Nike Marketing Research Paper Example

Nike Marketing Paper For years, we thought of ourselves as a production-oriented company, meaning we put all our emphasis on designing and manufacturing the product. But now we understand that the most important thing we do is market the product. Weve come around to saying that Nike is a marketing oriented company, and the product if our most important marketing tool. -Phil Knight1[i] Marketing is a group of activities designed to expedite transactions by creating, distributing, pricing, and promoting goods, services, and ideas. [ii]Marketing is an extremely important aspect of every single company because it is what introduces the company and the companys products to the public. Through marketing businesses try to respond to what the consumer wants and needs and to foresee changes in the environment. Marketing is what sells the product. Marketing is more than just advertising; it is about pleasing the customer. The main focus of marketing is to generate utility, which by definition, is a products abilit y to satisfy human needs and wants. 1[iii]A product should make a customer happy, and make them want to buy again in the future. It is quite common that companies have to change their marketing campaigns in order to satisfy the public opinion. Although marketing is enormously important, it wouldnt be very effective without creating a quality product. In order for a customer to want to buy from that company again they have to be satisfied with their first purchase, and this satisfaction cannot be attained without creating a product of the highest quality. A company must have an expansive research and development team to improve the product and to offer the highest quality product to its consumers. This team has to undergo a process that includes brainstorming, screening, developing, and testing new products. This process allows for the development of a high quality product, and a product that consumers are going to want to purchase. Nike has been able to develop successful advertising campaigns and effectively market their products through the hard work of the Wieden and Kennedy Advertising agency, which understands the needs and desires of consumers and has successfully throughout the years marketed the products of Nike. We will write a custom essay sample on Nike Marketing specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Nike Marketing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Nike Marketing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Throughout the years Nike has had many different advertising campaigns, some more successful than others, but always created to reflect public opinion. What is most important though, is that Nike has changed their campaigns, in order to satisfy public preference. In the 1980s Phil Knights company, Nike, exceeded a billion dollars and the company never again looked back. It was than that Phil Knight realized that he needed to not only improve but also expand upon his marketing tactics. Nike continued to grow and to establish itself as the number one in its industry. Nike has effectively marketed their products and in addition understands the importance of a quality product. They are continually improving their shoes through new technologies that are developed by their research teams. An example of this is their Shox sneakers, which are designed to add a little spring to your step. This is a new technology that Nike has developed. Other new concepts or technologies that Nike has marketed and developed throughout the years has been their Alpha Line, the Nike ID line; which allows customers to customize the shoes that they purchase, the AirMax line, the Hyper Flight; Nikes lightest weight basketball shoe ever, Air Presto Faze; a lace less, slip-on running shoe. In addition to understand the importance of a quality product Nike also understands the necessity of effective marketing and this requires an understanding of public opinion. In the last few years Nike has seen a change in the focus of their advertising because a change in society and how society views professional athletes. During most of the 1980s and 1990s professional athletes were looked up to as heroes and kids and adults wanted to be like them and aspired to attain this greatness that these athletes carried with them. But this new group of professional athletes that society is currently seeing can no longer be considered heroes. Many of them have had problems with the law; they have had drug and alcohol problems or have even been arrested. Children no longer aspire to be these athletes. Children no longer strive to be like someone else as much, they have this desire to be the best person that they can be and society stresses the importance of the individual. In 1984 Michael Jordan joined the Nike team. Michael Jordan became an official spokesman for Nike. He appeared in many of their advertisements. Nike used Michael Jordan and other great athletes to capitalize on the youths desire to be like them. This is where the slogan Be Like Mike came from. People wanted to be like Michael Jordan, Nike understood this and used it to sell their products. If people wanted to be athletically as talented as Jordan, they would also want to look like him, and wear the shoes that he played in. If he was able to play so great in these shoes maybe I can to, is the idea, which Nike was working off of. Using professional athletes in their advertising campaigns was both efficient and effective for Nike. Phil Knight in an interview in the Harvard Business Review quoted It saves us a lot of time. Sports are at the heart of American culture, so a lot of emotion already exists around it. Emotions are always hard to explain, but theres something inspirational about watching athletes push the limits of performance. You cant explain much in 60 seconds, but when you show Michael Jordan, you dont have to. 1[iv] Sports marketing was a major part of Nikes advertising campaign up until recently. Although Michael Jordan was the major spokesperson for Nike, he was