Questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE It is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case. The questionnaire was invented by Sir Francis Galton. It refers to paper and pencil data gathering method by letting the subject or respondent complete the questionnaire before the researcher or his representative, or it can be mailed Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. However, such standardized answers may frustrate users. Questionnaires are also sharply limited by the fact that respondents must be able to read the questions and respond to them. Thus, for some demographic groups conducting a survey by questionnaire may not be practical. Questionnaire is also the most commonly used tool to generate data. Sometimes, it is called the survey form. TYPES A distinction can be made between questionnaires with questions that measure separate variables, and questionnaires with questions that are aggregated into either a scale or index. Questionnaires within the former category are commonly part of surveys, whereas questionnaires in the latter category are commonly part of tests. Questionnaires with questions that measure separate variables could for instance include questions on: * preferences (e. g. political party) * behaviors (e. g. food consumption) * facts (e. g. gender) Questionnaires with questions that are aggregated into either a scale or index include for instance questions that measure: * latent traits (e. g. personality traits such as extroversion) * attitudes (e. . towards immigration) * an index (e. g. Social Economic Status) Question types Usually, a questionnaire consists of a number of questions that the respondent has to answer in a set format. A distinction is made between open-ended and closed-ended questions. An open-ended question asks the respondent to formulate his own answer, whereas a closed-ended question has the respondent pick an answer from a given number of options. The response optio ns for a closed-ended question should be exhaustive and mutually exclusive. Four types of response scales for closed-ended questions are distinguished: * Dichotomous * Nominal-polytomous * Ordinal-polytomous * (Bounded)Continuous A respondent's answer to an open-ended question is coded into a response scale afterwards. An example of an open-ended question is a question where the testee has to complete a sentence (sentence completion item). What Are the Criteria of a good Questionnaire? 1. The language must be clear. 2. The content of the question must be specific. . The question should show singleness of purpose. 4. The question must be free from assumptions. 5. The question must be free from suggestions. 6. The question should have linguistic completeness and grammatical consistency. Questionnaire administration modes Main modes of questionnaire administration are: * Face-to-face questionnaire administration * Paper-and-pencil questionnaire administration * Computerized questionnaire administration * Adaptive computerized questionnaire administration

Being a Global Citizen

Global citizenship is a term that is widely used for different purposes and meanings. There is no single agreement on the meaning of global citizenship. As we all know, the world is changing faster than most of us can keep up with, technology is one of those drivers of change and people are becoming more connected to each other around the world than ever before through internet usage. As people become more connected they begin to see themselves becoming a citizen not only through their natural birth place but a citizen of the world. There are many ways to understand citizenship or being a global citizen.Based on the legal-political view, citizenship is a status granted on individuals by political communities that they belong in. It can also be defined as people giving allegiance to a country, they have to accept and uphold the duties, responsibilities and exercise the rights that they are entitled to as citizens such as obeying the laws, paying taxes, serving in the military forces i f they need to, and have rights to participate in the political life by voting and participating in elections. As a citizen it is important to maintain law and order to society.Students around the world are embracing cultural diversity and the school system is teaching the students about them. Throughout global media and technologies, virtually everyone on earth is exposed to foreign ideas and even our own communities are more diversified than ever before. The most important thing to understand about cultural globalization is it is largely driven by corporations, rather than countries. A citizen of the world is someone’s awareness of the world as a global community and recognizing the rights and responsibilities of citizens within it.As a citizen of the world we must stand up to solve poverty, stand up to environmental degradation that is tearing apart our land, stand up and protect our country if it is being threatened, and be an activist against anything that deprive anyone from their rights, life, and pursuit of happiness. It is important to recognize we are not just citizens of our respected countries but citizens in a larger global community. Economically, with the rise of a global economy, we are now more dependent upon people who don’t live in our local communities.Businesses are not restricted to one geographic area or group of the people instead they are everywhere. We are no longer a citizen of our own country, but citizens in a global community. These changes provide opportunities for great collaboration and we can find a way to work together. Global citizenship is seen as a way to reduce differences in quality of life among countries, reduce poverty, and protect the environment. Globalization is seen as a cause that could address worldwide issues such as hunger, malnutrition, and clean water. Protecting the environment and natural resources also becomes part of this concept of citizenship.Being a global citizen is not necessarily bein g a good global citizen. By saying that I mean, we don’t have to be a really rich or anything to be global citizens; just the little step to do something is all it takes. Standing up for something you believe in, helping out the unfortunate, stopping someone from saying a racist comment is all part of being global citizens. A citizen of the world would be one who sees an opportunity to influence a global decision and accepts the behavior that comes with it. All individuals have duties and responsibility of doing that.

