What is the relationship between homeless young adult transitional Research Paper

What is the relationship between homeless young adult transitional housing program and job readiness - Research Paper Example Dependent variables include reason for being homeless, level of education, educational attainment, age, length of time spent in transitional housing, current employment status (or duration in employment), program referral, job retention capacity, mental health status, and substance use. Survey method will be used to source for data, which will involve 251 participants between the age of 18-24. Study outcomes will be analyzed using statistical methods, that is, SPSS and Intercooled Stata. Finally, an analysis of implications of the study on policy and practice reveal relevance between this research and social work values and ethics. Over the past years, the number of homeless people in many states has been on the increase, and the United States has particularly focused much attention on the plight of homeless young people as well as those that age out of foster care systems (Bloom, 2010). Researchers have explored the various challenges these two groups face, especially in connection to job readiness, thus the federal, local and state legislators have endeavored to devise means of facilitating change the lives of these young people. Instituted policies mostly focus on increased funding for support of independent living skills, housing, and education. It is in this respect that the Transitional Housing Program for Homeless Young Adults (THP) was founded. It provides a wide range of services including housing, which comprises payment for utilities and rent; food vouchers, employment assistance, training on life-skills, transportation resources among others (Baider & Frank, 2006). Research has shown a close linkage between homelessness and job readiness, where people, especially the youth who transit from childhood to adulthood, as well as those that age out of foster care systems, stand higher chances of being unemployed due to lack of

Sustainable tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sustainable tourism - Essay Example This paper aims to find links of term of sustainable tourism with sustainable development. Moreover, this paper will try to highlight their influence on each other. It was around mid 20th century when experts (Gruder, pp. 81-88, 2007) all around the world increasingly felt that no development witnessed over the time was free from the cost of environmental deterioration. They realized that human species has been developing at an accelerating pace, and this growth has benefited many people as well. However, this development has been happening at the expense of sustainability of this planet. Quite understandably, as responsible citizens of this planet, and keeping in mind the long-term existence of humans on this planet, some steps were essential. In the year 1972, at the Stockholm Conference on Humans and the Environment (Meadows, pp. 1-14, 1972), it was the first time when under flag of United Nations, this topic was brought under consideration. Despite the fact that it was after mid 19th century when the concept of sustainable development came up on the screen in its current form; however, in some form or the other, the concern of balancing human growth with other environmental and external factors has been there since centuries. In context of tourism, one of the earliest examples of tourism were found in Mesopotamia, where the administration made sincere efforts in development of recreational areas, preservation of animals and plants and balancing their reproduction growth with the hunting activity (Butler, pp. 40-45, 1990). Many other great rulers like Alexander the Great and Asoka followed these ideas and tried to implement concept of sustainable development in the field of tourism within their capacity and constraints and research of that time (UBC, pp. 11-27, 2008). One of the most important developments in the field of sustainable developments was presentation of the romantic vision by Hall (pp. 13-34, 1998) in the 19th