not the only athlete that Nike used to sell their products. Nike has included women athletes such as Monica Seles and Mia Hamm. Both us these women represented strength and were positive role models for young girls. Nike used this to market their products to girls and to inspire woman through successful women athletes. Nike has also used other men in their campaigns; a few are Michael Johnson, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, and Andre Agassi. These male athletes were positive role models and athletes in which people aspired to be. When Michael Jordan retired in January of 1999 Nike needed to find a new hero, a new athlete as great as Michael Jordan and as widely accepted for children to aspire to be. Unfortunately the professional sports market no longer boasted any Michael Jordans. Nike started promoting Tiger Woods and a golf line, but Tiger Woods is just not an athlete that all children look up to and want to be. Black respondents said hes corny and acts like hes white, while white respondents said his clothes look funny. 1[v]Nike could not find an athlete that replaced Michael Jordan. Many of the professional basketball stars are not the kind of people that children look up to. Athletes like Litrell Sprewell and Allen Iverson who are excellent athletes and talented basketball players have had problems with the law, and are not people that adults want children to look up to. Not only have young people lost some of the respect that they hold for professional athletes because of their behavior, some young people are turned off by the contract wars that goes on between athletes and team managers. And also the competition that occurs over having the highest salary; for example many people were turned off by Alex Rodriguezs 250 million dollar contract, because they felt that professional sports were no longer about sports, but about money. In addition to the changing caliber of professional athletes there is a greater emphasis placed on the individual. And being your own person. People are proud of their uniqueness and individuality and they want to express this. With this new school of thinking Nike has created new advertising campaigns to satisfy public opinion. Dave Larson, Nikes brand initiatives director stated, The idea for the marketing campaign came from some of Nikes own research. We went out and asked kids whom they aspired to be. We figured that we would hear, I want to be like Mike, but what we heard was I want to be my own me. 1[vi]Nikes new campaigns no longer revolve around professional athletes, but rather individual athleticism and individual success. Nike has departed from using athletes as their main form of advertisement and has moved to advertising the everyday man and woman and expressing the importance of individuality. Recently Nike has launched many new advertising commercials. The first is a commercial that shows a city and is based on the premise that adults never stopped playing tag. A man is tagged from behind and then the bustling city becomes deserted as everyone runs to hide. This man is now IT, and he cant continue on with his day until he tags someone else IT. The second commercial is called Shade Running, and it follows a woman running through a city, but she can only run where she finds shade. The third commercial is called tailgating. This commercial follows two people, one man following close behind the other, tailgating him and invading his personal space; by bouncing a basketball as close to this individual without actually touching him. These three commercials are supposed to send out the message that there is joy and simplicity to expressing ones individualism through sport. Have a little fun dont limit yourself to narrow rules or succumb to the thats how its always been done trap. (http://www. nikebiz. com/)1[vii] These three campaigns are supported and aided by what is known as Nike Play. This campaign runs both commercials and events, and is the epitome of the shift that Nike has undergone to reflect the changing public opinion. Nike has created a website (http://www. nike. com/play)1[viii] that tells the story of this campaign and allows viewers to view short videos of kids putting their own take on sports. It shows people showing off their moves in events such as basketball moves, soccer dribbling, BMX biking, double-Dutch break-dancing and other extreme and individual events. Nikes Play campaign stresses individual achievement and encourages everyone to participate. Another new campaign that Nike is currently running is its Boing advertisements. These are for Nikes Shox sneakers and Wieden and Kennedy have coined a term to describe the experience that these sneakers offer for you. Displays for Shox at sneaker stores, allow customers to hear the Boing sound. The public has responded positively to Nikes new advertising campaigns and the difference in their focus. Many people have attended the Nike Play festivals in support of the new Nike campaign, which is based around individualism and individual sports. Many citizens have recently questioned some of what professional sports have come to stand for. Some people feel that these teams are no longer about promoting athleticism, but rather about making the most money. In addition people feel that these professional athletes are no longer role models for the countries youth and are not people to aspire to be. With this switch in public opinion more emphasis has been placed on the individual and on the simplicity of athleticism. In the near future, Nike will more than likely continue on with its trend of supporting the individual and athleticism as opposed to revolving its entire campaign around professional athletes. This is because of a changing view in society and because more emphasis has been placed on the individual. Successful marketing advertises public opinion, and that is what Nike is doing through their new marketing strategies. Nikes marketing campaign reflects the popular preferences in society and the stress that society is putting on individual uniqueness.

