The main purpose of a prison sentence is to punish Research Paper

The main purpose of a prison sentence is to punish - Research Paper Example The price of crime is a ‘time-out’ of public life, the cost of having acted against the interests of the people of a city, state or nation. Because the definition of punishment has become rolled into some sort of benefit to the future, it no longer serves its true purpose. There are good reasons that rehabilitation is included in the goals of the state in approaching the consequences of crime. However, prison is punishment, but as it has been confused with other elements of the justice system, the social ’identity’ of prison has become a poor infusion of too many ideas that are not being well managed. The reason that this topic is being discussed in this essay is that other compensations should be in place for victims and should be used in order to rehabilitate, but because these concepts have been rolled into the prison system, none of the goals of incarceration are being fully reached and that is leaving the public vulnerable to future crimes. According t o Brinkerhoff et al (2008), there are four reasons to punish: â€Å"retributionâ€Å", â€Å"preventionâ€Å", â€Å"deterrenceâ€Å", and â€Å"reform† (p. 136). However, none of these concepts are part of the definition of punishment. ... 124). Both of these definitions, however, are centered on what they mean for the future. Punishment, according to the dictionary, is â€Å"the penalty for doing something wrongâ€Å". In confusing the purpose and definition of punishment with a product that benefits society or the future means that its purpose has become convoluted with multiple opinions and purposes that create long, drawn out sentences that do not serve the purposes of anyone in the process. According to DeLisi and Conis (2010), â€Å"to thirds of the prisoners released from prison will recidivate within three years of their release† (p. 236). This decreases after a five year prison term, but that is correlated to offenders aging out of their crime rather than because prison has had the effect of deterrence or rehabilitation. There is no real evidence that prison has any effect on recidivism (Delisi and Conism, 2010, p. 236). Prisons are also a breeding ground for making offenders more disillusioned about society and for creating a focus on criminal life. In neglecting incarceration as a cost for a crime and imposing long sentences in the belief that it will lower crime rates, society has created breeding grounds for individuals who have little hope in having a positive contribution to society after time in prison. In trying to create a identity for prison as a place to find rehabilitation, deter and prevent crime, as well as provide retribution, none of these goals are being met. There has been a concerted effort, through rolling all of these concepts together, to best serve society. According to Blakely (2005), â€Å"rehabilitation is concerned with the long-termed success of the inmate† (p. 10). Marx has suggested that bourgeois life has become consumed with the idea of cost

Generation Gap Essay Example for Free

Generation Gap Essay Do you know what a generation gap is? Even if you dont know the particular definition, you are aware of this problem, basing on your own experience. Generation gap is a popular term used to describe serious differences between people of two generations. To realize how to deal with it, you should keep in mind that generation gap includes several aspects: children must know as much as possible about their parents and parents — about the world outlook of their children, about relations between brothers and sisters, and also about the attitude to them of close relatives on both sides — fathers and mothers. Children demand a great deal of attention, time and patience, so, if you are not ready to devote all that to your baby, it is better not to hurry There are many families where both parents keep working after giving birth to their baby It is similar to the situation with a single-parent family, when a father or a mother hardly have enough time and neglect their childrens upbringing. In such cases most of the time the child has to spend on his own or with his friends. Due to the fact that he has not got any guidance from his parents he may be involved in some bad companies which commit violence or even crime and become alcohol or drug addicted. When the parents discover that, its usually too late to change anything. On the other hand, there is a different situation when the parents treat their children too strict and dont give them any freedom at all. In this case the children may become pariahs among their peers. Constant bans may increase the risk that the child will grow up insolent and defiant. This causes another big problem — lying. The child is forced to lie to the parents because of the fear to be punished. It can be anything from putting on make-up in the girls room at school to stealing. Some children rebel against discipline and family values. They listen to a loud music, wear inappropriate, to their parents mind, clothes, dye their hair in inconceivable colours, have all their bodies pierced and tattooed trying to show their ind ependence and establish their identity. They want to be treated as adults, but they are not ready to take all the necessary responsibilities. It doesnt mean that your child is bad and he will become a criminal. Of course, not! It only means that your child is in his transitional age and he is in need of your understanding and support. But how to handle such behaviour? Parents should become his close friends. First of all they should learn to respect his interests. Try to speak with him as often as possible, offer some parent-child activities like shopping or going in for sports. It is worth involving the child in discussing some family questions, just to show that he is a full member of the family. Moreover, children in their teens are very vulnerable when they are criticized in public, so try to avoid it. Parents should always be honest and sincere with their child; otherwise it would be unfair to require the same from him. Too authoritarian parents cant do any good to their children as well as parents who overindulge all the childs caprices. Overindulgence may lead to the same results as negligence. There are parents who are afraid of hurting the child by banning something when it is necessary. Such parents risk becoming powerless in the family and losing control over their children who may become spoiled and capricious. It demands to make a great effort from both parents and children to reach mutual understanding. There are many different opinions on the question of treating children if they disobey their parents, but every parent should decide for himself what will be best for his child and set him on the right path.

Faulkner’s Family Life in William Faulkner: a Life on Paper

Faulkner’s Family Life in William Faulkner: a Life on Paper The presence of the father – The Father? – haunts William Faulkner, a Life on Paper; daughters play a supporting role. Mothers, curiously enough, are noticeable in their absence. On both the spoken and unspoken levels, the film suggests that the power of genesis derives from the male alone. The creative power passes from father to son to grandson, or from father to daughter, and it is from this lineage that the artist is endowed to â€Å"create a cosmos of his own,† as Faulkner said of his novel, The Sound and the Fury. First, there is the matter of the movie’s tone. Early camera shots of the Mississippi countryside, its forests and swamps, are accompanied by a melancholy melody played by oboe, piano and French horn; composed in a minor key, this music offers an aural equivalent to the text of the narration, a passage of Faulkner’s, in which the author describes the region’s autumn as â€Å"gallant, evanescent and forlorn.† This is an evocative description, unique in its assigning to the natural world a quality associated with the male, gallantry. To be gallant is to be noble and brave in service to an ideal; the word specifically indicates chivalry toward women, and in this context it conjures most certainly the dual spectres of the southern gentleman and the Lost Cause. Thus, in Faulkner’s imagination, the age-old mythos of nature as Mother is recast in the light of the male/Father; his South, his Mississippi, his fictional county, is a land not of sunlight and f ecundity, but of dark, primordial forests, swamplands, things forgotten and fading away. Again and again in William Faulkner, a Life on Paper, images of the countryside are repeated with this same â€Å"forlorn† chamber ... ...s been reborn in daughter; the role of Mother, Estelle, is seemingly bypassed. We see or hear little of Estelle after her marriage to Faulkner; what interests the filmmakers is her alluring persona as a vivacious southern belle who drew boys to her like â€Å"bees to honey,† one interviewee remarks. Post-marriage, she returns to the film’s hazy background. â€Å"Mrs. William Faulkner† exists onscreen primarily as an open hand demanding money for food and bills; their daughter, Jill, functions in the film as a repository of less-than-pleasant memories, recited in thin-lipped reminiscence. â€Å"If I had gotten in his way Pappy would have walked on me,† she notes, a point that is painfully underscored later in the film when she recalls his words to her: â€Å"No one remembers Shakespeare’s child.† If there was much tenderness between father and daughter, we see little of it in this film.

Karl Marxs Family Ethics Essay -- Essays Papers

Karl Marx's Family Ethics Ethics is defined as the study of moral standards and how they affect conduct. Ethics is a major affair in every profession and is a key topic of philosophical discussion. Karl Marx was a man of ethics. One of his main applications was freedom, which to Karl Marx meant determination.1 Marx's opinion was that man is controlled by the prerequisites of nature. The nature of man is comprised of powers, man being uncontrolled, allows him to comprehend the fullness of his powers. The question of becoming free came about and the answer was communism. Karl Marx had the notion that when the monarchy and capitalism were oblivious, then the communist government could take action, and the riches of society would prosper. Contrasting the beliefs that had started becoming prevalent, Marx thought that the economy should have nothing to do with labor, profits, and land tenure. Instead, Marx thought that the foremost point was man and his activities, as declared in the Communist Manifesto. Marx had a resolution to the problems of the working class man; bring the economy to man's direction in order to allow freedom. But, the next issue was, what else is relevant to freedom? Marx talks about this matter in the Communist Manifesto as well. Do the ethics of freedom concern everyone? And how would these ideals be set into today's society? Marx's first point is that achievements of man must primarily be attained through societal experiences.2 The society would need to encounter other individuals in order to develop into a nation. The bonds that this nation would require would need to result from capacities undividable from his organic being.3 Marx believes that interaction is natural ... ...mily should not be a unit. Every attempt of this has resulted in failure and will most likely always have the identical end product. Marx was correct in saying that freedom is a necessary quality of society, however, he was not right in making the assumption that the family unit ought to be devalued. Kamenka, Eugene. Marxism and Ethics. New York: W.D. Hudson, 1969 – Pg 12 Kamenka, Eugene. Pg 13 Heyer, Paul. Nature, Human Nature, and Society. Greenwood Press, 1982 – pg 126 Heyer, Paul. Pg 126 Kamenka, Eugene. Pg 8 Kamenka, Eugene. Pg 26 Kamenka, Eugene. Pg 49 Kamenka, Eugene. Pg 51 Koren, Henry. Marx and the Authentic Man. Pittsburgh, PA, 1967 – pg 33 Koren, Henry. Pg 37 Koren, Henry. Pg 67 Koren, Henry. Pg 68 Trigilio, Angie. "Marx's Ethics of the Family." http://www.udayton.edu/~hst102-14-3/ (2 Nov. 2001).