Understanding the Principles and Practises of Assessment Essay Example for Free

Understanding the Principles and Practises of Assessment Essay Assessment is the process of measuring the achievement of learners. It is an obvious way of checking that learning has taken place and is a good way of measuring the learner’s knowledge and practical skills that they have learnt. It is important for the assessor to initially establish whether the learner has any specific learning needs so that they can prepare to support the learner in whichever way they feel necessary. Learning and development are closely connected. The learner needs guidance in order to understand what it is they are required to learn, also to check that they are on track and also ways in which they can improve. This is generally where formative assessment comes into play. Formative assessment is used whilst learners are developing their skills and can also be useful throughout their course. It gives the assessor the opportunity to provide the learner with constructive feedback which they can use to improve their future performances. It also allows the learner to build on their strengths and learn from mistakes by listening to the assessor’s feedback, preparing them for summative assessment. Summative assessment is used when the students are up to a standard where they can carry out an assessment without any support or guidance. This should be up to industry standards and completed to commercial timing. By this stage there should be very few, if any areas for improvement and the learner must have a very strong underpinning knowledge of the subject. (AC 1.2) Define the key concepts and principles of assessment It is vital that assessment has to be fair, consistent and valid to ensure all learners have an equal chance of receiving a fair assessment. An assessor should not be swayed to give a learner an easier assessment because they favour them or on grounds of gender, race, sexual orientation or religious beliefs; the assessment process should be the same for every learner and purely judged on their knowledge, skill and competence within their subject area. There may be occasions where the assessment process has to be adapted to suit learners’ individual needs; however this still should eventually lead to the same outcome. In order for an assessment to be fair the assessor should clearly identify to the learner what outcomes are being assessed so that there is no area for confusion between the learner and assessor. Assessors should take guidance from the awarding body that they work alongside for the assessment criteria, for example in my area of work; I have to abide by the criteri a that is set out by VTCT. To ensure that the evidence is sufficient the learner should successfully cover all of the criteria set out by the awarding body and by the industry in which they are working. The most reliable way to ensure that an assessment is valid and reliable is for the assessor to observe a student first hand. This is the clearest way for the assessor to be sure that the student possesses the knowledge that is shown in their work and that it has not been copied from another source. This evidence should also be current, so therefore the assessor would need to have witnessed this within a reasonable timeframe as things change so frequently. It is important for assessors to ensure that they are up to date with current trends and changes within their industry and all assessors are required to keep up to date with continual professional development. It is also vital that all assessors are assessing to the same standard, this is usually monitored and updated during team standardisation meetings whic h should be carried out regularly. (AC 1.3) Explain the responsibilities of the assessor An assessor should firstly fully understand the standards and requirements they are working to. This means that all assessors should be fully qualified to the required standard within their industry and should regularly attend team standardisation meetings to ensure they are assessing to the same standards as other assessors.

Creating False Memories Essay Example for Free

Creating False Memories Essay The brain works in odd ways. The article entitled â€Å"Creating False Memories†, by Elizabeth F. Loftus, is an article about just that. The studies included in the article are proof that the brain can twist certain memories in order to fit them to a suggestion made by someone else; or a suggestion can create entire false memories. Some people are more susceptible than others to â€Å"remember† a false memory when a suggestion is made, but it is likely that anyone could â€Å"remember† a false memory. The article seemed to point out that older memories that would be less clear to begin with, such as childhood memories, are easier for suggestions to twist than a memory that happened in recent years. While reading the section subtitled â€Å"Imagination Inflation†, it became obvious that even one that was reading the article, if one took the example suggestions given in the article, then it would be incredibly tempting to remember things that were imagined. One would realize that it was only imagination at work, but if asked a few days later what was remembered about it, it would be easy to believe that it was a real memory. How can one truly distinguish between memory and imagination? Then again, is the memory of an act of imagination not a true memory in itself? There are many ways that one could be confused on this subject, because technically, memories of imagined things can be true memories. Memory and imagination are so closely related that it would be very difficult to tell the difference between the two. What was especially incredible about this article was the section subtitled â€Å"Impossible Memories. † Individuals actually remembered aspects from their second day of life, even though this is medically impossible. It is common knowledge that people cannot begin to form memories that would be remembered into adulthood until the age of two or three. Yet, given a suggestion, people will just run with it. It could be the â€Å"imagination inflation† theory at work, and it probably is. Many people are influenced daily about what happens when children are born or how children are taken care of in a hospital right after birth. People hear stories, see the scenario in television and film, and perhaps have been there when a sibling was born. However, can certain people actually remember their births or shortly thereafter? After all, there are exceptions to every rule. This article made for fascinating reading. The studies used are impressive and it makes sense. It is hard to believe that psychiatrists can, either knowingly or unknowingly, give their patients suggestions in order to create false memories. How many people are really aware of what others say to them or how it might affect them? The article is compelling and it makes one think twice about how their brain works. It makes one think about how many of the â€Å"memories† one believes are true memories from childhood are actually true memories or false memories. Where childhood is concerned, most individuals have to rely on parents or relatives to relay stories, but what if those memories are inaccurate? This is the point of the article. The human brain is so complicated and delicate that if one is not careful who knows what kind of damage can be done. Loftus, Elizabeth F. â€Å"Creating False Memories. † Scientific American. 277. 3 (September 1997): 70-75.