Dialogue Writing Tips

Dialogue Writing Tips Dialogue Writing Tips Dialogue Writing Tips By Ali Hale Some writers love dialogue. They find that they have a natural ear for how different characters speak, and that the dialogue races along, carrying the story with it. Others struggle over every word of a dialogue-heavy scene, feeling that the characters sound stiff and unlifelike. Fortunately, there’s a huge amount of great advice on writing dialogue; I’m going to be quoting from three authors and books: Nigel Watts – Teach Yourself Writing a Novel (and Getting Published) Elizabeth George – Write Away: One Novelist’s Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life Robert Graham – How to Write Fiction (and Think About It) The function of dialogue I’m sure you know what dialogue is – spoken words between two or more characters. What I want to look at here is what purpose the dialogue serves within a story. Watts writes that all dialogue should accomplish at least one of the following three things: Moving the story forwards Giving information Contributing to characterisation George agrees that â€Å"in the most basic kinds of writing, dialogue serves the interests of moving the story forwards.† She believes, too, that better writing involves dialogue that contributes to characterisation, where â€Å"what [a character] says and how he says it tell us as much about who he is as do his actions†. For George, however, really good dialogue goes far beyond this. She suggests that it can: Foreshadow events which are to come Make these events more vivid when they do arrive Give characters, and the relationships between them, life Both Watts and George agree that dialogue shouldn’t only exist to give the reader information. This sort of speech invariably sounds clunky and unnatural, as characters often end up telling one another things that the reader knows they’d already be aware of. (â€Å"Your wife, who you married ten years ago†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) Making dialogue sound natural? One of the major struggles which many writers have is writing natural sounding dialogue. Characters often end up sounding stilted, wooden and unreal. George suggest that a good author â€Å"gives [dialogue] the look and sound of natural speech even while he knows he cannot make it a reproduction of natural speech.† Here, George is saying that dialogue should have a certain verisimilitude – it should seem real to the reader, but it shouldn’t have all the umms, errs and false starts of real speech. Try taping two or more people talking, or reading a verbatim transcript of a live show. You’ll find that the result is almost unintelligible. You don’t want your dialogue to be this true to life, though; unless, as George writes, your character â€Å"has a speech impediment, low-wattage brain power, synapses misfiring, or psychological problems, and the dialogue is being used to define his natural limitations.† To make dialogue seem natural – without boring the reader to tears or making them think that all the characters are blathering idiots – try some of these tips: Use contractions (â€Å"don’t†, â€Å"shouldn’t†, â€Å"can’t†) unless a character is very stuffy or speaking in a very formal context. Let characters break off sentences, or speak in phrases rather than sentences. (You might think of these as verbless sentences – they’re great for dialogue.) Have characters interrupt one another. Use the occasional â€Å"um† or â€Å"er†, if a character is being particularly hesitant. Giving characters distinct speech patterns When writing dialogue, it’s important not only to make the words sound natural but to distinguish (and characterise) your characters by the way in which they speak. Graham writes that â€Å"dialogue is characteristic of the person speaking it†, and emphasises that the words a character says must seem â€Å"in-character† for the reader to accept them as real. Watts emphasises that â€Å"as your characters have different physical and emotional characteristics, so too should they speak differently.† Some factors to consider when finding each character’s â€Å"voice†, as well as their personality, are: What sort of educational background does the character have? Where are they from (geographically)? How old are they? What do they do for a living? All of these will affect whether your character is terse or long-winded, whether they use technical terms or layman’s ones. They’ll also determine the sort of slang that your characters use (none at all? Out-of-date slang? Offensive slang?) One area to be cautious about – something which Graham, Watts and George all mention – is the use of dialect. If your character has a very strong regional accent, the reader will quickly get tired (or confused) if you attempt to spell everything out phonetically. As Graham says, â€Å"You don’t want your story to grind to a halt while readers work out syllable by syllable just exactly what has been said.† Try using a couple of regional words to give the dialogue the right flavour: a Scottish character, for instance, would use words like â€Å"wee† (meaning â€Å"small†) and â€Å"bonnie†. Do you find dialogue easy to write, or is it one of your weak areas? Do you have any tips on writing realistic speech that reveals character, moves the story along and makes characters come to life? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Contronyms (Words with Contradictory Meanings)Dawned vs. Donned9 Forms of the Past Tense

Behavior Modification related to Old Habit Change and New Habit Research Paper

Behavior Modification related to Old Habit Change and New Habit formation as related to Martial Arts - Research Paper Example Boxing, Kray maga, kungfu, kick boxing, tae Kwon Do and Karate are the examples of this style. (Rousseau) 4 b.Grappling or Ground Fighting Styles; This technique involves the act of hand to hand physical involvement with the combat in which the participant try to gain advantage with clinching, holding, locking, and leverage. (Centre) This technique is used in the martial art styles of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu,Russian Sambo, Shoot fighting and Wrestling. 4 c.Throwing or Takedown Styles; in this technique of martial art the participants begin the fight in the standing position. Hence, once the fight begins the throwing and takedown styles amidst the fight determining the victor. The art includes the styles of Aikido, Judo, Hapkido and Shuai Jiao. 4 d.Weapons Based Styles; this style has primary focus on weapons. It includes the arts of Iaido, Kali and Kendo. 4 e.Low Impact or Meditative Styles; This style encompasses the breathing techniques, fitness, and the spiritual side of things. It in cludes Baguazhang, Tai Chi and Chi Gong based styles. 