Challenging Characteristics of Online Learning Essay Example for Free

Challenging Characteristics of Online Learning Essay In online learning there are some challenging characteristics that an online learner need to face during their study periods among them are lack of motivation, stress, bad time management and learning style, computer illiterate, and language barrier. Firstly in lack of motivation, having lack of motivation is one of the characteristic challenges in online learning. If a student has lack of motivation this will make them less interested in their studies and this will drag the online learners down from producing good results in their studies. This is because without any motivation it will affect on how well the online learners do in their work and on when they will want to do their work and this also affects on how long will it take for them to work on the task given and this will automatically make the online learners lose their concentration on their studies. Next is when the online students are having stress during their study periods. Stress is an emotional challenge that the online learner faced in online learning. When one is having stress during his or her study period it is never a good sign because stress can affect both the body and mind. Warnings of stress such as significant changes in the behavior and life patterns can indicate that a person might be having stress. Among the symptoms of stress are the sudden bursts of anger, restlessness and or uneasiness, lack of joy, spontaneity, enthusiasm and or happiness. By having stress the online learner will have difficulty in concentrating on their studies as well as having trouble or problems in making decisions. Then there is time management and learning style. If the students or online learners are not well discipline and cannot manage time in a reasonable manner, he or she will not be able to cope up with their studies, work and personal life. A disorganized person is not going to have a good experience in their online learning. As an online student one need to have a good time management skills. An older student tends to manage their time properly because they have developed better time management skills. Therefore the younger generation of students mostly will have problems in managing their time accordingly. With a bad time management this will influence on the online learner learning skills. This is because with a bad time management the online learner will not be able to cope up with their studies and thus will make them lose their concentration in understanding their learning style. Meanwhile being a computer illiterate is also one of the challenges that people have with online learning. This is because not many people out there who are an online learner are computer literate. Most of the online learners are adults who might not be familiar with the recent technologies and software. Even though there are many computer literate students but not all of them possesses all the necessary skills needed in online learning. Some may still not know on how to use the Microsoft Office Words, Excels, and Power Point features and some online learners might have lack of technical problem solving skills and basic technology literacy skills such as file management. Lastly is the language barrier among the students and their study materials. This is also one of the challenges faced by the online learners in online learning especially in a non – English speaking country like Malaysia. Most of the references retrieved by the online learners online are in English and some of the teaching materials provided for the online learner are also in English. Growing up with a non – English native mother tongue will somehow give trouble for some students to understand their study materials. They will need to take more time than other students to understand their study materials. So these will one way or another lower their self esteem and their confidence in doing the task given to them.

Quantitative And Qualitative Research Techniques And Procedures Psychology Essay

Quantitative And Qualitative Research Techniques And Procedures Psychology Essay The term research is usually used interchangeably with investigate, study, explore examine and make inquiries of a specific topic. In general terms, research can be defined as the gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge. The Princeton University wordnetweb published some interesting definitions of research including: Attempt to find out in a systematically and scientific manner; Systematic investigation to establish facts inquire into or a search for knowledge; In the scientific and academic terms however, the common use of the team tends to refer to the definition of research in a scientific context where it is used to mean performing a methodical study in order to prove a hypothesis or answer a specific question. This scientific understanding and application of research assumes a research process which involves manipulation of the variables in general with exceptional of process that use case studies and pure observational science for which this generalization does not always hold true. Research methods are technique(s) for gathering data (Harding, 1986) and are generally dichotomized into being either quantitative or qualitative. It has been argued that methodology has been gendered (Oakley, 1998), with quantitative methods traditionally being associated with words such as positivism, scientific, objectivity, statistics and masculinity. In contrast, qualitative methods have generally been associated with interpretive, non-scientific, subjectivity and femininity. C. R. Kothari categories research methods into three main types depending on purpose, area of focus and research approach: i. Depending on its purpose, research is said to be exploratory research which is also divided into two subtypes of descriptive and analytical research. This type of research is purposed to and structured to identify new problems or relationships between phenomena. Thus, it is aimed at describing the state of affairs as it exists and it is usually done through survey to get new facts which are analyzed to find new connections: ii. Based on the focus and the result of the research process, we do find the Constructive research also known as applied research. This type of research is used to develop solutions to practical problem at hand. In this same category, there is Empirical research through which researchers tests the feasibility of a solution using observed data: