Book of Hours - Illuminated Prayer Book for the Wealthy

Book of Hours - Illuminated Prayer Book for the Wealthy A book of hours was a prayer book containing appropriate prayers for specific hours of the day, days of the week, months, and seasons. Books of hours were usually beautifully illuminated, and some of the more notable ones are among the finest works of medieval art in existence. Origin and history   Initially, books of hours were produced by scribes in monasteries for use by their fellow monks. Monastics divided their day into eight segments, or hours, of prayer: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Nones, Compline, and Vespers. A monk would set a book of hours on a lectern or table and read from it aloud at each of these hours; the books were therefore fairly large in format. The earliest known monastic books of hours were created in the 13th century. By the 14th century, smaller, portable books of hours with less complex liturgical systems were being produced for use by individuals. By the 15th century, these lay books of hours were so popular they outnumbered all other types of illuminated manuscript. Because the artwork was so splendid, books of hours were too expensive for all but the wealthiest of patrons: royalty, nobility, and occasionally very wealthy merchants or artisans. Contents Books of hours would vary according to the preferences of their owners, but they always began with a liturgical calendar; that is, a list of feast days in chronological order, as well as a method of calculating the date of Easter. Some included a multi-year almanac. Often books of hours included the seven Penitential Psalms, as well as any of a wide variety of other prayers devoted to favorite saints or personal issues. Frequently, books of hours featured a cycle of prayers dedicated to the Virgin Mary. illustrations Each section of prayers was accompanied by an illustration to help the reader meditate on the subject. Most often, these illustrations depicted biblical scenes or saints, but sometimes simple scenes from rural life or displays of royal splendor were included, as were the occasional portraits of the patrons who ordered the books. Calendar pages often depicted signs of the Zodiac. It wasnt uncommon for the owners coat of arms to be incorporated, as well. Pages that were largely text were often framed with or highlighted by foliage or symbolic motifs. The illustrations of books of hours and other manuscripts are sometimes called miniatures. This is not because the pictures are small; in fact, some could take up the entire page of an oversized book. Rather, the word miniature has its origins in the Latin miniare, to rubricate or to illuminate, and thus refers to written pages, or manuscripts. Production   Monastic books of hours were produced, as were most other illuminated manuscripts, by monks in a scriptorium. However, when books of hours became popular among the laity, a system of professional publication evolved. Scribes would write the text in one place, artists would paint the illustrations in another, and the two products were put together in a bookbinders hall. When a patron ordered a book of hours to be made, he could select his favorite prayers and subjects for illustration. In the later middle ages, it was also possible to purchase a pre-produced, generic book of hours in a stationers shop. Materials   Books of hours, like other medieval manuscripts, were written on parchment (sheepskin) or vellum (calfskin), specially treated to receive ink and paint. The writing surface was invariably lined to help the scribe write neatly and evenly; this was usually done by an assistant. By the time books of hours became popular, the inks used in manuscripts were almost always iron gall ink, made from the gallnuts on oak trees where wasp larvae were laid. This could be tinted different colors through the use of various minerals. Ink was applied with a quill pen a feather, cut to a sharp point and dipped in a jar of ink. A wide variety of minerals, plants, and chemicals were used to tint paints for the illustrations. The color sources were mixed with arabic or tragacinth gum as a binding agent. The most vivid and expensive mineral used in paint was Lapis Lazuli, a blue gemstone with gold flecks which in the Middle Ages was found only in present-day Afghanistan. Gold and silver leaf were also used to marvelous effect. The brilliant use of the precious metals achieved gave illumination its name. Significance to Medieval Art Books of hours offered artists the opportunity to display their skill to the best of their abilities. Depending on the wealth of the patron, the finest materials were used in order to achieve the richest and most vivid colors. Over the centuries of the book formats popularity, art style evolved into a more natural, vibrant form, and the structure of the illuminated page changed to allow more expression on the part of the illuminators. Now known as Gothic illumination, the works produced in the 13th through 15th centuries by clerical and secular artists alike would influence other art styles, such as stained glass, as well as the art that would follow in the Renaissance movements. Notable Book of Hours By far the most famous and splendid Book of Hours ever produced is Les Trà ¨s Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, produced in the 15th century.

Inca Road System - 25,000 Miles Connecting an Empire

Inca Road System - 25,000 Miles Connecting an Empire The Inca Road (called Capaq Ñan or Qhapaq Ñan in the Inca language Quechua and Gran Ruta Inca in Spanish) was an essential part of the success of the Inca Empire. The road system included an astounding 25,000 miles of roads, bridges, tunnels, and causeways. Key Takeaways: The Inca Road The Inca Road includes 25,000 miles of roads, bridges, tunnels, and causeways, a straight line distance of 2,000 miles from Ecuador to ChileConstruction followed existing ancient roadways; Incas began improving it as part of its imperial movements by the mid-15th centuryWay stations were established at every 10–12 miles  Use was restricted to elites and their messengers, but commoners maintained, cleaned and repaired and set up businesses to cater to the travelersLikely nonelite access by miners and others Road construction began in the mid-fifteenth century when the Inca gained control over its neighbors and started expanding their empire. The construction exploited and expanded on existing ancient roadways, and it ended abruptly 125 years later when the Spanish arrived in Peru. In contrast, the Roman Empires road system, also built on existing roadways, included twice as many miles of road, but it took them 600 years to build. Four Roads from Cuzco The Inca road system runs the entire length of Peru and beyond, from Ecuador to Chile and northern Argentina, a straight-line distance of some 2,000 mi (3,200 km). The heart of the road system is at Cuzco, the political heart and capital of the Inca Empire. All the main roads radiated out from Cuzco, each named for and pointed in the cardinal directions away from Cuzco. Chinchaysuyu, headed to the north and ending in Quito, EcuadorCuntisuyu, to the west and to the Pacific coastCollasuyu, led southward, ending in Chile and northern ArgentinaAntisuyu, eastward to the western edge of the Amazon jungle According to historical records, the Chinchaysuyu road from Cuzco to Quito was the most important of these four, keeping the rulers of the empire in close touch with their lands and subject people in the north. Inca Road Construction Original Inca built canal and street in city of Ollantaytambo, Peru. Jeremy Horner / Corbis NX / Getty Images Plus Since wheeled vehicles were unknown to the Inca, the surfaces of the Inca Road were intended for foot traffic, accompanied by llamas or alpacas as pack animals. Some of the roadways were paved with stone cobbles, but many others were natural dirt pathways between 3.5–15 ft (1–4 meters) in width. The roads were primarily built along straight lines, with only a rare deflection by no more than 20 degrees within a 3 mi (5 km) stretch. In the highlands, the roads were constructed to avoid major curves. To traverse the mountainous regions, the Inca built long stairways and switchbacks; for lowland roads through marshes and wetlands they built causeways; crossing rivers and streams required bridges and culverts, and desert stretches included the making of oases and wells by low walls or cairns. Practical Concerns The roads were primarily built for practicality, and they were intended to move people, goods, and armies quickly and safely across the length and breadth of the empire. The Inca almost always kept the road below an altitude of 16,400 feet (5,000 meters), and where at all possible they followed flat inter-mountain valleys and across plateaus. The roads skirted much of the inhospitable South American desert coast, running instead  inland along the Andean foothills where sources of water could be found. Marshy areas were avoided where possible. Architectural innovations along the trail where difficulties could not be avoided included drainage systems of gutters and culverts, switchbacks, bridge spans, and in many places low walls built to bracket the road and protect it from erosion. In some places,  tunnels and retaining walls were built to allow safe navigation. The Atacama Desert Inca Road through the Atacama Desert. San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta Region, Chile (Lagunas Miscanti and Mià ±iques). Jimfeng / iStock / Getty Images Plus Precolumbian travel across Chiles Atacama desert could not be avoided, however. In the 16th century, the Contact-period Spanish historian Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo crossed the desert using the Inca Road. He describes having to break his people into small groups to share and carry food and water supplies. He also sent horsemen ahead to identify the location of the next available water source. Chilean archaeologist Luis Briones has argued that the famed Atacama geoglyphs carved into the desert pavement and on the Andean foothills were markers indicating where water sources, salt flats, and animal fodder could be found. Lodging Along the Inca Road According to 16th-century historical writers such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, people walked the Inca Road at the rate of about ~12-14 mi (20–22 km) a day. Accordingly, placed along the road at every 12–14 miles are tambos or tampu, small building clusters or villages which acted as rest stops. These way stations provided lodging, food, and supplies for travelers, as well as opportunities for trading with local businesses. Several small facilities were kept as storage spaces to support tampu, of many different sizes. Royal officials called tocricoc were in charge of the cleanliness and maintenance of the roads; but a constant presence that could not be stamped out were pomaranra, road thieves or bandits. Carrying the Mail Steps cut into the native mountainside for the Inca Road leading to Machu Picchu. Geraint Rowland Photography / Moment / Getty Images A postal system was an essential part of the Inca Road, with relay runners called chasqui stationed along the road at .8 mi (1.4 km) intervals. Information was taken along the road either verbally or stored in the Inca writing systems of knotted strings called quipu. In special circumstances, exotic goods could be carried by the chasqui: it was reported that the ruler Topa Inca (ruled 1471–1493) could dine in Cuzco on two-day-old fish brought in from the coast, a travel rate of about 150 mi (240 km) each day. American packaging researcher Zachary Frenzel (2017) studied methods used by Incan travelers as illustrated by Spanish chroniclers. People on the trails used rope bundles, cloth sacks, or large clay pots known as aribalos to carry goods. The aribalos were likely used for the movement of chicha beer, a maize-based mildly alcoholic beverage that was an important element of elite Inca rituals. Frenzel found that traffic continued on the road after the Spanish arrived in the same manner, except for the addition of wooden trunks and leather bota bags for carrying liquids. Non-State Uses Chilean archaeologist Francisco Garrido (2016, 2017) has argued that the Inca Road also served as a traffic route for bottom-up entrepreneurs. The Inca-Spanish historian Garcilaso de la Vega stated unequivocally that commoners were not permitted to use the roads unless they had been sent to run errands by the Inca rulers or their local chiefs. However, was that ever a practical reality of policing 40,000 km? Garrido surveyed a portion of the Inca Road itself and other nearby archaeological sites in the Atacama desert in Chile and found that the roads were used by the miners to circulate mining and other craft products on the road and to funnel off-road traffic to and from the local mining camps. Interestingly, a group of economists led by Christian Volpe (2017) studied the effects of modern expansions on the Inca road system, and suggest that in modern times, improvements in transport infrastructure have had a significant positive impact on various companies exports and job growth. Selected Sources Hiking the section of the Inca Road leading to Machu Picchu is a popular tourist experience. Contreras, Daniel A. How Far to Conchucos? A Gis Approach to Assessing the Implications of Exotic Materials at Chavà ­n De Huntar. World Archaeology 43.3 (2011): 380–97. Print.Garrido Escobar, Franciso Javier. Mining and the Inca Road in the Prehistoric Atacama Desert, Chile. University of Pittsburgh, 2015. Print.Garrido, Francisco. Rethinking Imperial Infrastructure: A Bottom-up Perspective on the Inca Road. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 43 (2016): 94–109. Print.Garrido, Francisco, and Diego Salazar. Imperial Expansion and Local Agency: A Case Study of Labor Organization under Inca Rule. American Anthropologist 119.4 (2017): 631–44. Print.Marsh, Erik J., et al. Dating the Expansion of the Inca Empire: Bayesian Models from Ecuador and Argentina. Radiocarbon 59.1 (2017): 117–40. Print.Wilkinson, Darryl. Infrastructure and Inequality: An Archaeology of the Inka Road through the Amaybamba Cloud Forests. Journal of Social Archaeology 19.1 (2019): 27à ¢â‚¬â€œ46. Print.