Buddhist website

The future exploratory study will identify how the multimedia factors contributing to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) – graphic usage, audio/video usage, merchandise section, etc. – affect Thai user’s attitude toward Buddhist website. The dissertation also seeks to determine whether the abovementioned factors make user to have either positive or negative or indifferent attitude toward the site. The study will employ a two-part qualitative methodology, and the results, it is hoped, will lead to more informed policies for the assessment of Thai user’s attitude toward Buddhist websites.This dissertation will employ heuristic and field research methodology to perform a high-level cultural analysis on Website design for the purposes of future research. The analysis of socio-economical and cultural issues (religion, Human-Computer Interaction, e-commerce, ethnography) relating to Website design is especially valuable from the perspective of the Thai-speaking Bu ddhist audience. Future research on the matters stated above is expected to clarify what kind of information people from the particular cultural region expect and how it should be designed.Literature Review Mayhew once compared a website to a book which anyone can display on The World Wide Web (WWW) which is â€Å"a repository of public information and transactions created by the public and accessible to the public via the Internet† (Mayhew, 2003, p. 3). The characteristics of the WWW are tensely linked to the ones of the website. Any website incorporates multimedia data such as text, static graphics, sound, animation, movie clips and virtual spaces arranged as hypermedia documents.These are the â€Å"documents that contain links to other pages of information† (Dodge & Kitchin, 2001, p. 3). The key issue about a website is its interactive, multimedia and hypermedia nature. The present research should be inevitably wrapped around the principles of Human-Computer Interac tion (HCI), user interface (UI) design, website usability engineering, and their influences on the website users. Alty defined the goal of HCI as â€Å"the efficient transfer of information between persons and computers† (2003a, p.100). According to Alty, HCI is [†¦] a generic term that describes all the activities concerned with the research, design, analysis, development, implementation and evaluation of the interactions across the interface between computer applications and human beings (often called users or operators) who are interacting with the application. (Alty, 2003b, p. 228) An authentic website should be constructed according to the principle of user-centered design.It means that â€Å"the needs, capabilities and limitations of the intended users [should be] properly taken into account during the design process† (Alty, 2003a, p. 100). Among the Internet user interface capabilities and constraints affecting users’ perceptions Mayhew listed modem speed, browser capabilities, browser controls and interpreters, installed â€Å"helper applications† or â€Å"plug-ins,† windowing, direct manipulation, and color (2003, p. 11).Within the context of HCI, a website utilizes output (text, graphics, sound, music, speech, color, animation, still pictures, moving video) and input (text [keyboard, handwriting], gesture [mouse, pen, dataglove, eye-movement], audio [voice or sound]) media to produce an effect on the user. Most literature investigates the tokens of user-friendliness in regard to a website (Mayhew, 2003; Mayhew & Bias, 2003; Opaluch, 2003; Boardman, 2004). Acknowledging the importance of this concept, Kurosu (2003) relied on cultural aspects of web usability such as â€Å"cultural variety† and â€Å"depth of culture† (p.48). The researcher utilized Suzuki's (1997) definition of the culture as â€Å"the response pattern shared by some specific group of people that is shaped through interaction with the environment† (Kurosu, 2003, p. 48) holding â€Å"the response pattern† as â€Å"how people will interact with the Website,† and â€Å"interaction with the environment† as â€Å"the interaction with the Website through the PC environment, including the browser. † Laney (1998) in his investigation of religious Christian Web sites relied on the Media System Dependency as well as uses and gratifications perspectives.Some researchers (Weeks & Goodman, 2003; Proctor & Vu, 2003) investigated HIC within the context of human information processing and perceptual-motor behavior, whereas the other group of scholars (van der Veer & del Carmen, 2003; Yoshikawa, 2003) emphasized the mental modeling as the core of HCI. Finally, Brave & Nass (2003) researched emotional implications of human-computer interaction. There is also a considerable body of research (Mayhew & Bias, 2003; Carey, 2001; Steinbock, 2000; Varey, 2001) dedicated to the issues of e-commerce a nd marketing relating to websites.Taken into account the field of the present research, reaction of Thai users towards Buddhist websites, the abovestated mechanisms and structures of HCI with a stress of user-friendliness should be analyzed within the religious and cultural context. The relation to culture in terms of geographical location is distorted and made complex within the WWW context (Couldry & McCarthy, 2004; Miller, 2004; Dodge & Kitchin, 2001; Kurosu, 2003). Geographical boundaries (the areas where people confess Buddhism, Thailand as a state unity) do not coincide with cultural zones (Thai cultural identity) and virtual areas (the WWW).On the one hand, Thailand is ready to enter the global community with its rather developed media network (Hamilton, 2002; Mccargo, 2002). On the other hand, the Thai national cultural identity is of introvert type with its â€Å"assertion of distinctiveness in relation to a powerful external world of ‘others’† (Hamilton , 2002, p. 153). One should also take into consideration the cultural elements constituting the religion of Buddhism. Haynes (2003) stated that over 90 per cent of the Thais are Buddhists.In Thailand Buddhism is â€Å"the sasana pracham chat, that is, the ‘inherent’ national religion† and constitutes â€Å"an ideological basis and political legitimacy† for the state (Haynes, 2003, p. 365). However, Haynes (2003) noted that the role of the state religion is flexible and â€Å"open to debate† (ibid. ). Swearer emphasized the unusual orientation of Thai Buddhism towards â€Å"[t]he cult of relics, images, icons, and amulets† (2003, p. 10). The religion in Thailand became more â€Å"secular and commercial† (ibid. ).The discussion seems especially interesting when religious issues are projected onto the virtual reality in the form of a religious website. Miller & Slater acknowledged â€Å"the coming together of a widespread interest in the spiritual implications of the technology, found in some of the cyberutopian literature, together with an interest in the use of the Internet on the part of established religions† (2000, p. 173). Laney (1998) noted that the simplification of web technologies and, thus, their cheapening contributed to