CRITIQUE OF QUANLATATIVE ARTICLE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CRITIQUE OF QUANLATATIVE ARTICLE - Essay Example The authors convincingly states that culture and financial capacity were hindrances to the divergence in the delivery of healthcare services to the Hispanics and immigrants. The authors insist that focusing on the removal of the two hindrances should be prioritized (Im, Guevara & Chee, 2007). Further, the authors use secondary resources to back up the hypothesis. The secondary sources include the 2002 Andersen et al. findings that Hispanic patients had to endure more pain and lesser quality of life healthcare services compared to the white Americans and the African Americans. The authors use another secondary source, Cleeland et. al., showing the language barrier prevents the vivid transfer of healthcare information between the healthcare provider and the Hispanic cancer patients. The misinformation between the Hispanic patients and the English-speaking White and African Americans created a vague picture of the patient’s true medical condition. The miscommunication precipitate d to medical professionals prescribing less effective medicines or medical procedures (Im, Guevara & Chee, 2007). Critique of the methodological congruence of your article. Substantiating the research view, the authors’ research methodology is to conduct an online forum with 15 Hispanic patients (Im, Guevara & Chee, 2007). The authors used secondary resources to back up the thesis statement. The authors sought to find out the Hispanic cancer patients’ pain management status, compared to non-Hispanic cancer patients’ pain management status. The online forum was used to gather data to affirm or negate the authors’ hypothesis (Nowaczyk, 1988). Further, the authors chose 15 respondents from a total population of 105 Hispanic cancer patients. The 15 chosen respondents were 18 years old or older. The selected respondents were of Hispanic ethnicity. The average age of the respondents is 49 years of age. 80 percent of the total 15 respondents belonged to the fema le gender. Almost 50 percent of the respondents graduated from middle school. Additionally, more than 90 percent of the respondents were jobless. Lastly, 60 percent of the 15 respondents are Mexicans. The other respondents were a Chicano, a Cuban, a Guatemalan, two Hispanic Americans, and one of vague Hispanic origin. The authors explain that patient-based healthcare research includes studying their ethnic culture’s influence on healthcare delivery services (Im, Guevara & Chee, 2007). Critique of the analytical and interpretive preciseness. Substantiating the research view, the authors use impressive analytical and interpretative preciseness. Showing the statistical tools’ findings, the authors offer convincing evidence that hurdles to better cancer healthcare services should be removed, at all cost. To ensure the findings are accurate or realistic, the 15 respondents were given wide freedom to exchange information among the other respondents. One Hispanic culture that cropped up was that Hispanic women are culturally trained to prioritize filling the needs of her children and family over her own personal needs and wants. The respondents commented that they were not forced by the researcher to pick one or more prepared answers to the forum discussions. Consequently, the average female Hispanic respondent felt that her

The Definition Of Stress Psychology Essay

The Definition Of Stress Psychology Essay Stress  is a term that is commonly used today but has become increasingly difficult to define. It shares, to some extent, common meanings in both the biological and psychological sciences. Stress is the bodys reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response. Stress can be defined in terms of all people responding in the same biological way to the same stimulus, or as dependent upon the persons response to the stressor. Any perception of a stress stimulus triggers the persons physiological and psychological responses to situations or events that disturb the equilibrium. Stress is any event that a human being perceives as harmful or threatening. The body reacts to stress with fight or flight response. Stress hormones like adrenalin, dopamine, cortisol, noradrenalin, and endorphins are released in the blood when one experiences stress. The term  stress  had none of its contemporary connotations before the 1920s. In the 1920s and 1930s, the term was occasionally being used in biological and psychological circles to refer to a mental strain, unwelcome happening, or, more medically, a harmful environmental agent that could cause illness. Walter Cannon  used it in 1926 to refer to external factors that disrupted what he called homeostasis. Homeostasis is a concept central to the idea of stress. Environmental factors, internal or external stimuli, continually disrupt homeostasis.  Factors causing an organisms condition to waver away from homeostasis can be interpreted as stress. A life-threatening situation such as a physical insult or prolonged starvation can greatly disrupt homeostasis. Psychologists have defined stress in a variety of ways. Contemporary definitions of stress regard the external environmental stress as a stressor, the response to the stressor of distress, and the concept of stress as something that involves biochemical, physiological, behavioural and psychological changes. While there is little consensus among psychologists about the exact definition of stress, it is agreed that stress results when demands placed on an organism cause unusual physical, psychological, or emotional responses. In humans, stress originates from a multitude of sources and causes a wide variety of responses, both positive and beneficial (Eustress) and negative and harmful (Distress). The most commonly used definition of stress was developed by Lazarus and Launier (1978), who regarded stress as a transaction between people and the environment and described stress in terms of person-environment fit. Stress typically describes a negative concept that can have an impact on ones mental  and physical well-being, but it is unclear what exactly defines stress and whether or not stress is a cause, an effect, or the process connecting the two. With organisms as complex as humans, stress can take on entirely concrete or abstract meanings with highly subjective qualities, satisfying definitions of both cause and effect in ways that can be both tangible and intangible. Both negative and positive stressors can lead to stress. The intensity and duration of stress changes depending on the circumstances and emotional condition of the person suffering from it (Arnold. E and Boggs. K. 2007). Humans may all be faced with the same stressor (stimulus) but the stress response that they show will depend on their individual differences or gender or culture. Stress is an extremely adaptive phenomenon in a person which contributes to his/her survival, activities, and performance.1 Physical and psychological stress can induce a number of immunological alterations in the cell mediated.2 Stressors may influence the immune system through their impact on neuroendocrine, autonomic and central nervous system.3 Psychological stress may influence the functions of the immune system both indirectly through hormonal changes, and directly through nervous regulation during brief but acute stressful periods.4 Exposure to psychological stressors can modulate the primary antibody response.5,6 (4) Some common categories and examples of stressors include: Life experiences such as poverty, unemployment, clinical depression. Obsessive compulsive disorder, heavy drinking,  or insufficient sleep  can also cause stress. Students and workers may face performance pressure stress from exams  and project deadlines. The medical student: Medical students are frequently individuals with a long-standing need for caring, a capacity to tolerate, being in a providing, dispensing, and nurturing relationship with other people. It is not uncommon for medical students to have chosen medicine after a death of a family member or close friend, sometimes with the quite conscious desire to learn how to fight wasteful death. The goal of medical education is to graduate knowledgeable, skilful and professional physicians. The medical school curriculum has been developed to accomplish these ambitions. Medical students are a highly self-selected group who arrive in medical school with a set of developed abilities, motives, adaptive styles, and values that must be taken into account if we are to understand the impact of their medical studies on them. Teams of sociologists have studied the ways medical students organize themselves to excel and to manage the vast amounts of information that they should learn. They consider success in medical school as the first step to a future of helping others and they are not about to jeopardize that. Medical students as a group are