Day: April 27, 2018

Assessment TWO – Individual project guidelines
Written Report – 60% TMM

LENGTH: 1500 words (+/- 10%)
EXCLUDING title and contents page, bibliography and appendices

REPORT DUE DATE: Week 12 – Friday of week 12 (09/12/16, 23.59hrs) via Turnitin

Topic requirements:
Working individually, you will either prepare a business report on a new topic of interest to you, OR you will continue working on the topic from Assignment 1.
If you choose the former option, first select a research question. Your tutor will help you with this. It should be related to business and organisational life.
For this assessment, you are expected to collect primary empirical data. Write up your research by using the guidelines given below. You should also look at the marking criteria (see below) to see what is expected from each section of the proposal and the balance between sections. Be aware that most of the marks for this report are awarded for the analysis and conclusions you research.

The content of your report
• Title page (including name of all group members, date of submission, course, title of course work)
• Introduction – this short section should offer rationale for your chosen topic.
• Report topic/question. Aims and objectives – These must be succinct, achievable and coherent.
• Literature review – a short review of the literature which sets out relevant concepts and ideas you plan to utilise in your empirical study. You should include 5 academic sources in this section.
• Methodology/methods – short methodology section focusing primarily on research design. Briefly outline the population, sampling and research methods. Also state your proposed data analysis technique.
• Discussion of Findings
• Conclusions and limitations

N.B –data collection is necessary for this piece of work.
Formatting advice
• Sub-headings should be used to separate main sections
• Sources of all research information must be clearly cited in the text. You are expected to use the Harvard referencing style. All sources of ideas other than your own in the report must be properly cited
• A separate references list must be included, with entries in alphabetical order
• Appendices are also allowed
• Text must be written in clear English
• Finished assignment will be well organized
• Finished assignments will demonstrate clear evidence of the group’s understanding of research methods and how they can be applied in practice

Presentation of the report
NB (The notes below refer to how the report looks. There is no oral presentation of this report in class).
• Reports must be word processed
• Line spacing: EITHER 1.5 lines OR double spaced
• Font: EITHER Ariel 12 OR Times New Roman 12
• Tables, charts and/or graphs may be used
• Reports must be spell checked
• Word count for the main text must be included

The critical thinking project/paper (about 2 to 2.5 single-spaced pages or 1200 to 1500 words) is worth 10 points (10 percent of the final grade), should be based exclusively on the assigned material of Topic 5, and should provide a thoughtful explanation of (1) what common motives and goals unite geopolitical Axis 1 countries, (2) what common motives and goals unite geopolitical Axis 2 countries, and (3) what contradictory motives and goals divide the two geopolitical axes. You should first skim/read through the following slides to identify clearly the parties at war in Palestine-Israel (slides 221-223, 285, 294, 319, 332, 335-337, 342-346), the parties at war in Iraq (slides 2-5, 7-26, 41-42, 79-90), the parties at war in Libya (slides 140-144, 149-151, 162-173, 333-334), the parties at war in Syria (slides 176-191 and 275-280, 342-346), and the parties at war in Yemen (slides 22, 172, 289-293, 299, 306, 328-329 ). The thoughtful explanation should somehow reflect the student’s ability to integrate multiple perspectives/ways of learning through scientific and historical perspectives (such as learning from objective facts and figures as in PowerPoint slides 3, 12, 52-54, 145, 219), learning through artistic and literary perspectives (such as learning from imaginary representations as in PowerPoint slides 2, 26-29, 94, 113, 166, 179, 188-1990, 267, 278, 280) and learning through ethical and behavioral perspectives (such as learning from irrational or immoral or emotional or moving social behaviors or situations as in PowerPoint slides 61-64, 157-161, 169, 193, 199, 276-277, 279, 301). To demonstrate some course-related ‘experiential learning’ (‘out-of-class-learning experience’), your paper should include a brief comparison of the Axis1-versus-Axis2 geopolitical explanation of major current issues in the news with other cultural, religious, sectarian, or other persuasive explanations you have personally encountered and documented either through your own ‘social media’ electronic communications with others worldwide or through your own face-to-face interaction with any identifiable/verifiable ISU or Terre Haute community group or individual. The paper must be formatted as a Microsoft Word file according to syllabus and blackboard guidelines and must be uploaded through the TurnItIn link. The paper is important and must be completed and submitted by the deadline to avoid 0 points, in addition to a grade penalty of 5 points. It should reflect independent and original writing and critical thinking and should be persuasive and well written

Class: Communication Theory SPC 3210

Book: Turner, Lynne H, Richard West. (2014). Introducing Communication Theory- Analysis and Application. Fifth Edition. McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 978-0- 07-353428-2
(I have an e-Text if you need it)

I need a total of 12 logs.