the proliferation of religious websites.Unfortunately, the accessible literature concentrated on Christian websites with no comparison to other confessions. Last (2005) provided an interesting statistics on the Christian websites in regard to the goal of the website users in their accessing the religious websites. According to the source, 32 percent of the web-surfers are interested in religious news, 17 percent search for places to worship, 14 percent plan religious group meetings via the Internet, and 7 percent donate to charity with the help of the WWW.Besides, 11 percent of Internet users download spiritual music, 35 percent send online greeting cards, and 38 percent email spi ritual messages. Unfortunately, the statistics is rather modest in regard to Buddhist websites. Within the Thailand context, Hachigian & Wu observed such HCI problems as â€Å"the lack of IT access in rural areas where most of the population lives, lack of literacy in English/lack of Thai content, incompatible systems in different parts of the government, and inadequate training of officials† (2003, p. 88). Most of the Buddhist websites found by a plain search via search engines (Yahoo, Google, etc.) are written in English. Therefore, the present investigation is associated with difficulties in locating authentic sites for analysis. Problem definition It is true that literature about the WWW and general principles of website user interface (UI) design has grown lately. However, religious usage of websites is significantly underexplored. It is especially evident in regard to non-Christian religious websites. Religious website usage may contribute positively to the body of scho larly research on the motivations for religious Web use. The media being studied are Buddhist religious sites on the World Wide Web.Large investments are being made into the construction and development of religious websites on the Internet. A great proportion of Buddhist websites are written in English and seeks to meet cultural expectations of the Westerners. Laney (1998) once defined the problem for his investigation of Christian websites as the poorly researched motivations of the English-speaking visitors. The American scholar would be astonished at the â€Å"black hole† in regard to the motivations of Thai-speaking web-surfers whose driving desires and emotions relating to Buddhist websites are unexplored even to a greater extent.The present project seeks specifically to provide an exploratory study of Buddhist Thai-speaking website users and their motivations for using the religious Buddhist websites. Cultural theory as well as Mental Models theory and HCI theory const ruct a complex framework important for the present analysis. In order to investigate Thai users’ attitudes toward Buddhist websites the following theoretical framework was constructed. Three issues taken as independent variables are taken: graphics usage, audio/video usage, and e-marketing strategies in regard to Buddhist religious items.The first two issues are the types of output media whose effect on the user has been empirically proved. The issue of e-marketing is still being explored mainly from the perspective of user-centered design. A lot of elements may enter this concept including technical (e. g. , modem speed), user-oriented input (text, gesture, audio media), cultural (language, religion, country/nation) and other issues. The aforestated independent variables are supposed to affect (either positively, or negatively, or neutrally) the variable of website user’s perceptions.It is supposed here that graphics and multimedia elements do correlate with web-surfe rs’ emotions and attitudes. The second hypothesis is that religious background of a user (Buddhism) reinforces his/her positive/negative attitude toward Buddhist websites. In an effort to determine the presence/absence of correlation between website user design elements and Thai Buddhist users a revisit of previous implications of HCI and cultural paradigms is necessary. This research will attempt to provide a description of Thai Buddhism website usage.An additional purpose of this study is to identify the website design elements which positively/negatively affect the users of Buddhist religious websites. This study is an exploratory step in growing research on religious websites usage and the motivations for its use. Numerous studies will be required to obtain sufficient knowledge to fully understand this audience’s motivations and preferences for utilizing the most modern form of mediated religion. It is hoped that the present project will provide a starting point an d contribute to the growing body of knowledge in regard to the Internet and its cultural and social significance.Bibliography 1. Dodge, M. & Kitchin, R. (2001) Mapping cyberspace. London, Routledge. 2. Mccargo, D. (2002) Media and politics in Pacific Asia. London, Routledge. 3. Boardman, M. (2004) The language of websites. New York, Routledge. 4. Dennis, C. , Fenech, T. & Merrilees, B. (2004) E-Retailing. New York, Routledge. 5. Steinbock, D. (2000) The birth of Internet marketing communications. Westport, CT, Quorum Books. 6. Varey, R. J. (2001) Marketing communication: An introduction to contemporary issues. New York, Routledge. 7. Miller, D. & Slater, D.(2000) The Internet: An ethnographic approach. Oxford, Berg. 8. Hachigian, N. & Wu, L. (2003) The Information Revolution in Asia. Santa Monica, CA, Rand. 9. Mayhew, D. J. (2003) The web as software. In: Ratner, J. ed. Human factors and web development. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 3-19. 10. Kurosu, M. (2003) A cult ural comparison of website design from a usability engineering perspective. In: Ratner, J. ed. Human factors and web development. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 47-59. 11. Mayhew, D. J. & Bias, R. G. (2003) Cost-justifying web usability.In: Ratner, J. ed. Human factors and web development. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 63-87. 12. Opaluch, R. (2003) Usability metrics. In: Ratner, J. ed. Human factors and web development. Mahwah, NJ, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 101-122. 13. Hamilton, A. (2002) The national picture: Thai media and cultural identity. In: Abu-Lughod, L. , Ginsburg, F. D. & Larkin, B. ed. Media worlds: Anthropology on new terrain. Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, pp. 152-170. 14. Swearer, D. K. (2003) Aniconism versus iconism in Thai Buddhism.In: Heine, S. & Prebish, C. S. ed. Buddhism in the modern world: Adaptations of an ancient tradition. New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 9-25. 15. Alty, J. L. (2003a) Databases, know ledge management and information retrieval. In: Feather, J. & Sturges, P. ed. International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science. New York, Routledge, pp. 100-101. 16. Alty, J. L. (2003b) Human-computer interaction. In: Feather, J. & Sturges, P. ed. International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science. New York, Routledge, pp. 228-230.

