Graded unit development stage Essay

Abstract The purpose of this project was to create a house corner, so the child-minder and her assistants are able to assess the children in their care more easily. As well as having somewhere for the children to be able to go and role/pretend play. The aim of the project was too: To lead the development of creating the house corner, within the child-minding setting †¢ To resource a house corner facility in my childminding setting The methods were completed by interviewing child-minder’s and giving parents questionnaires to get their opinions on role play and the house corner. It was found that there are mixed views regarding role play, role play areas and role play to assist assessments. My assistants participated in the creation of the house corner, my parents participated in the questionnaires given out to them and four local childminders participated in my interviews. Throughout this piece of research it has become apparent that everyone has different ideas regarding role play and how children should be doing this. My recommendation is that there should be a framework for childminders stating what equipment they should have and what they need to do for a basic education for the children. Introduction The purpose of this project was to create a house corner, so the childminder and her assistance’s are able to assess the chidren in their care more easily. As well as having somewhere for the children to be able to go and role/pretend play. Within graded unit a house corner will be created within the child-minding setting because one of the parents had said â€Å"it would be nice to have a house corner area’. This is because the child within this family has no brother’s and sister’s and the family would like to see how their child role plays and interacts with others. Also working with the Community Child-minders a house corner is a good place to be able to assess a child through role play. The Community Child-minder Area Manager also recommends having a house corner in place in the setting. This is for assessment and observational reasons as a community child-minder can have a lot of Child Protection referrals. While developing this unit various mandatory units of the HND Childhood Practice relates to this topic they are Sociology and Psychology. The Sociological theory Symbolic interactionism, Feminism and Psychological theories of Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruce will be looked at. I will also be looking at leadership though this unit and looking the democratic leadership style. I will also be looking at various legislations though out this unit as this relates to getting it right for every child (GIRFEC)2012, because when working together with other authorities to make everything better for the child/children involved in the service. You can see what is going on in ‘their world’ from the role play the children do. It will enable assessments to be carried out while the child is at play. I will be looking at the Data protection act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010, this is relevant so at every interview everyone is treated the same and all the information is kept confidential. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Convention gives children and young people over 40 substantive rights, including the right to: †¢special protection measures and assistance †¢access to services such as education and healthcare †¢develop their personalities, abilities and talents to the fullest potential †¢grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding †¢be informed about and participate in achieving their rights in an accessible and active manner. Bench mark Standards 3.9 Managers/lead practitioners have the knowledge and understanding needed to support evidence informed practice. They: know how to access, and apply relevant research and enquiry-based findings know how to reflect on and engage in the systematic investigation of practice can make informed choices among particular research methods and methods of evaluation draw on a range of sources of evidence to analyse and evaluate practice draw on relevant principles, theories and approaches to inform their practice demonstrate the ability to share and discuss with others the principles and perspectives that underpin their own professional practice. Aims Within the graded unit I have two aims to achieve, these are: †¢To lead the development of creating the house corner, within the child-minding setting †¢To resource a house corner facility in my childminding setting Methods For all the research methods, questionnaires and interviews, the responses will be kept confidential and all the aspects of confidentiality will be respected. Interview four child-minders to see how they set up their house corners, For this method I contacted four local Fife childminders that also work with the community childminding, I discussed with them over the telephone what I was required to do and how I would visit their setting to see their play area and to do an interview to gain qualitative information. (Appendix 1) Visit child-minding settings to see the home corners and how they work. I visited the childminders setting so I could see their play area and the home corners and how the childminders used the area to assess the children. All parents’ views on role play will be gained by a questionnaire which will mainly have closed questions to gain quantitate information on role play, this will be piloted in class with my peers. I created a questionnaire which will mainly have closed questions to gain quantitate information. I piloted the questionnaire with my class peers using email. I then handed the questionnaire out to the 8 parents that use my service. They all completed the questionnaire by the return date of the 25th April 2013. (Appendix 2) Fund raise to gain funds to resource the house corner. For the funds to resource the house corner, I had  £20 available through petty cash. I then did a sponsored toddle with my pre-school children on the 23rd April 2013 and created sponsor forms for the children to take home and get family and friends to sponsor them. (Appendix 3) Morrow The code of ethics written by Morrow (1996) will be looked at while researching this unit. Ethical considerations in research with children and young people occur at all stages of the research process. They should be considered as an on-going and reflexive part of the research process throughout the life of a research project and not just as the first hurdle to be overcome. Results I have interviewed four childminders for research purposes and to gain qualitative information regarding the house corner and role play. I had asked if the childminders believed if having a house corner was an effective way to aid role play 25% said yes while the other 75% said no and their reasoning for this was that despite having a house corner children would role play no matter where they were. â€Å"Children will role play whether there is a house corner present or not†. I asked if the adults get involved in the children’s role play 75% said they sit back and observe/none and 25% said they get involved if the children ask but with draw as soon as possible. During the interview I asked the four childminders what sort of assessments do they already do in their setting 100% answered Observations and Photographic only. (Appendix 4) I have visited four childminding settings to see what role play facilities childminders have in their setting. Each childminder had little role play equipment out for the children to use and the children were sat playing board games, reading books or playing outside on apparatus. I ask two of the childminders about their role play equipment-one responded â€Å"Children don’t need equipment to role play, they turn things into equipment and pretend play†. I gave all my parents that attend my setting questionnaires, to gain quantitate information which is eight in total. I had a 100% return on my questionnaires. I had asked if my parents thought a house corner was an effect way to aid role play? 62.5% said yes it is an effective way while 37.5% said it wasn’t effective. (Appendix 5) I had asked if role play promotes or condemns a child’s development? 87.5% said it promotes a childs development while 12.5% said it condemns the development. This parent stated â€Å"My child doesn’t role play and their development is fine†. I asked the parents what role play toys do the children have at home? Fundraiser The fundraising for the house corner we did a sponsoredtoddle. At the fundraiser there was 2 adults and 8 children involved and we raised  £159.26. (Appendix 6) With this money I intend to buy the following for the house corner. Kitchen pots and pans Plastic kitchen food Play plates cups and cutlery Paint and decoration for the home corner Table and chairs Discussion Feminism According to the feminist belief, women are being exploited by the sources like books, media, and the society by means of children’s toys. Feminists are of the view that the society aims to put conditions on children from their birth about their anticipated roles in society. In the statement, ‘pink is for girls and blue is for boys’, radical feminists would strongly argue that through parental expectations things like toys, books, and television begins the exploitation of women. For instance, girls are given dolls to play with, kitchens, prams, and tea sets. Feminists would claim due to imposition of such conditions, girls into their expected roles of playing the housewife and caring for children. On the other hand, boys are given footballs, computer games, cars, trucks, and are encouraged by their fathers for dummy fight. This encourages men to be masculine, violent and physically powerful according to the feminists. Symbolic Interactionism This theory focuses on the way that people interact through symbols: words, gestures, rules, and roles. In order for interaction to work, each person must interpret the meanings and intentions of others; this is made possible by common symbols this is what Mead called ‘role taking.’ This involves one person taking on a role of another person, by imagining that they are the other person, which they are interacting with. For example, if a person observes another smiling, crying, waving a hand or shaking a fist, they will put themselves in that persons position so they can interpret the intention and meaning. This will create their response to the action of the other person. Human interaction is a continuous process, with people taking it in turn of playing the role of the other. Mead argued that the process of role taking helps individuals develop a concept called ‘self’. There are two aspects of self these are ‘Me and I’. Me is a definition of yourself in a particular role for example a ‘good parent’ or a good colleague’. The I is an opinion of yourself, which is otherwise known as your-self-concept, which is built up from the reactions of others and the way you interpret those reactions. Self is not something we are born with but it is learnt during childhood. There are two main stages in the development of this. The first is known as the play stage which involves children playing roles that are not their own for example a child may play Mums and Dads, Drs and Nurses. In doing this the child learns there is a difference between themselves and the role they are playing. Piaget Jean Piaget, a philosopher and psychologist, was one of the first researchers to take children’s play seriously. He came to recognize that children learn step-by-step through experience and interaction with the world around them. In fact, Piaget’s research discovered that the young mind is not capable of formal logic and abstract thinking until 11 or 12 years old. Up until then, children learn inductively through experimentation and testing – through hands-on play. Piaget identified these stages of children’s development: Sensorimotor Stage: Birth to 2 years The child at this stage uses senses and motor abilities to figure out the world. Squeeze the rubber ducky and it quacks. Drop the ball in the hole and it rolls down the chute all the way to the bottom. Through repetitive play, the young child learns how to keep in mind what’s out of sight and how to cause a reaction. Preoperational Stage: 2 to 6 years During this stage the child acquires the ability to use symbols but still requires physical props and concrete situations to solve problems. A preschooler will line up 4 blocks and 4 more and then count up to 8. Concrete Operations: 6-11 years From physical experience, the school-age child learns to conceptualize. Now 4+4 can be solved with numbers, not just with objects. Still the young student relies on experiment and discovery to hotwire the brain. Vygotsky Vygotsky’s research on play, or children’s games. Vygotsky gives the famous example of a child who wants to ride a horse but cannot. If the child were under three, he would perhaps cry and be angry, but around the age of three the child’s relationship with the world changes: â€Å"Hence play is such that the explanation for it must always be that it is the imaginary, illusory realization of unrealizable desires. Imagination is a new formation that is not present in the consciousness of the very raw young child, is totally absent in animals, and represents a specifically human form of conscious activity. Like all functions of consciousness, it originally arises from action.† The child wishes to ride a horse but cannot, so he picks up a stick and stands astride of it, thus pretending he is riding a horse. The stick is a pivot. â€Å"Action according to rules begins to be determined by ideas, not by objects†¦. It is terribly difficult for a child to sev er thought (the meaning of a word) from object. Play is a transitional stage in this direction. At that critical moment when a stick – i.e., an object – becomes a pivot for severing the meaning of horse from a real horse, one of the basic psychological structures determining the child’s relationship to reality is radically altered†. As children get older, their reliance on pivots such as sticks, dolls and other toys diminishes. They have internalized these pivots as imagination and abstract concepts through which they can understand the world. â€Å"The old adage that ‘children’s play is imagination in action’ can be reversed: we can say that imagination in adolescents and schoolchildren is play without action†. Vygotsky also referred to the development of social rules that form, for example, when children play house and adopt the roles of different family members. Vygotsky cites an example of two sisters playing being sisters. The rules of behavior between them that go unnoticed in daily life are consciously acquired throug h play. Bruce Tina Bruce’s theory is a theory on play, which includes 12 features that assist in cultivating, recognising and monitoring free flowing play. The features that make up the theory include, making up playing rules, having fist hand experience, playing together, pretending, having personal agenda, making props and deep involvement, among others. The theory emphasized on the importance of outdoor pay in the lives of children. (Appendix Democrative Leadership Style The leaders invite and encourage the team members to play an important role in decision-making process, though the ultimate decision-making power rests with the leader. The leader guides the employees on what to perform and how to perform, while the employees communicate to the leader their experience and the suggestions if any. The advantages of this leadership style are that it leads to satisfied, motivated and more skilled employees. It leads to an optimistic work environment and also encourages creativity. This leadership style has the only drawback that it is time-consuming. These findings show that children role play as a part of learning and they develop all their developmental skills through doing this. Despite whether you have a role play area/equipment children will find other ways to role play using equipment and pretending it is something else. There has been theorists studying role play and although they all make good points I feel Tina Bruces 12 features of play is the closest to being true. Conclusion Throughout this piece of research it has become apparent that everyone has different ideas regarding role play and how children should be doing this. Each childminder does things differently and I feel there should be an overall standard that each childminder should have when setting up a childcare setting.

