Typewriter and Investigatory Project free essay sample

Investigatory Project With Complete Write Ups Free Essays 1 20 www. studymode. com/ /investigatory-project-with-complete-write-ups-p? Free Essays on Investigatory Project With Complete Write Ups for students. Investigatory Project: How To Make An Investigatory Project Sample Format: the Use of Science Investigatory Project Prepared by: JUvy L. Tobias Republic of the Malunggay and Spinach Powder (Investigatory Project Sample) www. scribd. com/ /Malunggay-and-Spinach-Powder-Investigatory-Proj? Mar 30, 2010 Malunggay and Spinach Powder (Investigatory Project Sample) Free medicine cabinet by scientists and health care workers from around the world It grows up to ten (10) meters tall and its leaflets are ovate to elliptic and . grams but the finished product yielded only 60 grams with an approximate Simple Science Investigatory Project Writeups  « Wonder How To tag. wonderhowto. com †º How-To Topics †º Simple †º Simple science? The Best Investigatory Projects in Science: 16 Fun Easy Ideas to Kickstart Your This simple weather instrument is an example of electronic instrumentation, it uses a . just recently dedicated themselves to running a full-time kit business. We will write a custom essay sample on Typewriter and Investigatory Project or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Science Investigatory Project/ Complete Research Write-up for ISEF www. teacherspayteachers. com/ /Science-Investigatory-Project-Complet? US$2. 00 This is a comprehensive and complete paper for the science fair, following the guidelines and format given by the International Science and Engineering Fair. SCIENCE INVESTIGATORY PROJECTS FROM MUNTINLUPA sip-mnhs. blogspot. com/? Dec 26, 2012 Science Investigatory Project Competition Is there a significant difference between the experimental and control set-ups in terms of: a. requirements for the investigatory projects Free Science Fair Projects www. freesciencefairproject. com/requirements. htm? Apply/demonstrate scientific principles or attempt to provide new knowledge; A Sample Diagram of a Science Fair Display The project write-up must be typewritten double-spaced in short bond paper (8†x11†) and follows the following format: Findings – the data maybe presented in full discussed descriptively in the What are the parts of investigatory project write ups? Blurtit education. blurtit. com/ /what-are-the-parts-of-investigatory-project-write? You should also write down the outcome that you expect. However, this may only apply to certain experiments so you may not be obliged to complete this step. What Are The Examples Of Science Investigat

India Luxury Market Essay Essay Example

India Luxury Market Essay Essay Example India Luxury Market Essay Essay India Luxury Market Essay Essay Market Trend There was a slow-down in the growing in gross revenues of premium and luxury tickers in India in 2008-’09. It prompted the market leader Titan industries to come in the economic system market. Following the footfalls. luxury ticker trade names like Tag Heuer and Rolex introduced low-price theoretical accounts. But in recent old ages. nomadic phones may besides hold dampened growing in the incursion of tickers in India. as they provide a clip readout every bit good as dismay and other time-related maps. Watch industry experts believe that their product’s original map is progressively losing importance. and that wrist watchs are now being bought as manner accoutrements. Owning more than one ticker is like having different pieces of jewelry. Competitive landscape The economic system watch demand is being met for the most portion by the unorganized sector and by direct imports. The premium section is progressively being peppered by manner trade names such as Esprit. Swatch. Fossil and Tommy Hilfiger. There has besides been strong value growing for these trade names. with turning demand from middle- and upper-income groups in urban India. Titan. HMT and Maxima are the taking Indian participants and Timex. Casio and Swatch are now the strong transnational participants in the market. More multinationals are come ining the retail market. but no new domestic companies have done so. and the multinationals’ portion of value gross revenues has increased over the reappraisal period. Premium Brand A ; Product Perception With the tickers market in India now going manner and manner driven. particularly at the premium terminal. companies now launch theoretical accounts and designs every six months. International trade names such as Fossil launch spring/summer and winter scopes. Titan. on the other manus. times its launches to suit in with the Indian festive season – Deepavali and nuptialss. Companies like Casio and Swatch and luxury trade names like Rolex are researching a niche market for chronographs. but this is presently negligible. Companies besides need to react to merchandise inventions. The Citizen eco-friendly ticker has been good received in India and is reportedly selling good in its monetary value bracket. extinguishing the problem of replacing batteries and promoting the usage of multiple tickers. Apparel trade names such as Esprit. Tommy Hilfiger. Benetton and Levi’s have all gained acquaintance among India’s urban young person. who may go more willing to seek these brands’ premium tickers. Affluent. urban Indians may experience more comfy about purchasing premium tickers. while go oning to see luxury tickers as illustrations of overindulgent or insensitive disbursement. ‘New’ Rich India: The ‘New’ rich India is now indulging into the experience of having Luxury Brands. India’s quickly turning high-end retail market is expected to increase from the about $ 3. 5 billion in 2008 to $ 30 billion by 2015. Luxury vesture. aromas. premium vino. high-end tickers have achieved good incursion among male Indian consumers. Among adult females. jewelry and cosmetics can already tout high degrees of consciousness. followed by classs such as pocketbooks and nomadic phones. These points. while non needfully being better ( in quality. public presentation. or visual aspect ) than their less expensive replacements. are purchased with the chief intent of exposing wealth or income or position symbol of their proprietors. There is a distinguishable displacement from ‘Old luxury’ to ‘New luxury’ . Old luxury is defined by the properties. qualities and characteristics of the merchandise. whilst ‘New luxury’ is defined by the consumer’s point of focal point on the experience that their purchase stimulates and non in ownership or ownership of the merchandise itself. † The clients Redefined luxury as they believe it to be a mark of ego deserving – â€Å"They are worth it ; † it authenticates the buyer’s success and position ; it is a signal to others that the proprietor is a member of an sole group ; They require unflawed public presentation in this application. the cost of merchandise malfunction is excessively high to purchase anything but the best. Motivation of Study: The affair of have oning and basking all right timekeepers is a passion that these yearss must be justified. We like nice expensive tickers even though inexpensive tickers exist to make the same thing. Hence like any other luxury good. today modern shoppers buy luxury goods to honor themselves. to fulfill psychological demands or to do themselves experience good to demo off their personality or to hike their self-pride. Contribution of the research: This survey aims to understand the above said consumer purchasing behavior which will assist the present selling Directors to better shift their stigmatization and advertisement scheme to capture the right mark market for luxury merchandises to hike the gross revenues in times where economic system are at a challenge. Literature Review: Research Aim: This survey intends to happen out if consumer purchasing behavior of immature buyers are influenced by factors such as premium monetary value of luxury tickers. perceived quality of luxury tickers. social position and trade name trueness associated with the ingestion of luxury trade name. This survey besides intends to measure whether sensed qualities of the luxury branded ticker have influence on the purchasing determination of consumer. It is besides intended to find whether the high quality criterions of luxury tickers are the concluding consumers opt for the luxury