iii. Based on the approach, research can also be categorized as qualitative or quantitative. This categorization is based on the research methods used. The choice between the two is based on the properties of the subject matter and or the objective of the research. (C. R. Kothari 2004). Those two are the most commonly used categorisations and form the main schools of thought in research. Although they are commonly used together in complex research processes, the merits of one of over the other hotly debated especially in the field of social science research. Due to the scope and space limitation, I do not intend to cover the entire field of scientific research. The reminder of this paper will therefore focus on the examination of these two methods in iii above Looking their key characteristics, date collection and analysis methods, and identifying the respective advantages and disadvantages, validity level and the discussing the contemporary usefulness on the two methods in the research process. Quantitative Research Techniques and Procedures Qualitative analysis is a process that is often the precursor to quantitative, statistical work; a process to make the tacit underpinnings of an issue explicit; a process you can use to deepen your understanding of complex social and human factors that cannot be understood with numbers; a process that helps you figure out what to count and what to measure (Kerlin, 1999, p. 1). Some of the common methods of carrying out quantitative research are surveys and observations. Surveys are commonly carried out either the respondent or the researcher filling in questionnaires. While observational research involves the research watching or observing various behaviors and patterns. Mary other different kinds of quantitative research methods are used besides the surveys and observations. More complicated forms of quantitative research are experimental research or mathematical modelling research (Peter J.P. Donnelly J.H, 2000). In the social sciences, quantitative research refers to the systematic empirical investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships. The process will involve the development and use of the different mathematical models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to phenomena to measure empirical observation and mathematical expression that evidence the quantitative relationships. Although this research approach is commonly used in the social sciences such as psychology, sociology and anthropology, quantitative research mathematical sciences such as physics is also quantitative by definition, though this use of the term differs in context. In the social sciences, the term relates to empirical methods, originating in both philosophical positivism and the history of statistics, which contrast qualitative research methods. (http://en.wikipedia.org) One of the key characteristic of quantitative research is that it Involves analysis of data like numerical date, word, pictures and objects. (Miles Huberman (1994) Qualitative Research Techniques and Procedures Qualitative research is a generic term for investigative methodologies described as ethnographic, naturalistic, anthropological, field, or participant observer research. It emphasizes the importance of looking at variables in the natural setting in which they are found. Interaction between variables is important. Detailed data is gathered through open ended questions that provide direct quotations. The interviewer is an integral part of the investigation (Jacob, 1988). This differs from quantitative research which attempts to gather data by objective methods to provide information about relations, comparisons, and predictions and attempts to remove the investigator from the investigation (Smith, 1983). According to Andrew (2007), qualitative research is a method of inquiry appropriated in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences, but also in market research and further contexts. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior. The qualitative method investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where, when. Hence, smaller but focused samples are more often needed, rather than large samples. According to Andrew (2007), qualitative research is used to denote approaches which are supported by a set of hypotheses concerning the way the social world functions. It deduces many of its basic principles from the perspective that there are fundamental differences between the science of human world and science of natural world and consequently needs to use distinctive methods. Here, attention is focused upon looking at the world through the eyes of studied objects and upon evolving concepts and theories which are grounded in the collecting data. So, qualitative research connected with own accounts of the individuals of their attitudes and behavior. The significance of qualitative research consists in setting stress on describing, understanding complex phenomena. It investigates, for instance, the relationships and patterns among factors or the context in which the activity happens. It is concentrated on understanding the full many-dimensional picture of the subject of investigatio n. Qualitative methods produce information only on the particular cases studied, and any more general conclusions are only hypotheses (informative guesses). Qualitative research is aimed at deepening our understanding about phenomenon, and will usually involve going beyond surface analysis of numbers and the statistics to the deeper meaning behind story being told by the numbers. It aims to gives the reasons and establishes causal relationships. It is often contrasted to quantitative research which focuses on the quantitative elements of phenomena. In practice however, the two methods are often used together to get to the bigger picture. Face-to-Face Interviews and Focus Groups The most common forms of qualitative research are face-to-face interviews and focus groups. Face-to-face interviews are just that: Meeting someone in person and discussing various issues. The informant or person you are interviewing may be an expert in a particular field (e.g. the editor of a newspaper) or they may be someone who is affected by the issues you are researching (e.g. someone who is HIV positive or who reads the media). Focus groups involve discussions with two or more participants. While questions for focus groups need to be prepared to guide and focus the discussions, the responses are often free-ranging, as the participants are encouraged to explore the issues at