Factors Influencing MNCs Investment Choice in India

Factors Influencing MNCs Investment Choice in India The Asian economies have been the main focus of global investors for last few years because of their growth nature and the way they facilitate the establishments of new businesses. Within these economies, India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and many other countries are included the essence of these countries is that they promote overall development in terms of more and more investments from domestic as well as foreign investors for the improvement in their gross domestic product and standard of living. All of these countries have their own core strengths to attract investors, for China it is their abundant cheap labour resource, for India it is the quality of available talent that has created a mark in the global space in the software, services industries. India possesses one of the greatest potential the Democratic government that formulates various policies to benefit the common people of the country. To improve the livelihood, provide better facilities for the citizens the GOI is always committed to invest more and more. Therefore all these factors have actually made India a place full of opportunities not only in the services sector but also in the manufacturing domain. As more private and government funded institutes are coming up with better facilities for learning and development in the both professional and personal fields, students are getting the feel of the corporate world and the criticalities involved therein. Indian economy has been the major centre of attraction for all of the developed nations. More and more MNCs are looking forward to build a long term comprehensive and sustainable relationship with Indian companies to enter the lucrative Indian market. FDI has been one of the major sources of investments in the sunrise industries as well as core industries that need a revamp in terms of innovative practices and management policies. The proportion of FDI and economic growth are positively correlated and combination of both is actually driving the overall GDP of the country. India is poised to be one of the biggest economies, thus it needs more and more collaboration with global organizations that would lead towards more employment that can actually move up the consumption pattern of the citizens to sustain growth trajectory even in time of economic recession. Whether India possesses any geographical locational advantages or not, or whether MNCs believe that owning the establishments in any foreign location would help them grab the market more quickly these are few issues which would be analyzed in detail. This thesis report outlines the factors pertaining to India, those attract foreign companies to invest in India through direct and indirect path and how it has been the core strength of the country to grow depending on the investments made by both domestic as well International business houses. Finding out those elements whose impact has been significant in the Indian growth story would be of utmost importance from the purview of this study. Concepts from various models have been undertaken to understand the underlying theory and analyze from the point of view of an investor as well as the foreign location of investment. B. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY The coverage of the study includes finding out the opportunities and potential hindrances for investment in various sectors in India. Now a days India is being compared with China, Russia in terms of their economic growth and also market strength to sustain any kind of global economic disaster and also to keep moving the wheel of growth. We would analyze the critical scenarios of already present in the economy based on few models and understand the potential of future investments and try to match whether there are any opportunities for even smaller Indian players to become a part of the growth story. We would keep a track of the sectors which are very small now but showing a good promise for investors and how the GOI should take care of the rules and regulations so as to make the entry path very easy. Exports have been Indias major strength and its actually shortening the gap between import and export. That is a very good sign of improvement of overall market sentiments. OBJECTIVES/ PURPOSE OF THE STUDY- To find out the factors which drive various sectors of the Indian economy and analyze the outcomes of investments already made. The project would specifically concentrate on the potential of the country in attracting investors from different geographies. We would use the Dunnings OLI model, Uppsala model, Transaction cost theory etc and many more to find out what drives the foreign MNCs to look for Indian markets. Which are the major domestic player as well as International players those are operating in India presently and which are the pockets or zones that are giving them a major boost in their business growth? Also we would understand the market operating challenges faced by them and what are the measures that they implement to overcome those. D. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY- We would go through the movements of export goods and how the final products or services have changed its form considering the two different eras pre and post economic liberalization. We would design a questionnaire and administer it among a particular target group to find out their psychology or their opinion about the suitable direction for the investment portfolio of various organizations and according to them where the growth potential lies and where the country is lacking as compared to other economies. We would implement the concept from different models and find out what are the elements which are the main catalyst behind Indias growth saga. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS E1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS:- The research would incorporate these questions during the research and try to analyze from various point of views. Q1. What are the ownership advantages that a MNC can possess? Q2. Whether is it better to own or outsource the operations for a particular foreign location? Q3. What elements form the locational advantages for a foreign country for any investor? Q4. Does Internalization really give an edge over other methods of investments? Q5. Is Internalization a step by step process or it can be achieved directly? Q6. What is the implication of culture/geographical proximity for the case of foreign investments? So these are the broad areas which would be discussed in this thesis report to understand the driving factors for foreign investments. HYPOTHESIS:- The kind of growth potential the Indian market is promising is full of hopes even for the younger generation because it would provide job opportunities in a huge volume. There has been birth of a bread of young entrepreneurs who want to make their mark by doing something for their own as well as benefit the overall economy. So the transaction cost theory would be used to analyze the initial set up costs, various commission based charges that any business need to incur. The basic hypothesis would be build upon the fact to find out the several factors those influence foreign investors to choose India as one of their major investment destination. Transaction Cost Theory shows us that any MNC would like to optimize its transaction cost of initiating any business process in any new geography. Uppsala model shows the direction towards an efficient process followed by MNCs while making the investment decision in a foreign location. H1. Do OLI advantages make a country favourable for investments? H2. Step by step internalization process makes MNCs more efficient as compared to the direct internalization process H3. Transaction costs are basically sunk costs for a MNC H4. Gaining experience of domestic markets facilitates the decision making process for investment in foreign location H5.Geographical and Cultural factors significantly impact the investment decision LITERATURE REVIEW Indias major advantages are its availability of good quality talents hugely required for the software and services industry, cheap labour wages facilitating operational issues at a very lower cost as compared to other developing nations. Its strategic location and the kind of international border it shares with its neighbouring nations give it an edge over other Asian economies in terms of accessibility of raw materials and markets to export produced goods. The GOI has taken several measures to make investments in India simpler by means of promoting SEZs, STPs with lower tax regime. The kind of growth potential it promises is immense in terms of volume of business as well as value. Being the largest democracy in the world, the laws would actually become more and more citizen friendly and thus leading towards sustainable business environment. Transaction cost theory states that when the internal transaction costs are higher than external costs then the company would outsource some of its jobs to other agencies and downsize. And when the reverse is true the organization would grow. Both the situations are understandable from the figure given below. (SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transaction_costs) The literature review would focus on the following points OLI ADVANTAGES The ownership, locational and Internationalization are the major factors that drive the investment decision for any MNC. India in a way possesses one of the most important resources the pool of available talent. Geographically also India has an advantage over Russia and many other countries the climatic conditions are also is suitable for any kind of businesses. Many foreign MNCs are entering the Indian market by means of joint venture and many are initiating in the SEZs to get tax benefits. TRANSACTION COSTS: HOW TO GET THE MAXIMUM OUT OF IT Transaction costs are generally the cost of participating in a market; this may vary from market to market as well as category to category of products or services. The bargaining cost is the most important one because it decides the capabilities of the investors, like how well can they manage their channel partners? UPPSALA MODEL This model determines the step by step procedures those are followed by MNCs in order to get the feel of the market. Any organization would not mind to have few orders from foreign clients to find out their own prospect in that market and if they feel that they have the required potential, it may lead to full fledged investments in terms of machinery, labors etc. DATA COLLECTION METHOD H1. PRIMARY The primary data would be collected by means of administering the research questionnaire among a specific target group. The target group may be People from various background working in several industries with market knowledge for more than 3 years H2. SECONDARY The sources of secondary information would mainly be journals, magazines. PROPOSED ANALYSIS OF DATA The data output from the questionnaire would be analyzed using statistical tools and applying the present market conditions. We would find out the factors those drive the export growth and what the GI needs to perform to attract more investment both from domestic as well as International players. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY- The upshot of the study would provide us with an understanding about the factors those drive the investment decision for any MNC considering the Indian market. Various models would help us to analyze the pros and cons of the market conditions and find out the flexibility, accessibility of the market. More and more foreign MNCs are trying to grab the growing Indian market, because within the next 15-20 years India is poised to become one of the global super powers. And that means it would need overall support from various spheres of the geography manufacturing, agriculture, services etc. So it is better for the MNCs to start finding out their core competencies specifically for India and look for suitable options for investments. So from investment choice point of view this report would give us insights that might help any MNC planning to enter the Indian market LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY- This report would entail few models that can define the potential of the market; it would clearly distinguish between various factors which influence the investment decision. So it would not be possible to consider the strength and weaknesses of every company to find out their core competencies before investing; it would not encompass the criticalities involved for all the industries in India. But overall it would generate sufficient idea that would guide any investor while choosing the lucrative Indian market.