Exchange Rate Policies In Developing Countries

The monetary exchange in most developing countries is unstable due to the high level of inflation and weak currencies. The monetary policy of a country usually is affected by its monetary exchange rate. A country can attempt to engage on a reductive or expansionary monetary policy depending on the amount of money that is actually in circulation. A country with more amount of money in circulation with increasing inflationary rate tends to adopt a reductive monetary policy where bank interest rate is increased and expenditure on capital infrastructural goods is limited.On the other hand, an expansionary monetary policy encourages the increase in money supply to the economy by reducing interest and bank lending rate, and engaging more in capital expenditures. No matter the monetary policy embarked on by a government, this goes to influence the monetary exchange rate of such country. According to Svensson (2000) the significance of exchange rate on a country’s monetary policy lies in the additional channel that exchange rate provides for the transmission of monetary policy.Secondly, the exchange rate involve a forward looking variable in which case it provides valuable information in the designing and implementation of monetary policy. Thirdly, monetary policy is enhanced through foreign shocks that are mainly propagated thoroughly in exchange rate. A country can utilize either a fixed monetary exchange rate or a flexible exchange rate, depending on the supply rate of money and the monetary independence it choose to stick with.In a developing country, with weak institutions, the exchange rates of such countries are determined by relaying in comparative measure with currencies from other strong and stable economies. Thus, it is difficult for these developing countries to operate flexible exchange rates. As a flexible exchange rate requires that solid financial structure is laid, and consolidated, fiscal and monetary policy institutions are in place.Developing countries engages in fixed rate to operate its exchange rate. In operating, a fixed rate for monetary exchange entails that the country’s central financial institution, i. . the Central Bank buy and sell the domestic currency at a given rate. Furthermore, the viability of such monetary operation is entirely tied to the country’s level of international reserves held by its authorities. ECONOMICS INDEXES ASSOCIATED WITH A DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Most developing countries are consumers’ society with little production. Most revenue and means for generating foreign exchange for this category of country are on primary goods in form of exploration of natural resources and agricultural activities.Agrarian economies and exploration of primary products are mainly source for generating foreign exchange in developing countries. In other words, the economies of most developing countries are tied down to the apron strings of advanced economies. Electronics, technological produc ts, consumable products and finished goods are the main items of import for developing countries. The costs for importing these finished goods are more costly when compared with the amounts that are paid for exports of primary goods and raw materials from developing countries.The inequalities in the pricing regime in the international market are unfavorable for developing countries. This variable contributes to the foreign reserves of developing countries. Invariably, it affects the values of currency and its exchange rate. The monetary values of developing countries are weak when compared with those of vibrant economies. Inflation affects the economic growth and development of developing countries. In a situation where there is much money in the economy pursuing little goods in the economy, this situation leads to increase in inflation rate.Inflation reduces the purchasing power of people in a given economy. This weakens the value and use of money as a medium of exchange (especiall y in a galloping inflationary situation). To Ogbokor (2004), â€Å"Inflation, in a developing country, encourages inventory accumulation in the form of raw material, excessive investment in merchandise building and landed property. As a result, capital is prevented from being utilized for projects required for economic growth†.The implication of information in developing countries is that there brings about dearth of infrastructural amenities and the reduction of purchasing power of people for embracing a meaningful living. Financial institutions in developing countries, such as in Africa, are highly underdeveloped culminating in lack of depth financial consolidation, extensive inefficiency and over populated urban areas. The stock exchange markets in African countries are still in their embryonic state. They are just beginning to gain ground.In recent times, the Nigerian Stock exchange market (NSE) is making progressive growth in capitalization and growth in stock indexes. T he growth in the Nigerian market especially in 2007 financial operation year in the public reform policy taken in the country’s financial sector has aided the stock exchange market in the country. In 2005, the consolidation of the Nigerian banking sector through the recapitalization has brought great improvement in the banking sector and financial institution (Njoku, 2006).The great feet attained in the reform, policy has led the government to introduce this recapitalization policy in the insurance sector. In the past the Breton institution, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have recommended several medicines for the ailing economies of third world and developing economies. Such measures to embark on a structural adjustment programmed that will involve the devaluation of their currencies, among other measures such as privatization of public enterprises, removal of subsidies on public goods and less government intervention in their countries econ omies inter-alia.Even though these developing countries have put the structural programmed into use there situation economically still remain the same, sometimes made worst. â€Å"This SAP-induced inflation has resulted in adverse income redistribution, leading to increased personal insecurity and lessened personal satisfaction, while heightening interpersonal and institutional tensions and deterring investment and inhibiting consumer spending† (Anyanwu 1992). MONETARY EXCHANGE POLICIES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES The move to find an appropriate policy for monetary rate for developing countries has being on for decades now.But the volatile capital situation in these category of countries have made it more challenging for finding a lasting solution for the monetary exchange these countries. In these view, Velasco (2000) argued, â€Å"a significant conclusion that is shared from the volatile monetary exchange rate from developing countries is that adjustable or crawling pegs are e xtremely fragile in a world of volatile capital movements. The pressure resulting from massive capital flow reversals and weakened domestic financial systems was too strong even for countries that followed sound macroeconomic policies and had large stocks of reserves†.Since the 1970s, the volatile nature of the exchange rate of poor and developing countries is seen to be pervasive; as there are no stable, developed and consolidated financial institutions to peg exchange rate for countries and partners that these developing countries transact international business. The concern here according to Collins (1995) was that â€Å"the market for the developing countries currency were so thin, creating a volatile exchange rate that would be disruptive for economic activity†.The missing link for developing countries for a lasting solution for its exchange rate has being on the lack of a consolidated financial institution and stable economy. This situation for developing countrie s is made worst during the 1970s and 80s. â€Å"Prior to the 1980s, it was widely believed that operating a competitive floating exchange rate regime required a level of institutional development that developing countries did not possess† (Quirk, 1994: 135). The volatile nature of the exchange rate as recognized in the economy of developing countries is not entirely an inherent cause sometimes the activities of foreign and developed economies.For instance, the emergence of the European currency bloc has aided in rendering the exchange rate more volatile in developing countries. This according to Collingnon (1999) cited in Kawai & Takagi (2003) â€Å"has made exchange rates between the three major world currencies more volatile and thereby contributed to the reduction of cross-border investment worldwide†. The economic structures in developing countries in term of its embryonic and underdeveloped financial institutions are contributory factors that are making them have an unstable and unpredictable monetary exchange policy.The explanation for the long run inflationary trend in developing nations, according to the Structuralists, is in terms of certain structural rigidities. These include market imperfections and social tensions in those nations, including the relative inelasticity of the food supply, foreign-exchange constraints, protective measures, a rise in the demand for food, a fall in export earnings, hoarding, import substitution, industrialization, and political instability, inter-alia† (Ghatak 1995).The devaluation of currency of developing country is done with the aim to create a real basis for measuring feasible and accurate exchange rate between imports and exports of transactions in the international market. However, â€Å"the usefulness of real devaluation in stimulating growth may seem self-evident; this view is not uniformly supported either by prior theoretical research or by the experience of countries implementing exchang e rate devaluations† (Kamin & Rogers 1997). Devaluation of currency of developing countries have it untold hardship and high cost for goods and services.Looking at the devaluation of the Nigerian currency, Anyanwu (1992) argues, â€Å"†¦the continued naira depreciation has encouraged the smuggling out of goods (especially food stuffs) leading to local scarcity and higher prices. It has also encouraged a brain drain, partly in an attempt to reap the benefits of naira depreciation, the remittances from which are mainly used for consumption activities, again aggravating local prices†. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A FIXED EXCHANGE RATE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIESIn recent times, some scholars have conducted research to analysis the use of a fixed exchange rate as basis for structuring the exchange rate regime in developing countries. â€Å"Probity analysis is used to study the determinants of exchange rate regime, build their empirical models around a framework in which the polit ical cost associated with devaluation under fixed exchange rates plays a major role† (Frieden et al 2000). In a fixed exchange rate regime, the government of the developing country directly set the nominal exchange rate.Given the constraints and undeveloped financial institutions in developing countries, the practice of a fixed monetary exchange rate for developing countries is made difficult. The advantage of engaging a fixed exchange rate is to help stabilize a country’s economy. This is aimed at bringing structural change that would integrate the country’s economy into the world economy order in the quickest time possible. This has made currency board of most developing countries to take the move of attaining a fixed exchange rate as a priority that should be attain (Mart, 2004).Before the fall of the Bretton Woods system in 1973, many countries including many Latin American developing countries had adopted a fixed exchange rate regime. The reason for adopting this exchange rate regime measure is to control inflation, reduce exchange rate volatility or to improve competitiveness (Frieden et al 2000). In addition a fixed exchange rate regime tend to enable government of developing countries be disciplined in that they cannot fix any fiscal rate that would be excessive to cause the end or currency collapse.Fixed exchange rate sometimes is used as a short term corrective to harness a developing country’s monetary policy and help it gain credibility. For some developing countries like Poland, Mexico and Vietnam in the 1990s, the fixed exchange rate was utilized as a temporary measure to re-establish these countries policies to gain credibility (Ohno, 1998). Thus, a fixed exchange rate is acceptable in certain circumstances for developing countries, especially where there are unexpected real and financial shocks.However, this should not be permanently used as a measure for operating a developing countries monetary exchange. The flexibi lity exchange rate is more adequate for revamping the ailing and volatile exchange rate of developing countries. â€Å"In an unstable world economy, they must retain the ability to combine stability and flexibility as circumstances change. For the same reason, currency boards and permanently fixed exchange rates (with no escape clause) are not to be recommended† (ibid).In a galloping inflationary situation in a developing country, the exchange rate policy to adopt is a flexible one that allows currency to float and depreciate. After the tightening of the macroeconomic policies in such a country, it becomes useful to adopt a fixed exchange rate as a measure. As Ohno (1998) puts it, â€Å"As inflation subsides to a more manageable level (say, 10 to 20 percent per year), the fixed exchange rate becomes a symbol of monetary and fiscal prudence and its abandonment becomes politically too costly†.Invariably, it means that the utilization of a fixed exchange rate should come in when the inflationary rate of a developing country is becoming low and at a manageable level. Furthermore, the utilizing of a fixed exchange regime in developing country is significant in the sense that it provides stability of price to local economic agents. This is especially in the case where a country operates an open economy, in which exchange rate volatility may have substantial costs within itself (Frieden et al 2000). As earlier stated a country has the option either to choose a fixed monetary exchange rate or one that is flexible.For developing and emerging economies that want to choose a policy of a permanently fixed exchange rate this can be done through its currency board with it could adopt a common currency (‘Dollarisation’). On the other hand, developing countries can adopt a flexible policy, which according to Taylor (2000) is â€Å"†¦the only sound monetary policy is one based on the trinity of a flexible exchange rate, an inflation target, and a monetary policy rule†. However, the benefits and the cost implication of fixed exchange rates depend on the country and those variables and characteristics it is associated.For instance, a country with exceedingly high level of inflation with the urgently need to stabilize its economy will be beneficial to utilize a fixed exchange rate. â€Å"The higher the rate of inflation; i. e. one below some hyperinflationary threshold, the more a fixed rate will impose competitive pressures on tradable producers and more generally pressure on the balance of payments† (Frieden et al 2000). According to Collins (1995), a government of developing country should opt for a fixed exchange rate regime when it sense and anticipate a small misalignment cost from maintaining the existing peg.In addition, the need for government to adopt a fixed exchange rate is when she believes that discrete nominal exchange rate adjustments have only small political costs, when the government perceived her ability to manage a flexible exchange rate as low, or when the government attempt to stabilize a very high inflation. Third world countries usually are faced with political instability. During period of political instability, the adopting of fixed exchange rate by a developing country is more pronounced (Frieden et al 2000).The drawback associated with a fixed exchange regime for developing country is that an inflation differential between the pegging country and the anchor generates an appreciation of the real exchange rate, which in the absence of compensating productivity gains, hurts the tradable sector and might generate a balance of payments crisis (ibid) THE NEED TO ADOPT A FLEXIBLE EXCHANGE RATE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES For a country adopting a flexible exchange rate, the government of such country has imperfect control over the nominal exchange rate in its monetary policy.In this case, â€Å"the actual exchange rate is influenced by some shocks both at home and abroad The greater the variance of these shocks the less control policy makers will have over the actual nominal exchange rate† (Collins, 1995). The right situation for a government of a developing state to adopt a flexible includes when it perceives and anticipate a large misalignment costs from maintaining a pegged rate, when the political costs to discrete nominal adjustments are high flexibility exchange rate is conducive in such situation.Furthermore, when the government believes her ability to manage a flexible rate was high, and when the government of the state is not planning to stabilize very high inflation (ibid). In the same vain Velasco (2000), argues, â€Å"If shocks to the goods markets are more prevalent than shocks to the money market, then a flexible exchange rate is preferable to a fixed rate for developing countries†.On the other hand, when every movement in the nominal exchange rate is quickly reflected in an upward adjustment in domestic prices, then the insulation provided by flexible exchange rates is nil and thus not expected to provide a satisfactory exchange rate regime (ibid). Under a flexible exchange rate, the change in relative price quickly takes place, unlike the situation in fixed exchange rate where it changes slowly. Thus, there is advantage for developing borrowing under a flexible exchange rate.A flexible exchange rate gives borrowers an incentive to hedge that may be absent under more rigid regimes† (Velasco 2000). With the advantage that accomplish flexible exchange rate, it is still expected that each developing countries should choose and adapt to its own exchange rate system with respect to common basket. â€Å"Whatever the formal arrangement that is adapted; be it a flexible exchange rate regime or a managed float, the important point is that each country in the region should stabilize the real effective exchange rate at normal times by targeting a common currency basket† (Kawai &Takagi 2003).The n eed for developing countries to adopt a flexible exchange rate is more on the volatile nature of the countries with weak financial institutions. The negative effect of exchange rate volatility for developing countries on trade is more obvious when compared to those of developed economies. Taking on comparison between the difference in exchange rate volatility between developing countries and developing countries, it is seen that work on Pakistan’s exports to Germany, Japan, and the United States for 1974-85 suggests that exports were significantly adversely affected by variability in nominal bilateral exchange rates.On the other hand, the effect of real exchange rate variability on the exports of Chile, Colombia, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand and Turkey have attained the clear evidence of generally considerably negative and substantial impact (ibid). Scholars have advocated more of flexible exchange rate for developing countries than a fixed one, however there are demerits associated with the use of flexible exchange rate. According to Collins (1995), â€Å"flexible exchange rates make it very difficult to alter domestic price and wage setting behavior so as to reduce inflation†.More flexible exchange rate regimes may result in higher equilibrium levels of inflation because they do not effectively discipline central bankers (ibid). CONCLUSION The monetary exchange rate of developing is characterized by a highly volatile and unstable exchange rate regime. Thus, it becomes difficult to adopt a fixed exchange rate regime, given the weak financial institutions in this category of countries. Furthermore, the embryonic state of capital market and other financial institutions in developing country further weakens the currency of these countries.Inflationary rate in developing countries are on the increase thus to stable the economy within shorter period, anticipating a short misalignment costs will be adequate for a government of a developing country to adopt a fixed exchange rate. On the hand to correct, a flexible exchange rate regime is suitable for a developing country in managing its economy currency stability over a longer period. The development of financial institutions and the consolidation of capital and money markets of developing country will aid them to embrace a feasible regime that would contribute to strengthen its currency value and ensure a vibrant economy.

International Culture and Communication Assignment

International Culture and Communication - Assignment Example Be it a major MNC for small-scale business people use the Internet and communicate with various suppliers and customers across the globe to create a wider market for their business. It is evident that the work force in all officer is becoming multicultural and more diverse than ever. The HR department dealing directly with the manpower in every organization should have enough knowledge about the cross cultural factors that might affect the concerned businesses The organization should take enough measures to provide proper training regarding cross-cultural communication to their HR department. The HR department should in turn use their training to impart cultural tolerance among all the employees working in the organization. There is a very close relationship between the HR department and the culture prevalent in the organization. If the HR department adapts a culture friendly outlook, the whole organization will reflect the same mentality. Therefore it is important to encourage such a practice in all HR activities which deals directly with the employees of the organization (Jackson, 2002). The impacts of cross-cultural conflicts will usually be overcome easily or excluded if the organization encourages their workforce to get together on the basis of their personal interests and various other fun activities. The HR department should come up with such activities to promote cross-cultural communication and solve problems through a common understanding. Consider an HR department is selecting a group of people to send overseas for training or auditing. They need to ensure the people sent abroad are given enough briefing about the different culture prevalent in that particular country. Shaking hands or greeting a lady through a hug or a slight kiss is common in the Western countries. But such an act would create great misunderstanding and anger among the

