Author: chris

Students will use the scholarly research articles to critique the advice in a 5- to 6-page paper. The main objective of your paper is to compare the advice in the popular press article to what researchers know about interpersonal communication in close relationships. Specifically include the following: Introduction to the topic of the popular press article and your research (e.g., support, conflict, in-law relationships). Introduce any basic information about your topic to orient your readers. Explain any relevant definitions or concepts as needed. Summary of the advice in your popular press article. Specifically highlight the types of communication behaviors the article suggests to enact or avoid in relation to the topic. Explanation of three main pieces of information your research presents about your topic.Consider your articles as a whole, not necessarily each individual article’s findings. Integrating and synthesizing information allows you to make arguments or claims about your topic more broadly, not just about the results of one specific study. Think about if there are common findings or arguments made by more than one of your articles. Although you should consider your articles as a whole, you MUST cite (in APA format) all of your articles in this section. Make sure you are paraphrasing your articles (as opposed to quoting directly). Critique of the advice in the popular press article using scholarly evidence. Is the advice good? Is it bad? Is it both good and bad? Why? How should it be altered or improved? You must provide evidence from your scholarly articles to support your critique. Compelling conclusion to wrap up your paper and offer final thoughts Length of Paper: Final paper will be 6 pages maximum (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-pt. Times New Roman font, with traditional running head and shortened title). What to Submit: Along with your final evaluation paper, you MUST have an APA title page (not included in total page count), APA in-text citations, and an APA reference list (not included in total page count). I have attached my articles to review.

Evaluation of Effectiveness the Human Resource Development in Public Authority of Aviation.

Officer Johnson has been closely studying the family we have been following throughout this course. He mentioned in his report that Rob and Junior were managing the drug-based business. Mary was managing prostitution. Junior was working with some of his friends on a new capper. One of Junior’s friends was stealing computers from his employer and selling them on the Internet. Officer Johnson is also helping Lucy cope with sexual assault by her father, Rob. She was forced by her parents to get involved in prostitution. She is a minor and a victim of child abuse.

Having reached the conclusion of this course, you have seen how a normal Centervale family became involved in criminal activity. Through the previous modules, you have seen how the criminal element is transferred from the parents to the children and the affect this has on various lives in the family unit. You will now evaluate both sides of the issues in this case; from the prosecution’s perspective and defense’s perspective taking the following into account:

• Family pressure to act a certain way for acceptance
• Possible defenses that could be given
• Sentencing possibilities for the various crimes you have studied

Please consider how the events of this Centervale story play out from the standpoint of the prosecution and the defense. You are to review all modules to complete this discussion.

Submission Details:

By Sunday, November 1, 2015, in a minimum of 300 words, post your responses to the following to the Discussion Area:

• What were the considerations for the family to enter a life of crime?
• How did involvement in crime affect interactions among the members of the family?
• What was the impact of the parents’ behaviors on other family members and the long-term effects on each of the parties?
• What are the various defenses that might be raised for Rob, Mary, and Junior and why?
• What are the potential sentencing options for the three members of the family, Rob, Mary, and Junior, and why are these sentences justifiable?
• Critically analyze the working of the American criminal justice system and suggest ways to improve it so that scenarios as given in this course can be prevented.

By Wednesday, November 4, 2015, respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts. Consider commenting on the family’s considerations for entering crime and how it affects their interactions as a unit. Comment on the considerations for potential sentencing and decipher why these sentences are justifiable. Comment on the suggested recommendations for improvements in the American criminal justice system.

Discussion Grading Criteria and Rubric

All discussion assignments in this course will be graded using a rubric. This assignment is worth 40 points. Download the discussion rubric and carefully read it to understand the expectations.

Assignment 1: LASA 2: Analysis of Technology, Culture and Victims in Crime

Jamal, a straight A junior in High School, was recently involved in a physical fight with another student in the corridor of the school. Juan is a recovering alcoholic who has absenteeism issues and poor grades. Although Juan was held back in sixth grade, and struggles with social situations, he has never been involved in any disciplinary action at school. However, Jamal recently completed 90 hours of community service after being convicted of disorderly conduct and simple assault from an unrelated incident.

