The role of the nurse in health promotion The WritePass Journal

The role of the nurse in health promotion Introduction The role of the nurse in health promotion IntroductionReference ListRelated Introduction This assignment proposes to discuss the role of the nurse in health promotion.   To facilitate the discussion in the delivery of primary, secondary and tertiary levels of health promotion, the health risk of tobacco smoking in relation to Lung Cancer has been chosen.   National policies will be explored in relation to smoking and how these influence the delivery of health promotion by the nurse.   The barriers to health promotion will be identified along with ways in which these may be overcome. The intention of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to achieve â€Å"Health for All† by the year 2000 was published in their Ottawa Charter, the outcome of which was to build healthy public policy, create supportive environments, strengthen communities, develop personal skills and reorient health services.   They identified key factors which can hinder or be conducive to health; political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, behavioural, and biological (WHO 1986). The current health agenda for the UK aims to improve the health of the population and reduce inequalities with particular emphasis on prevention and targeting the number of people who smoke (DH 2010). Inequalities in health have been extensively researched and although attempts have been made to overcome these, there is evidence to support that the divide between the rich and the poor still exists in society.   Marmot (2010) highlighted the lower social classes had the poorest health and identified social factors such as low income and deprivation as the root causes which affect health and well being.  Ã‚   Increased smoking levels were found to be more prevalent in this cohort.   Bilton et al (2002) suggests the environment an individual lives in can have an adverse effect on health in that it can influence patterns of behaviour.   For example, families living in poor housing conditions, in poverty or in an environment away from a social support network can suffer psychological stress; which in turn can prompt coping behaviours such as tobacco smoking (Blackburn 1991, Denny Earle 2005). Smoking is a modifiable risk factor to chronic disease such as Cancer of the Lung, with 90% of these cases being the result of smoking (Cancer Research UK 2009) it  Ã‚   is the single biggest preventable cause of premature death and illness and is more detrimental to the poorer in society.   Responsible for 80,000 lives per year, the huge financial burden on the NHS to treat illness associated with smoking is estimated at  £2.7 billion each year (DH 2010).   This illustrates the huge opportunity for public health to address the wider issues associated with inequalities and to target people who smoke.   Various White papers have demonstrated the Government’s commitment in reducing smoking figures and preventing uptake, both at individual and population levels, through health promotion activity, empowering individuals and enabling them to make healthier lifestyle choices (DH 2004, DH 2006, DH 2010). Health promotion is a complex activity and is difficult to define.   Davies and Macdowall (2006) describe health promotion as â€Å"any strategy or intervention that is designed to improve the health of individuals and its population†.  Ã‚   However perhaps one of the most recognised definitions is that of the World Health Organisation’s who describes health promotion as â€Å"a process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health (WHO 1986). If we look at this in relation to the nurse’s role in smoking cessation and giving advice to a patient, this can be seen as a positive concept in that with the availability of information together with support, the patient is then able to make an informed decision, thus creating empowerment and an element of self control.   Bright (1997) supports this notion suggesting that empowerment is created when accurate information and knowledgeable advice is given, thus aiding the development of personal skills and self esteem. A vital component of health promotion is health education which aims to change behaviour by providing people with the knowledge and skills they require to make healthier decisions and enable them to fulfil their potential.  Ã‚   Healthy Lives Healthy People (2010) highlight the vital role nurses play in the delivery of health promotion with particular attention on prevention at primary and secondary levels.  Ã‚   Nurses have a wealth of skills and knowledge and use this knowledge to empower people to make lifestyle changes and choices.   This encourages people to take charge of their own health and to increase feelings of personal autonomy (Christensen 2006).  Ã‚   Smoking is one of the biggest threats to public health, therefore nurses are in a prime position to help people to quit by offering encouragement, provide information and refer to smoking cessation services. There are various approaches to health promotion, each approach has a different aim but all share the same desired goal, to promote good health and prevent or avoid ill health (Peate 2006).   The medical approach contains three levels of prevention as highlighted by Naidoo and Wills (2000), primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Primary health promotion aims to reduce the exposure to the causes and risk factors of illness in order to prevent the onset of disease (Tones Green 2004).   In this respect it is the abstinence of smoking and preventing the uptake through health education and preventative measures.   One such model of prevention is that of Tannahill’s (1990) which consists of three overlapping circles; health education for example a nurse may be involved in the distribution of leaflets educating individuals or a wider community regarding health risks of smoking, prevention, aimed at reducing the exposure to children, for example, in 2007 the legal age for tobacco sales increased from age 16 to 18 years in an attempt to reduce the availability to young people and prevent them from starting to smoke (DH 2008),   health protection such as lobbying for a ban on smoking in public places. If we look at this in relation to the role of the school nurse, this is a positive step when implementing school policies such as no smoking on school premises for staff and visitors, as this legislation supports the nurse’s role when providing information regarding the legal aspects of smoking.  Ã‚   Research demonstrates that interventions are most effective when combined with strategies such as mass media and government legislation (Edwards 2010).  Ã‚   Having an awareness of such campaigns and legislation is essential to aid best practice and the nurse must ensure that knowledge and skills are regularly updated, a standard set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC 2008). Croghan Voogd (2009) identify the school nurse’s role as essential in the health and well-being of children in preventing smoking.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Many people begin to smoke as children, the earlier smoking is initiated, the harder the habit is to break (ASH) and this unhealthy behaviour can advance into adulthood.  Ã‚   Current statistics illustrate that in 2009 6% of children aged 11-15 years were regular smokers (Office for National Statistics 2009).   These figures demonstrate the importance of prevention and intervention at an early stage as identified by the National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity Services (DH 2004).   