attracted to medicine partly because of their special sensitivity to and concern on three psychological issues: death, suffering, and care. Secondly, medical students are distinguished by a preference for certain adaptive techniques, styles, and defences-specifically by a propensity to counter, master, and overcome sources of anxiety, a tendency to react to stress and anxiety. (3) Stress and medical studies: There is extensive literature demonstrating that medical students begin medical school with mental health profiles similar to their non-medical peers. Since the healing profession is distinctively motivated to confront the issues of suffering, death and care, issues that most of their fellows anxiously avoid, through the course of medical school, they experience substantial deterioration in their mental quality of life, due to stress and anxiety. Medical students have to deal with stressors specific to medical school in addition to normal stressors of everyday life which explains this high prevalence of anxiety. (1) Medicine is a kind of training which is emotionally demanding and therefore medical education can be regarded as stressful. High levels of stress have been found in medical students in various studies. Amongst medical students, stress has been reported to be caused by academic pressure, perfectionist standards, increased psychological pressure, mental tension and too much work load. The demanding nature of medical practice requires involvement with the most personal or emotionally draining aspects of life (human suffering, death, sexuality and fear) and these are considered to be stressors. Stress during medical school can lead to problems later in professional life compromising patient care. (1) Studies suggest that medical students experience a high incidence of stress with potential adverse consequences on academic performance, competency, professionalism and health. Medical students experience substantial stress from the beginning of the training process. Students use various coping mechanisms to process stress that vary by year in training and source of stress. The specific coping strategies that students use may determine the effect of stress on psychological and physical health and may determine whether stress has a positive or negative influence. Strategies that centre on disengagement such as problem avoidance, wishful thinking, social withdrawal and self-criticism have negative consequences and correlate with depression, anxiety and poor mental health. In contrast, strategies that involve engagement such as problem solving, positive re-interpretation, reliance on social support and expression of emotion enable medical students to respond in a manner that leads to adaptation, which can reduce stress. Medical education has deleterious consequences. Trainees (students, interns, and residents) suffer high levels of stress, which lead to alcohol and drug abuse,  interpersonal relationship difficulties, depression and anxiety,  and even suicide.  Medical students have mean anxiety scores one standard deviation above those of non-patients. (12) Studies which have tried to identify the sources of stress among medical students generally concern three main areas : academic stress: enormous syllabus to be covered in a limited time, sudden change in their style of studying, flooding of medical science with new concepts, lack of proper guidance, thought of failing in exams, inadequate time allocated to clinical posting, insufficient bed side teaching, social stress : relationship with peer groups, hostel friends, senior teachers, displacement from home, expectations of parents, peer pressure, change in the medium of education, physical stress : inadequate hostel facilities, hostel food etc. (5) Anxiety is also associated with feeling of loneliness, peer competition, long hours and loss of social time. The majority of stressful incidents in traditional curricula are related to medical training rather than to personal problems. (7) Stress may not only impair the quality of life of medical students but can also influence patient care and the complex psychodynamics of the doctor- patient relationship. (5) Stress is receiving increased attention because of the realization that tired, tense, anxious doctors may not provide as high quality care as do those who do not suffer from these debilitating conditions. A medical career can be particularly stressful due to the combination of involvement with life and death and the high expectations of medicine and of doctors held by both the public and doctors themselves. Partly as a result of these pressures and the need to acquire a substantial body of knowledge and skills, medical students experience considerable anxiety at various stages in the curriculum (Arndt et al., 1986; Firth, 1986; Firth-Cozens, 1987; Kidson Hornblow, 1982; Moss McManus, 1992; Tooth et al., 1989). Such anxieties may result in, for example, reduced examination performance (Tooth et al., 1989), increased alcohol consumption (Firth, 1986) and attempted suicide (Warren Wakeford, 1990). (6) Some students may perceive factors such as nutrition, exercise routines, sleep patterns, social activities, having a child to care for, job responsibilities, finances as stressors that they need to overcome in order to achieve a higher academic standing. By themselves, these constraints may have no effect at all on a student, but when combined, a student could perceive them as stressful and these stress factors could have a dramatic effect on a students academic performance. Exam stress during medical studies: Medical students are repeatedly subjected to rigorous examinations in order to check their potential to be a doctor as they have to deal with human life every single day. They have chosen a career which demands not only responsibilities but also ethical and legal liability for others lives. The onus of this responsibility and sheer volume of syllabus places a medical student under tremendous stress prior to professional exams. This stress may manifest with varying magnitude of anxiety (Kidson and Hornblow, 1982) and decrease in psychological health (Aktekin et al, 2001). (13) To a student, the prospect of sitting for an examination could be identified as a stressor and the resulting emotional and physiological state could be described as an exam stress. (4) Many students experience anxiety before a test or exam; a little bit of nervousness can actually enhance performance. However, if stress levels rise to the point where they inhibit performance on the test, then this is considered exam stress. 92% of students said that they got worried during exam time; one fifth of students surveyed revealed that they had suffered anxiety attacks as a result of pre-exam stress. Furthermore, 61% of those questioned cited lack of sleep/insomnia as a result of stress, 51% said that they suffer from headaches or migraines and 47% admitted turning to the one of the worlds best comforts, food. (10) Here below are some of the symptoms of exam stress, which can vary widely in intensity. Some test-takers experience only mild anxiety, and still perform well, but others are left nearly unable to function, failing the test or even experiencing a panic attack. Physical symptoms of exam stress include tremors, sweating, dry mouth, nausea, rapid heartbeat and even fainting. Milder cases include symptoms of butterflies in the stomach, but severe cases can lead to physical illness which must be treated. Behavioural and cognitive symptoms include defiant avoidance of exam situations, or just a little fidgeting. In some cases, exam stress can become so severe that the student is forced to drop out of school entirely just to avoid testing. Many students attempt self-medication with alcohol or drugs; still others report blanking out completely, or experiencing difficulty concentrating, inability to control thoughts and a negative outlook, which are all common behavioural / cognitive symptoms of exam stress. Emotional symptoms of exam stress include low self-esteem, anger, depression and feelings of despair. The students taking the test often feel unable to do anything about their situation, so they may berate or belittle themselves about their performance and their feelings. Exam stress is reported to have a significant impact on the well-being of the student and is associated with changes in the mental and physical health such as increasing anxiety, increasing negative mood and changes in the functions of the immune system. (4) In other words, the exam is one of the stressful events associated with lowered immune system function.14 Academic examinations have often been used in stress research because they are predictable, standardized, and discrete examples of real-life stressors. It was demonstrated that this stress caused a significant neurohormonal change. A small but significant increase in their emotional distress is indicated by an increase in anxiety during the final