Class Research methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Class Research methods - Essay Example Bullying in early life is often the beginning of bullying in the future adult social life, and once it begins, the bully and victim, both are never the same. Bullying is a problem in our schools and hence in the society. Despite extensive research, no acceptable solution to the problem of bullying is not yet available. The consequences of bullying have been well documented in the research, and these findings suggest that bullying as an event has concrete psychosocial parameters. Therefore, intervention can be designed guided by these evidences to change this practice of bullying in schools from a social intervention strategy. Greif, Furlong, and Morrison (2003) define bullying as the systematic abuse of power. Greif and coworkers deals with the topic by operationally defining bullying, and according to them, there will always be power relationships in social groups, by virtue of strength or size or ability, force of personality, and/or by sheer numbers or recognised hierarchy (Greif, Furlong, and Morrison, 2003). Bullying is a psychosocial phenomenon in the sense that it has both psychological and social reasons and psychological and social impacts. Despite different intervention measures, still bullying in early life is prevalent which can be the starting points of future bullying in the society. Therefore, there remains scope for further studies in this area, and this can be the topic of this social research since knowledge about the factors may help the scientists to design interventions that may prevent this. Why it is worth Studying Qualitative researchers usually focus on an aspect of a topic that is poorly understood and about which little is known. The general topic area may be narrowed and clarified on the basis of self-reflection and discussion with colleagues, but researchers may proceed with a fairly broad research question that allows the focus to be sharpened and delineated more clearly once the study is underway (Kumar, 1999). Since the best way to prevent is to know why bullying occurs at the school level, this research may throw light into the different facets of this problem. In this regard, a theoretical framework of social change would best be adopted, since that would guide the intervention and would serve as a tool to evaluate the intervention. In this theoretical framework, there is an attempt to interpret the human behavior on the perspectives of social process and pragmatism. Thus all human behavior is actually an expression of interactions leading to a social process, and all of them have su bjective meanings. Bullying has subjective aspects of social life, both from the perspectives of the bully and the bullied, and they fail to respond to the objective macrostructural aspects of the social life. Drawing on this, it can be stated that social and psychosocial initiatives can bring about a change in the behavior of those who bully and change in psychological and social reactions in those who are bullied. Qualitative findings often are the basis for formulating hypotheses that are tested by quantitative researchers, and for developing measuring instruments for both research and clinical purposes. Qualitative findings can also provide a foundation for designing effective nursing interventions. Qualitative studies help to shape the researchers' perceptions of a

Learning Organizations Essay Example for Free

Learning Organizations Essay 1. 1 Executive summary/ L. O! In times of uncertainty and change, organizations need new and effective managerial tools in order to cope with the rising competitiveness of markets. In this context, the concept of organizational learning is receiving growing attention among both managerial and academic surroundings in the last two decades. Among many possible definitions of a Learning Organization, David A. Garvin, a leading scholar in this field, suggests the following: â€Å"an organization made up of employees skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge. These people could help their firms cultivate tolerance, foster open discussion, and think holistically and systemically. Such learning organizations would be able to adapt to the unpredictable more quickly than their competitors could. †. A learning organization is aimed at increasing the flexibility and effectiveness of a company, making it react faster to changes in a competitive environment. This is achieved in cultures who constantly foster knowledge inside their organizations. Although this general idea of organizational learning may appear rather simplistic at first glance, its practical integration into day-to-day operations proves to require a more refined, systematic approach: â€Å"Generative learning cannot be sustained in an organization where event thinking predominates. It requires a conceptual framework of â€Å"structural† or systematical thinking, the ability to discover structural causes of behaviorâ€Å". This paper provides a deeper insight into the implementation and performance assessment of learning organizations (L. O. ’s), mainly using the Three Building Blocks Model outlined by Garvin, Edmondson Gino. To better understand this concept, the work will rely on Xerox as an example to highlight how L. O. ’s can provide competitive advantages to corporations. In the last section, the paper will also breakdown the effect that learning organizations have on major stakeholders (leaders, employees and organization itself). 1. 