Services Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Services Marketing - Essay Example As a result of this investigation I would like to address number of reasons for mistakes†. This does not look well for the company because it generalizes that all staffs are incompetent due to the lack of initiative. Second, Qantas should have assumed responsibility of the inconvenience instead of passing it to someone else. Doing so would make Qantas appear professional and responsible. . Acknowledged of such lapse in policy and its action to look for ways to address customer’s complaint in the future sounds professional. This acknowledges the problem without blaming anyone and more importantly, that Qantas will be doing something about it. This is a better approach than passing the blame to regulatory agencies or by citing company policies. The mention of the need of training for employees makes the employees look incompetent, insensitive and invites more complaint from the customer and this should have been avoided in the letter. This is present in the phrase â€Å"To prevent re-occurrences we have set a verification procedure and we also implemented a regular training to all crewmembers, which will ensure they have accessible to responsibilities and improving their customer’s service skills†. Qantas should have responded that â€Å"we will step up our capabilities to satisfy customer expectations†. This implies training without making the employees look incompetent. In the third paragraph, Qantas should have been completed by citing concrete acts by the company that will pacify the customer. For example, in can be written as â€Å"To show the good will â€Å"probably provide rebate† or even a free ticket to the customer’s destination† as an act to maintain the goodwill of the customer and to compensate for all the trouble caused. This would also serve as compensatory measures to the any inconveniences caused to the

Philosophy of Small Groups Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Philosophy of Small Groups - Research Paper Example Wilson (2003) states that the importance attached to small face to face groups within the congregation is what allows many church members to personalize their contribution.1 The small group is the starting relational unit which is beyond family where ministry to one another starts, it is the arena of primary care. A small group is a highly effective means of individuals entering the spiritual growth process. It is made up of 5-10 members who get together weekly with the specific purpose of growing personally and spiritually. It entails open mindedness and encourages honesty in all aspects. Thus, the primary way to be connected in churches is through the small groups. The fruit of entering the spiritual growth process is one of the greatest things that people may have anticipated. According to Djupe (2006), feeling similar to other members in the church small group is positively related to practicing skills, confirming the importance of incorporating a social dimension into theories posting an organizational influence on individual behavior.2 One of the most fundamental steps for a small group ministry is developing a personalized philosophy of the ministry. This mainly entails defining priorities, defending actions and determining the next steps to take for the upward success of the individual’s personal life. The philosophical distinctiveness of churches differ with the churches core values, but all aim at ensuring the goals of the small groups are taken into consideration and that they are effective and beneficial for all the members involved in a particular group. The four-session trial period is one of the philosophies and this mainly entails people having a four meeting trial period in a particular small group. Thus if the small group does not satisfy an individual’s need, then one is likely to seek another group but this involves no hard feelings. Another philosophical detail can emanate where the

Calculate and interpret financial ratios from financial statements Essay

Calculate and interpret financial ratios from financial statements - Essay Example In addition, you can use these ratios to compare the performance of your company against that of your competitors or other members of your industry. (Alex Auerbach) When you take profit before tax or interest (EBIT) and divide it by the difference between total assets and current liabilities, you can get a financial ratio known as return on capital employed ratio or ROCE. It is a ratio that shows the companys capital investments’ profitability and efficiency. The ROCE ratio is a measure of how well a company is using capital to generate income. A high ROCE is a sign or a successful growth company and indicates that a larger mass of proceeds can be reinvested to gain more profit. However; one year ROCE evaluation should not be the basis for reinvesting. Investors should look closely on the trend over several years to have consistency. A sudden decline in ROCE signals a loss of competitive advantage. Asset Turnover Ratio specifies the connection between assets and revenue (Revenue/Total assets). It gauges a company’s efficiency in using its resources in making sales. A higher asset Turnover is better. It also specifies pricing strategy: companies with low profit margins are inclined to have high asset turnover, whereas those with high profit margins tend to have low asset turnover. This ratio is important to settle on the amount of sales that are produced from each dollar of assets. To evaluate a companys operational efficiency, return on sales ratio is used. ROS is also recognized as a company’s â€Å"operating profit margin". It is calculated using this formula: Net Income before interest and tax divided by sales. Investopedia says â€Å"This measure is helpful to management, providing insight into how much profit is being produced per dollar of sales. As with many ratios, it is best to compare a companys ROS over time to look for trends, and compare it to other companies in the industry. An increasing ROS indicates the

Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 16