examination. Glucocorticoids can downregulate the immune activity, but acute stresses were reported to increase the cortisol level.19 Results show that the exam stress can result in significant increase in the cortisol level. (4) According to a study conducted by Shamsdin, et.al. (2010) on thirty five university medical students, two blood samples were provided from each participant one month (first stage) and one hour (second stage) before the exam. The results show that stress has determining effects on the immune response. The exam stress can result a significant increase in the cortisol level. So, these changes may indicate the alterations of immunological status and presence of stress in an immunosuppressed individual, affecting his / her health. Under stressful conditions, the hypothalamus releases corticotrophins into the blood circulation and when it reaches the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, adrenocorticotrophic hormones are released into the blood circulation. When this reaches the adrenal gland, lucocorticoids are released which are chemicals that modulate or regulate the immune response. Since lymphocytes have receptors for glucocorticoids as well as other steroid hormones associated with r esponses to stress, the brain and immune system are sufficiently well connected to one to influence the other. Exam stress  involves a combination of physiological over-arousal, worry and dread about test performance, and often interferes with normal learning and lowers test performance. It is a physiological condition in which people experience extreme stress, anxiety, and discomfort during and/or before taking a test. Exam stress is prevalent amongst the student populations of the world, and has been studied formally since the early 1950s. During states of excitement or stress the body releases the hormone adrenaline. This hormone is responsible for preparing the body for danger, or the fight or flight response. Adrenaline is known to cause the physical symptoms one might experience that accompany exam stress such as increased heart rate, sweating, and rapid breathing.  [3]   Symptoms of exam stress can range from moderate to severe. Students who exhibit moderate symptoms are still able to perform relatively well on exams.  [5]  Other students with severe stress will often experience panic attacks. Student expectations are one major mental factor. For example, if a student believes that he or she will perform poorly on an exam, he/she is far more likely to become anxious before and during a test. (9) Exam stress is the emotional reaction that some students face before exams. The fear is not irrational, but excessive fear interferes with performance. Many researchers suggest that a little worry is good for students because it keeps them task oriented; however excessive worry on the other hand can be very debilitating and interferes with the results if not managed appropriately. (2) Exam stress is a set of responses that includes excessive worry, depression, nervousness and irrelevant thinking to a class of stimuli from an individuals experience of assessment / test and outcome. It is experienced by many students while undertaking any exam. There are four main areas of reported stresses which can contribute to exam stress including life style issues, lack of required information, studying style and psychological factors. (2) Life styles related issues include inadequate rest, insufficient physical activity, poor nutrition and lack of time management are found to be the contributing factors leading to exam stress as reported by many authors. Psychological factors which contribute significantly to exam stress are negative and irrational thinking about exams, outcomes of exams and feelings of no control over exam situation (e.g. going blank during exam) are reported by many authors. Students perception of extensive course load is also reported to cause exam stress in medical students. Examination system itself is a major stress factor for medical students. (2) In other words, the phrase exam is the same stimulus, but some medical students will be feeling very worked up about the exam, others will be more laid back. The internal and behavioural response will be different for each of them. Psychologists try to find out the factors affecting this interaction and stress management depends on the perceived interaction and response. Gender is likely to be an important factor in students anxiety. Women are reported to be more anxious than men, both overall and for most individual situations. (6) Anxiety levels increase in medical students just before exams, with female students found to be more anxious than males, shows a study undertaken by the Armed forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, India (Pahwa, et. al., 2008). (14) According to this study labelled A study of exam related anxiety amongst medical students pre-exam anxiety levels are seen to be higher in female than male population indicating greater increase in anxiety levels amongst females. This is in agreement with other studies that substantiate presence of sex differences in exam related anxiety, with female students having higher test anxiety than male students (Chapell et al 2005, Eller et al 2006). (13) Females are more likely to report concern and stress due to self expectation, a feeling of lack of competence and a tendency to over report symptoms. (1) Comparison of rankings between 1992 and 1995 Birmingham students shows that rankings were consistent over time for both genders, particularly for the higher ranked questions. More detailed analysis of the 1995 data shows that individual female students were more likely to have higher total scores than male students. (6) All stress factors were more common among female students with statistically significant differences in factors which included: studying all night before exams, feeling no control over exam situations, improper nutrition and lack of exercise. Personality and stress: Mental health professionals believe personality plays a significant role in how individuals perceive stress (Martin, 2011). Lazarus and Folkman (1984) define stress as a product of the relationship between the person and the environment. Stress occurs when a person appraises a stressful event as exceeding his / her coping abilities or threatening his / her well being. Personality can influence both health related and everyday behaviours and is also related to an individuals appraisal of a stressful experience (Booth-Kewley, 1994). Stress is not a simple, stimulus-response reaction; rather it is the interaction between an individual and the environment, involving subjective perception and assessment of stressors, thus constituting a highly personalised process. Specific inherited characteristics, early experience in life, and in particular, learned cognitive predispositions make individuals more or less susceptible to the effects of stressors. Resilience and vulnerability to stressors as well as intensity of stress response mainly depend on age, gender, intelligence, and many other characteristics of personality (19). (Psychiatrike. 2011. Stress and personality. Lecic-Tosevski D, Vukovic O, Stepanovic J. psychiatric Department, Belgrade University, School of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia.) Research has indicated that certain personality traits can make individuals more vulnerable to stress. There is a number of personality traits that could be described which measure human personality. A broad and comprehensive way of identifying the traits and structure of human personality is the Five Factor model (Digman, 1990). J.M. (1990). (Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model.Annual Review of Psychology  41: 417-440). Five Factor Model: This model has originated in a decades-long factor-analytic research tradition (13). Most researchers goal was to create a brief inventory that would allow efficient and flexible assessment of the five dimensions when there is no need for more differentiated measurement of individual facets. (6) Big Five has proven useful as a framework for organizing any findings on adult personality in areas such as behavioural genetics and industrial psychology. (6) The five factor model of personality is better understood as a lexical and factor analytic derived personality approach (Haslam, 2007). McCrae and Costa (1991) claim that this model provides a comprehensive taxonomy of personality traits. However this model has not always been regarded as noteworthy (McAdams, 1992). McCrae and Costa have conducted a lot of research on the model, including cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs (Cavanaugh Blanchard-Fields, 2006) and they argue that the model includes a large number of traits found in language and scientific theory. Thus, this model allows for a systematic approach to personality (12). The five factors model is more than a simple classification of basic