Smith (2009) highlights the school nurse as being in an advantageous position to address issues such as smoking and suggests that by empowering children by providing support and advice, this will enable them to adopt healthy lifestyles. NICE (2010) suggest school based interventions to prevent children smoking aimed at improving self esteem and resisting peer pressure, with information on the legal, economic and social aspects of smoking and the harmful effects to health.  Ã‚   Walker et al (2006) argue self esteem is determined by childhood experiences and people with a low self esteem are more likely to conform to behaviours of other people.  Ã‚   This can be a potential barrier in the successful delivery of health promotion at this level, with young children exposed to pressure to conform; they are more likely to take up unhealthy behaviours such as smoking (Parrott 2004).  Ã‚   The nurse can overcome this by working in partnership with teachers and other staff members to promote self-esteem by ensuring an environment conducive to learning, free from disruptive behaviour which promotes autonomy, motivation, problem solving skills and encourages self-worth (NICE 2009). Despite the well known health risks to tobacco smoking, unfortunately 1 in 5 individuals continue to smoke (DH 2010).   Whitehead (2001) cited in Davies (2006) argues the nurse must recognise and understand health related behaviour in order to promote health.   Therefore, when delivering health promotion the nurse needs to be aware of all the factors which can affect health, some of which can be beyond individual control.   Smoking cessation is one of the most important steps a person can make to improve their health and increase life expectancy, as smokers live on average 8 years less than non smokers (Roddy Ross 2007). Secondary prevention intends to shorten episodes of illness and prevent the progression of ill health through early diagnosis and treatment (Naidoo Wills 2000).   This can be directed towards the role of the practice nurse in a Primary Care setting, where patients attend for treatment and advice that have symptoms of illness or disease as a result of smoking, such as Bronchitis.   Nice guidelines (2006) recommend that all individuals who come into contact with health professionals should be advised to cease smoking, unless there are exceptional circumstances where this would not be appropriate, and for those who do not wish to stop, smoking status should be recorded and reviewed once a year.   It is therefore essential the nurse maintains accurate and up to date record keeping. Smoking cessation advice can be tailored to the specific individual and therefore it is important that the nurse has the knowledge and counselling skills for this to be effective.   The process of any nursing intervention is ultimately assessment, planning, implementing and evaluating (Yura Walsh 1978), this applies to all nurses in any given situation including health promotion.   One such method of smoking cessation which can be used as an assessment tool is known as the 5 ‘A’s approach, ‘ask, assess, advise, assist, arrange’ (Britton 2004).   â€Å"Ask† about tobacco use, for example how many cigarettes are smoked each day, and â€Å"assess† willingness and motivation to quit, taking a detailed history to assess addiction.  Ã‚   Objective data can be obtained using a Smokerlyser which measures Carbon Monoxide levels in expired air (Wells Lusignan 2003).   These simple devices can be used as a motivational tool to encourage cessat ion and abstinence.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Castledine (2007) suggests the principle of a good health promoter is to motivate people to enable them to make healthier choices; this is made possible by the ability to engage with individuals at all levels.   Individuals who are not motivated are unlikely to succeed (Naidoo Wills 2000).  Ã‚   â€Å"Advise† patients to stop smoking and reinforce the health benefits to quitting, â€Å"assist† the patient to stop, setting a quit date and discussing ways in which nicotine withdrawal can be overcome.   Being unable to cope with the physical symptoms of withdrawal can cause relapse and be a barrier to success, therefore it is essential the nurse possesses a good knowledge base of the products available to assist in reducing these symptoms if she is to persuade people to comply with treatment, such as the use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).  Ã‚  Ã‚   NRT is useful in assisting people to stop smoking and has proved, in some in stances to double the success rate (Upton Thirlaway 2010).   NRT products are continually changed and updated; therefore the nurse must ensure she has the knowledge and skills to identify which products are available, the suitability, how it works and any potential side effects.   Identifying triggers and developing coping strategies is useful for maintenance of a new behaviour, measures such as substituting cigarettes for chewing gum and changing habits and routines are just some of the ways in which self control can be achieved (Ewles Simnett 1999).   Finally â€Å"arrange† a follow up, providing continual support and engagement. For patients who do not wish to stop smoking, advice should be given with encouragement to seek early medical treatment on detection of any signs and symptoms of disease.   Good communication skills are essential to the therapeutic relationship between the nurse and a patient and these must be used effectively by providing clear, accurate and up to date information.   The nurse should be an active listener and encourage the patient to talk, using open-ended questions helps demonstrate a willingness to listen, listening and showing concern for a patient’s condition demonstrates respect (Peate 2006).   The use of medical jargon and unfamiliar words can be a barrier to communication and should be avoided as these can affect a patients understanding.   Leaflets can reinforce information provided by the nurse and increase patient knowledge, however the nurse must ensure these are in a format and language the patient can understand.   Lack of literacy skills can prevent a patient reading and understanding the content of a leaflet, the nurse can assist with this by reading and explaining to them. To assist in the assessment process the nurse may utilise a model of behaviour such as Prochaska DiClemente’s stages of change model (1984).   This works on the assumption that individuals go through a number of stages in order to change behaviour, from pre -contemplation where a person has not considered a behaviour change, to maintenance, when a healthier lifestyle has been adopted by the new behaviour.  Ã‚   The stage a person is at will determine the intervention given by the nurse; therefore it is essential that an effective assessment takes place.   Walsh (2002) highlights patient motivation as central to success using this model, in that a patient will have more motivation; the more involved they are in planning the change. Despite the health promoting activities mentioned and the increasing public awareness of the health risks to smoking, there are people who continue to smoke and some further develop illness as a consequence.   Lung cancer has one of the lowest survival rates, and as little as 7% of men and 9% of women in England and Wales will live five years after diagnosis (Cancer Research UK 2011).   Acknowledging this, the governments â€Å"Cancer Plan† aimed to tackle and reform cancer care in England by raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer by investing in staff and extending the nurses role (DH 2000).   