4 f.MMA- A Hybrid Sports Style; In each style of martial art there are adaptations from other styles of the art. This styles includes an essence of various style and is propagated as a sport style of martial arts that allows for grappling, stand up fighting, takedowns/ throws, and submissions. ... Hence, the same perception with advancement is adhered in modern times that are martial art in recent times is practiced for the sake of self defense, physical fitness, sport and law enforcement preparations etc. (Jason M. Winkle) 5 4.Benefits of Martial art in Human development: thus, it can be stated that physical grooming is a mere part of the benefits of Martial Art. Other than the fitness benefits, muscular strength, flexibility and capacity development in an individual the art also retain certain features that adds to the element of spirituality in an individual. A boost to psycho social variables eliminating the negative factors is the impact of this art on human psychology and mental health, endorsed by Weiser, Kutz, Kutz, and Weiser (1995). (Jason M. Winkle) 5 5.Spirituality in Martial arts; 6 6.Dimensions of the Power of Martial Arts; 6 The dimensions of the power of martial arts vary from spiritual evolution to physical vigor. The selection of the domain of power is the ch oice of an individual. Hitherto, the features to be adopted in each of the domain are discipline, desire, openness and focus. Although the origin n of the art is all marked by spiritual entities, yet the path to be chosen is primarily the choice of the learner. The word â€Å"Do† (as in Judo, Aikido, and Tae Kwon Do) means â€Å"way† or the path you choose to walk. In other words, logically a human entity comprises of spirit, mind and body. The three components are intimately related as the spirit controls mind which controls the body. Hence, the action of an individual is the consent of the three elements altogether. Therefore, martial art has the potential to groom all the three factors but it is the choice of the learner to select a prime area of focus for practicing the

Patient, Who is Dying of Leukemia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 15

Patient, Who is Dying of Leukemia - Essay Example This case relates to the ethics, which refers to application of values and moral rules to human activities. In order to determine whether the nurse was acting morally, there is a need to focus on the subsection of ethics, which are a part of applied ethics and the use of ethical principles in making a decision. In this case, ethics can be applied in seeking reasoned, consistent and defensible solutions to moral issues; thus, the Clinical bioethical reasoning is the primary base of the case. Moreover, the clinical practice depends of the general rules and case-based experiences, bioethical reasoning that relies on learned and accepted moral rules. Therefore, bioethical decisions are derived from manifestation and recognition of factors in a certain situation, which differentiates the cases. In the case, nurse L decided to share the information with the patient concerning the alternative therapies, but this was against the bioethical rules in the hospital. Therefore, nurse L was not mo rally correct because she fail to apply the Clinical bioethical reasoning by focusing on the rules as she made the decision of disclosing to the patient about alternative therapies. In this situation, nurse L was not obligated to make patient-centered, value-driven ethical decision; instead, she should have focused on the bioethical reasoning in relation to the morally accepted rules in the hospital. There are laws stems from legislative statues, administrative agency rules and court decisions, which varies in various ways and they are enforced by different jurisdiction.  

Ethics and Law in Business and Society (4 questions) Essay - 1

Ethics and Law in Business and Society (4 questions) - Essay Example Such a situation would not have occurred of the government would not have intervened. The definition of the government failure is much suitable for the study as it is also concerned with the public policy. The government policies are usually concerned with the public policies that have a direct impact on the market (Anthoff, 2010). External negativities like the taxes which is a government policy is usually responsible for the market failures. The advantage of the government regulation as an intervention includes easing the pressure on the market. However the main con of a government regulation as an intervention is the economic crowding which may result to the worsening of the situation and hence causing an imperfect market. The public goods on the other hand are goods that cannot be affected when it is used by the individuals. An example of a public good is the fresh air. It is subjected to the theory of market failure since its excessive use may lead to negative externalities like pollution and hence contributing to market failures. It also contributes to government regulations which may have considerable effects on the market and hence leading to market failure. 2. Public policy The policy foundation is a think tank that is used for the purposes of challenging the extreme and harmful policies that have been put in place by the government in terms of the compensation of the federal employees. The main goal of the policy is to ensure that the federal employees who are unable to physically or mentally fulfill their responsibilities are adequately compensated. Several political huddles were witnessed during the passing of the bill into law. The main huddle was the policy issues among the law makers for the purposes of ensuring that the federal employees benefit. The misunderstanding among the law makers contributed to the delays in terms of passing the bill. The major benefit is that the federal employees who are affected at the workplace receive compensation w hen they are affected and are unable to work. However it is costly due to the funds that are involved during the compensation. The law requires the funds that have been set aside by the federal government in order for it to be efficient (LaDou, 2010). The policy is neither liberal nor conservative. This is because it has been receiving support from both sides of the political divide. This is because the policy affects all the federal workers incase of injury. On the other hand, the policy has always been enhanced by both the liberal and conservative governments and hence and indication of the neutrality of the policy. The politicians have also been in support of the policy and hence its popularity and success. 3. Philosophy of the state According to Locke, the political obligations as well as the laws are not natural but are instead human creation and are for the benefits of the individuals involved. He further argues that the civil rights are gained through respecting the rights of others and giving up some freedom. According to Hobbes, the lack of political laws and order would result to unlimited freedom. The security and sovereignty are achieved through the social contract when a political community is established (Levitt, 2013). There is also evident that the leviathan is reaching into the American policy domain through the concepts of liberty and sovereignty. The federalist papers promoted the ratification of the constitution through influencing the votes in favor of ratification. It

Research Proposal for Patient Satisfaction Survey