personality traits. By the late 1980s, Costa and McCrae were convinced that they and other researchers had found a stable structure of personality. (11) In McCrae and Costas (1996, 1999, 2003) personality theory , behaviour is predicted by understanding the three central or core components and the three peripheral ones. The three central components include (1) basic tendencies, (2) characteristic adaptations, and (3) self-concept. (11) The five factors are labelled by McCrae and Costa (1992) as extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. These dimensions make up the personality traits of the five-factor model, which is often referred to as the Big Five (Goldberg, 1981). The first of the five factors is extraversion. Extraversion has a different importance in different measures. Sometimes it is based on assertiveness, sometimes on spontaneity and energy. Sometimes it is based on dominance, confidence, and agency (Depue Collins 1999), sometimes on a tendency toward happiness. Extraversion is often thought to be implying sociability (Ashton et al. 2002). Others see a sense of agency and a sense of sociability as two facets of extraversion (Depue Morrone- Strupinsky 2005). Finally, others argue sociability is a by-product of other features of extraversion (Lucas et al. 2000). A connection has also been made between extraversion and the approach temperament; thus, some now view extraversion as reflecting a relative sensitivity of a general approach system (DepueCollins 1999, Caspi Shiner 2006, Caspi et al. 2005, ElliottThrash 2002, Evans Rothbart 2007). People who score high on extraversion tend to be affectionate, jovial, talkative, joiners, and fun-loving. In contrast, low extraversion scorers are likely to be reserved, quiet, loners, passive, and unable to express strong emotion (11). The second factor, neuroticism, refers to the ease and frequency with which a person becomes upset and distressed. Moodiness, anxiety, and depression indicate higher neuroticism. Measures often include items or facets relevant to hostility and other negative feelings, but they are dominated by vulnerability to anxiety and general distress. Neuroticism has been associated with the avoidance temperament discussed above (Caspi Shiner 2006, Caspi et al. 2005, EvansRothbart 2007), suggesting that anxiety and sensitivity to threat is its emotional core. People who score high on neuroticism tend to be anxious, temperamental, self-pitying, self-conscious, emotional, and vulnerable to stress related disorders. Those who score low on neuroticism are usually calm, even-tempered, self-satisfied, and unemotional. (11) The next factor is agreeableness. Agreeable people are friendly and helpful ( John Srivastava 1999), empathic (Graziano et al. 2007), and capable of inhibiting their negative feelings (Graziano Eisenberg 1999). Agreeable people become angry over others transgressions than do less agreeable people (Meier Robinson 2004), and this probably short-circuits aggression (Meier et al. 2006). At the opposite pole is an oppositional or antagonistic quality. People who are low in agreeableness display their power to deal with social conflict (Graziano et al. 1996). Agreeableness as a dimension is often characterized as being broadly concerned with maintaining relationships (Jensen- Campbell Graziano 2001). People who score high on agreeableness tend to be trusting, generous, yielding, acceptant, and good-natured. Those who score low are generally suspicious, stingy, unfriendly, irritable, and critical of other people (11). The most commonly used label for the next factor is conscientiousness, although this label does not fully represent the qualities of planning, persistence, and purposeful trying to achieve goals that are part of it (Digman Inouye 1986). Other suggested names include constraint and responsibility, reflecting qualities of impulse control and reliability. Specific qualities included in this trait vary considerably across measures (Roberts et al. 2005). Individuals who score high on conscientiousness are hardworking, conscientious, punctual, and persevering. In contrast, people who score low on conscientiousness tend to be disorganized, negligent, lazy, and aimless and are likely to give up when a project becomes too difficult (11). Agreeableness and conscientiousness share an important property. Both suggest breadth of perspective. Many manifestations of conscientiousness imply taking future contingencies into account. Agreeableness implies a broad social perspective: taking the needs of others into account. It has been suggested that both of these traits have their origins in the effortful control temperament (Ahadi Rothbart 1994, Caspi Shiner 2006, Jensen-Campbell et al. 2002). The fifth factor, most often called openness to experience (Costa McCrae 1985), is the one about which there is most disagreement as far as content is concerned. Some measures (and theories) enrich this factor with greater overtones of intelligence, terming it intellect (Peabody Goldberg 1989). The fifth factor involves curiosity, flexibility, imaginativeness, and willingness to immerse oneself in atypical experiences (McCrae 1996). People who consistently seek out different and varied experiences would score high on openness to experience. They are creative, imaginative, curious, liberal and have a preference for variety. Those who score low on openness tend to support traditional values and to preserve a fixed style of living and they are typically conventional, down-to-earth, conservative, and not at all curious. (13) Big Five and Medical students: Most of the research on the Big Five is based on self and peer ratings, typically made by college students. (6) Conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness have been shown to be related significantly to academic performance (Poropat, 2009). (15) Neuroticism, in contrast, has a negative significant relationship with academic performance. The relation between educational operation and neuroticism, particularly with regard to anxiety in stressful situations such as university examinations has been clarified 14 (18). It is often claimed that, besides cognitive abilities, a mixture of personality characteristics is necessary for people to be successful in medical studies and eventually in the medical profession. However, there is debate as to which personality traits are typical of students in medical studies as compared to students in other academic fields 1-3. (5) A study conducted by Nauert (2009) which was labelled Personality profile of medical students studied more than 600 Belgian students over their seven years of medical studies to determine what impact their personality had on their performance. The researchers employed a commonly used test to measure the Big Five personality traits. Although the study was conducted in Belgium, the personality factors and the modern medical practices are similar around the world so personality should consistently relate to valued outcomes in medical education. Personality traits can reveal a lot about how students perform during the different demands and emphases of a students medical studies. For example, trait conscientiousness was a good predictor of learning success throughout the medical studies of the students. The researchers speculated that extraverted students are more likely to spend less time on studying than on their social relationships during the first years of medical school, which could hinder their academic performance and result in lower grades, whereas students who scored well in persistence and conscientiousness experienced success in their studies (Grohol, 2009). Big Five and Stress: Personality has been linked to the probability of experiencing stressful situations (Bolger Zuckerman, 1995) and to the evaluation of an event as stressful (Guthert, Cohen Armeli, 1999). Stress plays a role in personality/psychopathology associations (Klein, Wonderlich, Shea, 1993). Stressful reactions act as a medi

Ray Bradburys The Martian Chronicles :: Martian Chronicles Essays

