Marketing research and market evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing research and market evaluation - Essay Example An online focus group is one type of research method, particularly falling under focus groups which makes use of the internet, thus people do not meet physically but are able to exchange ideas and converse through conferencing software (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). In particular, this is how it is done: "A moderator invites prescreened, qualified respondents who represent the target of interest to log on to conferencing software at a pre-arranged time and to take part in an online focus group. Some researchers will offer incentives for participatingbut this raises a number of ethical questions. Discussions generally last one hour to 90 minutes. The moderator guides the discussion using a combination of predetermined questions and unscripted probes. In the best discussions, as with face to face groups, respondents interact with each other as well as the moderator in real time to generate deeper insights about the topic" (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). Some consider online focus group as a breakthrough in conducting market research and is found to be an effective way to lead the select groups to a more in-depth discussion about the topic on hand (BioInformatics, LLC ). This is so as both clients and respondent participants can comfortably participate from their own office or home. This then allows for a greater number of participants and extends the geographic scope of possible participants world wide (Insights Online). Online focus group is a relatively new way of conducting market research. It is one of the innovations brought by an increase in the use of technology. The online focus group is seen to be an alternative to the traditional face-to-face focus group done for the same purpose of market research. "Online focus groups are appropriate for consumer research, business to business research and political research. Interacting over the web avoids a significant amount of travel expense. It allows respondents from all over the world to gather, electronically for a more representative sample. Often respondents open up more online than they would in person, which is valuable for sensitive subjects. Like in-person focus groups, online groups are usually limited to 8-10 participants" (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.). Basically the methodology observed is this: clients are able to observe the focus group while it is in session. They can also communicate with the moderator; therefore can influence the direction to which the discussion leads without necessarily interrupting the session. Since participants type their own responses, there is no room transcription errors are completely avoided. (Insights Online). Online Focus Groups are conducted in the following step-by-step process: 1. Develop screener and discussion guide. 2. Program screener into HTML/CGI format. (if neccessary) 3. Screen/recruit participants for desired qualifications. (if neccessary) 4. Moderate the Online Focus Group session with client observers. 5. Provide transcript. (normally within 24 hours after group session) 6. Provide topline report. (normally within one week after closing survey) 7. Compile final written or oral presentation. Source: Insights Online Some view online focus group as advantageous compared to the more traditional market research methods. In summary, online focus group has the following advantages: Responses are more objective. Respondents participating in online focus