Writer's choice - Essay Example The Confederate flag has been the backbone of white supremacist associations, from the Ku Klux Klan to the skinheads (Aron, 2013). They did not proper Confederate battle flag because it is pretty. They picked it because it was the flag of a nation dedicated to their ideals: that the blacks are less equal to the white man. Some people say it represents heritage, not hate. In South Carolina, the Confederate battle flag was raised over the state house on April 11th; 1961.The state Senate passed a bill in South Carolina to expel the Confederate flag from the highest point of the state house vault by a majority vote on April 12, 2000. Following the 2015 Charleston church shooting, many commentators questioned the continued display of the flag at the memorial on the Statehouse grounds (Entman&Rojecki, 2001). The flag later removed which led to many debates with some people, specifically the whites, claiming that the Confederate flag did not have anything to do with the church shooting. How ever, before the removal of the flag, there were rallies promoting the South Carolina’s governor to remove the flag. To the blacks, the shooting was racially motivated, and the shooter had a photo pausing while carrying the Confederate flag. Wednesdays racially propelled slaughter of nine African-Americans at Emanuel AME Church in downtown Charleston has reignited the civil argument over flying the dissident flag at the Statehouse (Williams, 2000). Photographs of Dylan Roof, the admitted shooter, reveal him wearing politically-sanctioned racial segregation images and leaning toward a car with an ornamental license plate bearing tribute to the Confederate States (Entman &Rojecki, 2001).The shooter said that the races should be segregated, that whites should be with whites. It comes from the colonial history of America that the whites are more superior to the blacks. He is pegging his

Positive Relationships With Children Essay Example for Free

Positive Relationships With Children Essay Positive relationships with children and young people are important for the following reasons: When a child/young person feels comfortable and settled within their care setting they are more likely to engage and participate more with staff and other children within the group which creates a more relaxed atmosphere, it also makes the separation process easier for the parents/carers as well as the child /young person as it shows that the child/young person is emotionally secure, Building and maintaining positive relationships is also important as it contributes to the developmental needs of each individual child/young person personally, socially and emotionally which then enhances their language skills as they gain confidence talking to each other and staff. Positive relationships also enables us as practitioners to understand and respond to children/young people more effectively as we are able to recognise their emotions and expressions and also enables practitioners to plan more accurately as we know more of the interests and understand the developmental needs of the children/young people in our care. Making sure as a practitioner I keep to my word i.e. if a child/group have done a particular activity today, and I have told another group/child they may have a turn next session I must make sure that is what takes place as theses situations will affect the trust between myself and the children within the setting. Positive relationships are maintained by us practitioners, parents /carers being good role models, by showing courtesy and respect to each other at all times, remembering that we must show respect and courtesy to our younger as well as our elders, Always being fair and consistent, listening to what is being said without making judgement and making sure that any rules and boundaries set out are kept to and understanding when information is to be kept confidential, being able to identify and resolve disagreements /conflicts, help children and young people to understand the difference. Effective communication- the way in which we speak to an individual, according to age and developmental stage of the child/young person, being  aware of body language/hand gestures and facial expressions. Ensuring that children and young people are aware and understand their views and opinions are valued and considered. It is important that people involved in the care of children and young people build and maintain positive relationships with each other, as this can also have an enormous impact the development and wellbeing of the children and young people within their care spectrum, having a positive relationship with the child/young persons parent/carer can have positive effect on the child/young person, as this is the first step in getting to know and understand the initial needs and preferences, likes and dislikes and fears or concerns of each individual, also by including parent/carers in various sessions giving them the opportunity to contribute and get involved in planning and implementing of various activities it encourages people to engage in conversation where different views, ideas, and skills are learned. Also shared whilst showing the children/young people how to live in diverse community where we are all individuals who are able to work together regardless of background or upbringing. positive relationships between the various professionals working with children/young people whether it be colleagues, external agency/organisation or service, is important as it has a direct impact on the child/young person ongoing development, being able to share information between adults involving children/young people in different situations engaging in various activities, means that planning for the children/young people can be done more effectively as each professional involved may see a different way of contributing towards the development /wellbeing of the child/young person, they may also have the opportunity to identify any needs and interests different to those already established, the welfare of children/young people can be properly monitored while being assured that each child/young person is being given consistent care, any concerns or issues can be shared accurately and promptly when required following correct procedures and guidelines.