2. Introduction: Background to Xerox Xerox is a US-based multinational, founded in 1906, which produces and sales printers and photocopiers and provides related services. Throughout it’s history, Xerox has faced several crisis periods which ended up pushing the company to become a Learning Organization. Around 1980, the company was hit hard by the emergence of new japanese players on the market and lost its almost 100% market share. As a response Xerox introduced the â€Å"leadership through quality initiative† with the objective of training every employee in tools for generating ideas and collecting information, solving problems in a systematical way, reaching consensus etc. â€Å"Xerox became a case study — the first American group to win back market share from the Japanese†. More recently, in the year of 2000, with the announcement of Anne M. Mulcahy as CEO of the company, XEROX’s was able to overcome another serious crisis. Mulcahy’s leadership style, which mirrors many of the strategies suggested by the LO literature, managed to turn around this †sinking ship†, which had 19 billion in debt, a falling stock and double-digit negative growth. In 5 years time, Xerox would be profitable again. Ursula Burns has continued Mulcahy’s work, since becoming the new CEO in 2009, even acquiring new companies such as the 2010 $6. 4 bln. takeover of ACS. Xerox continues to stay on the list of companies frequently cited as learning organizations. The 3 Building Blocks of a Learning Organization The concept of the three building blocks of a learning organizations is introduced by David A. Garvin, Amy C. Edmondson, and Francesca Gino as an assessment tool to determine areas where organizations need to improve their learning methodologies. Below we provide a deeper explanation of each of the three building blocks and how Xerox fits each one of them. Building Block 1: XEROX, a supportive learning organization? There are four distinct characteristics of an organization that determine whether it is or not a Supportive Learning Organization. Firstly, how psychologically safe its employees feel. This is common in organizations where employees don’t feel pressured or marginalized when presenting their own ideas even if these go against what the majority of the organization thinks. Similarly, subordinates at this organization are encouraged to disagree with their coworkers and superiors and present new and bold opinions, meaning that this organization is opened to new ideas. In a supportive learning organization, employees also become aware of the different inputs and opinions each member of a team brings to the table and learns how to accommodate and value those differences. Lastly, a supportive learning organization needs to provide its employees with some time for reflexion, when they will to go over the company’s procedures and analyse past performances in order to assess what can be changed and/or improved. Tolerance and diversity at Xerox Xerox’s openness to new ideas can be partly linked to its high diversity of employee backgrounds, which ultimately reinforces the acceptance and inclusion of different solutions, making employees feel more comfortable in taking risks. This diversity has also enabled Ursula Burns, the current CEO, to climb up the ranks of Xerox and become the first female black CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Besides being â€Å"a proof† to other employees that effort at Xerox pays back, Burns herself stresses this idea of a supportive learning organization when she mentions that she â€Å"wants [XEROX’s] 130,000 employees to get over the past, take more initiative, become more fearless and be more frank and impatient with one another to ratchet up performance†. Burns refers to the all Xerox community as the â€Å"XEROX family†- â€Å"When we’re in the family, you don’t have to be as nice as when you’re outside of the family,( ) I want us to stay civil and kind, but we have to be frank — and the reason we can be frank is because we are all in the same family. † Building Block 2: Does Xerox implement concrete learning processes and practices? Because â€Å"a learning organization is not cultivated effortlessly†, organizational entities must put explicit processes in place to ensure that knowledge is constantly generated and collected inside the organization. The information must then be interpreted and infused into the organization to be always accessible in a way that will support problem-solving tasks and benefit its constant transformational processes. Moreover, this will also help to develop new products or services, as well as closely monitor competitors, clients and technological developments, using benchmarking techniques. Lastly, the company has to invest in training measures for its employees. MAIN Education and problem-solving at Xerox: The Six Sigma Method In the case of Xerox, measures to implement LO practices started as early as 1983 when executive management inaugurated Xerox’s â€Å" leadership through quality initiative†. The initiatives goal was â€Å"improving business processes to create higher levels of customer satisfaction, quality and productivity† by providing workshops to Xerox employees. These workshops were refined in the late 90’s, reorienting around the Six Sigma method, which had previously been successfully applied in other companies. Although these efforts proved successful in improving productivity, they were only limited to a local supply chain level and were not conducted regularly. In 2002 the management of Xerox then decided to implement the Six Sigma strategy across the whole organization, an effort