses. Although, some of the interviewee’s do highlight that; Sally: â€Å"I came because I needed to do it, but now I quite, I’ve more motivation to do it because I enjoy it.† Therefore, the individual agency of meaning-making is, not only an outcome of the level of value and relevance attributed to the shared experiences of learning as an adult, the level of satisfaction and a sense of mutability for the betterment of self, but also the means/ends-cost/benefit interconnectivity seen in their decision-making process i.e. motivated to do it and their continued participation in the session/s that seemingly contributes further to the mutability for the betterment of self in these adult learners. The individual meaning-made is a product of these connective interactivities varying – and individually decided high/low levels of cost/benefit the course has and what perceived means/end reward the course provides for successful completion i.e. the multimodal heuristic factors that led to participatory behaviour and satisfaction. The shared-meaning is an accidental affinity that becomes synchronous with other people that are pursuing a similar goal as them. This suggests that they share similar educational values and relevancies due to their common or shared goals. The shared-meaning dimensions presumably start to mediate the differing high/low connective interactivity level in the cost/benefit and means/end analyses. Furthermore, this also starts to define and distinguish individual social relationships; who we seek advice and clarification from; what level of involvement we chose and what comparative judgements we make on others i.e. asynchronous affinity with others. The comments from these interviewee’s also highlights the need to feel proficient and competent about the material in the course and where they culture this confidence. It seems the more confident the adult learner gets about understanding the material and being able to discuss, question and seek clarification on their understanding the more proficient and competent they feel. This bolsters their feelings of satisfaction and adds to their motivation to continue through reducing the physical and mental sense of effort i.e. cost and/or means and increasing the perception of benefit cultured from continuation in the session/s. e.g. internal expectations and social relationships. This could be defined as a beneficial compromise for the betterment of self being the mediation of the perceived value social contact offers in raising confidence, increasing feelings of proficiency and reducing our fear of incompetency. The commentaries also point toward Margin theory (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984) in the manner of how ‘power’ and ‘load’ i.e. the amount we can manage is balanced with the effort we can assign to it and ‘expansive’ and ‘restrictive’ perceptions of future time i.e. the older you are the more urgent something becomes also contributes to the motivations of the adult learner (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984). So, is motivation the product of a restrictive ‘future time’ perspective creating a behaviourally urgent response to the realisation of your current educational inequities; therefore, adding to the perception of the reduction in opportunities for sustaining economic upward mobility? For example the following conversation illustrates the reasoning behind this question; Researcher: ‘so does anyone find, you know, that helps them decide to do a course, or, was it a combination of both things were like valuable and relevant to you as well?’ Walter: ‘Yeah, yeah†¦that’s the reason I’m here, you know you can’t get a well-paid job without English and Maths!’ Leroy: †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢and without those I can’t precede on to university’ Researcher: ‘So you can see the as an industry standard kind of then?’ Walter: ‘Yeah, this is the industry standard’ Researcher: ‘So to actually progress you need these things to progress?’ Walter: ‘Yeah†¦yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Leroy: ‘Like to myself, like to have this qualification would make me feel better about it†¦but,’ Researcher: ‘Yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Leroy: ‘†¦it’s a requirement’ Researcher: ‘yeah like a stepping stone’ Leroy: ‘yeah.’ Therefore, these adult learners’ may just see the benefit of having the qualification to progress beyond where they are now. This could also suggest that these adults’ are fully aware that the ‘real world’ applicability of certain subjects are determined by the industry demand for that subject, making a qualification economically more relevant and valuable to these adult learners’. We could theorise that society has a shared understanding about what industry requires of the workforce and how this requirement places a demand on the learner to rearrange their lives in order to participate in learning. Therefore, shared meaning in society could be facilitated by a shared understanding of what it demands of society, which supports the theory that adult learners’ must assign more personal relevance, value and expectations of satisfaction to learning before there is the motivation to return to education i.e. is there a beneficial compromise between what I want and what they require. And as can be seen in the descriptive analysis of Q20, Q21 and Q22.These questions relate to social influence and societies perception of value and relevance assigned to learning. The adult learner agrees that the decision to attend a course of study was suggested to them (Q20) and that this social influence/encouragement essentially provides the persuasive reinforcement to their implicit understanding that; learning increases an adult’s chances of employment (Q21). The adult learners’ also feel that the support they receive from the different sources of this social influence/encouragement is at a level which permits their participation on the course of study. We could again theorise that an individual knows what is demanded of them in the employment market, but they seek confirmation on what they already know. This suggests that ‘meaning’ is socially co/re-constructed by the individual seeking confirmation on their present understanding in order to reinforce their decision, and by way of, increase motivation to return to learning. Furthermore, the adult learners’ do not feel they have to make allowances to attend a course, as long as the scheduled session/s is at a convenient time for them to attend i.e. the conscious effort to avoid the conflicts between personal obligations and scheduled session/s. Moreover, showing that, for these adult learners’, the course of study has value and is personally and economically relevant to them. And as it was outlined in the ‘Theory Development’ section of this report; we can compare the assessment of value and relevance to Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) description of Proficiency Theory, and, means-end and cost-benefit analyses to McClusky’s Margin Theory (1974, as quoted in Gibbons