Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 5

Report - Essay Example One can also use feedback in acting as role model that will eventually help other people follow the same example, thus heading to the right direction. Many people widely recognize feedback as an important part of the learning cycle, as it helps in modeling the children at tender age, hence adopting the rightful behavior that is essential for enhancing their performance. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4 2.0 Background †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 3.0 Evaluations on the use of student feedback †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 3.1 Areas of feedback use †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 3.2 Areas essential for gathering feedback †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 3.3 Characteristics of effective feedback †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 4.0 Potential benefits of student feedback †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 5.0 Potential challenges associated to use of feedback †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 7 6.0 Findings of preliminary research †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ... †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 10 1.0 Introduction Feedback refers to any form of response that goes in hand with the student’s work as it serves as an assessment task, performance or product. People that usually have the mandate of giving feedback may include teachers, external assessors, or student peers while it comes in either written or spoken form. Many people widely recognize feedback as an important part of the learning cycle, but to some extent, students and teachers come out into expressing their disappointment and frustrations on the process of conducting feedbacks. Some students cite that feedback on assessment in unhelpful process or unclear, and to some extent demoralizing. Lecturers that oppose the use of feedback also cite that some students do not know how to incorporate feedback advice into fulfilling their subsequent tasks, hence making the process ineffective (Brennan & Williams, 2004). This research paper is going to evalua te on the use of student feedback in the higher education institutions while outline some potential benefits and challenges associated to this strategy. 2.0 Background Providing feedback on a regular basis to the students in regards to the level of performance is the most powerful tool for enhancing teaching process. In simple terms, feedback deals with sharing of information on the student’s performance. Positive feedback intends to sustain appropriate and effective behavior while negative/corrective feedback serves the purpose of changing behavior that the learning institution considers as inappropriate or ineffective. Therefore, it is important to have a mixture of positive and corrective feedback while this feedback should also be specific enough for students to understand with ease, and hence being able to identify the type

Sodium Thiosulphate Coursework Essay Example for Free

Sodium Thiosulphate Coursework Essay We must produce a piece of coursework investigating the rates of reaction, and the effect different changes have on them. The rate of reaction is the rate of loss of a reactant or the rate of formation of a product during a chemical reaction. It is measured by dividing 1 by the time taken for the reaction to take place. There is five factors which affect the rate of a reaction, according to the collision theory of reacting particles: temperature, concentration (of solution), pressure (in gases), surface are (of solid reactants), and catalysts. I have chosen to investigate the effect temperature and concentration have on a reaction. This is because they are the most practical to investigate it would take longer to prepare a solid in powdered and unpowdered form, and it is difficult to get accurate readings due to the inevitabilities of human errors, and as gas is mostly colourless it is difficult to gauge a reaction changing the pressure, and if a substance is added to give the gas colour, it may influence the outcome of the experiment. Similarly the use of a catalyst complicates things, and if used incorrectly could alter the outcome of the experiment. Experiment 1 Changing the concentration 5 cm3 of HCl (at concentration 1 mol./dm3) and 15 cm3 of sodium thiosulphate (at varying concentrations 10 to 35 g/dm3) are poured out into two measuring cylinders and then poured into a conical flask, which is placed on top of a board marked with letter X. The stopwatch will now be started. When the mixture has turned sufficiently cloudy so that the letter X can no longer be seen the stopwatch will be stopped and the time will be recorded. The experiment is repeated with all the concentrations. The whole procedure is then repeated. Experiment 2 Changing the temperature 5 cm of HCl (at concentration 1 mol./dm3) and 15 cm of sodium thiosulphate (at varying concentrations 10 to 35 g/dm3) are poured out into two measuring cylinders. A beaker is half filled with hot water from a tap. The water is placed on top of a Bunsen on a blue flame and the two measuring placed inside the water bath. The water is heated to the necessary temperature (30?C to 70?C) then the two measuring cylinders are taken out and the contents of both are poured into a conical cylinder. The time it takes for the X to disappear is timed and recorded. The experiment is repeated using all the temperatures. The entire procedure is the repeated. Repeat results and averages will be taken to improve the credibility of the findings, and present solid grounding for the final conclusion. The repeat results will help to iron out any anomalies and the average will give a good summary of the results of the experiment. However if one set of results is entirely different to the other, a third experiment will be performed to replace the anomalous set of results. Safety A pair of goggles will be worn during the heating part of the experiment in order to protect the eyes. An apron will also be worn to protect the skin and clothing. When handling hot beakers and measuring cylinders a pair of tongs will be used. A gauze and heatproof mat will be used while heating to avoid any damage to the equipment. Fair Test In order for my findings to be valid the experiment must be a fair one. I will use the same standard each time for judging when the X has disappeared. I will make sure that the measuring cylinders for the HCl and thiosulphate will not be mixed up. The amount of HCl will be 5 cm3 each time, and the amount of thiosulphate will be fixed at 15 cm3. During the heating stage of the experiment, a blue flame will be used throughout. Also the same Bunsen burner and gas tap will be used to maintain continuity. All of these precautions will make my final results more reliable and keep anomalies at a minimum so thus make the entire investigation more successful. Prediction I predict that as the temperature is increased the rate of reaction will increase. I also predict that as the concentration of the sodium thiosulphate increases the rate of reaction will increase. This