Is it possible for EU Multinational investment in China to benefit Essay

Is it possible for EU Multinational investment in China to benefit both the EU and China - Essay Example This, Oehler-Sincai (2011:74) notes can be attributed to the high growth rate in these economies and the high level of transformation from efficiency driven economies towards innovation driven economies. China in particular, has experienced the strongest growth among the emergent countries over the past three decades. This has been characterised with a high level of investment projects from various developed countries, the European Union (EU) the world’s leading source and host of foreign direct investment, being among them (Vanino, 2012:70). Both China and the EU are among the largest host and source of foreign direct investment in the world and the two countries have over the past years developed an integrated industrial and commercial relationship (Bustillo and Maiza, 2012: 355). Despite the continuously increasing trading relationship between the EU and China, increase investment flows between the two countries have remained limited in comparison. While the European invest ors agree and concur to the suitability of China as a desirable investment location that has high unexploited potential, there are still high concerns concerning a ‘lack of level playing field’ in the region as well as uncertainty and persistent barriers in the Chinese business environment (European Commission, 2012). In recent years, EU investment in China has reached about 20% of all foreign direct investment (FDI) in China. At the same time, China is also growing to be an active investor globally with a growing share invested in the EU market (Vanino, 2012:70). The high optimism on the growth potential within the Chinese market however does not translate immediately to EU confidence in China market as a predictable and sustainable investment environment. This is mainly because of the persistent barriers in China. Furthermore, the EU feels that China has obtained more benefits from their trading and investment relationship, as EU investment environment is more open to China, than China is to EU investors (Vanino, 2012:70; Bustillo and Maiza, 2012: 355). Taking into account the rising importance of China as an investment destination for EU investors, it is important to examine whether it is possible for EU investments in China to benefit both EU and China. Hence, this paper seeks to accomplish this purpose. Background to EU Multinational investment in China Over the past three decades since the Chinese reforms which liberalised the economy to adopt a more market based economy, China has rapidly experienced high growth rates, which has elevated economic development in the country (European Commission, 2011). Over this period, China has experienced a 9% annual average growth rates with its GDP rising exponentially to 5% of the global GDP. This growth resulted to the highest drop in poverty within a country in world history as the people living under a dollar a day reduced by 170 million between 1990 and 2000, and as the country experienced a sudden surge in middle class with a large purchasing power (Commission of the European Communities, 2006). The increased integration of China into the World’s trading system, mainly spurred by the country’s inclusion in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, provided China with export markets that were open, hence elevating the country into a trading power. Furthermore, China became a major recipient of FDI with more than

Foundations of psychohistory by Llyod DeMause. Summary essay

Foundations of psychohistory by Llyod DeMause. Summary - Essay Example It is in this context that the author is of the opinion that in an event that other mothers would be brought to the world, then the children would be totally different (DeMause 2). This means that a lot needs to be done in the childhood stage of an individual. It is more wary that child rearing became an obvious activity for the psychologists, anthropologists and sociologists. This leaves the historian with a tricky starting point to understand childhood. Studies of the child have not been documented, making it more tasking for the historian. The new era of studying the child, according to the psychogenic theory, is linked with the development of the parent-child relationships, the generational change, emerging needs of the ‘novel’ child, and the psychic organization of passing of generations (DeMause 3). The author brings out the concept of projective and reversal reactions that have been major determinants of the kind of family that is brought up.

Analysis of Market Failures Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Market Failures - Assignment Example Therefore, in order to counter this market failure, government intervenes, takes taxes from people and provides them the goods which are not provided by price mechanism, such as street lights, lighthouses, police etc These were some cases, where market forces of price mechanism fail to provide the people with the right quantity of goods and results in market failures. However, a new way adopted by most governments to counter market failures is by adopting a mixed economic system, where there is both price mechanism and government control. Whenever the price mechanism fails to provide a good or service, or over or under provides it, the government comes forward and takes care of the market. For example, to counter the overproduction of demerit goods, it increases the taxes on those goods. Similarly, in order to increase the production of merit goods, it usually provides subsidies on them, so that these goods are provided more in the market. Thus, we can conclude from this essay that even the most efficient system of allocation of resources can sometimes fail to allocate the resources in the most efficient way. This situation is known as a market failure, and if not dealt properly, it will lead the market towards inefficiency and hence there is a need for good government control to counter the problem. Â  

The Invasion of Kuwait in 1990 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Invasion of Kuwait in 1990 - Essay Example The essence and purpose of this essay is to analyze how the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq has affected the relationship between these two countries to date. To achieve this goal, the researcher of the essay analyzes several different oficial and unofficial reasons for the invasion, the results of the war, and the United States factor in the invasion discussed. In addition, several reasons were advanced by Iraq to justify the invasion which was contrary to international law, and article 2(4) of the UN Charter which forbids the use or the threat of use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another country. The official reason that was discussed in the essay and advanced by Iraq is that it was invading at the request of revolutionaries who were dissatisfied with the regime. However, the researcher mentiones that the real reasons for the attack behind it were conspicuous and were revealed later, for example by Saddam Hussein during his interrog ation by the FBI. The researcher analyzes the consequences of the war and discusses how the Invasion affected Kuwait-Iraq relationship today. In conclusion the researcher states that the Iraq invasion of Kuwait had serious repercussion on the relationship between the two countries. It not only strained its relationship with Kuwait, but also major superpowers. However, following the removal of Saddam Hussein from power, the relationship between the two countries are slowly normalizing again.... Therefore, Iraq sent officials to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other gulf member countries to convince them to fix the price of oil. The OPEC member states finally agreed at a price, but which the Kuwait said would not honor, and Kuwait was throughout violating their quota. Consequently, this gave rise diplomatic and economic disputes between these two countries (Gulfnews, 2009). Secondly, the other issue related to debts that Kuwait had advanced to Iraq to fund the war with Iran. At the end of the war, Iraq could not repay the debt that amounted to $14 billion. Hence, Iraq approached Iran to forgive the debt, a request which Kuwait rejected. This compromised the other avenue that Iraq could use to secure funds to help in rebuilding, that is through securing loans. This is because the amounts extended had already been registered as loans, and therefore Iraq could not secure loans from third states. Iraq argued that the word ‘loan’ had been used to disguise the real nature of such funding to Iran. Iraq was of the view that these amounts were not loans but free grants to aid in the fight against Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini which was threatening to overran the whole Arab region. The failure to forgive these debts acerbated the tension between these two countries (Gulfnews, 2009). The other reason advanced by Iraq, was the accusation that Kuwait was ‘stealing’ oil across their international border through slant-drilling especially in Rumaila oil fields. The oil field borders the two countries and during the Iraq-Iran war, while Iraq had cut materially production of oil from Rumaila oil fields, Kuwait increased its production in the same area. Iraq accused Kuwait of employing advanced drilling methods to its oil. It argued that Kuwait had

Critically review how the management of quality has changed over the Essay

Critically review how the management of quality has changed over the last century - Essay Example "With the creation of this new department, there came new services and issues, e.g. standards, training, recording of data and the accuracy of measuring equipment" (the UK Government Department of Quality and Industry 2005). It is obvious that the duties of this "chief inspector" were laying in something more than just an acceptance of goods. Thus a defect prevention practice appeared to be required. The 1920s was the period when statistical methods efficiently merged into quality control practice, and it was in 1924 when Shewhart created the first outline of a timely chart for quality control. Thus his investigations and the work of the followers of this practice represented a great amount of what involved the up-to-date theory of statistical process control. Nevertheless this practice was hardly applied in manufacturing companies until the late 1940s (Ackoff 1993). It is well known that it was the time when industrial system of Japan was actually collapsed, and it was infamously well-known because of cheap counterfeit of goods and an ignorant illiterate labor force. Fortunately the Japanese identified these problems and entered upon solving them in time (Connor 1997). In the beginning of the 1950s quality management quickly occupied a fitting place in Japanese manufacturing business and came into essential play in management philosophy of Japan in such a way that by the 1960s quality management had taken a place of national bias. As a result by the end of 1960s Japan's imports in Europe and the USA surged noticeably, first of all "because of its cheaper, higher quality products, compared to the Western counterparts" (Dooyoung, S., Kalinowski J. G. & El-Enein, G. A. 1998). In 1969 the first cross-border conference on quality control management supported by Japan, The USA and Europe was carried out in Tokyo. A mind appeared that quality control management in Japan even differ from that one in other countries as it was "company wide quality control" with all the working team from a worker to the top manager taking considerable part in the process (The UK Government Department of Quality and Industry 2005). This type of management characterized Japanese companies by the end of the1970s. Although supporting of this tendency in the West began later, nearly in the 1980s, when western companies proposed their own quality policies, concepts and ideas in order to compete and overtake Japan. "Total quality management (TQM) became the centre of these drives in most cases" (Giroux, H. & Landry, S. 1998). In the light of intensive global

Assignment 1 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assignment 1 - Coursework Example 3). However, agricultural and food practices have a significant impact on the environment and contribute to water, air and land pollution (Turk and Bensel, 2011, ch. 3). Nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizer runoff into rivers and lakes lead to eutrophication and suffocation of fish, and pesticide residues in water pose a human health risk if consumed. Soil erosion gives way to dust storms, and methane gas produced by livestock contributes to global warming. Overirrigation of fields leads to waterlogging and loss of arable land, as has happened in Punjab, India. Deforestation is carried out to clear land for farming, eventually resulting in increased soil runoff, decreased rainfall and loss of soil fertility. Overfishing has led to a decline in the number of many fish species, such as the shark, to dangerously low levels. Natural disasters, attributed to global warming, have also had a significant impact on global food production. Among recent examples, a severe drought in China in winter 2011 severely damaged the wheat crop (Bradsher, 2011), and a flood crisis in Australia has followed a decade of water shortage, exacerbating the hardships faced by farmers (Belford, 2011).