Bylsma 1984). These theories emphasize a need to be competent at tasks’ whilst being realistic about certain physical, mental and social capabilities. Moreover, because the theories that were used in this study have overlapping dimensions (e.g. Q3, Q4 and Q12 overlap Social contact and Relationships; Goal and Relevancy orientation and External Expectations) with each dimension seemingly providing a piece to the decisional mà ©lange that affects the internal expectations i.e. individual agency of the adult learner. We could therefore suggest that Multimodal Heuristics and co/re-constructive social influence, not only becomes more evident when motivation towards participation is being established and/or maintained, but may also be one of the key components in the processes that assist the transformation of identity. Hence, as a sense of belonging, competency, proficiency and satisfaction are valued and relevant to the adult learner and evolve as they evolve; as do their identities. Equally, in a sociocultural ontology progress in learning is viewed along trajectories of participation and growth of identity, so both competency and belonging matter in understanding learning. It is for these reasons that a sociocultural ontology describes learning as a transformation of identity. And as the report is looking at the macro and micro-structural influences on the adult learner and how that comes to mediate and motivate them toward participation we can suggest quite firmly that identity transformation is closely tied to multimodal heuristics which is apparently mediated by a co/re-construction between the connectivity of social/cognitive interactivity thus having an impact on the identity formation of the adult learner. So the relevancy and value that is selected from external sources is fragmentally factored from differing micro and macro-structural influences and negotiated in to cognitive constructs i.e. internally mediated hence facilitating the decisional components that create the motivation for, and support continued participation towards, designated types of action. Discussion, implications and conclusions So, are social contact and relationships the result of synchronous affinities? Is the use of multimodal heuristics an actual contributor to identity transformation? All that can be suggested is that the results support the theory of multimodal heuristics and the connectivity of interactivity and imply that motivation is established through the individual deliberately, and sometimes vicariously, extracting information from these proximal and distal influences. Hence, social/cognitive collocation comes to, not only reinforce their decision to participate in designated types of action, but also – to a greater or lesser extent impacts upon the transformation of identity. But, we must keep in mind that this is paralleled with a balance between the beneficial compromises for the betterment of self and the perceived value social contact i.e. belonging offers in raising confidence, increasing feelings of proficiency and reducing the fear of incompetency. The real implication of these results is the noticeable benefit of informal conversations being used to reinforce learnt knowledge. The participants suggest that more time for reflection and confirmation would go some way to aiding the retention of new information, how the information actually relates to their personal circumstances and how this also contributes to feelings of belonging, proficiency, competency and feelings of increased confidence. For example; Walter : â€Å"†¦if you have a conversation with someone, say after this class, you’ll remember that conversation better than you would, you know than someone standing at the front of the class going ‘this guy wrote this poem about this† And like the small child that is afraid of ‘shadow monsters’ and leaves the light on; the sessions could benefit from the incorporation of small group/whole class learning reinforcement dyads of informal conversations. This would then start to determine the level of commitment and motivation (Park Choi 2009) that is ascribed to the retention of relevant and valuable information (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984; p. 23), and further contribute to the ease of transfer/retrieval of the current learning material/s and any new information (Ekey 2012). In conclusion, if adults are autonomous, self-directed and pursue their personal interests and goals then; when an adult decides to return to education the course of study must display a greater degree of relevance to the adults. If the course of study is perceived as having relevance, it (1) fulfils their need for feeling autonomous, (2) allows the adult to make an informed decision as to the value it has, (3) contributes to the continuation of feelings of self-directedness and (4) also contributes to their perceptions of being closer to achieving their goals’; thus adding value. Especially when we factor in that adult learners’ are complying with requirements’ laid down by someone else and may need to reorganise multiple obligations and competing priorities in order to participate. Another reason that these adult learners’ generally value the social interaction, support and reciprocal respect they receive whilst attending a course of study. Hence, the sense of belonging would be enhanced if there were more opportunities for interaction. Therefore, creating more opportunities for reflection between learners’ could, not only, reinforce learning, but also support the feelings of belonging through increasing the opportunities for discussion on how the material covered in that session/s contextually relates to them. Moreover, focussing on enhancing feelings of proficiency by allowing the adult learner to co/re-construct their current understanding through reflecting upon it with learners’ that share the same learning experience and synchronous and asynchronous affinities. References Abdullah, M, Parasuraman, B, Muniapan, B, Koren, S Jones, ML. (2008) ‘Motivating factors associated with adult participation in distance learning program’ International Education Studies, 1 (4), pp. 104-109. [online] http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1569context=commpaperssei-redir=1referer=http%3A%2 ‘Mutual Research Designs: Redefining Mixed Methods Research Design’, pp. 29 – 35, Taken from ERCM (2007) ‘6th European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies’ Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon [online] http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=enlr=id=VtYcSTUV0nQCoi=fndpg=PA29dq=bryman+pragmatism+%22multi+methods%22ots=bC6CHJujM9sig=sWf3Hfxlkrz-79fe5K0eGeqLI3M#v=onepageqf=false (accessed on 18/06/2013) Aronson, E., Wilson. T. D. and Akert, R. M. (2005) ‘Social Psychology’, 5th Edition, New Jersey, Pearson Education Inc, Cpt. 3, pp. 59 – 61, Cpt. 3 pp. 57 – 64, Cpt. 3, pp. 74 75 Brannen, J. (2005) ‘Mixed methods research: a discussion paper’, ESRC National Centre for Research Methods, Review Paper 5. [online] http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/89/1/MethodsReviewPaperNCRM-005.pdf (accessed on 01/08/2013) Brockmann, M. (2011) ‘Problematizing short-term participant observation and multi-method ethnographic studies’, Ethnography and Education, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 229–43. [online] http://www.tandfonline.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1080/17457823.2011.587361 (accessed 18/04/2013) taken from The Open University (2013) ‘E891 Action 3.10: Short term Ethnography; Part 3: Research design and data production, Milton Keynes, The Open University Bryman, A. (2006) ‘integrating quantitative and qualitative research: how it is done?’ Sage Publications, London, vol. 6(1) 97–113. [online]