means that both graphs drawn up in my analysis will have positive correlation, and will probably be curved as the increase in rate of reaction will not be exactly the same as the concentrationtemperature is increased. This can be justified by relating to the collision theory. When the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully. If solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur. All this can be understood better with full understanding of t he collision theory itself: For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier to overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the frequency of collisions is increased the rate of reaction will increase. However the percent of successful collisions remains the same. An increase in the frequency of collisions can be achieved by increasing the concentration, pressure, or surface area. Concentration If the concentration of a solution is increased there are more reactant particles per unit volume. This increases the probability of reactant particles colliding with each other. Pressure If the pressure is increased the particles in the gas are pushed closer. This increases the concentration and thus the rate of reaction. Surface Area If a solid is powdered then there is a greater surface area available for a reaction, compared to the same mass of unpowdered solid. Only particles on the surface of the solid will be able to undergo collisions with the particles in a solution or gas. The particles in a gas undergo random collisions in which energy is transferred between the colliding particles. As a result there will be particles with differing energies. Maxwell-Boltzmann energy distribution curves show the distribution of the energies of the particles in a gas. The main points to note about the curves are: 1. There are no particles with zero energy. 2. The curve does not touch the x-axis at the higher end, because there will always be some particles with very high energies. 3. The area under the curve is equal to the total number of particles in the system. 4. The peak of the curve indicates the most probable energy. The activation energy for a given reaction can be marked on the distribution curve. Only particles with energy equal or greater than the activation energy can react when a collision occurs. Although Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curves are for the particles in a gas, the same distributions can be used for the particles in a liquid or solid. Effects of a temperature change The graph below shows Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution graphs for a fixed mass of gas at two temperatures T1 and T2, where T2 is roughly 10?C higher than T1. The total area under the curve remains the same, since there is no change in the number of particles present. A small increase in temperature causes significant changes to the distribution energies. At the higher temperature: 1. The peak is at a higher energy. 2. The peak is lower. 3. The peak is broader. 4. There is a large increase in the number of particles with higher energies. It is the final change that results increase in rate, even with a relatively small increase in temperature. A small increase in temperature greatly increases the number of particles with energy greater than the activation energy. The shaded areas on the energy distribution curves show this. Effect of a catalyst A catalyst works by providing an alternative reaction pathway that has lower activation energy. A catalyst does not alter the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution. Because a catalyst provides a reaction route of lower activation energy, however, a greater proportion of particles will have energy greater than the activation energy. Analysis In this experiment I have found that as the temperature and concentration is increased the time taken for the reaction to take place decreases. This means the rate of reaction increasers as it takes less time for a reaction to take place, so more take place per second. In the temperature experiment the time taken for a reaction to take place decreased by roughly 10 to 15 seconds for every 10?C increase in temperature, with the one anomaly being the 30?C reading. There is also a trend in the increase in rate of reaction as the temperature increases. The difference is always more or less 0.02 s-1, with the same exception. Using the graphs, with lines of best fit, I can draw a conclusion from my experiment. Firstly I can see that with the time graphs (that plot temperature and concentration against time taken for the reaction to take place) the graphs have negative correlation in both cases, meaning that as the temperatureconcentration increased the time taken for the reaction to take place decreases. The time graph for the temperature experiment has a much steeper curve than the one for the concentration experiment, meaning that the decrease in time taken for the reaction was far more rapid. Naturally, the above means that the both the graphs plotting rate against temperature and concentration have positive correlation as the temperature and concentration are increased so does the rate of reaction. This is because when the temperature is increased the particles will have more energy and thus move faster. Therefore they will collide more often and with more energy. Particles with more energy are more likely to overcome the activation energy barrier to reaction and thus react successfully, and when solutions of reacting particles are made more concentrated there are more particles per unit volume. Collisions between reacting particles are therefore more likely to occur. The graph for concentration shows that when the concentrations were relatively low (10, 15, 20 g/dm3), the increase of rate x1000 was also fairly small (increasing from 4.47 to 6.71 to 9.47). There was then a gradual increase in the difference, and between 30 and 35 g/dm3 the rate more than doubled from 17.90 to 37.56s-1. This shows that there are far more collisions at a concentration of 35 g/dm3 than at 30 g/dm3. The graph plotting time against the rate of reaction x1000 shows that the difference of rate between increasing temperatures (excluding the anomaly of 30?C) was pretty much regular, increasing in steps of 6-10 (9.17 to 15.37 to 24.28 to 31.67). However, once again there is a giant gap in the last temperature increase at 60?C the RoR x1000 is 31.67 s-1, and at 70?C it is 57.03 s-1. For this to fully make sense it is necessary to recap the collision theory briefly: For a reaction to occur particles have to collide with each other. Only a small percent result in a reaction. This is due to the energy barrier to overcome. Only particles with enough energy to overcome the barrier will react after colliding. The minimum energy that a particle must have to overcome the barrier is called the activation energy, or Ea. The size of this activation energy is different for different reactions. If the  frequency of collisions is increased the rate of reaction will increase. However the percent of successful collisions remains the same. An increase in the frequency of collisions can be achieved by increasing the concentration, pressure, or surface area.