Charles de Gaulle Airport Roof Collapse

Charles de Gaulle Airport Roof Collapse Table of Contents Title Page 1 Abstract 2 TOC 3 Introduction 4 Relevant sections 5 Conclusion 8 References ( Work Cited) 9 The Charles de Gaulle Airport collapse was one of the most expensive in repairs, the initial project was already a stunning 900 million dollars. The airport was located in Paris, France and was a hotspot for tourists and other visitors as many amusement parks, food places, etc were just minutes away. On May 23, 2004, disaster would strike on terminal 2E as the roof collapsed, killing 4 people and injuring 3 others. When investigated by law enforcement and other fellow engineers, faults in the design were found, because the project was rushed and safety measures were a bit ignored. Another reason for the collapse was found to be due to thermal expansion, the warm metal structure expanded and contracted as the temperature went from high 70s to the low 30s that same morning, loosening the grip and support as it suddenly cooled down and shrank, causing the collapse. Introduction In the early 2000s , a nine-hundred million dollar project was going to be introduced to the city of   Paris, France. The project designer was Paul Andreu, the one in charge of how smooth and crisp this project was going to turn out. This is known as the Charles de Gaulle Airport, an airport that at the time and still today is considered being one of the largest in the world, holding seventeen planes and had the capacity to hold 10,000,000 passengers a year, and on a daily basis transported roughly two-hundred thousand   passengers. This airport was a huge success, there were so many tourist attractions minutes away, which made the airport a hot spot for visitors, a very excellent place to locate this airport. The Charles de Gaulle Airport consisted of three layers of material, the outer layer consisted of plate glass, giving the structure a very modern look at the time. The middle layer was made up of metal supports, a very good choice for materials to hold and make this buildin g sturdy. And lastly the inner layer, or the inside was composed of concrete blocks that would help support the metal supports. Many who entered the airport were stunned at the scenery, a very modern yet futuristic look, that when waiting for a next flight, which would often be a couple of hours, would be an enjoyable place to wait, relax, and enjoy the scenery. A couple of months had passed since the construction of the airport, and people were calling it a jewel from France, as it showed off French engineering skill and in a way, a sense of style. Relevant Sections On the oddly cold morning of May 23, 2004, catastrophe would have a toll on the Charles de Gaulle Airport located near Paris, France. It was early in the morning, around 7 am, when a few tourists heard cracking like sounds and noticed small clouds of dust coming down from the ceiling, and then, it collapsed. Down came the roof, tons of concrete fell leaving a huge gap in the terminal. Each square foot weighed about 60 pounds, the width of the terminal was 100 and counting feet, so trying to imagine how much weight could have fallen on a person is something you do not want to think about. As the concrete roof gave out, it fell flat to the ground killing 4 people and injuring 3. Terminal 2E had crumbled to the ground! This took many people by surprise because it had not even been its anniversary yet, it had only been active for 11 months when the tragedy happened. For now, that is all people knew about the accident, nobody knew how this could have happened and what the cause was. Furth er investigation was still to take place, and people anxiously waited to see what the police and other investigators could dig out from this. Investigation During investigation and various interviews, local engineers and also the police came to the conclusion that the problems did not come from a freak accident, but they did lead back to the faulty designs in the terminal. It was found that cautionary measures were not taken in mind during the design. A stunning find was that the opening of the terminal was delayed a day after a  chandelier fell because of the moving in the ceiling. This made people want to learn more and the investigations were taken deeper into the case. Findings and Recommendations On May 23, 2004, a catastrophe that would leave many French stunned and those in neighboring countries occurred as terminal 2E of the Charles De Gaulle Airport fell to the ground, killing 4 and injuring 3. Faulty and rushed designs were to blame, and more research and causes were yet to be found. Deep into the investigation already, it was pointed out that the metal structures were inserted too deep into the concrete blocks, causing the cracking in the roof. At the same time , this cracking weakened the roof, causing it to collapse. However, something else was found to be a cause of the collapse. The metal structure was constantly hot, which made it expand, and as mentioned before, the temperature had drastically dropped from around 73 degrees fahrenheit all the way down to around 38 degrees. This meant that at one point the metal was flexible as it was warm , but as soon as the temperature dropped quickly, it made the metal shrink back as it tried to straighten out, loosening the gr ip on the already cracked concrete blocks and causing it   all to plunge to the ground. Impact on Engineering Practices Ever since engineers heard about the incident, many have really taken their time handling workers to do the jobs done and right. They have also insured that their plans and sketches are accurate and are always safe after the construction is done. Peoples safety and well being is now  a must while developing and constructing buildings that are enormous and cost so much money. People should feel safe when boarding a new state of the art plane or entering a brand new future like building. Someones life should never be at risk because an engineer or architect etc failed to see a safety hazard. In conclusion, the Charles de Gaulle Airport disaster was not so bad in the amount of victims suffered. However it was useful for many architects and engineers as they learned to analyze more carefully and ensure the safety of those who would be involved in their building or structure. To ensure that this wouldnt happen again, it was decided to rebuild the entire structure and this time , without using the heavy tons of concrete. They opted to use glass and metal sheeting and for the structures the metal was still the 1st option. Now the terminal and the rest of the airport has been rebuilt and is as successful as it had been before. Https://www.facebook.com/JackieCravenWrites. Why Did the Charles-de-Gaulle Airport Terminal Collapse? About.com Home. N.p., 24 Apr. 2016. Web. 21 Dec. 2016. Rubric rating submitted on: 12/21/2016, 12:47:19 PM by [emailprotected] 10 5 0 Title Page    Your score: 5 x Present not done Table of Contents    Your score: 5 x Present not done Abstract    Your score: 10 Present not done Introduction    Your score: 5 x Background    Your score: 10 Present not done Investigation    Your score: 7 Present not done Findings    Your score: 10 Present not done Impact    Your score: 10 Present not done Conclusion    Your score: 5 x not done References    Your score: 5 References included no references Notes    Your score: 0 Notes recorded no notes 6 Content Pages    Your score: 7 filled 6 pages 3 content pages no contents pages Comments: [1]should be after the table of contents and shorter see if you can get it down to 4-5 sentences

