5 Tips on How to Develop a Search Strategy

5 Tips on How to Develop a Search Strategy 5 Tips on How to Develop a Search Strategy In academic writing, a â€Å"search strategy† refers to the methods used to find sources. You’ll often have to document your search strategy in the methodology section of a thesis or dissertation. But how do you develop a good search strategy? It depends on what you’re researching, but these five tips are a great starting point. 1. Selecting Databases Your college library should offer access to various academic databases. But not all of these will be relevant to your work (e.g., if you’re studying medicine, you probably won’t need the American Meteorological Society’s Meteorological Geoastrophysical Abstracts database). Unless you take under the weather literally. Consequently, you should either select the most relevant databases via your library’s search engine or access individual databases online. You should also make sure to list the databases used when you write up your search strategy. 2. Search Terms Next, you’ll need to select relevant search terms. Some of these should be obvious based on your research topic (e.g., if you’re writing about mummification in ancient Egypt, you’ll definitely want to search for â€Å"mummification† and â€Å"Egypt†). Well preserved.(Photo: dada/wikimedia) For others, though, you may need to brainstorm related terms. One option is looking at a few papers related to your topic and seeing which keywords they use in their abstracts. 3. Wildcards and Truncation You can increase the number of results you get from a search using â€Å"wildcards† and â€Å"truncation†: Wildcards are symbols used to find alternative spellings of the same term. If a wildcard is represented by a â€Å"!† symbol, for instance, you could search for â€Å"Ram!ses† to find variant spellings of the name (e.g., Ramses, Rameses, Ramesses). Truncations allow you to search for various endings to the same term. So if a truncation is represented by a â€Å"*,† you could search for â€Å"Egypt*† to bring up results that include â€Å"Egyptology† and â€Å"Egyptian.† The symbols for these may depend on the database, so remember to check the â€Å"help† section when using a new database to find out how to use wildcards and truncation. 4. Using Boolean Operators Another way of customizing search results is to use Boolean operators. The three main terms you’ll need here are â€Å"AND,† â€Å"OR,† and â€Å"NOT.† The â€Å"AND† operator allows you to search for papers that contain more than one search term (e.g., â€Å"mummification AND Ancient Egypt†). The â€Å"OR† operator, meanwhile, will return results that feature either of the search terms mentioned (e.g., â€Å"mummification or burial rites†). Or Mummies AND Cats.(Photo: Mario Snchez/wikimedia) â€Å"NOT† lets you exclude certain results from a search. For instance, if you only wanted to find results about ancient Egyptian mummies, you could search for â€Å"mummification NOT bog bodies† to exclude European mummies found in peat bogs.   5. Limiting Searches You can also control searches using limiting conditions. These are the options that allow you to filter certain results for relevance. Common filters include language (e.g., searching only for papers published in English) and date of publication (e.g., searching only for papers published after 2005). The limiters available may depend on the database, but they can be useful if a term returns too many results.