Application Log: After you read a chapter describing a communication theory, you are required to make a specific application of the theory to your own life and experience. Write 1-2 paragraphs about it, and post this as a journal entry to the Blackboard. Think of this assignment as a way to find practical value of each theory. What framework does the theory provide to help you understand your or other people%u0432%u0402%u2122s communication practices? What prediction does it make for the future? How can you use this theory and the conceptual tools that it offers? Can it help you to improve or advance your personal life, your relationships, your professional or educational experience, your role in the local or global society? Make sure you post your journal entry before the class where we will be discussing the theory in question. All the late or missing entries will have an effect on your final grade. At the beginning of each class three people will be selected to present their example of a theory application.

1. WEEK 3: Symbolic Interactionism and CMM

2. Read Chapter 6 and 7
%u043F%u201A· Post your blog entry on Cognitive Dissonance
Theory and EVT

3.%u043F%u201A· Read Chapter 8 and 9
%u043F%u201A· Post your blog entry on URT and SET

%u043F%u201A·4. Read Chapter 10 and 11
%u043F%u201A· Post your blog entry on SPT and relational
dialectics

5.%u043F%u201A· Read Chapter 12 and 13
%u043F%u201A· Post your blog entry on Communication Privacy
Management and Social Information Processing
Theory

6.%u043F%u201A· Read Chapter 14 and 15
%u043F%u201A· Post your blog entry on groupthink and
structuration

7.%u043F%u201A· Read Chapter 16 and 17
%u043F%u201A· Post your blog entry on organizational culture
and information

8. Read Chapter 18, 19, and 20
%u043F%u201A· Post your blog entry rhetoric, dramatism, and
narrative paradigm

9. WEEK 12: Uses & Gratifications and Cultivation Theory %u0432%u0402%u0401%u0432%u0402%u0401
10 WEEK 13: Cultural Studies and Media Ecology Theory %u0432%u0402%u0401
11. WEEK 14: Communication Accommodation Theory and Face – Negotiation Theory %u0432%u0402%u0401
12. WEEK 15:Muted Group Theory and Feminist Standpoint Theory

Open the attached article, read it and summarize the paper. If you think that you’ve perceived any flaws, overstatements/unsupported conclusions, or if you were simply left wondering about experiments that could have been done but weren’t – go ahead and speak your mind (it can’t hurt, it can only help).

I picked this article because it deals with the topic that we’ve been discussing in class (epigenetics), touches on various aspects of gene function regulation and techniques.

You only have so much space, so you’ll obviously have to summarize to a large extent. But do not simply re-phrase the abstract – you’ll fall short. So make sure that you end up with a document that nicely describes the bulk of the work, mentioning some of the major techniques. If abstracts summarize the work for a mostly expert audience, think of this exercise as a summary for someone who has a firm basic understanding of genetics and cell and molecular biologist, but not an expert in either neuroepigenetics.

