Management of chronic pain control in cancer Essay

Management of chronic pain control in cancer - Essay Example In one year more than 500 people in 100,000 will be diagnosed with cancer within the United Kingdom (Cancer Research UK, 2012). The same site states that the survival rate for all cancers has now reached 50%, with some types having a very high 5 year survival rate of 95% and with women generally having a higher survival rate than men. Treatment will have included such things as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, all of which play their part in either removing or destroying cancer cells. Such treatment though has its costs and it is a normal experience to have some pain after cancer surgery. Most of this will fade after time, but in some cases pain can persist for months or years, especially if nerves are damaged. After radiation therapy there may be pain which eventually resolves. In some cases though pain can develop a long way down the line. Chemotherapy can also result in pain and numbness. Some people may also find that they are liable to migraines, low back pain and other t ypes of pain ( Cancer.net, 2012). All of these pains require treatment, but often patients are worried about taking large amounts of analgesics, and may not reveal the extent of their problems. Fullen et al( 2006) point within schools of both medicine and nursing the amount of time spent teaching students about pain relief varies considerably, which will contribute to a patchy service when it comes to pain relief, simply because of inadequate training in some areas. This in turn means that more patients suffer to a greater extent than they need do, and also increase time off work and in hospital, at great cost to themselves and to the country’s health service., Chronic pain has been defined as† having pain on a daily basis for more than six months† (Fullen et al, 2006). Cancer is a term used for more than one hundred diseases in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and invade surrounding tissues as well as spreading to other parts of the body through such me ans as the lymphatic and circulatory systems. It affects both organs and mechanisms. This multiplicity of possibilities requires very individualised treatment at every stage from diagnosis on through treatment and into survivorship. The Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention (2004) describes how a diagnosis can mean a person feels isolated, anxious, angry and depressed. It might well be assumed that once a cure has been achieved all this could be put behind them, but persistent pain is a very real issue in many cases, as could be psychological issues. Some will feel exalted that they have survived such a major threat, but others may continue to see themselves as a victim, especially if there are long term physical differences, as for example if there is the need for a permanent colostomy, or a man becomes impotent. Within the United Kingdom in 2012 it was declared that treatment for cancer is becoming ever more successful (Department of Health, 2012). The cure is not always the fin al end of pain however. The patient and his family have had to deal with the shock of diagnosis, the progress of the disease and then the joy of the

Critical Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Critical Review - Essay Example The inclusive settings may be community-based such as private preschool programmes in day care centres, or may be public school based preschool programmes. For inclusion to be successful, children with disabilities have to be provided with all the necessary supports, to facilitate their forming friendships with peers, to actively participate in all classroom activities, and to accomplish the individualised goals designed to meet his or her needs. Both the disabled children and their non-disabled peers benefit from the integrated environment (Power-deFur & Orelove, 1997). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to write a critical review of the article by Odom (2000). First, the article will be summarised, followed by a background section giving a brief account of the reason why the article was chosen, its significance and the relevance to one’s research interest. The critical review of the article will include an investigation of the topic and key issues raised in the paper; also the author’s findings and suggestions; the arguments put forward by the article; and an evaluation of the strengths and shortcomings of the paper. In early childhood special education, it is now a primary service option to include children with disabilities with normally developing peers with typical growth patterns, in integrated classroom settings. This is a relatively new development, from the 1990s, although inclusion of preschool children was known since the early 1970s. There has been a gradual shift from special education programmes for school age children to those designed for preschool age children, to programmes in which children with disabilities are included in mainstream classrooms, with continued development in the settings offered for achieving improved outcomes (Odom, 2000). In this paper, the author Odom (2000) briefly investigates the literature available on the topic. Some research findings on