Hank Williams

Hiram King Williams, also known as Hank Williams, was born on September 17, 1923 in Mount Olive, Alabama. His dad was Lon Williams, a locomotive engineer. His mom was Lillie Williams, a church organist. Hank spent most of his childhood in Georgiana and Greenville, Alabama. Hank Williams was a key person in the development of modern country music. He caused a shift in country music from a regional, rural phenomenon to a nationwide, urban acceptance in the late 1940’s. He turned â€Å"hillbilly† music into country music. He became interested in music at a very early age. He learned to play the organ from his mother. He could also play the harmonica. His mother gave him his first guitar when he was eight. His father walked out on the family when Hank was a young child. It became the responsibility of his mother to raise Hank and his siblings. She was a very strong willed woman. He attended Sidney Hanier High School in Montgomery. He quit school when he was 16 years old. He was raised as a fundamentalist Baptist. The music and sermons from his childhood had influenced him. â€Å"My earliest memory† Rolling Stone writer Ralph J. Gleason (as quoted by William’s biographer Colin Escott) â€Å"is sittin’ on that organ stool by her and hollerin’. I must have been five, six years old and louder’n anybody else. † In 1937, Hank’s mother opened a boarding house in Montgomery. Hank helped the family income by shining shoes, selling newspapers, and peanuts on the street. This is where he met Rufus Payne, a black man, known as Tee-Tot. He taught Hank to play the guitar. He would follow him around on the street begging him to teach him to play. He would pay him 15 cents or whatever he had for a lesson. Payne also helped him overcome his shyness. He is the one that the blues influence came from. He made his very first radio performance at the age of thirteen. He formed his first band when he was fourteen years old. I was called Hank Williams and his Drifting Cowboys. He began wearing cowboy hats and western clothes. He sang without amplification and above the sounds of the band. He developed a full throated style of singing. It was similar to Roy Acuff from the Grand Ole Opry. Hank was turned down for the military service because of his back problems. Near the end of the war he began pursuing his musical career again. He started performing at dances nd local events. He also started playing at â€Å"honky tonks†. These were rough and rowdy beer joints that the city’s new comers went to. Williams began abusing alcohol. This problem haunted him the rest of his life. It was partly because of him trying to self medicate the terrible back pain that was caused by a congenital spine disorder. When Hank was 20 years old he met Audrey Mae Sheppard. She was a single mother and separated from her husband. She and Hank married after her divorce was final. They were married by a justice of the peace at a gas station near Andalusic, Alabama in December 1944. They had a child Hank Williams, Jr. in 1949. Hank and Audrey visited Nashville to meet Fred Rose, the head of Acuff-Rose Publishing. The meeting resulted in the recording of â€Å"Never Again† and â€Å"Honky Tonkin’†. This led to signing a contract with MJM. Rose became his manager and record producer. â€Å"Lovesick Blues† became Hank’s trademark tune. It began with a yodel. It spent a year on the charts, including sixteen weeks at the top. He suddenly found himself on a roll. He quickly recorded two more songs, including â€Å"Mind Your Own Business†. They say this song was aimed at his wife. Audrey began to push for more of her own spot in the stardom as he became more famous. They had recorded several sets and she had played with the band some. It was said that her voice was shrill and tuneless. They also said that she didn’t have a very good sense of time. In 1950, he had more successful songs. He also released a series of religious songs with his wife. He used his connections to get a recording contract for her with DECCA. They were not as successful. H recorded his religious narrations talking blues under the name â€Å"Luke the Drifter†. Luke the Drifter walked with Hank Williams and talked through him. These recordings were the closest Hank Williams came to bearing his soul. Hank’s musical career was very successful, but his personal life was falling apart. This was mostly caused by his alcohol abuse that was intensified by his rocky relationship with his wife. This found its way into the words of his songs about heartache, heartbreak, and the break- up of relationships. Hank and Audrey divorced in 1952. As he began to earn more money and spend longer periods of time away from home he began to drink more frequently. While on a hunting trip in Tennessee, he tripped and fell re-hurting his back. He began taking morphine and other painkillers to help control the pain. He quickly became addicted. Following a short tour in Texas, Hank, returned to Montgomery in December to rest before going to Canton, Ohio on January 1, 1953. He was scheduled to play in Canton. Charles, a friend and his driver, was stopped for speeding on their way to Canton. The police officer saw Hank in the car and thought he looked like a dead man. He was then taken to a West Virginia hospital and was declared dead at 7:00 a. . He had died in the back seat of a Cadillac on his way to the concert. He was buried three days later in Montgomery. There was a record crowd attending. His last single released before he died was â€Å"I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive†. It reached number one immediately after his death. In 1953, they continued to release his records that hit number one including â€Å"Your Cheatin’ Heart† Hank Williams was a recording artist for only 6 years and recorded 66 songs under his name (more under Luke the Drifter and with Audrey). Out of the 66 songs 37 of these were hits. Bibliography http://www.allmusic.com/artist/hank-williams-p138231/biography http://britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/644353/Hank-Williams?sections=644353

The Role Of Women In The Church Essays - Christianity And Women

The Role Of Women In The Church Essays - Christianity And Women The Role of Women in the Church With the advent of the feminist movement, the role of women in all parts of society has come under increasing scrutiny. One area of recent controversy is the role of women in the Christian Church. Some churches whose traditions and practices are less rigidly tied to Biblical doctrines have begun placing women in leadership positions such as pastor or teacher. Other churches which interpret the Bible more literally have been slow to adopt such changes. Much of the confusion is based on attempts to interpret scriptures pertaining to women. In this essay, we will use the Bible to underezd the role of women in the church of the first century and apply that underezding to the church of the twentieth century. Many people would dispute the Bible's relevance to contemporary thought in general, and in particular to the role of women in worship. If the Bible were not written under divine inspiration, a person or practice is not bound by its teachings. He or she can therefor pick and choose whatever corresponds to his/her point of view. However, if the Bible is of divine inspiration, then a cautious consideration of passages relevant to a particular issue must be undertaken. Traditions and customs that have arisen after the Bible was written may thus be carefully scrutinized. Such practices may or may not prove sound after comparison with scripture. Before we discuss specific issues concerning women in worship, we should consider principles derived from the relationship of Adam and Eve as described in Genesis chapter one. The Apostle Paul frequently uses this passage as a guideline when discussing women and women's issues. Genesis 1 verse 27 states: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Most Commentators agree that man and woman are both equally a reflection of God's image; the word "man" here is used as a synonym for humanity. Adam and Eve were also given joint dominion over creation. But the fact that Adam was created before Eve has significance to Paul and other Old Testament scholars; it signifies role distinction between the two sexes. The role of the man is leadership, while the role of woman is as a source of strength and support. In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul states: "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. . ." (Eph. 5:23) This is an important analogy. If a person wants to underezd the Christian authority of a man over his wife, he must consider how Christ demonstrated his leadership as head over the Church. Primarily, he gave his life for his church, not using force or coercion for her submission. When considering mens and woman's ministry in the church, it is important to keep in mind this role distinction. Lets examine the public ministry of women in the Church. Two major passages give specific instructions regarding women during worship in the letters of the Apostle Paul. These two passages are used frequently when denying women a public role in church life. The first is in I Corinthians chapter 14 verses 33 - 35, this passage commands women to be silent during worship service. Similarly but with more details, I Timothy 2 verses 8 - 15 not only contains a command to be silent but also instruction on authority along with a reference to the fall of Adam and Eve for further explanation. Here is the passage in its entirety using the NIV (New International Version) Bible translation: I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A women should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