hand in an in-depth way. While focus groups and interviews will help you develop explanations for quantitative data, sometimes they can provide you with quantitative data themselves Basic Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Research Techniques Quantitative and qualitative research methods differ primarily in: their analytical objectives the types of questions they pose the types of data collection instruments they use the forms of data they produce the degree of flexibility built into study design The key difference between quantitative and qualitative methods is their flexibility. Generally, quantitative methods are fairly inflexible. With quantitative methods such as surveys and questionnaires, for example, researchers ask all participants identical questions in the same order. The response categories from which participants may choose are closed-ended or fixed. The advantage of this inflexibility is that it allows for meaningful comparison of responses across participants and study sites. However, it requires a thorough understanding of the important questions to ask, the best way to ask them, and the range of possible responses. Qualitative methods are typically more flexible that is, they allow greater spontaneity and adaptation of the interaction between the researcher and the study participant. For example, qualitative methods ask mostly open-ended questions that are not necessarily worded in exactly the same way with each participant. With open-ended questions, participants are free to respond in their own words, and these responses tend to be more complex than simply yes or no. In addition, with qualitative methods, the relationship between the researcher and the participant is often less formal than in quantitative research. Participants have the opportunity to respond more elaborately and in greater detail than is typically the case with quantitative methods. In turn, researchers have the opportunity to respond immediately to what participants say by tailoring subsequent questions to information the participant has provided. Merriam (1988) provided a basis for differentiating qualitative and quantitative research techniques based on their characteristics. Characteristics of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Point of Comparisons Qualitative Research Quantitative Research Focus of research Quality (nature, essence) Quantity (how much, how many) Philosophical roots Phenomenology, symbolic interaction Positivism, logical empiricism Associated phrases Fieldwork, ethnographic, naturalistic, grounded, subjective Experimental, empirical, statistical Goal of investigation Understanding, description, discovery, hypothesis generating Prediction, control, description, confirmation, hypothesis testing Design characteristics Flexible, evolving, emergent Predetermined, structured Setting Natural, familiar Unfamiliar, artificial Sample Small, non-random, theoretical Large, random, representative Data collection Researcher as primary instrument, interviews, observations Inanimate instruments (scales, tests, surveys, questionnaires, computers) Mode of analysis Inductive (by researcher) Deductive (by statistical methods) Findings Comprehensive, holistic, expansive Precise, narrow, reductionist However, there is a range of flexibility among methods used in both quantitative and qualitative research and that flexibility is not an indication of how scientifically rigorous a method is. Rather, the degree of flexibility reflects the kind of understanding of the problem that is being pursued using the method. Merits of Quantitative Analysis The use of surveys permit a researcher to study more variables at one time than is typically possible in laboratory or field experiments, whilst data can be collected about real world environments. The usefulness of a survey is that the information you get is standardized because each respondent the person who fills out the questionnaire is answering the exact same questions. Once you have enough responses to your questionnaire, you can then put the data together and analyze it in a way that answers your research question or what it is you want to know. Since case studies follow a structured format, different situations can be compared or analyzed comparatively. Case studies are typically short (often no more than 5 pages long) and usually only contain the essential information needed to present a situation and, if necessary, to describe and properly analyze a problem. Quantitative data can determine when students have achieved or failed a task, and they can provide national ranking, percentiles, and allow researchers to conduct comparison analyses. Nevertheless, they cannot provide the total picture of why a particular student has either succeeded or failed (Burnaford et al., 2001; Gall et al., 1996 and Mc Bride Schostak, 2000). In quantitative research, the researcher neither participates in nor influences what is being studied; thus, he/she examines the circumstances objectively. In some qualitative research, the researcher may play a more subjective role and participate by being immersed in his/her research. That is, the observer may be the teacher or the facilitator. This role is often the case with when action research, case studies, and focus groups are used in educational research. Advantages of surveys Good for comparative analysis. Can get lots of data in a relatively short space of time. Can be cost-effective (if you use the Internet, for example). Can take less time for respondents to complete (compared to an interview or focus group) Specific concrete example; Can help with problem solving; Are often interesting to read. Demerits of Quantitative Analysis A key weakness of quantitative analysis is that it is very difficult to realise insights relating to the causes of or processes involved in the phenomena measured. There are, in addition, several sources of bias such as the possibly self-selecting nature of respondents, the point in time when the survey is conducted and in the researcher him/herself through the design of the survey itself. It could be argued that the quantitative researcher is more precise, but the response would be that with people it is not possible to be so precise, people change and the social situation is too complex for numerical description. Quantitative research has a tendency to clarify where clarification is not appropriate. (Mc Bride Schostak, 2000, pp. 1-2) Disadvantages of Surveys Responses may not be specific. Questions may be misinterpreted. May not get as many responses