Attacks on Private Hire Taxi Drivers in Oldham Essays

Attacks on Private Hire Taxi Drivers in Oldham Essays Attacks on Private Hire Taxi Drivers in Oldham Essay Attacks on Private Hire Taxi Drivers in Oldham Essay For three days in May 2001 the eyes of the nation, and a sizable part of the world, were on Oldham. The town whose main claim to fame was that it was once the cotton spinning capital of the world was thrust into the limelight for the less worthy reason that it was the scene of the worst racially motivated riots in fifteen years. (Ritchie, 2001) Since the riots of May 2001 there has been an increased occurrence of violent attacks on taxi drivers being reported in both local and national media, these attacks culminated in January 2003 in the murder of Izra Hussain, an Asian private hire taxi driver and father of six. The aim of this report is to try to find out whether these attacks are racially motivated. In the Dictionary of race and Ethnic Relations (1984) E. E. Cashmore defines prejudice as learned beliefs and values that lead an individual or group of individuals to be biased for or against member of particular groups. Prejudice is therefore about what people think and is not necessarily translated into actions. Discrimination, on the other hand, is about actions. Cashmore defines it as the unfavourable treatment of all persons socially assigned to a particular category. Both prejudice and discrimination are often based on stereotypes about particular groups of people. In order to research these attacks we are going to use various methods, making sure that we follow the three most prominent criteria for the evaluation of social research, which are according to Bryman (2001) are reliability, replication and validity. Reliability is concerned with the question of whether the results of a study are repeatable. Reliability according to Bryman is very close to another criterion of research- replication and more especially replicability. It sometimes happens that researchers choose to replicate the findings of others. The final and in many ways the most important criterion of research is validity. Validity is concerned with the integrity of the conclusions that are generated from a piece of research. With these criteria in mind, the following methods of collecting data for this report have been chosen. The main body of data has been gained from a semi-structured interview using a mixture of open and closed questions. A structured interview entails the running of an interview schedule by the interviewer. The aim is for all interviewees to be given exactly the same context of questioning. For the purpose of this research the interviews were conducted in person by visiting the interviewees in their work situation. The sample for this research was taken from private hire taxi drivers, figures from Oldham Metro Councils licensing Department (2003) state that there are approx 800 drivers working and that they are split roughly 60% Asian and 40% UK/White. Given these figures, 20 respondents, 12 Asian and 8 UK/White were chosen. This meant going to various private hire taxi offices in the Oldham area. In a personal interview, the interviewer may respond to signs, such as puzzlement or unease, by restating the question or attempting to clarify the meaning of the question. This may entail prompting, when an interviewer suggests a possible answer to a question to the respondent. Bryman (2001) states that prospective respondents have to be provided with a credible justification for the research in which they are being asked to participate and for giving up their valuable time. The results from the interview were noted by writing down the respondents replies. To back up our main body of research, a quantitative content analysis of local newspaper and taxi trade magazines. In analysis we sought to quantify the contents in terms of predetermined categories. In this case we looked for individual stories, which portrayed physical assaults on taxi drivers, by counting individual stories and then analysing the nature of assault and the types of perpetrators involved. The local newspaper archive was used and sources from the last 2 years were analysed. The analysis of the taxi trade magazine, which was carried out on-line, was used to see if these attacks took place nationally. Bryman (2002) states that content analysis is a very transparent research method; it can allow a certain amount of longitudinal analysis with relative ease. Pawson (1995) argues that formal content analysis is not without its problems. Simply counting the number of items tells you nothing about their significance, and the meanings of the text or images being studied can only be implied. Our research found that out of 20 respondents, 12 where of Asian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi descent, and 8 described themselves as of White UK descent. The age of the respondents was between 25 and 65. Of the 20 respondents 17 were married, 2 were co-habiting and one was single. It should be noted that all of the Asian respondents were married and all had children. All the drivers interviewed described themselves as self-employed private hire taxi drivers. They worked on average 60 hours a week; this was usually split between days and evenings. The evening work was mostly on Friday and Saturday. Shifts of 12 hours were not unusual at busy times. Oldham is a mixed urban and rural town on the edge of the West Pennines, most of the private hire taxi offices (22 in all) are situated in the town centre, but the drivers cover the whole borough. When asked about attacks on private hire driver 19 out of the twenty respondents reported that they had suffered some form of attack or abuse.

Tanglewood Stores - Measurement and Validation Essay

Tanglewood Stores - Measurement and Validation - Essay Example The  table gives a clear analysis of various variables. It shows an estimate of the correlation between some of the common predictors like education, managerial interviews, job experience and the measures /variables of performance, citizenship, absence along with other correlations between the proposed predictors like biodata, applicant exams, extraversion, consciousness and retail knowledge. Content validity of the methods of selection is one of the key questions that have to be addressed.There are quite a number of scales that Tanglewood proposed which perfectly match the content that they are intended to measure.And they also correspond properly with the specific work of store associates.  First, we have the retail market knowledge exam which comprises of questions that pertain to the industry and the uniqueness of Tanglewood in the industry. This is properly done and very relevant in the sense that it is related to the basic knowledge of some of the vital marketing principles.Marshfield applicant exam which aims at helping individuals to get some problem-solving abilities, accuracy and fluency in numerical concepts.The personality exam is aimed at identifying the various personality types of those intending to work with Tanglewood.This is necessary for it assists the management to understand the kind of employees to put in various departments. If Tanglewood is interested in getting some of the best people to work for them, there a quite a number of things that they must do. They should focus more on aspects like education of the individual, his or her competencies, the experience he or she has in that particular are to avoid hiring people who lack the know-how and ensure that they give them more training pertaining the kind of duties that the organisation offers. For instance, those in the human resource have to be assisted on how to hire the best people for particular jobs within the stores. The above names predictors are some of the best because they will  ensure that the organisation has people who are competent and know what they are required of by their employers.  