The Ten Books That Have Greatly Influenced Me †Book Review

The Ten Books That Have Greatly Influenced Me – Book Review Free Online Research Papers The Ten Books That Have Greatly Influenced Me Book Review Let’s take a few steps back in time before we embark on a new year. In 1978 I entered the field of direct selling. Back then I was selling vacuum cleaners by appointment and I needed help. My self confidence wasn’t great and I stuttered so badly that I could barely state my own name when asked. I’d picked an interesting career. But I was determined to do well. My sales manager recommended subscribing to a regular program of book and tapes. I took his advice, bought a cassette player and have attended automobile university ever since. Since that time my library has grown to over 1200 books. Volumes have been read and reread. You see, we can all use help. No one succeeds alone. Time spent with great people and with books and cassette programs is time well spent. Reading and listening causes you to align your thinking with theirs. This is fellowship with the eternal. Choose wisely. It’s not just about motivation. It’s about education. I’m convinced that the best motivation is ongoing education. Now, there’s a New Year’s resolution a commitment to lifelong learning. Consider this truth: All achievement has it’s beginning in an idea. If we had to wait until we stumbled upon certain success secrets we might never find them. When you stop learning you stop living. All leaders are readers. Here are ten books, in the order I’ve read them over the past 22 years (apart from the Bible and Captain Marvel), that have greatly influenced me. It is my hope you’ll allow them to influence you. 1. See You at the Top: 25th Anniversary Edition, by Zig Ziglar, Pelican Publishing, 1974, 312 pages. Do you want health, wealth, peace, time, security, friends, growth and happiness? You can have them if you will build your life on a solid foundation of honesty, character, faith, loyalty, integrity and love. You can begin your journey to the top when you have a solid foundation. The elevator to the top is out of order, so, you’ll have to take the stairs. It won’t do to stare up the steps. You’ll have to step up the stairs. I recommend everything written by Zig Ziglar. Principle: â€Å"You can get everything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want.† 2. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, Fawcett Crest, 1960, 254 pages. The author was inspired by steel magnate, Andrew Carnegie’s, magical formula for success. Learn this secret: We have the power to control our thoughts. We become what we think about. We unconsciously move in the direction of our dominant thoughts. Hill outlines thirteen steps toward riches. More of the things money can buy and more of the things money can’t buy. The riches you’ll attain are measured beyond money. Principle: Harness the power of your marvelous mind. 3. The Magic of Thinking Big, Dr. David J. Schwartz, Simon and Schuster, 1959, 192 pages. In the words of Disraeli, â€Å"life is too short to be little.† So think big, dream big, believe big and you’ll become big. More recently, it was Donald Trump who said, â€Å" as long as you’re going to think anyway you might as well think BIG!† Principle: â€Å"You need not have great intellect or talent to be a giant among men, but you do need the habit of thinking and acting in a manner which brings success success is determined not so much by the size of one’s brain as it is by the size of one’s thinking.† 4. How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling, by Frank Bettger, Simon and Schuster, 1947, 192 pages. Dale Carnegie called this book, â€Å" the most helpful and inspiring book on salesmanship that I have ever read.† Professional baseball player turned salesman, Bettger, was at first a total failure at selling life insurance. Here are practical proven ideas that lifted him out of failure and despair and can lift you, too. This book is a gem and belongs on every professional salespersons shelf. Principle: â€Å"Failures mean nothing at all if success comes eventually. Keep going!† 5. Secrets of Successful Insurance Sales: How to Master the Value Added Approach to Consultative Sales (P M a Book Series), by Jack Kinder and Garry Kinder, PMA Communications Inc., 1988, 250 pages. In their book the authors help you take seven steps to successful insurance and investment sales. The steps are, the power of purpose, preparation, positioning, persuasiveness, professionalism, progress checks and persistence. These combine to give you the necessary edge of confidence. The confidence that comes through competence. I recommend this book and the cassette series by the same name available from Nightingale Conant. Principle: â€Å"Achievement is dependent on mental attitudes, and that by building up knowledge and pride in insurance work you can skyrocket.† 6. The Winning Attitude Your Key To Personal Success , by John C. Maxwell, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993, 224 pages. Are you sick and tired of coping with feeling defeated? Do you have an habitual bad attitude? Maxwell begins with the consideration of your attitude and describes the construction, the crashing and the changing of your attitude. Attitude indicates performance. Every airplane has an attitude indicator prominently displayed in the midst of the instrument cluster. The attitude of the plane is the position of the aircraft relative to the horizon. A nose up attitude means the plane is rising and a nose down attitude means the plane may be diving. The airplane’s attitude indicates its performance. It’s necessary to change the attitude to change the performance. Today’s instructors teach ‘attitude flying.’ Do people have ‘attitude indicators?’ Principle: â€Å"You can develop a winning attitude of mind to overcome obstacles.† 7. The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, Pocket Books, 1996, 258 pages. Within these pages are the â€Å"surprising secrets of America’s wealthy.† Here are some of those secrets. The affluent believe that financial independence is more important than displaying status. Their parents didn’t support them as adults and their own children are self sufficient. They are first generation rich. They didn’t inherit their wealth. They are generally business owners or professionals. They chose the right profession. They target market. A large percentage are sales professionals. They are willing to spend inordinate sums of money on legal and financial advice. Principle: â€Å"Wealth is not the same as income. Wealth is what you accumulate. Follow a lifestyle conducive to the accumulation of money by living below your income and allocating time and treasure efficiently.† 8. Zero Resistance Selling, posthumously by Maxwell Maltz, Prentice Hall Press, 1998, 208 pages. A powerful self improvement program. Most resistance is created in your own mind. Whether it be sales resistance by the prospect or resistance to our ideas by others. The single most important secret is the picture you hold of yourself in your mind. We refer to this as the self image. It is impossible to consistently perform in a manner which is inconsistent with the way you see yourself. Your ‘inside’ controls your ‘outside.’ Discover how to change the picture and change your life. Principle: You’ll never rise above the level of your self image the way you see yourself. 9. Values-Based Selling : The Art of Building High-Trust Client Relationships, Bill Bachrach, Aim High Publishing, 1996, 374 pages. Subtitled, â€Å"The Art of Building High Trust Client Relationships for Financial Advisors, Insurance Agents, and Investment Reps,† this book presents a road map for success in financial services. You will learn how to: Work only with the best clients. Lay the foundation for your professional relationship within minutes. Develop trust by building a financial plan focused on what’s important to them. Get good referrals from your best clients. Be brilliant on the phone. Target market. Attain the lifestyle of a financial professional. Principle: â€Å"Understand the client’s answer to this question, â€Å"What’s important about money to you?† 10. Getting Clients, Keeping Clients : The Essential Guide for Tomorrows Financial Adviser (A Marketplace Book) , by Dan Richards, Transcontinental Printers, 1998, 381 pages. Three elements will enable you to take your business to the level of a professional practice. 1. Effective prospecting and marketing to get clients. 2. Retaining clients by customizing recognition and building relationships. 3. Running an efficient practice by leveraging your time and maximizing your time spent on major outcome activities. You will find scripts, letters and templates to assist you with getting clients and keeping clients in the new millennium. Principle: Develop a system for getting and keeping clients. There you have them, ten books that have greatly influenced me over the past 22 years. Please, don’t misunderstand me. I don’t consider myself to have apprehended. Success is a journey not a destination. As a lifelong reader, may I offer a suggestion? When it comes to the reading of books make it much not many. Many will be the acquaintances, fewer will be your friends, still fewer may become lovers. Research Papers on The Ten Books That Have Greatly Influenced Me - Book ReviewHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationTrailblazing by Eric AndersonResearch Process Part OneStandardized TestingMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductQuebec and CanadaMoral and Ethical Issues in Hiring New EmployeesCanaanite Influence on the Early Israelite Religion

Characteristics of Poor Teachers

Characteristics of Poor Teachers One would hope that all teachers would strive to be excellent, effective educators. However, education is just like any other profession. There are those who work extremely hard at their craft getting better on a daily basis and there are those that are just simply there never striving to improve. Even though this type of teacher is in the minority, just a handful of truly bad teachers can hurt the profession.   What qualities can deem a teacher ineffective or bad? There are many different factors  that can derail a teacher’s career. Here we discuss some of the most prevalent qualities of poor teachers.   Lack of Classroom Management A lack of classroom management is probably the single biggest downfall of a bad teacher. This issue can be the demise of any teacher no matter their intentions. If a teacher cannot control their students, they will not be able to teach them effectively. Being a good classroom manager starts on day one by incorporating simple procedures and expectations and then following through on predetermined consequences when those procedures and expectations are compromised.   Lack of Content Knowledge Most states require teachers to pass a comprehensive series of assessments to obtain certification within a specific subject area. With this requirement, you would think that all teachers would be proficient enough to teach the subject area(s) they were hired to teach. Unfortunately, there are some teachers who  do not know the content well enough to teach it. This is an area that could be overcome through preparation. All teachers should thoroughly prepare for any lesson  before they teach it to make sure they understand what they are going to be teaching. Teachers will lose credibility with their students quickly  if they do not know what they are teaching, thus making them ineffective. Lack of Organizational Skills Effective teachers must be organized. Teachers who lack organizational skills will be overwhelmed and, as a result, ineffective. Teachers who recognize a weakness in organization should seek help in improving in that area. Organizational skills can be improved with some good direction and advice. Lack of Professionalism Professionalism encompasses many different areas of teaching. A lack of professionalism can quickly result in a teacher’s dismissal. Ineffective teachers are often tardy or absent. They may fail to follow a districts dress code or use inappropriate language in their classroom.   Poor Judgment Too many good teachers have lost their careers due to a moment of poor judgment. Common sense goes a long way in protecting yourself from these sorts of scenarios. A good teacher will think before acting, even in moments where emotions or stressors are running high.   Poor People Skills Good communication  is essential in the teaching profession. An ineffective teacher communicates poorly, or not at all, with students, parents, other teachers, staff members, and administrators. They leave parents out of the loop about what is happening in the classroom.   Lack of Commitment   There are some teachers who simply lack motivation. They spend the minimum  amount of time necessary to do their  job never arriving early or staying late. They do not challenge their students, ​are often behind on grading, show videos often, and give â€Å"free† days on a regular basis. There is no creativity in their teaching, and they typically make no connections with other faculty or staff members. There is no such thing as a perfect teacher. It is in the nature of the profession to continuously improve in all areas, including classroom management, teaching style, communication, and subject area knowledge. What matters most is a commitment to improvement. If a teacher lacks this commitment, they may not be suited for the profession.

