The purpose for graduate education - BGSU.pdf
Please read the article linked above and discuss: What is the purpose
for graduate education. Please read the attachment and discuss on the
TEXT format NOT attachment.
The purpose of graduate education is more than just taking a few classes, but to encourage students to
become leaders within their perspective fields. A graduate education is meant for students to not only
take their classes, but to tackle whatever else that their life throws in front of them and perform with
flying colors. Graduate students must be here to learn and not just be here to get a degree, otherwise
they will not be a successful graduate student.
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Please access the following site to read an article called "What Makes a Successful
Online Student?". Discuss the topic in the discussion board in "Being an Online
Student" forum.
http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/resources/tutorials/pedagogy/StudentProfile.asp
This is a good article discussing the pros and cons of being in an online course. Everything seems to be
spot on with my experiences while taking online courses. Especially the part where students need to
want to be there, because it is very easy to get behind in an online course, and once you're behind on
the topics, it's very hard to get caught back up. The part about an online class not being any easier than
a traditional in-class course is exactly correct in my experiences. Many of my online courses have been
the hardest classes for me because I literally have to teach myself a lot of the material without having
the luxury of having a professor helping out.
Please read the syllabus that is posted on the Syllabus section of the BB
and react to it. Please engage in a very objective discussion regarding
the course syllabus. Please speak out NOW!
The syllabus looks fine to me. I know the objectives of the course from reading it.
Please read the article at:
http://nait.org/jit/Articles/scarborough011802.pdf and react to it
(discuss).
This article explains that corporations are becoming much larger and more complex, therefore
competition between prospective leadership positions is becoming much higher. The author makes the
statement that the belief that leaders are born and not made is no longer true. Leaders can be made
much easier if they lack experience, because it is easier to learn than it is to unlearn. The article lists the
SuperLeadership Theory and how it was used within the authors study of transformation leadership. The
author continues and gives implications of this study within an IT program.
Please carefully review the evaluation method and discuss the grading values.
It is the time for you to ask questions. We will make learning FUN.
A.
Grading Values:
Points
Quizzes
15%
Group projects
15%
Individual projects, review, interview, and report
15%
Portfolios
5%
Final exam
15%
Research project
35%
Maximum points
100%
The grading system looks fine to me. I can handle this structure. I'd also like to know the number of
individual and group projects too.
As area sales manager of a company
manufacturing and marketing outboard
engines, you have been assigned the
responsibility of conducting a research study
to estimate the sales potential of your
products in the domestic (U.S. or Canadian)
market. Discuss key issues and concerns
arising from the fact that you, the manager,
are also the researcher.
As a sales manager for a company who is also in charge of doing a research study, I am going to have a
few concerns about performing this study to the best of my ability. First of all, is actually conducting the
research. I'm a sales manager, I do not normally do any kind of research of this type, so maybe I don't
know exactly how to go about solving this problem and acquiring the information to solve this problem.
If I was somehow able to collect the data, then what? I wouldn't know what to do after I have it. I would
have to gather information on how to use the data I collected. Secondly, good researchers always begin
a project with an open mind about what they may or may not discover in the data. As a sales manager,
I'm going to have some idea about how the results would conclude, or think that I may have an idea.
This is not good for a researcher.
Explain and differentiate between Omnibus studies and
Syndicated research?
An omnibus study is a survey concerned with asking questions on many non-related things to a large
population to get a clear representative sample. They allow multiple clients to post question within the
same survey to reduce the cost of research, especially for those clients who have a very minute number
of questions that wouldn't normally make for a complete survey.
Syndicated research is normally a much larger scale research project that is conducted by a market
research company.This company asks all of the question on the survey and then sells the results to
multiple clients.
List defining characteristics of the Scientific Method
(Research)
From the textbook, the steps of the scientific method are:
1. Identifying a problem that defines the goal of one's quest
2. Positing a hypothesis that, if confirmed, resolves the problem
3. Gathering data relevant to the hypothesis
4. Analyzing and interpreting the data to see whether they support the hypothesis and resolve the
question that initiated the research
If the scientific method is done correctly and following all of the steps, then the researcher shall be able
to make conclusive statements about the study without any preconceived notions about the outcome.
You have received a research report done by a
consultant for your firm, a life insurance
company. The study is a survey of morale in
the home office and covers the opinions of
about 500 secretaries and clerks plus about
100 executives and actuaries. You are asked
to comment on its quality. What will you look
for?
First, I would take note that this study was based off of 4 different groups of workers within the life
insurance company. These are different jobs which are probably located in different parts of the
building, so the morale in these different sections are probably different. I also noted that there are not
equal representation of the workers, 500 secretaries and clerks, but only 100 executives and actuaries.