This involves further training and education for nurses to develop their skills and knowledge to enable them to provide the treatment and/or advice required.   This was succeeded by â€Å"Improving outcomes: a strategy for cancer† the aim being to enable patients living with cancer a â€Å"healthy life as possible†.  Ã‚   The government pledged  £10.75 million into advertising a â€Å"signs and symptoms† campaign to raise awareness of the three cancers accounting for the most deaths, breast, bowel and lung, to encourage the public to seek early help on detection of any symptoms (DH 2011).   Currently no results are available on the effectiveness of this intervention due to its recent publication, however, one national policy that has had a positive effect on the health of individuals and the population is that of the â€Å"smoke-free England† policy implemented in 2007 prohibiting smoking in workplaces and enclosed public places.   Primarily this policy was enforced to protect the public from second hand smoke; however, on introduction of the law smoking cessation services saw an increase in demand by 20%, as smokers felt the environment was conducive to them being able to quit (DH 2008).   This policy also extended to hospital grounds, and the nurse must ensure a patient who smokes is aware of this on a dmission and use every opportunity possible to promote health. Tertiary prevention aims to halt the progression, or reduce the complications, of established disease by effective treatment or rehabilitation (Tones Green 2004).   A diagnosis of cancer can cause great distress and a patient may go through a whole host of emotions.   Naidoo and Wills (2000) suggest the aim of tertiary prevention is to reduce suffering and concerns helping people to cope with their illness.  Ã‚   The community nurses role has been identified as pivotal in providing support for patients and families living with cancer (DH 2000).   The World Health Organisation describe Palliative care as treatment to relieve, rather than cure, the symptoms caused by cancer,   and suggest palliative care can provide relief from physical, psychosocial and spiritual problems in over 90% of cancer patients (WHO 2011). Assessment and the provision of health education and information at this stage remains the same as that in secondary prevention, and it is not uncommon for the two to overlap.   Providing advice and education on symptom control may alleviate some of the symptoms the patient experiences,   for example breathlessness is a symptom of lung cancer (Lakasing Tester 2006), and relaxation techniques may reduce this (Cancer Research UK 2011), therefore the nurse may be involved in teaching these techniques to the patient and family members.   Continual smoking despite a lung cancer diagnosis can exacerbate shortness of breath and reduce survival rate (Roddy Ross 2007), therefore the nurse can use this opportunity to reinforce the risks of smoking.   However, the nurse must use her judgement effectively and be sensitive to the patient’s condition, as the willingness to learn and respond to teaching can be affected by emotional state (Walsh 2002).   Establishing effective pai n control is essential in the care of a cancer patient and this may involve discussion with the patients GP if medication needs adjusting.   A referral to specialist help lines such as those provided by Macmillan cancer support may be useful in assisting a patient and/or family to cope with cancer, these services can be accessed in person or by telephone.   These are just two examples of collaborative working and demonstrate the importance of inter-professional working. In conclusion, with the emphasis of health promotion concerning prevention of illness and disease, the role of the nurse is essential in raising awareness and providing education and advice to individuals to facilitate behaviour change. The complexities of health promotion indicate the extensive competences a nurse must possess to empower and motivate individuals.   However, governments also have a responsibility to promote and protect health and are pivotal in introducing national policy to build â€Å"healthy publics† and environments conducive to health. Reference List Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) no date (online) available at: ash.org.uk/pathfinder/young-people-and-tobacco.   Date accessed 9.2.11, 09.00am Bilton, T. Blackburn, C. (1991) Poverty and health: working with families. Bucks, Open University Press Bright, J. (1997) Health promotion in clinical practice: Targeting the health of the nation.   London, Bailliere Tindall Britton, J. (2004)   ABC of smoking cessation. Oxford, Blackwell publishing Cancer Research UK (2009) (online) available at: info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/smokingandtobacco/howdoweknow.   Date accessed 9.2.11, 10.20am Cancer Research UK (2011) (online) available at: cancerhelp.org.uk/type/lung-cancer/living/coping-with-breathlessness.   Date accessed 9.2.11, 10.30am Castledine, G. (2007) Don’t use the term ‘health promotion’ to promote health.   British Journal of Nursing. . Vol 16, issue 6, pp 375 Christensen, M. Hewitt-Taylor, J. (2006) Empowerment in nursing: Paternalism or maternalism. British Journal of Nursing, Vol 15, issue 13, pp 695-699 Croghan, E. Voogd, C. (2009) Time to employ more school nurses. British Journal of School Nurses, Vol 4, no 9, pp 421 Davies, M. Macdowall, W. (2006) Health Promotion Theory, Understanding Public Health.   London, Open University Press Denny, E. Earle, S. (2005) Sociology for Nurses.   Cambridge, Polity press, Department of Health (2000) The NHS Cancer Plan: a plan for investment, a plan for reform.   London, The Stationary office Department of Health (2004) Choosing Health: Making healthy choices easier.   London, The Stationary Office Department of Health (2004) National Service Framework for children, young people and maternity services, London, The Stationary Office Department of Health (2006) Our Health, Our Care, Our Community: Investing in the future of community hospitals and services.   London, The stationary Office Department of Health (2008) Smoke-free England – One year on.   London, The Stationary Office Department of Health (2008) Consultation on the future of tobacco control.   London, The Stationary Office Department of Health (2010) Healthy Lives Healthy People.   London, The Stationary Office Department of Health (2011) Improving Outcomes: a strategy for cancer.   London, The Stationary Office Edwards, S. (2010) Smoking part 2: Preventing uptake among young people.   British Journal of School Nursing, vol 5 no 8, pp 384-387 Ewles, L. Simnett, I. (1999) Promoting Health A practical Guide. 4th edition, London, Bailliere Tindall Lakasing, E. Tester, M. (2006) How to manage Lung Cancer in primary Care.   Practice Nursing 2006, vol 17, no 1, pp 35-39 Marmot, M. (2010) Fair Society, Healthy Lives. (online) available at: marmotreview.org/assetlibrary/pdfs/reports/fairsociety/healthylives.pdf.   Date accessed 9.2.11, 11.00am Naidoo, J. Wills, J. (2000) Health Promotion: Foundations for Nursing practice, London, Bailliere Tindall National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2006) Brief interventions and referral for smoking cessation in primary care and other settings. (online) available at: nice.org/nicemedia/live/11375/31864/31864-pdf.   Date accessed 9.2.11, 09.20am National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2009) Social and emotional wellbeing in secondary education: guidance 20. (online) available at: nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/11991/45484/45484/pdf.   