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles        Ã‚   Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles shows us not only a different world from Earth and Mars, but also the future of America.   Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles depicts the colonization of Mars in terms of the colonizationof America.   The story is similar to what America experienced, such as thediscovery of America, the invasion of Indian colonies, and the new civilization.Dana's response paper also discussed the colonization of Mars.Other critics also pointed out that Bradbury's theme in the story was death.Through futuristic imagination, Bradbury applies connections to American historyand the issue of death in his story while raising concerns and warnings of thefuture.      Ã‚  Ã‚   Bradbury developed the setting of the story similar to Earth as far aslandscape, atmosphere, and people in order to emphasize his intentions.   Themartians are described as if they are American Indians at the time of theAmerican Revolution.   For example, in the beginning of the story, Bradburydepicts Martians "they had the fair, brownish skin of the true Martian, the yellowcoin eyes, the soft musical voices."   The trees, the towns in Mars, and the grassare all described like Earth landscape.   Bradbury's Mars is a mirror of Earth.These plots raise moral issues and reflections of how history may repeat itself.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bradbury portrays Mars as humankind's second world, where we may goafter our Earthly existence.   In the episode of "April 2000: The third expedition,"Captain John Black's mother said "you get a second chance to live" (pp.44).Lustig's grandmother said "ever since we died" (pp.40).   Humans have a naturalfear of death.   S ome humans may even have a death wish.   Bradbury reveals histhought of death through the connection between Mars and Earth.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Through Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury warns us of ourfuture.   In the episode of "June 2000: And the Moon ve still as bright," CaptainWilder said, "one day Earth will be as Mars is today...It's an object lesson incivilizations.   We'll learn from Mars" (pp. 55).   Throught the story, Earth man,especially American think that they are superior than the Martian.   Earth mancan do anything and knows everyting.   However, Bradbury's message is to tellthem it is not true.   Earth man, here American people realize there are manythings that they can learn from others.

Retail Book Industry in Nz Essay

The aim of this report is to analyse and outline the business perspectives for opening a new independent book store in the Auckland region. The report analyses the current book retail industry and specifically discusses a new book shop’s viability highlighting the internal and external risks and opportunities as well as strengths and shortcomings. To assess the book retail competitive environment elements of SWOT and Porters’ Five Forces analysis tools were utilised (Needle, 2000). The major strengths of a new book shop which could be turned into a competitive advantage are the independency and local governance, relationship with publishers and closeness to customers. The major threats to and weaknesses of the new venture are attributable to low bargaining power with publishers (Needle, 2000), to lack of resources, and high market competition. The report’s conclusion is that anyone intending to enter the book retail market by opening a new store is advised to be mindful of the industry’s risks and challenges in order to mitigate those on the one hand, and to fully capitalise on the opportunities offered by the industry by turning its strengths to a competitive advantage, on the other hand. Table of Contents Executive Summary2 Table of Contents3 1. Introduction4 2. Discussion5 2. 1 Competitive Environment5 2. 1. 1 Whitcoulls Group5 2. 1. 2 Paper Plus6 2. 1. 3 Dymocks8 2. 1. 4 Independent Booksellers9 2. 2 Risk Assessment11 2. 2. 1 Low Bargaining Power with Publishers11 2. 2. 2 Lack of Resources12 2. 2. 3 Market Competition13 2. 3 Opportunities14 2. 3. 1 Independency and local governance14 2. 3. 2 Closeness to Publishers and Customers15 3. Conclusion17 References18 1. Introduction The given report is commissioned by Susan and Michael Clarke to be completed by 27 August 2009. The report’s main objective is to provide an independent analysis of the book retail industry including potential risks and opportunities of opening a new independent book store in the Auckland area. In order to assess the current business environment, the market competitiveness in which a new proposed book store would be operating is analysed including such main industry players as Whitcoulls, Dymocks and Paper Plus on the one hand, and a number of independent book stores on the other hand. Elements of the Porter’s Five Forces’ (Needle, 2000) were incorporated to analyse the competitive environment of the book retail industry. The findings from the analysis of the competitive environment were then utilised to identify and analyse strengths and weaknesses of as well as opportunities and threats for the proposed new independent book store (Samson & Daft, 2005). 2. Discussion Bookselling is a big industry in New Zealand. According to (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008), starting from 2007 the annual books spending in New Zealand has not gone below $1 billion. Books have always been perceived as a lucrative retail business due to high margins[1] and book value that has not changed much over time (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). 2. 1 Competitive Environment There are two main groups operating in the New Zealand book retail market being chain retailers and independent stores. Historically, the book retail market has always been dominated by a few book retail chains occupying almost 90% of the book retail market, leaving the local independent book stores with no more than 10% of market share (â€Å"Whitcoulls, Paper Plus proceeding†, 2007). The main book retail chains operating in New Zealand are Whitcoulls, Paper Plus and Dymocks. 2. 1. 1 Whitcoulls Group The A&R Whitcoulls Group (Whitcoulls Group) is the largest retail chain in New Zealand presented by the Whitcoulls, Borders and Bennetts Tertiary stores (â€Å"Whitcoulls finally picks†, 2007). The group is also internationally operating in Australia and Singapore with more than 130 Angus & Robertson and Borders stores (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). After acquiring the Australasian and New Zealand businesses of the second-largest United States bookstore chain Borders[2] (â€Å"Whitcoulls’ Borders bid cleared†, 2009) in 2008 the Whitcoulls Group obtained access to a high demographic serious books market niche (â€Å"Whitcoulls widens†, 2008). As a result, the Whitcoulls Group operates 90 stores across New Zealand (â€Å"Whitcoulls finally picks†, 2007) accounting for up to 45% of the book  retail market (â€Å"Whitcoulls widens†, 2008). Further to the existing dominance in all the CBD areas, Whitcoulls is planning to expand into small-town areas starting from Te Awamutu, Richmond and Ashburton (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). The recent recession prompted the group to seek cost cuts by merging its Australasian retail operations’ support offices into one division located in Australia (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). The group is also looking into opening the online selling operations in August (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). 2. 1. 2 Paper Plus The Paper Plus chain being fully New Zealand-owned is the second-largest book retailer in New Zealand (â€Å"New look†, 2008). The company operates as a franchise system and has been around for more than 25 years (â€Å"New look†, 2008). Historically Paper Plus has been a strong player in a stationary business[3] whereas its role in bookselling was not taken seriously by the industry[4]. This is one of the reasons why Paper Plus is currently outperformed by Whitcoulls when it comes to bookselling (â€Å"New look†, 2008). However, Paper Plus has recently become an aggressive player in the book retail market announcing an ambitious goal to become number one book retailer in New Zealand[5]. Paper Plus has recently refitted all their 105 stores as booklovers’ destinations (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009) aimed at improving store layout and putting more emphasis on books (â€Å"New look†, 2008). In the meantime, the television and radio celebrity Kerre Woodham was signed up as a frontwoman to do book reviews by hosting the â€Å"books and bubbles† events (â€Å"New look†, 2008). The company’s marketing position is further strengthened by participating in the Fly Buys programme and the agreement with New Zealand Post to host Post Shop and Kiwibank services in Paper Plus stores (â€Å"New look†, 2008). As a result, the company manages to gain a competitive edge by not only targeting the niche of traditional booklovers but also those people who do not have a clear intention to buy books but visit the shops for Post Shop or Kiwibank services. On the management side, Paper Plus has promoted a strong support policy to its franchise stores including effective training by the local support office[6]. In the meantime, Paper Plus has been focusing on the relationship with local publishers as well as has considerably increased spending on advertising raising customer awareness about its products[7]. This all has enabled the company to enter the recession with a very strong financial and marketing position. 2. 1. 