Personal Illness Narratives: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Personal Illness Narratives: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Introduction This essay employs excerpts from the narrative of a 38 year old woman named Francesca, a lady who has been given a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to illustrate key concepts form the sociological, and psychological literature. This approach will illustrate the writers ability to critically appraise the literature, its relevance to the narrative in question, and using narrative, places these concepts within a real life clinical situation. This in turn provides insight into the value of narrative as a methodological approach in the 21st Century and how it intertwines with the rich tapestry of sociological theories and concepts that are available to the researcher studying the current sociological evidence base. For the purpose of this assignment, peer reviewed articles and textbooks were searched within the past 10 years. The work introduces RA as a clinical entity (pivotal to understanding the comments of Francesca) and goes on to outline the use of narrative, particularly its utility in the study of chronic disease. The essay then goes on to cover some key important issues, namely: The biomedical versus the sociological approach of illness management The Study of Personal Illness Narratives Sociological perspectives on depression Chronic Illness and Disability Social construction of medical knowledge and the Politics of Disability Labelling Stigma. For each of the above, concepts are presented and mapped against selected statements from the narrative of Francesca (written in italics for clarity). These statements illustrate real world data gleaned from Francesca; valuable comments that are grounded in the experiences of a person living with a chronic disease. The work also contains an appendix comprising a reflective postscript which outlines the way that the work evolved from earliest outline, to the finished product. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects not only the synovial joints but multiple body systems (Goodacre 2008). The exact cause of RA remains unknown; it is a disease that affects more women than men, often of a young or middle age demographic unlike osteoarthritis which affects predominately older people. RA follows a somewhat unpredictable course of exacerbations and remissions. RA carries huge psychological problems in view of its unknown aetiology, uncertain prognosis, and loss of function. Additional symptoms include early morning stiffness, pain, limitation of activities of daily living, and socio- economic problems inasmuch as it may have a severe impact upon a persons ability to work and function in society (Kojima et al 2009). The discussion now begins with a section on models of illness. Biomedical and biopsychosocial models of disease The biomedical model of health takes the reductionist view that people are biological entities (Lewis 2009 p745). In the clinical management of RA there is some merit in this biomedical approach, for example the monitoring of inflammatory mediators in the blood as a marker of disease activity or responses to drug intervention is well established in the literature (Lee Kim 2009). This biomedical approach is reinforced by the GP comments from the narrative, i.e. That there was no cure and that the tablets were the key to preserving normal function. This approach may contribute to Francescas frustration, as it ignores the wider psychological and sociological ramifications of living with a chronic debilitating disease such as RA. It is unclear form the narrative whether the GP tempered his comments by adding that there are means by which the signs and symptoms of RA can be successfully managed. Critical appraisal of the literature reveals that biopsychosocial models advocate a more holistic view of illness, for example according to Smith (2002) the biopsychosocial model seeks to address not only the client and his or her illness but also their capacity to deal with being ill. The value of adopting the narrative approach as part of the biomedical model is effectively illustrated at the point where Francesca states I just burst into tears At the perceived effect that this illness will have upon her loss of function in the future. So whereas the biomedical model will operationalise function using objective outcome measures, here the use of narrative permits a biopsychosocial approach that provides rich client centred data on how it feels to be diagnosed with chronic and currently incurable disease. This in turn can help to inform our understanding of Rheumatoid arthritis as a disease thereby influencing the social construction of medical knowledge by giving voice to service users (Balen et al 2009). The Study of Personal Illness Narratives. Illness narratives concern a persons views and beliefs about their illnesses and the effect on their lives (HydÃÆ'Â ©n 2007). There is increasing acceptance and recognition of the valuable role that