Use of Folley Catheters in Place of Gastric Tubes for Administration Research Paper

Use of Folley Catheters in Place of Gastric Tubes for Administration of Enteral Nutrition - Research Paper Example The nasogastric tube moves through the nose into the buccal cavity to the throat where it routes to the stomach. Another major use for the nasogastric tube is to provide the patient with medicines that the patient could not take otherwise. Nasogastric tubes come in various standard depths that are marked on the tubes. The healthcare must measure the distance from the patient’s nose to the location of the xyphoid process. Gastric tubes are marked at the measured length before insertion to ensure adequate reach without any danger of clogging due to excess tube length. Before insertion, it is common to lubricate the gastric tube at the insertion end using local anesthetics such as 2% xylocaine gel. Other than local anesthetics, nasal vasoconstrictor sprays may be used as well. The nasogastric tube is then inserted into one of the patient’s anterior nares. Care has to be exercised when guiding the tube through the patient’s nasal cavity into the throat region. The tube is directed downwards and backwards as it is inserted. If a patient is wake during the insertion process, they may gag as the gastric tube reaches the oropharynx and then enters the posterior pharyngeal wall. In such a case, the patient is asked to mimic swallowing or is provided with some water to sip. As the patient imitates swallowing, the tube is inserted further. As soon as the tube moves beyond the pharynx and into the esophagus, it slides easily down into the patient’s stomach. ... The removal is done slowly especially if the patient is wake. In case that the patient develops a gag, he is instructed to sip some water or to imitate swallowing to ease the congestion. Once the gastric tube is removed, the site is cleaned using any acceptable anti-bacterial agent such as povidone iodine. After cleaning, the site dries itself in air while the healthcare provider prepares the Foley catheter sized between 14 and 18 fr. The catheter is sterilized before use after which it is inserted into the patient’s system. Before insertion it is ensured that the balloon of the catheter is not leaking through a trial insertion of sterile water. The Foley catheter is inserted into the patient’s system comparable to the gastric tube insertion with little differences in the overall procedure. Once the Foley catheter is in position, the balloon is secured in position by inflating it with 10 to 15 cc of sterile water. Light tugging confirms that the Foley catheter is firmly in position. In case that the catheter is still shifting, more sterile water is added. In case this fails to work, the catheter may need to be replaced due to a leaking balloon. The entry site is dressed once the procedure is complete to discourage infection. Research suggests that the use of Foley catheters is preferable to the use of gastric tubes for enteral nutrition. One primary advantage offered by Foley catheters is their lower cost when compared to gastric tubes. The rate of failure of gastric tubes and Foley catheters is comparable with the rate of failure being slightly higher in gastric tubes (Kadakia, Cassaday, & Shaffer, 1994). Current research also suggests that Foley catheters can be utilized in place of gastric tubes for enteral

Classical Music Concert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Classical Music Concert - Essay Example Naturally, the concert was entirely devoted to the cantata of Carl Orff (1895-1982) called Carmina Burana, which incorporates a prologue and three parts consisting of a number of musical movements. The first movement I would like to describe is Veris Leta Facies, the movement immediately following the prologue and proceeding with its overall tone. According to the rules of Cantata genre, the movement focused mainly on vocal part, with the choirs being accompanied by the pianos and percussion ensemble. The mixed choir parties were mediated by piano and percussion ritornellos. The general atmosphere and tonality hinted at expressionistic coloring of Orff’s work, for the vocal parties sounded rather minor despite a rather lively ritornello at the beginning. Expressionistic nature of the composition was sensed also due to a slight dissonance between the lyrics (the translation of which is in the program) and the tone of music. Moreover, listening to the movement, I was able to identify an allusion to and imitation of medieval music with its simple tonalities and choral singing. Although the movement featured the mixed choir, it resembled much of the monophonic medieval Greg orian chants style. What is also notable about the whole concert and this movement in particular is that the instrumental accompaniment of the Cantata was performed by a minimal number of instruments; though – as far as I know – it is traditionally played with a wide variety of instruments including woodwind and brass sections. The second movement I would like to write about is – no surprise – one of the most famous classical vocal pieces of nowadays, a movement framing Carmina Burana, its opening and closing. The movement was characterized by a steady rhythm supported by piano and a dramatic choral parties sung by the mixed choir. Approximately, in the middle of the piece, the powerful