Shakespeares Hamlet - The Melancholy Hamlet :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Melancholy Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Shakespeare’s tragic drama, Hamlet, the multi-faceted character of the hero is so complex that this essay will enlighten the reader on only one aspect of his personality – his melancholy dimension.    A.C. Bradley in Shakespearean Tragedy presents convincing evidence regarding the true extent and depth of the hero’s melancholy sentiment:    But there is a more formidable difficulty, which seems to have escaped notice. Horatio certainly came from Wittenberg to the funeral. And observe how he and Hamlet meet (I.ii.160). . . . Is not this passing strange? Hamlet and Horatio are supposed to be fellow-students at Wittenberg, and to have left it for Elsinore less than two months ago. Yet Hamlet hardly recognizes Horatio at first, and speaks as if he himself lived at Elsinore (I refer to his bitter jest, ‘We’ll teach you to drink deep ere you depart’). Who would dream that Hamlet had himself f just come from Wittenberg, if it were not for the previous words about his going back there? How can this be explained on the usual view? Only, I presume, by supposing that Hamlet is so sunk in melancholy that he really does almost ‘forget himself’ and forgets everything else, so that he actually is in doubt who Horatio is. (370)    It is obvious that from the very outset of this tragedy there is a melancholic protagonist. And the depressing aspect of the initial imagery of the drama tend to underline and reinforce Hamlet’s melancholy. Marchette Chute in â€Å"The Story Told in Hamlet† describes some of this imagery of the opening scene:    The story opens in the cold and dark of a winter night in Denmark, while the guard is being changed on the battlements of the royal castle of Elsinore. For two nights in succession, just as the bell strikes the hour of one, a ghost has appeared on the battlements, a figure dressed in complete armor and with a face like that of the dead king of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. (35)    Horatio and Marcellus exit the ghost-ridden ramparts of Elsinore intending to enlist the aid of Hamlet. The prince is dejected by the â€Å"o’erhasty marriage† of his mother to his uncle less than two months after the funeral of Hamlet’s father (Gordon 128). There is a post-coronation social gathering of the court, where Claudius insincerely pays tribute to the memory of his deceased brother.

World Wide Consortium Essay -- Expository Internet Essays

World Wide Consortium Tim Bernes-Lee in 1989 created the World Wide Web, and in 1994 he and a few others established the World Wide Consortium. (a) The World Wide Consortium’s mission is â€Å"to lead the world wide web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the web (a).† This is an international organization with a variety of members making up the organization. They all have a common goal which is to make the web standardized with rules and principles, and to date they have made over eighty recommendations.(a) The World Wide Consortium has had three long-standing goals. These are to provide universal access, a semantic web, and a web of trust. Universal access means â€Å"to make the Web accessible to all by promoting technologies that take into account the vast differences in culture, languages, education, ability, material resources, access devices, and physical limitations of users on all continents (a).† Semantic Web means to build a software setting that allows everyone to utilize the assets that are accessible on the World Wide Web. Web of trust means â€Å"to guide the Web’s development with careful consideration for the novel legal, commercial, and social issues raised by this technology (a).† In this paper I am limiting my discussion to universal access and the issues surrounding it. To help promote the three goals the consortium has also developed three design principles for the web. These principles are interoperability, evolution, and decentralization. For the web to have interoperability, a user needs to be able to use any hardware or software they want and still be able to access what’s on the web. When someone adds something to the web they need t... ...ortium and I knew nothing about the World Wide Consortium. It is good to know that there is a dedicated group setting guidelines and recommendation to achieve universal access to the web, making sure the web software is compatible o all users and is making the web a trusted way of doing business. I believe that this organization is helping the internet to continually grow successfully, and without this organization the internet probably would not be near as useful as it can be. People would probably just do what ever they felt like doing. I now realize how important it is to really think about a lot of issues when designing a website to make it universal accessible. Building a website is now not simply designing one, but also thinking about how everyone will be able to have access no matter what language they speak, how old they are, or if they have a disabled.