such grounded narratives play in understanding the journeys that people with chronic diseases such as RA have to embark upon if they are to manage their illness on a day to day basis. For example Haidet et al (2006) found in a narrative study of people with diabetes that people narrated four illness-management strategies whose story elements were in dynamic interplay, each with unique variations for each individual revealing a level of complexity that had not been previously described. As a method, narrative provides rich data (Furman Cavers 2005; Poindexter 2002) and in this case gives a voice to Francesca that would otherwise remain unheard (Grills 1998).Much can be gleaned from studying Francescas narrative, for example Francesca begins to paint a picture of her hopes and fears upon being given a diagnosis of RA combined with an insight into her past and thoughts about the future. Francescas narrative provides us valuable insight into her views of the self- a key component of narrative (Voilmer 2005), her relationships to others, and how these relationships have changed or may change in the future. In her narrative Francesca gives us some insight into the pain of living with rheumatoid arthritis, in her comments we can detect also a stark dichotomy in that she notes how healthy she had been in the past then uses the term Excruciating to describe her current pain, thus Francescas narrative hints at the loss of self in that she will no longer be a dancer or even a valid spouse as exemplified by the narrative quote. I wont be the woman he fell in love with Here she literally describes herself as becoming another person. Here Francesca is able to provide the reader or researcher with valuable information on the loss of the self, which resonates with other narrative research (Roe Davidson 2005; Doba et al 2007). Francesca goes further and also hints at the change in her illness self concept (ISC) that is to say the extent to which a person is defined or consumed by their disease or disability (Morea et al 2008). Francesca also hints at the concept of disease as a biographical disruption, described by Bury, this is said to occur when a persons planned future cannot unfold as planned. (Bury 1982); will he even want to marry me? Im too young to have this. What makes Francescas narrative particularly interesting is the fact that she is a twin; this may emphasise any change in self since she has in essence an unchanging control (her twin sibling) to against which to compare herself as her disease, her self identity (and possibly disability) progresses. The next section outlines sociological perspectives on depression. Sociological perspectives on depression. Francescas depression is likely to be multifactorial; for example there is evidence that the disease RA itself causes depression (Kojima et al 2009) as will living with pain. From a sociological perspective Francescas strained personal relationships may contribute to depression, for example her fear of being rejected as a potential spouse (Waite Gallagher 2001), see below. will he even want to marry me? This feeds in to the earlier section on biomedical versus biopsychosocial models of health and illness and the different paradigms or world views in which they are situated. A biomedical explanation of depression is likely to focus on the biochemical aspects of the person whilst a more sociological approach would acknowledge the impact of socio economics, personal relationships and so on (Covic et al 2003). Caution is needed however here since the short excerpt of narrative that we have provides no direct evidence that Francesca is in fact depressed, indeed a review of the literature suggests that there is a tendency to over diagnose depression (Parker 2007). Chronic Illness and Disability. A chronic incurable disease such as RA would require Francesca to make significant adjustments to her life over time. The sociological literature now provides increasingly refined conceptualisations of these adjustments, acknowledging that the experience of chronic disease necessitates adaptations in multiple domains of the persons life. This adjustment is often referred to as a trajectory (Stanton et al. 2007). This concept, introduced by the sociologist Strauss in an attempt to capture experiences and behaviours occurring in response to chronic illness (Strauss Corbin 1998), goes beyond depicting the physiologic unfolding of disease and encompasses the total organisation of work done over the course of the illness (Strauss et al 1984). Francescas narrative hints at this changing trajectory tracing the commencement of her life changes to a time six months ago when she was much more active and defined herself as a dancer. Furthermore Francesca looks to her future and wonders about h er ability to fulfil the stereotype of a perfect spouse. It is important to engage with how Francesca and her fiancÃÆ'Â © will make sense of the illness. The term illness cognition has been defined as a patients own implicit common sense beliefs about their illness (Leventhal and