Domestic Violence Essay Example for Free

Domestic Violence Essay Domestic Violence, based on typical legal definition, encompasses psychological, sexual, physical, and verbal actions of an individual against his or her partner (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). The prevalence of these kinds of abuses has propelled the civic group to clamor from the government for the victims’ legal protection and preservation of rights. Said Pournaghash-Tehrani and Zahra Feizabadi as members of Department of Psychology and Institute of Psychology respectively in the University of Tehran in Iran are both expected to be highly adept in the field of applied psychology. Their study entitled â€Å"Comparing Demographic Characteristics of Male Victims of Domestic Violence† is one of the spirit-awakening researches in terms of domestic violence. It draws out attention on the issue of domestic violence where the typical scenario females are abused while males are the perpetrators. The stereotype of domestic violence has treated it as entirely women’s issue for a long time (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). Thus, most countries have a definite law concerning violence against women. However, through the efforts of civil groups and social scientists, gender symmetry movement on domestic violence has made a notion that males are victims of domestic violence at least as often as women. Meanwhile, the work of Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, as acknowledged by the Asian Network for Scientific Information in 2007, was published in the fourteenth of the seventh volume of Journal of Applied Sciences. Their study revealed that male victims of domestic violence are not only limited in the United States but are also observed in the Asian region. Goal and Hypothesis Based on the studies conducted on the Western countries revealing the capacity of women to commit violence against their male partners, Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi aimed to focus on the socio-demographic attributes of the male victims of domestic violence. Thus, they intended to find out the relationship of the domestic violence experience of male victims with respect to their age, educational attainment, and income level; the possible interaction among age, educational attainment, income level, and domestic violence experience of the male victims. Specifically, their study sought answers to the following questions: do the male victims have differences in physical violence experiences with respect to age, educational attainment, and income level? ; and do the male victims have differences in psychological violence experiences with respect to age, educational attainment, and income level? ; is the interaction between age and educational attainment, age and income level, educational attainment and income level, and among age, educational attainment and age, income level significant with physical violence experiences? ; and is the interaction between age and educational attainment, age and income level, educational attainment and income level, and among age, educational attainment and age, income level significant with psychological violence experiences? Literature Review The preponderance of domestic violence, in any form, across cultures gave impetus for the creation of legal policies for its prevention, efficient prosecution of the perpetrators, and effective programs of advocacy for the victims. However, legal advocacies are only focused on women for men are typically perceived as the doers of domestic violence (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). In this connection, studies accounted the significant correlation of socio-demographic factors such as age, educational attainment, income level, socio-economic status, and substance abuse with the occurrence of domestic violence (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). Meanwhile, as revealed by contemporary researches conducted in the United States and Great Britain, men are also victims of domestic violence at least as often as women. In fact, based on statistical reports in Western countries, about 20% to 30% of domestic violence like punching, throwing objects, biting, slapping an biting are done by women towards their male partners (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). Moreover, the meta-analysis conducted by Archer in 2000 and 2002 on eighty five marital conflict studies divulged that women have higher tendency for physical violence due to stress levels than men (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). Aside from physical violence, women are also capable of psychological violence through oral arguments towards their husbands. Further, Hindin and Adair in 2002, Jeyaseelan et al. in 2004, and Perez et al. in 2006, exposed that regardless of gender, low level of education contributes to the occurrence of domestic violence in marital relations (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). Also, Jeyaseelan et al. argued that even though domestic violence is not limited to a particular social class, it is of frequent occurrence among the poor (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). On the other hand, Perez et al. reported that incidences of domestic violence are more often to take place in young couples than in older couples (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). The inevitable fact that women are also perpetrators of physical or psychological violence led to growing consciousness in supporting the notion of gender symmetry in domestic violence through intensive researches. Since most studies are done on behalf of female victims, socio-demographic attributes of male victims need to be further investigated. As such, the characteristics of male victims susceptible to domestic violence and its implications can deeply be explored. Materials and Methods An author-made questionnaire was utilized as instrument in the determination of domestic violence. The instrument has thirteen and twenty four items for the evaluation of psychological and physical violence respectively. Each item was formulated based on the available literature in the assessment of violence. Also, each item was rated based on five-point Likert-type scale. In line with this, the validity of the instrument was evaluated by co-administering with the Conflict Tactic Scale in a hundred of couples. The correlation computed between the two instrument was +0. 89 indicating the high validity of the author-made questionnaire (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). On the other hand, the measured Cronbach’s Alpha for the consistency of the devised instrument was +0. 81 (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). In 2006, the devised instrument was administered to one hundred twenty male victims of domestic violence from four family courts in Iran (Pournaghash-Tehrani and Feizabadi, 2007). The subjects were randomly and voluntarily selected, and were informed that they are free to move out from the study anytime they want. They were also oriented on the purpose of the study and that any information will be treated with high regards of confidentiality. Then multivariate analysis of variance or MANOVA and Scheffe test were employed to assess the effects of socio-demographic factors and their interactions to the incidence of physical and psychological violence. Results and Discussion Repondents From twenty five to eighty years old was the age range of the samples wherein among them 40% has education above high school diploma, 25% earned less than high school diploma, 20% earned above high school diploma, and 15% has a high school diploma. In terms of monthly income, 30% has above $590, 35% has $160-$380, 29% has $380-$590, and 6% has below $160 salary. Age and Domestic Violence It was found that age has a significant effect on the incidence of physical violence. As showed by the Scheffe test, men of ages thirty five to fifty have the highest rate of physical violence experience. In terms of psychological violence, age has significance in the incidence of denying choices and cutting off marital intercourse. Additionally, based on Scheffe test cessation of marital intercourse was mainly observed among thirty five to fifty years old men while denying choices was mainly observed among men of sixty five to eighty years of ages. Educational Attainment and Domestic Violence Based on MANOVA, educational attainment has significant effect on throwing of objects. Through Scheffe test, it was found that men with Bachelor’s degree were most often victimized by object thrown. In terms of psychological violence, educational attainment has significance on the incidence of denying choices, cessation of marital intercourse, and devaluation of work. As the Scheffed test showed, denying of choices was much observed in men with Bachelor’s degree while cessation of marital status was mainly observed to men with low educational attainment. Also, devaluation of work was commonly observed among men with diploma. Level of Income, Interactive Effects and Domestic Violence Although the study failed to prove any connection between domestic violence and level of income, the interactive effects of age, educational attainment, and income level have significance with the incidence of hitting. The Scheffe test showed that physical violence was generally experienced by thirty five to fifty years old men with Master’s level of education, and above $590 monthly income. With regards to psychological violence, the interactive effects of age and educational attainment were significant to denying choices. This type of physical violence was mainly observed in men with bachelor’s degree and of above sixty years of age. Moreover, the interactive effects of age and level of income has significance with the incidence of forced household chores task, devaluation of work, and denying choices. The study revealed that: forced household chores task was mostly observed in men with $380 to $590 monthly income within thirty five to fifty years old range; devaluation of work was mainly observe in men with the ages twenty to thirty five years old earning $380 to $590 per month; and denying choices was observed prevalently in men of fifty to sixty five years of ages earning $160 to $380 monthly. Meanwhile, the interactive effects of age, educational attainment, and income level were significant with forced household chores task. This relationship was mainly observed among men with Bachelor’s degrees, of thirty five to fifty ages, and earning $380-$590 monthly. Analysis Even though this study is unique and very revealing in the sense that this was the first research conducted in Iran with respect to the domestic violence committed by women towards their respective partners, there are also weaknesses and limitations. First, the validity and consistency of the author-made questionnaire as the singly instrument utilized to measure the presence and extent of domestic violence is of great question. The validity and consistency of the author-made questionnaire were based solely on the validity and consistency correlations with the Conflict Tactic Scale which is commonly used in the assessment of domestic violence against women. In addition, there are other instruments available for the evaluation of domestic violence such as the Partner-Abused Scale, Abusive Behavior Inventory, and Index of Marital Satisfaction. The validity, reliability, and consistency of these instruments have been verified and established for a long time. Since these available instruments on violence are typically used for the assessment of violence against women, it is then invalid to construct an instrument specific for male victims based only on one of these instruments. Thus, there was a possible bias on the construction of the instrument utilized in this study that probably served as source of error in data collection. Furthermore, the Conflict Tactic Scale which is the solely basis of the author-made questionnaire was tested primarily through the researches conductive in the Western and in some European Countries, hence, cultural differences may possibly serve as interference in the study. Even though domestic violence is ubiquitous across cultures, but cultural factors may influence socio-demographic attributes of the subjects of the study. As such, the validity and reliability of a particular instrument in a specific nation may not hold true for another country. In this line of reasoning, the correlations revealed by this research on socio-demographic characteristics and domestic violence on men may only be valid and reliable with respect to the populations of their own country. Although the results seemed to be comparable with the results of studies conducted in different countries, the authors failed to discuss crucial aspects of those studies in relation to their study like the instrument used and statistical treatment applied. Result comparison among conducted researches with different research design and methodology would result to bias generalization. In fact, in meta-analysis or the integration of the results of several studies, only researches with logically designed methodology and with validated data are included in order to derive a valid generalization (Wolf, 1986). Similarly, by comparing the results of this study with other researches of different research designs so as to make it credible would lead to erroneous generalization. References Pournaghash-Tehrani, S. and Feizabadi, Z. (2007). Comparing Demographic Characteristics of Male Victims of Domestic Violence. Journal of Applied Science, 7(14): 1930-1935. Wolf, F. M. (1986). Meta-Analysis: Quantitative Methods for Research Synthesis. Michigan: Sage Publication.