Please, just answer the questions but make sure to provide all the answers in order to gain full credits.This work cannot have a delay, otherwise it will affect drastically my grade. Please take note of that. Than you.
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Here is the assignment and instructions as well. Please make sure to do it on time. This is extremely important. Thank you! Assignment 6: Non-Parametrics Chi-Square Test of Association (Independence) A school system is concerned about the low graduation rate among their high school students. The superintendent assigned a task force to research possible reasons that could explain the low graduation rate. The task force decided to conduct a preliminary literature review about current graduation rate research. The literature review signaled that among several key factors that are related to completion of high school is the development and execution of a school guidance intervention plan. The task force decided to investigate if such is the case in the high school with the highest dropout rate in their district. The following data was collected: (7.5 points) Valenti High School Data Guidance Intervention Plan Students obtaining a high school diploma No Yes No 577 46 Yes 381 492 In order to run the chi-square test of association (aka, chi-square test of independence), open the file named: assign 6 prob 1 data.sav Under View > Value labels you can toggle between the variable category label (no, yes) or the dummy codes (numeric representation) for the category label (0 = no, 1 = yes) Make sure you review both the “Data view” and “Variable view” so you understand the variable types and other properties – and how the variables were created and entered. Go to Analyze > Descriptive statistics > Frequencies, and move the two variables to the “Variables” box, then click “ok” This gives you the frequencies and percents of each of the variables To run the chi-square of association test, go to Analyze > Descriptive statistics > Crosstabs, then move High School Diploma (HSD) to the “Row” box, and Guidance Intervention Plan (GIP) to the “Column” box Select “Statistics” then select the “Chi square” and “Phi and Cramer’s V” boxes Click “Continue” Select “Cells” then select “Observed” and “Expected” under “Counts” (“Round cell counts” is selected by default) Click “Continue” then “ok” You will use the output for questions 1-3. You were asked to analyze the data and present the findings in the upcoming school board meeting. Your report must include the following: 1. A short explanation about the • Chi-Square Test of Association • The Case Processing Summary table • Cross tabulation table • Chi-square Tests table • Clustered Bar Chart 2. Write down the value of the Pearson chi-square and its associated tail probability (p-value). Is it significant? (Use the Morgan text pp. 36-38, for the APA style writeup) 3. In terms of the experimental hypothesis, what has this test shown? Chi-Square Goodness of Fit Test Following are the cumulative number of AIDS cases reported for Neptune County through December 31, 2008, broken down by ethnicity: (7.5 points) Ethnicity Actual Number of AIDS Cases White 751 Hispanic 225 African-American 100 Asian, Pacific Islander 36 Native American 5 Total = 1117 Ethnicity Percentage of total county population Expected cases by population 1 = White 51 570 2 = Hispanic 23 257 3 = African-American 4 45 4 = Asian, Pacific Islander 21 235 5 = Native American 1.0 10 Total = 100% Total = 1117 In order to run the chi-square goodness of fit test, open the file named: assign 6 prob 2 data.sav Under View > Value labels you can toggle between the variable category label (White, Hispanic, African American, Asian Pacific Islander, Native American) or the dummy codes (numeric representation) for the category label (1 = White, 2 = Hispanic, 3 = African American, 4 = Asian Pacific Islander, 5 = Native American). For this test, we want to compares the observed (actual) AIDS cases to the expected cases (frequencies, based on county population). Go to Analyze > Nonparametric tests > Chi square Move the AIDS variable to the “Test variable list” box Using the “Expected cases by population” numbers that correspond to each ethnic group in the table above, under “Expected values” select, “Values” then add the 5 population percentages that correspond with the frequency in the sample, using “Add” for each (570 > Add, 257 > Add, 45 > Add, 235 > Add, 10 > Add) Select “Descriptive” > Continue under “Options” Click “ok” You will use the output for questions 1-3. Perform a goodness-of-fit test to determine whether the make-up of AIDS cases follows the ethnicity of the general population of Neptune County. State the following: (7.5 points) 1. Null Hypothesis 2. Decision 3. Reason for the Decision 4. Does it appear that the pattern of AIDS cases in Neptune County corresponds to the distribution of ethnic groups in this county? Why or why not? 5. You are asked to report your findings along with recommendations for prioritizing interventions by ethnic group to the County Health Commission. Write a one paragraph handout summarizing the findings and your recommendations. Also include the results, in APA style (Use the Morgan text pp. 36-38, for the APA style writeup). Total Points Earned: /15 Points Possible

Assessment TWO – Individual project guidelines
Written Report – 60% TMM

LENGTH: 1500 words (+/- 10%)
EXCLUDING title and contents page, bibliography and appendices

REPORT DUE DATE: Week 12 – Friday of week 12 (09/12/16, 23.59hrs) via Turnitin

Topic requirements:
Working individually, you will either prepare a business report on a new topic of interest to you, OR you will continue working on the topic from Assignment 1.
If you choose the former option, first select a research question. Your tutor will help you with this. It should be related to business and organisational life.
For this assessment, you are expected to collect primary empirical data. Write up your research by using the guidelines given below. You should also look at the marking criteria (see below) to see what is expected from each section of the proposal and the balance between sections. Be aware that most of the marks for this report are awarded for the analysis and conclusions you research.