3 Dymocks Dymocks is Australian-owned and has been around for over 130 years opening its first store in Auckland in 1994 (www. dymocks. co. nz). Dymocks operates as a franchise system running more than 80 stores in Oceania including six New Zealand stores located in the North Island (www. dymocks. co. nz). Dymocks has been operating with the â€Å"love of books† concept having a reputation as a serious bookseller only without expending their product range to stationary, music and movies (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). The company offers their customers more of a contemporary bookbuying experience through the â€Å"Booklover† Rewards Programme (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). The company focuses on the New Zealand books being historically in the top 10 sellers. Dymocks have been experiencing a sustainable growth opening four new stores over two last years with further plans to expand into the South Island (www. dymocks. co. nz). However, the recession has almost reversed this growth as Dymocks had to close three stores in two months: two in Auckland and one in Wellington[8]. The main causes for these closures were very high rents, bad locations, no street frontage or through traffic and high competition from Borders (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). In addition to this Dymocks had to resort to centralise administration in Australia by closing its New Zealand support office. As such, out of the three main book retail chains, Dymocks has been weakened by the recession the most and is more concerned with a struggle to retain its existing six stores. 2. 1. 4 Independent Booksellers In contrast to the recession-linked problems faced by the book chains the independent booksellers[9] do not seem to suffer any recession at all (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). Despite some loss of customers choosing to go to library instead of buying books, the recent recession helped books products gain a momentum in the gift market[10]. The books’ popularity and affordability merits attribute to the people’s preference of a good book or dictionary gift over a $300 vase or duvet blanket (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). According to an industry expert[11] it is because the book chains have not been putting sufficient effort and resources into the customer relationship side, while independent stores have managed to develop a very loyal customer base by their excellent customer service, professionalism and personal approach (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). As such, the independent book stores see the recession times as a good opportunity to pull new customers from the book chains which due to their large size and lack of knowledgeable staff cannot compete with independent stores on the professional advice, recommendation and customer service sides (â€Å"Boutique booksellers†, 2009). The competitiveness of the book retail market is further strained by online booksellers, which have experienced a considerable growth over the last few years in some cases almost doubling their sales each year[12]. Taking into consideration the competitive environment analysis above, the book retail market can be defined as highly competitive. Whitcoulls, Paper Plus and Dymocks were found to be the main competitors due to their market dominance on the one hand, and high bargaining power with book publishers on the other hand (Needle, 2000). 2. 2 Risk Assessment Taking into consideration the above analysis of the book retail industry’s competitive environment the following could be identified as risks and threats for a new independent book store. 2. 2. 1 Low Bargaining Power with Publishers Upstream of the value chain (Samson & Daft, 2005) a new independent shop would have a challenge to sign book publishers and authors in to obtain the rights to sell their books. The authors and publishers would likely be inclined to work with big retail chains or strong independent stores as being representative of better channels for promoting and distributing the books. Bookshops would usually compete over the right to sell quality books in order to win the customers’ preference and loyalty. The industry experience shows that it is not the large stock but rather a good book range and quality that enable a shop to be preferred by customers over its competitors (â€Å"Boutique booksellers†, 2009). Therefore, bearing in mind the tight economic conditions and high market competitiveness, a new independent shop would have a risk of not being able to obtain a competitive book range due to insufficient bargaining power with publishers (Needle, 2000). 2. 2. 2 Lack of Resources Opening a new store would require significant spending starting from hiring or buying the store to paying professional staff competitive wages. The Dymocks example with closing two Auckland stores (one of which after only a few months after opening) showed how much a store location mistake can cost to a shop regardless of its reputation, product range and popularity (Refer 2. 1). Thus, a company wishing to enter a book market would face not only the challenge of funding to open a new store but also to be able match the location trade advantages with costs. The downstream of the value chain (Samson & Daft, 2005) such as advertising and promotion as well as customer relations would also require significant funding. The Paper Plus and independent book stores examples show that investing in advertising and building customer relationships are one of the most effective and powerful means to sustain and further gain market share in the current competitive environment (Refer 2. 1). The independent stores’ achievement of being able to build loyal customer base is due to having professional sales people on floor capable of providing good service along with knowledgeable advice to the customers (Refer 2. 1). Therefore, the lack of resources both material and human would be a weakness of a new shop when entering the book retail market populated with rich chain retailers and professional independent stores. 2. 2. 3 Market Competition New Zealand has a very high number of book shops per capita in comparison to other countries (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). Thus, a new book store would be entering the market which according to some industry experts is already overpopulated[13] with such strong players as Whitcoulls, Paper Plus, Dymocks not mentioning about independent stores and online sellers experiencing a significant growth in recession (Refer 2.1). Whitcoulls has considerably improved its marketing position through acquiring the Borders operations whereas Paper Plus, being strengthened by combining its services with Post Office and Kiwi Bank, has put a comprehensive action plan in place to fight for number one bookseller in New Zealand. In the meantime, the independent shops are gaining a recession momentum to strengthen their current position by capitalising on the inability of big chains to provide competitive books range, on the one hand, and appropriate level of customer service and support, on the other hand. Taking into consideration the above facts, the book market could be classified as mature where there is no unoccupied market niche (Samson & Daft, 2005) left for a new book store to capitalise on. As a result, for a new store to become successful it will literally mean fighting for other shops’ customers. The implication for a new book store is that it will be very hard to compete with the current industry players that have a very high customer loyalty and market reputation for providing exceptional customer service on the one hand and significant resources, aggressive advertising and market dominance, on the other hand. 2. 3 Opportunities This section discusses the main strengths of and opportunities for a new book store in the current business environment. 2. 3. 1 Independency and local governance The centralisation of the stores support and governance is a common move for many in pursuit of cutting costs. However, experience shows that under the current level of competition store problems are timelier and more effectively resolved if there is local governance in place (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). The main competitors of the proposed book store are strategically and operationally managed from overseas[14] making these shops quite inflexible and not quick enough to react to market changes as someone in Australia decides how many copies of a particular New Zealand book the stores should stock. In the meantime, the independent book stores have not felt the recession and are thereby able to respond quicker and serve customers’ needs better by preferring to have better books range over larger stock of out of date books (â€Å"Boutique booksellers†, 2009). Therefore, the independency of a new shop would put the company in a better position in regards to timely reacting to industry changes and thereby avoiding unnecessary losses usually resulted from poor decisions made. 2. 3. 