Betty Smith :: essays research papers

Betty Smith Betty Smith was born Elisabeth Wehner on December 15, 1896. The daughter of German immigrants, she grew up poor in Brooklyn, a world where she re-creates in â€Å" A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.† Wehner later on married fellow Brooklynite George H.E. Smith, where they moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he was a law student at the University of Michigan. The bride son had two daughters, Nancy and Mary, and had to wait until the girls entered school before endeavoring to complete her own education. Although Smith never finished high school, she was permitted to take classes at the university, she focused on her studies in journalism, drama, writing and literature. Smith showing off her knowledge won the Avery Hopkins Award for work in drama, and had a three-year course in playwriting at the Yale Drama School. After writing features for a Detroit newspaper, reading plays for the Federal Theatre Project, and acting in summer stock, Smith than moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina under the favors of the W.P.A. She and her first husband divorced in 1938. In 1943, she married Joe Jones, a writer, journalist, and associate editor of the Chapel Hill Weekly, while he was serving as a private in the wartime army. That same year, â€Å" A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,† her first novel, was published. The prestige of writing a best-selling, critically lauded a book brought assignments from the New York Times Magazine, which she wrote both light-hearted and serious commentary. In a December 1943 piece called â€Å"Why Brooklyn is that Way,† Smith shown the core of her childhood borough’s unofficial champion. Although most readers remembered for the amazing success of that first book, Smith wrote other novels, including Tomorrow Will Be Better, Maggie-Now, and Joy in the Morning.

Ravindra Nath Tagore

The youngest of thirteen surviving children, Tagore was born in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta (now Kolkata) of parents Debendranath Tagore (1817–1905) and Sarada Devi (1830–1875).? [†º][11] Tagore family patriarchs were the Brahmo founding fathers of the Adi Dharm faith. He was mostly raised by servants, as his mother had died in his early childhood; his father travelled extensively. [12] Tagore largely declined classroom schooling, preferring to roam the mansion or nearby idylls: Bolpur, Panihati, and others. 13][14] Upon his upanayan initiation at age eleven, Tagore left Calcutta on 14 February 1873 to tour India with his father for several months. They visited his father's Santiniketan estate and stopped in Amritsar before reaching the Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie. There, young â€Å"Rabi† read biographies and was home-educated in history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the poetry of Kalidasa. [15][16] He completed major works in 1877, one a long poem of the Maithili style pioneered by Vidyapati.Published pseudonymously, experts accepted them as the lost works of Bhanusi? ha, a newly discovered? [†º] 17th-century Vai ava poet. [17] He wrote â€Å"Bhikharini† (1877; â€Å"The Beggar Woman†Ã¢â‚¬â€the Bengali language's first short story)[18][19] and Sandhya Sangit (1882)—including the famous poem â€Å"Nirjharer Swapnabhanga† (â€Å"The Rousing of the Waterfall†). A prospective barrister, Tagore enrolled at a public school in Brighton, East Sussex, England in 1878.He read law at University College London, but left school to explore Shakespeare and more: Religio Medici, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra;[20] he returned degreeless to Bengal in 1880. On 9 December 1883 he married Mrinalini Devi (born Bhabatarini, 1873–1902); they had five children, two of whom died before reaching adulthood. [21] In 1890, Tagore began managing his family's vast estates in Shilaidaha, a region now in Bangladesh; he was joined by his wife and children in 1898. In 1890, Tagore released his Manasi poems, among his best-known work. 22] As â€Å"Zamindar Babu†, Tagore criss-crossed the holdings while living out of the family's luxurious barge, the Padma, to collect (mostly token) rents and bless villagers, who held feasts in his honour. [23] These years—1891–1895: Tagore's Sadhana period, after one of Tagore’s magazines—were his most fecund. [12] During this period, more than half the stories of the three-volume and eighty-four-story Galpaguchchha were written. [18] With irony and gravity, they depicted a wide range of Bengali lifestyles, particularly village life.