Developing self-awareness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Developing self-awareness - Essay Example At the same time, continuous self-examination of feelings and emotions within a person opens a way to self-mastery. This paper is an examination of the â€Å"self† and â€Å"others† processes. It directly discusses my self-awareness skills and how I can understand and improve it in my daily interactions. I understand that both positive and negative feedback are important to me and in order to improve, I should share with others what I feel. I am not aware of my cognitive style and how I process information and this needs improvement. My emotional maturity is not much improved and I only show the capacity to develop it. I struggle a lot to hide my emotions and try to rationalize them. However, sometimes I become emotional before thinking which lands me in saying unintended things to others. This has made me try my best to withhold my emotions as much as I can and dealing with them later by confronting myself. I do not like being uncertain about everything and I try my best to master situations otherwise I quit. I realize that I am quite principled in my behaviour because I have tried my best to nourish it since my early age. I also like being aware of what happens around me and rarely feel angry, depressed or anxious without knowing the reason. Sometimes I annoy others unknowingly an d I like apologizing where possible. I like having someone close to me to share my personal feelings When upset, I look into the problems without sometimes facing the real persons. I am concerned with others and like remaining in touch, though am less group-oriented. I like consulting others just as I tell others what I do not like. I like helping people opposed to each other to find something they can agree upon. In situations needing my attention such that I have to leave work early, I tend to exaggerate a bit to my colleagues of a duty I cannot fail to attend. I do not like people who yell at me when they are angry and

Platos Apology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Platos Apology - Assignment Example Chaerephon, Socrates’ loyal friend went to the oracle and inquired the god Apollo if there was anyone wiser than Socrates; the Oracle’s answer was none. Socrates took this as a riddle and wanted to solve the paradox that an ignorant could be the wisest. And so this was his divine mission in light of the Oracle of Delphi’s pronouncement. The Socratic Method or the Elenchus is a Socratic technique of exposing false beliefs and eliciting the truth. It is a discussion or dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). It typically involves two speakers discussing a central issue by a series of questions, one leading the discussion and the other answering the questions or agreeing to certain assumptions laid before him for his acceptance or rejection. The best way to win in the discussion or debate is to make the opponent contradict himself in a way that proves the point of the inquirer. In the dialogue Euthyphro, this method is manifested in the main part of the dialogue which is the argument of the definition of piety. Here Socrates asks Euthyphro to put forth a definition of piety which Socrates rejected because it was not a definition but an example of piety. The second definition by Euthyphro was criticized by Socrates. The third definition by Euthyphro was an amendment from the second. Here Socrates made Euthyphro contradict himself without him realizing. Socrates often used the Elenchus in bringing out insufficiencies and contradictions of the opinion of others.