which Xerox is continuing today. This is shown by the fact that the method has become part of the everyday communication process inside the company. The Six Sigma strategy is a tool, which empowers employees to become more efficient and proactive in daily problem-solving situations, for example by using the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) approach. Six Sigma also requires the employees to closely monitor market trends and to apply benchmarking appropriately. Xerox particularly emphasizes the fact that they see the efforts to implement the Six Sigma method (see attachment 1) as a long-term project. This idea is aligned with the academic literature on LO’s stating that â€Å"becoming a LO is a long process and small setbacks should be expected†. This is because employees and the management have to â€Å"unlearn† old modes of thinking. Information distribution at Xerox Xerox provides employees with access to a large intranet consisting of e. g. reference knowledge, material on best practices, and answers to frequently asked questions. This helps the stakeholders inside the company to share information. It also supports the efforts to keep employees informed on what the priorities are for the overall company. Building Block 3: Are Xerox leaders reinforcing learning? Leaders in a L. O. promote constant learning by raising difficult questions and listening to the answers and concerns of their employees. While doing so, leaders also communicate openness to these new ideas and take them into consideration in their actions. Additionally, leaders have to encourage employees to invest their time in reflecting on both how to solve current problems and what can be learned from past performance. The ultimate goal is for leaders to motivate employees to question the underlying assumptions of current modes of thinking, and therefore initiate efficiency and innovation inside company processes. Promoting Initiative at Xerox For the past two decades, Xerox has engaged their employees to participate in the Earth Awards Program. The goal of this yearly event is to come up with solutions for saving company resources by increasing its efficiency, therefore making it a â€Å"greener† company. With this challenging program, Xerox motivates their employees to generate new ideas that, for instance, in 2010, resulted in company savings of $10. 2 Million. In that year, thirteen winners were announced, corporate wide and among different teams. This is an example of how leaders take their employees’ input seriously and how the generation of new initiatives at Xerox arises from both top and bottom levels of hierarchies. Encouraging employees to invest their time in reflecting by example Senior management at Xerox demonstrates the behaviors, which they in turn expect from employees. A clear example of this â€Å"policy† was when, in 1993, the executive management put together the Presidential Review process. The objective of this process was to review the overall progress of the company collectively through Presidential Review process in 1993. Interviews were organized with more than 30 senior managers answering questions like â€Å"What has changed? Where are the largest gaps between what was intended and what is currently true? If you were to outline barriers that need to be dealt with, what comes to mind? What would you have done differently? †. After the interviews, 45 seniors got together for one day meeting to identify trouble spots and develop recommendations. Action plan was the result . 3. The Effect on Leaders, â€Å"Followers† and Organizations Becoming a successful learning organization can provide a company with significant competitive advantages in the long-run, as it also can largely benefit its major stakeholders (employees and leaders). However, it also requires some behavioral changes from them. In order to achieve the goal of a L. O. (foster knowledge creation and sharing to gain competitive advantage), it is important that leaders infuse a common goal inside the organization. This implies, that leaders should have an effective communication in delivering the company ethos to their subordinates. Once employees identify with the company and its goal, people on all levels of the company would naturally start thinking and discussing promising new ways to achieve these goals. On the other hand, learning processes require time among other resources, and eventually leaders will have to find efficient ways to maximize the time of their employees. It is crucial to determine a balance between time spent going over problem-solvings tasks and past performance analysis (required for learning processes) with regular work. Additionally, leaders will have to define the line between â€Å"acceptable mistakes†- those that arrive from risk taking attitudes, and â€Å"unacceptable mistakes† those originated by irresponsibility and lack of accountability. This is not always clear and, therefore, leaders might face some obstacles in implementing a learning culture as their workers’ â€Å"fear of punishment† can result in the limitation of creativity. Probably the most effective tool to boost innovation is to empower workers. But if the empowerment process provides employees the feeling that they are contributing and helping to define the company processes, then a new attitude is also required from them. Employees will have to remember that they are expected to show initiative, propose new ideas and act. And they should not always expect directions to do so. This can be particularly hard for workers who are risk-averse and who need