Leading Organization Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leading Organization Change - Essay Example Macro level (big scale - organizational level causes) Demand for Little-bit's product has been strong, however, quality decrease because of organizational culture. Little-bit's reputation is crumbling because of its managers' negative public statements. Fairly flat structure of Little-bit. Micro level (small scale - group/individual level causes) Members of the organization has their own agenda, the whole organization is not working for the company's vision and objectives. The leaders also divided, they decide individually. Too many members of the management, the functions and responsibilities overlap. 3. Identify which of the four systems are affected - e.g. Interpersonal, Techno-structural, Human processes, Strategic. Note: Using Text Book The most affected by change is the strategic system, because change is simply unavoidable in the business world. The advent of globalization and information technology taught organizations well that change is necessary. To become stagnant is to deprive the organization of its chances to survive in a harsh, unpredictable and rapidly changing business environment. 4. Identify which organizational metaphors (machines or political or organisms or flux and transformation ) are generally applied by members of the organization Note: Using concept stated in S_Reading 4.6 The members of Little-bit are applying the organizational metaphors such as organisms (it is important to maximize to fit between individual, team and organizational needs), cultures and political system (the company applies autocracy and there are coalitions between individuals that is more important than work teams). 5. Identify which new metaphors (machines or political or organisms or flux and...For example, if you selected a theoretical approach that indicated that managers are capable of shaping their environment, then you would need to select interventions and other factors that are consistent with this approach. The most affected by change is the strategic system, because change is simply unavoidable in the business world. The advent of globalization and information technology taught organizations well that change is necessary. To become stagnant is to deprive the organization of its chances to survive in a harsh, unpredictable and rapidly changing business environment. The members of Little-bit are applying the organizational metaphors such as organisms (it is important to maximize to fit between individual, team and organizational needs), cultures and political system (the company applies autocracy and there are coalitions between individuals that is more important than work teams). Little-bit should apply the concept of "organizations as machines" because in this metaphor change must be driven and resistance can be managed. The company's objectives can be set at the beginning of the process and can give the direction. 7. Identify which meta-model of change is most appropriate.