Serbian and Kyrgyz Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Serbian and Kyrgyz - Essay Example Like the European monarchs after 1848, post- Soviet most influential men (Gordy 78-80; Jennings) have grown massively concerned concerning the transnational increase of revolution. Most states have already begun taking countermeasures to strip off such likelihood (Woodward 123; Gordy 78-80). These democratic revolutions which have occurred amongst the post-communist (Woodward 123) nations present a challenge for social science hypothesizing, due to the cross situation motivations that in part drive their spread violate the conjecture of the independence of cases that lies at the basis of much social scientific analysis both analyses based on the Millian (Woodward 123) method, as well as those statistical analyses that rely on the thought and notion that the result of each throw off the political dice (Woodward 123) is independent of the results of prior throws. With each iteration the shape has adjusted somewhat as it faces the reality of local factors (Woodward 123; Kapatadze, 186). However its main features have revolved around six elements: the use of stolen elections as the occasion for massive mobilizations against pseudo-democratic regimes; foreign support for the development of local democratic movements (Woodward 123); the organization of extreme youth movements using unorthodox protest (Kapatadze, 186) tactics preceding the polls in order to undermine the regime’s popularity (Kapatadze, 186) and will to suppress and to arrange for a final showdown (Woodward 123; Kapatadze, 186); a united opposition established in part through foreign prodding; external diplomatic pressure and unusually large electoral monitoring; and (Woodward 123); massive mobilization upon the announcement of fraudulent electoral results and the use of non- violent resistance tactics taken directly from the work of Gene Sharp, the guru of non-violent

Do We Now Live in a More Equal World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Do We Now Live in a More Equal World - Essay Example By the end of the twentieth century, the phenomenon of global income inequality was seen to be greater than it was ever before. Global inequality has two distinct dimensions. These are the inequalities that exist between countries and the inequalities that exist within the countries. Not everyone in the developed nations, like the United States, is known to be rich and similarly not everybody in a poor country is poor. It is necessary to take these two measures together. The world was divided into three categories by the World Bank going by their income levels - low income country, middle income country and high income country (Peet & Hartwick, 1999, p.6). Global inequality affects the living condition of the poor countries. Economic growth can affect not only the GDP and GNP of a nation but its overall heath and living conditions too (Wermuth, 2003, p.22). But before framing any conclusion, it is important for the analysts to differentiate between inequality and poverty in these cou ntries. To measure poverty, it is essential to have a poverty line which is usually set at a higher level in richer countries. As for the poorer nations, there is little income gradient in the poverty line (Ravallion, 2003, p.745). Similarly, to measure the economic indicators like GDP and GNP that help to estimate global inequality, we also need some measurement tools. GDP is measured by the production output units like bushels of wheat etc. The exchange rate mechanism is used to measure the national income or GNP (Firebaugh, 2006, pp.34-35). One of the many reasons why global inequality or world inequality is so prevalent today is the extent up to which the income and the wealth of the countries is distributed in a very uneven manner among the world's population. There is little doubt among the researchers that this income inequality that is seen both within and between the nations has been on a rise since the mid-twentieth century. It has been reported by the World Bank that the increasing gap between the rich and the poor countries over the past forty years has accounted for much of the increase in the worldwide income inequality amongst individuals and other households. Inequality patterns and consequences Globalization is divided into three patterns. These are unweighted global inequality, weighted global inequality and global inequality (Held & Kaya, 2004, p.3). In the first pattern, the mean of the country GDP across several countries are considered and population size is not taken here. The second pattern is also the same except that it takes population size into consideration. Global inequality measures difference between individuals of the world. These include intra country and inter country inequality. In 1960, the per capita GDP in the most of the richest twenty countries was found to be eighteen times than that in the poorest twenty countries. By 1995, the same gap had widened to almost thirty-seven times (World Development Report 2001). This sho ws that there has been a huge increase in polarization between the nations overtime (Bata,Bergesen, 2010, p.9). According to a survey, the top richest countries in the world in 2007 were Qatar, UAE, the USA, Hong Kong, Switzerland etc and the poorest countries were Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Central African Republic, Mozambique etc (The UNICEF social and economic paper, 2011, p.19). There have been many sociological

Terry J. Allen, “Reach Out and Track Someone ” Summary Essay Example for Free

Terry J. Allen, â€Å"Reach Out and Track Someone † Summary Essay Allen discusses ethical and legal implications of cell phone tracking technology. He begins by noting how this technology benefits emergency responders tracing the source of 911 calls then moves to showing how cell phone â€Å"pings† have been used to solve murder cases. Allen discusses how telecom companies and the government do not divulge the extent of their monitoring activities and capabilities. The legality of wiretapping, collecting cell phone records, and tracing cell phones is already being debated. On one side of the debate are those that worry about protecting individual’s privacy. On the other side are those that find that taking the time to process a search warrant can delay bringing criminals to justice. The author notes that the invasion of privacy is not just on the part of the government, but also in the hands of entrepreneurs searching to create profitable businesses. Article 2: Kate MacAulay, â€Å"Technology’s Peril and Potential,† summary MacAulay compares and contrasts viewpoints of two authors, George Ritzer and Sherry Turkle, in order to