clear instructions about their work role. Learning organizations can bring significant benefits to employees. Being part of the company processes transformation and being aligned with its goals are expected to make employees more motivated and dynamic. In this way, many of the aspects of the L. O. raise the levels of enjoying the work process. The job satisfaction in turn is expected to raise productivity levels. Also, because employees are more exposed to those in higher positions in the company, new career opportunities might arise together with monetary rewards. RISKS FOR COMPANY â€Å"No learning organization is built overnight. Success comes from carefully cultivated attitudes, commitments, and management processes that accrue slowly and steadily. The first step is to foster an environment conducive to learning. Analog Devices, Chaparral Steel, Xerox, GE, and other companies provide enlightened examples. † (http://w3. ualg. pt/~mzacaria/gic/HBR-Building-a-Leaning-Organization. pdf) 2. Organizations should be careful in applying new principles ensuring buy-in from most influential employees and checking progress not to fall into the trap of unfeasable change which could seriously hurt current business (see http://knowledge. wharton. upenn. edu/article. cfm? articleid=268) 4. Final considerations: As illustrated by the above analysis, as well by its overall economic performance in the last 11 years, it has become clear that XEROX has largely succeeded in becoming a LO. Arguably, Xerox has become so successful in it’s LO efforts that this has resulted in providing learning services to other companies through subsidiary spin offs, such as Xerox Learning Services. Concerning the evaluation of the theory proposed by Garvin, Gino and Edmondson, it has to be noted that the building blocks have to be seen as interdependent. Without effective leadership and learning environment, the learning process implementation will likely fail. Therefore, each of the above building blocks needs to be tackled by taylormade strategies, not least because companies do not perform consistently in each department. Similarly, organizations have to pay especial attention to comparing the extent of the learning process with other organizations, since only then you will have a solid benchmarking (in contrast to looking only at individual company performance over time). Attachment 1 [ 1 ]. O’Keeffe, T. 2002. Organizational Learning: a new perspective. Journal of European Industrial Training, 26 (2), pp. 130-141. [ 2 ]. Peter Senge (1990), â€Å"The Fifth Discipline† [ 3 ]. â€Å"Is yours a learning organization? † [ 4 ]. One good source on Xerox crisis times http://knowledge. wharton. upenn. edu/article. cfm? articleid=268 [ 5 ]. Building a L. O. [ 6 ]. http://www. economist. com/node/387740 [ 7 ]. http://www. economist. com/node/387740 [ 8 ]. http://mitleadership. mit. edu/r-mulcahy. php [ 9 ]. The following work will assume that the stance of the management towards encouraging the LO inside Xerox has remained constant. Since Mulcahy had been working with Burns for more than 9 years, Burns is expected to put her own stamp on the company in a way that was deferential to the work of Ms. Mulcahy, who remains chairwoman. See: http://www. nytimes. com/2010/02/21/business/21xerox. html? pagewanted=all_r=1 [ 10 ]. http://www. freepatentsonline. com/article/SAM-Advanced-Management-Journal/20982068. html [ 11 ]. http://www. businesswire. com/news/home/20041027005036/en/Diversity-Practices-Organization-Recognizes-Xerox-Diversity-Leadership [ 12 ]. Farmer, Paula (August). The First African American To Head A Fortune 500 Company, Franklin D. Raines Takes Over Fannie Mae. The Black Collegian. Retrieved November 7, 2008. [ 13 ]. Bryant, A. (February 20, 2010) Xerox’s New Chief Tries to Redefine Its Culture, The New York Times [ 14 ]. Bryant, A. (February 20, 2010) Xerox’s New Chief Tries to Redefine Its Culture, The New York Times [ 15 ]. Garvin, Edmondson Gino (2008), p. 4 [ 16 ]. Page 11: http://www. xerox. com/downloads/usa/en/n/nr_SixSigmaForumMag_2004_Aug. pdf It could be argued that these efforts were a spillover-effect from Xerox ground-breaking benchmarking efforts in its production process areas in billing, warehousing, and automated manufacturing. [ 17 ]. Page 13: http://www. xerox. com/downloads/usa/en/n/nr_SixSigmaForumMag_2004_Aug. pdf [ 18 ]. Slide 68:http://www. moyak. com/papers/learning-organization-presentation. pdf [ 19 ]. Easterby-Smith, M. , Crossan, M. , and Nicolini, D. 2000. Organizational learning: debates past, present and future. Journal of Management Studies. 37 (6) pp 783-796. See also Senges definition of mental models, which refer to how workers need to time to overcome old modes of thinking: Senge, P. M. 1990. The Fifth Discipline. London: Century Business. [ 20 ]. http://www. xerox. com/downloads/usa/en/n/nr_SixSigmaForumMag_2004_Aug. pdf [ 21 ]. Kaye, L. (November 15, 2010) Xerox’s Green Ideas Save Company $10. 2 Million, http://www. triplepundit. com/ [ 22 ]. Garvin, D. A. (2000), Learning in Action: a guide to putting the learning organization to work, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data p. 105 [ 23 ]. Garvin, D. A. (2000), Learning in Action: a guide to putting the learning organization to work, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data p. 105 [ 24 ]. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. : ImageXerox lean six sigma framework. Figure 3Xerox lean six sigma framework. emeraldinsight. com http://www. emeraldinsight. com/journals. htm? articleid=1628232show=html.