Research Proposal for Patient Satisfaction Survey Introduction Background of the study I am working for Intermediate Care Services. My team has been collecting patient’s view of the services they received from our team, through the use of ‘patient satisfaction survey form’ since 2005. My intention is to find out if we are providing satisfactory service to our client by analyzing the data collected with the forms. Measuring patient satisfaction is important because satisfaction of clients with health care services that they received has been linked to their compliance and their wiliness to seek medical advice by Ware et al (1983). Satisfaction is a complex concept and it’s determined by various factors which includes life style, past experience, future expectations, individual and societal values (Carr-Hill 1992). As an intermediate care service provider, my team works within the Department of Health National Service Framework (Department of Health, 2001). Intermediate care services were established with the mandate to maximize people’s physical functioning, build their confidence and to re-equip them with necessary skills to live safely and independently at home, as well as provision of ongoing support. The department of health recommended the use of multidisciplinary single assessment process in national service framework for the older people. Using the single assessment process for patients help the team to work together because it makes communication easy and it prevents duplication of each others assessment and plan. Therefore the process of rehabilitation begins with comprehensive multidisciplinary assessment using single assessment process (DH, 2001). The process of rehabilitation includes identifying problems and needs, relating problems to limiting factors, outline target probl ems, selecting appropriate measures, follow by planning, implementing and coordination of intervention, and finally reviewing effects of intervention (Davis 2006). Our team comprises of Physiotherapists, Occupational therapist, Social worker, and Therapy Technicians in same office. Intermediate care services were mandated to provide person-centre and holistic care to the older people and their carers, respecting them as Individuals and that they should be enabled to make choice about their own care (DH 2001). The department of health introduced these guidelines so that quality and improved services can be provided to service users. If the guidelines are followed, satisfactory services are likely to be provided to the clients. How can we know that we are following these guidelines? Although as a team, our operational guideline revolves round delivering the services in line with department of health’s guideline, however an objective assessment of the service will give us the clear picture of how good the services that we are providing is. Not only that, it will also help us to identify the areas that we need to improve on. Service user’s level of satisfaction with the service that we are rendering may be used as a yard stick in measuring our perform ance. This can be in the form of patient satisfaction survey. ‘A patient satisfaction survey can be a rich source of information for continuous quality improvement’ (Lin and Kelly 1995). Further more a number of researchers have linked patient satisfaction to patients’ clinical outcomes. O’Holleran et al (2005), George and Hirsh (2005), and Hurwitz and Morgenstern (2005) reported that clinical outcome is a predictor of patient satisfaction. It will therefore be useful to investigate if we are providing satisfactory services to our client and if the findings indicate otherwise in some aspects, recommendations will be made to improve our services in those areas. I will therefore investigate our performance from the service user’s perspective by analyzing the data that we have been collating with the ‘patient satisfaction survey forms’. 1.2 Research questions There are some questions that needed to be answered to be able to determine if our service is satisfactory to our clients or not. Therefore the purpose of this study is to find out the answers to these questions: i. Are we providing satisfactory service to our client? ii. Are we providing quality services to the client? iii. Are we meeting the needs of the patients? iv. Are we providing client centered services? v. Are we respecting the service users? vi. Are we providing information about how the service users can make complains? vii. Are we giving information about other service available to our service users? viii. What are the users feeling about the service? ix. Do we need to amend the way we are providing the service? Aims/ objectives of the study To answer the questions above, the questionnaire needs to be able to collect information from our client on how they feel about the services they get from our facility. Therefore, the objectives of the study are to: determine whether we are providing satisfactory services to our clients determine whether we are providing quality services to our service users find out if we are meeting the needs of our clients establish whether we are providing client-centered services to our clients investigate whether we are treating our clients with respect ascertain whether we are providing information about how the service users can complain about our services. clarify whether we giving information about other service available to our service users explore what our service users feel about our services determine whether we need to amend the way we are providing the service 1.4 Significance of the study . This study will give our team the opportunity to demonstrate whether we are providing quality service or not. It will also be highlighted whether we are providing client desire outcome or not because outcome determines satisfaction as demonstrated by O’Holleran et al (2005). Findings from this study will also form a basis for further research in the study setting and similar studies in health care facilities with similar mandate. 1.6 Delimitations of the study The study will be delimited to Luton Primary Care Trust. Operational definition of terms Client satisfaction: A measure of the extent to which client’s expectations of therapeutic intervention are met. Service users:All clients/ patients registered with Luton Primary Care Trust and who received therapeutic intervention from the team during January 2006 and December 2007. Community Assessment and Rehabilitation team: This comprises of Physiotherapists, Occupational therapist, Social worker, and Therapy Technicians working in the same office in Luton Primary Care Trust. 