The content of your report
• Title page (including name of all group members, date of submission, course, title of course work)
• Introduction – this short section should offer rationale for your chosen topic.
• Report topic/question. Aims and objectives – These must be succinct, achievable and coherent.
• Literature review – a short review of the literature which sets out relevant concepts and ideas you plan to utilise in your empirical study. You should include 5 academic sources in this section.
• Methodology/methods – short methodology section focusing primarily on research design. Briefly outline the population, sampling and research methods. Also state your proposed data analysis technique.
• Discussion of Findings
• Conclusions and limitations

N.B –data collection is necessary for this piece of work.
Formatting advice
• Sub-headings should be used to separate main sections
• Sources of all research information must be clearly cited in the text. You are expected to use the Harvard referencing style. All sources of ideas other than your own in the report must be properly cited
• A separate references list must be included, with entries in alphabetical order
• Appendices are also allowed
• Text must be written in clear English
• Finished assignment will be well organized
• Finished assignments will demonstrate clear evidence of the group’s understanding of research methods and how they can be applied in practice

Presentation of the report
NB (The notes below refer to how the report looks. There is no oral presentation of this report in class).
• Reports must be word processed
• Line spacing: EITHER 1.5 lines OR double spaced
• Font: EITHER Ariel 12 OR Times New Roman 12
• Tables, charts and/or graphs may be used
• Reports must be spell checked
• Word count for the main text must be included

The model below is for an APT (arbitrage pricing theory)-type multiple regression analysis and it investigates what influences the rate of return on a company’s shares.
ERCOMPANYt = ?+?1ERSFTSEt+ ?2TERMt + ?3EXCHANGEt+ ?4INFLATIONt + ?5DMONEYt+ ?6OILt +?t (1) The dependent variable (ERCOMPANY) is the company’s excess return based on its
share price {labelled as COMPANY in the Excel data spreadsheet}. Note that you are expected to construct this variable yourself, knowing that excess return means the additional return on top of risk-free rate proxy, i.e., TBILLSHORT as explained below.
The explanatory variables are: I. ERSFTSE: excess rate of return based on the FTSE ALL SHARE index in
London Stock Exchange {labelled as FTSE in the Excel data spreadsheet}. II. TERM: The difference between annual returns on 20-year government bonds and 3-month treasury bills {labelled as TBILLLONG and TBILLSHORT,
respectively, in the Excel data spreadsheet}.
III. EXCHANGE: exchange rate between US dollar and UK sterling {labelled as
EXCHANGE in the Excel data spreadsheet}.IV. INFLATION: inflation rate based on producer price index {labelled as PPI in the
Excel data spreadsheet}. V. MONEY: narrow definition of money supply, i.e., M1, in billion £ {labelled as MONEY in the Excel data spreadsheet}. VI. OIL: crude oil price in $US (labelled as OILPRICE in the Excel data
spreadsheet}.

In order to employ a set of regression analyses, the dataset is provided in Canvas (file name: Data for Assignment 2016.xlsx). The dataset is real data, with monthlyfrequency for the period September 1986 to August 2013. The explanatory variables on the right hand side are the same for all students. However, each student is allocated a different company; hence, the dependent variable of each assignment will be different. Check your student number to find out which company is allocated to you in the ‘company share price’ spreadsheet. Then, copy/paste the share price of the company allocated to you in column B of the spreadsheet named ‘Macroeconomic data’ in the same file.

APT assumes that it is the unexpected changes in financial and macroeconomic factors that exert influence on company returns. Therefore, before analysing data with regressions, you are advised to read the core textbook and module notes to identify how to use the raw data to transform series into variables that will eventually be included in the regression model.