Telemedicine and Public Informatics

Telemedicine and Public Informatics Mathew Elespuru With the delivery of health care and the advent of computer based health care delivery systems, practitioners have seen a widening array of avenues to see and treat patients. The advent of telehealth and telenursing has given way to monitoring and treating patients in their own homes making seeing a physician more convenient than ever. In 2012, over 380,000 patients used some form of telehealth, and that number is expected to more than quadruple to 1.8 million patients as soon as 2017 (IMS Research, 2013). Telemedicine and Diabetes Compliance According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States with approximately 29 million people suffering from the disease (CDC, 2016). Although diabetes affects all ages, genders and races, it seems that more people of Hispanic and African American heritage suffer from the disease than Non-Hispanic Whites. The latest prevalence data (2007), shows that 10.4% of Hispanic Americans are diagnosed with diabetes, and those of African American heritage account for approximately 14% of those diagnosed compared with 6.6% of non-Hispanic whites (Trief, et al, 2013). Using The Informatics for Diabetes Education and Telemedicine (IDEATel) demonstration  project, researchers were looking at treatment regimen adherence between the three ethnic groups and if application of telemedicine could improve adherence to a diabetes treatment regimen. It has been previously published that the IDEATel project was successful in improving cholesterol levels, glycemic control and lowering blood pressure in respondents who used the project compared to usual physician office visits (Shea et al, 2006, 2009). This study used regular visits via telemedicine over a 5 year period. Visits were usually every 4-6 weeks and included review of glucose levels, diet and exercise programs and barriers to care. For those who were of Hispanic origin, bi-lingual providers were used so that no language barrier existed during the diabetes education tele visits (Trief, et al, 2013). Researchers found that during the 5 year study, the adherence to the treatment regimen was the same between that usual treatment group and the group receiving the telemedicine visits, those in the telemedicine group did show more time doing diabetic self-care than those in the usual treatment group. This study also showed that when patients with diabetes, regardless of race, adhere to their treatment regimen, better glycemic control is achieved. Using telemedicine interventions with patients diagnosed with diabetes in an excellent option. Some patients with diabetes either type I or Type II may not have access to transportation to keep scheduled appointments at their physicians office. In using telemedicine to check on patients, practitioners can better follow patients and follow the patients adherence to their specific treatment regimen, thereby improving glycemic control, and reducing symptoms and problems caused by diabetes. Public Health Informatics The term public health informatics (PHI) came about due to the work of Dr. John Snow. In 1854, Dr. Snow tracked cholera related deaths to a single water pump in London. The removal of that pump ended the outbreak. This was the first recorded community policing by a health care practitioner. In investigating the infected population as a whole, Dr. Snow was able to track the source of the cholera virus (Vachon, 2005). Florence Nightingale was also instrumental in public health informatics. The data she collected about hygiene and the mortality related to such, changed the face of medical data gathering which still exists today (Dossey, 2000). PHI incorporates skills and knowledge from many different areas including: statistics, microbiology, toxicology, epidemiology, management, and psychology (OCarroll, Yasnoff, Ward, Ripp, Martin, 2003, p.5). One of the most important tools for a public health nurse or organization is a surveillance data system such as an infectious disease tracker (McGonigle Mastrian, 2015). This tool is an incredible resource for tracking adverse health events and allows for the planning and implementations of interventions designed to combat adverse outcomes caused by a disease or other catastrophic instance. In examining the information gathered about a possible influenza epidemic, the PHI nurse and others would look at past data to extrapolate data for the new season and how many people may be affected by the influenza outbreak and what information