2.0 Literature Review Measuring patient satisfaction is important because it pushes towards accountability among health care providers (Guadagnion 2003). O’Holleran et al (2005) shed more light on the importance of patient satisfaction survey following their cohort study of patients that underwent rotator cuff surgery, they concluded that there is a relationship between patient satisfaction and outcome of the intervention. How do we measure satisfaction? What are the indicators for patient satisfaction? Satisfaction from consumer perspective is determined by comparison of consumer experience of service received by them and their expectation (Tam 2005). The main indicators for quality service from patient perspective includes: interpersonal skills, accessibility and convenience of service, respect, technical ability of doctor (care provider in our case) , the physical environment (Baker 2001,Di Paula et al 2002). Satisfaction is determined by the way patients are treated by practitioners and it determined by technical and interpersonal elements (Donebedia 1988). The technical aspects were identified as to consist of Practitioners knowledge and strategies employed to arrive at appropriate intervention, whereas the interpersonal aspect consist of; communication skill, friendliness, kindness, attention, receptiveness, empathy, among other things (Donebedia 1988). Looking at the questionnaire (see appendix 1), it seems to be measuring almost all the identified indicators. (Full appraiser of the questionnaire will be carried out as part of the research) 2.1 Theoretical Perspective Research Paradigm: Paradigm is defined by Titchhen (1993) as ‘a description of a scientific model within which a community of scientists generate knowledge’ This research will be carried out from positivism and phenomenology point of view. This means that the research will be mixture of quantative and qualitative methods. According to Guba (1990), positivism is a belief system that is rooted in realist ontology. This means that Positivism approach is based on the fact that concept must be made observable. Measurability of concept is central to quantitative research (Devers 1999). However, ‘Phenomenological approach provides a deep understanding of the phenomenon as experience by several individual’ Geswell (1998). Qualitative research was classified as phenomenological of it’s theory building, holistic, case-based, subjective and process-oriented nature while On the other hand Quantitative research was classified as Positivism approach because it is deductive, hypothesis driven, particularistic, variable based, objective and outcome oriented (Devers 1999). Reichardt and Cook (1978) proposed that focus should be placed on debate to accept both Qualitative and Quantitative methods instead of Qualitative versus Quantitative debate, because each of them has their strengths and weakness es, using both approaches will compliment each other by drawing from the strengths and minimise the weakness of both approaches. I will be using mixture of qualitative and quantitative method in this research. I will tap from the strengths of both them and use the two methods to compliment each other. Methodology 3.1 Study design Personal interviews, telephone interview, and mailed questionnaires are the most common ways of carrying out survey research. Each of the ways has its merits and demerits. Personal interview is a method of collecting data from individual by using face-to-face method, the dept and the quality of information they are capable of yielding makes them the most useful method however they are very costly (Polit and Hungler 1989). In my opinion it will be time consuming, considering the fact that this research has time limit because of the school calendar, it will not be a method of choice for this research. Another way of gathering information is by telephone interview, if the interview is short, specific and too personal, it may be a good way for collecting a lot of information quickly and it’s less costly compare with personal interview however it can be less effective way of gathering information when sensitive information is required (Polit and Hungler 1989). Mailed questionnaires will be my choice, I choice this because of it advantages over personal interviews and telephone interview. It differs from others because it’s self administered, the respondent read the question on the form and give an answer in writing format, the question is distributed through post, compare to other form of surveys, the cost is low especially when there is large geographical area to be covered (Polit and Hungler 1989). I choose Mailed questionnaire over other methods because of its advantages over other method. Total anonymity is possible using questionnaire; this may reduce bias in the responses of the participants. Study setting The study will take place in the Community Assessment Rehabilitation Team’s office. Sample and Sampling Technique All clients receiving or that had received therapeutic input from the community assessment and rehabilitation team from January 2006 to December 2007 and who were willing to participate (by returning a filled questionnaire that was given to them when they received care/ services from the team) will be surveyed. Instrument development The instrument for this study will be â€Å"client satisfaction survey questionnaire†. This had been developed by the management of the study setting and had being in use in the setting since 2005. The client satisfaction survey consisted of eleven issues. Ten of the eleven issues sought information on clients’ perception of some issues bothering on services delivered by the community assessment and rehabilitation team, while the eleventh issues asked the study participants to generally comment freely about their views regarding the services and the team. Data gathering procedure ‘Clients satisfaction survey questionnaire’ which represented the instrument for this study will be given to everyone that received therapeutic input from the team. The form is always included with the service users discharge summaries. To encourage replying, a self-addressed reply-paid envelope is always enclosed. Each returned questionnaire shall be entered into a database and the data from the database will be retrieved with the permission of the unit manager and the trust local ethic committee. 3.6 Data Analysis and Results The quantitative data will be analyzed using combination of descriptive and statistical inference techniques. While the results will be presented in the form of graphs and chart as appropriate. I will calculate P-values for each of the satisfaction indicators using appropriate non-parametric test (Chi Square). Although I specifically took statistic module this semester to be able to solve this problem, I will also seek advice from statistic expert to complement my knowledge. In this research, P value greater than 0.05 will not be accepted as the confidence interval shall be set at 95%. The qualitative aspect of the data will be analyzed by read and re-reading the response and then categorizing them into themes. This may involve assigning abbreviated codes to the points as they emerge from the data. Then the connection between the categories will be traced. The number of respondents that touch on each theme will be noted. All effort to eliminate bias will be made by making sure every stage of the analysis is objective as much as possible in interpretation. This is likely to be a laborious exercise; I will therefore seek advice from my supervisor regarding the analysis and interpretation of the data. If possible, computer software may be used in analysis of the qualitative data; however this will be discussed with my supervisor. Reliability of the instrument The reliability of the instrument shall be determined through a test-retest method. This questionnaire will be administered to 10 clients within the study setting but not within the study participants. After a span of 2 weeks, the same instrument will be re-administered on the same set of 10 people and the results will be analyzed. Correlation of the responses will be determined using Pearson’s correlation co-efficient. 