Required:
1. Conduct the OLS regression analysis and comment on the results. Do the
estimates give any direct or indirect support to the APT?
(25 marks)
2. Refer to the OLS assumptions and conduct the diagnostic tests with respect to heteroscedasticity, normality, and autocorrelation. If there is any violation of the OLS assumptions, what can be done as remedies to these misspecifications? Namely, explain how to address regression models that fail these diagnostic tests in your analysis. (35 marks) 3. Is the functional form of the model actually linear as suggested by equation (1) and does it suffer from the multicollinearity problem? Provide the necessary tests.
(15 marks)
4. Test for the parameters’ stability by considering two or more sub-samples, e.g., the time between September 1986 and December 1999; and the time between January 2000 and August 2013. You can think of other periods such as the 2007-08 financial crisis. (15 marks) 5. Are there any other diagnostic tests that you might have considered? Provide them if the answer is ‘yes’.(10 marks)

NOTES:
– Word limit: 2,500 to 3,000 words (excluding references and appendices)
– Submission deadline: 15 December 2016, by 4 p.m. (It is suggested that students should submit by around 3 p.m. to avoid the possibility of late submissions due to technical reasons. See Canvas, module handbook for
further details).- You are expected to refer to and use academic journal articles for any section above. – You may have sections in your assignment. e.g., section 1 introduction; section 2 background about APT; section 3 Diagnostics tests,…. etc. Then, the last
section can be conclusion.

III. Risk and Return
•
To understand the risk profile of the company, estimate risk parameters and the hurdle
rates for the firm, try answering the following questions:
1.
Estimati
ng Historical Risk Parameters (Top Down Betas)
Run a regression of returns on your firm’s stock against returns on a market index, preferably
using monthly data and 5 years of observations (or)
If you have access to Bloomberg, go into the beta calculat
ion page and print off the page (after
setting return intervals to monthly and using 5 years of data)
•
What is the intercept of the regression? What does it tell you about the performance of
this company’s stock during the period of the regression?
•
What
is the slope of the regression?
–
What does it tell you about the risk of the stock?
–
How precise is this estimate of risk? (Provide a range for the estimate.)
•
What portion of this firm’s risk can be attributed to market factors? What portion to
firm
–
specific factors? Why is this important?
•
How much of the risk for this firm is due to business factors? How much of it is due to
financial leverage?
1.
Comparing to Sector Betas (Bottom up Betas)
•
Break down your firm by business components, and estimate a business beta for
each component
•
Attach reasonable weights to each component and estimate an unlevered beta for
the business.
•
Using the current leverage of the company, estimate a levered beta f
or each
component.
2.
Choosing Between Betas
•
Which of the betas that you have estimated for the firm (top down or bottom up)
would you view as more reliable? Why?
•
Using the beta that you have chosen, estimate the expected return on an equity
investment i
n this company to
*
a short term investor
*
a long term investor
•
As a manager in this firm, how would you use this expected return?
3.
Estimating Default Risk and Cost of Debt
If your company is rated,
•
What is the most recent rating for the firm?
•
What is the default spread and interest rate associated with this rating?
•
If your company has bonds outstanding, estimate the yield to maturity on a long
term bond? Why might this be different from the rate es
timated in the last step?
•
What is the company’s marginal tax rate?
If your company is not rated,
•
Does it have any recent borrowings? If yes, what interest rate did the
company pay on these borrowing?
•
Can you estimate a synthetic rating? I
f yes, what interest rate would
correspond to this rating?)
4.
Estimating Cost of Capital
Weights for Debt and Equity
•
What is the market value of equity?
•
Estimate a market value for debt. (To do this you might have to collect
information on the average maturity of the debt, the interest expenses in the
most recent period and the book value of the debt)
•
What are the weights of debt and equity?
C
ost of Capital
•
What is the cost of capital for the firm?

–COMPANIES ARE—
Abudhabi National Energy Company (Taqa)
Dubai Financial Market

My sport is Rugby

The second assignment will involve an evaluation of the potential nutrition requirements for a chosen sport. This will involve completion of a 1500 word essay report covering aspects of energy demands for the chosen sport, review of the literature on potential macronutrient distributions during training, and selected micronutrient demands. The report should summarise an example meal plan (2 days) providing guidelines for nutritional intake specific to the sport.