tickers. Affiliations of societal position of geting certain luxury branded goods will besides be studied to understand whether consumer purchasing luxury branded goods merely for the affair of being affiliate with certain quarters of people holding the same luxury trade name of goods. This survey besides will besides measure whether trade name trueness of luxury trade name will act upon the purchasing determination of consumer. This survey besides aims to bring out whether a individual who has been abroad is a ground for the consumer buying a luxury ticker Research Question: The intent of this survey is to measure what motivational factors encourage consumers into buying luxury trade name tickers. In measuring this statement. this survey aims to reply the undermentioned inquiries: Is it the monetary value or the type of users of the trade name that drives the purchasing behavior of the consumer for luxury branded goods? Is it the strong emotion of know aparting themselves with the lower category consumers that drives higher category consumers to turn to luxury trade names? Is it the tag name of a mega trade name that drives the long term demand for that luxury trade name? Is gender a deterministic factor in make up ones minding the purchase of a luxury trade name? If yes so what factors are of import gender wise? Is it the merchandise public-service corporation or the trade name perceptual experience that is cardinal for luxury ticker trade names? Will a person’s visit abroad act upon his determination to buy a luxury ticker? Previous Research part: Findingss of overall old research indicate that individual’s penchants plays a cardinal function in buying luxury goods. Individual’s penchants may be based on desire and non-desires. which are based on experience in buying luxury points from their satisfaction. or nondesire such as prejudice towards trade name merchandises. Leibenstein ( 1950. p. 188 ) classified demand of goods and services ingestion in relevant to motivation into two chief facets: functional and non-functional. Functional demand is â€Å"demand for a trade good which is due to the qualities inherent in the trade good itself† . On the contrary. demand of goods ingestion that comes from other factors. which is non the merchandise quality. is defined non-functional demand. The result from Leibenstein’s ( 1950 ) survey particularly stresses the function of interpersonal effects towards luxury trade names ingestion. and derived three chief effects ; Veblen. Snob. and Bandwagon INTERPERSONAL EFFECTS Perceived Conspicuous Value Perceived alone Value Perceived Social Value Ostentation Non-Conformity Conformity VEBLENIAN SNOB BANDWAGON Interpersonal effects ( Vigenron A ; Johnson ) ( 1999 P. 7 ) Veblen Effect: The Veblen consequence can be explained through conspicuous ingestion in which people feel that it is necessary to buy luxury merchandises because they have a high monetary value ticket ( Leibenstein. 1950 ) . Conspicuous ingestion is use by people to demo wealth. power and position ( Veblen. 1899 ) . Monetary values of merchandise have a important facet in consumers’ sentiment of quality ( Vigneron A ; Johnson. 1999 ) . Surveies by Erickson A ; Johansson ( 1995 ) have shown that monetary value is used to judge quality of luxury merchandises between a scope of trade names. Normally people would tie in high monetary values with better quality. Additionally. those who do tie in high monetary values with better quality would besides propose that high monetary values show a considerable sum of prestigiousness ( Lichtenstein et Al. . 1993 ) . Snob Consequence: The snob consequence takes into history personal and emotional desires ( personal effects ) . and the influence of other people’s behavior ( interpersonal effects ) towards the buying of luxury trade name merchandises ( see Figure 1 ) . The snob consequence can be farther explained through two fortunes. First. the launch on new merchandises which creates exclusivity in which the prig would buy the merchandise instantly because a minor sum of consumers at that peculiar clip would hold acquired it. Snob consumers merely purchase â€Å"limited points that have a high value. whereas those readily available are less desirable. Rare points demand regard and prestige† ( Solomon. 1994. p. 570 ) . Merchandises that are viewed as unique. popular. and expensive causes a higher demand for consumers ( Verhallen A ; Robben. 1994 ) . particularly snob consumers. Snyder and Fromkin ( 1977 ) back up the statement by Verhallen and Robben ( 1994 ) proposing that people have the desire to be alone. India: The Affluent Multitudes: Luxury volumes have been spurred by a important growing in the rich in recent yesteryear. The new rich come in varied forms. sizes and manner quotients. Exporters. transnational bankers. college childs gaining plum wages at call centres or BPO operations. comfortable corporate married womans. and successful enterprisers. What they have in common is that they have really high buying power Bandwagon Consequence: The bandwagon consequence represents consumers who purchase luxury merchandises because they wish to suit in with a peculiar group. For illustration. people would devour merchandises that are stylish and fashionable to tie in themselves to similar people ( Berry. 1994 ) . Dubois A ; Duquesne ( 1993 ) explains that the prig and bandwagon consequence are non likewise. Although the similarity between the bandwagon and the snob consequence is that people wish to heighten their self-concepts. the distinction is that they purchase luxury points for different grounds. Bandwagon consumers purchase points to be fit in with others. whereas prig consumers purchase points to be alone and stand out. Persons who fit in with groups that purchase luxury trade name merchandises and/ or wish to distinguish themselves from people who do non buy luxury trade names are influenced by the bandwagon consequence ( Vigneron A ; Johnson. 1999 ) Luxury is wages: First time/New Buyers: They use luxury goods as a position symbol to state â€Å"I’ve made it! † . They are motivated by their desire to be successful and show this to others. Luxury trade names that have widespread acknowledgment are popular ; nevertheless they don’t wish to look munificent or hedonic in their visual aspect. They want to buy â€Å"smart† luxury that exhibit importance while non go forthing them unfastened to unfavorable judgment. Personal Effectss: Consuming luxury merchandises can besides be from personal desires and gustatory sensation. PERSONAL EFFECTS Perceived Emotional Value Perceived Quality Value Self-Actualization Reassurance HEDONIST PERFECTIONIST Personal effects ( Vigenron A ; Johnson ) ( 1999 p. 8 ) Hedonic Effect The hedonistic consequence occurs when consumers purchase luxury merchandises and value the point. Peoples who purchase points for self-realization ( e. g. inner direct consumers. Riesman. et Al. . 1950. or function relaxed consumers. Kahle. 1995 ) . and those who are non affected by interpersonal influences ( e. g. conforming to group norms. Bearden. et Al. . 1989 ) represent the hedonistic consequence. Dichter ( 1960 ) explains that motive of noncognitive and unconscious is able to carry consumer penchant of merchandises. Merchandises that are consumed are known to hold an emotional value that is added to their character ( Vigneron A ; Johnson. 1999 ) . When consumers purchase luxury merchandises they expect that the point will offer benefits such as clannishness. Dubois A ; Laurent. ( 1994 ) stated that if merchandises create an emotional value for consumers. it represents that the merchandise is good and holds an of import feature. Perfectionist Effect The perfectionist consequence exists when consumers purchase luxury points and expects superior merchandises and public presentation every bit good as quality ( Vigneron A ; Johnson. 1999 ) . Peoples who represent the perfectionist consequence are those who are associated to personal values and justice a merchandise harmonizing to their value of a luxury set merchandise. An illustration of the perfectionist consequence is when consumers are buying a luxury ticker they expect it to be accurate. Harmonizing to Groth and McDaniel. ( 1993. p. 10 ) stated that â€Å"high monetary values may even do certain merchandises or service more desirable† . because people view merchandises with high monetary values with great quality ( Rao A ; Monroe. 