Structure of organization Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Structure of organization - Case Study Example Under such desperate circumstances, the company executives should move from the vertical organizational structure to the flat organizational structure. Under this system, the coordination between the employees will increase, the functional processes will get integrated and the organizational goals will get aligned with the individual goals. Hence, this will result in Aquarius agency turning into a learning organization that will foster increased employee empowerment and increased customer satisfaction. Analysis of the Current Structure of the Organization Presently, the company is running under the tall structure of organizational hierarchy. According to this structure, there are three comprehensive departments such as marketing, Operations and Accounts. These major departments are supported by 2 one men departments that are, Human Resource and Finance. This structure was a best fit for the organization previously since it created provision for specialized tasks, well defined guideli nes for the employees, proper job description for each employee and a high power distance. Due to the present tall organizational structure, there are few teams in the company and functions are characterized by centralized decision making procedures. These features of the organizational structure enable the higher management to wield power and take decisions in the most professional and judicious way (Daft, 1991). However, the present system is also creating a big cloud of problems as the clientele gets involved and communication gaps begin to widen up. The miscommunication between the cross functional supervisors due to mismanaged communication networks has led to employees being constantly disgruntled by the current functioning of the organization. It is quite evident that the account executive is fed up of the constant direct communications between the clients and the specialists like those of marketing and operations. These direct meetings between the clients and the organizatio nal specialists led these employees to trespass their domains of authority and make decisions without consulting their executives. Since this phenomenon is not considered appropriate under the implemented organizational structure, this created serious problems in the value chain of the company and in the coordination in the business functions. This not only perturbs the organizational setting but also hurts the company reputation as the customers are unable to receive their desired value on time (Daft, 2003). The high power distance also led to delayed decisions and lack of coordination between the various organizational entities. These problems ultimately led to extreme job dissatisfaction for the employees like the accounts executives. The limited domain of authority of individual employees resulting from high power distance also made functional problems for the company. The plethora of problems experienced by the organization ultimately led to disgruntled customer base which subs equently led to fewer sales. Under the vertical structure employed by

From poe to pole Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

From poe to pole - Assignment Example They are exposed to extremely low temperatures and darkness throughout the winter period but they still survive after the season is over. When I first saw the conditions these animals are exposed to I could not believe that they can sustain their lives for four months. As a human, I am aware that warmth and food are critical conditions for survival. However, the documentary has opened my eyes to appreciate the fact that humans are made different from wild animals. Humans have access to shelter and can change their lifestyles according to changing seasons. For instance, all the animals migrate when winter starts but the emperor penguin and the polar bears live behind (BBC 1). The most important observation is that seasons influence animal behaviour tremendously because animals strive for survival. For instance, the emperor penguins are constantly standing during the winter season. It was astonishing and I forced myself to do some research on the penguin’s behaviour. I discovered that standing on their feet reduces their area of contact with ice to minimal levels and enables them preserve the little body heat that they have. In fact, it was surprising to note that they incubate eggs during the winter season. The other interesting point relates to the existence of the Amur leopard that leaves in the forests of eastern Russia. They are forty in number and are considered to be the rarest cat in the world. According to the narrator, the rare existence of the Amur leopard "symbolises the fragility of our natural heritage" (BBC 1). It is interesting  to have  the narrator connect the existence of animals to the impact of nature on wildlife. The most valued things in life are rare to be found and difficult to get. Our national heritage consists of our values and our environment. However, the world has been experiencing environmental degradation with the increase in human as well as animal population. However, humans are the biggest cause of the fragility of natural

Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Education - Essay Example therefore carry out effective changes that will ensure that the education system in the country is commensurate to the improving lifestyle in the country† (Jeff 02). This way, the two reports raise myriad factors that shape the nature of education and the trends in the rising demand. Additionally, they analyze some of the education acts formulated by past regimes in the country with the effects of such policies. The increase in the population of the country coupled with the improving economy has consequently resulted in an improving lifestyle for the citizenry thereby instigating a change in the demand for educational services in the country. Such trend implies that schools, colleges and universities in the country must carry out extensive changes in their structures in order to accommodate the increasing demand for the services in the country. On the need for general education introduces an important concept in the sector as it seeks to investigate the essence of general education in the country. The economic and technological state of the society currently requires a particular degree of enlighten for the populace to survive. This refers to a type of education that every individual in the country requires in order to survive in the American society. As a basic education, the article analyses features of the demand thereby information the formation and management of such education. Just as the name suggests, general education targets the population indiscriminate of their backgrounds. Such are basic education possibly up to the high school level. At such levels, the learners obtain adequate interpersonal and communication skills that can enable them make a living in the society. However, just as the name suggests the demand is likely to be high for such education in the country owing to the rising population. The government must therefore consider intricate features of the education in order to ensure that the quality of the education is not only attainable

Systems Analyst Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Systems Analyst - Essay Example He is the person in charge of and responsible for designing the novel system and applications to be used in meeting the objectives of the business (Shelly 2012, 43). In several organizations, the system analyst does the actual coding of proposed applications for the enterprise. He implements the designs proposed and supervises their operations towards achieving the business goals. In order to perform the demanding tasks effectively, a system analyst is required to possess various skills. Foremost, the analyst needs a wide knowledge of the enterprise he works for. He should have a profound familiarity of how the business operates. In addition, it is fundamental to have a superior comprehension of how businesses in the field operate; particularly competitors. He should have good interpersonal skills in order to enable him get information he requires for viable systems. All the information an analyst requires are fished from colleagues and other stakeholders. In order to get reliable information, he must be able to create a good rapport and correlate with others. Finally, a system analyst must have a reputable ability to solve problems (Shelly 2012, 32). He should be able to think quickly to solve challenging situations and find alternatives to dilemmas. Most important, an analyst must have a deep understanding of changes in the ICT world. He should be able to a dapt easily to the dynamics of the technological field and remain

Internet and Music Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Internet and Music Industry - Essay Example The music industry is not limited to the artists and the record companies. It also includes the composers, the musicians’ representatives, television and radio broadcasting companies, advertising agencies and so much more. It has, for the past 50 years, earned most of its revenues through selling its artists’ albums in the form of long play (LP) record albums, cassette tapes, compact discs (CDs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs). Aside from these albums sold in record stores, revenue also comes from music videos played on television, music played over the radio, and, of course, concerts and tours. The music industry is considered to be one of the top industries as far as value and income are concerned. In the last few years, however, with the rise of the Internet, the music industry has found new ways to earn money. Record companies began to collect orders online and ship their products to any part of the world which has internet access. And even later, they learned to collect money in exchange for downloadable music. This meant that they needed less money to produce and store their products. It also meant faster service for the customers and, therefore, faster influx of cash. The internet became a very good source of income as it has a greater consumer reach, faster response time, and it presented a lot of choices for the consumers. But, as with many happy stories, there is a down side to this new technology. The internet also gave way to both small and large scale piracy. It allowed its users to violate intellectual property rights in a snap, that they do not even realize it until much later. The instant connection between people that the internet provided allowed its users to share files, especially music and other multimedia content. The rise of multimedia tools and social networks, such as YouTube, Facebook, Bebo, Friendster, and MySpace, made copyright infringement easier, faster and even harder to control. 39% of social network users embed copyrighted materials into their pages and 79% of them say that these embedded media reflect their personality. In the early part, consumers did not realize that this was a form of piracy and just enjoyed acquiring "free" music. Then after some time, when record companies started to feel the pain of illegal downloads, they started informing the world of how their properties are being stolen even if unintended. Still, illegal downloads have gone up from 36% in 2006 to 43% in 2007.4 The record companies

Systems Analyst Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Systems Analyst - Essay Example He is the person in charge of and responsible for designing the novel system and applications to be used in meeting the objectives of the business (Shelly 2012, 43). In several organizations, the system analyst does the actual coding of proposed applications for the enterprise. He implements the designs proposed and supervises their operations towards achieving the business goals. In order to perform the demanding tasks effectively, a system analyst is required to possess various skills. Foremost, the analyst needs a wide knowledge of the enterprise he works for. He should have a profound familiarity of how the business operates. In addition, it is fundamental to have a superior comprehension of how businesses in the field operate; particularly competitors. He should have good interpersonal skills in order to enable him get information he requires for viable systems. All the information an analyst requires are fished from colleagues and other stakeholders. In order to get reliable information, he must be able to create a good rapport and correlate with others. Finally, a system analyst must have a reputable ability to solve problems (Shelly 2012, 32). He should be able to think quickly to solve challenging situations and find alternatives to dilemmas. Most important, an analyst must have a deep understanding of changes in the ICT world. He should be able to a dapt easily to the dynamics of the technological field and remain

Master Degree in Accounting Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Master Degree in Accounting - Personal Statement Example However, my quest for knowledge and development instills me with the passion to learn more beyond what I already know. I believe that I should not stop but strive to achieve my full potential My decision to pursue a master's degree in accountancy is part of my quest in furthering my growth and development as a person and an employee. This program will certainly boost my knowledge through the new concepts which will be presented by my professors. Considering that I am from Egypt, I believe that I will surely learn a lot of new things in this country. The acquisition of knowledge will be more efficient as I will be dealing with the nest teachers and other students from around the globe. Aside from this, I know that my interaction with my classmates will also enable me to enhance my social skills, make me more open-minded, and improve my knowledge on world culture. This university is the best venue for me to gain all these. I believe that a master's degree will be my ticket in fulfilling my life's purpose-to contribute in the success of business organizations. I am born with an innate desire contribute what I have to the business world. With my knowledge and experience, this will be in my field of interest-accountancy.