HYPNOTHERAPY & NEURO LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING Essay

HYPNOTHERAPY & NEURO LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING - Essay Example When a person actually realizes where he wants to be in life, his dream will come true. Pillar three is about behaviour flexibility. To achieve an outcome, the person behaves in a certain manner. If this behavior pattern is nonproductive, it should be changed. This adaptability of the behaviour enhances the chances of the person to accomplish the desired results. Neurological levels help to understand the overall process of personal change issues. It identifies the best time and the best place to make necessary changes in a person which enables him to achieve success. The idea of capability focuses on talents, skills, resources, strategies and abilities that guide our behaviour and enables us to take the required action. The capabilities should be analysed properly so that we can deliberately make use of it whenever required. The values and beliefs in our lives influence the way that we act and think. If we think negatively about our performance of certain activity, we are bound to fell. If we develop the required skills, self-confidence will increase. This will have a positive impact on the perceived belief and will make necessary changes in limited beliefs. Making a change in one neurological level impacts overall neurological hierocracy in shape or form. For example if we join a group who gossips about our close friend, we will feel guilty. Our behaviour will contradict our personal value system concerning respect and integrity. This will down our character as a person from our own perspective. . The ‘map’ is referred to our mind or a person’s perception while; the ‘territory’ is about the impression of external fact or reality. However, this perception of external reality is only one possible interpretation. NLP does not view a person as defective or wrong. If the person is not good at one activity, they may be worthwhile at getting lost or discovering alternative routes to follow. NLP focuses on positive self-worth of