There Are Serious Concerns Over Food Waste Environmental Sciences Essay

There Are Serious Concerns Over Food Waste Environmental Sciences Essay Food waste is a serious environmental, social and economic concern not only to United Kingdom but also to the whole world. Even though Food waste was recognized as a considerable problem, it was not identified as a serious concern to the environment till recently. Among environmentally significant activities, the production, trade, and consumption of food products have been identified as crucial contributors to numerous environmental problems One of the greatest threats of the century is Global Warming and Climate change. The need of the hour is to effectively tackle the climate change issue and GHG emission. According to Waste and resources action program (WRAP), about 20% of climate change emissions are related to the production, processing, transportation and storage of food. Agriculture contributes significantly to GHG emissions The domestic household in uk produces around 8,300,000 tons of food waste and is the single largest producer of food waste. Local authorities spend 1 billion pound a year disposing food waste. The foods we throw out to the landfill gets broken down to carbon dioxide and methane gas (green house gases) and are the prime reasons for global warming. If UK has to meet the international targets  on climate change and GHG emissions, it is important to reduce the amount of food waste going to the landfill. Spaces for land filling of wastes are rapidly diminishing, alongside European Union legislation that demands large amounts of waste be diverted from landfill over the next 15 years* Food waste puts a large burden on the finances of each household and  local councils in the UK; Local authorities spend 1 billion pound a year disposing food waste. Wasted food is estimated to cost each British household  £250- £400 per year,  accumulating to  £15,000- £24,000 over a lifetime.. Objectives and Methadology Love Food Hate Waste is a social campaign, launched by WRAP, in 2007,with the aim of reducing the amount of food waste in UK. The campaign is focused on raising consumer awareness about the various problems caused by food waste. WRAP calculated that preventing good food going to waste could reduce the annual emission of carbon dioxide by 18 million tones, the same effect as taking one in 5 cars off the road. Love Food Hate Waste campaign is supported by the government and is backed by celebrity chefs. Love food Hate waste also has a website which provides practical advice and tips on how to use most of the food they buy. The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness of easy, practical, everyday ways that households can reduce food waste. Everyone including local authorities, community groups, retailers, food manufactures and consumers are part of this campaign. For example, Resource Futures recruited and managed two embedded Outreach Workers to support the North London Waste Authoritys, WRAP funded, Love Food Hate Waste campaign. During the seven month period, the Outreach Workers organized and delivered over sixty road shows in supermarkets, businesses, libraries and at community groups, across NLWAs seven constituent boroughs, to engage more than 3,500 people with the campaign. It focuses on consumers strong desire to reduce wastefulness by sending positive messages about the rewards and benefits that can be achieved through specific behavioral change. The campaign benefits the consumer and the environment by reducing budgets and minimizing land fill and carbon emissions. Some of the methods which can be used to reduce waste in an house hold are: Reduce your proportion size: Love Food Hate Waste website has a tool to help you calculate appropriate portion sizes. The portion planner removes the guesswork by suggesting how much to cook, depending on whos coming for dinner, and ways to measure it Plan ahead: By planning the meal for a week and by shopping accordingly can save you a lot of money and prevents good food going to the waste bin. Tips on storage: Gives you easy tips on how to store things and encourage you to make effective use of fridge and freezers if necessary. Special Recipes: which makes use of use of all the odds and ends that invariably get leftover from previous meals or forgotten in the fruit bowl or the back of the fridge If nothing above works, recycling can be done. Composting is one good option. Only Those waste which nothing can be done is dumped in to landfill The Love food Hate waste Organize Door stepping campaigns providing information packs and Advice, targeted at reducing household waste. They also organize road shows, surveys and do advertising through radio and printed Medias. It owns a website love food hate waste.com where you can find many useful tips to reduce food waste. Analysis of the Sustainable Consumption approach One of the main cause for environmental degradation is the over consumption by the developed countries and a switch towards sustainable consumption pattern is very essential. The definition proposed by the 1994 Oslo Symposium on Sustainable Consumption defines it as the use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardise the needs of future generations.  The two approaches towards sustainable consumption are the Main Stream approach and an alternative New Economics approach. The strategy of UK government in 2003 was continuous economic growth and social progress that respects the limits of earths eco systems to have a better quality of life. The concept of mainstream approach is of a strong stable and sustainable economy and include initiatives like   initiatives for product labeling, consumer education and environmental taxation. mainstream economics is deeply embedded in modernitys vision of progress and growth. The critics of this approach claims that this method is quite ineffective and doesnt address the fundamental problem of consumption. Based on several factors on the environment and society, the critics of main stream model proposed a new model collectively known as New Economics. They argue that economics cannot be separated from its understructures in environmental and social contexts. The Love food hate waste is one such campaign which follows the alternative approach of sustainable consumption. The diagram below shows how the campaigns approach towards sustainable consumption. ECO-EFFICIENCY more productive use of materials and energy Green growth Efficiency INCREASED . PRODUCT LIFE SPANS Sustainable Consumption Sufficiency SLOW CONSUMPTION reduced throughput of products and services Recession The campaign aims to reduce the amount of waste by consuming less by reducing your portion size and shopping less. In other words sufficiency is achieved by reduced consumption of products. The approach also defines green economics which means to increase the efficiency by more productive use of materials and energy. The model defines efficiency and sufficiency as the key towards sustainable consumption. The greater focus on sufficiency alone may lead to economic instability on a wider focus. Increased product life spans, may enable such problems to be overcome by providing for both efficiency and sufficiency. The efficiency can be increased by using the left overs and reusing and recycling. Theories Linked to LFHW Campaign. LFHW is basically a social marketing campaign aiming for a behavioral change by consuming more sensibly and thereby producing less waste. To understand the theories it is important to understand the driving forces to the same. Some of the forces influenced are: Knowledge, information, fashions beliefs (education, media, marketing) Price / affordabilit Tastes and Habits Demographic changes: ageing population, single person society, wealth Culture, social family expectations, norms, aspirations Availability Time and Season The campaign does its focus on the utilitarian theory and more importantly on social and psychological theories. The campaign targets the people who behave unsustainable because they lack information and help them to overcome the problems by rendering information to the needy. The utilitarian approach says that consumers seek to spend money on goods which gives greatest satisfaction or in other words consumers behave as utility maximizers. The LFHW campaign helps and encourage in cognitive thinking before you shop. It spread the importance of prior planning before shopping. By planning your meals for the whole week, you know what to buy and from where to buy. In the present scenario, people get tempted and buy things with offers like buy 1 get 1 free, even though they really dont need that. Its found that one in every 3 shopping bags goes directly to the waste bin. The campaign educates people how the value of food can be increased if the left over can be used to make new dishes. Human behavior is formed and routinized by social structure Apart from the conventionally acknowledged constraints like price and information, campaign also negotiates social, psychological and structural constraints. LFHW organizes public campaigns with celebrity chefs and attracts the whole society for a behavioral change. As a social marketing campaign, the main themes of the campaign are 4Es (Engage, Encourage, Enable and Exemplify). Engaging consumers and households to