examine how values and morals are shaped my technology. Both authors make note of the negative effects of technology. For Ritzer these problems trickle down to the individual from a larger societal movement (termed McDonaldization) whereas for Turkle technology poses a threat to an individual’s self-identity and relationships with others. In examining the authors’ overall views on technological advancement, MacAulay finds that Ritzer is almost entirely pessimistic while Turkle has a more positive, balanced view. As Ritzer and Turkle both warn of the dangers technology poses, MacAulay advocates that we become aware of these dangers in order to use this technology in a safe manner, ultimately finding a way to use technology to become better people. Main Themes The main theme that these writings share is the recognition of the power of technology to impact our lives, both for the positive and the negative. Allen and MacAulay are similar in that neither takes a one-sided view of the issue; they examine the issue from both sides. Allen, however, seems to be more cautionary in warning of the potential of the technology to infringe on people’s privacy. The writings differ with regard to the types of examples the authors use to illustrate their points. Allen uses information from diverse sources: popular advertisements, murder trials, government edicts, etc. His examples speak more directly to the reader. MacAulay, on the other hand, is comparing the views of two published authors, with whom the reader is most likely not familiar. How would Author A respond to Author B? Allen would largely agree with MacAulay but would likely argue that it is perhaps a bit to optimistic to grant individuals that much control over how they use technology. As he states, businesses and the government have the capabilities to monitor how we use technology. We cannot use technology entirely in a personal manner. My Own Views After reading these two texts, I agree with the authors that technological advances come with some strings attached (including loss of privacy). I also agree with MacAulay’s discussion of the implications of creating alternate virtual identities (with regards to Turkle’s writing). These writings have not so much changed my view on the subject as much as they have provided evidence supporting my pre-existent views. However, I was not aware of some of the legal implications of cell phone tracking discussed by Allen. This discussion raises the question of how laws must be changed or re-interpreted to deal with issues that result from technological advances. I had also never thought of these issues from a top-down approach (as MacAulay discusses with regards to the phenomenon of McDonaldization). Now, I see the main controversy as being who holds the responsibility for ensuring that technology is used responsibly. Is it the consumer? Is it the government? Is it the businesses that create the technology? Views I Wish to Share After much thought, I have come to realize that the regulation of technology cannot be left to any one individual or group. These writings have given me greater understanding of the complexities of the issue, and as a user of technology, I am very much interested in ensuring that I use technology safely. The new perspective that I wish to share with my readers is that using technology is not necessarily an individual’s right. It is a privilege, and as a privilege, there are some conditions attached. If one is to use technology to create virtual identities different from one’s own, one has to take responsibility for how that identity impacts one’s relationship with the self and with others in real life. Similarly, if one chooses to use a cell phone, one has to understand that the possibility exists for the usage to be tracked.

The Effect Of Openness To Experience Commerce Essay

The Effect Of Openness To Experience Commerce Essay Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show a correlation between Openness to Experience and Job Success and test the mediation effect Creativity and Intellect have on this relationship. Design Methodology: An online survey was administered to over 300 people out of whom 166 filled the questionnaire. This survey contained scales of inventories to gauge the Openness to experience, Creativity, Intellect and the Job Success of the respondents. The respondents filled the survey and the results were then analysed using the SPSS software (v.16.0). The correlation between Openness to experience and Job Success was tested along with the mediation effect of Creativity and Intellect. Findings: Creativity and Intellect fully mediated the relationship between Openness to experience and Job Success. Openness to experience and Job success were found to be positively correlated. Research Implications/Limitations: This study shows a correlation between Openness to experience and Job Success. This topic of study can be expanded to show relations between other personality traits and Job Success. Future research can go further and show the differences between the degree of this correlation for several industries and for male and female managers. Practical Implications: The findings of this paper could be used during the recruitment process for companies and during the intake process for business schools. Originality/Value: This paper is one of the first to prove the correlation between Openness to experience and Job Success. The role of creativity and Intellect in this relationship is also explained by this paper which is another first. Keywords: Openness to experience, Intellect, Creativity, Job Success, Human resources Paper Type: Research Paper Introduction Retention of a manager on any job in any sector is largely dependent on that managers success in his job. Job success not only determines the motivation levels of the manager (Winter, 1991) but also has a significant impact on the overall success of the organisation. (Pfeffer and Veiga, 1993) Thus ensuring Job success is critical to Modern