Nike vs Puma Essay Example for Free

Nike vs Puma Essay Nike vs Puma Easily the biggest grudge match in Germany this month will not be between two of the countries competing, but between homegrown Adidas and, of course, American arch-rivals Nike. The business media is already hot on the Stripes versus the Swoosh, with the German brand reportedly splashing out double Nikes estimated ? 60m World Cup marketing spend. But what about the shirts themselves? Which ones would you want to play in, and which should be left on the backs of the die-hards down the pub? Out of the six countries theyre dressing, including hosts Germany, and also France, the best Adidas shirt has to be Argentinas (above left). Perhaps not as recognizable as Brazils famous bright yellow, the subtle sky-blue and white stripes belied how fearsome Argentina were from the late 1970s through the 1980s. Kept simple, although a bit too shiny for my liking, the current shirt remains true to the great players who have previously worn one. As does Hollands shirt (above right), one of eight nations wearing Nike. While every other colour is sported by several teams, no-one but the Dutch really wear orange, and during the mid-1970s they played some of the sexiest football ever. Though theyve never managed to lift the trophy, this jersey echoes the heyday of the Dutch game when their brand of Total Football, as its known, narrowly lost the 1974 final to Germany. It has none of the unnecessary graphics that have plagued the brilliant orange kit of previous years, but again its kept simple and low-key, complete with a nod to the 1970s in the form of the collar. Thats the big boys, but its another German brand thats kitting out the most countries. Puma has deals with no less than 12 federations, including Italy, all of the African teams who qualified, as well as Saudi Arabia and Iran from the Middle East. The brand has taken the opposite approach to its larger competitors, embellishing most of its shirts with designs that reflect that countrys heritage. The Hawks of Togo are depicted, as is the Ivory Coasts nickname, Les Elephants. For me, Tunisias shirt (above left) works best, showing the Eagles of Carthage merged with a sort of camouflage design. Elsewhere, there are a handful of smaller brands providing some of the teams with their kit. Umbros heritage as makers of England shirts is well-known. They also make Swedens, but their best World Cup-related gear is designed by Kim Jones, which is featured elsewhere on Cool Hunting today. Italys Lotto and Spanish new-boys Joma are also after a piece of the action, supplying the likes of Ukraine (above right) and Costa Rica respectively. If you want to be really obscure next time you take to the pitch though, an Ecuador shirt (right), made by little-known company Marathon, wins hands down.