Midterm Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Midterm - Assignment Example Researchers may find legal briefs important because they will not only cite important case and statutory law, but can be used to help the researcher analyse a similar research issue. Question 3: The US Code is a chronological organization of all permanent/current laws of the US Congress. The US Code is published every 6 years with each edition reflecting all amendments and supplements to the law currently in effect. Thus each subsequent edition of the US Code will be expected to reflect only the current law or laws currently in effect. For instance, if an Act or provision of an Act was repealed, the next edition of the US Code will reflect the repeal. However, if an Act or provision was amended or supplemented by an additional provision, the new provision or supplementary provision will be reflected in subsequent editions of the US Code. Question 4: Legal professionals and legal scholars might share an interest in the original intentions of the US Constitution as a means of understan ding what the framers’ initially intended the Constitution to mean. By taking this approach, the possibility of conflicting and confusing interpretations is reduced and the US Constitution is understood and applied with greater consistency and predictability. In looking for the original intentions of the framers of the US Constitution, legal professionals and legal scholars will look at the debates between the Federalists and the anti-Federalists at the time before and during ratification. The debates will be found in the Federal Papers. Another important source is the Declaration of Independence. Question 5: Court opinions, statutes, and documents containing arguments of the framers of legislation and constitutions are regarded as primary sources because they are authoritative in nature. In other words, primary sources of law reflect actual statements of the law or the original intention of what the state law will or are intended to be and how it should be interpreted and ap plied. Question 6: Cite-checkers as secondary sources of law are features providing information relative to a specific area of the law. The information typically includes headings and primary sources to which the heading relates. For example a cite-checker for the US Code will identify whether or not the statute is revised. Editorial notes relating to the primary source will also be included and relevant information not included in the primary source. Legal digests differ only in that they will provide indices of legal issues and the case and statutory laws supporting the specific position. Cite-checkers and legal digests are therefore valuable secondary sources of information for researchers because they direct the researcher to primary sources of information. Question 7: Encyclopedias and legal periodicals both provide statements of the law as it is, as it was and as it should be. However, what distinguishes encyclopedias from legal periodicals is content. Encyclopedias are genera l and concise statements of the law. However, legal periodicals are far more comprehensive and provide both theoretical and practical discussions over a period of time. While neither source is authoritative, both can be valuable guides to where a researcher might look for primary and authoritative sources of law. Legal periodicals however, usually reflect opinions and analyses that can have persuasive value even to judges determining a legal dispute. Thus researchers should only use legal

Cleveland’s Livability Essay Example for Free

Cleveland’s Livability Essay

Business Plan Gold Gym Marketing Essay

Business Plan Gold Gym Marketing Essay Venturing into starting a Franchise is traditionally assured to yield a guaranteed Return of Investment than venturing into a fresh startup entity. Although Franchise itself is a business, it is considered as a way of doing business. It is believed by many that Mr. Albert Singer who was the founder of the Singer sewing machine, was the inventor and founder of the concept franchising. He was one of the earliest person known by most as being associated with the concept; however, the franchising really began long time before and has its roots dating all the way back to the Middle Ages (Blair Lafontaine 2005). As per the definition the work franchising is derived from ancient French which means holding a particular privilege or right. Over the years, franchising business models have been evolved and proven to result in high growth businesses. Although there are various large business entities in UK that offer franchising opportunities, only few business segments result in lucrative ROI. After analysing various business analysis reports and market survey statistics, I have identified fitness and wellness healthcare segment as highly futuristic franchise opportunity considering various factors including my current financial capabilities and business goals. Proposed Business Gold Gym Franchise Objective and Description As a fitness franchise of Gold Gym, we will provide an innovative health care, wellness and fitness services. The modern premises will be equipped with the state of the art fitness equipments and provide facilities such as steam bathing and swimming. The place of the business will be chosen in the heart of the town to provide fitness services to local community, besides outbeating the competition. Market Outline Summary In recent times people are getting more and more health conscious as they are more educated about health hazards involved due to unhealthy lifestyles, establishing a franchise business like Gold Gyms is very profitable as well as it can serve the local customers who want to avoid buying very expensive health equipments in their houses. It can in contributing to the society as healthy lifestyle would ensure less unwell people. As per a recently conducted market survey and the report by the Fitness Industry Association (FIA) and accumulated by leisure fitness market analysts, the UKs fitness and wellness business is a 4 billion GBP revenue industry and is seeing the fastest growth of its 20 year history with many more members eager to avail such services facilities than ever before. The comprehensive audit and the market intelligence report published by FIA covers national overviews of both the public and private sectors. Currently, 15 % of the total UKs population are members of a health club or government-owned fitness services and there is an untapped market potential of around 60% and its growing stably at 3 to 4 per cent an year. Besides this, the increased obesity risk levels are compelling large number of people approach fitness and wellness centres. (Fitness: freebie fitness, 2009) These factors clearly indicate that starting a fitness and wellness club or gym will yield a lucrative revenue and guaranteed profits. However, starting a gym franchise is a better idea rather than starting a own gym because of the following factors: Starting a own gym is very expensive and requires minimum of a million pounds investments because of increased equipment costs and the soaring rates of premises leasing. Building own brand (rather than running a franchise) requires higher upfront investment for marketting and brand building efforts that eventually impacts the customer acquisition rate. Employee training and management orientation is easy in a franchise. Investing in a franchise business is usually safer than venturing into a completely new startup due to proven business strategies. Business Model The primary source of revenue of the proposed business will be earned from the various types of memberships offered to the customers. Ideally the member ships will be offered at a predetermined price which would include certain benefits and services that the customer can avail. As the benefits increase the price of the membership would also increase. In the initial stages of the business, the proposed fitness franchise will earn revenues in the following streams: Membership Types 1. Basic memberships (without trainers) : Pricing will be between  £15 to  £25 and will vary time to time because of special promotional offers. Initially, it is proposed to set at  £15 per month. This would provide accesses to very basic facilities and services, ideally to attract the lower income group of people. 2. Gold memberships (with special guidance from trainers): This special membership pricing will be set between  £25 to  £45 because of seasonal-special offers and initially will be set at  £25 per month. This would include more number of facilities and services, more suitable for customers with a higher disposable income. Apart from the above mentioned standard monthly memberships, we will offer weekly and Pay as you go memberships as well which will target people looking for flexible paying options. Membership Duration Membership pricing will be offered attractive based on the following durations: 1. Monthly membership the payments would be taken on monthly basis 2. Weekly membership this will work on week on week basis 3. Pay and Use membership would be a prepaid service Target Customers Customers of varied types including individuals, groups and businesses will be targeted to acquire strong customer base. It is listed as below: 1. Individuals 2. Family group memberships will be offered at reduced fee pricing. 