Date accessed 3.3.11, 09.00am National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2010) School-based interventions to prevent the uptake of smoking among children and young people, guidance 23.    (online)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   available   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   at: nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12827/47582.pdf.   Date accessed 14.2.11, 11.30am Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2008) The code:standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives, (online) available at: nmc-uk.org/nurses-and-midwives/the-code/the-code-in-full.   Date accessed 9.2.11, 10.30am Office For National Statistics (ONS) (2009) Statistics on Smoking: England 2010. (online) available   Ã‚   at: ic.nhsuk/webfiles/publications/health%20and%20lifestyles/statistics-on-smoking-2010.pdf.   Date accessed 9.2.11, 13.20 Parrott, A. (2004) Understanding drugs and behaviour. Chichester, Wiley (online). Available at: netlibrary.com/Reader/.   Date accessed 25.5.11, 10.20am Peate, I. (2006) Becoming a nurse in the 21st Century, London, Wiley Publishing Prochaska, J O. DiClemente, C C (1984) The transtheoretical approach: crossing traditional boundaries of therapy. Dow Jones-Irwin, Homewood Roddy, E. Ross D. (2007) British Thoracic Society core competencies – Health professionals and tobacco. (online) available at: brit-thoracic.org.uk/clinical-information/smoking-smoking-cessation/smoking-education.aspx.   Date accessed 22.5.11, 20.30 Smith, F. (2009) School nursing in the UK: where are we now. British journal of School Nursing, vol 4, no 7, pp 351-352 Tannahill Tones, K. Green, J. (2004) Health Promotion planning and strategies.   London, Sage Upton, D. Thirlaway, K. (2010) Promoting Healthy Behaviour.   A practical guide for nursing and healthcare professionals. Essex, Pearson Education Ltd Walker, J. Payne, S. Smith, P. Jarrett, N. (2005) Psychology for nurses and the caring professions, 2nd edition, London, Open University Press Walsh, M. (2002) Watson’s Clinical Nursing and Related Sciences, 6th edition.   London, Bailliere Tindall Wells, S. De Lusignan, S. (2003) Does screening for loss of lung function help smokers give up?   British Journal of Nursing, vol 12, no 12, pp 744-750 Whitehead, D. As cited in Davies, K. (2006).   What is effective intervention? – using theories of health promotion.   British Journal of nursing, vol15, no 5, pp 252-256 World Health Organisation (WHO) (1986) Ottawa Charter. (online) available at: who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/ottawa-charter-hp.pdf.   Date accessed 11.12.10, 15.20 World Health Organisation (WHO) (2011) Cancer fact sheet No 297 (online) available at: who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/.   Date accessed 9.5.11, 10.30 Yura, D. Walsh, MB. (1978) Human needs and the nursing process. New York,   Appleton Century Crofts

Write an Executive Summary that is well written and has a clear idea Research Paper

Write an Executive Summary that is well written and has a clear idea of 's organization and structure - Research Paper Example AJLM Manufacturing Inc. has announced its plans to improve its welding capabilities and improve the processes in the facilities within the company. AJLM Manufacturing Inc. is the small provider of metal welding and fabrication in the region, the company is now making it public its strategy to expand and improve welding services it is providing to its customers in different industries (AJL Manufacturing, Inc., 2015). The company’s vision is to be the company that provides precise welding capabilities to its customers in the best way they can. The company has a very good background with regard to welding services and in light of its move to expand and digitize it operations AJLM Manufacturing Inc. is confident that it has the ability to provide the best quality service required for application in diverse industries ranging from commercial to automotive industries. The company is planning to upgrade its welding equipment (AJL Manufacturing, Inc., 2015). The expansion will also include upgrading current spray arc, stainless steel and aluminum welding as well as silver soldering systems. With digitization and expansion the company will be in a better position than before to provide the essential welding service. There are different welding systems used by the company and with the company have continued to offer its customers quality source of welding services in the region and now moving across to other county. With this the company is alive to the fact that it is very important not only to be equipped with a lot of welding capabilities but also to upgrade them as well (AJL Manufacturing, Inc., 2015). When it comes to welding the company adopts different technique and uses different tools they have acquired and the ones they have kept and maintained over time. The current project at hand is to digitize and expand, and the companies technicians will be trained to acquaint

Math Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 14

Math - Speech or Presentation Example recommended’ puts the public under the impression that the moisturizing lotion must have undergone extensive tests and use by a collective group of skin specialists when no actual number of professionals is stated. On the assumption that people are generally aware that dermatologists constitute a credible skincare authority, the ad necessitates no more of essential statistical details to support the claim. ‘Dermatologist’ is taken to mean a group, especially an adequate number of skincare experts though the ad does not specify whether it is singular or plural so that a critical consumer may ask ‘what if only one dermatologist had the opportunity to test the lotion?’ or if there were several others, ‘why are such facts excluded where at least mentioning a ratio x number out of y number will do?’. So then it appears as if the insufficient information is intended for a strategic marketing to catch the public’s interest toward buying t he product immediately. Explanation: Apparently, the use of double negatives in this case makes the question itself biased in a way that it directs the public to understand that tutoring services are not only meant for students who fail in class. This could result to a range of interpretations where some may readily be swayed to consider that it is important for being an ‘extra’ rather than a ‘mandatory’ task so that because of this loose sense of obligation, people take chances of closing agreement to that option. On another occasion, the query may not be a good measure of obtaining reliable survey outcomes since its statement is more imperative than interrogative, as in demanding to be understood in the light of its implied position. Furthermore, instead of taking one’s original stand on the matter, the person might be misled to an ambiguous thought about ‘extra tutoring’ where it is possible to think that students who pass may need tutoring for an additional activity or it is also possible to assume

According to Collis and Hussey Essay Example for Free

