File Sharing is Controlled or Controllable by the Law of Copyright Coursework

File Sharing is Controlled or Controllable by the Law of Copyright - Coursework Example The negative side of this picture is that the file sharing technology has destabilized the inducements of the authors, producers, manufacturers, entertainment companies, publishers, and recording firms to make and distribute new works (Harrison, 2006). The empirical studies on the impacts of the incentives for the authors and publishers reveal that the file sharing of music is responsible for the decline in the sales of the industry. However, the reduction in the sales is not solely responsible for the reduced incentives for the authors, producers and entertainment companies to come up with novel efforts (Zentner, 2006). File sharing is has also become an enigma for the markets for concerts, communication infrastructure and electronics industry, for instance the file sharing technology has caused the augmentation of the concert prices. This in turn induces the artists across the world to organize concerts and tour different destinations frequently thereby raising the overall income o f the artists (Borland, 2003). Copyright and P2P File Sharing The file sharing technology described above has such a nature that the implication of the copyright law becomes inevitable. It is worth mentioning that each digital file, text, video or audio, is fixed with the purpose of protecting intellectual property rights no matter it is present on a hard drive, DVD, CD or only present in the RAM (Hall, 2006). The files shared between the two or more users mostly come under the category of copyrighted sharing. The result of file sharing from an end user to another person is categorized as the imitation, redistribution, or a public performance. In terms of copyright law, the word ‘public performance’ refers to the representation of a work to public which is protected by copyright law. According to copyright law, every activity in P2P file sharing involves some type of reproduction, public performance or distribution, thus file sharing technology is suspicious from its be ginning (Boorstin, 2004). Copyright Law and Control over File Sharing It has been more than two centuries that many countries developed unidirectional copyright laws. The intellectual property rights of the authors, publishers, producers and inventors were strengthened over and over again. This trend led towards the increased prices of these commodities for the general public, it also discouraged the consumption of these commodities on the end user level (Varian, 2000). The unidirectional development of copyright laws across the globe widened the gap between the protection of the intellectual property rights and advancement in the technology. Keeping in view the above discussed background, the advent of file sharing has weakened the protection of the copyright laws. Although it is claimed that file sharing has disturbed several creative industries including the music industry yet the empirical studies show little evidence on the disruption of these industries due to file sharing, in stead it seems that the weakness in the copyright laws have benefited the music as well as other creative industries (Zentner, 2006). In order to understand the limitations of the copyright law to control the file sharing, it is essential to know the nuts and bolts of the file sharing. The technology has experienced revolutionary changes in the recent past and this has led the manufacturers of the file sharing software towards the most complicated legal challenges of the date. File sharing is based on computer networks which provide the facility of transfer of data. In these networks, each computer,

Hereditary fructose intolerance Essay Example for Free

Hereditary fructose intolerance Essay Enzymes are proteins that increase the rate of chemical activity. Their three dimensional structure determines their function, and is made of chains of amino acids that have folded into a specific shape with a unique property. Enzymes lower the activation energy needed for a chemical reaction, therefore speeding up the process. Multiple enzymes work together in metabolic pathways, taking a product (end result) of one metabolic reaction as a substrate (substance or molecule at start of process) for another reaction. Metabolic pathways create the avenue for fructolysis, the breakdown (catabolism) of fructose, occurring in the liver, and in muscle and fat tissue. Most of fructose obtained by diet is metabolized in the liver, where the enzyme fructokinase is abundant. This enzyme phosphorylates the substrate (fructose) into fructose-1-phosphate, which is then split into glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone phosphate, both three carbon molecules that can enter the glycolytic pathway for further oxidation and energy production. Enzymes are specific to a substrate, meaning they have an active spot on the enzyme that will only work with a specific shape of a particular substance (substrate). Aldolase B deficiency Aldolase B is an enzyme found predominantly in the liver that plays a major role in fructose metabolism. In hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI), individuals have a build up of fructose 1- phosphate (F1P), due to the absence or deficiency of aldolaseB, necessary to break down F1P into the two three carbon molecules utilized in the glycolytic pathway. The F1P is toxic to cells and tissues in the body, causing phosphate to become unusable, and depleting phosphate storage and energy. The decreasing phosphate levels cause glycogenolysis in the liver to halt, affecting blood sugar levels. Persons with HFI can exhibit symptoms of vomiting, trembling, nausea, lethargy, hypoglycemia, hepatomegaly (enlarged liver), and jaundice after consuming foods containing fructose. These persons must avoid fructose to avoid the build up of F1P in their body, having a deficiency in aldolase B needed to metabolize the F1P. Fructose 1-phosphate Fructose is a monosaccharide, and has the same chemical formula as glucose, but a different structure. Fructose, a simple sugar found in honey, fruits, or even table sugar, is phosphoylated in the liver by the enzyme fructokinase, or in cells by enzyme hexokinase, to form fructose 1-phospahate. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) supplies the phosphate group for both reactions. Aldolase B further breaks down the product (F1P) of fructolysis, (similar to glycolosis, just with fructose, instead of glucose) into two trioses. Role of aldolase B in breakdown of fructose Aldolase B is located mainly in liver of body and ensures second part of fructose metabolism is carried out. Aldolase B breaks down fructose-1-phosphate into two trioses, glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone phosphate (USNLM, 2012). Both of these three-carbon molecules are needed for further enzymatic processes in our bodies. Case 2- Mitochondrial disease Mitochondrial disease is a complex failure of mitochondrial functions. Mitochondria supply most of the energy utilized in the body, and when not functioning properly, decreased energy production cause system failure that create cell injury and cell death. The person with this affliction faces serious health concerns, as there is no cure for mitochondrial disease, only symptom management. Cori cycle The Cori cycle occurs in liver cells, cells lacking mitochondria, and is important part in anaerobic glycolysis. Pyruvate, a product of glycolysis, is converted to lactate through anaerobic respiration. Anaerobic glycolysis produces lactate from breaking down glycogen in muscles. The lactate produced in skeletal muscle by anaerobic glycolysis is transported to liver after being released into bloodstream, for conversion to glucose. Then glucose is returned to muscle in blood for energy and glycogen replenishment (King, 2012). Glucose being consumed and resynthesized at the expense of ATP and GTP hydrolysis is termed by scientists as a â€Å"futile cycle† because it takes more energy (ATP) than is produced, with a net loss of 4 ATP (Wiley, 2012). This indicates that if the conversion of lactate to glucose occurred in same cell, the energy reserves of the cell would be depleted, because the 2 ATP produced by glycolysis would be offset by the 6 ATP needed for a gluconeogenesis, to convert lactate into glucose for muscle replenishment. This continued cycle would cause an energy deficit, as the muscles glycogen stores are minimal, so the energy reserves would be depleted rapidly. Citric acid cycle During step 5 of the citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle), a phosphate is bonded to the succinyl complex, once containing coenzyme A. This phosphate is then transferred to a GDP molecule, to be converted into a GTP molecule. This GTP molecule will give a phosphate to ADP to make an ATP for energy. A defect in this step would prevent an increased conversion of ADP to ATP when energy needs rise. Initially, acetyl CoA combines with oxaloacetate to make a citrate molecule. The citrate is isomerized to form isocitrate, which then is oxidized by NAD. This creates an unstable molecule that releases a CO2 molecule, creating alpha-ketoglutarate. Now, the acetyl CoA that was released in first step returns to oxidize the alpha-ketoglutarate and initiate conversion to succinyl-coenzyme A complex. A free H2O donates its hydrogen to the coenzyme A, and a free phosphate comes in to replace the coenzyme A. This newly bonded phosphate will be transferred to GDP molecule as indicated previously, for conver sion to GTP, then ADP, and finally ATP for energy. Coenzyme Q10 Coenzyme Q10 ( CoQ10) is found in cell membranes, and is critical in all cells in producing ATP (energy) for the body. CoQ10 carries electrons from enzyme complex I and II to complex III in mitochondria. This transfer of electrons in the electron transport chain (ETC) pushes hydrogen through the inner cell membrane to make a proton gradient needed by ATP synthase to make ATP (Wikipedia, 2012). CoQ10 is the lone molecule that does this task in ETC, and is vital to this function of ATP production in cells. References King, Michael W, PhD. (2012). Gluconeogenesis: Glucose synthesis. Retrieved from The Medical Biochemistry Page website: http://themedicalbiochemistrypage.org/gluconeogenesis.php U.S. National Library of Medicine. (2012). ALDOB. Retrieved from http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/ALDOB Wikipedia. (2012). Coenzyme Q10. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coenzyme_Q10 Wiley, John. (2012). Interactive Concepts in Biochemistry: The Cori Cycle. Retrieved from http://www.wiley.com/college/boyer/0470003790/animations/cori_cycle/cori_cycle.htm

Andy Warhol Essay -- essays research papers fc

It is rare for an artist to become a celebrity, but Andy Warhol experienced much more than his â€Å"fifteen minutes of fame†, and became an icon of his generation. Andrew Warhola was born August Sixth, 1928, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He was the youngest son of Julie and Andrej Warhola, both immigrants from Czechoslovakia. In Fifth grade Andrew started attending the free Saturday classes that the Carnegie Institute taught. It is noted that even then young Andrew excelled at his art. Due to the bullying by his classmates he stayed inside a great deal, working on his art. Due to his aptitude in school, Andrew skipped two grades and was admitted into the Carnegie Institute of Technology at the young age of 16. Once in the school Andrew was admitted to the Department of Painting and Design. He studied various aspects of commercial graphic design. Warhol graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1949, with a degree in pictorial design. He then went to New York City to work as a commercial illustrator. Warhol was involved in many artistic fields such as painting, filmmaking and photography. . He got his first break in August 1949, when Glamour Magazine wanted him to illustrate a feature entitled "Success is a Job in New York". But by accident the credit read "Drawings by Andy Warhol" and that's how Andy dropped the "a" in his last name. He continued doing ads and illustrations and by 1955 he was the most successful and imitated commercial ar...