rethink their behavior is one of the main ways in which waste prevention can be progressed. Enabling households to take action or overcome barriers, through the provision of services like reduce reuse and recycling. Policy measures -Encouraging households to rethink their behavior so as to reduce their waste generation. The most frequently applied suite or package of waste prevention policy measures Appears to include most or all of the following activities. Collaboration between public, private and third sectors. Producer and responsibility. Variable rate charging (pay as you throw) systems (generally applied to householders residual waste). Public sector funding for pilot projects. Exemplified by means of monitoring and evaluation; Measuring and evaluation of waste prevention is challenging. The data collected should be true and of high quality. Some of the methods adopted are self-weighing Surveys done before and after the campaign, focusing on attitudes and behaviours and/or on participation rates Tracking the amount of waste from collection data and/or compositional nalysis estimation/modelling. Strength and weakness of Love food hate waste campaign Love food hate waste campaign claims that it has already prevented 1,37000 tonnes of waste goin to waste bin and   have helped close on two million households reduce their food waste, amounting to savings of almost  £300 million. A persons willingness to change along with action and appropriate policies from the local authorities is essential to bring a social change. The campaign is funded and supported by the governmentand almost every county council has given its support to the campaign. Retailers and food manufacturers also support to reduce food waste and they are the official sponsors of the campaign. Unlike Other campaigns, consumer is also economically benefited and hence more people are willing take part in the campaign. It also helps in reducing the so called Value Action Gap. The campaign is both focused at individual and social aspects and hence is more effective. a large body of studies asserts that personal factors are necessary and essential to foster behavioral changes, even though the correspondence between attitudinal variables and behavior is often moderate {reference*(2} The website lovefoodhatewaste.com gives you a lot of information and makes it easily accessible at any point of time. A lot of people gives their experience and valuable opinion which encourage other people to minimize waste. Some of the weaknesses of the campaign are: The campaign is too focused on using left overs and freezing, whereas shopping storage and portion control are effective strategies. The campaign deals with utilitarian concept and socio-psychological theories where as doesnt consider Infrastructure of provision approach. The campaign doesnt focus on the production part of food. food that goes to waste during Production and distribution accounts for 5 percentage of the GHG emissions. Globally 15-50% of food produced is wasted post harvest and no action is taken prevent those waste. The campaign is more concentrated on the food after consumption and doesnt look in to the broader aspects of food. Food has different utility and meanings when it comes to Entertainment, pleasure satisfaction, love status, comfort, time pass, bribery, religious significance, social glue, power, habbit, need, guilt, culture and so on. The amount of waste generated differs for each case and no effort has been taken to realy understand this complex system. Oxfordshire council-tax payers have saved over  £50,000 in waste disposal costs by throwing away less food since Oxfordshire Waste Partnership (OWP) launched its Love Food Hate Waste campaign last March Love Food Hate waste Campaign is still in its early stage and has long way to go. The measurement of success of the campaign can be found by looking the amount of waste reduced as a result of this campaign. In the very first year, the campaign is successful in reducing 1,37000 tones of household waste. The initial statistics of the campaign sounds too intresting and shows how successful it has been. The campaign is successful in attaining attention of the large public. Even though the results are impressive, when compared to the true scale of the problem, it is just a mere drop in the ocean. To address the big issue like climate change we need to do a lot more to reduce the amount of waste produced. Some of the limitations are Lack of interest of certain individuals can be setback to the campaign. Some people consider that the protection of environment is governments job and are not concerned about the same. Some people think that their contribution is just marginal and hence dont do anything. Reduction of waste is moreover a private thing and since its not public there is no social pressure to do it. The lack of strong policies is certainly a limitation to the campaign Measuring and monitoring is a tough task to perform. The reliability on survey is questioned. Conclusion The sustainable consumption doesnt always means consuming less but It certainly should in the case of developed countries and in underdeveloped countries sustainable consumption means consuming more. Thus the aim of sustainable consumption is a high quality of life for every one- brought about by everyone consuming in ways that reduce the impacts of production and consumption. (UNESCO) Some of the challenges in achieving sustainable consumption are: Reccomendations The amount of waste produced by the supermarkets should be controlled and policy should be made to publish the waste generated by the supermarkets. The Whole concept of supermarket should change. The people should make some list for shopping and hand it over to the shopkeeper/salesman so that he will hand over the things you need. By doing so you wont be tempted by the offers like buy one get one free. The online shopping should be encouraged by avoiding tax. Refrigerant leakage accounts for 30 percentage of supermarkets direct GGHG emissions.( Environment investigation agency 2010). There should be some measure to control this pollution. Government should make strong policies and should introduce certain limits to the amount of waste that can be produced by each house. The threshold can be based on the total number of people living in the house. The waste above threshold limit should be fined. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ http://apps.oxfordshire.gov.uk 2) Promoting sustainable consumption: Determinants of green purchases by Swiss consumers Carmen Tanner1,*,   Sybille Wà ¶lfing Kast2 Article first published online: 12 SEP 2003 DOI:  10.1002/mar.10101

Conflict Management Essay -- Business Communication Conflict Mediation

Introduction to conflict The term conflict referred to perceived incompatible differenced resulting in some form of interference or opposition. Conflict is a natural part of organizational life because the goals between mangers and workers are often incompatible. If people perceive that differences exist then conflict state exists. Conflict is not exists between individual only, it also can exist between departments and divisions that compete for resources or even because of overlapped authority. However, conflict is a force that needed to be managed or to be resolved but can not be eliminated. Unless is fully resolved, it may remain latent in the situation as a lingering basis for future conflicts over or related to a same matter. Therefore, true conflict resolution is to eliminate the underlying causes of conflict and reduces the potential for similar conflicts in the future. Moreover, the conflict management was rated as being more important than decisions making, leadership, or communication skills, since the ability to handle conflict was positively related to managerial success. Therefore, the conflict management skills are the most important interpersonal skills a manager needs. Managers struggle daily to effectively manage or resolve conflict. Understanding how the types and sources of conflict differ could how managers in dealing with conflict. The types of the Conflict It is divided into several types sources of the conflict, , they are interpersonal, intargroup and interorganization. Interpersonal conflict is conflict between individual members of an organization, it occurs due to their different goals or values; Intragroup conflict is conflict that arises between a group, team or department, it arises mainly ... ...cuments or records, will be fired. And lawful actions will be taken. 7. Employee who is found lying to superiors will receive a warning letter. 8. Employee should not work for any competing organization, or commit in criminal activities or participate unauthorized strike activities. Otherwise, he or she will be fired immediately. 9. Employees should treat your colleagues politely. 10. Employee who has received over four warning letters in a year will be fired. Conclusion I would establish the above series of grievance and discipline procedure in order to let my employees have a clear picture on my company policies. Furthermore, these procedures let my employees to have a mind of responsibility and a feel of safety. Moreover, any individual who against to follow the discipline procedures of his organization should be punished, and vice versa should be rewarded.