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I am a person who has always had a profound passion and fascination for areas requiring an analytical approach. Right from early days at school, Mathematics has intrigued me. The most challenging of all problems were my favorites and obtaining solutions to them would leave me with a sheer feeling of ecstasy. I always did and always would thrive on solving the most challenging problems. With a compelling desire to excel, hard work became my second nature. My aspiration for a technical career prompted me to take up one of the most coveted undergraduate program in Computer Engineering at SR Engineering College, the best of such institutions. My own systematic & methodical towards finding a solution to any problem best suits this field. On joining the college, I concentrated on acquiring knowledge not only through the classroom teaching materials, but also through the volumes of Computer related materials. In the process I have acquired in-depth knowledge in the fields of Database Management Systems, Data Mining and Data Warehousing, Software Engineering especially in the concepts related to process organization and responsibilities. I was also fascinated by the growth of Networking and Communication Technology and developed keen interest in the subjects such as Computer Networks, Data Communications and Network Protocols. The Operating systems lab and Computer Networks lab unleashed a relentless desire in me to excel at its usage and find innovative applications. My undergraduate preparation at the Computer Science of my University has given me a very substantial knowledge of the basic areas of Computer Science. Any amount of learning in Computer Science would be incomplete without hands on experience of Programming. In a world where... ...ts in the same direction. After extensively studying the course work, faculty profiles and lab facilities, I have observed that the@@@@@@is highly suitable for realizing my goals. The positive spirit of the university, the positive feedback from students and the level of expertise of the faculty in the computer science department are amongst the most compelling factors which have led me to choose@@@@. I am aware of the hard work and perseverance necessary for research work and I know that it is not always as exciting as the published results seem to indicate. Nevertheless, I am sure that my aptitude and drive will see me through the challenge. It is with this in mind, that I look forward to a long and rewarding relationship with your university as a graduate student, I take this opportunity to thank the University faculty for their patient perusal of my application.

Lord of the Flies †Ralph and Jacks struggle for leadership Essay

At first Ralph was really enthusiastic about being on the island, because there was no adults and it was like the paradise islands he had read about in books. â€Å"Perhaps there aren’t any grown ups anywhere.† Ralph and the other boys were really excited about exploring the island. Ralph also had a naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve belief in is father rescuing him because he was in the navy. â€Å"When he gets leave he’ll come and rescue us.† At first Ralph is elected to become leader this gives him responsibility. Then Ralph gives jack the choir to become hunters but then he tries to organise the boys. The fire becomes a disaster because first it goes out then they argue and a huge fire breaks out. â€Å"him with the mark on his face, I don’t see him. Where is he now?† Then the boy with the mulberry birthmark disappears. At the start Ralph and jack form a strong bond as they both struggle for leadership. They both want different things as Ralph wants to make a fire and build a shelter but jack and the others want to hunt and enjoy them self, but also jack becomes more and more obsessed by hunting. Ralph changes and started to get annoyed with jack. â€Å"No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing.† Ralph changes a lot when jack becomes the leader of the savages but Ralph wants them all to be united. At first Ralph doesn’t seem to like piggy, which is why he gives him a nickname he also picks out piggy deficiencies and keeps reminding him of them. â€Å"Piggy! Piggy!† But as we get further into the novel Ralph starts to realise Piggy’s strengths and sees that he is a good and strong friend. Whilst Ralph’s relationship with jack causes him to change so does the disappointment he suffers on the island. As he spends more time on the island he realises that he has become dirty, his hair has grown and he cant do anything about it. â€Å"You’re chief. You tell ’em off.† Also he realises that he has had to work to build the shelters and make a routine he also finds that he has limitations as a leader as the boys on the island start to ignore him and he becomes disillusioned. Ralph’s disappointments slowly progress into life threatening problems in the beast a lot of the littluns believe it is some kind of snake thing but some others think it is the body on top of the mountain. Jack thinks they should hunt it and kill it, but Ralph just wants to leave it alone and hope it doesn’t come down from the mountain Ralph plays the same role in Simon’s death as most of the other boys, but I think both Ralph and piggy were truly sorry for what they had done to Simon. The reason the boys went to castle rock was to try and talk to jack about becoming one group again, but while Ralph was talking to jack Rodger pushed a bolder off of a cliff which knocked piggy into the sea. â€Å"the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist.† I think the destruction of the conch was very symbolic as it had always been a sign of togetherness and control amongst the boys but after it was destroyed, the savages’ tribe became the only tribe. The reason the hunt to the death began was because Ralph tried to hide after the rest of the boys had joined the tribe but jack found him and set up a line of savages to find him. Ralph’s view of the island has completely changed from the view of Paradise Island to a hellish island. When the naval officer arrives Ralph remembers the start of the island and declares himself the leader again. The naval officer asks if a war had happened not knowing just how right he was. I have described how Ralph changes through out the novel in step-by-step parts including quotes as further evidence to how Ralph has changed. If you think about what Golding is showing in his novel it is really about how evil lies in the soul of every human being it just takes more to bring it out in some than others.