According to Collis and Hussey Essay Interviews â€Å"are a method of collecting data in which selected participants are asked questions in order to find out what they do, think or feel†. Saunders et al. (2003) propose the idea that this method is an efficient way of collecting reliable and valid information, because the data gathered comes directly from the source in study, which certainly helps to achieve the research question and objectives of this project. Therefore, choosing interviews was based on its suitability in finding what is happening and seeking new sights when exploring career obstacles for Hong Kong women managers. Interviews are classified based on the degree of flexibility as well as formality and structure that the researcher would like to apply. Therefore, there are three types of interviews, structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews (Kumar, 1999; Saunders et al. , 2000; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). In the structured interview â€Å"the investigator asks a pre-determined set of questions, using the same wording and order of questions as specified in the interview schedule† (Kumar, 1999, p.109); in semi-structured interview, the questions are also prepared beforehand, but in contrast, they offer more flexibility in facilitating the interviewee to modify the questions to investigate new ideas that might come up during the interview; and the unstructured interviews are based on a general topic of interest, but the questions are spontaneously posed to the respondent (Kumar, 1999; Guillham, 2000; Saunders et al. , 2000; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). See more: Foot Binding In China essay It has been suggested that for phenomenological approaches and exploratory researches, a semi-structure interview is the most suitable type since the interviewer can explore in-depth a specific area that might be of interest (Jankowicz, 1999). The interviews carried out for this research were semi-structured. One of the reasons of choosing this type of interview is because they are more conductible and easier to control in order to establish and maintain empathy with respondents, so make the respondents be more comfortable and express their opinions more freely. It also gives the interviewer the opportunity to discover and understand the respondents’ points of view and beliefs about a specific situation (Zikmund, 2000). Saunders et al. (2000) mention that semi-structured are qualitative research interviews and are classified as non-standardized, where questions might vary from one interview to another since it depends on the course that the conversation takes, hence it would required of additional questions. In addition, Healey and Rawlinson (1994 cited Saunders et al., 2000) point out that more than one type can be used within an interview, where one section may ask factual closed questions, such as personal details, and the next sections could explore more qualitative issues. In this case, a combination of styles was adopted within the interviews held. The first section consisted of a set of factual questions in order to find out the interviewee’s work position and background. The following sections were based on qualitative responses where relevant topics were taking under consideration accordingly to the literature review developed in Chapter II as well as aim and objectives of the research. For instance, in the second section, Hong Kong women managers were asked to shed light on their marriage and family aspects; their nature of job, obstacles in their career pathways; and their plans to grow in their organizations in future. Furthermore, the semi-structured interviews allowed a free-flowing discussion, which in turn produced a better understanding of the way of thinking, opinions, and behavior of women manager in relation to their experiences towards working in an environment that supports male managers and the career obstacles they face. 3. 7. 3. Data Quality Issues There are a number of data quality issues to be aware and consider when conducting an interview, otherwise it would put at risk the findings of the investigation. In this case information supplied to the interviewee, confidentiality, listening skills and recording of interviews is going to be considered for this section (Kvale, 1996; Saunders et al. , 2000). 3. 7. 3. 1. Information Supplied to the Interviewee An important issue to promote credibility to the investigation is the supply of relevant information to the participants prior the interviews. In this way, the interviewee considered the information under study and was prepare to discuss their experiences and opinions, which helped to develop the research credibility. This was reached through a letter sent to the participants, which can be seen in Appendix A. It was also mentioned the duration of the interviews, in order to let them organize their time and provide an approximately one hour to one hour and a half to the interview with no interruptions. 3. 7. 3. 2. Confidentiality According to Kvale (1996, p.114) â€Å"confidentiality in research implies that private data identifying the subjects will not be reported†. The author also highlight that the change of names to protect the privacy of the participants is of an important issue, since encourages people to reveal experiences, feelings and facts which enrich the information given by the interviewee, facilitating the development of the research (Kvale, 1996; Guillham, 2000). Hence, it was explained to the interviewee the purpose of the research and the use that it is going to have in order to gain their trust and confidence. 3. 7. 3. 3. Listening Skills For this quality issue, it is important to have attentive listening skills in order to understand the interviewee’s opinions and explanations, especially to identify comments that are relevant to the research and that might imply of develop new ideas and questions in order to keep the conversation going in the same track which is the basic characteristic of a semi-structured interview (Saunders et al. , 2000). In this case, commentaries were kept to a minimum, which allowed the interviewees to answer freely and avoid bias to the questions asked. 3. 7. 3. 4. Recording of Interviews There have been issues in relation to the recording of information gathered from the data collection methods, and the most acceptable one is the tape-recording, which its record has to be immediately after it was taken in order to obtain a reliable data for its analysis. This issue leads to what have been mentioned above in relation to the confidentiality that the researcher gives to the study per se. In addition, authors suggest making notes as well in order to make the most of the interview, that is, not to miss any relevant information that the interviewee provides (Guillham, 2000; Saunders et al. , 2000; Ghauri and Gronhaug, 2002). In this case, interviews were recorded with the permission of the respondents in order to retain as much data for the transcription and facilitate the analysis procedures, which is going to be conveyed into the next chapter. However, according to Saunders et al. (2000) and Ghauri and Gronhaug (2002), there are some disadvantages that tape-recording an interview can bring, such as the interviewee’s hesitation in responding some question or even not to answer them, which will reduce the reliability of the interview; as well as the transcription is time consuming. In the former, the participants did not have any inconvenient for the interview be recorded; and for the latter time furthermore was reserved for the interviews’ transcription. 3. 8. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE RESEARCH. As stated by Collis and Hussey (2003) and Saunders et al. (2003), there are two aspects related to the credibility of the findings, thus it is important to consider the significance of the reliability and validity of the research outcome. In this case, reliability is concern with how well it has been carried out the research project (Blaxter et al. , 2001), which refers to the possibility of obtaining the same exact results if repeating the study (Collis and Hussey, 2003), in other words, the consistency of the methods of data collection, thus the results (Denscombe, 2002). On the other hand, validity concerns with whether the data, approaches and techniques in study actually relate to the issues that have been explored and the results relate to what is really happening in the situation (Blaxter et al. , 2001; Collis and Hussey, 2003; Saunders et al. 2003). There are some discussions which claim that qualitative research often provide valid findings, while quantitative research offers more reliable findings (Berg, 2004). This has been critiqued by Saunders et al. (2000) who state that it is possible for qualitative and quantitative research to provide both valid and reliable findings. Therefore, it can be said that considering the present research, which adopts a phenomenological approach, it is important to highlight that the reliability and validity of the questions in the interviews were maximized by the careful design of the individual questions and the clear explanation of the purpose of the interviews. Moreover, the reliability and validity of the research and the obtained information gathered from the interviews is directly linked to the applied strategy and purpose of the research, as well as to the aim and objectives of the investigation. Besides, validity is ensured by the transcriptions and further analysis of the interviewee’s experiences and opinions by direct quotations. 3. 9. ETHICAL ISSUES Researchers like Creswell (1994), Kumar (1996), Saunders et al. (2000), Collis Hussey (2003) and Jankowicz (2005) have placed emphasis on the importance of ethical considerations when doing a research. For business and management researchers, ethical issues of vital importance are confidentiality, informed consent, and honest representation of findings. Therefore, considering these ethical issues, this research requested the consent of the participants prior to the data collection, guaranteeing them of the confidentially of the information they would provide. In addition, the data collected was analyzed in a logical and scientific manner, allowing the proper representation of findings. CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4. 1 COPING STRATEGIES TO COMBAT SEX DISCRIMINATION Two of the participants responded that they have not felt any kind of sex discrimination at their workplace. None of the participants felt that women need to use their feminism in order to progress in their careers. Anna responded that the gap of academic, promotional and employment opportunities for women has almost filled and men and women are getting almost equal opportunities. Anna and Emmy felt that women can do what they have decided to do in their minds and they consider themselves as an example of that kind of women. Maggie, in contrast, does not feel the same because she has an experience of workplace sex discrimination against women. She has also been discouraged to join the old-boy network and she has also experienced sexual harassment in her organization. She informed the researcher that the only way to cope up with the workplace discrimination is to get ready to move to a new job. She agreed with Emmy and Anna by saying that women who want to excel in their career can do it on their own merits. Maggie informed the researcher that she does not believe in confronting her seniors about the elimination of sex discrimination from the workplace. She also does not have any expectations from her seniors that they will try to eliminate sex discrimination from the workplace by implementing strategies to promote anti sex –discrimination policies. Thus the present study confirms the finding of study by Venter (2002) that there is no or little sex discrimination at today’s workplaces in Hong Kong. Venter (2002) found out that 66 % of the women managers interviewed in Hong Kong had responded that they did not find any sex discrimination at their workplace and 83% of them had felt that the attitude towards female managers are same as towards male managers. Westwood Leung (1999) found out that Hong Kong women managers are very less aware of the sex discrimination at workplace. Ng Pine (2003) had reported very interesting information that several Hong Kong women managers believe that sex discrimination is a prominent feature at Hong Kong organizations but when they were asked to describe their experience of sex discrimination then only a small number of the women managers were able to describe their own experience. The rest of the respondents informed that they haven’t experienced sex discrimination personally. Studies have clearly proved that Hong Kong women managers do not have any intention to confront their superiors and fight for the anti sex discrimination policies. Researches have also shown that when Hong Kong women managers are sexually harassed then they even do not confront the harasser and report to superiors and they instead use coping strategies such as they avoid or ignore the harasser, they prefer to quit or get transferred if the problem is not resolved (Chan et al. 1999; Ng 1995b). High attitude towards opportunities is found among Hong Kong women managers. They have great ability to deal any kind of discrimination at their work place. They keep their eyes and ears open and keep themselves in search of a suitable job incase they are fired or they quit. Their general and overall aim is to progress in their careers to get the higher positions in the organizations and thus they use their flexible nature to get the maximum number of opportunities to be succeeded (Venter 2002). Ng Pine (2003) reported that female hotel managers believe in using personal strategies to cope up with the discriminatory issue at their workplace. They believe in developing by looking more presentable, tend to dress up like a professional and rely on working hard to be proved as highly professional. Ng Pine (2003) found that majority of Hong Kong women managers have a high ‘can-do’ attitude and thus they believe in doing their job the best ways irrespective of the discriminatory issues against them at their workplace. Ng Chiu (1997) explained the reason of few organizations with family friendly policies is the low expectations behaviors of Hong Kong women managers who do not confront their superiors for the elimination of sex discrimination from the organization and they instead depends on their personalized strategies. Babcock Laschever (2003) found out the reason of Hong Kong women managers’ less success is due to their less skilful negotiating attitudes. However, it can not be said whether they have less skilful negotiating attitudes but it is clear from the evidences that negotiation is not prominent in the attitude of the women managers. Venter (2002) found out that as Hong Kong women managers do not have the habit to confront their superiors to get their equal rights at the workplace, they simply get less tensed as compared to other female managers who belong to Britain. Thus Hong Kong Chinese women managers are more successful in their careers and reach to the higher positions as compared to British women managers in Hong Kong. Javidan House (2001) explained that high achievement is a part of Hong Kong culture and this culture has changed the attitudes of employed women and has made them enthusiastic to grow in their careers. Hong Kong Women managers who fly high in their careers are seen as highly respected due to their ability to achieve their goal on their own without any support of society and workplace. But the women who do not reach the higher positions are blamed to be a failure due to their lack of sense of professionalism. They are considered as ‘non professional’ when they do not reach to the manager’s position. It is reflected among the society and organizations that a form of sex discrimination is evident due to the stereotyping of sex and power relations based on genders. There are very few structural changes through which the sex stereotyping and gendered roles at organizations can be changed. 