Interview with the vampire :: essays research papers

As you may know, while the film IWTV was in production with David Geffen, the author of the book had no legitimate contact with him or with the studio or with anyone connected with the film. When the announcement was made that Tom Cruise would star as Lestat, I had deep reservations and severe criticisms. So did many many of my readers. I talked openly about this. A curtain thereafter divided me from the entire production, and with reason. Nobody likes to be criticized, and that includes movie people, too. I understand and accept what happened. But to me, movies and books are not like sports. There is no immediate consensus on whether a player had scored a home run or a touch down. So it was okay to speak my mind on the casting, and I don't have any regrets. But to continue... I saw no rough cuts of IWTV; I saw no clips. I went to no screenings. It wasn't until David Geffen, himself took the unusual risk of sending me a VHS tape of the movie, that I saw it. And I approached this tape with a deep fear of being hurt, crushed, disappointed, destroyed by the finished work. When I saw the film on VHS, I came out at once in favor of it, declaring that I loved it. I bought two pages in VARIETY to talk about it in a frank and unedited announcement. No one controlled what I wrote, or had any opportunity to delete any part of it. I loved the film. I said so. I had no idea at the time that the film would be a huge success. I really hoped it would be, but I didn't know. It was so eccentric, so extreme, so weird. I came out in favor of it, fully prepared to sink with it if it failed, that is, to look stupid in my praise of it. I had no other moral and aesthetic choice. I went by the heart. What happened on opening weekend is now history as they say. The movie made about $35 million dollars, and broke all kinds of records to do with seasons and ratings, etc. I don't remember all the details, but it was a luscious American success. And I marveled then and I marvel now. Whatever, I have not up till this date discussed the film in detail publicly. I didn't want to program anyone's response to it.

Comparative Essay: Setting in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘Hedda Gabler’ Essay

Setting can often reflect the underlying ideas in a play. In the light of this statement, consider the importance and use of setting in ‘Hedda Gabler’ and ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ Setting, with all its different uses, is essential in revealing the imprisonment of protagonists and the values of a society in ‘Hedda Gabler’ by Henrik Ibsen and ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams. Both playwrights employ the use of setting in their plays to help reveal underlying ideas, giving the audience an insight to their respective society and the playwright’s purpose of showing how societies are responsible for imprisoning their own people. Williams displays the fortes and the flaws in 1940s New Orleans with his selection of setting. The setting in ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ reveals New Orleans’ carefree and come-and-go attitude. However, the setting also surfaces the city’s lack of compassion. Ibsen uses the setting to display the entrapment enforced on the protagonist. The constant images of imprisonment such as the window are a constant but subtle reminder to the audience that Hedda Gabler is imprisoned by her 19th Norwegian, sexist and propriety orientated society; to which she can have no input to decide her future. The setting used by both playwrights is essential in revealing the imprisonment of their protagonists, the values of a society in their respective plays as the set reveals the context of the play. Tennessee Williams uses his set in A Streetcar Named Desire to show the incongruity of Blanche in 1940s New Orleans, ultimately displaying how she does not belong there. The scene preceding Blanche’s entrance includes Stanley in his ‘blue denim work clothes’ carrying a ‘red stained meat package’ from the butcher. This reflects the appearance of the setting; a poor area of New Orleans, ‘weathered grey’ buildings with ‘faded white stairs’ complemented by a ‘brown river’ flowing nearby. The entrance of Blanche is inconsistent with this set as she is dressed in a ‘white suit with a fluffy bodice’, a ‘pearl necklace’ and carrying a ‘valise’. She is literally incongruous with the setting’. Even her name; Blanche; which suggests purity and cleanliness, doesn’t match the setting. The audience has an instant response in this first scene; Blanche is obviously not appropriate to New Orleans in the 1940s as she is instantly contrasting with everything that is going on around her. Blanche’s first reactions give testament to he audience’s impressions as he is shocked by the house that her sister, Stella, lives in and has to ‘wearily refers to the slip of paper’ to make sure she’s at the right house. This shows that she is not used to this kind of setting at all. As soon as she steps onto the set, Blanche is imprisoned by it. The ‘New America’ presented by the set is a jail for Blanche as she has no idea how things work and how to interact with women and particularly men. It seems that it is a constant barrier for her and she has nowhere to take refuge but her own mind where she speaks ‘faintly to herself’. It is recipe for tragedy. Williams has used his set in scene one to introduce the incarceration that Blanche experiences from the care-free and the come-and-go attitudes in New Orleans which continue until the end of the play. However, Ibsen presents the entrapment of the protagonist; Hedda, in a different way; the proprietary orientated society and setting that she lives in. Hedda Gabler is set in a 19th Norwegian society that is proprietary orientated, in that it values money, social status and is very traditional. Most of all, women are subjugated. This setting is essential in revealing the Hedda’s captivity in her society as it puts what she says and interacts with in context, allowing the audience to understand the gravity of her tragic situation. As Hedda and John Brack are talking, Hedda becomes very bitter about her obviously dull life. Brack starts to frustrate her with his hopeful and wishful thinking about her future, to which she eventually replies while standing ‘over by the glass door’ and ‘looking out’; ‘I’ve only got a gift for one thing in the world†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. For boring myself to death. She realises that in her society she has only two purposes; to marry and to have children. It is clear that she realises this because she knows how boring her life is and she doesn’t do thing about it. It becomes clear to the audience that Hedda is trapped by her own society in that it won’t accept her as a man would be. She knows that there is fun and enjoyment to be had. One would say she can see it thought the ‘glass door’. But this, again, is a barrier for her that she can’t get past. This is what makes Hedda Gabler such a tragic tale; she knows what independence and enjoyment can be had outside the walls of her house (which she never leaves in the entirety of the play), but she cannot escape them. She knows her fate before she can do anything to change it. She is stuck with her boring life because her 19th century