1989 ) . Additionally. consumers may measure the degree of how luxury a merchandise is by its quality ( Vigneron and Johnson. 1999 ) . Methodology Research Method: Quantitative informations consists of closed terminal information that includes numerical figures. The survey has collected quantitative informations by using closed-end inquiries towards a questionnaire. Focus Group Discussion to understand properties both physical and emotional that influence the purchase of a luxury ticker. The group comprised of 7 persons. 3 female and 4 male participants who have been users of luxury tickers. Data Collection: Primary Data aggregation: Gathering information from consumers of luxury tickers through online questionnaire study Secondary Data Collection: Research penetrations and hypothesis design with the aid of antecedently published research work on luxury goods purchasing behavior. Sampling: Non-probability trying method is adopted. Since the mark audience or respondents of involvement are consumers of premium or luxury tickers. the trying method adopted here is convenience trying and snow-ball sampling. Measurement A ; Scaling: Measurement Techniques used? Perception map: ? Utility of characteristics in the ticker: Chronograph. Double dial. Indicator light etc. ? Stylish Designs that make the ticker a manner statement Respondents were asked to rate the 10 different trade names in order to obtain their perceptual experience of these trade names on the above defined dimensions Based on two predefined dimensions i. e? ? ? Exploratory Factor Analysis: To understand the implicit in factors act uponing the purchase behavior of luxury ticker for work forces A ; adult females and overall Arrested development: To understand which interpersonal A ; personal consequence is critical when consumers make a luxury ticker purchase determination Discriminant Analysis: To understand the group behaviours based on the following discriminating variable? Gender? Trip abroad? Work Experience: Buying power? Amos: Confirmatory Factor analysis to determine the Exploratory Factor Analysis RESULT AND ANALYSIS 1. Discriminant Analysis: Work-Ex A ; Fresher Inference: Wilk’s lambda ( 0. 627 ) is more than 0. 4 which is non important ; Box M trial is besides undistinguished However based on analysis top 5 properties know aparting work ex A ; fresher are Attributes Q5_7_attribute_analog Q5_2_attribute_alarm Q5_12_attribute_torch Q5_9__attribute_calculator Q4_8_attribute_celebrity_endorsement Variable weight of know aparting map . 366. 361. 331. 271. 262 2. Discriminant Analysis: Gender Inference: Wilk’s lambda ( 0. 578 ) is more than 0. 4 which is non important ; based on analysis top 5 properties know aparting males A ; females Attributes Variable weight of know aparting map. Q4_3_attrifashion_statement Q5_3_attribute_dualclock Q5_13_attribute_barometer Q5_8_attribute_motionsensor Q9_2_buy_in_store. 329 . 285 . 269 . 259 . 255 3. Discriminant Analysis: Abroad Visit Inference: Wilk’s lambda ( 0. 573 ) is more than 0. 4 which is non important ; nevertheless based on analysis top 5 properties know aparting foreign visited and non visited people Attributes Q5_9__attribute_calculator Q5_6_attribute_color Q5_16_attribute_warranty Q5_11_attribute_straptype Q4_9_attribute_brand_image Variable weight of know aparting map. 228. 225. 221 . 207 . 205 3 ) Exploratory Factor Analysis- ( Male A ; Female ) Research Question: Is gender a deterministic factor in make up ones minding the purchase of the luxury ticker. If yes what factors are of import gender wise? Hypothesis: Womans while doing luxury goods purchase give more importance to emotional factors whereas Men go for Physical Utility features Factor analysis for male respndents ( 58 males ) Consequences: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Fac1 ( Ostentation ) : o O O O O O O O? ? ? ? ? ? Sth to remmeber. manus gesture. to be alone Fac2 ( value added characteristic ) Calculator. digital. compass. Fac3 ( Generic demands ) Shape. H2O opposition Fac4 ( Economic demands ) Discounts Fac 5 ( Tech understanding ) Compass. Motion sensor Fac 6 ( basic ) Analog. H2O opposition Fac 7 ( Wrist suitableness ) Strap type Fac 8 ( excess feautres ) : Date and twenty-four hours show. trade name image Exploratory factor analysis female Respondents ( 23 females ) : Fac1 ( Economical ) : o O O O O o Warranty. after gross revenues. parallel. emotional satisfaction Fac2 ( Style ) Social position. to be alone. manner statement Fac3 ( Particular demands ) Alarm. altimeter. digital. double clock Fac4 ( value added characteristic ) Calculator. compass. barometer. torch. Fac 5 ( Tech understanding ) Hand gesture. price reduction Fac 6 ( Exclusivity ) Motion detector. dismay. trade name image Result Analysis: ? Work force: O Attach importance to Ostentaion. value added feaures and manner ( veblenian consequence and perfectionist consequence are ruling ) ? Womans: o Style. Economic attributes an generic demands ( Hedonist and snob effects dominate 4. Checking the Interpersonal and personal effects shown by males and female while purchase of luxury ticker in Store Research Question: O Is it the monetary value or the type of users of the trade name that drives the purchasing behavior of the consumer for luxury branded goods? O Is it the strong emotion of know aparting themselves with the lower category consumers that drives higher category consumers to turn to luxury trade names? O Is it the merchandise public-service corporation or the trade name perceptual experience that is cardinal for luxury ticker trade names? Hypothesis: -Luxury ticker purchase is chiefly to demo off and as an index of position symbol: veneblian consequence. Users besides buy luxury tickers due to sensed emotional value or for hedonist grounds Veneblian Effect: Snob Effect Bandwagon Effect Hedonistic consequence Type of consequence Veneblian prig Bandwagon Hedonistic Coefficient 0. 517 0. 499 0. 274 0. 305. Inference: As we can clearly detect from the above tabular array that the veneblian consequence is really outstanding in all instances of interpersonal or personal effects. That means Peoples tend to purchase Luxury tickers to demo off of their Public and Social Status. Snob and Bandwagon consequence follows Veneblian consequence. 5. Arrested development Analysis to look into whether long term demand for luxury tickers is driven by trade name image Research Question: Is it the trade name image that drives the long term demand for that luxury trade name? Hypothesis: Brand Image for lucury trade names is responsible for the long term demand of these tickers. Inference: Arrested development is undistinguished with regard to the variables that drive trade name image. Even the R^square value is 0. 071. Hence we can deduce that trade name image is non a good factor to explicate the long term demand for luxury tickers. 6. AMOS The default theoretical account is created based on explorative factor analysis and taking research literature into history. Model Fit Summary Check: Cmin/DF 2-5 OK GFI gt ; 0. 9 Not OK PGFI gt ; 0. 5 All right NFI. TLI. CFI gt ; 0. 9 Not All right RMSEA soap 0. 1 Not All right Model is relatively fit as such But Goodness of fit index is non keeping good. Validity A ; Construct Reliability S No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Attributes Q4_1_attribute_social_status Q4_3_attribute_fashion_statement Q4_2_attribute_to_be_unique Q4_6_attribute_emotional_satisfaction Q4_9_attribute_brand_image Q5_9__attribute_calculator Q5_10_attribute_compass Q5_12_attribute_torch Q5_13_attribute_barometer Q5_3_attribute_dualclock Q5_4_attribute_altimeter Q5_2_attribute_alarm Q5_5_attribute_digital Q5_7_attribute_analog Q5_8_attribute_motionsensor Q5_16_attribute_warranty Q4_10_attribute_secon_time_brandpurchase Q4_4_attribute_premiumwatch_collection Q4_8_attribute_celebrity_endorsements. Concepts Error e1 e2 Delta 1. 028 1. 079 0. 608 0. 635 1. 282 1. 323 1. 687 1. 473 1. 793 1. 816 1. 032 2. 133 1. 407 1. 074 2. 078 0. 179 1. 402 1. 367 2. 019 Lambda 1 0. 67 0. 922 0. 884 0. 997 1 0. 912 0. 971 0. 774 1 1. 135 1. 005 1. 258 1 0. 876 0. 84 0. 403 1. 231 1 AVE CR Exclusivity e3 e4 e5 e6 e7 0. 81 0. 81 Tech_Savvy e8 e9 e14 0. 84 0. 68 Value_Added _Feature e15 e16 e17 e21 1. 22 0. 75 Reliability e22 e23 e26 0. 82 0. 69 Brand_Perce ption.