Environmental Crime and Green Criminology

Environmental Crime and Green Criminology The fast social, technological, political and environmental development of the world we live in is almost beyond comprehension. All these changes have created growing demands for goods and services that cannot be supplied anymore by the ordinary economy and business services, but the criminal economy must jump in. Furthermore, new mobility has increased trade, tourism, expansion of the scientific and cultural cooperation and much more. Borders are turning pale and becoming insignificant. Everything has gone to the undreamed-of rate. But unfortunately at the same time all this progress has caused war, pice, and crime of unprecedented proportion (Moore and Fields, 2005). Environmental crime represents one of such (inter)national problem that is growing very fast and wide and as stressed by Fields, Arrigo and Webb (2005), these crime problems are highly complex in relation to those with whom criminologists were used to deal with, as it will be shown below. Comparative criminology refers to the systematic and theoretically-informed comparison of criminality (crime and crime trends) in two or more countries (Howard, Newman and Pridemore, 2010). Comparative studies are very important for criminology, because they offer great potential for increasing the explanatory power of criminological theories.  [1]  Furthermore, comparative criminal justice studies reduce the enormous differences between crime rates among different countries.  [2]  Although many authors (Shelley, 1981; Rokaw, Mercy and Smith, 1990; Hans-Gunther, Shelley and Kaoth, 1992) in the field of comparative criminal justice surveys assume that the goal of comparative criminology is si mply to test whether claims about crime causation stand up in the rich texture of cultural variation, Beirne and Nelken (1997) stress that the scope of comparative criminology is wider than the search for the causes of crime. It includes the study of transnational crime, the problems of exporting models of crime control to other countries and the way the views of criminologists are themselves influenced by their cultures in the search of explanations of crime. Furthermore, Bennett and Lynch (1990: 153) state that cross-national studies of crime (criminal justice) issues play an important role in building theory and guiding public policy. The last one more and more often relies on the scientific survey results and findings, with the intention of bringing the right decision about the public related crime problems. Neuman and Berger (1998: 300-301) argue that comparative criminology is plagued by a hiatus between theory and research. Therefore, the different levels of theoretical explanations need to be explored with data that simultaneously employ variables at the contextual and individual levels. Quantitative studies must be complemented by in-depth historical research in order to examine the specific processes occurring within nations. Quantitative cross-national studies with aggregate data are appropriate to evaluate alternative perspectives but it is important to be explicit about the methatheoretical assumptions underlying such research. Beirne and Messeschmidt (1995) warn that if mentioned conditions are not fulfilled, studies will proliferate with exercises of verification and falsification of numerous middle-range theories without a cumulative development of theoretical knowledge. As pointed out by MeÃ…Â ¡ko (2008: 31), the issues about the movement of crime and crime policies between countries and cultures and comparison between countries are important. According to this it is important who are the carriers of these changes and comparisons, and furthermore the transfer of knowledge, ideas and concepts itself and their understanding and implementation in a society. The purpose of comparative studies of crime and criminal justice is to know the impact of cultural, political, economic and other effects on the differences in attitudes towards crime, law enforcement response to violations of laws crime and criminality.  [3]  The comparative criminology enables all this. Different authors (Beirne and Hill, 1991, Fields and Moore, 1996; Wardak and Sheptycki, 2005, Reichel, 2008) define comparative criminology as the systematic study of crime, law and social supervision in two or more cultures, noting that this aspect of criminology has been neglected in the past. Comparative criminology with the support in the criminal justice system and studies allows a comparison of crime and related phenomena between two or more countries. By applying this method, criminologists try to identify the similarities and differences in crime patterns between different cultures. Ideally, it would be necessary to test the theory in as many different possible conditions. Howard and Newman (2001) stressed that in the last decade criminologists realized that the majority of the existing criminal legal theories are limited only to a few western countries. In the last period this situation is slowly changing, as the criminologists, faced with rising crime rates, felt a strong need to share and exchange the experiences and learn from each other. Reichel (2008: 30) points out that at doing the comparisons between countries one needs to focus on the changing crime rates and provide a unified definition, reporting and recording or keeping of crime statistics; other wise the results are not representative, valid and useful. Although many theoretical, methodological, and philosophical problems certainly have dogged comparative criminology since its inception, Howard, Newman and Pridemore (2010) stress that this field of investigation is currently in a state of rapid expansion. Beirne (1983) warns that any serious comparative analysis of crime must confront the reliability of information about crime rates and victimization. Like all cross-cultural analyses, comparative criminology is beset with difficulties about what to compare, how and for what purpose. Promise and the perils of comparative criminology are everything but negligible, because this form of criminological research faces additional obstacles of problems, which all social explanations face. Because the definition of crime is conventional and because it depends on differences between systems of criminal justice, the technical and