Norwegian society will not allow her to blossom. It can be seen that Ibsen uses his setting to allow the audience to put the tragedy of Hedda Gabler into context of what she says in the play, showing her bitter and inevitable imprisonment in her home from the outside world. Common to both plays is the lack of compassion found within their respective societies emphasising the protagonist’s confinement in their societies to the audience. Henrik Ibsen displays the deficiency of sympathy found within the 19th Norwegian society in the ultimate scene of the play. As the climax of the play is reached, Hedda grabs her pistols and tragically shoots herself in the head. The characters representing selective parts of their society would have been expected to show some sympathy for poor Hedda but none is shown. Three characters are present when the suicide takes place; Tesman, Brack and Mrs Elvsted representing the scholars, the law and servant respectively in their society. None of these characters show any sympathy whatsoever to the now lifeless Hedda. Despicably, Brack criticises her actions and exclaims ‘One doesn’t do that kind of thing’. This is a full representation of the lack of compassion in their society as before thinking about feeling sorry for poor Hedda Gabler, Brack exclaims that Hedda has done the wrong thing by the society’s values. From this, the audience can see that society’s values take priority over everything else. This ultimately shows that Hedda had no chance of branching out from her house from the start. It was always going to end this way. Tennessee Williams’ also shows the shortage of empathy towards the protagonist in the ultimate scene. When Blanche’s breakdown is manifested, the characters all around her, each and everyone representing the society and the setting they live in, show hardly any compassion. Of all people who should have been helping Blanche, her sister, decided to call upon a doctor and a matron to take her to a mental institution. This is very confronting for the audience because if an average woman in 1940s New Orleans can’t even show compassion towards her sister and only family left in the world, then who will. In Both plays, this lack of compassion could be the clincher that led to the fate of both protagonists. All Blanch and Hedda ever wanted was just to fit into their respective societies. But the setting didn’t allow them to do so. The setting is ultimately fundamental in revealing the entrapment enforced on both protagonists as the characters representing the setting are able to show the audience the behaviour of their societies; which have deficits in levels of compassion. The setting used by both playwrights is essential in revealing the imprisonment of their protagonists, the values of a society in their respective plays as the set reveals the context of the play. Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire are similar in a way as their respective settings reveal the lack of concern and empathy for their respective societies; this deficiency in sympathy towards the protagonists; Hedda and Blanche ultimately leads to their tragic fates. However, the plays are different in that Blanche’s imprisonment in 1940s New Orleans is presented by her incongruity to the setting and New Orleans’ care-free attitude. Whereas Hedda is imprisoned in 19th century Norway by the social ranked, sexist and proprietary orientated society.

Skewed Unemployment Rate

Define the Problem: The real national unemployment rate is higher than the U. S. Department of Labor’s December figure shows. When the underemployed and discouraged are added to the unemployment numbers, the national unemployed rate rises to 16. 6%. This causes morale to be low and Americans seem to be giving up. Variables Identified by Order of Influence: 1. The government no longer counts people as unemployed when they stop looking for work. The unemployment numbers don’t account for part-time workers or people seeking advanced degrees to improve their chances of landing a higher paying job. 2. More jobs were reported created than were really actually reported. Problem Statement: Unemployment fell by almost half a percentage point in December, dropping the national unemployment rate to 9. 4%, according to figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, January 7, 2011. Unemployment has been high but relatively stable throughout 2010, ranging from 9. 5 to 9. 9%. December’s figure of 9. 4% is the lowest unemployment rate for all of 2010. The official unemployment index, based on a monthly survey of sample households, counts only people who reported looking for work in the past four weeks. The national unemployment rate wrapped up 2010 by significantly dropping to 9. 4 percent in December, the lowest level in 19 months despite a constant 9 percent unemployment rate for 20 months in a row, a new post-World War II record. There are two main reasons for the skewed unemployment numbers. The first key reason for the drop was that the government no longer counts people as unemployed when they stop looking for work. It doesn't account for part-time workers who want to work more hours but can't, given the tight job market. And it doesn't include those who have given up trying to find work. The second reason is that more jobs were reported that were grossed. Meaning jobs were posted but never existed and thus lowered the actual job openings lowering the unemployment rate. It's bad enough that the nation's jobless rate is 9. 4%. But the real national employment rate is even higher than the U. S. Department of Labor's December figure shows. The truth is that even the broader measure of unemployment doesn't fully capture how difficult the job market is for U. S. workers. It doesn't include self-employed workers whose incomes have shriveled. It doesn't look at former full-time employees who have accepted short-term contracts, without benefits, and at a fraction of their former salaries. And it doesn't count the many would-be workers who are going back to school, taking on more debt, in hopes that advanced degrees will improve their chances of landing jobs. The purpose of this report is to discover and offer a solution; if for no other reason, to provide a better education on how the U. S. Department of Labor manipulates the actual employment rate. Definition of Terms BLS- Bureau of Labor Statistics Corporate Outsourcing- Creation of jobs overseas by American businesses. Literature Review Many researchers have studied statistics of unemployment, available jobs, and causes related to the influx of unemployment in recent years. The following resources were very interesting and useful for my research. (IStockAnaylais. com, New Haven Register) This source discusses the issues regarding job growth over the last 2 years. Wall Street views this report as that the job expectations fell short of everyone’s expectations and the unemployment rate was likely skewed by seasonal factors. Public jobs grew at a steady rate but the government slashed many jobs due to congressional mandates set at an earlier time period. Work hours were also mentioned throughout my research of this article. Shorter work weeks having many worthy job seekers and economists scared and with the decline work hours many are starting to stay in panic mode. This article touched many key points regarding