Business. Several factors are known to affect Job success and it is important for companies to pick the right factors to measure in order to predict Job success with sufficient accuracy. This paper looks to determine the relationship between Openness to experience and Job success mediated by Creativity and Intellectual ability with a view to provide companies the option of measuring any of these parameters and being able to predict Job success to a reasonable extent. Of all the dimensions of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) model, openness to experience is considered to be the most vast and least understood. Most research has studied this dimension as a part of personality and few have focussed on studying the link between openness to experience alone and job success. This research aims at creating a comprehensive model linking openness to experience and job success with creativity and intellect as mediators, which has not been done in the past. Building on research done on understanding the openness to experience dimension of the FFM and measuring job success of new hires, we will try to understand the relation between them. We will also see the effect of the two mediators, creativity and intellect on this relation. Research objective The objective of this study is two-fold: To check whether the Openness to experience is a valid predictor for Job Success To check if this relationship between Openness to Experience and Job Success is mediated by Creativity and Intellect Research Gap and Hypotheses OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE Despite trait theories being often downplayed, Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality has remained popular. Also called the big five theory, FFM describes personality in 5 broad traits viz. Openness to Experience (O), Conscientiousness(C), Extroversion (E), Agreeableness (A) and Neuroticism (N). McCrae and Costas (1997) asserted that openness to experience is one of the broadest constructs in personality psychology. Openness to experience describes an individuals imaginative capacity, independent thinking, aesthetic sensitivity, intellectual curiosity, preference for variety and attentiveness for inner feelings. A person with a low score in openness is seen to prefer the conventional and routine (Costa McCrae, 1992; McCrae, 1996). JOB SUCCESS Career success has been defined as work related accomplishments that an individual has amassed due to their work experiences (Judge et al, 1995). Researchers have not accepted the popular conception of measuring success only in terms of salary or the position occupied in the organization (Gattiker Larwood, 1986 etc.). In recent times most research on job success has defined it as being composed of two parts, extrinsic success and intrinsic or perceived success. Extrinsic success is measured using observable parameters like salary, job title, and number of promotions (London Stumpf, 1982). The perceived career success is measured using a self appraisal of job performance (Rode et al, 2008). Childs and Klimoski (1986) used 12 career success items like earnings, self assessed success, number of people supervised and perceived peer rating to measure job success. Also, people who primarily measure success in terms of external criteria have said that enjoying their work is important to t hem (Sturges, 1999). OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE AND JOB SUCCESS Openness to experience would contribute to job success in situations where the nature of the job is such that it requires people to be open to new situations and learning (Bing Lounsbury, 2000). In fact, Bing Lounsbury tested openness to experience to job performance in US based Japanese manufacturing companies. The research supported a positive relation between two and the explanation to this could be that the local population had successfully adapted to the traditional Japanese style of working (Bing Lounsbury, 2000). Burke and Witt have shown through their research findings that other personality variables acts as moderators in the openness to experience job performance relationship (Burke Witt, 2002). Research has shown that those who are more open towards the external environment are more adaptable while those who are more open towards the internal environment would be preoccupied with their internal thoughts and hence less aware of the changes in the environment(Griffin Hesketh, 2004). Young graduates from business schools join jobs that require them to be adaptable and learn as quickly as possible. Hence we expect that openness to experience will be positively correlated to job success. There has been limited research studying these parameters in India and a model linking openness to experience, creativity and intellect to job success has not been developed. In particular, the research tries to study these relations in the context of business school graduates in their initial career stages. With management education in India gaining popularity amongst students and professionals, research needs to be done to find out the predictors for job success in this field. The Western ideas of success may not necessarily hold good for India and it is time that studies focussing on India are conducted. Also, it is important to determine how far the parameters used in the selection criteria for admissions or recruitment are predictors of future job success. CREATIVITY AND INTELLECT AS MEDIATORS As stated in the previous section the correlation between Openness to Experience and Job Success is likely but this relationship is not empirically very strong. It is hence likely that these two parameters are mediated by other constructs. We feel that Creativity and Intellect function as mediators for this relationship. CREATIVITY There have been several studies about creativity conducted by several researchers. According to Lubbart (2000-01) creativity stems from a any process which gives rise to a novel, adaptive production. Glover and Gary (1975) assert that creative individuals are said to exhibit high levels of tolerance to uncertainty and to employ unusual problem solving techniques. William Scott (1965) defines creative behaviour as any unusual response or combination of responses which are also uniquely adaptive and which result in products highly valued by society. Creativity is thus characterised by something new or novel about the way things are done or idea that are produced. OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE AND CREATIVITY Barron (1988) described the creative person as possessing alertness to opportunity, keen attention, intuition, a liking for complexity as a challenge to find simplicity, and a drive to find pattern and meaning, Openness to new ways of seeing, independence of judgment that questions assumptions, et al. These qualities find strong parallels in the FFM dimension of Openness to Experience. Research by McCrae and others have demonstrated that, among the five factors of personality, only Openness to Experience correlates significantly and positively with divergent thinking. They have established a positive covariance of openness to experience with artistic interests (Costa, McCrae and Holland, 1984) and liberal values (McCrea and Costa, 1985). Other researches also show strong empirical and conceptual support to uphold the correlation between openness to experience with creativity (Griffin and McDermont, 1998; Leung and Chiu, 2008). People who are high on openness to experience may wider range of experience, and greater appreciation of the merits of novelty and the potential for improving and changing the status quo, than individuals who are low on openness to experience. These qualities together with their greater sensitivity may cause them to come up with novel solutions to problems and creative ideas. In contrast, individuals who are low on openness to experience may find more comfort in the status quo (George and Zhou, 2001). Griffin and Hesketh (2004), stated that the facets of Openness can be broadly sub-divided into openness towards internal and external environment. While Actions, Ideas and Values appear to describe areas external to the person, Fantasy and Feelings describe openness to areas inside the person. Facets of Openness from each of the Openness scales will differ in their ability to predict creativity. The external openness facets are expected to be better predictors of creativity at work than the latter (Pace, 2005). In our study we predict that among participants in the target group, having more openness to experience would be positively correlated with the level of creative potential. CREATIVITY AND JOB SUCCESS There have been several papers which have linked Creativity to Job Success in some way. A research in Pharmaceutical industry by Mats Sundgren and Alexander Styhre (2003) explores creativity as one of the most critical success factors and important assets in an RD specific organisation. Taewon Suh and Hochang Shin (2005) used the relation between creativity and job performance to ascertain the difference between profit and non-profit organisations. Richard Beatty (1974) asserts that Job Performance and Job Success related and that job performance in fact leads to job success. This could be taken as evidence for a linkage between Creativity and Job Success. The linkage between Creativity and Job success has been used by several researchers (such as Caroline Marshall (2000) in varied research projects. The linkage can also be justified by using the assertion of authors Tudor Rickards, Mark A. Runco, Susan Moger that creativity and leadership step from the same roots and that they have a lot in common . Since leadership is known to be a strong contributor to job success (Kowalski and Campbell, 2000), a linkage between Creativity and Job Success can be expected. As an example from the business of sales and marketing, Julie Britt, independent marketing consultant cites several examples how creativity is essential for success in this profession (2008). Several similar examples can be identified in real life like Bradley/Reids resourceful approach to promoting the Seward Sea Life Center discussed by Tracy Barbour (2001). INTELLECT Intellect is derived from the Latin word intellectus meaning discernment, understanding. This concept has been a constant subject of debate (Feuerstein et al., 1980; Spitz, 1986; Taylor and Richards, 1990; Chen-Shyuefee and Michael, 1993). Intellect has been viewed as both a single entity and as a collection of mental abilities (Heraty and Morely, 2000). An early model of intelligence was proposed by Thurstone (1939) who identified a number of primary mental abilities using factor analysis. Subsequently, Guilford (1956: 1959: 1967: 1981) proposed the structure of intellect (SOT). Utilising factor analysis, the model identified and organized intellectual abilities according to the mental processes involved, the kinds of information featured and the particular form that the items of information took. The SOT model consists of five kinds of psychological processes (operations), three types of stimuli (contents) and six forms of products (newly generated information serving as output ari sing from the application of a psychological operation upon given information) (Khattab et al., 1982). OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE AND INTELLECT There are claims that Openness to experience and Intellect are practically the same thing but Robert McCrae (1994) contends that Intellect while, is a major contributing factor to Openness of Experience. Goldberg (1999) examined the correlation between these two factors using the International Personality Item Pool. This analysis revealed that Intellect encompasses traits reflecting intellectual engagement and perceived intelligence whereas Openness encompasses traits reflecting artistic and contemplative qualities related to engagement in sensation and perception, establishing that these two factor as related but separable