Nerernz 1985, p. 517). When people experience symptoms, they embark upon a cognitive search which enables them to interpret and make sense of the symptoms they are experiencing. Typically a critical review of the literature distils out into five categories: Identity, including the description of symptoms experienced and their meaning (e.g. pain, fatigue).In the narrative Francesca describes her pain as Excruciating for example. Belief about causes (e.g. accident, genetics or stress). People like to have a label for their symptoms for legitimisation although, once given, people are likely to interpret diverse symptoms as evidence of the label. Francesca has problems with causality and is likely to do so for the foreseeable future since there is no established medical cause for RA. Timeline (beliefs about duration and time for recovery), namely is it acute or chronic? These beliefs will be re-evaluated as time progresses. Consequences (e.g. loss of lifestyle, goals in life). These representations may only develop into more realistic beliefs over time. Francesca uses the narrative to discuss the change in her life from active dancer to unappealing spouse within the space of six months. Beliefs about controllability. (Furnham, 1989; Landrine and Klonoff 1992, 1994) These categories are pivotal to understanding how people make sense of, and decisions about managing a changeable chronic disease such as RA. Evidence of Francesca attempting to make sense of her symptoms by embarking upon a cognitive search may be seen in the example below: I couldnt understand it Im the healthiest person I know. Ive never had problems with my health never had a day off sick in my life. I never go to the doctor, no matter what, Ive always been fit as a flea. From the narrative provided we also have limited information concerning Francescas partners views, for example (although not from Dave himself) Dave wore me down, telling me Ive got to see a doctor This may be interpreted in various ways, not least that Dave was keen for Francesca to obtain a diagnosis and thereby a label to legitimise the illness, whether such labelling is disabling or enabling is not fully resolved in literature (Huibers Wessley 2006). Francescas comment does however open up the interesting issue of how partners cope with chronic disease, in RA in particular there is evidence that a strong marital relationship correlates with the couples psychological adjustment to the illness (Mann Zautra 1990). These authors go on to claim that in RA, partners are most affected by their perceived vulnerability to disease and coping ability, whereas the wives who have RA were more affected by pain itself and how they will cope with the effects of the disease- reflected in Francescas comments below; I started having excruciating pains in my feet when I woke in the morning To further corroborate the findings of Manne Zautra (1990) concerning male worries about coping at a more abstract level see the example below: Dave has been great but he has his own worries hes just been laid off from his job and hes worrying about paying for the wedding Mann Dieppe (2006) have also more recently acknowledged coping differences between males and females in RA, (n = eight women with RA ages 31-60 years and their partners, and 4 men with RA ages 43-75 years) although methodologically their sampling may be flawed in that those couples currently experiencing severe martial problems are unlikely to submit to the type of phenomenological interviews that they undertook. The social construction of medical knowledge and politics of disability It is not possible in an essay of this length to provide a full account of the politics of disability, primarily since the topic is multi-factorial, fluid and indeed is covered to an extent in the other sub sections of this work, furthermore we have insufficient data from the narrative to comment in depth. Kitchen and Wilton (2003) comment that our views of disability as a medical entity viewed in paternalistic terms have changed in favour or equality and empowerment. However Francesca can expect to experience a host of politically related issues, for example social exclusion and poverty (Foley Chowdhury 2007). Francesca has already stated in her narrative; Ive got to work- we need the money. In terms of medicines social construction, as far back as 1982, Wright Treacher (1982) claimed that medical knowledge inevitably contains a social component incorporating moral values and prejudices, and that diagnosis ascribes a certain meaning. We still see this thirty years later where the GP abruptly (allegedly) advocates of drugs to preserve normal function. This reinforces the paternalistic medical approach. RA in its early stages does not present with any obvious physical deformity and affects the young demographic, it is conceivable that she may experience disbelief from her peers; this may in turn make her life difficult in an era of financial unease, Government budgetary cuts and political uncertainty. Labelling. Labelling theory (social reaction