Analysis Of Multiple Theories Of Human Evolution History Essay

Analysis Of Multiple Theories Of Human Evolution History Essay The study of evolution in and of itself can be controversial to some. However, within the scientific community it is regarded as the broadly accepted idea that every living thing is derived from what came before and the tiny gradual mutations that arose through millions of years. To that end, there is much debate on certain aspects of particular mutations. Specifically, the debate surrounding the circumstances of human evolution can certainly be seen as contentious. Notwithstanding those who disavow evolution in its entirety, within the scientific community itself, there are several different schools of thought. More notably, the differing theories challenge each other with regard to when homo sapiens first appeared. But while each idea of human progression may differ, they are each rooted in strong empirical, but still limited, evidence. In scientific terms, before establishing how homo sapiens have come to be, we must first examine where they have come from. According to Cynthia S tokes Brown, author of Big History, â€Å"Five to 7 million years ago some mutation occurred in an ape ancestor and survived, and from that single mutation other single mutations kept occurring in the branch called hominids, the bipedal apesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦These genetic changes took place repeatedly in the same place-eastern Africa.† All major scientific theories regarding human evolution begin with this accepted premise, as Brown states, â€Å"For at least 3 million years human development occurred only in Africa; hominids did not live anywhere else, although apes lived in Europe and Asia as well.† There is an important point to be made in saying that although apes lived in other continents, human development took place exclusively in eastern Africa. One must acknowledge the distinct characteristics of Africa that fostered bipedal evolution in the first place. Eastern Africa, with its abundance of animals and plant life, is significant because of how it became conduciv e to and instrumental in helping shape human evolution. Brown writes, Eastern Africa is tropical; our lack of hairiness indicates that we evolved from tropical animals. To become humans, tropical apes came down from trees to live on grasslands; we are creatures of grasslands, not forests. The geography that could mold human development is found in the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa. This helps one to understand the origin of homo sapiens and what conditions helped bipeds thrive sometime between 1 and 1.8 million years ago. Additionally, in deriving all of this information one realizes the arduous work involved in documenting and compiling evidence that dates back millions of years. One can recognize the power of human thought and reason, a result of evolution itself. It is in the migration out of Africa where a sometimes contentious debate arises in the scientific community. The distinction is made just after the presence of homo erectus. Whereas one theory describes homo sapie ns in direct lineage to the groups of homo erectus which migrated out of the Great Rift Valley region, known as the Multiregional theory, the more widely accepted thought is described as the Noah’s Ark Theory. The inference made by that name is that we were all in the same boat, Africa, and then migrated out about 100,000 to 200,000 years ago, some million years after the first homo erectus left Africa. Essentially it boils down to the question of whether or not those who left Africa evolved along with those who remained into homo sapiens or that those who left died off as a different species entirely.

The Organization of African Unity Known as African Union Research Paper - 1

The Organization of African Unity Known as African Union - Research Paper Example So, the role of African Union within the African context is important because it promotes positive change in the society by empowering the people and solving problems. Thesis statement: The organizational setup, responsibilities and social services provided by the African Union proves to be successful within the scenario of social work in Africa (special references to the social services provided by African Union in Africa and its involvement in current issues).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First of all, almost all the African nations have membership in African Union (AU). For instance, excluding Morocco, present strength of the African Union is 53. African Union, a social work organization for creating unity among the African nations was established in the year 2002. Besides, the Organisation of Africa Unity (AOU) was the mother organization of AU. Okoth (2006) opines that â€Å"Some of the guiding principles of the AU are similar to those of its predecessor, the OAU† (p. 325). The organizational set-up of AU is based on centralization and concentration of power which is fully vested in the center but with equal power to the member states. For instance, the decision-making force of AU is the Assembly of the African Union. Badejo (2008) states that â€Å"The AU carries out its business through many organs, agencies, and non-governmental organizations† (p. 39). The Secretariat (say, African Union Commission) of AU is in Addis Ababa, whi ch is situated in Ethiopia.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The AU is divided into two bodies: political and administrative.  Ã‚   As pointed out, the decision-making process is principally vested upon the Assembly, which consists of members/representatives from member states. The present chairman is Bingu Mutharika, who represents Malawi. Besides, the representative body of AU, namely Pan African Parliament includes 265 members. Idriss Ndele Moussa is the present president of Pan African Parliament.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 59

Assignment Example In addition, professionalism may face numerous issues during the presentation because of the dressing code. Having attire that makes an individual confident during a presentation is an added advantage as it raises the self-esteem to overcome all stances of incivility. Presentations may pose problems to an individual when he or she lacks the etiquette required. Business etiquette involves numerous issues that may hinder an individual’s presentation especially in instances where the presenter parties with his or her work mates and act irresponsibly. Such a trait may augment undesirable behavior from the work mates thereby making the presentation a hard thing to achieve in such situations. A presenter may face stances of incivility in instances where the presentation is targeted to an unfamiliar audience. Unfamiliar audience may not know the characteristics of the presenter thereby acting in a disrespectful manner. When a face-to-face presentation target a multitude of audience, the presenter may be disrupted in substantial levels thereby hindering his or her presentation. In the grouping, I would group Joe and Ellen as teammates. Both of them are hard workers, and that would enable them to complete on the assignment administered. Since Joe is punctual, he will be able to utilize and work on the assignment given with Ellen who may stay late working. These individuals should not work alone as they have varied traits that require each other’s participation. I would assign this group with the responsibilities of drafting the final document after other tasks have been accomplished. During his task, Joe can write the document after Ellen tests and verifies the document. Such document will enable both members to have a thoroughly scrutinized document that has undergone testing and verification. In the next group, I would group Marsha and Suzanne

The Theme Of Inherit The Wind :: essays research papers

In the play Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the theme is that every person has the right to think. One example of the theme of this play is Rachel's progression towards independent thinking. In the beginning Rachel fears her father greatly. She says, "I remember feeling this way when I was a little girl. . . .But I was always more frightened of him that I was of falling. It's the same way now" (48-49). However, by the end of the book she has grown away from her father, and now has her own opinions and thoughts. Her new growth and acceptance is shown in her statement: "This is your book, Bert. I've read it. All the way through. I don't want to think that men come from apes and monkeys. But I think that's besides the point" (111). A second example of the theme of Inherit the Wind is shown by the way Drummond acts and how frustrated he becomes when he talks to Brady. In the courtroom, Brady says, "A man is on trial!" (64). Drumm ond is extremely agitated and replies by saying, "A thinking man! And he is threatened with fine and imprisonment because he chooses to speak what he thinks" (64). After their disagreement Drummond states his opinion, by saying, "I am trying to establish, Your Honor, that Howard-or Colonel Brady-or Charles Darwin-or anyone in this courtroom-or you sir-has the right to think!" (64). The theme becomes more apparent throughout the play by the way Cates stands up for and defends himself. At first, Bert Cates is very unsure of himself and is not sure if what he did was correct. Cates questions Drummond as to whether he should stay with the case or give in.