Ethics: How Should I Live My Life Essay

April 15, 2011 How Should I Live? Immanual Kant vs. Jon Stuart Mill In their works â€Å"Principle of Utility† and the â€Å"Categorically Imperative† the philosophers Kant and Mill have addressed one of the most prominent questions humans have asked ourselves since the beginning of time; what are the fundamental moral principles that we should base our lives on? My intent is to show how each of these philosophers in their approach this subject yielding totally different results. I will compare and contrast and ultimately determine which of their philosophies I personally find better suited to my own way of life. I will also point out when sometimes you can have circumstances when they do not contradict each other. â€Å"Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. By happiness is intended pleasure and the absence of pain; by unhappiness, pain and the privation of pleasure† Classics of Moral and Political Theory, 3rd edition p. 398). The purpose of the above passage is to define that the moral choice according to Mill. According to him when presented with a choice of actions to take, the correct and moral action is to choose the one which will produce in its consequences the greatest amount of pleasure and the least amount of pain in the world. To help understand his concept I present the following scenarios in which we would need to make a moral choice according to the above framework. Let’s suppose that while driving we are stopped at a traffic light and a couple of young kids ask you for a donation to help them make a trip to another state for their National Little League Championship. The outcome seems to depend on how much you need the money. If you were out of a job, struggling to make payments on the rent or food for example giving away your money will definitely decrease your own happiness more than it would increase the happiness of others. However if you have some disposableincome giving it away to the little league of baseball players would who need it more it would definitely increase their happiness, therefor increasing the total amount of happiness in the world as the Principle of Utility demands. Another scenario would be as follows. Imagine that you are harboring a fugitive that committed a petty crime but that you know without any doubt that he has the cure of a disease that currently kills hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. If this person gets caught by the police he would never have the chance to develop the cure. The police go to your house and ask you if you have seen the person in question. Now if you are following the Principle of Utility you have to consider the impact on the total amount of happiness each of the two possibilities, telling the police the truth or you telling them something else will bring about. If we examine what could happen if you tell the police the truth, we can see that the police’s happiness will be increased as the lack of pain from future victims of the fugitive’s crimes. But when we compare this against the happiness of the people whose lives will be saved by cure that the fugitive will be helping create we can see that in this case the greatest good will be done by telling the police that you have not seen the petty thief. In this case the long term effect of the decision helps make it a clear choice according to Mills. Long term consequences are also evident in the third scenario. In this scenario you find yourself witness of a horrible crime being committed, let’s say a rape. At first considering the demands of the Principle of Utility the choices are a little difficult to discern for if you choose to end the life of the rapist you are denying him much pleasure of the long term and causing him a lot of pain in the short term. Not doing so will also bring overall loss of pleasure by the victim and increase of pain would occur. Nevertheless if we consider the consequences of not only the short term but also the long term the death of the rapist would most likely spare many in the future from pain and trauma and preserving their opportunity for pleasure, and thus the Principle of Utility would demand that you take the rapist’s life to spare the lives of his victim and his other future ones as well. Let’s continue now to examine Kant’s Categorical Imperative. The first formulation of which is something that reminds me somewhat to the Golden Rule, â€Å"Do Unto Others as You Would Have Others Do Unto You. † (except the Golden Rule does not make for example a duty to be benevolent to others) â€Å"Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it would become a universal law. † (p. 851) Kant explains this by a series of example one of which goes something like this. If I run out of money I might be tempted to borrow some, even though I know I would be unable to repay it. I am acting on the maxim â€Å"Whenever I believe myself short of money, I will borrow money and promise to pay it back although I know that this will never be done† I cannot will that everyone should act on this maxim because if everyone asked for money but then would never pay it back nobody would believe the promise of the borrowers. A promise would lose its meaning. Therefore we could not borrow money under this circumstance as doing it would violate the categorical imperative Kant defines perfect duty as those which must be fulfilled under any circumstances and dictate a specific course of action; he defines imperfect duties as those which are more subject to circumstances and allow a certain degree of freedom in deciding how to comply with it. I see the difference between these duties as the one where are required by a society to function and those required by a society to be good and civil. Some actions are so constituted that their maxims cannot without contradiction even be thought as a universal law of nature, much less willed as what should become one. In the case of others this internal impossibility is indeed not