aspects. Lexical studies also show that there are many other terms that characterise people high in only openness (such as artistic, perceptive), or only intellect (such as intelligent, philosophical) or both (such as imaginative, original) (George Saucier 1992). The relation between intellect and openness has also been asserted by Colin G. DeYoung, Noah A. Shamosh and Adam E. Green, Todd S. Braver and Jeremy R. Gray (2009) who propound that Intellect and Openness to experience are related. Some research (George Saucier 1992) also exists to substantiate the relation by asserting that both openness and intellect are a part of the same factor namely Factor V of the Five factor model of Personality traits. This view has been contended by Paul Trapnell (1994) by asserting that Openness and Intellect are separated by a couple of factors, but the fact that these two are related is undeniable. INTELLECT AND JOB SUCCESS Intellect has been synonymously used with intelligence by researchers across the world. (Heraty and Morely, 2000) Also, research has shown that intelligence is an integral part of mental ability with strong correlations being obtained between these two constructs. (Schweizer and Moosbrugger, 1999) Tracey et al investigated the utility of mental ability and conscientiousness in predicting technical job success and successfully established that mental ability was a better predictor of performance for new managers, whereas conscientiousness was a better predictor of performance for experienced managers using a sample of restaurant workers. Dr. Colonia-Willner, in a landmark study involving 200 high level managers at a bank employing more than 22,000 people demonstrated that a major factor in achieving success in the workplace depends on intelligence (1999). Business schools across the world have been looking to prepare students for the complexities that would befall the students in the business world and their prime focus is on improving the mental abilities; the ability to think. (Lim, 2002) In their paper, Mol et al express astonishment at the lack of importance afforded to intelligence while measuring performance of expatriate managers. They have managed to bring out the relevance of intelligence in selection of managers by means of 30 primary studies. Using these associations between mental ability and job success as established by many a researchers, the link between mental ability and intelligence already established and the fact that intelligence and intellect have been used interchangeably we have conceptualized that intellect could be positively correlated with job success. In conclusion to the above section, we propose the following hypotheses. See Figure 1 for further clarifications. Hypothesis 1: Openness to experience is positively correlated to Job Success Hypothesis 2: Openness to experience is positively correlated to Creativity Hypothesis 3: Creativity is positively correlated to job Success Hypothesis 4: Openness to Experience is positively correlated to Intellect. Hypothesis 5: Intellect is positively correlated to job success. Research Design Sample In this study, we examine measures of openness to experience, creativity, job success and intellect among a sample group of 166 people all with varying periods of work experience in various sectors. Sample Design The design used for this study is snowball sampling. This design was chosen since it is suitable in cases where it may be difficult for researchers to identify participants. The researchers contacted people they knew and these people further referred the questionnaire to their contacts. Administration: The data for the study was collected using an internet survey. An online questionnaire was prepared and administered to participants in the target group. The participants for the study were contacts of the researchers with an MBA and 1-4 years of work experience. These people were asked to share the questionnaire with people who had the same characteristics and they were also included in the study. A question asking people the number of years of their work experience was put in the survey so that those people who had lesser or greater work experience would not be included in the study. This data was collated and used for analysis. Measures The following model summarises what we were testing through this research paper. Creativity Openness to Experience Job Success Intellect Figure 1: Model Operational Definitions Openness to experience: For the purpose of our research openness to experience is the proclivity of an individual to new situations and learning and a greater awareness of his environment. Creativity: We have taken the definition of creativity as a means of producing or thinking something new. The key aspect of creativity is originality. Intellect: For the purpose of our research intellect is defined as that cognitive ability which helps a person analyze complex situations and solve challenging problems. Job Success: We have taken the term Job Success to mean the extent to which a person is able to achieve the intended purpose of the job. Scales The study uses borrowed scales from professional and academic domain. OPENNESS TO EXPERIENCE One of the most accepted measure of the FFM dimensions is the Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R:Costa McCrae, 1992). The NEO PI-R measures each dimension with six sub dimensions called the facets. Its sub-dimensions are for openness to experience are Fantasy, Aesthetics, Feelings, Actions, Ideas and Values. McCord designed the M5 questionnaire to assess traits of normal personality based on the facets described by Costa McCrae. M5 is a self report measure that provides scores each facet based on six independent lower level facets. The M5 claims to strong internal reliability and good validity (Proctor McCord, 2009). The study administrates the M5 openness to experience inventory that measures similar facets of the NEO PI-R construct. Table 1 provides descriptions of each of these and