Media Hype, Racial Profiling, and Good Science Essay Example for Free

Media Hype, Racial Profiling, and Good Science Essay Summary: Gold begins his essay right away, without any sort of formality. The essay begins with Gold laying a foundation for the requirements of â€Å"good science. † After which Gold spells out the requirements of articles to sell large volumes of newspapers. This latter generates the term anecdotes. The term anecdote is analyzed, scrutinized and concluded as unacceptable due to the evidence relying more on beliefs than facts. Thus creating a vicious circle. Gold than highlights the fact that there exists large numbers or web pages, lawsuits, publications and presentations specifically directed at the issue. Varying levels of government in the United States has passed legislation about the issue. Individuals known as experts of have been successful writing books and employed as expert witnesses or consultants on the matter. Departments of been created to address the issue and conferences devoted to the topic. The American experience has been deemed applicable in Canada. Gold delves into the high social costs involved in the existence and beliefs of the racial profiling anecdotes. The solution is more important than the conception. Gold offers that communication, building trust, transparency and any inappropriate behavior dealt with seriously by the government are requirements to the solution. Gold then goes on to say that the community must also realize that the guilty may use any method to escape punishment. Gold comments that racial profiling is a phenomenon that is supposed to exist in Policing. The Toronto Star claims to have proved this phenomenon by evidence. This evidence needs to be examined by science. Gold then begins to explore the definition of racial profiling. Sometimes the term is used when a handful of officers are bigots. Sometimes it is applied when it seems that the police service promotes racism through its training materials. There is no evidence that American policing material is connected to Toronto Police. Profiling is the activity and racial a subspecies of profiling. Criminal law literature hosts a variety of profiles. As well, police profilers generate ad hoc profiles. Profiling is a â€Å"junk science† involving vague and non-specific characteristics that can be manipulated. There is no scientific merit to profiling. Racial profiling is one-dimensional profiling where the race replaces all other characteristics. Profiling implies to tell us something about an unknown suspect by identifying characteristics. Racial profiling claims to predict the race of a suspect. Claims should recognize the difference between reactive and proactive policing. Reactive policing is when police seek out a specific gender and race because witnesses described the culprit as such. Reactive policing is irrelevant to profiling. Proactive police activity should be the only data used. Statistics on police-minority interactions need to take into consideration the demographics of a given area. Also, are police targeting specific activity due to community concerns in a certain area? It may surprise people to know how much police activity is reactive and how little is proactive. The Toronto Star fails to recognize such issues. The data collected by the Toronto Star also fails to make the distinction. Gold then moves into to the claims and conclusions aspect of the essay. Stating that data collected needs something to be compared to or measured against, some sort of baseline. The Toronto Star used general population figures from the last available census. Apparently, using uses such as a baseline in unacceptable in the expert statistical analysis. Gold attempts to illustrate that fact that the Toronto Star blundered their way from the statistical analysis without using any accepted criteria. After which Gold suggests that data collection needs to be done under comparable conditions. Gold then moves onto another publication â€Å"Wortley and Tanner,† and the definition used by them. The term greater levels are brought up, and Gold asks â€Å"compared to what? † Wortley and Tanner utilized surveys to collect their data, which results in an opinions and claims survey. Gold calls such data collection, â€Å"Anecdotes in bulk. † After this, Gold goes on for some time about assumptions and making the leap from report to reality based on anecdotal evidence. Gold implies that the Toronto Star failed to take into consideration population distribution and population concentration of identifiable groups. The Toronto Star assumes that all groups are even distributed amongst throughout the general population. The Toronto Star compares data of an ethnic population to number of arrests for violent crimes in higher. Violent crimes will be a reactive policing perspective with witnesses identifying physical traits of the culprits. Such data cannot be used for profiling. This was mentioned earlier on in Gold’s essay. Gold then gives an example of a specific case in the United States where profiling failed the Police investigation. Constant failure to identify criminals using a profile would become apparent with an increase in unsuccessful outcomes. For the conclusion, Gold regurgitates the term â€Å"junk science† and how it is unsuccessful. Then applauds Wortley and Tanner for their cautionary note to have such figures scrutinized by experts and peers before releasing results to the public and that quality control needs to be applied to media discussions on the topic. Strengths: Gold does a good job comparing â€Å"good science† with â€Å"junk science,† and how inaccurate the use of â€Å"junk science† will be. Gold quickly defines terms that he continually uses throughout the rest of his essay to assist the reader in following his train of thought. At the beginning of the essay Gold lays the groundwork for what he will discuss throughout the essay. He, quickly lays down his assumption of what racial profiling is and how unlikely that it is used by police. Gold lies out his essay with sections with subtle conclusions being drawn by the end of each. This helps to keep the reader on track as he attempts to dispel the phenomenon known as racial profiling. Hold spends most of his time attacking the foundation of each group or agencies bases for profiling. He uses references and his knowledge of statistical analysis to debunk each idea. Also, Gold uses various examples of how ineffective the outcome would be given each scenario. Gold illustrates how some groups confuse proactive and reactive policing as the same thing, when in fact they are not. He does his best bring that idea several time throughout the essay. Gold is forthcoming with the fact that he was retained by Toronto Police to make submissions on this same very topic. That mention shows that Gold is trying to be honest with the reader. Also, I believe that it aids the read into recognizing that Gold would have had to do a far amount of research to make such submissions. The fact that Gold is privately employed and not a government employee may make the reader feel that he is less-biased on this particular topic. Weaknesses: At some points during the essay Gold seem to gone off on a tangent. At one point he offers solutions to bridge the gap between government agencies and communities. This is done more than once, and was not relevant to the topic being discussed in the essay. There are a few points where Gold appears to be talking in circles with verbal jargon. I didn’t feel those points in his essay resulted in any valid point to validate his argument. It was almost as though Gold digressed or lost focus for a moment. There are points within the essay where Gold appears to put his personal thoughts in brackets, thereby taking away from his credibility. For most of the essay Gold is trying to prove that the Toronto Star wrote an article without merit or proper research. Near the end of the essay he brings up another writer â€Å"Wortley and Tanner. † I believe that it would have been more effective he had integrated both writings earlier on in the essay. It appears as though â€Å"Wortley and Tanner,† are almost an afterthought. Conclusion: I think Gold effectively made his point with this essay. He is credible and knowledgeable, proving his point with examples, scenarios and data. He shows an appreciation for other points of view and illustrates how they may be incorrect based on their data collection. He affectively dissects the definition of the issue and how come groups confuse racism with racial profiling. As well his recognizes the differences between proactive and reactive policing. Gold shows how reactive policing gets generalized by most groups when in fact the investigation is driven by information from independent sources. I believe the weak points in Gold’s essay are overshadowed by his strong points, resulting in a fair and reasonable conclusion to his argument.