as you need. Dont get full story. Can take time to develop; Depending on format, may need some level of good writing skills; Do not usually give broad overview of issue at hand. Merits of Qualitative Techniques The approaches of the qualitative research differ from the methods of the quantitative research. Quantitative methods have their aim in dividing into clearly defined parts, or variables. When we research an issue which we know how to quantify, for example, what can be quantified for sure, we may leave out the factors which are crucial to the real understanding of the phenomena under study (Andrew, 2007). Qualitative methods are helpful not only in giving rich explanations of complex phenomena, but in creating or evolving theories or conceptual bases, and in proposing hypotheses to clarify the phenomena. Besides, value of the qualitative research consists in validity of the information received; people are minutely interviewed so as the obtained data would be taken as correct and believable reports of their opinions and experiences. Its major disadvantage is that small group of interviewed individuals can not be taken as representative (Andrew, 2007). Case studies involve an attempt to describe relationships that exist in reality, very often in a single organization. Case studies may be positivist or interpretivist in nature, depending on the approach of the researcher, the data collected and the analytical techniques employed. Reality can be captured in greater detail by an observer-researcher, with the analysis of more variables than is typically possible in experimental and survey research. Another type of qualitative analysis is site visits. Site visits help you understand your research better; site visits (e.g. when you visit an organization, a manufacturing plant, a clinic or a housing project) are very useful and sometimes even necessary ways of gaining additional insight and making your theoretical information concrete in your mind. They allow you to observe what is going on, and to ask questions you may not have thought about. Qualitative research has a phenomenological focus that can provide an enriched and detailed description of the participants actions and/or viewpoints (Veronesi, 1997). Advantages of Face-to-Face Interviews Can allow for in-depth knowledge sharing; Helps to develop the bigger picture; Helps with analysis of results; Good for networking (e.g. you may be referred to other people to interview). Advantages of Focus Groups Good for community participation (grassroots input); Helpful in developing ideas and sharing latent, or hidden, knowledge spontaneously; Enables you to get information from a number of individuals simultaneously. Advantages of Site Visits and Observation Demerits of Qualitative Analysis Case studies can be considered weak as they are typically restricted to a single organization and it is difficult to generalize findings since it is hard to find similar cases with similar data that can be analyzed in a statistically meaningful way. Disadvantages of Face-to-Face Interviews Can be time consuming; May be difficult to arrange an interview time; Can be difficult to compare and analyze information. Disadvantages of Focus Groups Can be difficult to set up; Participants may need to be paid; Need to be sensitive to who the facilitator is; May need a translator; Sometimes difficult to organize and analyze information. Disadvantages of Site Visits and Observation Take time; Can be expensive (depending how far you need to travel); With observation in particular, you need to be careful how you interpret what you see. With site visits, you may want to make sure you have a guide so that you can ask questions However, the disadvantage of the quantitative as well as qualitative research is that they do not always underpin understanding of multi-dimensional pictures (Andrew, 2007).

Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essay -- Great Expectations Essays

Charles Dickens' Great Expectations In the novel of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, one of the pivotal characters is a man named Abel Magwitch. To answer the question of whether this man is a criminal or a victim of society, we must first establish what a criminal is and what a victim of society is. A criminal is someone who knowingly breaks the law for self-gratification. A victim of society is someone who is subjected to outside influences, and is generally mistreated by society. In the context of this novel, a victim of society is also someone who has never been given a chance in life, and has no control over events that occur involving them. Therefore I am going to try and decide which of these two ‘categories’ the character of Abel Magwitch falls into. When we first meet Magwitch in Chapter one our first impressions of him are not positive. Pip describes him as a ‘fearful man’ with a ‘terrible voice’. Although we learn that he is in a terrible state, ‘smothered in mud and lamed by stones’, with a ‘great iron’ on his leg, indicating he has obviously escaped prison and is on the run, we as readers do not feel any sympathy for him. The reason for this is the fact that he is willing to threaten a young boy, seeming to enjoy the power he has over him is almost repulsive to us as readers, making him appear even more harsh. The fact that Magwitch is likened to a dog, he ‘glared and growled’ at Pip, does not help his case. This presents him as an animal, and serves only to alienate Magwitch from the reader. This means that we too share Pips reservations and suspicions about Magwitch throughout the opening chapters, even though it is clear that this man is scared, lonely and hungry enough to thre... ...me suffering as Magwitch. This belief would probably have evolved after his trial with Compeyson, which taught him that the law could be manipulated by class. This shows that Magwitch did not have many criminal intentions, and that he was tricked by Compeyson. In a sense Dickens is trying to show us how real justice can be hard to find. It is because of his low status and poverty that Magwitch never really had a chance. This shows how the justice system has been manipulated by society. Therefore, I think that Magwitch, while having acted like a criminal, is not to blame for his actions and it could be argued that he is even remorseful about them. This shows that he is not a criminal, but a victim of the society he lives in, because he was never given a chance to prove society wrong and make something of his life, he was just labelled and left in jail.