the number unemployed as well as the averages associated with the overall hours worked in a normal work week. (Newsday. om) Provide me with handy research data. I found this article to be instrumental for my research. This article covered the overall drop in the unemployment rate and it’s significant in ones respect because a falling unemployment rate during the job market recovery has often just reflected a rise in the number of discouraged workers – those unemployed people who have given up looking for a job and thus aren't included in the unemployment rate. Economist cautioned no t to expect too much too fast and to stay upbeat. The article also mentioned the difference between the recessions, stating this period was different because of the low amount of work hours involved. According to the article many Americans were involuntary forced to work part-time and counted as employed. Factor in these involuntarily underemployed workers plus the burgeoning number of discouraged job seekers, and California's real unemployment rate is 20%. Many people have been unemployed for lengthy periods of time and have giving up all hope. These people were also not reported in the overall national unemployment rate. EmployeeIssues. com) reported the unemployment rate does not include workers who are involuntarily working only part time and with fewer benefits, if any, such as no health, disability or life insurance, because they can’t find full-time jobs or their work hours were cut. The article went into detail regarding how much the average part-times wages were and how people were unable to maintain adequate healthc are coverage for their immediate families. The article went on to say the unemployment rate also does not include â€Å"marginally-attached† unemployed workers. The BLS does not count them in the official rate because they stopped looking for work, for reasons such as school attendance, family matters or their collective perception that there simply are no jobs. With the average person collecting unemployment for 26 weeks the article countered that by giving numbers more in the 33 week range for collecting benefits. There were many factors involved with work hours and other limiting issues covered within this article which supported my research. (Examineer. com) contained valuable information vital to my research. Some major issues were discussed within this article to include one final example of the disconnect between government reporting and the reality of the situation comes in the world of Unemployment Insurance. In many states across the union, unemployment benefits have been extended to unprecedented lengths. In Michigan, one could maintain their benefits for more than two years depending upon their circumstance. However, normal unemployment benefits are granted in intervals of 26 weeks for those who held the same position for one year. Here is the denominator to this equation. Anyone who has been collecting unemployment benefits for more than 26 weeks will not be counted among the unemployed. Thus, those who are still receiving state benefits in their 27th week are considered ‘out of the labor force' or 'employed'. Summary The issue that comes to the forefront of the debate on the reality of unemployment in the United States is that of honesty in government disclosures, the ability to skew statistics to create false optimism among the populace and the overall contradiction of cumulative job losses against a declining rate of unemployment. To understand this fully, one must understand how the government classifies citizens in their surveying as well as the political implications associated with this monthly report. There are millions of people out there without jobs, who have exhausted their benefits, who are simply not being counted. The above resources will help me determine the actual cause and how it will impact the struggling economy’s advancement towards a manageable workforce and improved lifestyle. Report the Findings Many researchers have studied statistics of unemployment, available jobs, and causes related to the influx of unemployment in the recent years. The following resources were very interesting and useful for my research. The Labor Department's statistics don't include the underemployed and those who have stopped looking for work. This alternative measure creates a much higher number. The federal government uses metric analysis to determine unemployment numbers each month, and sometimes per week. However, those metrics are skewed by political anomalies put in to try to make the numbers fit the agenda. For example, the nefarious birth/death rate assumptions which have no true basis for statistics, but in reality keep the numbers low to form a more positive or less negative outlook on unemployment. According to (Newsday. com) the overall drop in the unemployment rate was significant in one respect because a falling unemployment rate during the job market recovery has often just reflected a rise in the number of discouraged workers – those unemployed people who have given up looking for a job and thus aren't included in the unemployment rate. But this was not the case so much in December 2010. We're on a growth path,† said Ken Goldstein, economist for The Conference Board, a Manhattan business research group. But he cautioned not to expect too much, too fast. â€Å"It has gone up a lot because a lot of people have been put on short hours,† said economist Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization. â€Å"And there are a lot of discouraged workers. † Shortened work hours are, in fact, one of the ways this recession is different from the ones in the early 1980s and early 1990s, Burtless said. Another difference is the huge number of people who have been permanently laid off. â€Å"Some people have lost their income altogether, and others have seen a drop in hours even if they remain employed,† Burtless said. â€Å"It was a double whammy for labor income. † The two trends are especially apparent in California, where the official unemployment rate is 12. 6%. Severe layoffs in early 2009 wiped out 100,000 jobs a month, according to Michael S. Bernick, a research fellow at the Milken Institute and a former head of California's labor department. The number of people working less than 35 hours a week has exploded. The recession has left 1. 5 million Californians involuntarily working part time, though they are classified as employed. Factor in these involuntarily underemployed workers plus the burgeoning number of discouraged job seekers, and California's real unemployment rate is 20%. Another difference in this recession — and a likely reason for the high number of discouraged job seekers — is the number of people who have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. The Wall Street Journal) reports that 7 million Americans have been looking for work for 27 weeks or more, and the majority of them — 4. 