2 Closeness to Publishers and Customers Independent governance makes a proposed new book store closer to local publishers and customers. The New Zealand Book Publishers Association consisting of 95 local publishers is not satisfied with the current â€Å"super market† store running model used by the chains[15]. The main disadvantages are: the decreased books range printed as bulk purchases are made at cost of the books diversity[16], the chains often abuse their bargaining power with publishers[17] and the central display system with ineffective books categorisation[18] (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). As such, the New Zealand publishers are naturally more inclined to work with small independent stores who will have less bargaining power but more flexibility of buying and distributing books. On the other side of the value chain, a new store would have an opportunity to capitalise on the chains’ clumsiness and lack of personal touch when dealing with customers. The main lesson learnt from chains’ struggle in the current recession is that customer satisfaction and loyalty could on its own determine the book retailer’s commercial future. Independent stores, in turn, have put a particular emphasis in implementing effective customer loyalty programs and achieving loyal customer base. Therefore, despite the high market competition, there is a good opportunity for a new book store to win the book chains’ customers by offering better books range, more professional service and personal approach. 3. Conclusion Taking into account the above analysis, the opening of a new independent book store can be classified as a â€Å"Question† according to the BCG strategic tool (Samson & Daft, 2005). On the one hand, the independence, local governance, good relationships with publishers and closeness to customers could enable a  new book store to become a successful venture, thereby shifting to the â€Å"Star† BCG section distinguished by quick growth and expansion. On the other hand, if the new venture has not managed to establish a strong market presence by providing sufficient funding, professional staff and developing effective strategic relationships with publishers, entering the current highly competitive book retail market could result in a commercial failure. The book retail market can be classified as very mature and highly competitive. As such, it would be quite challenging for a new independent book store with limited resources, on the one hand, and the low bargaining power with the publishers, on the other hand, to compete with the book retail chains as well as with a number of other well established independent bookshops and online booksellers in the Auckland region. In the meantime, the fact that a new book store is going to be independent and locally run provides a competitive advantage of knowing its publishers and customers better and, thereby reacting to industry changes quicker and more effectively. The final success of the new proposed book store would be mostly dependent on its ability to cope with high market competitiveness and mitigating its weaknesses on the one hand and capitalising on its strengths and opportunities currently present in the book industry. References Needle, D. (2000). Business in context: An introduction to business and its environment (3ed. ). London: Thomson Learning. Samson, D and Daft, R. (2005). Management, 2nd Pacific rim edition. Australia: Thomson Learning. Big boys’ books. (2009, January 1), The Press, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co.nz/the-press/lifestyle/150420/Big-boys-books#share Booksellers ready to write new chapter. (2008, July 14), The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. nzherald. co. nz/business/news/article. cfm? c_id=3&objectid=10521367 Boutique booksellers boom. (2009, August 13), The Dominion Post, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co. nz/dominion-post/wellington/2743304/ Dymocks’ official website. www. dymocks. co. nz. How the book trade is turning a page. (2009, June 13), The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. nzherald. co. nz. ezproxy. auckland. ac. nz/business/news/article. cfm?cid=3&objectid=10578175&pnum=2 New look for ‘friendly’ book chain. (2008, June 21), The Dominion Post, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co. nz/business/497996 Whitcoulls’ Borders bid cleared. (2009, January 1), NZPA, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co. nz/business/130168 Whitcoulls finally picks up NZ Borders stores. (2007, June 07). The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. nzherald. co. nz/business/news/article. cfm? c_id=3&objectid=10514932 Whitcoulls, Paper Plus proceeding by the book in Borders’ buy-out. (2007, November 22), The New Zealand Herald, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www.nzherald. co. nz/shopping/news/article. cfm? c_id=318&objectid=10477609 Whitcoulls widens its Borders in $137m deal. (2008, July 7), The Dominion Post, Retrieved August 15, 2009 from www. stuff. co. nz/business/477324 ———————– [1] According to industry experts books margins vary from 40% to 50% out of total price (â€Å"Whitcoulls, Paper Plus proceeding†, 2007). [2]The group A&R Whitcoulls group acquired 30 Borders stores as well as exclusive rights to the Borders trademark in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore worth $NZD137 million (â€Å"Whitcoulls finally picks†, 2007). The New Zealand Borders operation acquired included five stores: three in Auckland and one in each Christchurch and Wellington (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [3] The recent achievement of Paper Plus is being recognised as the top seller of greeting cards (â€Å"New look†, 2008). [4] Historically only six out of 105 Paper Plus stores were positioned as serious booksellers (â€Å"New look†, 2008). [5] The company’s growth strategy is supported by the strong financial position improved from the loss of $401,000 in 2007 to profit of $748,000 in 2008 (â€Å"New look†, 2008). [6] Paper Plus has purchased a new 500 square metre store in Auckland’s Sylvia Park to be used for training the franchisees how to implement an effective store layout and design to boost books sales (â€Å"New look†, 2008). [7] Whitcoulls admitted in the past that their loss of market share was directly caused by Paper Plus increasing its advertising spending (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [8] The Auckland Smales Farm franchise store and the company-owned Queen Street store went into liquidation in May and June 2009 and Wellington Lambton Quay shop closed in May 2009 (â€Å"How the book trade†, 20). [9] The most popular independent book stores include Unity Books (Auckland and Wellington), Scorpio (Christchurch) in Christchurch, Vic Books (Wellington), Dear Reader (Auckland), The Booklover (Auckland) and of Cambridge’s Wrights Bookshop (Auckland) (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [10] According to the owners of ‘The Children’s Bookshop’, a book shop in Kilbirnie, last year the store has experienced a 12% increase in revenue mainly driven by the parents preferring books for gift for their children (â€Å"Boutique booksellers†, 2009). [11] Tom Beran owning independent stores in Grey Lynn (Dear Reader) and Takapuna (The Booklover) (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). [12] For example, the New Zealand online seller www. fishpond. co. nz starting in 2004 expanded to Australia in 2006 and in 2007 was recognised in the Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50 list noting the fastest-growing companies (â€Å"How the book trade†, 2009). [13] According to Dymocks CEO, Don Grover the New Zealand bookselling market is already over-supplied (â€Å"Booksellers ready†, 2008). [14] Among the book retail chains occupying 90% of the market only Paper Plus is locally supported, whereas Whitcoulls and Dymocks are both owned and governed by Australian companies (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [15] That was evidently expressed in the open opposition from the Book Publishers Association of Whitcoulls’ bid to purchase Borders’ stores as they know that it will result in a decrease of the books range bought by the chain (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [16] For example, a book offered by a small publisher could be of a particular interest to smaller towns’ readers. However, a local chain store is unable to make a purchasing decision instead having to sell the books decided in the support office across the Tasman (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [17] For example, Whitcoulls is viewed by the industry as a tough negotiator with inflexible buying policies demanding from publishers at least 50% discount (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009). [18] Compared to chain stores that cannot add or change the central display system, the independent stores have much more flexibility in deciding how their stock should be grouped and displayed on the floor (â€Å"Big boys’ books†, 2009).