The Typologies Of Tourist Behaviour Tourism Essay

The Typologies Of Tourist Behaviour Tourism Essay When predicting future travel patterns, it is critical to first have basic knowledge of a persons travel motivation and what is motivating them to pursue travelling to destinations that they have selected. As  Pearce, Morrison Rutledge (1998) have defined tourist motivation as the global integrating network of biological and cultural forces which gives value and direction to travel choices, behaviour and experience. Each tourist is driven by different motives that determine their travel choices. These choices can be for new experiencing, culture fascination, recreation, pleasure and relaxing and shopping. Although what motivates people to travel may differ, but there is always recurrent themes emerging. For instance, a person may choose to travel and escape from their usual place of living and decides on taking up a holiday for different surroundings and relaxation, to explore new things, places and people. Many have viewed motivation as a major determinant of the tourists behaviour. Theories of motivation is the concept of needs and they are seen as the forces that arouses motivated behaviour and to best understand what motivates people, it is useful to discover the needs they have and how these needs can be fulfilled. Maslows hierarchy of needs theory is the best known motivation theories. The push and pull concept is another line of travel motivation, while Plogs allocentrism/psychocentrism model will help explain phenomenal rise and fall of travel destinations. Cohen (1972) in his early studies, draws attention to the fact that all tourists are seeking some element of novelty and strangeness while, at the same time, most also need to retain something familiar. How tourists combine the demands for novelty with familiarity can in turn be used to derive a typology. According to Johns Gyimothy (2002) Cohen distinguished tourist using sociological principles into organised mass tourist, individual mass tourists, explorer and drifter. In this essay, we shall discuss different authors approach for travel motivation and typologies of tourists behaviour and shall critically review and compare these theories and typologies. Travel Motivation Travel motivation includes two factors, the push motives factor which describes the need for exploring, relaxing, and interacting socially in the vacation decision. While pull motives is the attraction caused by the destination to the person, these factors include sight seeing, and historical attractions and sites. Push factors are known to form a desire for travelling, and pull factors are known to explicate the choice of destination. Crompton (1979). Push factors can also suggest avoidance of work and pressures at home caused culturally or socially. And pull factors suggest simply seeking adventure, freedom, escape, leisure and play. Seaton (1997) Maslows theory involves five needs forming a hierarchy, in a pyramid shape from lower to higher needs. Maslow explained how when the lower needs Physiological needs (basic life needs- air, water, food, shelter, warmth, sleep, sex), Safety needs (protection, security, low, limits, stability, order), Belonging and love (family, affection, relationships, work groups) are achieved the person would be motivated by the needs of the next two levels Esteem needs (achievement, status, responsibility, reputation), Self-actualization needs (personal growth and fulfilment). Although Maslows theory has been criticized as the basic five needs remain ambiguous, while some feel that it has provided relevance in how human actions are understandable and predictable. The tourism industry has borrowed a lot from Maslow because he provides a convenient set of containers that can be relatively labelled. Maslows hierarchy of needs has also produced a useful tool for understanding psychological motivational factors in tourism. For instance, a person may choose to travel to visit friends and family, but the underlying psychological motivation may be brought by the need for belonging and desire to reunite family links. Iso-Ahola (1982) stated that when tourists are on holidays their roles over time may be switched and different needs will emerge. Sometimes a single motivation may not always be the main factor for travel, if while on holiday and the initial needs are satisfied, other motivations might rise. It is congruent with Maslows theories of needs to argue that if there is a primary need for relaxation while on holiday, the satisfaction of relaxing will create a new need such as exploring the place to enable processes of self-actualization to take place. The four motivational needs Beard and Ragheb (1983) stated are derived from the work of Maslow (1970). These components help in assessing the extent to which individuals are motivated to participate in and are involved in activities such as learning, discovering, exploring and imagining; the social component helps in assessing the level where individuals are participating in leisure activities for social reasons. Friendship and interpersonal relationships is one of the basic needs, while the second need is the esteem of others. While the competence-mastery component assesses the level of which individuals engage in leisure activities in order to accomplish, master, challenge and compete. These activities are usually physical in nature; it is escaping and getting away from overbearing life situations. It drives individuals to seek solitude, unwind, rest and search for calm conditions to avoid social contacts. Sefton and Burton (1987) has replicated these four motivations to form the foundation of their Leisure Motivation Scale. However the original Ragheb and Beard Scale, contained items such as to use and develop physical skills and abilities. This attitude is associated with competition and staying fit, others have demonstrated that competency and mastery can be established in ways such as intellectual pursuits. Other researchers have also identified four groups of motivations, which are linked to Maslows ideas. These ideas include physical motivators such as health and less tension; cultural motivators such as religion, art and heritage; interpersonal motivators such as visiting family and friends; status motivators such as self esteem and personal development. Hudman and Hawkins (1989) made a list of ten main motivators that motivated tourists. These ten motivators are anywhere from physical activities to physical inactivities. They are curiosity, sports, health, natural resources, man made facilities, visiting friends and relatives, business, religion, self esteem and physical inactivity such as simply sunbathing and relaxing. Similarly to the above, six combinations of motivations were grouped and the six combinations included; educational and cultural which be the interest of historic sites, relaxation, adventure and pleasure, health and recreation, ethnicity and family. This leads to the been-there-done that factor to a tourist. The Iso-Aholas theory indicates that what motivates tourism is the assertion of personal escape whereby overcoming bad mood and changing the pace of your everyday life, personal seeking whereby boasting about your experience to others to feel good about yourself, interpersonal escape is whereby you escape the stressful environment you are in and avoid interactions with others, and interpersonal seeking is being with individuals with similar interest and to meet new people. Snepenger et al (2006) Another seven elements of tourist motivations were identified by Dann (1981) and his motivation elements included; travelling as a response to what is desired, destination pull in response to a motivational push, motivation as a fantasy whereby engaging in activities that are deemed unacceptable in their culture and home environment, motivation as a classified purpose such as visiting family and relatives, motivational typologies, motivation and tourist experience, and motivation as an auto-definition and meaning such as the way in which a tourist will explain their situations and respond to them. The Travel Career Ladder is another travel motivation and it consists of five elements developed by P.Pearce (1988) these five travel motivation elements vary from motivations of relaxation, stimulation, relationship, self-esteem, to development and fulfilment. A tourist motivation is an ever changing process and moving up the ladder while progressing through the various life-cycle changes. The model Pearce developed showed that motivations are divided into two categories. The need may be self-centred for instance relaxation may be done solo and the holiday maker seeks a quiet restful time alone, or the need is directed at others for instance it can be relaxation with other individuals and springing from the need for external excitement and desire for novelty. More examples of self-centred needs and needs directed at others are; self directed needs springs from the concern for own safety, relationship can be self-directed which means giving love and affection and maintaining relationships, self-esteem and development maybe self-directed like development of skills, special interests, competence and mastery, fulfilment is another example of self-directed needs, as if fulfils and understands oneself more and experience peace. While needs directed at others can be directed toward others arising out of the concern for others safety, or it can be directed at others by means of receiving affection and to be with group membership and it may be directed at others like prestige, and glamour of travelling. Seaton (1997) criticized Pearces travel motivations. For instance, as Pearce argued that stimulation may be understood alone a dimension of risk and safety of oneself or of others, it may be argued that there is a distinctive difference between these two motivations. A concern about the safety of others might mean placing yourself at risk to help others from danger. The willingness to do this relies on the certainty of a persons psychological maturity. It has been suggested by Pearce Lee (2005) that in the Travel Career Ladder framework, the term career indicates that many individuals orderly move through a series of stage or their travel motivational patterns are predictable. As some may influentially say to the Travel Career Ladder, others may remain at a particular level, mostly depending on opportunities and other limitations such as health and financial situations. Typologies of Tourist Behaviour Cohen (1972), in his early studies, draws attention to the fact that all tourists are seeking some element of novelty and strangeness while, at the same time, most also need to retain something familiar. How tourists combine the demands for novelty with familiarity can in turn be used to derive a typology. Cohen (1972) the sociologist, identified four types of tourists: The organizational Mass tourist who buys tourists packages or all inclusive tours in order to visit classical mass tourism destinations, where everything is predetermined before hand and has a low degree of participation and involvement in the travel search for information. There is no sense of adventure or exploration. He/she belongs to an institutionalized type of tourism where the contact with the organizers of tourism industry is a constant. The individual mass tourist is similar to the organizational mass tourist, however this one is flexibility on his/her decisions and want to participate more in the process. The tourist strongly depends on the tourism industry but want to try some new things out of the closed and predetermined packages. The explorer is more adventurous, he wants to find his/her own experience participating actively in this decision choice. He arrange most of the elements of the travel by himself/herself, however sometimes he/she has to turn to a travel agency or tourism professionals to get some comfort or security amenities. The drifter looks for intensive experiences and he want to feel immerse in local communities. He/she completely abandon his relations with the institutions of tourism systems planning everything by him. He practiced a non institutionalized type of tourism. With this classification of tourists Cohen established an interesting link between the need of living unique experiences and the need of the perception of security. The more secure a tourist wants to feel, the more he will trust on tourism specialist and thus he will live less unique experiences (more standardized). Stanley Plog (1974 cited Plog 1991) developed a similar psychobiological model designed to explain what type of people prefer what type of destination according to its psychographics characteristics. To the author, tourist population could be divided into a continuum of personalities distributed along the Gauss curve; from psychometrics, individual travellers whom look for the unexplored, in one extreme to allocentrics, mass tourism tourists, in the other. After Cohen and Plog, researchers such us Dalen (1989), Smith (1989) or Urry (2002) for instances; they have attempted to create new categories of tourists based on their subject of research. It has to be pointed out that all the models proposed until now they are just descriptive and not relevant to the general tourism demand. They are just focused in one area of study and not in the bigger dimension where the tourist is immerse. In addition, they also fail in the same thing: they do not take into account the factors which determine the different types of tourists (Sharpley, 1999). These factors might be grouped into demographic and socioeconomic factors such us age, life cycle, gender and income; and structural social factors such as the existence of non tourists and capitalist tourism (Sharpley, 1999).Therefore, every person goes trough different stages in life, and depending on the age, familiar circumstances or income tourist will change from one typology to another. Moreover, in these classifications it is not always the tourist who can decide what tourist is going to be, but it is the society who is going to classify you (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007) Conclusion To better plan and market tourist destinations, a better understanding of motivation is crucial. Travel motivation theories can help us understand what motivation is, and what elements must be considered to understand it, and then interpret the different findings to understand the motivation of a certain type of tourist. What motivates a person to travel may vary from one seeking adventure to one visiting a family to feel a sense of belonging or whether they are affected by the Push motive or the Pull motive. Therefore it is difficult to differentiate the different individual motives of travel and people often may not constitute to the real reason of travel. However, understanding travel motivation and typologies of tourist has enabled and explained why certain tourism destinations are more developed and successful than others. All the theories explained above are used as tool to gain knowledge about what is driving tourists to travel and why are they choosing the places they are tra velling too. Travel motivations fundamental in tourism and is important for development. The motivation that indicates a tourists behaviour can show how people set their goals on the destination of their choice and it will reveal how these goals reflect their choice and their travel behaviour. Last but not least, after undertaking this research, understanding the motivations and the typologies of a tourist is the key success to the tourism industry.

Discovering the Things that Make Us Human: Evolution of the Brain :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Discovering the Things that Make Us Human: Evolution of the Brain There is a powerful sentiment among many people that human beings are the most intelligent and complex animals on earth. Our ability to use language is matched by no other species. It makes sense to assume that whichever characteristics of the human brain arent possessed by other animals, specifically primates, our closest evolutionary relatives, are the ones responsible for the acquisition, production, and comprehension of language. As the relatively new field of neuroscience develops, scientists are beginning to study the evolutionary relationships of brain organization and function in an effort to understand the regions of the brain responsible for language, abstract thought, and self-expression. This discipline, known as Paleoneurology, examines the development of the hominid brain (1). Paleoneurology has its roots in the fields of neurology, paleoanthropology, and primatology. There are two methods used by Paleoneurologists to study brain evolution: the examination of fossil sku lls and endocasts, and comparative primate neuroanatomy (2). The study of the evolution of the brain is useful, because it allows for an understanding of the origins of the structural differences between humans and other animals--in effect, what makes us human. According to the fossil record, the first brain structure appeared in reptiles around 500 million years ago. The functions of this hindbrain included breathing, heart beat regulation, balance, basic motor movements, and foraging skills (1). An interesting trend in brain evolution is that more evolved species tend to preserve the structures responsible for basic behaviors. In other words, evolution is the process of acquiring more and more sophisticated structures, not simply the addition of different structures. Therefore, the modern human brain contains the primitive hindbrain region, often called the protereptilin brain (1), and it is the seat of fundamental homeostatic functions. The major structures found in this region of the brain are the Pons and Medulla. About 250 million years after the appearance of the hindbrain, a new region known as the paleomammalian brain arose. This region consists of the hippocampus and cerebellum and is often referred to as the limbic system. As mig ht be expected, this region is associated with more complex functions such as emotional, sexual, and fighting behaviors (1). The newest and most intricate area of the brain, the cerebrum, was first developed around 200 million years ago. The highly convoluted surface of the cerebrum is called the neocortex.