4. 2 COPING STRATEGIES TO COMBAT GENDER ROLES The researcher asked all the three interviewees about their perception of single women. All of them have different perceptions on single women. Emmy feels that women stay single when they are not beautiful and thus no men attract towards such ugly women. Maggie sighed that she dreams of being a single but she also feels that being single it would have been very difficult for her to grow in her career and she has not been as successful as she is now. She also said that her roots in careers would have been very weak being a single woman. Anna feels that being a single woman is the best thing in the world. All her single friends are living happily and they do not want to get married because they believe that marriage brings a lot of problems with it. As diversity is more profound among the community of single women, the three interviewees seem influenced by the reflection of such diversity. Maggie, Anna and Emmy, all of them, love their husbands and children very much and they feel that they are the most important part of their lives. Though they consider family as the most important thing in their lives, they also believe that they cannot be stay-at-home women because they feel that they get the sense of achievement when they work and thus they get a balanced life. The nature of job of Emmy is quite flexible so she is allowed to work in flexible hours, and this way she gets a lot of time to spend with her family. She feels that her work has not affected her role as a mother as she takes plenty of time out to spend with her children. Maggie and Anna feel in contrast. They feel that they have been sandwiched between their wish to grow in their careers and their wish to spend more time with their children to ensure that the children’s education is not getting affected. This shows that both of them have both a high sense of achievement and a high sense of parenting. They feel guilty of not fulfilling their wish to be a good parent though both of them have hired foreign domestic helper. All the three interviewees believe that bringing up children is the primary duty of a woman and if a woman is employed then this duty should be handed over to other members of the extended family. All the three interviewees consider their families more important than their careers as compared to their husbands. These women do not have the habit of negotiation so they do not confront with their husbands and superiors to give them equal status. Researches have shown that Hong Kong women managers use personalized strategies to deal with work-family stress by taking help from relative, foreign domestic helpers and tutors (Lo et al. 2003; Ng 1999). Hakim (2003) also supported these positions that Hong Kong employed women are more family-centered as compared to their husbands and thus these women tend to less successful in their careers as compared to their husbands. The coping strategies that Hong Kong employed women used to reduce their work-family stress have a strong relation to the social culture of Hong Kong. Majority of Hong Kong employed women believe that they will not get any help from the government in terms of a caretaker because the social culture promotes the caretaker role of mothers and wives. If these women need help of a caretaker then they have to do it on their own because this is considered as a personal problem instead of a societal problem. All the three interviewees believe that though they are working at higher positions but their husbands should be respected as they are the breadwinners. Wives should help their husbands to be more successful in their careers. This shows that the traditional values of Hong Kong have set the mind of the women regarding their roles as a wife and a mother. The present study confirms the results of the previous studies (EOC 1997; Hong Kong Government 2003a) that the traditional ideology of a Chinese family for a man to be in charge of the work outside the house and for a woman to be in charge of the work inside the house is still present in Hong Kong culture. Due to the impact of this culture, even when both the parents are equally working and are equally concerned about the academic achievements and social well-being of their children, husbands have the liberty to be more career oriented by leaving behind their family without any sense of guilt. Thus, the culture of Hong Kong does not appreciate the growth of women as career women. This is impossible until and unless structural changes are made to understand these cultural contexts. The power structure can be changed only when the society and organizations believe in equal opportunities by dividing the power equally among women and men managers as the career success of a woman on her own basis is of no use. 2. 1. 1 FUTURE OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN AS MANAGERS IN HONG KONG It is commonly believed in Hong Kong that women can achieve their goals by their enthusiasm and hard work. For this reason, Hong Kong women working at senior managerial positions tend to believe in personally designed strategies to cope up with the requirements of their workplace, homes and kids. Moreover, they believe in handling the situation of sex discrimination personally rather by confronting their superiors for the implementation of anti sex discrimination policies. They are no or little aware of a political agenda that can change their lives by bringing positive changes in institutionalization of their family status, by changing the organizational culture and state policies. Maggie, Emmy and Anna informed the researcher that they do not get time for socialization. Anna informed that in Chinese culture, home is considered as a private place so majority of Chinese do not believe in inviting friends at home unless they are very close to them because they think that it will ruin their privacy. Majority of Hong Kong women trust extended family members to take care of their children but this scenario may result in increased problems for them in future. Mobility of labor force has increased due to globalization. Two of the three interviewees are not originally Hong Kong based. A steady rise has been observed in the number of women managers on the mainland. Due to intensification of globalization, less stability is expected in support from the extended family members in Hong Kong. The traditional heterosexual family system in Hong Kong has been changed and different forms of family structure have appeared. The concept of extended family members was possible in a heterosexual family only. So, this concept does not seem to be valid with the new family structure as single-parent families are becoming common. As the concept of extended family is diminishing, women who prefer to grow in their career would seem to have no children. if primary importance will continue to be given to husband’s career, and wife’s role will be continued as a support to her husband than her husband has been to her, then there are great chances for a large number of career oriented women to remain single. When women will have to work hard and design personalized strategies to cope up with the work-family stress then a large number of women will stop marrying. Thus, number of never-married women will increase in Hong Kong. CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION Push and pull tensions are found among Hong Kong women managers. At one side, the traditional Chinese culture is still