found, but there is still no possibility of willing that their maxim should be raised to the universality of a law of nature because such a will would contradict itself. † He is trying to say that if it would be against o ne’s own interest for everyone to act on a particular maxim one cannot will the maxim to be universal as to make it universal it would go against one’s own interest. Let’s revisit the examples I gave earlier to see how our behavior would change if we let our actions be dictated by the Categorical Imperative. In the first scenario, whether to donate to the little league baseball team, it would seem that the fate of the team would be to never be able to travel as (assuming most of their finances come from donations) if people were never to donate to them any money, but none of that would prevent anyone who does have money from not donating to this club. This seems to indicate that donating to the little league baseball club is not a perfect duty. However it would be against one’s own interest for the whole world to be so stingy towards all little league baseball clubs or any other amateur sports clubs for that matter, so one could not will that to be the case and so donating to this club would be an imperfect duty. In the second scenario, whether to lie to the police about the hidden fugitive, following Kant’s Categorical Imperative is that one has a perfect duty to never lie, even in such situation. Let’s analyze that. According to Kant if everyone were to lie in an attempt to achieve some desirable result, even one as benefitting as saving hundreds of thousands of lives, the meaning of language would cease to be as people would start lying for anything they can think would be for the greater good at the end. The maxim in that case would be that you could lie as long as it was to save someone’s life (in this case the large number of sick people that would have been cured). If that maxim would become universal then we could no longer tell if anyone was telling the truth. Everyone would become untrustworthy communication between people would cease and therefore we would be unable to lie; in this case the categorical Imperative demands that we refrain from lying, even if doing so prevents from bringing about undesirable results. At the same time this still does not required us to always tell the truth; we can simply refrain from saying anything if telling the truth would violate another imperfect duty, and in my example it most definitely would since not speaking in this case (even though it may raise suspicion from the police) would be curing people of a disease all over the world a most noble imperfect duty. We can also apply the same line of reasoning to my third scenario, whether to kill a criminal to stop him from committing a horrible crime, in this case a rape. To allow killing to achieve a greater good would result in much killing all around, possibly resulting in oneself getting killed in the process and thus making impossibly for one to act at all. It seems that no one could will such anarchy to take place. Wecould modify the maxim here to say that killing is allowed if only to prevent another death, but what we are talking about ere is about the preservation of life, and as with the case of lying to the police, many people could by such a maxim feel themselves justified in killing others to achieve other ends that have nothing to do with stopping a crime. This would result in the anarchy described above so we cannot make it according to Kant a perfect duty but instead at least an imperfect one to not kill even when faced with the opportunity of preventing a crime. Kant’s second formulation of the Categorical Imperative is: Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end. † (p. 855). Here Kant states that if a maxim diminishes the freedom of choice of others, which he proclaims is one of the unconditional values of humanity, as a means to obtain other goods then that makes it an immoral maxim violating the definition of perfect duty. Anyone who uses deceptive or coercive methods to undermine the freedom of choice and action exercised by others also violates perfect duty. Looking at the first scenario again, whether to donate to the baseball club. If nobody donated any money it would not mean that you are using other people as a means to an end, you would be just ignoring them not using them at all, so donating is not a prefect duty as the failure of not doing so does not involve misusing other people. However refusing to donate to the little league is a failure to account for other people as ends themselves. People need to have means in order to exercise their will, so limited means makes it much harder for people to exercise their free will. Therefore if not donating would deprive them of resources, it would be a failure to account for the club’s members ability to freely act as an end of one’s own actions and so it makes it an imperfect duty to donate money to the little league baseball club. In the second scenario whether to lie to the police about the location of the fugitive, resource here is information. For an individual to act freely, he must have accurate information which means that if you lie to someone you are giving them information that is not valid thus not only depriving them of the resource they need to act freely but you are taking away the power they have to exercise their will. In this scenario lying to the police even with such good motive as getting a cure to a disease that will save hundreds and thousands of lives is to treat the police as a means to an end disregarding the right to exercise their free will. This make in this example a a perfect duty not to lie. However we can also see how there would be an imperfect duty not to tell the police where the fugitive is, for doing so would be a failure to take into account the fugitive as an end in themselves, getting caught and sent to jail would impede his ability to exercise his free will so according to Kant