Validity and Reliability of the Job Content Questionnaire

52 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 Validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire in formal and informal jobs in Brazil by Tania Maria de Araujo, PhD,1 Robert Karasek, PhD 2 de Araujo TM, Karasek R. Validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire in formal and informal jobs in Brazil. SJWEH Suppl. 2008;(6):52–59. Objectives This study evaluated the job content questionnaire (JCQ) in measuring work psychology aspects with respect to formal and informal jobs in Brazilian occupational groups.Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in a random sample of 1311 ? 15-year-old residents in the urban area of the city of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. The Portuguese JCQ version included the recommended 49-item of the original version. The JCQ performance evaluation included descriptive analysis, discriminant analysis, internal consistency, and construct validity. Results Averages of the JCQ scales were similar for the formal and informal workers, except for decision authority (formal job: c=31. ; informal jobs: c=34. 5). The averages of the Portuguese JCQ scales did not differ substantially from those obtained in other European, North American, and Japanese studies, albeit they were slightly lower in the Brazilian case. In general, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients revealed performance similar to other large-sample studies, showing acceptable internal consistency. The coefficients were relatively similar for formal and informal jobs. Factor analysis revealed high consistency with the theoretical model.Conclusions This is the first study to evaluate JCQ performance comparing formal and informal jobs in a developing country. The job content questionnaire presented a good global performance, and it did not differ substantially from those observed in other studies. These findings suggest that the job content questionnaire can be used in studies carried out in developing countries and in situations in which informal jobs are common. Key terms de cision latitude; demand–control model; occupational stress; psychological demand; psychological distress. Health Department, State University of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil. 2 Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, United States. Reprint requests to: Dr TM de Araujo, KM 03, BR 116 Campus Universitario, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil, 40110 180. [E-mail: araujo. [email  protected] br ] There is a significant amount of scientific literature on the psychosocial aspects of work in developed countries. However, research addressing the measurement of these aspects in developing countries is recent and scarce.In developing countries, work organization aspects are usually considered to be a less relevant problem than other crucial problems, such as unemployment, accidents, and other occupational hazards that threaten life and put worker’s physical health at risk. Moreover, there is an assumption that instruments used t o measure psychosocial aspects in developed countries are not applicable in developing countries because of different cultural contexts. However, these arguments have been criticized because f, at least, the following three factors: (i) the globalization process—many multinational companies have been operating in developing countries under job standards and technologies that are similar to those used in developed countries (1), (ii) social and economic structural heterogeneity in developing societies—which include, in the same region, areas with a high level of development (industrialized areas) and very poor areas, and (iii) the increasing rates of occupational diseases and disabilities related to work organization conditions shown by some developing countries.These three processes, acting together, reveal that psychosocial aspects at work are a relevant problem in different social and economic contexts. The impacts on mental and physical health are already visible in developing contexts (2, 3), and they indicate the importance of investigating work psychology aspects in both developed and developing countries. Some models have aimed at evaluating psychosocial characteristics at work and their effects on worker health.The demand–control model has worldwide use and is a strong influence on this research field (4, 5). It focuses on two crucial work dimensions, decision latitude and psychological demands. Decision latitude SJWEH Suppl 2008;(6):52–59 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 53 de Araujo & Karasek refers to the ability to make decisions about one’s work and the possibility of being creative and using or developing new skills. It includes two dimensions, skill discretion (opportunity to use skills) and decision authority (opportunity to make decisions).Psychological demand refers to workload, mental requirements, organizational constraints put on the worker, and conflicting demands. The job content questionnaire (JCQ) is a standard ized instrument proposed to measure the dimensions of the demand–control model (6). In the last two decades, the job content questionnaire has been intensively used in developed countries, and its performance has been tested in populations from these countries (7–15). However, performance on the job content questionnaire in developing countries remains a less studied issue.In our literature review we identified only three studies conducted in â€Å"developing† countries to evaluate performance on the job content questionnaire, carried out in Mexico (16), Taiwan (17) and China (18). Specific occupational groups were studied: in Taiwan, workers from four companies, including men and women; in Mexico only women from two maquiladora microelectronic plants; in China, male and female health care workers. In Brazil, the Swedish version of the job content questionnaire (17 questions) was tested in a sample of the technical and administrative staff of a Brazilian univers ity.The global performance of the scales for decision latitude, psychological demand, and social support was good (3). The main objective of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire in measuring work psychosocial characteristics for workers in formal and informal jobs in Brazil. Study population and methods Study design A cross-sectional study was carried out in a random sample of workers 15 years or older from the city of Feira de Santana in 2002.It is the second largest city in the State of Bahia, in the northeast region of Brazil, with around half a million inhabitants. Definition of formal and informal jobs In Brazil, the Labor Ministry has adopted an instrument to define formal and informal jobs: the Job Card (â€Å"Carteira de Trabalho†). This card establishes the job contract between employees and employers. It is regulated by national laws and provides all kinds of benefits, including placing the worker in a social securit y system. The job card establishes a formal job for the worker.Informal jobs are not regulated by law; there is no social security system, nor any other kind of social or economic rights. Among different kinds of informal jobs, selling products in the street is the most common type. Another type that has increased, as a result of the unemployment situation, is the family store (stores that are constructed in the living room of a person’s own home). Study population The study areas were selected using random procedures, based on population data from the national census.The sampling procedures were conducted using the following steps: (i) selection of the sectors within each subdistrict, by a random procedure, (ii) random selection of streets within each selected sector, (iii) visitation of all houses on the selected streets, and (iv) interview of all people 15 years or older by well-trained interviewers using standard procedures. The use of a field manual helped to standardize procedures in the interview and avoid biases in the data collection. Up to three visits were made to a person’s residence, in an effort to perform an interview.We visited 1479 residences and interviewed 3190 people. To evaluate JCQ performance, we analyzed information only from people who were working at the time of the interview. Altogether 1311 workers were included in this study. Sixty-six percent of the target population worked in an informal job. The percentage of formal and informal jobs was similar according to gender (49. 1% for the women and 50. 4% for the men). No relevant differences were found across the age groups in the informal jobs.However, in the formal jobs, the proportion of workers increased from the beginning of worklife to the middle of it, but it decreased sharply after 40 years of age (from 46. 7% among the workers 26–34 years of age to 25. 5% among the workers ? 41 years of age). The workers in formal jobs had a higher education than those in informal jobs. Workers at the graduate level were 3. 1 times more likely to be in formal jobs than in informal jobs. Commercial activity (retail sales) employed the highest number of workers (38. 8%), followed by services in general (27. %), private household services (11. 2%), education (6. 9%), manufacturing (6. 6%), transportation (4. 3%), and construction (4. 1%). The composition according to formal and informal jobs showed clear job insecurity in some specific sectors. Among the workers employed in the construction sector, 87. 