3. Corporate memberships will be offered at reduced pricing. The proposed membership fee structures and the revenue projections have been described in the Financials and Projections section in the later part of the text below. Competitive Advantage The proposed fitness business centre will offer variety of advantages to outbeat the competition in the market. We will provide special memberships for people undergoing obesity treatment and special price caps to attract different age groups such as 35 to 49 and 28 to 34. Moreover, the proposed fitness centre will be in the heart of each town and within reachable distance from the nearby health services. Gym equipments in the facility will be made up of state of the art technology and will have electronic sensors and displays to accurately measure and monitor physical and health parameters. (More details of the equipments have been described in the Equipments Provision section). Multiple number of steam bath facilities and swimming pool facilities will be provided. Free car parking facility will be provided for limited number of hours. Competition In UK, at present, there are very few (less than 3) fitness chains are available in most places, apart from public facilities and many towns are yet to have a gym with sophisticated equipments and services delivery. Therefore, the competition for Golds Gym franchise is moderate and we have a clearly defined business model and strategy to outbeat the competition. Premises and Equipment The proposed gym premises will house various fitness and wellness facilities. There are mainly two different types of equipments which will be available in the proposed gym, firstly free weights and secondly high-tech machines. Free weights are a simple form of bodybuilding equipment with no real use of technology. They are generally cheaper and more easily available. They consist normally of things like barbells, dumbbells, bars, weight plates etc.   In the proposed gym, we will facilitate and provide the following equipments: The Barbell Which is a long iron bar that is around 4 and 7 feet long on which multiple weight plates can be placed as per the required weight. Weight Plates Weight plates mostly range from 500 gms to 75 kgs. They are usually made of iron as it is a heavy metal. Dum-bells A dumbbell is a shorter form of a barbell, generally 10 15 inches in length. Dumbbell exercises are performed with a dumbbell in each hand. Tricep Bar An oval shaped long bar which has 2 parallel placements for the hand. Although it is commonly called as a tricep bar, one can use it to workout other different parts of the body besides the triceps. EZ Curl Bar It is ideally designed for building the biceps triceps. It is much shorter then a barbell and has angled placements for the hands. It is very useful for building ones muscles from a variety of angles and for reducing the levels of stress (caused by weight) which a straight barbell normally can place on ones wrists. Benches This most common piece of equipment which is seen in every gym. There are mainly 3 different types of benches that are popular flat one, an inclined, and decline. Some high-tech benches are adjustable. Some bespoke benches have the facility of racks on one end which hold a barbell, while some benches dont have any such racks. The Arm-Blaster It is a 2 foot in length and 6 inch in width, very flat, curvy metal bar. It has a strap that goes from back of ones neck to grasp the metal bar is flat from corner to corner of your mid section. It works a lot like a preacher bench by eradicating any body momentum and allows the person using it to isolate the biceps. Stability Ball (Swiss Ball) All exercises that one would ideally do on a bench can also be done on the stability ball. The trainee can do a variety of exercises like bench press, shoulder press, dumbbell flies, lateral raises, pullovers, reverse crunches, so on and so forth. This is one of the best piece of equipment and is very popular with fitness conscious people. Abdominal Bench Is simply just a decline bench that is used for doing exercises that focus on the abdomen. It has rollers that a person can hook their feet into so that the person does not slide off the bench. Chin Up/pull up Bar The chin up or also known as a pull up bar is a iron bar that is either bolted on to a wall or any part of any exercise machine. Pull ups are good for working out the upper back, biceps, and forearms. Dip/Push ups Bars This is a set of two similar parallel bars. Dips is the best exercise for working the upper chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps. Leg Press Machine Most people believe that squats are the best overall exercise to build up the leg muscles. Most of the press machines are set on a 45 degree angle which provides excellent movement of legs. With the leg press the trainee can safely lift weights without having to worry about sliding or falling over. It gives less stress on the lower back which can help people with back problems and knees then squats. The Hack-Squat Machine This is a innovative variation of the traditional and popular barbell squat that is commonly used. This is excellent and very useful for developing the outer muscles of the thighs and for toning up. Leg Extension Machine This machine is ideally suitable for isolating the quadriceps muscles and focusing on leg muscles. Most trainees find this exercise useful for pre-exhausting their quadriceps or for warming up the knee joints (which are normally tight) before proceeding to do squats or leg press exercises. Calf Machines There are mainly 2 different types of calf machines, one is the standing calf raise and second is the seated calf raise. The former raise focuses the upper calf muscles (gastrocnemius) while the later is used to work out the lower calf muscles (soleus). Leg Curl Machine This machine is ideal hamstring exercises which is very popular with athletes. Some gyms nowadays may have a leg extension and leg curl machine built in together into one machine, to maximise utilisation of space Financials: Capital Funds and Budget Plan The capital investment and operational costs of the proposed business is as given below: (1) Short term part-investment: Angel investment of  £25,000 towards franchise fee. This includes employee(includes training and management staff) training and management orientation. Brochures, documents and other books and manuals such as fitness and wellness guides, marketing materials such as standard pamphlets. (2) Short term part-investment: Bank loan of  £30,000 towards premises rental and day to day maintenance for the first 12 months. (3) Short term: Angel investment of  £10,000 towards marketing and promotional expenses. (3) Short term: Bank loan of  £30,000 towards staff costs for first 12 months. Therefore, the capital cost of the business upon starting is  £95,000. This is raised as a combined collective-capital as described above in parts of Angel Investment of  £25,000 and  £10,000 in addition to the  £30,000 of bank loan. Financials: Cash flow and Forecast (Projections) The cash flow for day to day operations for the initial twelve months will be incurred from the capital investment as explained in the above section. As per the projections explained below, the break even point (of  £95,000) is expected to cross in the month of nine from the starting day of the business. Upon achieving the break even the excessive funds (as in the figures below) will be used partly for the operational cost and the rest will be accumulated as retained profits, which is estimated to be approximately  £25,000 (after achieving break even). The proposed membership fee will be between  £5 and  £49 for various services. The average monthly membership fee is proposed to be  £15 to ensure competitive advantage over other fitness centres. As a conservative estimate, the membership is expected to grow at 140% in the initial stages at averagely 25 new members a day. Therefore, the projected earnings over the period of initial 9 months ( £15x £25x £9) is around  £101,250 and the breakeven will be achieved in 7th month of starting the business. In a modern estimate (if promoted through freely available internet and ecommerce services), membership base is expected to grow at 265% in the initial stages and break even can be achieved quickly and steady flow of revenue can be ensured. Financials: Future Expansion Plans The long term investment capital funds of  £450,000 will be raised as mentioned below, to grow the business in steady pace for adding more number of gym equipments with advanced features. More facilities including 247 access to the gym will be offered: The long term investment funds will be raised as given below, (1). Listing the business in AIM-Cash shell list in association with external fund raising companies (Projected to raise around  £200,000). (2). Additional capital will be raised through low end venture capital firms to raise the capital of around  £225,000. The total of  £450,000 will be raised as explained above for expanding and ensuring the organic growth of the business. Marketing and Promotions Strategy In the total of  £10,000 allocated marketing budget the advertisement campaigns within the proposed budget will be carried out in co-operation with the parent Gold Gym entity with and estimated cost of  £3400. The printed pamphlets will be circulated to local community with special-seasonal offers as well as special membership offers. Low cost advertisements will be published for the budget of  £2500 in local community news magazines. Advertisement displays will be considered in the second phase of the business upon reaching breakeven point. Conclusion Fitness and wellness care is becoming essential part of life style. With fast life styles, stress full working conditions, growing competitions and unhealthy eating habits, many people have realised the importance of fitness and health to lead a quality life. More and more people are now keen to improve their fitness levels, some for feel good about themselves, some to look better and feel confident, and some to reduce mental stress levels. The brand of the Gold Gym is a proven and time tested that could result in increased customer base. Over the time gold gym has seen growth and succeeded in providing excellent fitness and health services. The brand name backed by the reputation makes gold gym franchise a low risk business model. In a traditional estimate, the proposed Gold Gym franchise is expected to cross break even in around 7 months and yield steady profits from 8th month onwards. Further to the 8th mark growth opportunities can emerge with market conditions improving disposab le income of individuals getting back to normal levels. After carefull evaluating all financial aspects and growth prospects we can conclude starting the Gold Gym franchise will be a lucrative and profitable business.