the correct choice in this case would be to refuse to talk to the police even when this would bring about suspicion and possibly further actions from the police. If we apply the second formulation of the Categorical Imperative to the third example it seems clear that killing another person, even a rapist, would certainly limit his ability to exercise their own will, so the Kant’s second formulation would require as a perfect duty not to kill the criminal even to save another person from being raped. So as we can see when we apply the principles from Kent and Mills we find ourselves following different path of actions. In my first example donating to the Little League Baseball Club both Kent and Mills proclaim that donating is the correct choice to make. But when analyzing the second and third example their philosophies start to disagree as what is the right thing to do. The Categorical Imperative is more rigid insisting that we must not lie to the police and we must not kill the rapist as it is a perfect duty in all cases. The Principle of Utility in contrast allows more room to apply our rational to consider the consequences. It allows certain actions such as lying and killing if it is for the greater good. What is the correct moral framework on which we should base our lives on? Even though I find aspects of each these systems commendable I believe that neither system has been perfectly created. The Principles of Utility relies heavily on the consequences of one’s actions to flag a course of action as correct or incorrect. Only by looking our action and their consequences in retrospect we can truly determine if the course of action taken was the correct one. If we had the luxury of foreseeing all consequences then it would be a perfect system but since we always have to make decisions without knowing the ramifications of our actions and most times we only have partial information it does not seem that one should base one’s life solely on the principles that Mills dictates. What is needed is a set of rules we can use to adapt our actions to that will always produce the biggest benefit or the least amount of harm in the long run even if in the short term produces consequences that are not as good as other course of action. The Categorical Imperative at first seems to be a good standard for behavior but at the end of my analysis I do not feel comfortable with the absolute rules where by following them we can find ourselves in a scenario where one cannot even lie to save a life let alone kill to prevent it. It just seems too open for abuse with great benefits by those who did not obeyed the laws akin to what I think would happen if our right to carry arms was taken away so law abiding citizens would not possess any arms but the criminals would, putting the rest of us in a very precarious situation unable to defend ourselves. At the end I align myself a little more with Mills, I would like to think that if I ever in the situation of the last example I gave I would have enough courage to try stop a rape from happening and any action up to an including killing the rapist would be defensible in court, of course I would prefer to be able to stop it from happening without to resorting to such extreme measures. If the basis of a free society is the right to liberty and property then our duty should be not just to not impede others to have it but to also defend others when their rights to either are being taken away. I have a have a personal duty to defend those in danger and to give those in need and even if not everyone adheres to thesemoral guidelines we will all be as a society better off as the general happiness will certainly reach a higher level.

Overview of the Research Process for Business Students

What is Research? People undertake research in order to find things out in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledge (Jankowicz, 1995). â€Å"Systematic† suggests that research is based on logical relationships and not just beliefs (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2010). To â€Å"find things out† suggests there are a multiplicity of possible purposes for your research (Becker, 1998). It is therefore an activity which has to be finished at some point to be of use.The results of research really are all around us in everyday life. Politicians often justify their policy decisions on the basis of research; Newspapers report the findings of research companies. Documentary programmes tell us about research findings and advertisers may highlight the results of research to encourage consumers to buy a particular product or brand. The most difficult hurdle to overcome in doing research is not in learning the techniques or doing the actual work or even writing the report.The bigge st obstacle, surprisingly, lies in figuring out what you want to know. Two problems are very common: choosing a topic which is too broad†¦ or â€Å"dressing up† a topic (Kane, 1987) Formulating and clarifying the research topic is the starting point of research (Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2010; Smith and Dainty 1991). Most research originates from a general problem. Usually, the problem is broad enough that it could not be addressed in a single research study.Consequently, the problem is narrowed into a more specific research question. A well-constructed research question is one described by Maylor and Blackmon (2005, p. 54) which â€Å"identifies the scope of the research and guides the plan of the project†. The research question is the central issue being addressed in the study and from this research objectives can be set. The table below sets out criteria to help devise useful research objectives. Criterion| Purpose|Transparency| The meaning of the research objective is clear and unambiguous| Specificity| The purpose of the research objective is clear and easily understood, as are the actions required to fulfil it| Relevancy| The research objective’s link to the research question and wider research project is clear| Interconnectivity| Taken together as a set, the research objectives illustrate the steps in the research process from its start to its conclusion, without leaving any gaps. In this way the research objectives form a coherent whole| Answerability| The intended outcome of the research objective is achievable.Where this relates to data, the nature of the data required will be clear or at least implied| Measurability| The intended product of the research objective will be evident when it has been achieved| Saunders (2012) Research Methods for Business Students, Table 2. 