0% had an informal job; for private household services the proportion was 86. 5%; and it was 70% for commercial activity, 64. 2% for transportation workers, and 62% for the workers in general services. On the other hand, 67. % of the people working in education and 57. 1% of those in manufacturing had formal jobs. 54 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 Job content questionnaire in jobs in Brazil Considering the place where people worked, we observed more variety for i nformal jobs. The highest proportion of informal workers was found for working on the street (23. 6%), followed by company (22. 8%), another person’s home (20. 8%), and in their own house (18. 3%). Among the formal workers, 66. 8% worked in companies (private enterprise), and 21. 9% were employed in public buildings.Portuguese translation process for the job content questionnaire The translation process took into account aspects like conceptual equivalence, item equivalence, semantic equivalence, operational equivalence, measurement equivalence, and functional equivalence (19) . The recommended procedures to build a cross-cultural translation of the job content questionnaire were followed. First, the questionnaire was translated independently into Portuguese by two Brazilian translators. Specific instructions were clarified to guide the translation process.According to these instructions, the emphasis in the translation was given to the meaning of the terms rather than to lit eral translation, reinforcing the item meaning in the Brazilian occupational context. The translation, produced in this first step, was discussed in meetings with the research team and translators until a consensual version was drawn up. This consensual Portuguese version was translated back into English (back translation) by two other translators, who were native English speakers and also fluent in Portuguese. The Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire and the back translation ere sent to the JCQ Center to be evaluated by the Center researchers. After this evaluation, some modifications were suggested for the first translation, and they were promptly accounted for. A pretest was conducted to test the clarity of question formulation, problems found in answering specific questions, and conceptual equivalence between both languages (English and Portuguese). Based on the pretest results, a new version was clarified (including a new back translation). The JCQ Center approve d the final version in December 2001. Scales and subscales of the job content questionnaireThe Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire included the following recommended format (6): 49 questions (scales of decision latitude—skill discretion and decision authority, psychological demand, physical demand, social support—supervisor and coworker support, and job insecurity). In order to build indicators, for each scale of the questionnaire, a sum of the weighted item score was calculated according to the user’s guide of the job content questionnaire (6). Statistical analysis All of the analyses were conducted separately for the formal and informal workers.Mean values and standard deviations were calculated for each scale and subscale. The performance analysis included a discriminant analysis, internal consistency (reliability indicators), and construct validity (factor analysis). Discriminant analysis. This study included workers from different job sector s. Discriminant validity was analyzed by comparing the means of the scales and subscales of the job content questionnaires gathered from workers in each sector. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the observed differences. Internal consistency.Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated to assess the internal consistency or homogeneity of the questions aimed at measuring the same construct. Alpha values above 0. 65 were considered acceptable (12, 14). Construct validity (factor analysis). The analysis was developed in three steps. First, an exploratory analysis using a correlation matrix for all of the variables was computed. In the second step, a principal component method was used to extract the factors (eigenvalues ? 1 criterion). A rotation varimax (orthogonal) was conducted to make the factors more interpretable (20).Factors loading values of >40 were considered indicators of significant factorial contribution (10). Measurement of mental health outco me. To evaluate performance on the job content questionnaire in identifying work conditions involving a risk to mental health, we evaluated the prevalence of psychological distress according to the demand–control model. The self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20), a structured instrument designed by the World Health Organization to measure psychological distress in developing countries, was used. The scales for decision latitude and psychological demand were dichotomized.The mean values were used to dichotomize both scales. Based on the combination between the levels of demand and control, four categories were established for the demand–control model. A multiple logistic regression was performed to adjust for potential confounders. Results The means and standard deviations of the scales of the job content questionnaire were similar for the formal and SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 55 de Araujo & Karasek informal jobs (table 1). The most important difference was observed for â₠¬Å"decision authority† in that there was a higher mean for informal jobs (34. 6) than for formal jobs (31. 99). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were relatively similar for the formal and informal jobs, even though the coefficients were higher for the formal jobs—the coefficients ranged from 0. 65 to 0. 79. The internal consistency for psychological demand was low for the informal jobs (0. 55). The subscale â€Å"conflicting demands† presented poor consistency with the other subscales; its correlation coefficient was lower than 0. 10. For skill discretion, the internal consistency was also relatively low for informal jobs (0. 6029).The subscale â€Å"variety† showed low consistency with the other subscales, the correlation coefficient with the other items being 0. 19. For the job insecurity scale, the performance was poor for both types of jobs (but better for informal jobs). The analysis of the means of the scales of the job content questionnaire according to sector of activity showed some significant differences. Table 2 shows the subscale means of the questionnaire according to sectors. The mean for skill discretion was lower for private household services (formal jobs: c=29. 18; informal jobs: c=32. 12) than for education (formal jobs: c=35. 3; informal jobs: c=34. 08). Similar differences were observed for decision authority (note the high means for education for both formal and informal jobs). Psychological demand revealed a similar pattern across all of the sectors. The means for physical demand were higher for construction (formal jobs: c=12. 50; informal jobs: c=14. 30) and manufacturing (formal jobs: c=13. 45; informal jobs: c=12. 66) and lower for education (formal jobs: c=11. 84; informal jobs: c=11. 71), as expected. The highest job insecurity means were observed for the construction sector (formal jobs: c=7. 0; informal jobs: c=9. 78). Correlation coefficient by sector No correlation was found between decision l atitude and psychological demand (formal workers: 0. 057; informal workers: 0. 010). This finding supports the hypothesis of relative independence between these two factors, as theoretically postulated. For almost all of the scales of the job content questionnaire, the correlation coefficients showed a similar pattern for the sectors. The pattern was similar by sector with respect to the formal and informal jobs, following the predicted direction, as proposed by Karasek’s demand–control model.Some small differences were observed in the coefficient magnitude, but not in the direction of the coefficients. However, a substantial difference was observed between the two dimensions of decision latitude. In the sectors of education, manufacturing, private household services, construction, and general services, a positive correlation between skill discretion (SD) and decision authority (DA) was observed—as expected. For the sectors of commercial activity and transportat ion, we observed no correlation between skill discretion and decision authority, 0. 068 and 0. 077, respectively.Construct validity The factor analysis loaded eight factors for formal and informal jobs (tables 3 and 4). Similar patterns were observed for both types of jobs. There was high Table 1. Means, standard deviations (SD), and Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients for the scales and subscales of the job content questionnaire according to formal and informal jobs. Scales Range Formal jobs Informal jobs Mean SD a Mean SD a Decision latitude 24–96 64. 76 8. 44 0. 6576 65. 91 7. 84 0. 6211 Skill discretion 12–48 32. 76 4. 25 0. 6500 31. 39 4. 06 0. 6029 Decision authority 12–48 31. 9 6. 20 0. 6869 34. 46 6. 01 0. 7194 Psychological demand 12–48 30. 07 3. 63 0. 6627 29. 89 3. 29 0. 5588 Social support 8–32 23. 07 2. 09 0. 7103 23. 20 2. 01 0. 6588 Coworker support 4–16 11. 75 1. 16 0. 6901 11. 97 1. 25 0. 