7 million — have been out of work for a year or more. California, the number out of work more than 27 weeks is almost 900,000, more than the population of San Francisco. â€Å"That largely reflects how more severe this recession has been than of 1982 and of the 1990s,† said Bernick, who has worked in the job-training field since the late 1970s. Now, although severe layoffs are no longer occurring, hiring has not picked up significantly, the labor market is still very, very slow,† Bernick said. â€Å"Each job (opening) brings tens, usually hundreds, of applicants. † According to (EmployeeIssues. com) â€Å"The unemployment rate does not include workers who are involuntarily working only part time and with fewer benefits, if any, such as no health, disability or life insurance, because they can’t find full-time jobs or their work hours were cut. Counting part-timers and full-timers, the average workweek in December was unchanged from November at 4. 3 hours. Average hourly earnings increased by 3 cents to $22. 78. † The unemployment rate also does not include â€Å"marginally-attached† unemployed workers. The BLS does not count them in the official rate because they stopped looking for work, for reasons such as school attendance, family matters or their collective perception that there simply are no jobs. The number of involuntarily part-timers was around 8. 9 million in December, down from about 9. 1 a year earlier. The number of marginally-attached unemployed workers was a little over 2. 6 million, up from about 2. million in December 2009. Among the marginally-attached, about 1. 3 million were so-called â€Å"discouraged workers† who gave up looking for work due to their shared perception that there are no jobs, about the same as in November but up by about 389,000 from a year ago. The BLS counted a total of about 14. 5 million workers as unemployed in December, down by 556,000 from November and thus, why the unemployment rate dropped from 9. 8 to 9. 4 percent. The average period of unemployment was 34. 2 weeks, up from 33. 9 in November and 29. 3 a year ago. The number of long-term unemployed workers, those who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, increased from about 6. 3 to 6. 4 million in December, accounting for 44. 3 percent of the unemployed workers that the BLS counted as such. State unemployment benefits typically last only 26 weeks without state or federal extensions. The job growth, while encouraging, did not match economists' expectation that the nation would have added 150,000 to 200,000 jobs last month. Hopes were high, especially after payroll and staffing firm ADP reported earlier this week the economy added 279,000 last month. We underperformed a bit on the job front,† Donald Klepper-Smith, chief economist at Data Core Partners in New Haven, said of the government report. Job figures and the unemployment rate come from surveys of businesses and households. â€Å"The numbers which carry more weight are the job numbers, by far,† Klepper-Smith said. â€Å"It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs. † The une mployment rate, meanwhile, likely was skewed by seasonal factors in December, he said, since â€Å"there is no good justification fundamentally for a four-tenths-of-a-point decline. According to the (Examiner. com) one final example of the disconnect between government reporting and the reality of the situation comes in the world of Unemployment Insurance. In many states across the union, unemployment benefits have been extended to unprecedented lengths. In Michigan, one could maintain their benefits for more than two years depending upon their circumstance. However, normal unemployment benefits are granted in intervals of 26 weeks for those who held the same position for one year. Here is the denominator to this equation. Anyone who has been collecting unemployment benefits for more than 26 weeks will not be counted among the unemployed. Thus, those who are still receiving state benefits in their 27th week are considered ‘out of the labor force' or 'employed'. Explanation of Findings What these findings paint is an unrealistic picture, continuing claims and the jobless rate help provide a snapshot of the overall condition of employment. While the jobless rate can, over time, somewhat track the more prominent unemployment rate found in the monthly labor report produced by the BLS, it has its flaws. The Labor Department provides the following explanation: â€Å"Some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed. † That is, they're not counted as unemployed, but likely would be in the BLS report. Therefore, fluctuations in the jobless rate might not necessarily be reflective of what the trend in the unemployment rate will look like in the monthly labor report. Initial claims data are used to detect emerging employment trends. Outsized gains garner attention because they suggest looming employment weakness, which could spread to the rest of the economy. Outsized decreases imply impending employment strength. This data series is volatile. Extreme weather conditions create commensurate extremes in the data. This can happen for two reasons: either weather conditions prevented people from filing, or it temporarily or permanently put them out of work. Seasonal adjustments sometimes do an inadequate job of capturing seasonal changes. It can take several weeks for the data to be considered representative of what's really going on in the economy. The unemployment rate is calculated as (# of unemployed people)/ (# of unemployed + # of employed people) as calculated by the surveys run by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (assuming you're in the US, most developed countries have similar statistical bureaus that run similar surveys). I haven't checked what the BLS definition is, but in Australia unemployed means that you were actively seeking work or were waiting to start work – the idea being that this excludes people who are unable to work, or retired, or otherwise wouldn't get jobs even if there were jobs to get. In that sense, the unemployment rate has nothing to do with how many jobs there are out there to lose. However, the movement in the unemployment rate could certainly reduce not because the economy is improving but because it can't get any worse. Also, there's some argument over the definition of â€Å"employed†, since international convention allows for anyone who worked at least one hour to count as employed, meaning that people with part-time or casual jobs with very few hours would be able to work more hours if they were available may be â€Å"underemployed† (which is not measured in the unemployment rate). Recommendation for Change There are millions of people out there without jobs, who have exhausted their benefits, who are simply not being counted so the government can look like heroes. I suggest all people who have exhausted benefits write their congressman so they can be counted. If the people don't speak up, then nothing will be done. Nothing is getting better. There are no jobs (unless you are in the health care field), and the economy still stinks. A simple solution would be for the state to continue having people who are unemployed to claim weeks online even after benefits are exhausted. This would require a simple upgrade to the state's already-existing database, to include ineligible claimants as well. If all states did the same, a true jobless figure could be attained, and the seriousness of the problem would be brought to light. Corporate outsourcings of American jobs are what have hurt our country's financial infrastructure, nothing else. If we don't stop them now, it may not be our country anymore in the future. The people need to wake up and start writing. Don't believe the drivel they feed us every day!