3 p. 44 Literature Review A literature review is a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic. Its ultimate g oal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature and forms the basis for another goal, such as justification for future research the area. Knowledge does not exist in a vacuum, and your work only has value in relation to other peoples† (Jankowicz, 2005). It seeks to describe, summarise, evaluate, and clarify/integrate the content of previous researches and assists in limiting the scope of inquiry while conveying the importance of studying a topic to readers. Literature sources available include Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. Primary data is original data that has been collected from the original source with a purpose in mind.Secondary sources are the subsequent publication of primary literature and tertiary sources (search tools) are designed to either help locate primary and secondary literature or to introduce a topic. Tertiary Indexes Databases Catalogues Encyclopaedias Dictionaries Bibliographies Citation Indexes Secondary Journals Books Newspapers Governmen t Publications Primary Reports Theses Emails Company Reports Unpublished Manuscripts Some Government Publications Increasing time to publish Increasing level of detail Saunders (2012) Research Methods for Business Students Table 3. 3, p82 Primary versus Secondary ResearchPrimary data has not been published and so is more reliable, authentic and objective. It has not been changed or altered by human beings therefore its validity is greater than secondary data however it is important to remember it can only be considered as reliable as the people who gathered it. Gathering data in this way is time consuming, and incurs a high cost. More resources tend to be required and it can result in inaccurate feedback. Secondary data is less valid but it is readily available and can be reused. It is cheaper and quicker to obtain in comparison to primary data.In some circumstances primary data does not exist and so one has to confine the research of secondary data. The Research Process Research is not neutral, but reflects a range of the researcher’s personal interests, values, abilities, assumptions aims and ambitions. â€Å"The research philosophy depends on the way you think about the development of knowledge† (Saunders et al. 2000, p. 84) Collis and Hussey (2003, p. 52) highlight two main research philosophies and detail that there can be overlap between the two and both positions may be identifiable in any research project. They are the positivistic and phenomenological.Positivistic approaches are founded on the belief that the study of human behaviour should be conducted in the same way as studies conducted in the natural sciences. Therefore seeking to identify measure and evaluate any phenomena and to provide a rational explanation for it. This approach attempts to establish casual links and relationships between the different elements (or variables) of the subject and relate them to a particular theory or practice. Phenomenological approaches however, a pproach research from the perspective of understanding behaviour from the participants’ own subjective frames of reference.Research methods are chosen, therefore, to try and describe, translate and explain and interpret events from the perspectives of the people who are the subject of the research. The following diagram describes the research process â€Å"onion† that supports the researcher to â€Å"depict the issues underlying the choice of data collection methods† (Saunders, 2012 Research Methods for Business Students, Fig 4. 1, p. 128) The layers of research represent the following aspects: * Research philosophy; * Research approach; * Research strategy/methodology; * Time horizons; and * Data collection methods Research Approach – Deductive or Inductive? It is the theory that decides what can be observed† Albert Einstein Bryan & Bell (2007) state that the researcher will either use: 1) deductive in which a theory and hypothesis is developed and a strategy is designed to test the hypothesis, or 2) inductive approach will be used in which the data is collected and as the result of data analysis theory and hypothesis are developed. However, Mason (2001, p. 181) supports the use of more than one research approach, â€Å"it is worth pointing out that most research strategies (approaches) in practice probably draw on a combination of these (inductive or deductive) approaches†.What is the difference between method and methodology? A method is a technique used for gathering evidence or the various ways in which proceeding in gathering information. Methodology is the underlying theory of how research does or should proceed, often influenced by discipline. Research Strategy The research strategy is of paramount important in setting the parameters and creating the credibility of any study. According to Collis and Hussey (2003, p. 55) research methodology refers to the overall approaches and perspectives to the research proces s as a whole and is concerned with the following main issues: Why you collected certain data; * What data you collected; * Where you collected it; * How you collected it; * How you analysed it The choice of research strategy is dependent on the research questions and objectives, the extent of existing knowledge, the amount of time and resources available and the