Journal of Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in Transportation Essay

International Journal for Quality research UDK- 656.025.2:658.56 Short Scientific Paper (1.03) SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTS Filipa Fonseca1) Sofia Pinto1) Carlos Brito2) 1) Faculty of Economics and Management, Catholic University of Portugal, Portugal 2) Faculty of Economics, University of Porto, Portugal Abstract: The objective of the paper is to identify the determinants of service quality as well as its impact on the satisfaction of public transport commuters. The paper explores the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in a public transport service taking into account both internal and external perspectives. In order to analyse this relationship, the concepts of service quality, consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction are assessed. A model of analysis is developed aiming at explaining this relationship and guiding the empirical study. This is based on an exploratory case study of a metro company in Europe. The results of the study put in evidence two key findings. The first is related to the level of service quality in its main dimensions. We conclude that reliability, security, speed, comfort and punctuality are quality dimensions of greater importance for the public transport services. Secondly, the study explores satisfaction and their determinants. Despite literature stipulates the existence of a distinction between the constructs of quality and satisfaction, this study found that the transport company, non-customers and customers clearly do not make such a distinction. Keywords: service quality, satisfaction, dissatisfaction, public transport 1. INTRODUCTION Marketing researchers have, for a long time, recognized the importance of service quality as well as consumer satisfaction. Significant investigation has been conducted in both fields, particularly in services (cf. Andreassen, 1995; Edvardsson, 1998; Friman e Garling, 2001; Higgs et al., 2005). However, few studies have explored the both sides of the service process: operations (the internal side) and customer (the external side) perspectives of quality and satisfaction. In the public sector this is likely to be of particular interest. Public services, such as public transportation, have to meet the needs of the customers playing, at the same  time, a role in economic and urban sustainability. They challenge operations to deliver quality to serve customers and non-customers while making the best use of company resources. Read more:  Investigation Into Customer Service The objective of this article is to identify the determinants of service quality and its impact on the satisfaction of public transport commuters. It is divided into five sections beyond this introductory section. It begins with a review of the literature that synthesizes and discusses some concepts considered relevant for the research. Then it addresses the methodology used in the study, as well as a number of considerations about the quality of the research design. The next section presents the findings, which are followed by a discussion of possible implications. Finally, the paper ends with the main conclusions, managerial implications and some suggestions for further research. 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND The theoretical background is developed around three major issues: quality, satisfaction and dissatisfaction. In the management context, the word quality can be used to refer to different things: accordance with the specifications (Levitt, 1972; Juran and Gryna, 1991); excellence (Garvin, 1984); accordance with the requirements, adequacy of use, prevention of losses, or how to answer to or to exceed consumer expectations (Grà ¶nroos, 1984, Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985, 1988). Through such a variety of concepts, the common point of most of the definitions, exception for the first one, is that of targeting the consumer. In this research, quality is presented in the perspective of perceived quality because it is the most commonly used in the services area. Moreover, the research led to a better understanding of the existence or the non-existence of differences between quality and satisfaction. These arguments were enriched by the literature review of each theme, particularly satisfaction which is presented next. Literature about satisfaction has to be adapted to the context which is to be studied. Customer satisfaction is seen as an answer to completion and fulfilment of needs (Oliver, 1996); a psychological state (Howard and Sheth, 1969) and as an assessment of overall evaluation (Westbrook, 1987). Moreover, consumer satisfaction is seen as a cognitive response (Bolton and Drew, 1991; Tse and Wilton, 1988), an emotional answer (Cadotte and Turgeon, 1988; Halstead, Hartman and Schmit, 1994; Westbrook and Reilly, 1983) and as a result of a Vol.4, No. 2, 2010 125 development process (Oliver and De Sarbo, 1988; Tse and Wilton, 1988; Swan, 1992; Erevelles and Leavitt, 1992). Although literature encompasses diverse meanings for satisfaction, they all share common elements. When examined as a whole, three general components can be identified: (i) consumer satisfaction is a cognitive and emotional reaction; (ii) the reaction belongs to a particular focus, (iii) the reaction occurs in a particular period (after consumption, after choice based on experience and expressed before and after choice, after consumption, after extensive experience of using). From the literature it also seems that there is not a general consensus regarding the nature of this concept. If some authors argue that consumer satisfaction results from a specific transaction that occurs at a given time and by the benefits and value of the transaction, others see consumer satisfaction in terms of cumulative overall satisfaction, based on all contacts and experiences with a company and the client’s experience until a certain moment. Literature on customer satisfaction also clarifies the concept of dissatisfaction. For some researchers, these two concepts are totally different while for others, dissatisfaction is on one end and satisfaction is on the other end of the same continuous line, and it is stated that some of the determinants are primarily a source of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. So, this study also intends to make clear the differences between the two concepts. Dissatisfaction has been the focus of extensive research in the services area (Swan and Combs, 1976; Maddox, 1981; Cadotte and Turgeon, 1988; Johnston, 1995; Edvardsson, 1992, 1998, Liljander, 1999). From the literature, once again, contradictions amongst authors tend to arise. According to some researchers satisfaction and dissatisfaction are two different concepts, that is, the consumer can be satisfied or dissatisfied according to the level of received quality. However, for some other authors, the two concepts are not opposing,  but rather a continuum, in that, some determinants tend to be, firstly a source of satisfaction and others a source of dissatisfaction. A number of studies (cf. Edvardsson, 1998) have focused on how passengers of public transport value quality factors, and the final result provides a measure of the value of different factors and ranks them. Nevertheless, there are not significant studies about satisfaction in public transports, especially in metro services. Another gap in literature is that most studies analise customers, but leave non-customers aside. Furthermore, most studies use an external analisys based on surveyss. Finally, the majority of the literature does not execute further analyses about the correlation between customer satisfaction and insatisfaction. 3. FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS In this research the process of data analysis began before its collection, by developing the research questions and model of analysis. The model of analysis developed would examine how quality relates to satisfaction and how this relationship takes place in a public transport services company. To ensure coherence and reliability of the empirical data, the elements which were under investigation and their respective variables were defined, as outlined and presented in Figure 1. Dissatisfaction (Johnston,1995) (Bo Evardson, 1996) Customer Satisfaction (Tse e Wilton, 1988) (Rust e Oliver, 1994) Zone of Tolerance (Berry e Parasuraman,1991) (Johnston, 1994) Personal Needs Experiencied Quality Technical Functional (Grà ¶nroos, 1982) Perceived Quality (Grà ¶nroos, 1982) Suggest Positioning Expectations (Teas, Boulding, Oliver, 1993) Pass-Word Beliefs Consumer Comunication Quality Dimensions: †¢ Reliability †¢Security †¢ Speed †¢Confort †¢Pontuality (Parasuraman, Berry, Zeithaml, 1885) Past Experience Figure 1 – Framework for Analysis 126 F. Fonseca , S. Pinto , C. Brito According to this diagram, the relationship between quality and satisfaction may be understood through a clarification of how customers evaluate the dimensions of quality. The zone of tolerance appears to be used as a unifying link between expectations, performance and results. Previous service marketing challenges have prompted some research questions about the relationship between quality and satisfaction, specifically:RQ1: In public transportation services, what are the determinants of service quality that influence perceived quality?RQ2: How does the perceived quality influence satisfaction and dissatisfaction of commuters in public services transports?Performance evaluations lead to an overall evaluation of service satisfaction, the results of which can be resumed to either satisfaction or dissatisfaction in general terms. The zone of tolerance emerged as important in the understanding of the relationship between quality and satisfaction. 4. METHODOLOGY The research clarifies the key dimensions of services quality that influence customers’ perceived quality. It also explains how the perceived quality influences customers’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction. In addition, the study explores and expands on findings or current theories about the differences and the relationship between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Evidence was found that there are two different realities in the market: the customers’ and the non-customers’ complex perceptions. Finally, the research identifies the relevance of the zone of tolerance and its relationship with quality and satisfaction. The use of a case study approach seemed to be appropriate in this research. Within qualitative methodologies, a case study strategy was adopted, based on the interaction between theory and empirical data. Yin (1994) defines case study as an empirical study that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in real life context, especially when the boundaries between the phenomenon and context are not clearly evident. In terms of features associated with the processes under study, it seems  important to focus on contexts in which the phenomena developed. Moreover, this method allows the focus on perception processes more than outcomes, and how the participants interpret their experiences and give them meaning. Exploratory and â€Å"how† questions are being posed, and the researcher is focused on a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context (Yin, 1994). The research objective was to describe and understand processes and relationships in a consumer services organization. Attention was drawn to the processes, which was the study’s unit of analysis. The focus of analysis of this research was teams, groups and departments.Data was collected by both interviews and focus groups, as well as through documents. The interviews focused on the company’s perspective of quality and customer satisfaction, while the focus groups with customers and non-customers provided the market’s point of view. The interviews included people from different functional areas (operations and marketing) and hierarchical levels (executive vicepresident, director of technical systems, director of marketing and communication, manager of operational safety, lawyer and supervision of securities and marketing manager – processing of complaints and suggestions). In addition to the interviews, focus groups were conducted outside the company with customers and non-customers. The main objectives of the focus groups were to identify the most important determinants of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of both customers and non-customers, and to obtain or draw up a list of the determinants considered most relevant and most often expressed by the participants. Specifically, the analyzed documents consisted of: annual company reports, market research reports on service quality and satisfaction and internal memos. A pilot focus group was carried out to test the discussion guide and the survey. Subsequently, four focus groups were made. There were a total of 26 people involved (men and women). The age range of the participants selected was 13-35 years of age, this because prior studies had indicated that 65 percent of the commuters using the metropolitan were within this age range. The selection criteria used aimed at selecting participants consisting of customers who use the metropolitan, at least once a week and non-customers who had never used this transport service. The focus groups were recorded and handwritten transcription notes were taken for later analysis. The focus sessions were  divided in two distinct parts. Initially, the discussion focused on the reasons that would lead customers to use or not use the metropolitan. Subsequently, the focus was shifted towards the determinants of satisfaction and dissatisfaction and on the characteristics that are most valued in this service. The process of analysis and interpretation of data began with the transcription of the interviews and group focus. All of this met with the objectives of the research, including with comparing and contrasting the different views of stakeholders on issues of the research and allowed for individual analysis and comparisons of the case study. Data was also analyzed and grouped, then codified and reduced employing a systematic approach that complies with that proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994). 