3.8 Ethical issues As stated earlier in this proposal, the team has been collecting patient perception of the services we are providing using questionnaire since 2005. Prior to the commencement of using the questionnaire on the entire client that received therapeutic intervention from our team, ethical permission will be sought from the trust research ethical committee as well as from the line manager. To make sure that participant autonomy was respected, all questionnaires were accompanied by letter informing them that we do not need to know their name and that all the information provided by them will be treated anonymously; they were also informed in the letter that taking part in the survey is on voluntary basis and will not affect the services provided to them in anyway. Although there is a space for their contact information at the back of the questionnaire, this is incase the client would like someone to contact them regarding their concern. The decision to participate in the survey is left to patient by not giving them any follow up phone call regarding the questionnaire, which may lead to coercion. Also their anonymity is maintained by not recording their contact information on the database, the information they provided were recorded anonymously. This is why we may be unable to follow up patients that did not respond, because it is impossible to know who responded or who did not responded. Unless they decided to reveal their identity if there is an issue they wanted to be resolved regarding the questionnaire. Even if they choose to reveal their identity, their personal details are not stored on the survey database to maintain their confidentiality and anonymity. Although the team has been give approval by the trust local ethic committee before commencing the survey, however prior to pulling out the data form the database for the purpose of this research. I will still have to seek approval from my line manager and the trust research ethical committee, because the earlier approval was given to the team and not to me as individual for the purpose of this research. Although I was informed that for this type of research, it would not be necessary to seek approval from the institution ethic committee, however I will also seek advice from my research supervisor regarding the position of the school ethic committee on this type of research. 3.9 Rigor ‘A patient satisfaction survey can be a rich source of information for continuous quality improvement but only if it is examined carefully and used within a consistent framework’ (Lin and Kelly 1995). Non-response is a problem in survey (Lin and Kelly 1995), this problem was solved by including a self addressed reply-paid envelope and a covering letter encouraging the client to complete the survey without coharsing them. Other factors that may influence response rate identified through the search of literature were length of the questionnaire, Pre-notification, Post-notification, and monetary incentives. The length of a questionnaire can have negative impact on response rate (Yammorino, skinner, Childers (1991), this was one of the reasons why the team made sure that the questions were not more than ten when the questionnaire was designed. A lot of literature suggested that respondent pre-notification could have positive effect on response rate. Among the supporter of respondent pre-notification are Haggett and Michell (1994), they found that response to postal mail survey increases with pre-notification. In contrast, Herberlin and Baumgarther (1978) reported that pre-notification has little or no effect on response rate to mail survey. However, we feel that informing them in advance may increase the response rate, and therefore we tend to inform our client that we will be sending questionnaire to them with their discharge letter. We always inform them that filling-in the questionnaire will help us to know if we are meeting their needs or not. Although some researchers like Paul, Walsh and Tzelepls (2005) suggested that monetary incentives can increase response rate, however, I personally feel that monetary incentive may influence the feedback, because the respondent may feel oblige to give positive feedback because of the incentive paid. Yammarino, Skinner and Childer (1991) were of the opinion that the response rate can be increased with follow-up calls, however there is no way to know who is not responding unless the questionnaire is coded, so that the respondents may be identifiable, this will brake their anonymity, therefore we have choose not to be following up, because it will be inappropriate. It is be essential to establish the reliability of the instrument. Although the reliability and validity were evaluated before we commence using it for data collection, however, to be sure that the questionnaire is reliable and valid, I will carry out reliability and validity evaluation as part of this research. Reliability will be assessed using test re-test technique while the validity will be tested using content and face value technique.. Colleagues (2 or 3) from other teams ( for example District Nurses, Rapid Response Team) as well as service users (2 or 3) will be asked to comment on the adequacy of the questionnaire in evaluating patient satisfaction with the services they received from our team. 3.10 Limitations Although frantic effort will be made to reduce bias and errors in the research however there are some limitations that will always be there despite all the effort. Some of the limitation of this type of research includes non-response by some of the participants, in this research; most of the respondents are elderly people. Some of them may not be able to respond because of their medical condition, fragility, eyesight problem, cognitive deficit, and general weakness among others. Language barrier may be another limitation that may lead to non-response considering the fact that Luton is multi-ethnic town. This is in line with the findings of Ehinfors and Smedby (1993). Apart from non-response, another limitation is that some participants may misinterpret the questions, and this may influence their response and subsequently the result. However subjecting the questionnaire to reliability and validity test can minimize this. 3.11 Time frame The research involves getting permission from the local ethics committee, pulling out the data from the data base, transferring the data into the SPSS software, analysis of the data, drawing conclusion and recommendation. The task involved will take about three months approximately for the research to be completed including the writing up. 3.12 Dissemination The research will be submitted to the School of Health and Social Care, Oxford Brookes University as part of academic