they have on strains of vaccine that have worked in the past. Other data that would need to be collected in this case would be information about the community at large such as high risk groups (children and elderly), those parts of the community with little or no access to healthcare and those populations that can afford to, and usually get a vaccine without any advance direction to do so. In testing the efficacy of the campaign and the effect of the vaccination, researchers and others would have to examine all information on the amount of people vaccinated and the number of those people who actually contracted influenza. In analyzing this information, the public health department and those within that organization will have a better idea of what to expect in the years to come when dealing with influenza and ensuring those at high risk for contracting influenza get vaccinated before the season begins. Electronic Health Record Since more and more organizations are changing to an electronic health record (EHR), there have been questions raised as to the privacy of the EHR and who ultimately owns the EHR. Protecting a patients privacy it of the utmost importance when initiating an EHR. In doing so, organizations must be able to keep this record private and keep the patients protected health information (PHI) private and secure. The ability to maintain security and privacy must work hand in hand with an organizations ability to have a continuity of care for patients. This continuity of care comes for the interoperability of a patients record. In sharing certain amounts of patient information such as demographics, allergies, past medical history, and medications organizations can save time and money in allowing this information to be shared with others who are an integral part of the patient care team (McGonigle Mastrian, 2015). In sharing a patients EHR within an organization or outside an organization if it relates to the continued care of that patient, the practitioner must ensure that all PHI remains protected as the misuse of this information could prove catastrophic to both the patient and the practitioner. If the information contained within a chart were to be leaked to the wrong individual, that person could use said information negatively and hurt the patient. Organizations both sending and receiving patient information must undertake the proper steps to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to the information and that the information remain secure when transmitted either physically or electronically. Having a shared EHR and interoperability is important to a patients continued medical care. It needs to be handled with the respect it is due to allow for a seamless transition between practitioners and the peace of mind for the patient knowing that the information is secure. References Diabetes. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/diabetes.htm. Dossey, B. M. (2000). Florence Nightingale: Mystic, visionary, healer. Springhouse, PA: Springhouse. IMS Research. (2013). Telehealth to reach 1.8 million patients by 2017. http://www.imsresearch.com/press-release/Telehealth_to_Reach_18_Million_Patients_by_2017. McGonigle, D. Mastrian, K. (2015). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. Shea, S., et al., (2006). A randomized trial comparing telemedicine case management with usual care in older, ethnically diverse, medically underserved patients with diabetes mellitus. Journal of American Medical Informatics Association, 13:4051. Shea, S., et al., (2009). A randomized trial comparing telemedicine case management with usual care in older, ethnically diverse, medically underserved patients with diabetes mellitus: 5 year Ethnicity Health 95 results of the IDEATel study. Journal of American Medical Informatics Association, 16, 446456. Trief, P. M., Izquierdo, R., Eimicke, J. P., Teresi, J. A., Goland, R., Palmas, W., Weinstock, R. S. (2013). Adherence to diabetes self care for white, African-American and Hispanic American telemedicine participants: 5 year results from the IDEATel project. Ethnicity Health, 18(1), 83-96. doi:10.1080/13557858.2012.700915. Vachon, D. (2005). Doctor John Snow blames water pollution for cholera epidemic. Old News, 16(8), 8-10. Retrieved from: http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/fatherofepidemiology.html. OCarroll, P. W., Yasnoff, W. A., Ward, M. E., Ripp, L. H., Martin, E. L. (Eds.). (2003). Public health informatics and information systems. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag.