7009 Supervisory suppor t 4–16 11. 28 1. 47 0. 7900 11. 38 1. 30 0. 6515 Physical demand 5–20 12. 30 2. 14 0. 7584 12. 53 2. 25 0. 7615 Job insecurity a 3–12 5. 25 1. 15 0. 3613 5. 90 1. 83 0. 5540 Age 15–82 33. 93 11. 59 – 34. 94 13. 93 – a Means for job insecurity (4 items): formal jobs: 6. 47 (SD 1. 44); informal jobs: 7. 44 (SD 2. 47). Table 2.Means of the subscales of the job content questionnaire according to sector of activity for the formal and informal jobs. (SD = skill discretion, DA = decision authority, DL = decision latitude, PD = psychological demand, PhyD = physical demand, JI = job insecurity) Sector SD DA DL PD PhyD JI Formal jobs Construction 31. 67 33. 84 65. 71 28. 67 12. 50 7. 00 Manufacturing 33. 09 31. 91 65. 07 31. 45 13. 45 6. 32 Commerce (retail activity) 32. 80 31. 54 64. 28 30. 47 12. 45 6. 23 Transportation 31. 78 29. 68 61. 33 29. 28 12. 74 6. 20 Education 35. 06 35. 33 70. 56 30. 02 11. 4 4. 87 General services 32. 13 32. 44 64. 79 30 . 11 12. 29 5. 44 Private household services 30. 47 29. 18 59. 65 29. 50 12. 13 5. 50 Informal jobs Construction 31. 40 32. 41 63. 95 30. 78 14. 30 9. 78 Manufacturing 33. 10 33. 25 66. 26 31. 03 12. 66 7. 61 Commerce (retail activity) 31. 40 35. 66 67. 13 30. 01 12. 36 7. 00 Transportation 30. 94 36. 25 67. 25 31. 03 13. 35 6. 38 Education 35. 28 34. 08 69. 36 29. 44 11. 71 6. 30 General Services 31. 94 34. 60 66. 64 29. 66 12. 50 7. 07 Private household services 29. 12 32. 12 61. 34 28. 98 12. 07 6. 58 56 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6Job content questionnaire in jobs in Brazil consistency with the theoretical model for the scales for supervisory support, coworker support, skill discretion, decision authority, and physical demand. The subscales related to psychological demand loaded on different factors. The subscale â€Å"conflicting demands† did not load on the psychological demand scale, as expected. For both the formal and informal jobs, it loaded on one separate factor (factor 8). For the skill discretion scale, the subscale â€Å"variety† loaded on the factor related to the psychological demand Table 4.Factor (F) analysis using the principal component extraction method and varimax rotation with the informal jobs. Scale Informal job (N=780) F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 Skill discretion Learn new things  ·  ·  · 0. 661  ·  ·  ·  · Repetitive work a  ·  ·  · 0. 480  ·  ·  ·  · Requires creativity  ·  ·  · 0. 587  ·  ·  ·  · High skill level  ·  ·  · 0. 644  ·  ·  ·  · Variety  ·  ·  · b 0. 502 Develop own abilities 0. 724  ·  ·  ·  · Decision authority Allows own decisions  ·  · 0. 809  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Little decision freedom a  ·  · 0. 822  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Opinions influential  ·  · 0. 690  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Psychological demand Work fast  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 430  ·  ·Work hard  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 479  ·  · Excessive work a  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 686  ·  · Insufficient time a  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 599  ·  · Conflicting demands a  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 774 Social support Supervisor is concerned  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 760  ·  ·  · Supervisor pays attention  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 718  ·  ·  · Helpful supervisor  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 417  ·  ·  · Supervisor good organizer  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 774  ·  ·  · Coworker support Coworkers competent 0. 722  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Coworker interest in me 0. 710  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Friendly coworkers 0. 652  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Coworkers helpful 0. 714  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Physical demand Much physical effort  · 0. 706  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Lift heavy loads  · 0. 59  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Rapid physical activity  · 0. 756  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Awkward body position  · b  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 874  · Awkward arm–head p osition  · b  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 855  · Variance explained (after rotation) (%) 12. 3 10. 3 7. 39 7. 06 6. 17 4. 90 4. 23 3. 89 Total variance explained (%) 56. 3  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · a Item formulated in a negative direction; the score was reversed before the factor analysis. b Item loaded on a different factor. Table 3. Factor (F) analysis using the principal component extraction method and varimax rotation with the formal jobs. Scale Formal job (N=403) F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 Skill discretionLearn new things  ·  · 0. 639  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Repetitive work a  ·  · b –0. 481 Requires creativity  ·  · 0. 687  ·  ·  ·  ·  · High skill level  ·  · 0. 650  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Variety  · 0. 577 b  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Develop own abilities 0. 653  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Decision authority Allows own decisions  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 780 Little decision freedom a  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 674 Opinions i nfluential  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 737 Psychological demand Work fast  · 0. 477  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Work hard  · 0. 687  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Excessive work a  · 0. 614  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Insufficient time a  · 0. 673  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Conflicting demands a  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 802 Social support Supervisor is concerned 0. 16  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Supervisor pays attention 0. 674  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Helpful supervisor 0. 744  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Supervisor good organizer 0. 717  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · Coworker support Coworkers competent  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 432  ·  ·  · Coworker interest in me  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 757  ·  ·  · Friendly coworkers  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 746  ·  ·  · Coworkers helpful  ·  ·  ·  · 0. 730  ·  ·  · Physical demand Much physical effort  ·  ·  · 0. 747  ·  ·  ·  · Lift heavy loads  ·  ·  · 0. 482  ·  ·  ·  · Rapid physical activity  ·  ·  · 0. 837  ·  ·  ·  · Awkward body position  ·  ·  · b  · 0. 891  ·  · Awkward arm–head position  ·  ·  · b  · 0. 881  ·  · Variance explained (after rotation)(%) 8. 43 8. 19 7. 1 7. 79 7. 54 6. 96 6. 37 4. 48 Total variance explained (%) 62. 4  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  ·  · a Item formulated in a negative direction; the score was reversed before the factor analysis. b Item loaded on a different factor. SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 57 de Araujo & Karasek scale, and it was not related to the scale for skill discretion, as expected. Physical demand loaded on two different factors, revealing two different types of physical workloads, type 1 including â€Å"much physical effort†, â€Å"lift heavy loads†, and â€Å"rapid physical activity† and type 2 including â€Å"awkward body position† and â€Å"awkward arm and head positions†.Capability of the job content questionnaire to identify different work situations as risks to mental health Relevant differences in the prevalence of psychological distress were observed according to the job strain quadrants. The high-strain quadrant had the highest psychological distress prevalence (table 5). Similar results were found for the formal and informal jobs. The low-strain situation had the lowest psychological distress prevalence. A difference was found in the quadrants of diagonal B (passive and active). In formal jobs, the prevalence of psychological distress was higher for the active job quadrant.For the informal jobs, the prevalence of psychological distress was higher in the passive job quadrant (1. 