the corresponding dimensions from the M5 instrument. (Refer Appendix A for the scale) Table : M5 Instrument Dimensions NEO PI-R Facet M5 Definition of high scorers Fantasy Imagination Have a vivid imagination fantasy life which they believe enhances life Aesthetics Artistic interests Highly esteem and can be moved by art, music, poetry beauty Feelings Emotionality Are receptive to inner feelings, deeply experience emotions see them as important Action Adventurousness Have a willingness to experience new activities, foods, places prefer novelty to routine Ideas Intellect Open-mindedness willingness to consider new ideas pursue intellectual interests Values Liberalism Willingness to re-examine social, political religious values Lack of free available personality inventories is a major constraint for academic research. Cost factors and copyright issues inhibit flexible availability, editing and modifying of the professionally accepted measurement tools. For the purpose of our research we shall use the personality item inventories from the public domain collection of International Personality Item Pool (IPIP, 2001). Lack of free available personality inventories, copy right issues and cost factors have inhibited the usage of professionally accepted measurement tools for the present academic research. For the purpose of our research we shall use the personality item inventories from the public domain collection of International Personality Item Pool (IPIP, 2001) to measure creativity and intellect. IPIP is intended as an international effort to develop and continually refine a set of personality inventories. The scales provided in this collaboratory can be used for both scientific and commercial purposes. The Abridged Big Five Dimensional Circumplex (AB5C) taxonomy of personality traits was developed to integrate the 5-dimensional simple-structure and circumplex models of personality. It consists of the 10 circumplexes formed by pitting each of the Big Five factors against one another. The model maps facets of the Big Five dimensions as blends of 2 factors. CREATIVITY In this study we have used the Abridged Big Five-Dimensional Circumplex(AB5C) propounded by Hofstee, de Raad, Goldberg [1992] for measurement of creativity. The AB5C taxonomy of personality traits was developed to integrate the 5-dimensional simple-structure and circumplex models of personality. It consists of the 10 circumplexes formed by pitting each of the Big Five factors against one another. The model maps facets of the Big Five dimensions as blends of 2 factors. The alpha coefficient of the scale as reported on IPIP website is 0.81 indicating the scale has good reliability and internal consistency. This scale is a five point Likert scale. INTELLECT In this study we have used the Abridged Big Five-Dimensional Circumplex propounded by Hofstee, de Raad, Goldberg [1992] for measurement of intellect. The alpha coefficient of the scale as reported on IPIP website is 0.81 indicating the scale has good reliability and internal consistency. This scale is a five point Likert scale. JOB SUCCESS The study measures job success as perceived by the person. Selected items related to organization success as defined by Gattiker Larwood (1986) will be measured on a five point Likert type scale. The alpha coefficient of the scale specified is 0.75. Analysis The 10 items on the Openness to experience scale (10 point M5 Questionnaire) were summed up to create an aggregate score for Openness to Experience. The 7 items on the Job Success scale created by Gattiker and Larwood were summed up to create an aggregate score for job success. The 10 items on the IPIP (Domain AB5C) Creativity scale were summed up to create an aggregate score for creativity. The 10 items on the IPIP (Domain AB5C) Intellect Scale were summed up to create an aggregate score for intellect. The data was analyzed for the Cronbachs alpha value to determine the reliability of the scales. The data was then analyzed using Multiple Mediation Regression developed by Baron and Kenny (1986) which is a four-step process. This process was performed for both creativity and intellect. First, we performed a regression using openness to experience as the independent variable and job success as the dependent variable. Second, we performed a regression using creativity as the independent variable and job success as the dependent variable. Third, we performed a regression using openness to experience as the independent variable and creativity as the dependent variable. Finally, we performed a regression using openness to experience and creativity as the independent variable and job success as the dependent variable to identify the effect of mediator. The same process was repeated with intellect instead of creativity. Results and Discussion The Cronbachs alpha values are tabulated below: Table : Cronbachs Alpha Values Variable Scale Calculated Cronbachs Alpha Openness to Experience 10 point M5 Questionnaire 0.809 Creativity IPIP (Domain AB5C) Creativity scale 0.774 Intellect IPIP(Domain AB5C) Intellect Scale 0.743 Job Success Gattiker Larwood Scale 0.809 Creativity Openness to Experience Creativity Creativity The results of the regression are tabulated below: 0.386 * 0.595 * Model 1: 0.335* Job Success *Significant at 0.05 level Table : Regression Analysis Results Model 1 Step Regression Variables Coefficients Dependent Variable Independent Variable R2 Unstandardized Beta Std. error Standardized Beta 1 Job success Openness to experience 0.112 0.289 0.063 0.335 2 Creativity Openness to experience 0.354 0.614 0.065 0.595 3 Job success Creativity 0.149 0.322 0.06 0.386 4 Job success Openness to experience Creativity 0.166 0.141 0.241 0.077 0.074 0.164 0.288 In the table, step 1 shows the coefficients for regression analysis with openness to experience as independent variable and job success as the dependent variable. The analysis shows that there is a significant positive correlation between openness to experience and job success. Also