Since these are not equal, it would be hard to determine exactly which section of workers has low or
high morale within the firm, unless the results are separated instead of combined.
The new president of an old, established
company is facing a problem. The company is
currently unprofitable and is, in the president’s
opinion, operating inefficiently. The company
sells a wide line of equipment and supplies to
the dairy industry. Some items it
manufactures, and many it wholesales to
dairies, creameries, and similar plants.
Because the industry is changing in several
ways, survival will be more difficult in the
future. In particular, many equipment
companies are bypassing the wholesalers and
selling directly to dairies. In particular, many
equipment companies are bypassing the
wholesalers and selling directly to dairies. In
addition, many of the independent dairies are
being taken over by large food chains. How
might research help the new president make
the right decisions? In answering this question,
consider the areas of marketing and finance as
well as the whole company.
Research could help in this situation. We know the problem, now we need a solution. First of all we can
divide our initial problem into several subproblems such as 1.) How to beat competition from selling
directly to dairies. 2.) Since many independent dairies are being taken over by food chains, can we get a
contract with these food chains. 3.) Can we improve our manufacturing processes to make better
equipment. 4.) If we do anything at all will our financial situation be out of hand? These are just
example, the list can go on. By separated this one problem, we can divide this into much more
manageable smaller problems. Whenever we resolve these smaller problems, we could find a solution
to the original problem on what to do with this old established company.
You are manager of the Midwestern of a major corporation,
supervising five animal feed plants scattered over four states.
Corporate headquarters asks you to conduct an investigation
to determine whether any of these plants should be closed,
expanded, moved, or reduced. Is there a possible conflict
between your roles as research and manager? Explain.
As a researcher and a manager, there will be some conflict in the two roles. Researchers only have to
interpret the data, they don't have to make the final decisions about the company which could
essentially help or hurt the company. Managers have a lot of pressure to make sure that their decisions
are the best for the company, otherwise, they could be out of a job. Since I'm the researcher and
manager and I find that one of the plants is making a lot of profit and would need to be expanded, since
I'm the manager and I make that call to expand this plant, and it turns out to be a flop, sole
responsibility is on me, because I was the researcher and the manager. On the other hand, if I, the
researcher found out that the plant needed expanding, but I had this thought in the back of my mind
that maybe the expansion might be a flop and cost the company a lot of money, I might reject the idea
of expansion, just because that thought is lingering in my mind.
If I determine that the plant needs moved or relocated or even closed, then as a manager this would be
hard because of what a lot of others have said, because the workers would need to move, or be
dismissed from their jobs. This is always a tough decision for managers, because no one wants to be the
guy that lost hundreds of jobs for people.
What is research? Why should there be any question about
the definition of research?
Research is a systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information in order to
increase our understanding of a phenomenon about which we are interested of concerned. There
should be a question about the definition of research because many people misinterpret the exact
definition of research. Research is simply not information gathering and I am sure that many people
assume that this is what research is. Simply looking up answers online or in books is mere information
gathering, we must interpret this information to our specific uses to be able to call it Research.
Go to the Announcement Section, Click on the link for article,
Digitization and Graphic Communication .............". Read and review the article
and post your critical review on Literature, Methodology, Findings, and
Summary.
To make a long story short, this article explains the ever advancing technology that businesses need to
keep up to date with in order to stay with the times and run a successful business. If new technology can
be purchased to save money for the business, then buy it, but there is always the risk that a newer
technology will come out before the last one could be used to make a profit. Since technology is always
changing and getting better, people need to remain up to date with the latest technology and how to
use it. People skilled in the latest technology will almost always have a job, they just have to keep doing
research every so often to make sure that they are up to date with the latest.
Please carefully study the linked document below on "graduate
research" and discuss your understanding of the topic on this thread.
Reflection On Forum II
The instructor is pleased to review your more than 20 pages of responses,
comments, discussions on Forums I and II. Please do not consider the
DB questions, issues and topics as a TEST. The instructor doesn't grade you
based on right OR wrong answers, your informed discussions are important.
The instructor encourages you to review the assigned literature, join the
discussions and engage in intellectual conversations. Although we do not copy
other classmate's work, we should react to it, agree or disagree, make comments.
As I grade the DB work, I look at the level of your work, the depth of your
knowledge and your involvement. The instructor doesn't encourage isolated
responses as in many exams. The instructor encourages joint discussions. This is
not a TEST that you respond to questions and leave the Forum, you shall
continue to react to other participants.
This article included a lot about the first chapter of our book, including what Is and what Is Not
research. I particularly liked the last section of this article which talked about the employment
market of science and technology graduates, since this directly applies to us. An important factor
in choosing a graduate degree program is the possibility of work afterwards. This article states
that it is predicted that a shortage of graduates will occur around 1995 due to a lot of retirement,
and hopefully that an increasing amount of students will apply for an advanced degree to nullify
this shortage. This time period has long passed, and hopefully this still holds out.