theory) has its roots in the work of sociologist Howard Becker (Becker 1997). It centres on peoples tendency to negatively label those who are different from ourselves. As a person with chronic arthritis Francesca will not be immune to this labelling, for example being labelled as disabled or arthritic are all real possibilities. Arthritis organisations and acts such as the Disability Discrimination Act ( DDA) are at great pains to encourage activity and maintenance of full function and contribution to society, however all this may be negated by her GPs comments that there is; no cure and I had to take tablets everyday to be able to function normally. Labels can however be positive, Francesca describing herself as glamorous for example on two occasions in the narrative, and her previous label of salsa dance teacher is something that defines her in a positive way. Yes, Im a salsa dance teacher Stigma Stigma has recently been defined by Scambler (2009) as a social process, experienced or anticipated by exclusion, rejection, blame or devaluation that results from experience, perception or reasonable anticipation of an adverse social judgement about a person or group(p441) Francesca may feel stigmatised by all of the factors previously discussed, attitude of her GP, loss of self, worry about the future, inability to act out the role of spouse. Factors such as depression, the lack of a cause for her RA and her inability to teach salsa dancing may amplify her feelings of being stigmatised, it is also important form the wider perspective to acknowledge that stigma may affect Francescas partner. Struening et al (2001) for example reported that 43-92% of caregivers (to people with mental health problems) reported feeling stigmatised, again this suggests that living with this disease does not only affect Francesca but also her partner. Conclusion This essay has employed extracts from the narrative of a 38 year old lady with Rheumatoid arthritis, to illustrate some key sociological concepts. The essay has provided a valuable opportunity to map some key concepts from the literature onto a narrative excerpt. Whilst the essay has not been able to enter the field in great depth; It is a testament to the thick description provided by patient narratives that such a wealth of information can be generated form a relatively short piece of description. References Balen,R., Rhodes, C., Ward,L., (2009) The Power of Stories: Using Narrative for Interdisciplinary Learning in Health and Social CareSocial Work Education: The International Journal, pp1470-1227. Becker, H., (1997) Outsiders. New York, NY. Free Press. Covic, T., Adamson,B., Spencer,D., Howe,G., (2003) A biopsychosocial model of pain and depression in rheumatoid arthritis: a 12-month longitudinal study Rheumatology, Vol 42 1287-1294. Doba, K., Nandrino, J.L., Lesne, L., Humez, L., C.(2008) Organization of the narrative components in autobiographical speech of anorexic adolescents: A statistical and non-linear dynamical analysis New Ideas in Psycholog,y Vol 26 (2) pp 295-308. Foley,D .,Chowdhury, J., (2007) Poverty, Social Exclusion and the Politics of Disability: Care as a Social Good and the Expenditure of Social Capital in Chuadanga, Bangladesh Social Policy Administration, Vol 41 (4)pp372-385. Furman, R. ,Cavers, A., (2005) Narrative poem as a source of qualitative data The Arts in Psychotherapy Vol 32 (4) pp313-317. Furnham, A., (1989). Overcoming psychosomatic illness: lay attributions of cure for five possible psychosomatic illnesses. Social Science and Medicine, Vol 29 pp61-67. Goodacre,J., (2008) Common chronic inflammatory arthropathies. in Porter,S (eds) Tidys Physiotherapy 14th edition. Churchill Livinsgtone Elsevier. Grills, S..(1998). Doing ethnographic research; fieldwork settings Thousand Oaks. Sage Publishers. Hahn, H., (1985)Toward a Politics of Disability: Definitions, Disciplines, and Policies Social Science Journal, 1985 Vol. 22(4) pp87-105. Haidet, P., Kroll,T.L., Sharf, B.F., (2006) The complexity of patient participation: Lessons learned from patients illness narratives Patient Education and Counselling, Vol 62 (3) pp323-329. Huibers,M.J.H., Wessely ,S., (2006) The act of diagnosis: pros and cons of labelling chronic fatigue syndrome Psychological Medicine, Vol 36, pp895-900. Cambridge University Press. Kitchin, R. ,Wilton, R., (2003) Disability Activism and the Politics of Scale. The Canadian Geographer, Vol 47, 2003. Kojima ,M., Kojima, T., Ishiguro, N., Oguchi, T., Oba, M., Tsuchiya, H., Sugiura, F., Furukawa, T.A., Suzuki, S., (2009) Psychosocial factors, disease status, and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. S.J Psychosom Res , Vol 67(5) pp425-31. Epub 2009 Mar 5. Lee, W.S. Kim, T.Y.,(2009) Measuring of ESR with test 1 is more useful than the Westergren method in rheumatoid arthritis. Am J Clin Pathol, 2009 Nov;Vol 132(5) pp805. Leventhal, H., Nerenz, D.R., Steele, D.J., (1984). Illness representations and coping with health threats. In: Baum A, Singer J, eds. Handbook of Psychology and Health, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. pp219-252. Morea, J.M., Friend, R., Bennett, R.M., (2008) Conceptualizing and measuring illness self-concept: A comparison with self-esteem and optimism in predicting fibromyalgia adjustment Research in Nursing Health, Vol 31 (6),pp563-575 Published Online: 21Jul2008. Mann,C., Dieppe, P.,(2006) Different patterns of illness-related interaction in couples coping with rheumatoid arthritis Arthritis Care Research, Vol 55, (2), pp 279-286. Mann, S. L., Zautra, A. J., (1990). Couples coping with chronic illness: Women with rheumatoid arthritis and their healthy husbands. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Vol 13 pp327-342. Parker, G., (2007) Is depression overdiagnosed? Yes. BMJ. Vol 335 (7615), p328. Poindexter, C.C.,(2002) Meaning from methods; Re-presenting Narratives of an HIV affected caregiver Qualitative Social Work, Vol 1 pp 59. Roe,D., Davidson, J., (2005) Self and narrative in schizophrenia: time to author a new story Med Humanities,Vol 31 pp89-94. Scambler, G., (2009) Health-related stigma. Sociology of Health Illness, Vol 31 Issue 3 pp 441-455 Published Online: 1 Apr 2009. Smith, R., (2002) The biopsychosocial revolution. J Gen Intern Med, Vol 17(4) pp309-311. Stanton, A.L., Revenson, T.A., ÂÂ ­Tennen, H., (2007). Health Psychology: Psychological Adjustment to Chronic Disease. Annual Review of Psychology, Vol 58 pp565-592. Strauss, A.L., Corbin, J.M., Fagerhaugh, B.G., (1984). Chronic illness and the quality of life, 2 Ed. St. Louis: Mosby. Strauss, A., Corbin, J.M., (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publishers. Struening, E.L., Perlick, D.A., Link, B.G., Hellman,F., Herman, D., Sirey, J.,(2001) Stigma as a Barrier to Recovery: The Extent to Which Caregivers Believe Most People Devalue Consumers and Their Families Psychiatr Serv,Vol 52 pp1633-1638, December 2001. Vollmer, F., (2005) The Narrative Self. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, Vol 35,(2), pp189-205(17) Blackwell Publishing. Waite L,J., Gallagher, M.,(2001).The case for marriage: why married people are happier, healthier, and better off financially. New York, NY: Broadway Books. Wehowsky, A., (2000) Diagnosis as care diagnosis as politics International Journal of Psychotherapy, Vol 5, (3), pages pp241 255. Wright, P., Treacher, A. eds., (1982) The Problem of Medical Knowledge: Examining the Social Construction of Medicine (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Appendix Reflective postscript This is written in the first person since it is a reflective piece of writing This was a challenging yet fascinating project to complete. I was unsure how to approach the topic and how much weight to attach to the various theories available and the comments of Francesca , once it became clear that I was actually trying to explain what was going on with Francesca by using academic theory to illustrate her comments the task became rather enjoyable. Tight word count restrictions as always meant that I had to do some brutal editing, but the positive side to this is that it makes one more selective in ones writing. For example my earliest version was heavy on sociological theory and light on mapping this theory to the comments of Francesca, whereas the final version makes more explicit links between what Francesca says and the theory behind why she says it. The fact that I had some real comments to sink my academic teeth into made the process of literature searching interesting and relevant since I was able to think about Francescas comments and her personal situation for each search that I undertook. The areas that gave me most difficulty were the political aspects of disability since they seemed so wide ranging and actually intertwined with everything that I was writing about. All in all I have learned a great deal about the usefulness of narrative form this project.

How does temperature affect the rate of reaction between sodium :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

How does temperature affect the rate of reaction between sodium thiosulphate and hydrochloric acid? Aim: The aim of this experiment is to find out how the temperature affects the rate of reaction between sodium thiosulphate and hydrochloric acid. Prediction: I predict that the higher the temperature of the solution the faster the reaction will take place because the particles will collide more when the temperature rises. Plan Apparatus: Measuring cylinders Tripod Bunsen burner Heat proof mat Gauze mat Thermometer Conical flask Water (30ml) Hydrochloric acid (5ml) Sodium thiosulphate (20ml) Piece of paper with X on it By lianne milbanke Pliminary results: I decided to do some preliminary work because then I could see what amount of Sodium thiosulphate, Hydrochloric acid and Water I needed for the reaction, I tried it 5 times before I found one that was not too fast and not too slow. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sodium thiosulphate Hydrochloric Water (ml) Time (sec) (ml) acid (ml) 50 5 0 36 40 5 10 51 30 5 20 70 20 5 30 133 10 5 40 395