5. RESULTS AND FINDINGS The study focused on a company created in 1993 to operate a light rail system in the second largest city of a European country. For a matter of confidentiality, it will 127 F. Fonseca , S. Pinto , C. Brito be called Metro Europe. This is a network of electrified railways that goes underground in the city centre, and above the surface in the suburbs. It is divided into five separate lines (with seven services, including an express service) spread over six municipalities in the city metropolitan area. It comprises a total of 68 stations spread over 60 kilometres of commercial lines, with 8 kilometres of underground network. In 2008, this company employed about 120 people and carried 40 million commuters. Metro Iberia is a player in a context of a strong competition and is one of the companies responsible for the operations of public transport in the metropolitan area. The analysis of this mass consumer service follows in the next section. The study results point out two main perspectives. One related to the level of service quality in its main dimensions. It was concluded that reliability, security, speed, comfort and punctuality are the quality dimensions of greater importance for the public transport services company. Secondly, the study explores satisfaction and their determinants. The results showed that the dimensions of satisfaction for the company were exactly the same as  those of dimensions of service quality, in particular, security, reliability, comfort and speed. This analysis shows us that the company does not distinguish quality from satisfaction. Evidently, it seems that the dimensions of quality and the determinants of satisfaction are identical. There appears to be no clear difference between quality and satisfaction, findings that are no surprising. The main objective of this research is to understand the relationship between quality and satisfaction. It was found that the organization under study does not make a distinction between these two concepts. Therefore focus groups with the company’s customers were also conducted and undertaken. The objective would be to determine and discover the main determinants of satisfaction, comparing them with results obtained in the organization. In the focus groups it was found that commuters value exactly the same determinants of satisfaction as those advanced by the company, in particular comfort, punctuality, speed and reliability. One exception is safety, the conclusion being that customers assume from the outset that the metropolitan is safe. This is in line with the Johnston’s (ref?) argument about the hygienic factors having potential for dissatisfaction instead of satisfaction. The results also helped to further understand the views of noncustomers, from which we can conclude that the most mentioned determinants were reliability, comfort and cleanliness, security and punctuality. For these reasons it is concluded that despite the literature’s stipulation of the existence of a distinction between the constructs of quality and satisfaction, this study found that the company, non-customers and customers clearly do not make such a distinction. It seems that business, customers and non-customers all use the dimensions of quality to describe satisfaction. A more careful analysis of the case leads to the conclusion that quality and satisfaction are not entirely distinct and there is also a relationship between the two concepts. The relationship between quality and satisfaction exists when satisfaction is guaranteed. Their ability to meet the needs of the consumer with the service, must take into account the quality of service and its dimensions. Another view shown in this paper was the distinction between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The study acknowledges that for non-customers satisfaction and dissatisfaction are opposing concepts. Moreover, the determinants of dissatisfaction are exactly the opposite of satisfaction, namely: reliability/failure to comply with schedules; comfort and cleanliness/discomfort and dirt; security/insecurity; punctuality/failure to comply with schedules. An interesting finding is that, these results are in line with literature. For customers there is no such relationship between satisfaction and dissatisfaction; dissatisfaction in this case is commonly associated with the technical aspects of the service. It is therefore not clear to customers that satisfaction is the opposite of dissatisfaction. While for the company, the conclusion is that these concepts are contrary, when referring to cofort/discomfort; security/insecurity at night/delays and robberies. Finally, the results for customers and noncustomers tolerance zones were examined. The paper confirms that customers have a greater tolerance zone towards the service than non-customers. In other words, non-customers are less tolerant to failures than customers. This conclusion is evidenced by the customers when they say that in the event of failures or problems with the service, such as delays, lack of cleanliness and lighting, or lack of seating, these reasons alone would not lead to abandoning the service. It is concluded that in the case of customers there may be some oscillation in the levels of satisfaction (very satisfied, satisfied, unsatisfied) within the zone of tolerance. Non-customers are less tolerant. In these discussion groups’ several situations or scenarios of dissatisfaction emerged that would cause abandoning the service, including failure to comply with the vehicle schedules, frequency of carriages and disabled access to the stations. 6. CONCLUSIONS This study answering RQ1 expands on existing knowledge by identifying that service quality dimensions serve as points of departure for companies to develop action plans and strategies that generate perceptions of quality by customers. Thus, for each type of service there may be a specific set of different dimensions of quality, in that they assume different orders of priority. Additionally there is yet another 128 F. Fonseca , S. Pinto , C. Brito possibility that each organization may have dimensions that are specific to each/its sector. The classification of the service quality dimensions is important because each one brings different approaches, which help the managers of the companies providing services to understand the importance of each dimension and their impact on customer satisfaction. The empirical data of this case indicates that reliability, safety, speed, comfort and punctuality are the dimensions of service quality which the organization believes most influence the perceived quality. This study also clarified and thus contributes to identify the key dimensions of service quality that influence the perceived quality service, in a specific means of public transportation. Furthermore, this study shows that if the dimensions of service quality are assured then the customers achieve a degree of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in accordance with their needs, answering RQ2. The research results also showed that depending on the subway line that is used by a particular customer, he/she usually chooses the same dimension as a priority, according to the satisfaction of his/her needs. The research results showed that a client that uses for example the yellow line gives preference to the quality dimensions of frequency and speed, since the choice of this line indicates the need to get to the city centre quickly. The customers who already choose the red line value the dimension of comfort, because it is a line with a more extensive network, which is important for the customer who wants to get a seat. From this we can conclude that if the principal dimensions of quality for customers are guaranteed, they will be satisfied or dissatisfied. There seem to be sever al implications of this study for service management. The first practical implication seems to be that it is important to reveal that if the managers know which dimensions of quality service their customers most value, (depending on the type of service we are dealing with), the customers may become more satisfied. This will occur because the organization will know specifically which dimensions of service quality will further satisfy the customers. Thus, organizations can focus their efforts on improving and increasing the dimensions of service quality which generate satisfaction. The second managerial implication appears to be the evident need for  clarification of the link between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. In terms of contribution to management, it is important that managers recognize that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are on a continuum, and that knowing of the dissatisfaction factors specifically, these can then be transformed into satisfaction, thus preventing the loss of a customer in a specific service. The third practical implication shows that for the non-customers if the companies and the managers know what quality dimensions this group value most, the company can focus investment on the development of these, including increasing the ability to attract new customers and tailor marketing and communication campaigns with a view to achieving this. The number of contributions presented serve not only to increase knowledge of the relationship between quality and satisfaction, but also encourages reflection on a topic which should be of utmost importance for managers and the vast majority of service companies, who are faced with the need to offer quality of service in its main dimensions and the consequent satisfaction of their customers. It is also expected that the contributions of the study encourage businesses and their managers to connect with their customers and noncustomers. As regards the customers it is important that the company be aware of the quality dimensions that they value most in order to tailor the service to their needs, maximizing satisfaction. This paper has limitations which are expected to be addressed in future studies. The limitations can be divided into three groups, namely: selection of the case and the process, limitations in data collection and finally the limitations of data analysis. One of the limitations is the small number of cases studied in public transport services which determines the strength and spread or validity of the conclusions. The inclusion of other cases corresponding to other paradigms or variations of the paradigms used here, will enrich the knowledge acquired. There were a range of other issues that were not explored which could enrich the research. There were other issues that emerged and seemed interesting but again, given the constraints, were not fully explored. For example, the identification of the factors that influence the formation of consumer expectations. When the interviewees were asked, in an open ended question, what factors influence expectations, the  answer was unanimous: communication with other consumers. Nevertheless, other factors could have been further explored. It would be even more interesting to emphasize the importance of expectations in a pre and post-consumer, or take into account the role of emotions in the construction or development of satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the customer. Replication of this study could be carried out in different public transports, which may be compared with another company in the sector. Furthermore, it would be interesting if the theoretical relationship model proposed had an emotional and experimental element. This study could be performed in different scenarios, particularly in areas of different service industries, such as luxury hotels chains, or telecommunications network providers. In addition to providing other results, these would undoubtedly further enrich the data already available. Vol.4, No. 2, 2010 129 REFERENCES: [1] Andreassen, W. (1995), â€Å"(Di)satisfaction with Public Services: the Case of Public Transportation†, Journal of Service Marketing, Vol. 9, pp. 30-41. 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[25] Westbrook, R. and Reilly, M.  (1983), â€Å"Value-Percept Disparity: An Alternative to the Disconfirmation of Expectations Theory of Consumer Satisfaction†, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 10, Richard P. Bagozzi and Alice M. Tybout, Eds. Ann Arbor, M1, Association for Consumer Research, pp. 25661. [26] Yin, R. (1994), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd Edition, United States, Sage Publications. Received: 15.12.2009 Accepted: 05.05.2010 Open for discussion: 1 Year 130 F. Fonseca , S. Pinto , C. Brito