Intermediate 1 Research Paper

Intermediate Accounting 1 (3367) — Fall 2012 Research Assignment Questions Directions: Type your answer starting on the line after each question. 1. FASB Accounting Standards Codification FASC a. When did the FASC Codification become effective? The FASC became effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009 even though the authoritative version of the Codification was released on July 1, 2009. b. Did the FASC change prior GAAP? The FASC did not change prior GAAP but it instead reorganized previous GAAP into a new structure. This new structure is organized into a new research database that is supposed to be user friendly and make finding certain GAAP easier to use.c. What does the FASB expect from the new FASC structure and system? The FASB has high expectations from the new FASC system including reducing the amount of time and effort that is used to solve an accounting research issue. The FASC also expects the Codification to mitigate the risk of noncompliance through easier usability of accounting literature. The Codification is also expected to provide accurate information through real time updates whenever Accounting Standards Updates are released and to assist the FASC with all of the research and convergence efforts.d. What are the â€Å"topics† used in the ASC? There are six major topics that are used in the ASC. The first one is The General Principles Area wh ich includes broad conceptual matters. The next one is The Presentation Area which shows information is presented in the financial statements.The Assets, Liabilities, and Equity Areas have guidance on all of the balance sheet accounts while the Revenue and Expense Areas have guidance on all of the income statement accounts. The next topic that is used in the ASC is The Broad Transactions Area which deals with some financial statement accounts and is generally transaction based. The final topic used in the ASC is The Industry Area which contains guidance on how to account for specific industries or activities.e. Are SEC references included in the ASC? There are SEC references included in the ASC which are used to increase the utility of the Codification for public companies. The referenced materials include: Regulation S-X, Financial Reporting Releases, Interpretative Releases, and some SEC staff guidance.2. Transfer of Receivables FASC 860-10(a) Identify relevant Codification sectio n that addresses transfers of receivables. The main relevant Codification section that addresses the transfer of receivables is FASC 860-10-55. While there is information in other sections, most of it is found within section 55.b) What are the objectives for reporting transfers of receivables? The main objective for the reporting transfers of receivables is to provide users with an understanding of a transferor’s continuing involvement with any transferred financial assets. It is also to provide any restrictions on assets reported in the financial statements and also to show how a transfer of financial assets affects a business’s financial position, financial performance and cash flows.(c) Provide definitions for the following: 1. Transfer.A transfer is the conveyance of a noncash financial asset by and to someone who is not the issuer of that financial asset. 2. Recourse. Recourse is the right of the transferee of receivables to receive payment from the transferor of those receivables for: Failure of debtors to pay when due, the effects form prepayments, or adjustments resulting from defects in the eligibility of the transferred receivables. 3. Collateral. Collateral is any personal or real property in which a security interest has been given.(d) Provide other examples (besides recourse and collateral) hat qualify as continuing involvement. Several examples of continuing involvement that are provided by the ASC include: Servicing arrangements, agreements to purchase or redeem transferred financial assets, arrangements to provide financial support and the transferor’s beneficial interests in the transferred financial asset.3. Inventories FASC 330-10(a) Identify the primary authoritative guidance for the accounting for inventories. The primary authoritative guidance for the accounting of inventories is FASB Accounting Standards Codification topic 330.b) List three types of goods that are classified as inventory. What characteristic will aut omatically exclude an item from being classified as inventory? The three types of goods that are classified as inventory are goods awaiting sale (finished goods), goods in the course of production (work-in-process), and goods to be consumed directly or indirectly in production (raw materials). The definition of inventory does not include any long term assets that are subject to depreciation accounting. Therefore if an asset is depreciable, it is not included as inventory.c) Define â€Å"market† as used in the phrase â€Å"lower-of-cost-or-market. † The word market in the phrase â€Å"lower-of-cost-or-market† means the replacement cost of your inventory. It is the cost that it would take to buy the same inventory new.4. Asset Impairments FASC 360-10 / 820-10(a) What is the authoritative guidance for asset impairments? Briefly discuss the scope of the standard (i. e. , explain the types of transactions to which the standard applies).(b) Give several examples of ev ents that would cause an asset to be tested for impairment.(c) What is the best evidence of fair value?d) Does it appear that ABC should perform an impairment test? Explain.5. Notes Payable FASC 835-30(a) Identify the authoritative literature that provides guidance on the zero-interest-bearing note. Use some of the examples to explain how the standard applies in this setting.(b) How is present value determined when an established exchange price is not determinable and a note has no ready market? What is the resulting interest rate often called?(c) Where should a discount or premium appear in the financial statements? What about issue costs?