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¶ … College Education Benefits Law Enforcement Officers

Even though Bureaucracy gives an impression of governmental departments like taxation, and welfare, it is actually found in almost every public spheres. Corporations, churches, the military, labor and trade unions,…

Rene Descartes, in his writings, revealed that he had accepted some false beliefs during his life (Harvard College, 2002). These false beliefs influenced many other beliefs he had. Thus, he aimed to sort through his…

There are several significant advantages of using qualitative measurements in marketing research. The most significant is the ability to capture the voice of customers that may have evaded the more structured, numerically-based approaches that force respondents to provide a specific set of answers. Qualitative research can also lead to entirely new insights into a new market or service that has not been seen in the past, given the open-ended questions inherent in this approach to research. Qualitative research techniques also can be used to capture the shared knowledge of experts as well, as the Delphi Technique is so well-known and used for. Capturing the tacit expertise and knowledge of a specific group of thought leaders can also be accomplished using qualitative techniques as well. Additional advantages of qualitative measurements include the ability to complete greater exploratory or primary research into a specific subject, often following a specific line of questions as they develop within an interview. An additional advantage of qualitative research techniques are the ability to understand how prospects and customers make trade-offs on substitute products and services. While price elasticity studies are often highly quantitative in scope, the use of interactive discussions of pricing trade-offs can be highly effective in determining just how much a prospect is willing to sacrifice price for a given feature or benefit. The total value of a brand can also be ascertained through the use of these types of qualitative techniques, providing respondents with the ability to define in their own terms the value of the experience a brand delivers. The many advantages of qualitative research are predicated on having more interactive sessions with respondents, including the ability to ascertain how they make trade-offs over time on value versus price. For the many advantages of qualitative measurements, there are several disadvantages as well. First, the results of any study predicated on this approach cannot be analyzed at the higher levels of statistical analysis. As the results of studies and research completed with qualitative measurements are by nature not nominal, ordinal or interval in terms of data orthogonality, they cannot be used to represent an entire customer or segment population. At best they can be used as a means to capture nominally-based data that can lead to only a rough approximation of an overall market size or series of market dynamics. Qualitative data can only be as useful as the means used to capture it as well; if a methodology is very informal and focused on a series of loosely-guided objectives, the overall data will of mediocre quality at best. When the goals and objectives of a research study, in addition to the sampling frame and methodology lack rigor or precise focus, the resulting research can also lack precision and meaning. It is more difficult to create greater levels of meaning and transferability of data when the methodologies are highly qualitative in scope; the data is only relevant for a specific series of objectives and often is defined by applicability to a given point in time as well. Qualitative data is often also open to interpretation, as the methodology can be debated in terms of its relative appropriateness, robustness and value over the long-term. Finally, qualitative data cannot be taken entirely on its own; it must be combined with a series of other research sources to ensure relevancy and accuracy of interpretation, especially over time. In conclusion, qualitative data needs to be taken in context and often balanced with quantitative data to ensure a 360-degree view of a given situation or strategy of interest has the greater level of insights gained from research efforts.

Herman Melville's story "Bartleby the Scrivener" is an alternately comedic and tragic look at the relationship between an employer and his employee, and examining how this relationship plays out reveals the complexities…

Though Umberto Giordano's work has often been overshadowed by that of his rather more famous contemporary Giacomo Puccini, Giordano's Andrea Chenier offers the ideal site for one to engage in a critical examination of…

The audit studied the way that productivity management is handled at InforMed, and evaluated some of the base systems that aid in making productivity improvements. On the whole, InforMed has many of the tools at the…

For a government employee receiving a proposal from a contractor, evaluation of possible successful means of contracting is essential. This is because the employee is accountable to many individuals and the government as a whole. There are requirements for manageable and beneficial contracts such as the price details, time and materials. With the two categories of contracts, fixed-price and cost-reimbursement, contractors are able to assess their performance to ensure all parties involved carry out responsibilities efficiently. While evaluation of performance ensures responsibility from all parties, it also helps set the right objectives for contractors and the government.

As the world's first Earth-orbiting reflecting telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) represents the culmination of the dreams of many astronomers and the fulfillment of a hope that began in the 1950's when the…

The invasion of Iraq by the United States prompted a debate about the type of force that was used without having explicit approval from the United Nations. Whether this show of force was truly legal and legitimate…