Utopia :: essays research papers

Education, Science, Philosophy Summary Though, as has been mentioned earlier, only certain accomplished people are allowed to give up manual labor for intellectual studies, every Utopian child receives a thorough education. The Utopians believe that it is through education that the values and dispositions of citizens are molded. The success of the Utopian educational system is evident in the fact that while most Utopians are engaged in manual labor as a career, in their free time Utopians choose to follow intellectual pursuits. Utopians conduct all of their studies in their native language. In science the Utopians are rational and accomplished. They have the same general level of understanding as Europeans in the fields of music, logic, arithmetic, and geometry. They are adept at astronomy and no one believes in astrology. They are able to predict changes in weather, though, like the Europeans, the underlying causes of these changes remain at the moment beyond their grasp. In philosophy, the Utopians are uninterested in the abstract suppositions that are the rage in Europe and which Hythloday finds empty. The foremost topic of Utopian philosophy is the nature of happiness, and the relation of happiness to pleasure. In such matters they ground their reason in religion, believing reason alone is ill equipped to handle such an investigation. Utopians believe the soul is immortal and that there exists an afterlife in which the deeds of life are rewarded or punished. They further believe that if people were skeptical of an afterlife, all intelligent people would pursue physical pleasure and ignore all higher moral laws. Belief in an afterlife means that pleasure exists only in acts of virtue, because it is these acts that will ultimately be rewarded. Utopians make a distinction between true and counterfeit pleasure. True pleasure involves any movement of body or mind in which a person takes a natural delight, such as reflecting on true knowledge, eating well, or exercising. Counterfeit pleasures are those sensations that are not naturally delightful, but that distorted desires have tricked people into believing they pleasurable.

Human Resources Management Essay -- Business Management Studies Essays

Human Resources Management RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION 1. Introduction Task 1 1. A report distinguishing between traditional personnel management and the new approach to human resource management, outlining their historical development. 2. The Human Resource department in TD Travel Group. Its role and purpose in the organization. Task 2 1. An analysis of the objectives and the process of human resource planning. 2. An evaluation of the systematic approach to recruitment for NIS Europe. 3. An investigation of the selection procedures used for NIS Europe and TD Travel Group. 3. Evaluation and Conclusion 4. Bibliography Task 1 TASK 2 AN ANALYSIS OF THE OBJECTIVES AND THE PROCESS OF HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING. Human resource planning is the task of assessing and anticipating the skill, knowledge and labour time requirements of the organisation and initiating action to fulfill those requirements. Human resource planning involves a strategy for the:  · Recruitment  · Retention  · Utilisation  · Improvement, and  · Disposal of the human resources of a business. It needs to look at the following factors: * What are the skills and abilities of the current workforce? * What skills and abilities the organisation needs in the future? * Where can the organisation find its future supply of labour? * What are the future objectives of the business likely to be? * How will the business manage and obtain its human resources to meet these objectives? In order to plan Human Resources effectively a business has to undertake considerable research. Here is a table showing the things companies have consider when planning human resources: What is happening now? ... ...by HRM to introduce new employees to the organisation, in all its social as well as work aspects. Stage nine- Review all candidates Review un–interviewed candidates and sort out those that my be kept on file for possible future use. Send standard letters to unsuccessful to applicants and holding letters to those being kept on file. NIS Europe will hold candidates on file for a maximum of one year. TD Travel group do not use this procedure, they would start their informal recruitment process again as and when required. SUMMARY OF THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR TD TRAVEL GROUP AND NIS EUROPE It is evident from the above information that NIS Europe carries out a more formal selection procedure than TD Travel Group. This is down to the fact that NIS Europe have more employees than TD Travel Group, and therefore see it necessary to have a HR department.

Coping with Stress Essay

This project will take an issue that is very prominent in today’s society and attempt to look, in detail, how families of military war casualties are coping with the death of their loved ones and which coping strategies seem to be most influential in helping them get back to leading a life that closely resembles what they had before loss. This topic of military coping is important, especially in this time, because there have been so many casualties due to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan (see Appendix A) By looking at these conflicts, but also those such as the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, we would essentially hope to find common themes or strategies that make coping just a little bit easier for those who are left on the home front. This topic is important to investigate because of the amount of people affected each day by military death- the total deaths are in the thousands and rising every moment. War is a phenomenon that is not going to be disappearing anytime soon, and if there is a way to help those being influenced by tragedy in a more efficient and effectual way, the benefits are immense. The audience for this study is most likely going to be students, but there is also the potential for the military to take an interest in order to help the families of the victims. Mental health counselors, community counselors and psychiatrists may find the information  from the study helpful because of the implications it will have on how people deal with death and how it may be possible to engage those dealing with death in better coping strategies. Much of what has been studied in the realm of coping and stress management has been done with the focus on the individual and how people deal with stress in general. This begs the question â€Å"what is stress?