The Love of My Life

In the short story â€Å"The Love of My Life,† two teenagers make one bad decision and their lives are changed forever. The author, T. Coraghessan Boyle, wrote the story based on an actual news story that had occurred a few years back. The author does a great job of making the relationship between Jeremy and China seem so wonderful and almost innocent, that it is hard to be angry with them. The two characters in the story, Jeremy and China, are young and are head over heels for each other.The very first line of the story is all it takes to make the reader realize that these two youngsters share the true meaning of love, â€Å"they wore each other like a pair of socks. † All of that changes when the two find out that China is pregnant. Instead of properly handling their situation, they have the baby and dispose of it in a dumpster at a motel. Although the story has a very upsetting plot, you can't help but feel some sympathy toward the characters. The beginning of the st ory starts out describing the great, young love that Jeremy and China had.They did everything with each other, spent almost every waking moment together, and rarely ever fought. Both teenagers were on a great track in life; graduating at the top of their high school class, both going to top colleges and well-liked by most. They would tell each other â€Å"I love you† more times in a day than they could keep track of. Every time they walked into a room they would kiss. They seemed to have the perfect relationship. Then, the summer before college would commence, they went on a week-long camping trip alone.Of course, being alone, they had the opportunity to have sex and enjoy their time together. Obviously caught in the heat of the moment, knowing they were out of condoms, they had sex anyway. One irrational decision led to their lives changing forever. Before going to school in the fall, China learned that she was pregnant. Out of immaturity, and fear, she decides to do nothing about it and hide it, hoping it would perhaps just go away. Jeremy is just as clueless and scared as she is, and goes along with her decision.When the night comes that China is to have her baby, she calls up Jeremy and they meet at the motel they had met at many times before. When she arrives there, Jeremy is waiting at the door. When she walks by him, â€Å"they didn't kiss- they didn't even touch- and then she was on the bed. † By this time, they have almost completely lost all of the love in their relationship and all their fighting has just pulled them apart more and more. Hours passed, and she finally had the baby. After the trauma of giving birth, all she could say to Jeremy was, â€Å"get rid of it. Jeremy, not knowing what else to do, listened to her order. After driving China back to school, he returned to the motel, wrapped the baby in a plastic bag, and disposed of it in a dumpster. Like most secrets, this one didn't last very long. Both teenagers were soon arres ted. On the day of their court appearance, China writes Jeremy a note saying, â€Å"I love you, will always love you no matter what. It is apparent that she still loves him so much, but it is hard to tell whether Jeremy still feels the same at this point in the story. All he can say to her before they part is, â€Å"you told me to get rid of it. A part in the story that seems to be very ironic is that China always would joke with Jeremy that she would â€Å"never be like those breeders that bring their puffed-up squalling little red-faced babies to class. † Sadly, the thing that they had once laughed at others for happened to them. It can also become so intense and cause people to do crazy things, just like the characters in â€Å"The Love of My Life. † They may not have killed one another, but they did murder their baby. They were blinded by their love and still so immature that they did not know how to deal with such a serious situation like that. The Love of My Life Love conquers all. That’s what we hear over and over again growing up. Everyone longs for that one amazing person to waltz into our lives and steal our hearts for the rest of eternity, but is it possible that love will be strong enough to face any problem that gets in our way? T. Coraghessan Boyle once said â€Å"As strong as love might be, there is always something stronger that could come along and shatter it† (After). T. Coraghessan Boyle was born in 1948 as Thomas John Boyle in Peekskill, New York. When Boyle went to college he never dreamed that one day he would have a major in Literature.He originally went to major in music as an aspiring saxophone player at SUNY Potsdam (â€Å"Auteur†). â€Å"That did not work out because I did not have near the talent of my colleagues† he said â€Å"I became a singer in a rock band† (â€Å"Auteur†). After he lost interest in music he moved on to history. From history, he changed his major to English a nd history. When Boyle finally found were he belonged he channeled his creativity into writing fiction, where he is now know as a literary legend, or as Boyle likes to say a rock star of literature. Mark Twain once said â€Å"Boyle‘s writing is deliciously infectious† (â€Å"Auteur†).Twain also includes that â€Å"Boyle’s masterful use of wit and dark satire pepper the pages with a focus on social exploration in contemporary times† (â€Å"Auteur†). With that kind of response from the great Mark Twain I can understand how Boyle has twenty-three novels and sixty-four short stories. In the short story â€Å"The Love of My Life† Boyle describes an extremely powerful love between two young teenagers named China and Jeremy. These two were inseparable, completely taken by love since the end of their junior year when they started dating, and they were not afraid to show it. They kissed whenever they met, no matter where or when, even if one of them had just stepped out of the room, because that was love, that was the way love was,† and they believed that nothing could end this incredible feeling (Boyle 382). Until the end of August, when China found out she was pregnant, that was when their problems began. China did not tell anyone about the baby except Jeremy. They went to two different colleges and that they would deal with the baby when it was time for China to give birth. When China’s water broke she called Jeremy and they went to a motel.Jeremy delivered the baby girl and China told him to â€Å"get rid of it† so he threw the baby in the dumpster outside (Boyle 387). They left the motel and went back to the college as if nothing ever happened. The police came the next morning and arrested both China and Jeremy. China and her parents decided to place the blame on Jeremy by allowing everyone to think that China had believed she had miscarried, and Jeremy acted alone on dumping the breathing child i nto the dumpster. This enormous problem eventually led to the downfall of China and Jeremy’s relationship.Boyle gets his ideas for his stories in many different ways, some can be from him just walking down the street and an idea pops into his head, others ideas come when he is watching television or reading a book. Boyle got the idea to write â€Å"The Love of My Life† from a case he read in the newspaper (After). The case was about a murder investigation involving Amy S. Grossberg and Brian C. Peterson for the murder of their new born baby boy. Grossberg delivered the baby at a Comfort Inn in Newark, Delaware, in November 1996 (â€Å"Amy†). Grossberg was assisted by her boyfriend Brian Peterson. Peterson threw the baby in the dumpster.In March1998, Peterson pled guilty to man slaughter and served a two-year sentence. On April 22, 1998, Grossberg agreed to plea bargain, and was sentenced to two-and -half years in prison on July 9, 1998. Later, Peterson got marri ed and now lives in Florida. Grossberg has now started a high end greeting card business with her parents (â€Å"Amy†). The only differences between the Peterson and Grossberg case and â€Å"The Love of My Life† is Boyle changed Peterson and Grossberg’s names and the sex of the baby, other than that the two stories are very similar. Love is a theme that is expressed frequently in this story, making some wonder, what is love?China and Jeremy believe love should be expressed physically, rather than physically and emotionally. China says love should be â€Å"the way it was in the movies, where the stars ambushed each other on beds the size of small planets and did it again and again until they lay nestled in a heap of pillows and blankets† (Boyle 381). Jeremy says explains that â€Å"there was no feeling like this, no triumph, no high – it was like being unconquerable, like floating,† (Boyle 381) and for their spring break trip, Jeremy â€Å"d idn’t even bring his fishing rod, and that was love† (Boyle 383). Their idea of love is questioned when China is pregnant.Jeremy begins to think of China as â€Å"pig-headed, stubborn, and irrational† (Boyle 385). Yet he does what she asks, like when she tells him to â€Å"get rid of it†, it meaning the baby, he does not ask questions he simply wraps the baby in plastic and leaves the room (Boyle 387). China’s love is also questioned when she chooses to testify against Jeremy, blaming him for the death of their child, claiming to have believed she had a miscarriage. Yet she claims to still love him. In this short story, Boyle uses water to symbolize the state of their relationship (Robertson). Boyle mentions it raining or not raining fourteen times.When the water is calm and peaceful then their relationship is going well and blooming (Robertson). However, when the water turns rapid, so does the relationship. For instance, when Jeremy and China go on their five day backpacking trip near the lake, Boyle makes use note that â€Å"not a drop† of rain is suppose to fall (Boyle 383). With no rain in sight Jeremy and China are going to have very peaceful trip. Another example of â€Å"not a drop† of rain falling is the night before Jeremy is arrested and he is dreaming of fishing in the river, that is also a peaceful moment for him.On the other hand, the day China’s water breaks we are told that â€Å"it is raining, raining hard† which is a sign that their relationship is struggling (Boyle 386). Later that evening â€Å"the rain had turned to ice† this could be a sign of how cold they are toward each other (Boyle 386). After hours of labor and hours of rain the baby is born. The very next day when the police come to arrest Jeremy it is raining again. Boyle draws parallels between China’s dorm life and her time at Sarah Barnes Cooper Women’s Correctional Institute (Kettering).The food à ¢â‚¬Å"was exactly what they served at the dining hall in college,† and the room was â€Å"just like a dorm room, except that they locked the doors at night† (Boyle 388). The image of the moon is used to unify the story (Kettering). China quotes a John Donne poem to Jeremy, saying she loves him â€Å"More than Moon† (Boyle 384). As she grows with her pregnancy, he begins to call her â€Å"More than Moon† since her stomach is so round and white (Boyle 384). The note that she sends to him during the trial references the poem again, saying that she loves him â€Å"More than Moon† (Boyle 389).Boyle uses nature to symbolize the emotions that Jeremy and China feel. For example, spring and winter are used to show the highs and lows that China and Jeremy go through during these times of the year. When Jeremy and China are so in love with one another, Boyle uses imagery associated with spring to indicate that their love is fertile and growing (â€Å"Termâ₠¬ ). I feel that Boyle uses this story as an attempt to inform us that no matter how in love we think we are, something can always go wrong, and that you may never get that love back.He allows us to see and feel what Jeremy and China feel through what they say to each other and the words he uses to describe their love. As the story continues we gain more understanding of their relationship, and this is why the story is so heart breaking when China turns her back on Jeremy at the end to save her own future. This whole story triggers our emotions, it allows us to feel the love they have for each other and then feel the betrayal. Which makes Boyle’s point very clear, love does not conquer all. The Love of My Life In the short story â€Å"The Love of My Life,† two teenagers make one bad decision and their lives are changed forever. The author, T. Coraghessan Boyle, wrote the story based on an actual news story that had occurred a few years back. The author does a great job of making the relationship between Jeremy and China seem so wonderful and almost innocent, that it is hard to be angry with them. The two characters in the story, Jeremy and China, are young and are head over heels for each other.The very first line of the story is all it takes to make the reader realize that these two youngsters share the true meaning of love, â€Å"they wore each other like a pair of socks. † All of that changes when the two find out that China is pregnant. Instead of properly handling their situation, they have the baby and dispose of it in a dumpster at a motel. Although the story has a very upsetting plot, you can't help but feel some sympathy toward the characters. The beginning of the st ory starts out describing the great, young love that Jeremy and China had.They did everything with each other, spent almost every waking moment together, and rarely ever fought. Both teenagers were on a great track in life; graduating at the top of their high school class, both going to top colleges and well-liked by most. They would tell each other â€Å"I love you† more times in a day than they could keep track of. Every time they walked into a room they would kiss. They seemed to have the perfect relationship. Then, the summer before college would commence, they went on a week-long camping trip alone.Of course, being alone, they had the opportunity to have sex and enjoy their time together. Obviously caught in the heat of the moment, knowing they were out of condoms, they had sex anyway. One irrational decision led to their lives changing forever. Before going to school in the fall, China learned that she was pregnant. Out of immaturity, and fear, she decides to do nothing about it and hide it, hoping it would perhaps just go away. Jeremy is just as clueless and scared as she is, and goes along with her decision.When the night comes that China is to have her baby, she calls up Jeremy and they meet at the motel they had met at many times before. When she arrives there, Jeremy is waiting at the door. When she walks by him, â€Å"they didn't kiss- they didn't even touch- and then she was on the bed. † By this time, they have almost completely lost all of the love in their relationship and all their fighting has just pulled them apart more and more. Hours passed, and she finally had the baby. After the trauma of giving birth, all she could say to Jeremy was, â€Å"get rid of it. Jeremy, not knowing what else to do, listened to her order. After driving China back to school, he returned to the motel, wrapped the baby in a plastic bag, and disposed of it in a dumpster. Like most secrets, this one didn't last very long. Both teenagers were soon arres ted. On the day of their court appearance, China writes Jeremy a note saying, â€Å"I love you, will always love you no matter what. It is apparent that she still loves him so much, but it is hard to tell whether Jeremy still feels the same at this point in the story. All he can say to her before they part is, â€Å"you told me to get rid of it. A part in the story that seems to be very ironic is that China always would joke with Jeremy that she would â€Å"never be like those breeders that bring their puffed-up squalling little red-faced babies to class. † Sadly, the thing that they had once laughed at others for happened to them. It can also become so intense and cause people to do crazy things, just like the characters in â€Å"The Love of My Life. † They may not have killed one another, but they did murder their baby. They were blinded by their love and still so immature that they did not know how to deal with such a serious situation like that.