Chicano Studies (Latino Narrative Film-1990 to present) Essay

Chicano Studies (Latino Narrative Film-1990 to present) - Essay Example However, since the 1930s onwards a change was observed in the Latin American film industry and initiation of the change occurred especially among Brazilian film directors. For a time period of almost two decades a cultural struggle within the Brazilian film industry was gradually becoming conspicuous and it was mainly reflecting a desperate quest among the film makers to develop their own identity, going beyond the realm of oppression that they encountered due to Western cultural acculturation. Prior to this period Mexican melodramatic films and Brazilian â€Å"chanchadas† were only remaking of Hollywood style film narrative. During the period of 1930 to 1950, serious attempts were made to create such films that would elevate the aspects of Latin American life, their social, cultural trends and different aspects of a Latin American individual’s life within such social, cultural, political and economic domain (Hart 1-5). In this context, influence of Italian cinematic narrative created huge importance on the Latin American film narrative. The post Great War II period, in the history of Italian art is characterized with Neo Realism movement which mainly attempted to focus on everyday life of common people in the post War situation. The trends of Neo Realism in the context of Latin American film making played a considerably important part in developing specific voice of the film makers. During the 60s, French New Wave film narrative technique provided additional impetus to the entire system. The next two decades are considered as the most important phase in the history of Latin American films, as the directors have created and conveyed an original narrative style that was entirely different from Hollywood tradition of mainstream filmmaking and soon the Latin American film industry made its access into the mainstream film industry (Hart 7-13). Huge success and international level recognition of films l ike

The Economic Position of Some Prominent and Some Ordinary Canadians Essay

The Economic Position of Some Prominent and Some Ordinary Canadians - Essay Example Inequality in income is one of the key economic factors that have been noticed in the Canadian economy. The most important evidence for the income inequalities that exist in the Canadian economy is evident through the household spending data files and the household net worth data which shows the trend in the income equality trend in the Canadian economy. The wealth and living standards differ among people to people. â€Å"Economic inequality in Canada appears to be worsening, even as overall wealth increases† (Quarter et al. 2009, p. 82). The Canadian economy is a capitalist economy. Economic inequality is one of the key features of the capitalist economy. The important question that is raised in the Canadian economy is that ‘Does the labor market in the Canadian economy provide opportunities to the deserving candidates on the basis of their education or is it based on patterns of inequality in society?’ To this question the answer is both and that has been identi fied as one of the main reasons behind the unequal distribution of income in the Canadian society. Thus the distributive aspect of the labor market in the Canadian society calls for a study. ... Income inequality arises because of several factors like inequalities that exist in the work opportunities, the inequalities that are associated with distribution of income etc. Canada has experienced significant income inequality in Canada between the years 2000 and 2006. Income inequality is a prime economic indicator and is also covered by the national average. The three important factors associated with income inequality are the following: Change in population structure – the change in the structure of population is one of the main contributors to income inequality. With the increase in the non- income generating population there is less income in the hands of the dependent population which widens the economic inequality. The women and the aboriginal Canadians have a very small representation in the Canadian work force. The women workforce in the Canadian economy is being underemployed or unemployed. The increase in the capital income and self employment income - capital i ncome and self employment income are distributed unequally which has widened the economic equality. Disproportional per capita income especially in between the Canadian provinces has been a prime feature of the Canadian economy. Economic growth has played a mere role in the eradication of disparities in per capita income which cause unequal distribution of income. Earnings of workers are unequal with the rich growing richer and the poor becoming poorer which further causes inequality in the distribution of income. There is a very important relation between income inequality and economic growth. The wider the economic inequality in an economy, the lesser will be the economic growth of the country. The economic inequality in a country reduces the economic