Impact of Culture on Life Satisfaction of Students

Impact of Culture on Life Satisfaction of Students ABSTRACT Defining culture by reference to deeply situated societal values and beliefs, this study makes three contributions to the growing field of satisfaction research: first, it tries to uncover the relationship between international students life satisfaction and cultural life satisfaction across different cultures; Second, it explores whether and to what extent a range of cultural values serve as important moderators of international students life satisfaction; Finally, it explains the Life Satisfaction differences between international students across five nations (India, Africa, China, United Kingdom and Turkey). A total of 100 international students from the University of Northampton participated in this study. Analysis of the present study is based on data from two surveys. The first is the Dieners Satisfaction with Life Survey (SWL) to measure international students overall satisfaction with life across nations. The second is the cultural satisfaction survey which includes the six d eterminants of cultural factors: satisfaction in general, job, social relationships, health services, authority services and public safety. Using both Pearson and Partial correlation coefficient, statistical analysis showed that except for the General Satisfaction section p value is more than 0.05 (p>0.05) for each of the subsections. In addition, hypothesis one showed that there is not any correlation between Life Satisfaction and Cultural Satisfaction amongst International Students. Therefore, null hypothesis is accepted. One-Way between subjects ANOVAs enables us to partially accept hypothesis 2, which states there will be a difference in CS between International Students from different countries. Statistical results of one-way ANOVAs also accepted Hypothesis 3, which states there will be a difference in LS between International Students from different nationalities as well. According to these results, Hypothesis 2 is partially accepted because four out of the six subsections of the CS (General and Job Satisfaction) showed these differences. These results show the importance of the cultural determinants of the social relationship, health, authority and public safety satisfaction play a particularly prominent role on individuals Life Satisfaction. Finally, based on the Dieners SWL (Diener et al, 1984) and cultural life satisfaction survey, the empirical results show that several cultural values are indeed very significant influences on individuals assessment of their life satisfaction. INTRODUCTION Psychological research during the past two decades has revealed cultural differences across a wide range of domains. These studies focus on several factors such as what are peoples desires, wants, and needs, and which life domains are decisive in an overall evaluation of living conditions? Does the quality of a society in which a person lives play a significant role? As a result most psychologists are now keenly aware that the way people in different cultures think, feel, and act are, in varying degrees, different. International students have in recent years come to constitute a large proportion of the world-wide student body in higher learning institutions. There are hardly any countries that are unaffected by the presence of international students in its institutions of higher learning, or the pressure to send some of its own students to study abroad (Paige, 1990). Current estimates suggest that up to 1 million students annually study in countries other than their own (Open Doors, 1996/97). One rationale behind the increasing number of international students is the assumption that students can serve both as cultural ambassadors and resources (Klineberg, 1970; Mestenhauser, 1983; Paige, 1990), and as links between cultures (Eide, 1970). It has also been assumed that these cultural links could help reduce inter-group tension, prejudice, hostility and discriminatory behaviour, and to help increase international understanding and co-operation (Amir, 1969; Baron and Bachman, 1987; Fulbright, 1976) . These assumptions, however, have not always been supported. On the contrary mental health problems such as depression, psychosomatic complaints, anxiety and paranoid reactions (Jou and Fukada, 1997a and b; Sam and Eide, 1991; Ward, 1967; Ying and Liese, 1991) have been suggested to characterise international students. These are in addition to socio-cultural problems (e.g., language difficulties, difficulties in negotiating day-to-day social activities and, racial and ethnic discrimination) (Furnham and Bochner, 1982; Kagan and Cohen, 1990; Ward and Kennedy, 1993) and academic problems such as failure (Aich, 1963; Barker et al., 1991) have been documented as characterising international students overseas sojourn. Life Satisfacion (LS) has been defined as a global evaluation by the person of his or her life (Pavot et al., 1991, p. 150), and has been identified as a key aspect of quality of life and Subjective Well Being (SWB) (Mannel and Dupuis 1996). SWB is a way of defining a good life, and is often referred to as happiness. People who experience abundant SWB have many pleasures and few pains, and they feel satisfied with their lives (Diener, 2000). Satisfaction also refers to the cognitive/judgemental aspects of SWB (Neto, 1995). Diener and his colleagues (1999) argued that, SWB and happiness, has both an affective (i.e., emotional) and a cognitive (i.e., judgmental) component. The affective component consists of how frequently an individual reports experiencing positive and negative effects. In addition to this, previous research (Diener et al., 1999) has found college students consider happiness and LS to be extremely important, and there is evidence that increased LS impacts upon academi c performance in college students (Rode et al., 2005). Research has shown that increased LS and happiness may be related to goal progression (Emmons, 1986), close social relationships (Myers, 2000), and being involved in flow activities (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997). Moreover, Veenhoven (1991) uses the definition of LS as the degree to which an individual judges the overall quality of his life as a whole favourably. (1991: 10). This idea emphasises satisfaction with ones life, implies contentment with or acceptance of ones life circumstances, or the fulfilment of ones wants and needs for ones life as a whole. Furthermore, the need satisfaction model (Maslow, 1970; McClelland, 1961) and the spill over (Diener, 1984;Wilensky, 1960) theories provide useful frameworks to conceptualise the processes that underlie happiness in a life domain. The basic premise of the need satisfaction model is that people have basic needs they seek to fulfil in each life domain. Individuals derive satisfaction in a particular life domain when events and experience related to that domain fulfil their needs. Therefore, this model seems to suggest that people who are successful in satisfying their needs are likely to enjoy greater SWB than those who are less successful. For example, a person reports high satisfaction of her health life domain based on positive experiences concerning health-related activities such as a healthy diet, regular exercise and attention to medical needs. Moreover, the spill over theories of quality of life are viewed as having two broad types; bottom-up and top-down theories. Firstly, bott om-up theories assume that LS is a summary evaluation of aspects of ones life. For example, one is satisfied with life because one has good social relationships, enough money, weight under control, and an interesting job (Choi et al., 2007; George and Landerman, 1984; Larsen, 1978). Secondly, top-down theories assume that LS is due to personality influences. For example, a neurotic individual is more dissatisfied in general with his or her job, social relationships, weight, and income in particular ( Shepard, 1974; Kremer and Harpaz, 1982). Although there may be some agreement about the important qualities of the good life, with considerations like health and successful relationships, each individual assigns different values to these factors (Diener et al., 1985). Each person has his or her own values, criteria, and basis for evaluation. Furthermore, considerable research effort has been devoted to the study of adults perception of the quality of their lives, including LS judgements. LS research is supported by the variety of measures appropriate for adults, such as the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985; Pavot and Diener, 1993), Quality of Life Inventory (Frisch et al., 1992), Life Satisfaction Index (Neugarten et al., 1961), and the Salamon-Conte LS in the Elderly Scale (Salamon and Conte, 1984). Several studies have been carried out regarding LS and the results of these studies emphasise that LS is related to different factors. A great deal of psychological research has explored the sources of peoples LS. Due to variation in the characteristics of the included samples such as age, gender or culture questions which are commonly found in questionnaires as well as included indicators, different factors have been found to be associated with LS. Campbell (1981) indicates that there are at least 12 domains involved in contributing to LS. These are health, finances, family relations, paid employment, friendships, housing, living partner, recreational activity, religion, self-esteem, transportation, and education (Campbell, 1981). Specific cultural and social factors also have been found to play an important role in determining LS and happiness (Triandis, 2000). LS is used worldwide in research including adults, young people, students, older people etc. (Baiyewu and Jegede 1992; H illeras et al. 2001b,Neugarten et al. 1961; Vitterso et al. 2002; Wood et al. 1969) and is supposed to be a useful outcome variable in different countries. Cultural context is an important element that influences an individuals cognitive evaluation of ones life. Culture affects people in a variety of basic psychological domains, including self-concept, attribution and reasoning, interpersonal communication, negotiation, intergroup relations, and psychological well-being (Brewer Chen, 2007; Fiske et al., 1998; Markus Kitayama, 1991; Oyserman et al., 2002). Sociologists and social psychologists are interested in socio-demographic patterns that emerge when people evaluate their overall living conditions (Veenhoven 1984; Argyle 1999; Headey and Wearing 1992; Hagerty et al. 2000; Glatzer and Zapf 1984). However, socio-demographic factors account for less than 20% of the variance of SWB, a finding confirmed in several studies (Campbell et al. 1976; Andrews and Withey 1976; Diener and Suh 1997). Many efforts have been made to analyse determinants of LS and researchers from several disciplines illuminate this subject from different perspectiv es. The study revealed that the standard of living, access to employment, job satisfaction, marriage, social relationships, social networks, and health were the most decisive factors when explaining variations in LS within countries. Previous research also indicate that these factors have a positive impact on individuals LS (Diener et al. 1999) with results also showing that individuals with high LS have such benefits including physical health, mental health, good interpersonal relationships, and educational and vocational success (Frisch, 2000; Park, 2003, 2004; Veenhoven, 1989). More recently, economists have shown an interest in explaining LS outcomes with respect to reported SWB as a proxy for individual utility. They primarily focus on cross-country comparisons, the question of marginal utility of income, and the relationship between absolute and relative levels of income on SWB (Frey and Stutzer 2002a, b; Oswald 1997; Layard 2005). Moreover, LS differs a great deal between individuals and between European countries. The previous study within the enlarged European Union shows average LS in 2003, measured on a scale from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied), ranged from 8.38 in Denmark to 4.41 in Bulgaria. In every country high income goes hand in hand with higher LS scores. However, poor people in Denmark are nevertheless more satisfied than rich people in Bulgaria. The large differences in the overall level of LS between old and new member states have so far been explained with reference to the level of economic prosperity in each country (Fahey and Smyth 2004). Moreover, several studies have pointed out that poorer countries tend to possess lower LS than richer ones. To support this idea, Leelakulthanit and Day (1993) compared the LS scores of Americans and Thais. The results showed that Americans were more satisfied with their lives than Thais. Similarly, Diener et al., (1995) investigated LS among American, Korean, and Chinese college students. The results of the study illustrated that American college students scored more highly on LS, positive feelings and influential factors (e.g., income and wealth of the countries) than both Chinese and Korean college students. The results of these studies emphasized that the countries with high qualities (such as income, wealth, education) have higher LS scores than the countries who have low quality of standards . Conversely, Heady et al. (2004) instead analysed household panel data for five countries and found the happiness measure to be considerably more affected by economic fac tors than found in most of the earlier literature. The economic factors in the study include wealth and consumption expenditures and among the findings are that wealth has a stronger impact on happiness than income and that non-durable consumption expenditures are as important for happiness as income. Recent cross-country studies have therefore returned to this issue, questioning the insignificance of economic factors, which led to a heated debate in Social Science Indicators between Richard Easterlin, who defended the standard conclusion that average income does not matter, and Michael Hagerty and Ruud Veenhoven, who opposed this and argued that positive happiness trends in most nations were caused by income growth (Hagerty and Veenhoven 2003; Easterlin 2005; Veenhoven and Hagerty 2006). Moreover, a number of previous studies exposed evidence about health playing a critical role in overall LS. In fact, health has long been viewed as one of the major factors to LS as previous studies have found that health plays a crucial role on individuals LS (Linn et al., 1988; Michalos, Zumbo, Hubley, 2000; Okun et al., 1984; Parkerson, Broadhead, Tse, 1990). Additionally, a number of previous studies have examined the relationship between LS and health factors such as obesity, alcohol use, suicidal thoughts, physical activity, stress, and academic performance in different populations. For example, the study of the Moum (1996) found that people who score high on LS measures are less likely to attempt suicide. Lewinsohn et al., (1991) also pointed out that people who score high on LS are less likely to become depressed in the future . Several researches have also examined that LS is related to healthy behaviours in a number of different populations (Kelly, 2004; Rudolf Watts, 20 02; Valois, Zullig, Huebner, Drane, 2004b). To support this idea, Statistics Canada Web Site (2009), found that Canadians LS was related to their health. The statistics showed that people who were satisfied with their lives reported that their health was excellent (62.5%) and only 8.4% of people who were satisfied with life reported poor health. Conversely, of those people who were not satisfied with their lives, 54.2% reported that their health was poor. As a result, this study found that weak levels of health are directly related to low levels of satisfaction with life, low levels of morality, and low levels of satisfaction. This study also stresses that public health provisions have an important role on the improvements of individuals quality of