the results show that there is a possibility of mediation. Hence, Hypothesis 1 is supported. Step 2 shows the coefficients for regression analysis with openness to experience as independent variable and creativity as the dependent variable. The analysis shows that there is a significant positive correlation between openness to experience and creativity. Hence, Hypothesis 2 is supported. Step 3 shows the coefficients for regression analysis with creativity as independent variable and job success as the dependent variable. The analysis shows that there is a significant positive correlation between creativity and job success. Hence, Hypothesis 3 is supported. Step 4 shows the coefficients for regression analysis with openness to experience and creativity as independent variable and job success as the dependent variable. The regression between openness to experience and job success in step 1 is significant whereas in step 4 is not significant indicating that creativity fully mediates the relationship between openness to experience and job success. The mediation effect was tested using an online Sobel Calculator and was found to be statistically significant (Mediated effect = 0.171, Sobel Test Statistic Z-Score = 4.666, p Step Regression Variables Coefficients Dependent Variable Independent Variable R2 Unstandardized Beta Std. error Standardized Beta 1 Job success Openness to experience 0.112 0.289 0.063 0.335 2 Intellect Openness to experience 0.364 0.540 0.056 0.604 3 Job success Intellect 0.158 0.383 0.069 0.397 4 Job success Openness to experience Intellect 0.172 0.130 0.296 0.077 0.086 0.150 0.307 Model 2: 0.397* 0.604* Intellect Openness to Experience Openness to Experience Job Success Intellect 0.335* *Significant at 0.05 level Table 4: Regression Analysis Results Model 2 In the table, step 1 shows the coefficients for regression analysis with openness to experience as independent variable and job success as the dependent variable. The analysis shows that there is a significant positive correlation between openness to experience and job success. Also the results show that there is a possibility of mediation. Hence, Hypothesis 1 is supported. Step 2 shows the coefficients for regression analysis with openness to experience as independent variable and intellect as the dependent variable. The analysis shows that there is a significant positive correlation between openness to experience and intellect. Hence, Hypothesis 4 is supported. Step 3 shows the coefficients for regression analysis with intellect as independent variable and job success as the dependent variable. The analysis shows that there is a significant positive correlation between intellect and job success. Hence, Hypothesis 5 is supported. Step 4 shows the coefficients for regression analysis with openness to experience and intellect as independent variable and job success as the dependent variable. The regression between openness to experience and job success in step 1 is significant whereas in step 7 is not significant indicating that intellect fully mediates the relationship between openness to experience and job success. The mediation effect was tested using an online Sobel Calculator and was found to be statistically significant (Mediated effect = 0.185, Sobel Test Statistic Z-Score = 4.811, p Implications The study shows that Openness to Experience is fully mediated by both, Creativity and Intellect in relation to job success. Thus we can

Ballroom dancing versus everyday conflict :: essays research papers

Good Morning/Afternoon Mr. Strathdee and fellow English scholars, today we take a journey into the world of ballroom dancing. Ballroom dancing, although not a dance of individualism, it also rebels against the label of conformity often thrown at it. Our task was to compare the documentary ‘Absolutely Ballroom’, and the movie ‘Strictly Ballroom’. To properly undertake our task we were compelled to lose ourselves in the plots, music and techniques used in both films. Both show us the highs and lows of songs, elaborate dance routines, lavish costumes, and outlandish characters. We watch as the plot weaves between drama and romance, while demanding the audience understand the importance of freedom and defying all bonds to achieve your dreams and ultimately victory in the face of all that opposes you. The plot of â€Å"Absolutely Ballroom† is admittedly a little boring; however it has some relevant points that we find ourselves being able to relate to within the documentary, holding our attention throughout the half an hour it ran for. â€Å"Absolutely Ballroom† was based in the town of Ystrad fawr, population 10 000, where ballroom dancing is lame and disco is the in thing. Within this quaint little town there is thirty-two female ballroom dancers; none with a male partner. A group of eight courageous young teens set out to find eight male partners. They succeed. The question is which ones would stay? Be who you are; not who someonelse tries to make you. This is the theme of â€Å"Strictly Ballroom†. It’s a story of two young people, Scott and Fran, and their fight to be individuals and free to do and be who they feel they truly are. They forsake tradition and family to dance their own steps together at the Pan-Pacific Grand Pix. In the documentary ‘Absolutely Ballroom’, many techniques are used to entice the audience to continue to watch their presentation of reality television. The first aspect is the songs they use. To be truly effective, as this documentary was, the songs must fit perfectly so that the audience subconsciously is listening, but consciously is observing the images on screen and don’t missing out on any important information which may detract from the story – line. A documentary technique obviously favored in this production was real life action footage, or unobtrusive camera. In all the interviews staged, you don’t see the camera or hear the questions being asked. A lot of the footage filmed is of the dancers’ feet, floor shots and aerial shots.