How to Manage Budget Hotels

How to Manage Budget Hotels Background With the steady growth in tourism, provision of quality and affordable hospitality services is exponentially gaining credence (Weygandt et al., A 2008). The quality of service offered and the satisfaction of the customer are factors that have been considered to be leading to the retaining of customers and the general success of the hotel industry.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on How to Manage Budget Hotels Cases in London specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The hotel industry in the UK has been on a steady rise. According to the United Kingdom Tourism Survey, there was a steady rise amounting to 74.5 percent in hotel bookings by the end of September 2010 (O’Neill Mattila, 2010).Hotels in London, according to the survey, have particularly recorded the highest a high occupancy rate of about 82.6 percent as compared to other regional hotels in the UK. This was, however, not only noted in hotel bo okings, but also in the general hospitality and the larger tourism industry (Sheehan Ritchie, 2005).The performance in the whole industry depends on many factors of the economy. According to Burch (1994) this is actually what is forcing hotels to embrace the need for innovation so as they may stay competitive as survival of the hotels and retention of customers fully becomes a tricky affair. The Budget hotel concept is fast gaining momentum in the UK. The concept is a kind of limited service hotel whose key features are guided by parameters such as bedroom size, the costs of construction per bedroom, and finally, ratio of revenue from rooms and the total turnover of the hotel (Tri Hospitality Consulting, 2007). The report talks about several aspects such as background of the budget concept, budget and location, as well as even the growth aspects expected in the sector. It has also detailed performance of the budget industry, the response of the consumers to the concept, development and operation of the budget hotels, and finally, future predictions for the sector. This report is quite useful to the study as it tries to the almost comprehensive outlook of the budget hotel industry (Albrecht, 2008). However, there are some areas in which the report is limited. For instance, it does not really give the management styles used by the respective budget hotels. Significance of the study The budget hotel concept is one that is fast gaining momentum in the hospitality industry all over the world. This concept of limited service hotels is one that has its profound peculiarities. This study will investigate the factors that give this concept a strategic edge over the other types of hotels.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The study of budget hotels in the UK will contribute to the pool of knowledge about the hospitality industry. This means that this study will not only give a detailed exposà © of the management best practices in the budget hotel industry, but will greatly add to the general body of knowledge on many other aspects in this segment of the hotel industry such as human resources, performance, location and even the general development of budget hotels. Further this research will assist me gain valuable insights into the existing challenges in the operation/management of budget hotel that form the core of budget hotel industry in the UK. This information will be crucial since some of the issues identified could be of great use if replicated elsewhere. My family has invested in a budget hotel in my hometown and this research is going to help me know the various issues including management/operation strategies also that should be looked into to achieve success in my business. The UK has had a head start in the budget hotel industry and therefore some of the replicable practices could be employed in my business. Ob jectives The objectives of the study are as follows: To investigate evolution/development of budget hotels and impact on the experience of traditional budget hotel To analyse three cases hotels in terms of their operation, interior design and space management. To identify various strategies implemented by budget hotels in London. Research Questions How did the budget hotels evolve? How peculiar is the operation, interior design and space management of the budget hotels? What are the existing strategies used by budget hotels? Literature Review Though there is limited specific literature on budget hotel industry, there exists, however, a lot of related literature which can be of great use to this dissertation. This literature review will generally look at an assortment of issues related to hospitality industry in general and budget hotels in particular. There are several issues that can make an establishment a competitive strategic edge in the market. Corgel (2002), for example, n otes that service quality has been an issue that is gradually taking shape in the UK. According to Waldrop (1992), some business attributes that reflect business performance include growth, image of the company, customer loyalty and also the market share of the company. A lot of literature available has greatly concentrated on this service quality, something which is intangible, hence a bit complicated to assess (Tse Olsen, 1999). What makes it difficult to measure is that customers cannot easily store the type of service they got from one particular place and compare it with other service that is close due to many reasons (Okumus, 2002). Firstly, the services offered by different hotels do vary a great deal, thus making it almost impossible to compare (Crossland Hambrick, 2007).Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on How to Manage Budget Hotels Cases in London specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Budget hotels Gener ally budget hotels can be distinguished from the rest based on three major aspects. First of all is the size of the bedrooms of these hotels. Usually, budget hotels tend to have smaller bedroom sizes unlike those ones of the conventional hotels (Cannina et al., 2006). So budget hotels tend to have more bedrooms per area as compared to those in the conventional full service hotels. This equally means that with the less cost per room of the floor translates to even lower initial capital costs required; thus higher revenues realized. This also therefore shows that the other aspect that distinguishes budget hotels is the costs of construction per bedroom. For the budget hotels the costs per room become much lower. The revenue generated from the rooms in relation to the total turnover of the hotel can be used to distinguish between the two. This means that the percentage of revenue from budget hotels in relation to total turnover is higher for budget hotels. There are other areas that al so clearly distinguish between full service hotels and budget hotels. Some researchers have since established some of the various components of service as a whole. D’Aveni (1990) illustrates that tangible aspects of service include physical facilities available; the types of equipment used, the general grooming and appearance of the staff etc. Kim (2003) asserts that the other component is that of reliability, which could be said to mean the capacity of the personnel to provide the particular service promised with accuracy and under the reasonable time expected. Full service hotels usually have a full fledged restaurant attached to them. This is unlike for the budget hotels. But this should not mean that budget hotels do not offer their customers food. Budget hotels may offer complimentary meals (Dev, 2002). For example these could include serving customers with free toast, coffee, juice etc. Another area is that which has to do with pricing. This is one area in which limited service hotels have great advantage over full service establishments. For example, a night’s stay in a budget hotel might be a half cost of that in a full service hotel. Thus, for people who would love to save a little bit, there preferred option is usually the budget hotel. Realizing that room revenues form the bulk of all revenue in all classes of hotels, budget hotels have capitalized on the rooms to reap maximum profit from a given setting (O’Neill Mattila, 2006). What they have actually done is that they squeeze so many rooms into the given space so as to reap this benefit from that space (Capozza Lee, 1995). As such, a survey carried to classify what constitutes those Budget hotels concludes that budget hotels maximize on floor space, consequently leading to lower initial costs of hotel establishment (Teas, 1994).Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Another peculiar thing about budget hotels is that they more or less have similar indicative costs per room (Schmidgall Damitio, 2006). Finally, for Budget hotels, the revenue coming out of rooms is usually above 70% and above as compared to other conventional hotels, whose collection from rooms averages at around 50% only of their total turnover (Tri Hospitality Consulting, 2007). The UK budget hotel industry has metamorphosed to an extent that at the moment, there are notable brand names that dominate the market (Hayes Ninemeier, 2007). These include Premier Travel Inn, Travelodge and Express by Holiday Inn. The three constitute the major players in the market. As of April 2007; Premier Travel Inn had 488 numbers of hotels while Travelodge had 304 (Chang Hong, 2002). Another crucial aspect is responsiveness (David, 2001). This actually relates to how willing the personnel may be to attend to the customer. Most customers also require assurance and trust in the particular service provided (Woolley, et al., 1997). Finally, empathy has equally been said to play a crucial role in service delivery (Schmalensee, 1985). This has to do with that caring and personalized attention granted to the customer (Simons, 1994). All these elements are crucial to our research since we will be able to see how different managers address some of these elements to achieve strategic advantage in the budget hotel business in London. The information will also give some valuable insights into the areas of operation that make the given budget hotels stand out. There are equally different dimensions that are quite important to the guests. In other research carried out it has been found out that customers attach different levels of importance to different issues in the hotel (Panvisavas Taylor, 2006). In the findings, it was found out that customers valued responsiveness followed by reliability; and the least being empathy (Donaldson Preston, 1995). This information will further assis t in mapping what the managers of the different budget hotels focus on in order to address the challenges of customer satisfaction (Meissner, 2010). Furthermore this information has critically explained how the managers employ different strategies to deal with the freaky issues of decision making (Dopson Hayes, 2009). Brown et al (1993) have also critically analysed the ways of improving measurement of service quality. His work is equally useful to this study as service quality is important to customer relation and loyalty (Laws, 2004). There are issues associated with service quality. For example, sometimes customers may complain about the food quality that is offered by the hotel. The matters touching on food are sensitive in that some of them arise out of cultural differences of the customers (Laws, 2000). Another problem is the general attitude and the kind of motivation that the workers have, slow response to customer, poor or inadequate communication among the customers, staf f and even management, to even housekeeping problems (Gartrell, 1994). From the research that was carried out, it was found that some of the hindrances to proper service quality include budget; staff familiarization and knowledge of the customers, as well as lack of training of the employees (Eyster, 1996). Financial constraints can really cause trouble to hotels as this will mean lower commitment to quality service provision (Sheehan Hudson, 2007). For example, under a constrained budget, the employees cannot give generous discounts to the customers (Ismail, 2002). They will need permission from the top management and this can lead to de-motivation or slow delivery of services. This information is quite useful to budget hotels (Faulkner Russell, 1997). This is because from the case studies we will be able to see how these challenges are forestalled by the management of these budget hotels. Human resources Several researches have documented recommendations aimed at improving servi ce quality. First is the need for management to interact more with the visitors in order to familiarize with the guests’ needs and desires (Fisk et al., 1993). Another issue that has been stressed is the need for the management to make sure that responsibility is delegated to the other staff so that everybody in the system has experience with decision making (Ford et al., 2009). There is also need for staff to be exposed to formal training before they are hired and also even after employment (Jagels, 2007). This could be in form of refresher courses. This greatly aids in dealing with customers from varied cultural backgrounds (Freeman, 1984). Some clients expect empathy more than others and this is one of the aspects in which training could prove useful. Staffing is one area that takes most revenues from many organizations. It is therefore important for the players to look at the staffing costs seriously (Laws et al., S 1999). Budget hotels have done this and most of them can still operate efficiently on a staff fewer than 20 on full- time basis (Brady Conlin, 2004). In a bid to cut on the staffing costs, some budget hotel chains have decided to do away with reception areas so that bookings can still be done in the pubs. Others balance between permanent and full-time employees in such a way that they retain very few full time staff as much as possible (Sainaghi, 2010). The strategies differ from one hotel chain to the other (Garrison Noreen, 1997). This dissertation will look at the different strategies that some of the budget hotels use to achieve a strategic competitive advantage. With different measures to cut down on costs as explained through this literature, it can be seen that for one to succeed in this cut-throat competition, there is need to have a strategy that works (Ambrose et al., 2000). So many budget hotels in the UK have now reached the stage of extreme maturation, thus, there is need to come up with several strategies (Philips, 2005). Many chains, for instance, have resorted to aggressive branding to beat this cut-throat competition. From the literature analyzed we can see that various studies conducted it can be seen that no study has ever covered all the issues that constitute budget hotels as this study is going to do. In essence this study will majorly identify all the areas that make budget hotels stand up. So far there is no research that clearly compares budget hotel vis a vis the other types of hotels. This study will therefore try to find out aspects that have governed the evolution of budget hotels. The study will determine the roles the budget hotel’s operation, composition; interior design and space management play in strategic planning in hospitality industry. Further, the study will identify and analyse the various strategies employed by budget hotels. The budget hotel phenomenon is unique and there is need to clearly research and enumerate some of the features that define the various brands of this type of hotels. This research will look at the various strategies that budget hotel put in place to maintain a competitive edge. Performance Performance can be said to be one of the measures that are put in place so as the organization gains a commitment that is in line with organization goals (Albrecht, 2008). Neely (1998) views business performance as one based on evaluating the efficiency and the expected effectiveness of the actions taken by the business with a view to attaining the set organisational goals. Performance has been viewed to be that framework that governs the execution of the strategy of an organisation by others. This means that the framework serves as a description of the process through which an organisation manages to translate its laid down plans into desired results or outcomes. Performance of hotels is an issue that has been of great concern in the hospitality industry (Harrison Enz, 2005). Performing hotels are those committed to certain quality s tandards. By meeting these standards the hotels manage to enhance their image as they satisfy guests through constant improvement (Adner Helfat, 2003). They do this through several strategies like constantly focusing on in-house training for their staff. According to Altinay (2006) most hospitality industries, just like any other forms of business, do consider performance seriously. Higher revenues reflect good performance (Yusel Yusel, 2001). The revenue inflows from budget hotel industry have been on the rise (Adner Helfat, 2003). This is also in line with the growing number of hotel rooms in this sector and occupancy. Several hotels employ varied strategies to achieve the desired outcomes. This study will therefore investigate the various dominant strategies employed by the budget hotels under study. Location Location greatly affects the success of budget hotels. For instance, in studies conducted in Southern and Northern parts of UK, it was established that the South budget h otels did far much better than those in the North (Asree et al., 2009). Though several reasons could be advanced to explain this phenomenon, it is clear that this business is location sensitive (Friedman Miles, 2002). There is a positive outlook for budget hotel business since there is increasing demand for them in UK as the guests who fill the hotel rooms are mostly domestic (Avelini, 1998). The budget hotel business has managed to capture the imagination of swathes of domestic tourists, some of whom are quite new to hotel staying (O’Neill Xiao, 2006). The budget hotel business is a mass market concept since most of the budget business gains easy market penetration as seen in other countries in Europe. Its concept is, however, rather more developed in UK (Baum, 1998). What is more, the leisure market is experiencing exponential rise and this therefore makes the outlook positive (Laws, 1997). Availability is also a critical aspect in business (McGahan Porter, 1997). Custom ers usually prefer to associate with whatever is available. Budget hotels are usually readily available in many locations in UK (Beals Denton, 2004). On top of this, they do provide satisfactory standard of accommodation. But this price is not the only driver of budget hotel bookings (Mark et al., 2009). Other drivers could include things like non-intimidating environments, consistency etc. Consumers perceive budget hotels positively. Whenever faced with expenditure to incur, most individuals usually expect value for money (Buhalis, 2000). This means that the customer is paying for quality and even quantity (Chadee Mattson, 1996). Development and operations of Budget hotels Hotels and the hospitality industry started hundreds of years ago. Since time immemorial people have travelled for so many reasons including commerce, leisure, religions concerns, immigration etc (Dev, 2002). According to a report carried out by Texas Tech University, the very first hotels were initially like p rivate homes that were open to public (Imperiale, 2002). But these had very negative reputations. However, with time some of the very first inns were started in America in 1607. The years that followed also saw a surge in business hotels all over the world. In most cases the surge saw very prominent homes such as the Hilton come up (Balser McClusky, 2005). With time, however, there has been an emergence of limited service hotels. There are stark differences between budget hotels versus full service hotels (Savage, 1991). From history of the budget hotel, once opened, the rooms would fill up since the pricing fitted all unlike what happened in the conventional hotel that offered