philosophical foundations (Saunders et al. 2007). There are various research strategies proposed by different authors including experiment, survey, case study, action research, grounded theory and ethnography. Experiment is a classical form of research which allows studying the effect of change, an independent variable can bring in another dependent variable (Hakim, 2000) * Survey is a methodology which is usually associated with the deductive approach and is mostly used in the situations where there is a need to collect the data from a large population in an economical manner (Saunder et al, 2007) * Case Study is defined as a â€Å"strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence† (Robson, 2000: 178) * Action Research is focused on finding a way to bring about a change in a controlled environment * Grounded theory is often thought of as the best example of inductive approach as the hypothesis is developed from the data generated by a series of observations (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) * Ethnography is a research strategy which focuses on acquiring the social knowledge in order to understand the observed patterns of human activity (Hussey & Hussey, 1997) Ethical Issues Ethical concerns may emerge at all stages of research. Saunders et al. (2007, p. 31) summarise the main issues to consider, although ethical issues surrounding these items are not always clear: * The rights of privacy of individuals * Voluntary nature of participation – and the rights of individuals to wi thdraw partially or completely from the process * Consent and possible deception of participants (Appendix ? ) * Maintenance of confidentiality of data provided by individuals or identifiable participants and their anonymity * Reactions of participants to the ways which researchers seek to collect data * Effects on participants of the way data is analysed and reported * Behaviour and objectivity of the researcher Reliability and Validity

Free Essays on Who Won The Cold War

The Cold War is something that everyone has heard about yet most of us have no clue what the war was really about or why it was started or for that fact who even won the war. The Cold War involved just about the whole world but mainly the United States and Russia. After reading LeFaber, listening to lectures, and doing some research I have come to the conclusion that there was no winner nor a loser of the Cold War. The Cold War for Russia, was to ensure security, block out capitalism, gain power and improve their economy. While on the other hand the United States just wanted to stop the spread of communism which they thought would affect the world like a domino if they did not put an end to it soon. Both Russia and the United States wanted to avoid World War III in the process of tying to achieve their goals. Many other countries were also involved in the war such as China and Vietnam, among many others. In 1949, Mao Zedong and the People's Liberation Army lead the Communists to victory in a civil war against Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists. Losing China to the communists was a devastating blow to the United States. China was faced with the need for military and economic aid which it eventually received from Russia. In 1958, Mao began the Great Leap Forward. Thirty million Chinese starved to death during the Great Leap Forward, making it one of the worst man-made disasters in history. In 1964, China explodes its first nuclear bomb. In 1965, American forces enter Vietnam and the Chinese support North Vietnam while the United States take the South’s side. Mao, in the end wants to restore peace with the United States and current President Richard Nixon. The United States was unsuccessful in stopping the spread of communism throughout China, while the Soviet Union was gaining power. Stalin became concerned about the Soviet Union’s security and requested reparations. Americans believed that Germany must get back ... Free Essays on Who Won The Cold War Free Essays on Who Won The Cold War The Cold War is something that everyone has heard about yet most of us have no clue what the war was really about or why it was started or for that fact who even won the war. The Cold War involved just about the whole world but mainly the United States and Russia. After reading LeFaber, listening to lectures, and doing some research I have come to the conclusion that there was no winner nor a loser of the Cold War. The Cold War for Russia, was to ensure security, block out capitalism, gain power and improve their economy. While on the other hand the United States just wanted to stop the spread of communism which they thought would affect the world like a domino if they did not put an end to it soon. Both Russia and the United States wanted to avoid World War III in the process of tying to achieve their goals. Many other countries were also involved in the war such as China and Vietnam, among many others. In 1949, Mao Zedong and the People's Liberation Army lead the Communists to victory in a civil war against Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists. Losing China to the communists was a devastating blow to the United States. China was faced with the need for military and economic aid which it eventually received from Russia. In 1958, Mao began the Great Leap Forward. Thirty million Chinese starved to death during the Great Leap Forward, making it one of the worst man-made disasters in history. In 1964, China explodes its first nuclear bomb. In 1965, American forces enter Vietnam and the Chinese support North Vietnam while the United States take the South’s side. Mao, in the end wants to restore peace with the United States and current President Richard Nixon. The United States was unsuccessful in stopping the spread of communism throughout China, while the Soviet Union was gaining power. Stalin became concerned about the Soviet Union’s security and requested reparations. Americans believed that Germany must get back ...