The Epic of Gilgamesh: Values, & Serpents vs. Bible

The True Value of Life Sometimes, in order for you to change, it takes losing something so dear to you. This is proven in one of the oldest stories ever written, â€Å"The Epic of Gilgamesh†. Although the main plot is focused on Gilgamesh losing is closest friend and going on a journey of immortality, by studying Gilgamesh’s idea of avoiding death, we can see throughout the story that death is inevitable, lack of humility is an issue, and the symbol of the serpent. Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, is a mighty king that built magnificent temple towers and high walls that surrounded the city.However, he came about these building projects by forced labor. The gods heard the people of Uruk’s pleas, so the gods created Enkidu, who is just as magnificent as Gilgamesh, to challenge him. The gods’ plan took a different turn when the two became best of friends. Gilgamesh’s happy adventurous life soon takes a tragic turn when Enkidu falls ill and dies. Gilgamesh now fears for his own life. Heartbroken, Gilgamesh sets out on a journey to find the key to eternal life. His journey leads him to Utnapishtim, who he and his family’s lives were spared by Ea, the god of wisdom, from the flood.As a result of this, Enlil, the god of earth, rewards Utnapishtim with eternal life. Gilgamesh assumes Utnapishtim can grant him eternal life as well, so he puts him to a test. Gilgamesh has to stay awake for a week; this is a trick because immortals don’t ever sleep. Gilgamesh immediately fails. As a second chance Utnapishtim gives him a plant of youth. On his journey back home a snake steals the plant while Gilgamesh is in the pond. Gilgamesh returns to Uruk empty handed; however, he returns as a different man. The greatest lesson Gilgamesh learns is that death is inescapable.Siduri, the goddess of wine disguised as the tavern keeper, warns him of seeking immortality. â€Å"As for you, Gilgamesh, let your belly be full, make merry day and nigh t. Of each day make a feast of rejoicing. Day and night dance and play! Let your garments be sparkling fresh, your head be washed; bathe in water. Pay heed to a little one that holds on to your hand, let a spouse delight in your bosom† (Tablet X). This is her telling him it would be pointless and to just enjoy what he has in his life now. It was Enkidu’s fate to die as a consequence after him and Gilgamesh killed the Bull of Heaven.Gilgamesh realizes in the end that it is also man’s fate to die, as it is for humankind to live on. Death is inevitable and immortality is promised only to the gods. Life must be treasured. Life isn’t worth living if you don’t take what is has to offer, for death will come faster than you know. Gilgamesh may have started his quest as two-thirds god and one-third man, but he returned as a man, realizing his own inevitable mortality. From being two-thirds god and one-third man, Gilgamesh is destined for perfection. He is bl essed with the luxurious life and all the riches he could possibly want.Unfortunately his greatest flaw is his arrogance and lack of humility. Gilgamesh was created by the gods to be perfect in every way. However, the gods couldn’t prepare him for life, its challenges, and how to be a true king. Gilgamesh lived like a god amongst his people and was hated for it because he didn’t care about anyone but himself. The gods didn’t know what to do with Gilgamesh’s life so they sent Enkidu which gave him true friendship. Gilgamesh started in the story as a cruel king that used forced labor to build his kingdom and would rape women.He would do whatever he wanted to do and get who and whatever he wanted. He was loathed by his people. The first transition to his change was Enkidu. They both became heroes. When his journey ends he returns to his kingdom as a new selfless man who thinks no more than do right by his people. Serpents play similar but at the same time di fferent roles in Gilgamesh and the Bible. In the story of Gilgamesh the serpent changes Gilgamesh’s perception of life. After his long quest he is given an herb that restores his youth. He hasn’t yet used it when a snake steals it.Though the snake robs Gilgamesh of his chance to enjoy youth again, it restores Gilgamesh’s sanity. The snake is a benefit. Gilgamesh now carries back the gift of wisdom. He now focuses on what is in front of him and doesn’t take life for granted. In the Bible, the serpent is a source of evil that brought life-long punishment to humankind. The serpent tempts Adam and Eve to disobeying God into taking what rightfully belongs to God – knowledge. As punishment, God exiles Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and brands them as sinners.The serpent stole their innocence, so in a way the serpent brought both death and knowledge into the world. As descendent of Adam and Eve we also hold the name as a sinner. â€Å"This is the w all of Uruk, which no city on earth can equal. See how its ramparts gleam like copper in the sun. Climb the stone staircase, more ancient than the mind can imagine a temple that no king has equaled in size or beauty, walk on the wall of Uruk, follow its course around the city, inspect its mighty foundations examine its brickwork, how masterfully it is built, observe the land it encloses† (Book XI).Shortly before Gilgamesh’s eyes truly opened he was in despair because he lost his opportunity of immortality when he lost the plant of youth. In the end as he looked upon his kingdom he established wisdom. He realized that death cannot be avoided, and he became a humble king. If it wasn’t for the serpent he would still be the arrogant king he was and he wouldn’t have gain this knowledge. If the serpent didn’t bring along the idea of eating off the tree of knowledge, Adam and Eve would still be in the Garden of Eden and wouldn’t have the knowledge o f the world.