4 higher than in the low-strain situation). Discussion This is the first study to evaluate performance of the job content questionnaire by comparing formal and informal jobs in a developing country. Performance of the questionnaire was tested in a poor region of northeast Brazil, where general living conditions are precarious and the educational level is low; the worker’s qualification levels were, in general, very low. Despite the cultural nd economic differences from developed country contexts, the job content questionnaire has good global performance. Our means and standard deviations were similar to results from the job stress absenteeism and coronary heart disease European cooperative study (the JACE study) (9), including eight samples from five European countries. Some differences occurred as expected, such as higher means for physical demand and job insecurity in our study (formal and informal jobs) and higher decision latitude for the JACE study. It is notable that, for decision authority, the means for the informal jobs and the JACE study were similar.This similarity indicates a significant freedom for the workers to decide how to do their own work in informal jobs but also pointed out that, among these workers, the possibility to make decis ions was not combined with the use or development of skills. For example, in the sectors of commercial activity and transportation, the workers seemed to be free to decide how to do their work, but the same did not apply to the development of new skills and abilities. The means for decision authority were higher than the means for skill discretion in these sectors.Within these sectors, the proportion of people working on the streets was high, a fact that could partially explain this result In general, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients revealed a performance similar to that found with other large-sample studies, conducted in developed countries, even though they were slightly lower in our study. The estimated coefficients indicated acceptable levels of internal consistency for almost all of the scales of the job content questionnaire. The psychological demand scale, with five questions, showed poor internal consistency.The reliability was acceptable for the formal jobs but low for the informal jobs. This finding has been observed also in other studies. For example, in the JACE study, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was relatively low for the men (Netherlands 0. 57, Canada–Quebec 0. 59, Japan 0. 61) and for the women (Netherlands 0. 51 and US–QES 0. 62). These results revealed a general imprecision of the job content questionnaire in measuring psychological demand. Karasek et al (9) have argued that different meanings of psychological demand by population groups could explain part of these results.These differences in meaning are related to the actual stage of area development. Until now, there has been no agreement about the exact meaning of psychological Table 5. Prevalence rates for psychological distress—the prevalence ratio (PR) and the respective confidence intervals (95% CI) according to the job strain model for formal and informal jobs adjusted for age, educational level, gender, social support, time in this position ( results from the multiple logistic regression analysis). Job strain model a Prevalence PR b 95% CI (%) Formal jobs Low strain (^ decision latitude v psychological demand) 11. 5 – –Passive job (v decision latitude v psychological demand) 15. 5 1. 35 0. 64–2. 84 Active job (^ decision latitude ^ psychological demand) 23. 8 2. 07 1. 05–4. 08 High strain (^ decision latitude ^ psychological demand) 26. 7 2. 32 1. 18–4. 56 Informal jobs Low strain (^ decision latitude v psychological demand) 20. 0 – Passive job (v decision latitude v psychological demand) 24. 5 1. 23 0. 91–1. 66 Active job (^ decision latitude ^ psychological demand) 24. 1 1. 20 0. 90–1. 61 High strain (v decision latitude ^ psychological demand) 33. 1 1. 65 1. 26–2. 18 a Reference group: decision latitude and psychological demand. The delta method was used to convert odds ratios to prevalence ratios. 58 SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 Job content questionnaire in job s in Brazil demand in our social and cultural contexts. It remains an important question for future studies. In addition, to make this concept and correspondent scale more reliable, a clear distinction between â€Å"qualitative† and â€Å"quantitative† psychological demands has been proposed. Suggestions to include emotional demand as a job dimension has also been noted in the literature (21). High internal consistency was observed for decision authority among the formal and informal workers.The items used to evaluate the measure of worker opportunity to make decisions in both highly structured and unstructured settings performed well, as indicated by Cronbach’s alpha. It is important to note that, when these two job-control subscales are taken as a single scale—decision latitude—the reliability is acceptable for both formal and informal jobs. The subscales for coworker support and supervisory support showed the highest consistency with the demandà ¢â‚¬â€œcontrol model theory. The high consistency of these scales had been observed earlier in other studies of the validity and reliability of the job content questionnaire (14, 17) .The physical demand scale also showed good reliability for groups in formal and informal jobs. This scale has also been observed to perform well in other studies (9, 12). The factor analysis showed a structure that is consistent with the theoretical presumptions of the job strain model. Our study produced eight factors, almost all of them in an expected way. The scales for decision authority, supervisory support, coworker support, physical demand, and skill discretion were consistent with the proposed scales of the job content questionnaire, as observed in other studies (22).However, some findings of our study need to be more carefully analyzed. For example, aspects related to the physical demand scale loaded on two types of factors, showing that the job content questionnaire measured two different phy sical workloads. Although the questionnaire establishes only a scale for physical demand, Karasek & Theorell (23) assumed that two specific types of physical demand were involved in job tasks (physical exertion and physical isometric load). In fact, it is acceptable that the questionnaire includes at least two different kinds of physical demands, as observed in our study.Indeed, this result reinforces the ability of the questionnaire to measure and identify specific characteristics of the work environment. With this perspective, future improvements in the questionnaire should consider the evaluation of these two dimensions separately, instead of only one, as currently suggested. One item of the skill discretion scale was also critical. The subscale â€Å"variety† (â€Å"I get to do a variety of different things in my job†), in both the formal and informal groups, was more related to psychological demand aspects than to the skill discretion scale, as expected.The data s uggested that doing different things was not related to job enrichment in the studied population in Brazil. In fact, it represents an increase in workload. Moreover, translation difficulties could be considered a potential explanation for these specific results (cultural differences). One item related to psychological demand, â€Å"conflicting demands†, loaded on a separate factor for both the formal and informal jobs. It revealed a low correlation of this subscale with other subscales related to psychological demand, which duplicated rather precisely a problem found in studies in other countries (8, 9, 12) for this question.Our results also showed relevant problems with this subscale, reinforcing the hypothesis that changes in this item structure are needed to improve the performance of the psychological demand measurement. For the formal jobs, the item â€Å"repetitive work† did not load on the skill discretion factor, as expected. Similar results were found in studi es in other countries (7, 12, 24, 25). The low consistency of this item with the skill discretion subscale could be related to a nonnormal distribution of this aspect. Usually, repetitive work is much more frequent for the lowest skill (9) . The Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire howed a high capability to identify risk to mental health. As predicted by the control–demand model, work with high strain consistently has the highest negative effect on mental health for both formal and informal jobs, albeit more strongly for formal jobs. It supports an association between psychological distress and job strain, as pointed out in other studies on mental health (25). In conclusion, the validity and reliability of the Portuguese version of the job content questionnaire is good, and it is performed similarly among workers with formal or informal jobs in Brazil. Future research should address a detailed evaluation f the decision-latitude dimensions in informal jobs, esp ecially in relation to skill discretion, which performed regularly among informal workers and in new investigations of psychological demand indicators and their performance. Gender differences form another important aspect to be explored in future studies. Acknowledgments This study was funded by CAPES—Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, Brazil, and partially supported by grant D43TW005749, â€Å"Work and Health in Brazil and Mexico† from the John E Fogarty Internationl Center of the US National Institutes of Health.SJWEH Suppl 2008, no 6 59 de Araujo & Karasek References 1. Siqueira E. Depend convergence—the struggle to control petrochemical hazards in Brazil and the United States. New York (NY): Baywood; 2003. 2. Araujo TM, Aquino E, Menezes G, Santos CO, Aguiar L. Work psychosocial aspects and psychological distress among nurses Rev Saude Publica. 2003;37:424–33. 3. Alves MGM, Chor D, Faerstein E, Lopes CS, Werneck GL. Short version of the â€Å"Job Stress Scale: Portuguese-language adaptation. Rev Saude Publica. 2004;38:164–71. 4. Karasek R. Job demand, job decision latitude, and mental strain: implications for job redesign.Adm Sci Q. 1979;24:285–308. 5. Rick J, Briner RB, Daniels K, Perryman S, Guppy A. 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