Go to the Assignments, Reading Assignments, access the
manuscript, Are Americans Becoming Internet Slave?
Read and review the article and post
your critical review on the Literature, Methodology,
Findings, and Summary. Please discuss you findings:
I can definitely see this nowadays. I spend more time on the internet than practically anything else.
Television has almost become a thing of the past. Whenever people want to watch something, they can
just go on the internet and find it with Netflix or some other site. They no longer have to watch
whatever is on the television at this particular time, they can choose what they want to watch anytime.
This article explains the practical death of the newspaper and how news can be found must quicker and
much more convenient by finding it on the internet.
Shopping, banking, stock trading, all of this has become portable. I can do all of these on my laptop. No
need to leave the house. No need to see anyone or go anywhere. I can definitely see social isolationism
develop from the overuse of the internet. I agree with the article, this needs to be watched and made
sure that we don't spend our lives, completely on the internet, because we live in the real world, and not
in cyberspace.
Click on Jason's draft of thesis proposal and discuss his
proposal.
I think Jason's proposal was very well written. He stated exactly what the problem was, and included his
assumptions and limitations beforehand. His limitations were strictly based on the limitations that the
Cooper Standard management would allow. Since Jason has a problem statement, that could definitely
be used to do research on, I see this as a perfectly fine proposal for a thesis. Now all he needs to do, is
the next step in the research cycle and that is to subdivide the problem into subproblems.
Go to the BLS site in the External Link and go the
employment/unemployment. Go to occupations, and prepare a report on
Employment Trends for Science and Technology graduates.
I found this information regarding an Industrial Production Manager
An industrial project manager plans, directs, or coordinates the work activities and resources
necessary for manufacturing products in accordance with cost, quality, and quantity
specifications.
Employment (1)
151,850
Employment Mean hourly Mean annual
Wage RSE (3)
RSE (3)
wage
wage (2)
0.6 %
$46.33
$96,370
0.4 %
Percentile
10%
25%
50%
(Median)
75%
90%
Hourly Wage
$25.54
$32.72
$42.40
$55.38
$71.48
Annual Wage (2) $53,130 $68,060
$88,190
$115,200 $148,670
Where are research problems found?
Research problems can be found everywhere. You can find a problem everywhere you go, if you
just keep your eyes open. Whenever you see a process or system taking place, and you ask
yourself, 'Is there any way to make this better?', there are many researchable problems that can
come from your everyday life.
What are the characteristics of a researchable
problem?
A researchable problem must not be a yes or no answer, but must actually require some 'research' to
determine if the problem is feasible or not. One very important characteristic of a researchable problem
is that data can actually be taken and observed. If your problem is to find a way to improve the PLC,
then you must have a PLC on hand, otherwise, how would you receive any data?
Explain the Scientific Method
The scientific method is simply a way to ask and answer scientific questions by the use of
forming a hypothesis, performing an experiment, and making observations.
The steps of the scientific method include:
1. Ask a question
2. Construct a hypothesis
3. Test the hypothesis by doing an experiment
4. Analyze the data and draw a conclusion
5. Communicate your results
Where are research problems found? It is important that you distinguish between two basic
types of problems: personal problems and researchable problems.
Research problems can be found almost anywhere that you look. Personal problems are those that only
effect the individual or those closely connected. A research problem is one that can be influenced to
include many people from different parts of the globe. A research problem must include some data
collection and data analysis that is in order to solve the problem.
Go to the External Link, Go to the EPA site or
click on URL
http://www.epa.gov/ogd/recipient/tips.htm
See the Tips for Writing Grant Proposals and
discuss the Project Summary, Introduction of
the Organization , Problem Statement
, Project Objectives, Project Methods or
Design, Project Evaluation, Future Funding,
and Project Budget. If the link is not
available, please see the link below:
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/grant-writingtips/
The following is the format and description of each of the sections that go towards writing a
grant proposal.
1. Executive Summary- Usually one page
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Proposed program summary
Solution- What the program will accomplish
Program cost
Organization experience and capacity- Brief statements to establish credibility with
similar programs
2. Statement of Need- Two pages
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Reason(s) proposed program is needed, supported with statistical information
Reasons the organization is the right candidate to fulfill those need(s)
3. Program Description- Three pages
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Program design and implementation
Goals and Objectives
Methods- Steps taken to accomplish program objectives
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Program Evaluation- The methods for reporting program results, by whom and when.
How will you measure success? What are your plans for improvement?
Plan for sustainability- How will the program continue once funding is gone?