The school video recordings show Jamal instigating the fight, yet student witnesses reported to school officials and law enforcement that Juan was the instigator. During the investigation, a drug dog alerted law enforcement to the possibility that a controlled substance was present in Juan’s locker. When confronted by law enforcement, Juan claimed Jamal planted the drugs in Juan’s locker to hide Jamal’s own habit. Regardless, Juan was placed under arrest. An external security camera recorded a verbal altercation between law enforcement and a group of young adults who felt Juan’s arrest was racially motivated.

Tasks:

You are the District Attorney’s Investigator and have been asked to evaluate this situation as pursuant to Juan’s upcoming trial. Compose a 3-6 page paper to address the following:

1. Identify, define, examine, and discuss the crimes potentially committed by Juan and Jamal.
2. Identify the victim(s) in this scenario. Outline the rights of the victim(s) as they related to social responsibility.
3. Compare and contrast the legal issues that could arise for the police department in this scenario.
4. Analyze how societal diversity might have played a role in this case. Discuss ethical practices utilized by law enforcement that help them to maintain their objectivity throughout their investigation of this incident, Jamal and Juan’s backgrounds, and the underlying interests of social order.
5. Evaluate the use of technology, such as video tape recordings, as demonstrative evidence in the courtroom.

Compile your paper, including all information researched, and prepare a submission paper in accordance with the following guidelines:

• This paper is to be in APA format with a cover sheet and reference page at the end.
• The length of the paper is to be a minimum of three pages and no more than five pages. This length does not include your cover or reference sheets.
• Remember that APA font is Times New Roman, font size 12.

• Discussion Question 3: What level of government should decide? Consider at least 2 of the following issues: legalization of drugs, setting educational standards, welfare, environmental regulation and enforcement, same sex marriage and abortion. Are decisions on these issues better placed in the hands of the states or of the federal government? Why? Provide evidence of additional research on your issues. Please submit your initial answer by midnight Wednesday.
• Discussion Question 4: What is the proper boundary between church and state? Should the first amendment be interpreted strictly so that no one’s rights are infringed by government sponsorship of religion – or should it be interpreted loosely to recognize that the U.S. is a very religious country? On the matter of religious freedom, what are the appropriate boundaries? Under what circumstances, if any, should religious freedom take precedence over the law? Illustrate your answer with specific examples. Review the CQ Researcher article on Religion and the Law and check out the videos on the Lemon Test and animal sacrifice in the content area before you answer. Please submit your initial answer by midnight Friday.
• Discussion Question 5: Describe government surveillance programs that have developed since 9/11. Do you think these programs violate citizens’ constitutional rights or are they necessary measures to track terrorists? Justify and explain your answer. The CQ Researcher reading and the course resources for this week provide important information on this issue.  Please submit your initial answer by midnight Sunday.

 

• Discussion Question 6: Explain the purpose of the Voting Rights Act. How has it been weakened in recent years? Is some form of the Voting Rights Act still needed? Why or why not? Are Voter ID laws a necessary measure to protect against fraud or do they hinder people’s voting rights? Explain. Read Chapter 5 and the CQ Researcher article before responding to this question. Please submit your initial answer by midnight Wednesday.
• Current Events 2: This week students should post on a current event relating to the topic of civil liberties or civil rights in America. Please submit your initial answer by midnight Friday.
• Discussion Question 7: Explain the arguments for and against Affirmative Action. Are programs like Affirmative Action still needed? Is promoting diversity a legitimate argument in favor of Affirmative Action? Is the Texas plan to admit the top students from each high school a better alternative? Why or why not? Check out the resources on Affirmative Action in the content area.

Evaluation of Corporate Performance

The Final Project will involve applying the concepts learned in class to an analysis of a company using data from its annual report. Using the concepts from this course, you will analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the company and write a report either recommending or not recommending purchase of the company stock.

Research Tip: The “Mergent” database in the Ashford University Library contains company profiles and financial information for publicly traded companies and their competitors.  To access this database enter the Ashford Library and select “Find Articles and More” in the top menu panel. Next, select “Databases A-Z” and go to section “M” for “Mergent”. For help with using Mergent, use Mergent Online Quick Tips.

For help with reading an annual report access this handy guide from Money Chimp.