conceptual obstacles to comparing crime rates and explaining the causes of criminal behavior comparatively are definitely serious. And over and over again, new questions spring up, such as: Is the meaning of criminal behavior constant across different legal systems and cultures? How far can we risk explanations of environmental crime, which avoid reference to meaning? H ow much reliability should we attach to crime data from different societies that are gathered by the police or by victimization surveys? etc. In 1987 Michalowski and Kramer conducted a comparative criminal justice (criminological) study in the field of environmental crime. Back in 1980s they noticed the significant expansion of transnational corporations in the Third World. Because in many developing nations legal control over corporate violations against the environment did not grow commensurately these corporations engaged legally in a variety of injurious actions that would have been recognized as violations of criminal regulatory, or civil law in their home countries. According to Michalowski and Kramer (1987) the differences in the laws of home/countries of origin and host countries, and the ability of transnational corporations to influence the legal climate in the host countries renders the laws derived at the level of nation-states an unsatisfactory basis for determining the scope of criminological research on transnational corporate (environmental) crime.  [4]  Similar cases of expansions are known also in Eur ope, in Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine etc.) and in the Balkan Region (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo etc.). Some West European and other foreign corporations moved most of their production to these developing countries with the reason of reasonable production costs, although the second (hidden) reason for such decision was and still is less restricted environmental protection legislation.  [5]   Bennett and Lynch (1990: 176) made an analysis of cross-national crime indicators and ascertained that the particular use, to which data are put, will affect the comparability and reliability of the descriptive statistics generated. In this respect they add that for surveys focused on aggregated description or the explanation of variance in crime across nations (except homicide) and/or across time, the choice of data set need to be determined by the relative reliability of the data (e.g. diversity of included nations; the accessibility of the data; timelines and completeness of the information). Furthermore, Beirne and Lynch (1990) warn that Interpol data sets are deficient and unreliable and therefore not appropriate for comparative cross-national surveys. When talking about the international data sets it needs to be added that one has to be careful when using data from different international organizations data sets, such as United Nations, World Health Organization, Interpol, Euro pol etc., because they can distinguish very much. On the other side, as stated by Benne and Lynch (1990: 178), dedicated data collection systems, such as victimization surveys, offer greater potential for providing the data needed for descriptive cross-sectional research purposes. The best example of comparative cross-national survey is the International Crime Survey (ICS), where methodology in all participating countries is equal, which means that results of conducted comparisons are reliable and useful. Howard, Newman and Pridemore (2010) attribute several goals of comparative research in criminology, from which some are obvious applications of the traditional canons of the scientific method, and some are unique to the study of crime in an international setting. According to authors, these goals of comparative criminological research are: extending theories beyond cultural and national boundaries; assessing the performance of national criminal justice systems; evaluating national criminal justice policy; coordinating the fight against transnational crime and reasonable critique. Mainly comparative criminology attends to understanding criminal and deviant behavior. If the crime survey is manifested globally, comparative criminological studies will provide useful insights into the control of antisocial activity.  [6]  Furthermore, it is inevitable that the criminological study intersects with the field of criminal justice. For Howard, Newman and Pridemore (2010), comparative criminological surveys are important because of five essential reasons, because they represent and allow: theoretical development and testing; advance comparative analysis; data explosion; policy development; and globalization and comparative studies of crime and criminal justice. When conducting comparative criminological research, academicians can use different methodology and research tools. It actually depends on the nature of research. Howard, Newman and Pridemore (2010) divide the methodology used in comparative criminological surveys into two groups. The first group includes surveys of comparative research that examine specific substantive issues of crime (e.g. violent crime, property crime, national crimes with international implications such as genocide, domestic violence, transnational crime), where crime represents a dependent variable. The second group includes the general types of studies (e.g. metalevel studies (victi mization surveys), parallel studies (crime rate/criminal justice system analysis; topical comparison; replication of an experimental design), and case studies) normally undertaken by comparative criminologists. MeÃ…Â ¡ko (2008b: 31) emphasizes that comparisons between countries in the form of comparative criminological surveys are important, especially in the field of environmental criminality. Next to the comparison of crime data sets, the transfer of knowledge, ideas and concepts itself and their understanding and implementation in a society can be crucial. For this reason, the main aim of comparative criminological surveys of crimes against the environment is to know the impact of cultural, political, economic and other impacts on the differences in attitudes towards environmental crime, law enforcement response to environmental violations and the overcoming of obstacles posed by the lack of relevant knowledge in countries, where green criminology is developing. Comparative criminology enables all this and for this reason it should be more often used in comparisons of environmental crime forms, green criminology findings and environmental justice responses between two or more countri es. At the beginning of their discussion about the meaning and importance of the comparative criminological study Howard, Newman and Pridemore (2010) assert that with the growth of international transparency and the capacity of the World Wide Web to disseminate information, data about crime and justice around the world are more accessible than ever. The data about environmental crime are no exception (more and more information about environmental harm and environmental damage and degradation is published on the world web by non-governmental organizations and accessible to everyone). Environmental crime in comparison to criminological and criminal justice surveys Environmental crime is every temporary or permanent legally defined deviant act or resigned activity, which causes an artificial change, worsening, burdening, degeneration or destruction of (human) environment or breaking its natural changes. The perpetrator could be anyone or every one of us (corporations, companies, groups, individuals, etc). White (2009: 1) stresses that for many people and experts the term environmental crime is best described not in terms of legality but in terms of new concepts of environmental justice. For him, environmental harm can be conceptualized in the aspect of three broad approaches to the understanding of environmental issues: conventional criminology  [7]  , ecological perspectives  [8]  and green criminology.  [9]  For White (2008), environmental crime is harm against the environment that is being perpetrated across the earth, although its intensity and form varies depending upon specific regions and specific populations. His definition of environmental crime seems more or less logical, although is hard to RAZDELITI and use in comparative criminological or/and criminal justice survey. The definition of environmental crime should be simple, clear and understandable. Only that way the definition could be broadly acceptable (unified) and possible to use for the purpose of comparative studies. In this respect, Clifford and Edwards (1998) warn that an extremely broad definition is not useful for purposes of analysis, because everything can be included in it. Clifford and Edwards suggest that one of the objectives of defining environmental crime is to make reasonable comparisons possible and for this reason the definition has to be so broad as to preclude meaningful distinctions. And something else is definitely true, more researchers and experts know about the environmental crime, the more surveys they conduct, the better their suggested concept (definition) of environmental crime will be. After analyzing the sociological (criminological), philosophical and legal concept of environmental crime, Clifford and Edwards (1998: 25) offered their definition of environmental crime: An environmental crime is an act in violation of an environmental protection statue that applies to the area in which the act occurred and that has already indentified criminal sanctions for purposes of police enforcement. To make their definition easier to understand, Clifford and Edwards (1998: 26) divided it into two parts. The first part defines the term environmental crime from the philosophical aspect: Environmental crime is an act committed with the intent to harm or with a potential to cause harm to ecological and/or biological systems and for the purpose of securing business or personal advantage. The second definition, arising from the legal aspect, states that an environmental crime is any act that violates an environmental protection statute. With the use of such definitions of environme ntal crime the execution of comparative criminological and criminal justice studies is possible and achievable. When talking about environmental crime, we talk about very different phenomena, which are very hard to be gathered in a single universal definition. Environmental crime as such is more or less new and still an unknown form of crime and in some aspects a different form of crime as criminologists, researchers and other experts are used to (classic crime).  [10]  When dealing with environmental crime and performing (comparative) criminological or criminal justice studies man has to be aware of the following most often and important particularities of the environmental criminality: Environmental crime is very diverse all around the world, between countries and between regions (it is inherent to each individual, the economic system, environmental and biological systems, etc.). The problem of the agreed definition of the term environmental crime is still causing problems. One of them is a unified comprehension of the term environmental crime in comparative studies. Because of the lack of adjusted terminology and of a united internationally acknowledged definition, problems on all other levels of discussion, punishment and prevention of environmental crime are appearing.  [11]   Environmental crime is related to the technical development and progress; therefore new forms of environmental criminality are continually produced. Never ending changes to already present forms of environmental crime show themselves in extension and represent the need for constant monitoring, supplementing and changing of the already existing divisions or forming new ones.  [12]   Environmental crime is specific on one hand because of the perpetrators (offenders), their motives and the chosen modus operandi, and on the other hand because of special features of two different victims. Environmental crime acts usually do not affect human victims directly, as it happens in classical forms of criminality. In this case the first victim of a criminal act of environmental crime is the environment, which afterwards threatens the humans (poisoned water sources, toxic gas release, polluted soil, etc.). The narrow research of the whole field of environmental criminality and lack of different ways of research of environmental crime clearly show the need to extend the methodological approaches in criminological studies of environmental crime. Besides supplementing and verification of different comprehensions, the need for alternative approaches to research modern forms of environmental threats also expresses itself, because with human development and modern progress the forms and offenders of environmental crimes are changing. Green criminology has to recognize the lack of specific knowledge (especially natural sciences knowledge), which are essential for effective dealing with deviations against the environment. In this respect, the relations between various disciplines that need to be defined and framed are important. Furthermore, the field of environmental criminality demands a multidisciplinary approach. In the field of ecology, better to say environmental justice, the boundaries between licit and illicit (legal and illegal) are often vague (circumvention of the environmental threats to the legal order of the country). Sometimes the (inter)national environmental law is an imperfect system for the protection of the environment, because it is sometimes too broad and vague, or it depends on national interests elsewhere. Inseparable connection of environmental crime with the society and the way of life make the effort of the active criminological researching of environmental crime and finding more effective supervision systems and methods for preventing environmental crime even harder. In the front is the problem of defining the relation man environment (offender powerless victim).  [13]   More and more attention is drawn into the relation environment safety. Such condition also reflects itself in numerous countries, which try hard to cooperate more intensively in the field of environmental protection on the international level. The need for adequate measures and a more structural and planned approach to such problems and responses to it is growing. All of the above listed characteristics of environmental criminality are very important. They define environmental crime as such and must be taken into account when carrying out green criminological research or analysis. Furthermore, the characteristics must not be ignored when performing comparative criminological surveys; otherwise the results may be incorrect and misleading. One of such example is the use of ICS results in environmental crime comparative criminological survey, because the victims of environmental crime, caused harm and consequences, are still mostly unknown, therefore the conclusions based on a small number of victims reports could be misleading. Furthermore, different forms of environmental crime (e.g. crimes against air, water, soil, etc.) cause different damage and consequences, have different victims and even can be hidden for decades. For better understanding of what exactly environmental crime is, what is punishable, how violence is punished, why it comes to violence and who are the victims of environmental crime, we first need to define the basic terms. The answers to the following questions who committed crime, why he committed it and how the crime is committed against the environment, are expected to be explained by criminology with a good reason. Green criminology has developed as a branch of a science about criminal acts and their perpetrators, which researches the forms of deviant behavior and investigates the causes of such behavior, describes such phenomena and observes them in their development. After all, criminology is not legal, but empirical science, which uses comprehensions of empirical researches and results of the experience. As such, green criminology, can and is using comparative studies to understand and be able to explain environmental crime more detailed and accurately. The comparative criminological and criminal justice studies of environmental crime are very rare due the several reasons. The most important is the unknown, inadequately defined and poorly researched field of environmental criminality all over the globe. Despite that, the importance and the benefits of comparative criminological studies are very important for the further development of the environmental crime field and green criminology as mainstream social science dealing with environmental issues. The scope of comparative green criminology and criminal justice is wider than the search for the causes of environmental crime, as already mentioned by Beirne and Nelken (1997). For this reason it includes the study of transnational environmental crime, the problems of exporting models of environmental crime control to other countries and the way the views of green criminologists are themselves influenced by their cultures in the search of explanations of environmental crime. When conducting a comparative study of environmental crime one has to be aware that the purpose of comparative studies of crime is to know the impact of cultural, political, economic and other impacts on the differences in attitudes towards environmental crime, law enforcement response to violations of environmental protection laws environmental crime and environmental criminality. The use of comparative criminological and criminal justice studies in the field of environmental crime is very important, because i t enables a comparison of environmental crime and related phenomena, such as environmental degradation and destruction, between two, three or more countries. Furthermore, green criminologists try to identify the similarities and differences in the environmental crime patterns between different cultures with the application of this method. Furthermore, they use them to understand and explain the causes for committing environmental crimes. Comparative criminological and criminal justice surveys of environmental crime are important because of five essential reasons, stressed by Howard, Newman and Pridemore (2010: STRAN). They represent and allow: a) theoretical development and testing of criminological theories in the field of environmental criminality and green criminology; b) advance comparative environmental crime analysis; c) environmental crime data explosion; d) (environmental) crime policy development; and e) globalization and comparative studies of environmental crime and criminal justice. What is more, the purpose of such studies is to know the impact of cultural, political, economic and other impacts on the differences in attitudes towards crime, law enforcement response to violations of laws crime and criminality. The comparative criminology enables all this and for this reason it should be more often used in comparisons of environmental crime forms, green criminology findings and environmental justice respo nses between two or more countries. Similar to Slovenia, some countries have typical characteristics in existent phenomenal forms of environmental crime, as well as by offenders of the environmental crime. For this reason the comparison should be set on a common basis, which is widely accepted all over the world. Comparative criminology could be for example used in a survey that would originate from Sutherlands (1939; in Sutherland and Cressey, 1974) definition of criminology.  [14]  By combining different research methods, it is possible to explain the problem of extension and destructive power of environmental crime on one hand and on the other unconsciousness of noxiousness and its influence on the environment, human and his life. The environmental topic and the research approach are relevant for Slovenian science and also for work of green criminology and competent authorities, because they represent an exact analysis of discourse of environmental crime in the country and worldwide. The practicability of this a pproach shows itself in offering the results and comprehensions that could be the basis of activities to protect the society from environmental crime. Comparative criminological studies are very important for further development of green criminology and the gathering of additional knowledge about the environmental crime. The desired objectives of such a survey are often an understanding of criminal and deviant behavior against the environment in the chosen country and assessing the performance of the national criminal justice system. The transfer of knowledge about environmental criminality remains the main aim of the comparative criminological survey. Furthermore, comparative green criminological and criminal justice studies enable a comparison of environmental crime and related phenomena between compared countries, and help green criminologists identify similarities and differences in environmental crime patterns, and understand and explain the causes for and consequences of environmental crimes.