Program staff
4. Organizational Information- One page
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Mission and History
Summary of past and former programs
Accomplishments
5. Program Budget- One page
Provide an outline of all program costs and expenses. Be sure to review their guidelines on what
they do not fund.
6. Attachments- Varies
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501 © 3- Tax exemption letter
Organization Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation
List of Board members
Financial Statements
Letters of support
When you have compiled all these elements you will now have a basic draft or model to use for
future grant writing projects. Of course, this is to give you an idea of what most foundations ask
for. You should always follow their grant guidelines and instructions.
Visit the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, Labor Force
Statistics from the Current Population Survey, Frequently Asked Questions at:
http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_faq.htm
Read and discuss the following questions on the Discussion Board
Forum 13:
1. How large is the labor force?
2. How are seasonal fluctuations taken into account?
3.
4. What do the unemployment insurance figures measure?
5. Is there a measure of underemployment?
6. How are the unemployed counted in other countries?
1. The labor force is not a fixed number of people. It increases with the long-term growth of the
population, it responds to economic forces and social trends, and its size changes with the
seasons. On average in 2008, there were roughly 145 million employed and 9 million
unemployed making up a labor force of 154 million persons. There were about 80 million
persons not in the labor force.
2. The seasonal fluctuations in the number of employed and unemployed persons reflect not only
the normal seasonal weather patterns that tend to be repeated year after year, but also the hiring
(and layoff) patterns that accompany regular events such as the winter holiday season and the
summer vacation season. These variations make it difficult to tell whether month-to-month
changes in employment and unemployment are due to normal seasonal patterns or to changing
economic conditions. To deal with such problems, a statistical technique called seasonal
adjustment is used.
When a statistical series has been seasonally adjusted, the normal seasonal fluctuations are
smoothed out and data for any month can be more meaningfully compared with data from any
other month or with an annual average. Many time series that are based on monthly data are
seasonally adjusted.
4. The UI figures are not produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Statistics on insured
unemployment in the United States are collected as a by-product of UI programs. Workers who
lose their jobs and are covered by these programs typically file claims ("initial claims") that serve
as notice that they are beginning a period of unemployment. Claimants who qualify for benefits
are counted in the insured unemployment figures (as "continued claims"). Data on UI claims are
maintained by the Employment and Training Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department
of Labor, and are available on the Internet at:
http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims.asp.
These data are not used to measure total unemployment because they exclude several important
groups. To begin with, not all workers are covered by UI programs. For example, self-employed
workers, unpaid family workers, workers in certain not-for-profit organizations, and several
other small (primarily seasonal) worker categories are not covered. In addition, the insured
unemployed exclude the following:
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Unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits
Unemployed workers who have not yet earned benefit rights (such as new entrants or
reentrants to the labor force)
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Disqualified workers whose unemployment is considered to have resulted from their own
actions rather than from economic conditions; for example, a worker discharged for
misconduct on the job
Otherwise eligible unemployed persons who do not file for benefits
5. Because of the difficulty of developing an objective set of criteria which could be readily used
in a monthly household survey, no official government statistics are available on the total
number of persons who might be viewed as underemployed. Even if many or most could be
identified, it would still be difficult to quantify the loss to the economy of such
underemployment.
6. The sample survey system of counting the unemployed in the United States is also used by
many foreign countries, including Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in
the European Economic Community. More recently, a number of East European nations have
instituted labor force surveys as well. However, some countries collect their official statistics on
the unemployed from employment office registrations or unemployment insurance records.
Many nations, including the United States, use both labor force survey data and administrative
statistics to analyze unemployment.
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Do you know of any research that has been conducted without a QUESTION or
OBJECTIVE?
How long would it take to conduct a seemingly simple research such as "finding the
reasons for students tardiness?
What do we need to conduct such research? Do we need a questionnaire? Do we
need to pilot test that questionnaire? Do we need to identify a sample? Do we need
enough time to send and receive surveys if needed?
1. All research requires a question or an objective.
2. This depends on the scope of the research. A simple research that could take just a week or so if you
were finding the reasons for student tardiness for a specific class could be conducted with a simple
survey or questionnaire. However, if you wanted to do a research that covered the entire university,
then the research would take months to fully interpret the results.
3. We could conduct a survey or a questionnaire. Is there enough time to send and receive surveys? That
depends on when the final report needs to be completed. For one specific classroom, we do not need to
identify a sample because the sample size is already small enough.
Why should we submit the mini-thesis or grant proposal now?
We should submit a mini-thesis or grant proposal now, that way when the time comes around for us to
make our thesis, we will already have knowledge of how to set up the initial report. This way, we won't
have to waste a ton of time researching how to organized a research report, because we will already
have had experience writing one.