The completed report should include:

1. An introduction to the company, including background information.
2. A complete and thorough financial statement review.
3. Pro Forma financial statements (Balance Sheet and Income Statement) for the next fiscal year, assuming a 10 percent growth rate in sales and Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for the next year.
4. Complete ratio analysis for the last fiscal year using at least two ratios from each of the following categories:
   1. Liquidity
   2. Financial leverage
   3. Asset management
   4. Profitability
   5. Market value
5. A calculation of Return on Equity (ROE) using the DuPont system.
6. Assessment of management performance by calculating Economic Value Added (EVA).
7. A synopsis of your findings, including your recommendations and rationale for whether or not to purchase stock from this company.

This report should be eight to ten pages long (excluding title page and reference pages) using APA 6th edition formatting guidelines. Support your findings and recommendations with evidence from at least five scholarly resources, such as the textbook, industry reports, and articles from the Ashford University library.

Writing the Final Paper

The Final Paper:

 

1. Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the approved APA style guide.
2. Must include a cover page that includes:
   1. Title of paper
   2. Student’s name
   3. Course name and number
   4. Instructor’s name
   5. Date submitted
3. Must include an introductory paragraph with a succinct thesis statement.
4. Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
5. Must conclude with a restatement of the thesis and a conclusion paragraph.
6. Must use at least five scholarly resources from the Ashford University Library.
7. Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the approved APA style guide.
8. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Assignment 3: Review Paper—Draft of Literature Findings

Evaluate the evidence. Create a draft of the findings of the articles you have selected and how they contribute to our knowledge of this problem. Be sure to address each of the following items in your draft:

1.  Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each piece.

2.  If the articles talk to each other (that is, if they support or contrast with one another), explain how and why.

3.  What does the evidence tell us?

4.  Is there another possible explanation you can think of?  Based on what you have read, what is your hypothesis?  In other words, what is your explanation for the findings?

5.  How can you refine your question or topic even further, now that you have described the findings?

Your draft should be double-spaced and in 12 point, Times New Roman font with normal one-inch margins, written in APA style, and free of typographical and grammatical errors.  It should include a title page with a running head and a reference page. The body of the paper should be at least 5-6 pages in length.

 

• A sample literature review,
• a PowerPoint document illustrating how to set up your word processor for APA style
• a “Guide for Writing a Literature Review”

Assignment 2: Nanotechnology Applications

Nanotechnology (also called nanotech) is a branch of materials science that deals with manipulating matter on the atomic scale. It is so called because this field deals with engineering on the scale of a billionth of a meter, also known as a nanometer. Nanotechnology seeks to solve a wide range of problems from the construction of atomic scale machines to changing material properties at the atomic level.

Use the Internet, Argosy University library resources, and your textbook to research the field of nanotechnology.

Write a paper discussing some of the basic scientific and technical concepts of nanotechnology. Do the following in your paper:

• Discuss current or future applications of nanotechnology in fields such as medicine, engineering, space exploration, fuel cell development, air and water purification, and agriculture.
• Provide at least three examples of real-world applications in use or in development with reliable references.

This is a RESEARCH project. That means it requires EXTENSIVE OUTSIDE RESEARCH. Please use the library databases EXTENSIVELY.  No ordinary Google searches (although scholar.google.com is allowable).

WHAT TO DO:

You are assigned a company (ford motors)  and a host country (spain)  of interest. You must now engage in new product development/new market development in your given host country.

 

PHASE 1 (Complete by Nov 6):

1)      Look through the existing major product lines for your company.  Pick the new product and/or new market development in your given host country.

2)      Do a SWOT analysis on your company.

3)      Complete an assessment of the given host country (i)cultural, (ii)legal-political, (iii)competitive, (iv) technological  and (v)economic environments.

4)      Discuss what you believe to be the interactions/links between part 2 with part 3. Be sure to support your arguments.

 

PHASE 2 (Complete by presentation day) :

1)      Select Mode of Entry. Explain and support your rationale.

2)      Explain the channels of distribution in your country as they relate to your product/industry.

3)      Identify and explain specific product and promotion concerns.

 

4)      Identify goals and objectives of your market entry. Explain how you would measure success.

You will apply qualitative research methods this week when you develop a qualitative research plan that seeks to answer your research problem and research question.

To prepare for this Application, first focus on the following instructions:

• Review Chapter 9 in the course text, Research Design, the “Trustworthiness” handout, and “Qualitative Methods: Examples” from the Course DVD Research Theory, Design, and Methods.
• Consult Table 9.1 (p. 174) in the course text, Research Methods to guide you in polishing your abbreviated qualitative research plan.
• Draft an introduction for your abbreviated research plan.