Valuation In Accounting Research

Valuation In Accounting Research Free Online Research Papers Introduction This topic focuses on share and firm valuation because when we talk about firm valuation, the most important element is the determination of a share’s price. Valuation is closely linked to capital budgeting, risk, returns and the cost of capital because a return model is a transformation of the valuation model, and the discount rate used in valuation and capital budgeting is either a part or wholly the cost of capital. Contents ? Valuation of critical: Maximise the firm’s value/ordinary shares Estimating the cost of capita ? Three models: Dividend Growth Valuation Models Link to value shares Theorises that Dividend payments constitutes value- Dividend may be increased or decreased depending on earnings Represents equity or ownership Includes voting rights Priority: lower than debt and preferred We can simplify the pattern for dividend payment as follows: The dividend has a zero growth rate, and r is also known as the market capitalisation rate (MCR) or the hurdle rate because the investor expects his â€Å"true† rate to be higher than the market rate or the hurdle rate. r is also called the holding period return, the HPR assumes that investors in securities would expect to get some of cash dividends and capital gains from the eventual sale of the shares. Dividends-Discounting Model (DDM) Where :?= sum of the series E [Dt] = Expected dividends in period t This formula is equivalent to valuing the market value of the firm’s equity at the present value since buying stocks is in fact buying a part of a firm Since future cash flows are constant, the value of a zero growth stock is the present value of perpetuity: zero growth CDVM Where: D= Constant dividend r= Required rate of return This formula is useful for investors who want to know the historical rate of return for a company’s stock, and also when the investor wished to determine the expected required rate of return for the future value of a firm’s stock The dividend growths as a constant rate Since future cash flows grow at a constant rate forever, the value of a constant growth stock is the present value of growing perpetuity: However, discounting the above successively depends on r and g: ? if r=g, the share would be infinite ? if rg, the dividends would grow The DDM models and rate of return it can changeable Free-Cash Flow Valuation models Link to value firm FCF is defined as the cash flow left over after deducting the costs of operations (purchases and expenses) and new investments from revenues (sales) FCF= Net Income (NI) + Depreciation-Cost-Investment Where: Vo =Value of firm at time t FCFt = CFOt Invt or FCFt = Nit + Dept ?WC Invt Since FCF measures the cash flow from the entire firm and hence enterprise cash flow or entity cash flow is more appropriate, which is based on the comprehensive basis, the discount rate used in the FCF context must be the cost of capital for the entire firm, which is the weighted average cost of capital. Since FCF is firm level, the growth rate relates to the cash flows of the entire firm. Growth rate (g) = Plough back ratio x ROA = k where ROA=return on asset Residual Income Valuation Models Link to value shares The alterative to the dividend-discounting model is the residual earnings or abnormal earnings valuation models. This model no need to use dividends or cash, it based on value add book value of equity as fundamental value and forecasts if residual earnings. The Ohlson (1995) model is concerned with a single firm’s market value as it relates to contemporaneous accounting information –future earnings, book values and dividends, and other relevant information. The valuation model is set on an efficient market with risk neutrality (risk free), no arbitrage, no information asymmetry, non-stochastic interest rates and a constant term structure. This equation is formulated by substituting RI for dividend into the DDM (equation Po = Div/r) the RIVM is restatement of the DDM. Though using the RIVM, we can value the firm’s equity using fundamental accounting data and there is no need to use DDM to value equity. Thus the only relevance of the DDM is just to provide theoretical support for using the RIVM Similar to the DDM and FCF models, the RIVM of equation can also be expressed in terms of constant growth model ? The advantage of the RIVM is that it emphasizes the important of fundamental economic performance to equity valuation in particular: The difference between ROE or and the cost of equity capital r The expected rate of growth in the book value of equity RIVM can help explain prices better than the DDM or FCF for two reasons: ? By definition, any increase in RI implies value creation ? By comparing the value of the firm and MWE, we can determine whether the share price is over valued or under value Conclusion ? Advantages of DDM (1) Very intuitive-it is easy to understand the DDM in that dividends are cash flows paid directly to shareholders. (2) The model is parsimonious. (3) Operationalization of the DDM is straightforward and easy to apply. ? Disadvantages (1) Obviously, the DDM only works for firms which pay dividends. (2) The DDM does not explicitly account for risk. (3) We need to make an estimate of the firm’s growth rate, g, but this can be difficult to do in practice. (4) As seen in point (2) above, we are not able to explicitly account for risk. (5) Estimates of the shares’ value are very sensitive to our estimates of g and r. (6) The DDM only works for firms which pay dividends. The dividends and residual income approach attempts to maximize shareholders’ wealth while the FCF approach attempts to maximize the wealth of the enterprise. 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