Michael Jackson :: essays research papers

Praising the King of Pop Michael Jackson Introduction: Perhaps no one has received this title in history â€Å"the king of pop†, now a days many artist’s have arisen and have performed but not as the king of pop known worldwide and in history, has dominated the world of pop as Michael Jackson. Born on August 29, 1958 to a strict working class family in Gary, Indiana. Michael Jackson has gone through personal scandal, family squabbles and numerous career quakes but Michael Joseph Jackson remains one of the planet's best known figures. Jackson has spent almost his entire life as a public performer. He was the founder member of the Jackson Five at the age of four, soon becoming their lead vocalist and frontman. This implies Jackson has started his career at a very early age to gradually become one good public personality and famous. For this and for other reasons, he deserves praise and to be praised. Narrative: Michael Jackson was born and grew up in a strict working family in Gary, Indiana, USA on August 29, 1958. Jackson showed an early interest in music as did most of his family. His mother sang frequently, his father Joseph Jackson played guitar in a small-time R&B band, his older brothers often sang and played with their father’s guitar. Soon the family singing group started, with Michael as the main puppet and four of his older brothers. â€Å"After all it seemed to be the simplest way to earn money to feed so many kids said Joseph Jackson†. If you can't feed your kids teach them how to feed themselves. Anyway Michael soon outgrew his brothers with his unique talent not just for singing but for dancing as well. Jackson’s father, who is a controlling supposedly abusive father. "My father beat me. It was difficult to take being beaten and then going onstage. "He was strict; very hard and stern." Says Michael Jackson. He pushed his sons including Michael into forming a group called the Jackson five. Their group quickly arose from playing local talent shows to landing a contract with the renowned Motown label at the end of 1968. During the early '70s the group became well-known, with "baby", Michael as the lead singer of the group. This talent dragged on for decades and gradually getting better and better, Michael taking the lead and as the main source of income for the family for proving and presenting his talent to many music labels and organizations throughout the years.

Renaissance period

In the Renaissance period, there had been evidence that mentally people did already exist. In this period, the beliefs which mainly came from the Middle Ages were dragged into renaissance period. This is the ideology that people under mental disorder or people who are mentally ill are those who were casted by or cursed by evil spirits (Administrator, 2006).Certain people under this kind of disorder where locked away during this time, they are being placed in cells and they are not being taken care of by any physicians. These people are said to be tortured instead of being cured, they are often being locked up inside the closets and even in cages because of their being disobedient caused by their unknown mental disorder (Administrator, 2006).On the year 1493-1541 Paracelsus had this ideology that mental illness is not really cause by evil spirits but then people during this time did not took his idea as merely fact and instead the people continued the way on how they treat mentally di sordered ones.It is explained that people with this kind of problem during the renaissance time only talk and interact with people of their same disorder. It is because they are the ones who are considered dangerous and incompetent (Administrator, 2006).As a result to lack of care and attention for seeking cure, people who are mentally ill during the renaissance period are experiencing difficulties which cause their mental health to be more of a problem because instead of being reversed, they become more mentally ill (Administrator, 2006).The cruel treatments such as torture for the mentally ill people were lessened during the 17th century where the first mental hospital was established in England. People in this ward were viewed like animals in the zoo during this time and there were no further studies made to cure such mental problem until the mid 18th century (Administrator, 2006).References Administrator.(2006).History[ElectronicVersion]from http://www.afunnyfarm.org.uk/index.ph p?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=18&Itemid=39.

Evaluating Opportunities for Revenue Management Essays

Evaluating Opportunities for Revenue Management Essays Evaluating Opportunities for Revenue Management Paper Evaluating Opportunities for Revenue Management Paper Within the restaurant, airline hotel industries the characteristics that feature most prominently are Intangibility, perishability variability. All these industries use these characteristics to their own advantage to enable them to attract new customers also retain their current customers. Intangibility is a characteristic that all the industries have play a part in the service that they create. The building premises help to make the customers feel welcome, comfortable help to bring energy to the service. As with all the industries they have a high involvement so there is such an importance for the companies to get it right with location, the properties dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½cor for which the service the place in. The staff being polite, friendly approachable is a characteristic they all would like to share; majority would endorse that ethic but at times may not always be practiced. Within certain hotels the languages that an employee speaks is on their name badge, this helps the customers feel at ease. Websites the internet can provide the customer with an idea an incite for what they can expect enhance the image before the customer attends. Perishability characteristics feature in the three industries but in different ways, perishabilty is described by Palmer (2005) as services that cant be stored. In restaurants once the product are passed a sell by date or perished then they cant be used again, similarly within the other industries they involve perishable goods that cant be used once a certain time has passed. With hotels once a time has past that room within that time cant be used, like once a plane has taken off you cant sell another ticket on that plane because of the fixed seating. Ways in which they will overcome this problem is that they will attempt to deploy a yield management strategy to make sure that capacity is at its maximum. Variability has been important in these service industries as it can mean the whether their service is standardised, whether the customer can be an influential part of the services through customisation choose the service. With more demand for customisation Venkat (2007) describes the reason for this as In this age of product diversity, mass markets are progressively fragmented with different segments of customers demanding customised products. As every customer is different their expectation of the service thats provided is going to be different, a way in which organisation have overcome this through standardising practices letting customers choose the service. In restaurants many standardizations take place including scripting, settings menus, this way the are able they try and meet more of the whole customers expectancies, rather than tailor it to one certain person. Airlines hotels have used the opportunity to allow the customer to individualise their experience before the partake, allow them to choose seating, check