At the beginning of semester 1 you will be asked to consider two sports that you are interested in. One of these will be randomly selected by the module leader. Over the course of semester 1, whilst you learn more about macro and micronutrients, you should undertake a basic literature review of the nutritional demands for rugby, which will form the basis of your sports nutrition report. The following marking criteria will be used for this assignment:
Title page/ Introduction (5%) – adhering to the checklist for this assignment (which should be submitted as a front page when you submit to Turnitin, and respective boxes ticked), you should provide a clear title page for your report clearly identifying which sport you are reviewing. You should also provide a brief introduction to the general importance of nutrition for this sport both in terms of training and performance. Suggested word count: 100 words.
?
Overview of chosen sport (15%) – in this section, making reference to scientific and textbook literature, you should provide a clear insight into the energy demands of the selected sport in relation to caloric needs. The focus here should be more on training demands than specific performance ie: day to day training demands instead of single match play or competition. Suggested word count: 300 words.
Section 1: Macronutrient distribution (30%) – in this section you should provide a concise account of the macronutrient demands of your sport with reference to pertinent literature (journals, textbooks). You could provide recommendations for general nutritional intake (daily calories, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, hydration) at selected points of the annual training season for your selected sport as example. You should pay particular attention to macronutrient amounts (including units) when presenting recommendations. Suggested word count: 500 words.
Section 2: Micronutrient needs (30%) – this section should comprise a concise evaluation of the importance of 2 selected micronutrients in relation to your sport. You should provide a brief evidence-based rationale for both micronutrients in relation to the training demands of that sport. You should pay particular attention to micronutrient amounts in relation to reference nutrient intakes. Suggested word count: 500 words.
Section 3: Example meal plan (10%) – in this section you should provide an example menu plan for a 2 day period based on your findings from the previous sections. This should include key foods (with amounts) to demonstrate your understanding of nutritional needs pertinent to your selected sport. For both days, provide a simple table underneath each meal plan to demonstrate the total intake of calories, carbohydrates, fats and proteins in relation to your previous recommendations from section 1. Suggest producing this as a table – not included in word count.
Summary (5%) – in this section provide a short summary of the nutritional needs for your selected sport based on your evidence-based findings. This should focus on training demands mainly, but could make reference to performance needs as well. Suggested word count: 100 words.
References/ word count (5%) – you will be graded on both range of literature references (ie: wide variety and current references) and concise writing skills. You should provide a word count for the essay (reference list not included in word count) which should be presented before the reference list.
Your report should be word processed in font arial (size 11), 1.5 spaced, justified margins. It is imperative that personal tense is avoided throughout. All references used must be correctly sourced in the reference list at the end of your work. The maximum word limit for the report is 1500 words (with suggested word counts for each section provided above).

Preliminary Report
Our research question is the influence of organizational culture conflict on the performance of enterprise in the early stage after M&A.

You need set two or three objectives about this research question. And have a deep analysis about them, and in this research report you just use the secondary data to write, and you need to select one case to analysis. this case is about the merger and acquisition.

Details to be included in the report:
¥ A short executive summary highlighting what the report is about and the main issues that are raised by the report. The research question/objective that is selected to investigate in this preliminary report need to be spelled out.
¥ Background to the selected company/database. Why this specific company(s)/database(s) has been selected
¥ Presentation of key findings and interpretation of the results in relation to the study question/objective. Include theoretical and empirical evidence to support the arguments that are made.
¥ Explain how the research informs the theory/practice/policy that is considered in the proposal. The explanation given should be derived from the analysis conducted in the sections of the report but should be in relation to the academic literature on theory and evidence on factors relevant to this case and in the context of the background information provided in the proposal.

The Structure of an Preliminary Report:
1. Outline of the research problem (125 words)
? What is/are the research objective(s)/question(s) – what are you trying to find out?
? Research methods (What data is being used and how this data helps to answer research questions)
2. Critical reflection on research based on secondary data (250 words)
? What are the strengths/weaknesses of secondary data in research (as opposed to primary data)?
? A description of the data source, nature of data, sample etc.
3. Data Analysis (1000-1250 words)
? Explain the data analysis strategy – What would you do to your data?
? Provide an analytical framework to guide the data analysis (perhaps from the proposal)
? Analyse data and present findings
4. Critical discussion of findings (750-1000 words)
? Discuss your findings in light of the literature review
? Discuss the implications for the following groups:
Practising managers
Policy-makers
Academic – implications for research and teaching
5. Concluding statement (125 words)