†. Stress is most commonly defined as a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension, and for the sake of this study that is the way it would be defined. Many researchers still feel that the term stress is highly ambiguous because there can be so many different levels. Stress can be caused by an event such as abuse, a natural disaster, an attack, a life threatening ordeal, or even just a dramatic unexpected change in lifestyle. Most of these topics have been studied, and through looking at this previous research, it is seen how very few researchers focus on how people cope with the stress of losing a loved one to an event such as war. Perhaps documentation of how people have coped with death throughout history is rare, or perhaps there has just not been a lot of studies done on the topic. When searching keywords such as â€Å"coping†, â€Å"death†, and â€Å"military† into a psychological search engine, only seven results were retrieved, and of those seven, there were only two or three that seemed they would benefit this research positively. These few articles that that were found that generally focused on post-traumatic- stress disorder, or PSTD. They studied (both quantitatively and qualitatively) how families felt they were influenced by the war, whether it by deployment, responsibility at home, the unknown, and of course, death. It was found that it is indeed important to look at everyone involved and try to work together to get through the trauma of war. The researches should not forget parent-child relations and should not forget that it takes time and understanding of an individual to help cope with the loss (Dekel et al., 2010, page). The other article that was looked at did not focus so much on a study, but the history of coping with loss during both war and peace times. It covered a broad range of time and explained how the military had continually developed counseling and groups to help those who were affected by the war. It looks at how the loss can be integrated into one’s life as a whole, and is looked at as positive for the  soldier (Bartone et al., 1994, page). This suggestion for coping, also known as hardiness in another article, seems to be a reoccurring idea when coping with trauma. If one can integrate the tragic event into their life and think of positive ways to let it influence them, they seem to be more likely to be able to deal with their stress or loss. Optimism was another element of this article, focusing on how if people believe that something is going to be positive, it has a greater impact on how they deal with stress (Maddi et al., 1999, page). Yet another strategy that can be involved with coping is forgiving. It is often through the idea of forgiving the person or people that harmed someone important to you can be a strong motivator to getting over a stressful situation because it allows some sort of closure and understanding (Hodgson et al., 2007, page). All of these factors- hardiness, forgiveness, empathy- must be taken into consideration while doing this research on coping. Historically research often focused on negative consequences of specific factors. We all know the effect that trauma, poverty, abuse, divorce, and other factors of such sort have on psychological development and what life long effects it has for an individual. In the last 20 to 30 years researchers finally began to shift their focus on resiliency and how people develop positive coping skills despite adverse life events. â€Å"The recent broadening of coping theory might be a reaction to to earlier conceptualizations of coping that neglected to include such aspects as goals, purpose, and meaning†. (Schwarzer & Luszczynska, 2008, p22) People want to feel successful in their lives and will look for opportunities for growth. They work hard for â€Å"more resources, desire to maximize gains, and build up resistance factors either to ward off future crisis or to grow and cultivate their capabilities for their own sake† (Schwarzer & Luszczynska, 2008, p22). Resilience studies with children and adolescents have identified the following major factors to play a role in buffering how they cope with stress and trauma: IQ, parental quality, connection to other competent adults, internal locust of control, and social skills (Tiet et al., 1998, p1191). In addition there have been many studies that focused on gender  differences when coping with stress and this are well documented when it comes to adults. â€Å"Research concerning gender differences that may influence coping in children and adolescents revealed mixed results.† (Eschenbeck et al., 2007, p18) This could be attributed to level of development, environmental factors, and gender socialization. The study completed by Eschenbeck and coleagues (2007) however demonstrated that â€Å"girls scored higher in seeking social support and problem solving† (Eschenbeck et al., 2007, p20). Other studies also identified that social supports and problem solving skills were most influential factors in coping with adverse life events and linked these factors with â€Å"greater social competence and fewer internalizing and externalizing behavior problems† (Clarke, 2006, p12) for children and adolescents. Children in military families are more often exposed to stressful situations. Yet according to reports from counselors and other school personnel military children tend to be resilient. â€Å" They are used to changing schools, enduring long separations from a parent, and saying goodbye to old friends and making new ones.† (Hardy, 2006, p11) These children often are being taken care of by family members other than their mothers and fathers, such as aunts, uncles, grandparents, or close family friends. They may experience relationship conflicts within the setting of their families as the boundaries of the family is shifted due to temporary and permanent losses. â€Å"The effects of this kind of loss are displayed in ways that potentially impede successful adolescent development.