Good Bye to All that Essay -- Literary Analysis, Robert Graves

â€Å"Goodbye To all that† by Robert Graves. The book begins with Robert Von Ranke Graves giving you a flashback to his childhood and his way of upbringing. Robert Graves was born on July 24, 1895 in Wimbledon, England. In the earlier stages of the book he depicts his description â€Å"My height is given as six feet two inches, my eyes as gray, and my hair as black† (Graves 3). Calls it his â€Å"biographical convention,† with that out of the way, Graves goes into a very detailed backdrop of his family on both his Mother, and Father’s side of the Family. His Mother is German, and his Father is Irish. He briefly describes both side’s qualities that they have, and what they have passed on to him. His Mother being very strict Christian always enforced on him the beauty of life. She kept him and all of the rest of the children very innocent about the true view of the world. She censored mostly everything. â€Å"My mother brought us up to be serious an d to benefit humanity in some particularly way, but allowed us no hint of its dirtiest, intrigue and lustfulness, believing that innocence would be the surest protection against them† (Graves 29). His mother told him that was destined to be â€Å"if not a great man, at least a good man† (Graves 29). He credits his Mother’s German family a great deal in the early stages of the book. Here he states â€Å"I admire my German relatives; they have high principles, and are easy, generous, and serious† (Graves 5). His Mother moved to England at age eighteen as a companion to Miss Britain, he describes her as lonely old woman who had befriended his grandmother as an orphan, and waited hand and foot for her seventeen years. His mother inherited 100,000 pounds for the death of Miss Britain. He adds on that â€Å"My Mother charact... ...r of English Literature at the Egyptian University, Cairo. After some years of working there he decides to go back to England. Troubles with Nancy start to occur at home and they frequently get into agreements. After sometime of agreement they decide to leave each other, and Nancy taking the kids along with her. This was the final straw for Robert. He finally renounces his to never call England his home again, which explains the title for the book. In conclusion, Robert was finally saying goodbye to all the things that he knew. He was becoming unrest with his life after the war. He didn’t see the simplistic view that he grew up with. Goodbye to all that not only says goodbye to his birthplace, but to everything that world has become. Robert did not want to be part of the change that society was embarking, and he decides to say goodbye to England, and all that.

Abdul Kalam – Kalam’s Life Portrays

Kalam’s life portrays, what zest for life is all about. Kalam divides â€Å"wings of fire† into various phases of his life and builds on it. His humble childhood to his first break to disappointments to successes. He writes with passion about his mentors, his teachers and his colleagues. He writes at length about the birth and adolescent years of the Indian space program. He writes about how to be a good leader, a good motivator, a good project manager and a above all someone with passion and devotion towards his work. His Humble beginnings, hard work, persistence, and above all a passion for life and all things that are possible in it, are all well described in the book. He does all of this in very simple prose. What struck me throughout the book was his recollection of small snippets of poems or phrases from various sources. His citing of the various colleagues he worked with, his bosses or people he appointed through the 60 years of his career are also quite impressive. Although this makes an easy and gripping read, at times the transmission goes above your head due to the generous use of technical terms being used and complex rocket technology being described. However, APJ did a good job of drawing parallels with objects of layman understanding After reading the book, It makes you feel that you know the man more intimately, His humility strikes you down. A very refreshing book, from a refreshing person, giving a glimpse of what the power of positive thinking can help you do, given the shortcomings of the beaurocracy in a country such as India. Beating all odds, the man reached out to the stars, and has become one. Kalam never married. He writes that he found, to maintain relationships was more difficult than rocket science. So all you married folk can pat yourself on the back! It does though beg the question, to have that kind of passion and dedication does one have to give up worldly life as we know it and take up â€Å"sanyas† from everything but work? Whatever it maybe, you will come out satisfied after reading this book, having gained some pearls of leadership qualities, project management, rocket technology and the history of Indian space program. Above all you will be filled with patriotism (if Indian), passion, motivation and inspiration at the end of these 200 odd pages.

The First Crusade essays

The First Crusade essays In their book, From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods, the authors write, "History as academic historians write it today would be almost unrecognizable to scholars working even fifty years ago, let alone in a past that is a century, two centuries - or twenty centuries - old" (Howell and Prevenier 119). The First Crusade, edited by Edward Peters, is a collection of texts that includes not only currently accepted historical views, but also primary source material. This book allows the reader an opportunity to examine the method used by the author while reading the various accounts of events. It is important for the reader to have a basic comprehension of historical methodology to understand the value and context of the texts contained in The First Crusade. There are many ways by which to record history. The methods used by historians are as different as are the historians themselves. This is why a collection of primary source materials differs from digested' and compiled history. Howell and Prevenier explain that this interpretational framework may include Historicism, a process attributed to Leopold von Ranke, or Positivism, as defined by August Comte. A third approach to history, the teleological view and "expounded by Aristotle" is defined as "seeing the universe as striving towards its own final cause" (Aristotle 2). By seeing history as a type of creation, one understands the value of primary sources such as those in Peters' book. The Story of the First Crusade begins with a proclamation made by Pope Urban II in the year 1095 and extends to St. Gilles march toward Jerusalem in early 1099. Peters extends the context of his collection to the year 1270 in the appendix of his book. He begins with four distinct accounts of the same event in his book, Urban's speech. In doing so, he provides the reader with a broad sense of the meanin...