in before they get there offering services like a morning paper in hotel that the read. This use helps to make the customer feel welcome gains customer loyalty. Although inseparability is not as common as the other characteristics it has become more of a key role with the introduction of certain technologies through web checking, online reservations online digital food delivery it enables them to produce the service. Lack of ownership effect all three industries as the service they provide cant be owned, this said in some instances the customers feel as though they do own a part of the service. With this problem all three industries have attempted to overcome it by putting features in place that give the consumer that feeling of ownership, this has been by creating customer loyalty relationship marketing. The hotel market has introduced regular offer, savings on certain timings potential upgrades to get customers interest. Theyve also looked at selling their own merchandise by selling their own towels dressing gowns. The internet has been used by all three with the inclusion of e-newsletters to its customers on a regular basis with updates. Restaurants have created the ownership through loyalty cards and trying to create an experience within the restaurants like TGIS Hard Rock Cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ where you can get souvenirs like photos. Airlines through the use of air miles which encourage customers to re use the airline also create a relationship with them. Characteristics at Coyote Loco Restaurant In regards to the Coyote Loco restaurant the service characteristics that are most important, it can be seen that intangibility, perish ability variability are the key characteristics to enable quality service. Perishability With the restaurant having reservations tables available throughout the day it is vital they make the most of each potential yield, as once time has past the opportunity is gone which means that that money is lost. With this in mind its key that they look at ways in which they can make the most out what they have available spread the demand. Intangibility Several intangible aspects affect the service quality of Coyote Loco, from the atmosphere, staff the experience the restaurant creates. The atmosphere can invite custom as it comes across as a friendly, lively exciting place to eat that using this to create an experience for the customers could help to create loyalty attract segments not previously targeted. The customer service of staff how they treat the customers is a massive part of creating service quality, staff being polite, courteous going the extra mile can have an imprint on customers minds even mean they remember the service more than the product theyve product. Internal marketing is important as the staff can have such an effect on so many other areas of the service almost act as part time marketers. In regards to variability the fact that certain standardisations in seating and the time at which customers take is something that isnt deployed enough and means that they are missing out on potential yields. The use of a revenue management strategy can be vital for Coyote Loco in making sure that the restaurant makes the most of each yield. The meaning of revenue management can be seen by Kimes (2001) as An umbrella term for a set of strategies that enable capacity-constrained service industries to realize optimum revenue from operations. This illustrates the importance of the strategy which is why many organisations use these types of strategies including industries where they share the characteristic of perishable products such as restaurants. By using the 4cs of yield management within the strategy looking to incorporate parts of each c into the strategy they identify weaknesses opportunities in their service for revenue management. As Coyote Loco has larger demand during months when student are there the use of Calendar strategy will help to forecast future demand by tracking historical demand patterns. This process will involve a forecasting procedure to allow for overbooking the probability that some customer may not show up. Having a system that could forecast demand will give an advantage they could include using a threshold curve to do this. Clock strategy will enable Coyote Loco to dictate the amount of time each service cycle last. This approach will be imperative to the restaurant and be the main tool used during busy periods as it could reduce certain times in the process potentially allow them to take more customers at those times, this also needs to done carefully as although in other strategies some customers may be sensitive to the price this also could have the adverse effect on customers who are time sensitive. To attract the price sensitive customer the restaurant could use a cost strategy of lowering the price restricting the menu at slower periods to try and bring those customers in, the use of a simply menu would also mean they could potentially reduce some of there running cost during these times like lunch time. This said the restaurant need to make sure that the customer who eat at peak times feel like there getting the better service and possibility of upgrading there meal or using something else to improve the service like loyalty cards, preferential booking features, dinners club even special seating to keep that customer loyalty. A strategy that many companies have used to make sure they make the most of each potential yield they have available is changing the prices charged for certain slow periods. This way they can lower the prices when less busy to make sure they get as many customers through the doors. In the case of Coyote Loco with the mid week lunch time troughs the use of special deals at these times like two courses for a reduced price or early bird specials to reward customers who eat earlier in the day. At lunchtimes the use of buffet or set menus could not only attract customers but could also mean they could reduce their costs. Many restaurants have buffet lunches at a set price where its all you can eat, this gives the incentive that they are being given the opportunity at a reasonable cost, although setting a time limit or a set allocation would be beneficial. This way they could also attract other target segments; with the lunchtime buffet they could try to attract the local businesses on their lunch to further develop the connection with students. The implementation of further developing customer loyalty, as the restaurant has some loyal customers its important to make sure they are rewarded for coming back that new customers they can create that loyalty. Capacity management is key as with the restaurant they will have a good idea of how long customer duration will roughly be, they need to use this information along with the reservations they have to forecast the amount of patrons to avoid overcrowding, turning away of custom customer displeasure. They could do this by deploying a table management system to make sure the change over time between customers runs smoothly, training the hostess in regards to this will help to use standardisation in regards to the table layout at busy periods will potentially increase capacity. The use of the whole restaurant will also enable the to gain more capacity as many customers staying at tables to drink they could encourage the use of the bar also take advantage of the outside area during summer months. A tactic that many restaurants also use for customer while waiting to be seated is having a drink at the bar, this could also be used within the restaurant and could be encouraged by staff for before after meals.