requirement for my MSc Rehabilitation. The research will also be presented to my team manager and team members. If manager and team are happy after appraising the research critically, my manager in agreement with the trust management may place the findings on the trust website so that it can be accessible to the public. References: Baker, R. (2001). A Method for Surveying Patient Satisfaction: Manual for Users, Clinical Governance Research and Development Unit, Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Leicester. Carr-Hill, R. (1992). The measurement of patient satisfaction. Journal of Public Health Medicine,14(3):236-249. Davies, S. (2006). Rehabilitation, the use of theories and models in practice. Elserver limited. First edition. Department of Health (HoD), (2001). National service framework for older people, HSMO, Norwich. Devers K, J. (1999). How Will We Know Good Qualitative Research When We See It? Beginning the Dialogue in Health Services Research. Health Services Research 34, 5. Di Paula, A., Long, R., Wiener, D. (2002). Are your patients satisfied?, Marketing Health Services, 2 (3) p.28-32. Donabedian, A. (1988). The quality of care: How can it be assessed? Journal of American Medical Association, 260, 12, 1743-1748 Ehinfors, M. and Smedby, B. (1993). Patient Satisfaction Surveys Subsequent to Hospital Care: Problems of Sampling, Non-response and Other Losses International Society for Quality in Health 5, 19-32. George, S. Z. and Hirsh, A. T. (2005). Distinguishing patient satisfaction with treatment delivery from treatment effect: a preliminary investigation of patient satisfaction with symptoms after physical therapy treatment of low back pain. American Journal of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation. 86(7): 1338-44. Geswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design 2nd Edition Sage Califonia. Guadagnino, C. (2003). Role of patient satisfaction http://physiciansnews.com/cover/1203.html accessed on 24/12/07 Guba, E. C. (1990). The Alternative Approach to Paradigm. The Paradigm Dialog eds, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, Califonia. Haggett, S., and Mitchell, V. (1994). Effects of industrial pre-notification on response rate, speed, quality, bias and cost. Industrial Marketing Management, 23, 101-110 Heberlein, T. A., and Baumgartner, R. (1978). Factors affecting response rates to mailed surveys: A quantitative analysis of the published literature. American Sociological Review, 43, 447-462 Hurwitz, E. L., and Morgenstern, H. Y. F. (2005). Satisfaction as a predictor of clinical outcomes among chiropractic and medical patients enrolled in the UCLA low back pain study. Spine. 1;30(19):2121-8 Lin, B., and Kelly, E. (1995), Methodological issues in patient satisfaction surveys, International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, 8( 6) p.32-7 OHolleran, J. D., Kocher, M. S., Horan, M. P., Briggs, K. K., and Hawkins, R. J. (2005); Determinants of patient satisfaction with outcome after rotator cuff surgery. Journal of bone and joint surgery (America) 87(1):121-6.. Paul, C. L., Walsh, R. A., and Tzelepis, F. (2005). A monetary incentive increases postal survey response rates for pharmacists. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health,59, 1099-1101. Polit, F.D., and Hungler B.P., (1989). Essentials of Nursing Research: Methods, Appraisal, and Utilization, Second edition. Reichardt, C. S., and T. D. Cook. (1978). Beyond Qualitative Versus Quantitative Methods. In Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Evaluation Research, pp. 7-32. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Shepard, K. F., Jensen, G. M., Schmll, B. J., Hack, L. M., and Gwyer, J. (1993). Alternative approaches to research in physical therapy: positivism and phenomenology. Physical Therapy ; 73:88-101 Tam, J.L.M. (2005), Examining the dynamics of consumer expectations in a Chinese context, Journal of Business Research, 58 p.777-86. Ware, J. E., Synder, M, K., Wright, W. R., and Davies, A. R,.(1983) Defining and measuring patient satisfaction with medical care. Evaluation and Program Planning. 6: 247 Yammarino, F. J., Skinner, S., Childers, T. L. (1991). Understanding mail survey response behavior. Public Opinion Quarterly, 55, 613-639. Appendices 1- Patient Satisfaction Questionaire

Requiem for an Aristocrat :: essays research papers

Requiem for an Aristocrat   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"It’s lonely at the top,† a cliche that Faulkner reaffirms in his classical short story, â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† In this southern tale, a social class structure separated the â€Å"high and mighty Griersons† from the rest of the town. After the Civil War, the southern upper class society was dwindling with the northern industrialists rising in national influence. Emily Grierson was the product of an overprotective single father raising a high society child. During this era the southern high society type was considered a dying breed. Emily’s father instilled values and morals that only an arrogant aristocrat could set in a child. Emily’s inability to involve herself in social settings, her blatant disregard of the law, and her radical approach to intimate relationships all stem from her father’s upbringing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The town was filled with people Emily had no desire to interact with. She kept herself locked inside her house and sent Tobe, her servant, to take care of mostly all obligations that required social interactions. She spent the greater part of her life inside this fortress of solitude she considered home. During Emily’s years as a young lady, she was led to believe none of the young men deserved her. The young men did not measure up to her father’s expectations so he dismissed them. Even at thirty years of age, Emily remained single because her father would limit her social interaction. So it was common for the townspeople to refrain from associating with such distinguished people. The entire town attended Emily Grierson’s funeral without knowing her beyond her name. This type o f upbringing left Emily isolated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emily held an â€Å"above-the-law† attitude that was common amongst aristocrats in the southern states at that time. Once Emily’s father died, the mayor felt obligated to allow Emily to refrain from paying taxes. When Emily visited her druggist for arsenic, he allowed her to purchase the poison without having to give reason for its use even though the law states that you must. Emily even disregarded the unwritten laws of high society. It was unheard of that a person of her stature would date a Yankee laborer. She went against even the most fundamental of social laws and gave a laborer, by the name of Homer Barron, an opportunity to court her. This shocked the entire town and â€Å"reaffirmed her imperviousness† (429).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emily was unable to produce a healthy relationship with a person because her father kept her single to her thirties, making her feel as though no man deserved her hand.