Next, ask yourself the following questions:

• What are your research questions? To what extent can you test them? How would you justify the viability of your questions?
• Why would this design be the most appropriate for answering the research questions? Conversely, why would quantitative and mixed methods not be appropriate?
• What approach would you select for this study (ethnography, grounded theory, case study, phenomenology, narrative)? Why is that approach the most appropriate one for answering the research questions?
• What theoretical framework or perspective would you use?
• What would be your role as the researcher?
• What is your target population? How would you identify and recruit participants? What factors would contribute to determining appropriate sample size? You will not need to calculate sample size for this assignment.
• If appropriate for your plan, what instruments might you need?
• What data collection procedures might you use? Why would those be the most appropriate methods to use? How would that data help to answer your research question(s)?
• How would you ensure quality and reliability of data?
• What are threats to validity? How might you mitigate them?
• How might you analyze the data?
• What are the ethical considerations related to the plan?

The assignment:

• Craft a 2- to 3-page paper in which you
• • Provide an introduction.
  • Provide a purpose statement.
  • Provide viable research questions.
  • Generate a written research plan that addresses the above questions.

This week in the optional Workshop Discussion, consider posting the following information for feedback from your colleagues:

Unit 5 Individual Project NGT outline

CROSS FUNCTIONAL (BY LEVEL) SESSION (for end of day one)

GOAL: Organize themes to discuss with total group that identify what we do well and what needs to change. Assign priorities to these themes: their importance at the specific level of organization for which the cross functional team is composed. Total time available: 2–2 ½ hours. Process nominal group technique:

o Describe what NGT is and how it works in general terms. On one page, create your facilitator notes for what you will say and show to the group to complete this task. Present a detailed step-by-step outline—with time frames—for the group to follow in achieving the overall goal.

o Describe how you would have the team group items together. (One option would be to use colored markers and have people star like items by color. Another might be to have people assign common letters to like items starting a new letter for any new common theme.)

o Based on the choice you made above, would it be an individual task or a controlled group task? The object is to create as much participation and sharing of valid information to increase understanding and build commitment to the overall result.

o These steps will create a list of themes. The following steps will set priorities for all themes that relate to being targets for change.

o What voting method would you use? You can assign each person a certain number of ?votes? to allocate across the items to set priorities or you can have each person mark each theme with a number or letter that indicates the level of the priority—for example, the ABC priority approach or HML (high, medium, and low priority) or a 1–10 scale where 10 is a key priority and 1 is a very low priority.

o How do you summarize the results to create the top 3–5 issues to present to the overall group? Remember, you may need several rounds of ?voting and discussion? to end up with a few key priorities for action. Estimate how much time each would take and how many rounds you feel are necessary.

 

 

Unit 5 Individual Project Details:

The planning for the community building session is almost complete. The last details are how to conduct the plenary sessions for sharing information across groups to develop key priorities and themes that will need to be addressed.

There are 2 sessions that need to be planned. One is to review the work done by intact work teams. In this larger session, the goal is to spot patterns and identify themes that can be used to plan actions. These patterns or themes will come from the stop–continue–start charts developed by each functional group. In this way, not only will the changes that need to happen be identified, but aspects of effective work (those things that work well and should be continued) can also be reinforced.

The external consulting team strongly recommended a “cross-functional, by-level grouping” for the first step. Their aim is to promote understanding of priorities and show how different issues at different levels of the organization can be aligned. The internal consulting team is excited about being the primary facilitators for these sessions. Everyone recognizes that a structured approach will be critical (for timing and to control decision–making inputs). The approach called Nominal Group Technique (NGT) seems to be ideally suited to this task.

You want to prepare yourself for conducting the session. Use the library, Internet, or other resources to research NGT. Because each grouping will be of a differing size, you want to tailor the overall steps of NGT to the situation you will facilitate. To do this, you must create a meeting session plan (a document of 4–5 pages) that will answer the following questions:

• What is the goal of the session?
• How will the nominal group technique be used to achieve this goal?
• How will the members of the team work together (guidelines for effective participation)?
• What specific steps and tasks will be involved in achieving the goal?
• How much time will be allocated to each step or task? What voting mechanism is most appropriate for the size of the group and the specific stage of the process?
• What will the outcome look like? What will the group present to the other levels?

Download a sample format here. Your assignment is to complete the missing sections (in red) and develop any additional participant materials or instructions to assist the group in completing the task.