† (Huebner et al., 2007, p121) Much of the work with these youths have been focused on concept of fostering resiliency. This approach focuses on â€Å"(a) finding meaning, (b) tempering mastery, (c) reconstructing identity, (d) normalizing ambivalence, (e) revising attachment, and (f) discovering hope† (Huebner et al., 2007 p 120). It seems to be that choosing to research along the lines of how military death influences families will be a topic that has been studied little before, and thus hopefully the information that we gather will be helpful in organizing more constructive ways for families to cope with loss. Study Design It was determined that the setting for the research project would be twenty families with adolescents ages 12-18 chosen from the upstate New York region (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse). The families selected would be those who have lost someone in the war within the last year. We would gather information through the use of personal interviews, family interviews, group discussions and observation. Using qualitative methods in this research will be more beneficial because it will better help us understand what people are directly feeling- we will be able to see their reactions and work with them and empathize with them to hopefully make them feel more comfortable. Using qualitative studies will also help us to see the reactions of those in the groups and if there are certain individuals who benefit from the interaction with others. We will also be able to better compare the depth of grief and the coping strategies to the others in the groups. Since it would be necessary to see how coping skills develop over a period of time, it seems that this study would be longitudinal, over the period of 6 months to a year. This would help us to see the progress of the individuals and of families in their ability to cope with having lost someone. Analysis of the study will be based on how well individuals and families are able to overcome loss and what social factors allowed them to get to a more stable state of being. To figure the results we will have looked at how the individual or family functioned when they first learned of the loss compared to how they functioned 6 months to a year down the road. If we have chosen someone who has lost their loved one more than 6 months ago at the beginning of the study, they will be a good point of reference as to where those who more recently lost someone should be in six months. It is easy to see this study in a circular formation due to the fact that deaths are still occurring and there are constantly more people and families to interact with. Potential Limitations The idea behind this research allows many different paths to explore, but that is also a challenge that must be faced. Each term we use in the research has to be clearly defined so that the people we are studying do not  get confused or put off by anything that may be asked. Also, it has to be taken into consideration that many people react different ways to trauma to begin with, and that may be hard to determine at first. Some people may get depressed, others may get angry, and yet others may just try to go on living as they were before. Each person spoken with will have to be individually looked at to determine their premier coping style and from that point progress will have to be determined. The type of death that each soldier faced is yet another factor to consider, as it may be easier for the family to deal with death of someone who was injured and then died from those injuries. If that is the case, there is more of a chance that the family got to say goodbye than if the soldier was killed unexpectedly by enemy troops in another country. One of the other important limitations to consider is the openness of the people and families being interviewed. They may see the death as a private family matter and thus have a hard time letting an outsider into the mix. All of these limitations, though, can hopefully be avoided or at least overcome, with patience, empathy and respect for all involved. References Bartone, P. & Ender, M. (1994). Organizational Responses to Death in the Military. Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D.C. Death Studies, 18, 25- 39. Cameron, A., Palm, K. & Follette, V. (2010). Reaction to stressful life events: What predicts symptom severity? Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 645–649. Clarke, Angela (2006). Coping with interpersonal stress and psychosocial health among children and adolescents: a meta analysis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(1), 11-24. Dekel, R. & Monson, C. (2010). Military-related post-traumatic stress disorder and family relations: Current knowledge and future directions. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15, 303–309. Eschenbeck, H., Kohlmann, C.-W., Lohaus, A. (2007). Gender differences in coping strategies in children and adolescents. Journal of Individual Difference, 28 (1), 18-26. Hardy, L., (2006). When kids lose parents in our war in Iraq. The Education Digest, 72(4), 10-12. Hodgson, L. & Wertheim, E. (2007). Does good emotion management aid forgiving? Multiple dimensions of empathy, emotion management and forgiveness of self and others. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships SAGE Publications (www.sagepublications.com), 24(6), 931–949. Angela J Huebner, Jay A Mancini, Ryan M Wilcox, Saralyn R Grass, & Gabriel A Grass. (2007). Parental Deployment and Youth in Military Families: Exploring Uncertainty and Ambiguous Loss. Family Relations, 56(2), 112-122. Retrieved July 29, 2010, from Platinum Periodicals. (Document ID: 1260882231). Leland, A. & Oboroceanu, M.-J. (2010). American war and military operations casualties: Lists and statistics. Congressional Research Service, 7-5700. Retrieved July 29, 2010 from www.crs.gov (RL32492). Maddi, S. & Hightower, M. (1999). Hardiness and optimism as expressed in coping patterns. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice & Research. 51(2), 95-105. Schwarzer, R., & Luszczynska, A. (2008). The Prevention Researcher, 15(4), 22-24. Tiet, Q. Q., Bird, H. R., Davies, M., Hoven, C., Cohen, P., Jensen, P. S., & Goodman, S. (1998). Adverse life events and resilience. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37(11), 1191-1201.