Analysis Of Small Enterprise: Jones Electrical Distribution

Analysis Of Small Enterprise: Jones Electrical Distribution Mr. Jones is having business in a large, fragmented and highly competitive environment. Profitability of his business depends heavily on sales volumes and costs. The sales are growing at around 18% per annum. However, the profit margin is not maintained at a constant level in terms of sales growth. Exhibit I shows that even though the sales growth was achieved in FY 2005-2006, the firm could not have higher operating profits. The sales revenue was nullified by huge rise in operating expenses. A close look at the profit and loss account reveals that the operating expenses are mainly consists of salaries and wages. It seems that in order to keep the fixed costs in control, the compensation of sales executives is quite high because of link to sales volumes. The sales growth has helped the employees to earn more than to the organization. Secondly, Mr. Jones is working with more than 100 suppliers. For such a small volume of business, 100 suppliers are in excess. This huge number of suppliers may create problems in tracking on accounts payable. The company is also having average days payable at 22.8 days in FY 2006, as compared to 9.8 days in FY 2005. During the last two years, Mr. Jones has not been able to take advantage of trade discounts. Mr. Jones is also making payments of $ 2000 per month to Mr. Verden, along with interest payment of 8% per annum. The face amount ($250000) can be considered as a long term loan for Mr. Jones. However, it is not evident from the P L account, that the interest paid on the loan taken from Mr. Verden is accounted for income statement. Mr. Jones is also building up fixed assets over a period of time; however, these assets were financed through his short term financing. It can be assumed that the short term finance was available readily for the operations, has been diverted to create long term assets and liquidating long term debts. These facts and assumptions imply the Mr. Jones is having a relatively aggressive approach in working capital financing of the firm. Main issue for Mr. Jones is to find a financing option for the firm. As the market is very dynamic and there is economy downturn, he is not able to forecast demand for his products for more than one year. Although, the following year looks quite promising and a good sale is forecasted, Mr. Jones is facing issue of liquidity. Mr. Jones is of opinion that the liquidity problem is causing the irregular cash flows and hence he need to borrow more money for daily operations. However the forecasted cash flow (Exhibit III) can show that there is no severe cash flow problem. A focused approach to accounts payable and accounts receivables will help Mr. Jones to overcome the liquidity problems. Around the main issue of arranging finance for the business, Mr. Jones has the additional issues of growing sales, reducing tension between the firm and suppliers, moderating salary for the sales staff and creating a strong relationship with the bankers. Looking at the financial statements (Exhibit I, II, III) we can say that the financial condition of Jones Electrical Distribution are satisfactory. The company is having steady growth in sales. The operating margins are also kept at optimal levels. However the company is facing problems managing their cash operations. A feel of cash crunch is guiding the firm to store more inventories, and as a result of that, the inventory levels have increased. The firm is also investing in fixed assets on regular basis. The firm is able to maintain the cost of goods sold to an optimal level since last few years. This has been the result of maintaining cordial relations with the suppliers. The firm is maintaining healthy liquidity ratios and growth ratios. However, the increase in days payable and inventory turnover is a bit of concern. Even if the cash conversion cycle is reducing, we can observe that days payable has exceeded the limit of 30 days. It means that if the relationship between the firm and supplier is not maintained, the firm can face the interest expenses for not managing their current assets. The firm is working on very thin operating margin. The increase in TIE (Times interest earned) over the years measurers that the operation income is declining and soon the firm will not be able to meet their annual interest costs. suggest of increasing sales volume on immediate basis to maintain profitability. The firm is also able to maintain retention rate of 100% after providing for the proprietorà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s salary. This made sure that the firm will take minimal finances from outside sources. The major problem for Jones Electric Distribution Company is to manage cash for the new financial year 2007. And this problem looks like a temporary problem. The firm is having stored huge inventories in expectation of sales growth for the New Year. The forecasted analysis shows that a onetime credit enhancement from bank will help the firm to manage their finances better. A higher credit will help the firm procure inventory and use them in business. With improved collections and cash at hand, the firm can now manage for trade discounts and save money. Secondly, the firm will be able to retain a huge sum of $201,000 at the end of FY 2007. These funds can be used to retire their personal loan with Mr. Varden. Retirement of this loan will help the firm to improve on its profitability and the bank finance will be easier. It is also observed that additional finance from bank is helping the firm to avail trade discounts. The nominal cost of not taking the discount when credit terms are 2/10, net 30 is 37.24 % [( 2/98)*(365/30-10)], which is much higher than the 8% interest charged by the bank. Hence, it is advisable for Mr. Jones to go for a bank finance and use the money for availing trade discounts. Even if Mr. Jones adopt a slow growth strategy (to grow at the rate of 8-10%), and can manage with the existing facility of USD 250000/-, he can avail trade discounts and increase his earnings. However, one time use of bank finance will make sure that in coming years, Mr. Jones can be debt free and his firmà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s financial performance will improve. Looking at the market growth and the risk appetite for Mr. Jones, we can advice him for taking an aggressive route and avail higher finances from Southern Bank and Trust. The financial projections are given below for various options. Following are the options available to Mr. Jones. Take Trade Discount and avail USD 350000/- Take Trade Discount and avail USD 250000/- Forgo Trade Discount and avail USD 350000/- Forgo Trade Discount and No Additional Financing We already seen that forgoing trade discount is a costly affair for the firm and hence cannot be used. So first two options are available for making a profitable decision. As Mr. Jones is forecasting the market as growing, he can use this opportunity to avail bank finance at USD 350000/-. This facility can be availed in two parts, Long Term and Short Term. Long term funds of USD 100000/- can be used with the cash received from business to retire the personal loan. Remaining USD 250000/- can be used for normal business transactions and avail trade discounts. These operations will make sure that Mr. Jones is having stable business operations in under one year. While going for financial restructuring, Mr. Jones can also look forward to change the salary structure of Sales Personnel. FRICTO Analysis. Flexibility : An additional finance of US $ 100000/- will help Mr. Jones to manage his future cash flows. Mr. Jones is already maintaining a healthy RR of 100%. This helps the firm to keep the Debt/Equity ratio in control. The continuous operations will make sure that Mr. Jones can avail more finance as and when required. Risk : Mr. Jones required reducing his number of suppliers and focusing on few major ones. With reduction of suppliers, it will be easier for him to manage accounts payable and he can demand better credit terms. Income : Cost reduction will be the focus area for Mr. Jones, in an attempt to increase profits for the firm. As the firm is working on very thin margins, any excess spending will hamper the profitability of the firm. Mr. Jones needs to give closer look on operating expenses, which are increasing ahead of sales growth. Control : Mr. Jones can decide on which option to choose for the betterment of the firm in long term. Timing : As the business is in growing stage, Mr. Jones is able to take risks, depending on his relations with supplier and buyers. It is also beneficial to avail additional finance when business is growing. Others : The risk appetite of Mr. Jones, his relation with the suppliers and an in depth knowledge of the industry is the key success factor for the firm. The success of the firm depends heavily on Mr. Jonesà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ insights. Exhibit I Exhibit II Exhibit III Exhibit IV