life. For example, Life expectancy in France or Germany has risen sharply. However, this improvement is not due to high-technology. These countries attach importance to improve the quality of health in urban sanitation. The main aim here is relatively low-cost treatment (for example; antibiotics for childrens ear infections) (Deaton, 2008). From the past to the present, a great deal of psychological research has explored the sources of peoples LS. These sources include ones overall wealth, whether one is single or married, male or female (Gold et al., 2002; Murtagh Hubert, 2004), or young or old (Diener, 1984; Mercier et al., 1998; Prenda Lachman, 2001) A few studies have investigated international undergraduate students Satisfaction with Life (SWL) in the pattern of culture associates. Definition of the SWL emphasises the individuals own Quality of Life (QoL) based on their selected standards (Shin and Johnson, 1978). Each individuals decisions about their own particular criteria of their QoL can help them to judge and establish their own SWL (Diener et al., 1985). This shows that ones SWL is not a universally determined criteria of QoL, because each individual is judging their SWL by their own evaluation of the QoL. This is one of the important reasons to focus on people of diverse ethnic background and their differ ent values and perceptions of what may characterise the good life (Diener et al., 1985). Another important reason to study SWL and Culture across different nations is based on cultural factors (such as ones quality of life) that play an important role on individuals happiness. Veenhoven (1991) found that living in an economically prosperous country where freedom and democracy are respected; political stability; being a part of a majority rather than a minority; being toward the top of the social ladder; being married and having good relationships with family and friends; being mentally and physically healthy; being active and open minded; feeling in control of ones life; having aspirations in social and moral matters rather than money-making and being politically conservative are significantly related with individuals happiness rather than unhappiness. Moreover, other researchers have established that individuals from different cultures have different levels of economic and social satisfactions with their Jobs. For example, people who have the same jobs but who live in different countries might have different levels of job satisfaction because of cultural influences (Cranny et al., 1992; Gallie Russell, 1998). This signifies that both economic (money) and social (interest) satisfaction with work, such as individuals quality of their working styles, experiences and achievements, is another very important component of individuals overall SWL (Frijters et al., 2003; Kraft 2000). Furthermore, health is a subjective phenomenon manifested as the experience of wellness/illness based on individuals evaluations of how they are feeling and doing. There are variety of factors on an individuals health satisfaction which have been related to their LS such as weight (Ball et al., 2004), alcohol use (Murphy et al., 2005), stress (Schnohr et al., 2005), and physical activity (Valois, Zullig, Huebner, Drane, 2004b) These have been shown to be related to life satisfaction in different populations. The relationship between LS and various aspects of perceived health has been investigated in different nations because in different cultures people have different health institutions and services which can affect both their QoL and SWL. Previous researchers found that there is a positive relationship between subjective health and LS (Arrindell et al., 1999; Lohr et al., 1988; Rapkin Fischer, 1992; Willits Crider, 1988). The information above supports that to study both SWL and culture have been useful in illuminating how individuals differ in their SWL from different nations and the role of culture. A Number of studies emphasize that culture affects individuals from several basic psychological domains. For example, attribution and reasoning, intergroup relations, interpersonal communication, self-concept, negotiation, and psychological well-being (Brewer Chen, 2007; Fiske et al., 1998; Lehman et al., 2004; Markus Kitayama, 1991; Oyserman et al., 2002). From the theory and research presented in this review, it can be seen that cultural factors are the integrative parts of the LS. According to this, this study will focus on the Culture and LS amongst international students to see whether culture plays an important role on the undergraduate students LS from five different cultures. The specific aims of the study are three-fold. Firstly, it determines whether there is a relationship between international students LS and CS amongst five different countries. Secondly, it specifies whether the international students have differences in CS in general factors (i.e. quality of services/ city/life etc.), social relationships, job satisfaction, health, authority and public safety across five different countries. Thirdly, it explores whether there is an LS difference between International Students from five different countries which are China, India, UK, Turkey and Nigeria. In this study, I will focus on more cross-cultural phenomenon of the st udents satisfaction as well as its link with cross-cultural differences in the bases of LS (Schimmack et al., 2002; Suh et al., 1998) and provide tests of an empirically supported explanation for the differences. When people construct judgments about their overall LS, different cultural members place relative emphasis on different aspects of life. Therefore the hypotheses for this study are: There will be correlation between LS and CS amongst International Students from five different countries . There will be a difference in CS between International Students from five different countries There will be a difference in LS between International Students from five different countries. METHOD SECTION Participants A total of 100 students from the University of Northampton (UCN) in Northampton participated in the study. The sample for the current study comprised of 100 students, with twenty participants from each of the five nations India, Africa, China, United Kingdom and Turkey. Participants were selected from these five countries because many students from these countries came across to study in the University of Northampton. All participants were more than 18 years of age. Both males and females between the ages of 18-25 were selected. Each participant was required to complete both Questionnaire Section A of Life Satisfaction and Section B of the Cultural Satisfaction (see Appendix 2). All student participation was voluntary. Apparatus/Measurements The measures for the study were either taken directly or with modification from existing scales as described below. With the exception of the Satisfaction With Life Scale, all the items reported here were answered on a 5-point Likert Scale. Life Satisfaction : Global life satisfaction was measured by the Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, Griffin, 1985) to measure the life satisfaction of the international undergraduate students. The SWLS is a five-item inventory with a 7-point scale. The five items used to measure satisfaction with life are : (a) In most ways my life is close to ideal; (b) The conditions of my life are excellent; (c) I am satisfied with my life; (d) So far I have gotten the important things I want in life; and (e) If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. Participants respond to each item on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), yielding a possible total score ranging from 5 to 35 (see appendix 2). Satisfaction With Culture: Participants cultural life satisfaction was measured by questions both from Quality of Life Satisfaction Survey (2003) (QLS) (cited in Delhey, 2004) and the 2006 General User Satisfaction Survey (GUSS) (Torbay Council, 2006). Researcher also prepared some of the questions. The Satisfaction with Culture survey is a 70-item Likert scale designed to measure international students cultural satisfaction within six cultural life domains: general, social relationships, job satisfaction, health perception, authority and public safety were considered important influences on individuals life satisfaction. Participants respond to each item on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) (see appendix 2). General : The general questions about the cultural life satisfaction, which consists of twenty-three out of the 70 items, was added to the beginning of the Cultural life satisfaction scale in order to measure general life satisfaction about the cultural factors. The researcher also prepared the questions from 1 to 19. However, questions 20 to 23 from the general section were obtained from QLS. Students were expected to respond to each item based on a five-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Examples of items are It is a good place to live, overall quality of life in the city, water quality, noise etc. However, nine items were measured on an ordinal scale that assessed satisfaction with current state of general services (e.g. health services, public transport, education system etc.). Participants again respond to each item on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (poor) to 5 (very high). Higher values indicate higher LS. Social Relationships : To achieve a high level of joy and happiness in life, people must be socially involved with people. This involves getting along well with others, having friends and companions, and offering help to those who need it. This part evaluates international students social relationships in their home countries through sixteen items. However, five questions about the tensions between different groups were obtained from QLS. Scoring goes from 1 to 5, where 1 corresponds to the answer Very many tensions and 5 to No tension at all. Moreover, eleven questions consisted of general problems about parents, children, teenagers etc. These eleven questions were also prepared by the Researcher. Statements such as parents not taking responsibility for the behaviour of their children, noisy neighbours or loud parties and people being attacked because of their skin colour, ethnic origin or religion etc. The items were also based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (a very big p roblem) to 5 (not a problem at all). Job Satisfaction: In this section questions asked students to evaluate their overall Job satisfaction and financial situation. Questions in the Job Satisfaction section were adapted from QLS. A list of seven items was constructed to measure the job satisfaction variable. Items were presented on a 5- point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Items included My work is dull and boring , I am well paid, and My job offers good prospects for career advancement etc. Health Perception : The health perception variable was measured on a Likert scale that assessed satisfaction with current state of health services in international students countries. This section consisted of eight items. Questions 1 to 4 from the health section were obtained from QLS. However, questions from 5 to 8 were obtained from GUSS. Items were presented on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very satisfied to very dissatisfied where 1 corresponds to the answer very dissatisfied and 5 to very satisfied, and included statements such as waiting time to see doctor on day of appointment, Quality of Hospitals and Deal with patients etc. Authority: The authority section consists of seven items. Question 1 and 7 from the authority section were adapted from GUSS . Also, questions 2 to 6 were prepared by the researcher . The items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale, and included statements such as how satisfied or dissatisfied you are with each of the following services provided or supported by your country City Council such as; Sports/leisure facilities and events, libraries, museum, galleries, theatre etc. Scoring goes from 1 to 5, where 1 corresponds to the answer strongly disagree and 5 to strongly agree. Public Safety: Public safety questions about the cultural life satisfaction, which consists of nine items. Questions in the Public Safety section were prepared by the researcher. Questions include how safe do you feel walking in your neighbourhood during the day? and how safe do you feel walking in your neighbourhood after dark? etc. The responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very unsafe to very safe, and 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Procedure Before the experiment participants were asked to read the standardised instructions (see appendix 3 ) and to give their consent verbally. According to the standardised instructions, participants were fully informed what the study was going to investigate. The standard instructions informed the students of the purpose of the study; that participation was voluntary and the responses were going to be treated confidentially. Also, it explained the details of what participants would have to do and were allowed to ask any questions. Experimenters informed the participants that the aim of the study was to investigate whether there is a relation between participants general life satisfaction and cultural life satisfaction. By giving their consent to taking part in the study, they were agreeing to be involved in this study and were then asked to sign the consent form (see appendix 4) and read the brief (see appendix 4). After that, participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire. The que stionnaire consisted of two sections; section A and section B. Section A was about the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS; Diener et al., 1985) to measure life satisfaction. The scale comprises of five-items and the responses were made on a 7-point agree-disagree Likert scale (Diener et al., 1985). On the other hand, section B was about cultural life satisfaction (Questions were obtained from QoL). The Satisfaction with Culture survey is a 70-item Likert scale and was designed to measure international students cultural satisfaction. The scale provides scores for six dimensions namely for the participants satisfaction with their nations. The six sections of the cultural satisfaction are: general, social relationships, job satisfaction, health perception, authority and public safety considered important on individuals cultural life satisfaction. According to participants responses, negative scores indicate dissatisfaction, whereas positive scores indicate satisfaction of the specific domain for the individuals life satisfaction. In this experiment, participants were not timed. Therefore, all the participants had the same life satisfaction and cultural satisfaction scale. Participants were also aware that they were allowed to withdraw at anytime without giving reason. After the experiment, the experimenter gave the participants a cue sheet which consisted of a brief explanation of what the study was about and the experimenters e-mail address (see appendix 5). Also, each Life satisfaction scale had the participant number recorded on the top of the paper so, if the participants changed their minds and wanted to retract their results from the study, they could email the experimenter and give their paper number by 01-01-2010. Also, participants were allowed to ask any questions. There was no deception of the participants in this study. Finally, no personal data was requested. As a result, the participants were anonymous . Questionnaires will be kept confidential and securely kept in the locked answers cupboard. Design This study was performed to determine the relation between culture and life satisfaction. The dependent variable of the study was the life satisfaction and the independent variable was culture. In this experiment, participants were sampled around the university campus and each participant received only one questionnaire. All experime