Properties of Hydrates Essay

Purpose: The purpose of the â€Å"Properties of Hydrates† lab is to study hydrates, and be able to identify them. This lab also focuses on observing the reversibility of hydration reactions by hydrolysis, and also testing substances for efflorescence of deliquescence. Procedure: A.Identification 1. Place 0.5 grams of each compound (Nickel Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Tetraborate, Sucrose, Calcium Carbonate, and Barium Chloride) in a small dry test tube. 2. Heat gently with a burner flame and observe carefully. If droplets of water appear on the test tube it may be a hydrate. Note the nature and color of the residue. 3. Let the tube cool, and try to dissolve the residue in a few cm3 of water, warming if necessary. A true hydrate will dissolve in water, producing a color similar to that of the original hydrate. A carbohydrate will give off water, but tends to char. The residue will also often be a caramel color. B.Reversibility 1. Gently heat a few crystals of about 0.3 grams of hydrated Cobalt(II) Chloride, CoCl2 x 6H2O in an evaporating dish until the color change appears to be complete 2. Dissolve the residue in the evaporating dish in a few cm3 of water from the wash bottle 3. Heat the residue to a boiling and carefully boil it to dryness. Note any color changes. 4. Put the evaporating dish on the lab bench and let it cool. C.Deliquescence and Efflorescence 1. Place a few crystals of Na2CO3 x 10H2O, CaCl2, KAl(SO4)2 x 12 H20, and CuSO4 in an a separate evaporating dish next to the CoCl2 prepared in part B. 2. To see weather the samples gained or lost mass, weigh each of them on a top-loading balance and record to the nearest hundredth. 3. Weight them again after an hour to detect ANY changes in mass. 4. Observe the samples occasionally. Note any structures in color and structure  and degree of wetness. D. Percent of Water in Hydrate 1. Clean crucible and its cover, and also make sure that crucible tongs are clean. Put over fire, and let cool. 2. Weight the crucible to the nearest thousandth. Handel with tongs 3. Obtain a sample of an unknown hydrate, and place about 1 gram in the crucible. 4. Weight the crucible, cover and sample on the balance. 5. Put the crucible on the clay triangle, with the cover off center to allow water vapor to escape. 6. Heat again, gently at first, and then with the bottom red for about 10 minutes. 7. Center the crucible cover, and let it cool to room temperature. 8. Weight the cooled crucible and with its cover and contents. 9. Examine the solid residue. 10. Add water until the crucible it two thirds full. Warm gently if the residue doesn’t readily dissolve. 11. Does the residue appear to be soluble? Waste Disposal: Dispose of the Copper mixture, and the Aluminum mixture in the correct bowl under the waste hood. All of the acids and bases can be disposed of down the sink. If the compound isn’t water soluble put in the organic container. Chemical Principles in the Laboratory: Experiment 6 Conclusion: The purpose of the Properties of Hydrates lab was to be able to identify if a substance was a hydrate or not. In lab, experiments where conducted to see if a compound was a hydrate or not. In order for the compound to be deemed as a hydrate it had to: 1. Release water upon heating 2. The anhydrous residue had to be water soluble 3. Exhibit reversibility If, and only if the compound showed that it could exhibit all three of these  properties, could it be distinguished a hydrate. In part â€Å"A† of the experiment, Nickel Chloride and Sodium Tetraborate were the only two compounds that were true hydrates. Both of these showed water residue when heating, where soluble in water after heating, and converted back to it original color after performing the first two experiments. Some of the other compounds had positive results for one or two test but not all three. For example, Sucrose, when heated, water residue appeared on the test tube, and was soluble in water, but the compound didn’t show reversibility. In part â€Å"B† of the experiment, CoCl2*6H2O was heated, dissolved, and then heated again to show that it was a true hydrate. When the Cobalt Chloride was heated, it turned from the color of fuchsia pink, to a light blue. And then after being dissolved into water, the compound turned back to its original color of fuchsia pink, demonstrating reversibility. The color change in this compound shows that by adding water to the anhydrous residue, that the same bonds that were broken my dehydrating the compound where reformed when adding water. In part â€Å"C†, four compound, plus the Cobalt Chloride mentioned above were tested for deliquescence, and efflorescence. Only one compound turned about to be efflorescent, which means that it lost water, which was Sodium Carbonate. The compounds mass before sitting out was 50.645g, after being exposed to the conditions of the laboratory for an hour, the sample weight 50.603g losing approximately 0.042g over the period of an hour. The Calcium Chloride (gained 0.258g), Copper Sulfate (gained 0.007g) and Cobalt Chloride (gained 0.068g) where all deliquescent, meaning that again mass while sitting in the laboratory. The Potassium Aluminum sulfate, exhibited stability while sitting out for an hour, neither gaining nor losing mass. For part â€Å"D† of the experiment, the percent of water in the unknown hydrate was %12.290. The closet percent of the given facts of the unknown was Barium chloride (BaCl2*2H2O), which has %14.8 water in it. This percent was found by using the formula below: % water in hydrate=(mass of water in hydrate/mass of the entire hydrate) The wide range of difference between the percent of the given and the unknown could have been due to the fact that there was wood debris in the unknown sample . This could have thrown off the amount of water present in the sample, and messed up the amount of water able to evaporate.