full service (Altinay (2006). Budget hotels have over the time proved to be a valuable alternative to the conventional full service hotels (Roh Yoon, 2009). Though budget hotels have been coming in various locations in UK, as time goes by, it has been seen they still experience some of the challenges that o ther full service hotels face (Mitchell Wood, 1997). These challenges include changing customer tastes and likes. This is why the budget hotel industry was just a paltry 2.9 percent points above the full service ones in 2006 (Tri Hospitality Consulting, 2007). From the above description one should be able to figure out what constitutes a budget hotel (O’Neill Mattila, 2010). However, one should never confuse Budget hotels with the other emerging concept such as town house hotels (Chang Singh, 2000). Though small, town house hotels have business services that are at par with the five star hotels; the major difference is that these types of hotels are usually managed by their owners (Corgel deRoos, 1997). There has been an increase in the variety of investment vehicles in the UK. These include franchises, leases, self ownership, contracts of management etc. (Capozza Seguin, 1999). Any investor will choose the way to invest depending on the degree of risk associated with a particular vehicle of investment (Bejou Palmer, 1998). Thus, most of the leading brands in budget hotel industry have their different ownership and operational structures (PerÃ… ¡ić Janković, 2006). Like with other businesses, funding is an issue that major in the sector and determines the type of investment vehicle to be adopted (Horngren et al., 2003). One can decide to seek for funding from other sources including banks or even equity (Gallagher Mansour, 2000). Just like in niche markets, the budget hotel industry have is guided by several strategies. For example, according to Berkely (1996) locating the appropriate site for budget business is an issue that needs delicate and careful handling. Failure to locate an appropriate site can hinder market penetration (Bowman Helfat 2001).Different entrepreneurs have different ways of approaching the issue of site (Hales Van Hoof, 2005). While some may be lucky and decide to find enough space to collocate their business, som e manage to look for land and site their business in sites they never desired (Brown et al., 1993). However, there are various opportunities that can be exploited, for example, buying other business as going concerns (Ryan, 1995). All in all, different players in the market do have different growth strategies (Hudson Shephard, 1998). It only calls for creativity when it comes to finding the appropriate sites for a business (Blair Fottler, 1990). There are so many other costs in the industry (Hall, 1995). What is even more frustrating is the time it takes for a plan to be approved by the relevant authorities. Other costs may arise out construction (Rizzuto, 2006). But these could only succeed if the players may lobby the governments responsible to at least lower the construction costs for investors. But several players may opt for cost saving strategies as some players do (Roquebert et al., 1996). For example, according to a survey on budget hotels, such as easyHotel, nitenite and even Yotel, there is use of windowless rooms. These types of rooms can be put anywhere, including in basements and other unused spaces, thus maximizing on space utilization (Jambulingham Nevin, 1999). Methodology Qualitative research This research seeks to employ qualitative approach to establish the variable brands of existing budget hotels around London area and determine their respective strategic management approaches (Pfeffer, Salancik, 1978). Qualitative research approaches are made based upon construction activists’ perspectives and even participatory ones or both (Perry Coote, 1994). In this kind of approach the researcher is faced with the task of collecting primary data with a wider intention of drawing or developing themes out of this data collected (Saunders et al., 2009). In this case also, the research will look for the views of top management about all the aspects concerning budget hotels and also see how the strategies or views employed do affect the genera l performance of the budget hotels. In a nutshell, the researcher will be looking for answers to the set research questions in the dissertation. As earlier said, the informants for this research will be top management of the budget hotels in London. These could include general managers, human resources managers, financial managers etc. of several budget hotels around London. Case study approach The strategy that will be used is that of case study. This strategy is useful to this study since it greatly highlights the context (Prideaux, 2000). Further, it is important since it is going to help us gain a deeper and richer understanding of the context that is being researched (Saunders et al., 2009). According to Saunders et al., (2009) case study clearly answers the questions ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ effectively. In our research, we will choose three of the various budget hotels in London. The reason why we will use three instead of a single case i s for validation of the information we will draw from the informants. Using the three cases will enable us to compare the information collected (Crossland Hambrick, 2007). Another advantage of picking three is to ascertain whether the findings that apply to one case can also occur in other cases (Mintzberg, 1990). This is crucial since we can easily establish whether whatever we established can be generalized for other cases. In fact Yin (2003) concurs that multiple case studies are far much better than a single case. Choice of one case study usually requires strong justification for that choice. However, this choice of case study has its flaws (Gannon Doherty, 2010). For example, the case study approach brings about an â€Å"unscientific feel†. All in all a case study is crucial to this study since it is exploratory in nature. Thus, it may be one way generating new knowledge since cases are usually peculiar in themselves (Garrison Noreen, 1997). Sampling Sampling acts as the process selecting the required number of the informants. In our case the purposive sampling will be used since the information we intend to collect will be provided by the line managers of the establishments. The researcher will therefore look for the managers who will be willing to give the information that is crucial to this research. Development of the research instrument The instrument that will be used in the research will be one developed based on the research questions. This instrument will be written in an interview form. The researcher aims at conducting about 3 interviews and analyzing 17 questionnaires. Managers from the three selected establishments will be interviewed while the other questionnaires will be sent to the other budget establishments by post. However, it is hoped that questionnaires will be sent to more establishments considering that some establishments may decline to respond. To make sure that the questionnaires are returned, an empty envelope and stam p will accompany each questionnaire. All in all, all research questions will be represented on the questionnaire. The interview has several advantages to this study. First, it will enable the researcher to reach as many respondents as possible, especially since here we will use a postal questionnaire. It is also easy to standardize the questionnaire, hence making sure that the responses can easily be gauged on a standard scale (Gummesson, 1993). Since they stress anonymity, they may lead to many answering the questions more anonymously (O’Neill, 2004). However, there are notable weaknesses of this instrument (Rumelt, 1991). One is that it will not be easy to tell where the person who filled the questions was the one targeted. Another issue is that the researcher’s absence may mean that there will be no clarification, especially in cases where a question is not well understood. The interview method will be employed in this research as stated earlier. Interviews form a f ace to face kind of interaction with the informant (Yin, 1994). This encounter has several advantages since in-depth data may be collected (Weissinger et al., 1997). However, this method may come with its own disadvantages too. For instance, the presence of the researcher may create some form of bias (Riley Love, 2000). Also in cases where the interviewer is not articulate enough, this may elicit negative response from the respondent (Ramaswamy, 1996). The use of both interviews and questionnaires pose a great challenge as it becomes a bit complicated to compare the responses. For instance to answer the first research question it will be difficult for an interview to do this.Secondary data collected will prove handy in answering this question.To avoid this, there is need for the interview to be structured in such a way that it aligns to the questionnaire (Gummesson, 1991). Data collection The researcher will solely collect the data of this research. He will interview at least 3 inf ormants in the research. Other data will be obtained from questionnaires sent out. The managers of the budget hotels will be the ones to answer the fill questionnaires. Data analysis Data analysis is a crucial component of this research since it will allow the researcher to reflect the findings thereby aiding in the drawing of the conclusion. The data analysis will be done immediately when the information gathered is still fresh. To this effect, a qualitative analysis will be employed. Validation and reliability To guarantee reliability, the information in my research is carefully collected and verified, analyze and also interpreted. For example when collecting data on the three budget hotels I looked at information and made sure that it was true. To come up with the correct information, the researcher has chosen to interview the line managers who have actively and closely steered the establishments. 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