dominated in Hong Kong that makes women responsible primarily for their housework and men are considered as bread-winners. Women are expected to bring up and take care of children and other family members. So this traditional Chinese culture does not seem supportive for a woman to dream of getting success in organizations besides performing her domestic duties. At another side, women in Hong Kong that have earned higher degrees are attracted towards handsomely paid jobs due to the realistic approach of capitalism in Hong Kong. Successful women managers in Hong Kong are rewarded. Organizations search for never-married women who are ready to work on the pre-decided terms of men. So it is a common belief in Hong Kong that if women are good they can get success in organizations. If women are very good at setting personalized agenda to balance their work-family stress then they would be successful. But the researcher is not happy with these conditions. The researcher suggests that women should be encouraged and supported by society and organizations. They should be given support to get a balanced life. Organizations should implement strategies to promote anti discrimination policies. Women and family friendly policies should be encouraged in organizations. This means that there is a need to redefine the role of women at home and in organizations. They should be given equal opportunities like men and be promoted to higher positions as per their skills. Appendix A. Letter sent to the Participants of the Interviews Dear Participants, Thank you for agreeing to do this interview and participate in my Masters investigation. This letter is to inform you all related to the interview, to establish your ethical rights and my responsibilities, as well as to provide some information prior to the interview. My intention is to do an investigation to explore whether a bamboo-ceiling exists in the career pathway of Hong Kong women managers. I am currently interviewing women managers that are working in a male dominating environment to find out whether these women managers face any obstacles in order to achieve the purpose of my study. The data will be collected via interviews, which will last one hour and one hour and a half. During the interview you have the right to refuse to answer a question or a set of questions. The participant’s identities will be remained as confidential at all stages, during and after the research. Expected benefits of participation will be the opportunity to contribute knowledge to a largely under researched area and the obtained findings will be used for academic purposes only, so the access to the collected data will be permitted for university lectures and library use only. Thank you once again for your cooperation. Yours sincerely, [Your name] [Your degree] [Your university] Table 1: Ratio of Women Managers in Hong Kong, % Year Proportion, % 1994 17. 5 1995 19. 4 1996 19. 6 1997 19. 9 1998 21. 5 1999 21. 9 2000 24. 2 2001 25. 4 2002 25. 7 Source: Hong Kong Government, 2003b: 57. Table 2: Distribution of Managers by Industry and Gender Table 3: No. of Males and Females Never-Married Aged 15 and Over Source: Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government. Table 4: No. of Never-Married Employed Males and Females by Occupation, 2001. Source: Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government. Table 5: Main Employment, Female-Male Ratio, Median Monthly Income, Marital Status, Age Source: Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government. References Babcock, L. Laschever, S. 2003. Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press). Berg, B. , 2004. Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. International Student Edition. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Blaxter, L. , Hughes, C. and Tight, M. , 2001. How to research. 2nd ed. Buckingham: Open University Press. Bryman, A. , 2004. Social Research Methods. 2nd ed. Oxford: Prentice-Hall. Chan, D. K. S. , Tang, K. S. -K. Chan, W. 1999. Sexual harassment: a preliminary analysis of its effects on Hong Kong Chinese women in the workplace and academia, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23(4), pp. 661–672. Chow, I. H. 1995. Career aspirations, attitudes and experiences of female managers in Hong Kong, Women in Management Review, 10(1), pp. 28–32. Collinson, D. L. , Knights, D. Collinson, M. 1990. Managing to Discriminate (London: Routledge). Collis, J. , and Hussey, R. , 2003. Business Research: A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students. 2nd Ed. New York: Palgrave McMillan. Creswell, J. , 1994. Research Design: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications. Crystal, G. 2003. Cracks appear in glass ceiling numbers, South China Morning Post, 17 October, p. B22. Denscombe, M. , 2002. Ground Rules for Good Research. A 10 point guide for social researchers. 1st ed. Buckingham: Open University Press. EOC. 1997. A Baseline Survey of Equal Opportunities on the Basis of Gender in Hong Kong 1996–1997 (Hong Kong: Equal Opportunities Commission). Fosh, P. , Ng, C. , Snape, E. Westwood, R. 1999. Hong Kong at the end of the twentieth century: management and labour trends, in: P. Fosh, A. W. Chan, W. W. S. Chow, E. Snape R. Westwood (Eds) Hong Kong Management and Labour: Change and Continuity, pp. 3–24 (London: Routledge). Ghauri, P. and Gronhaug, K. , 2002. Research Methods in Business Studies. A practical guide. 2nd ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Ghauri, P. N. , Gronhaugh, K. and Kristianslund, I. , 1995. Research methods in business studies: a practical guide. 1st ed. London: Prentice-Hall. Gillham, B. , 2000. The Research Interview. 1st ed. London: Continuum. Hakim, C. 2003. Models of the Family in Modern Societies: Ideals and Realities (Aldershot: Ashgate). Hochschild, R. A. 1989. The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home (New York: Viking Penguin). Hong Kong Government 2004. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women: Second Report on Hong Kong Special Administration Region (Hong Kong: Health, Food and Welfare Bureau). Hong Kong Government. 2001. 2001 Population Census: Main Report 1 (Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department). Hong Kong Government. 2002. Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics (Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department). Hong Kong Government. 2003a. Thematic Household Survey: Report No. 14 (Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department). Hong Kong Government. 2003b. Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics (Hong Kong: Census and Statistics Department). Jankowicz, A. , 2005. Business research projects. 4th ed. London: International Thomson Press. Javidan, M. House, R. J. 2001. Cultural acumen for the global manager: lessons from project GLOBE, Organizational Dynamics, 29(4), pp. 289–305. Kanter, R. M. 1977. Men and Women of the Corporation (New York: Basic Books). Kumar, R. , 1999. Research Methodology. A step-by-step guide for beginners. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications. Kvale, S. , 1996. Interviews, an Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. 1st ed. London: Sage Publications. Law, N. 2003. HK women socially aware, but traditional at heart, South China Morning Post, 23 January, p. 6 Lee, H. 2004. Arming women with knowledge, South China Morning Post, 9 February, p. C4. Lee, K. 2003. Picture forms of cross-border workers, South China Morning Post, 9 May, p.A5. Lo, S. , Stone, R. Ng, C. W. 2003. Work–family conflict and coping strategies adopted by female married professionals in Hong Kong, Women in Management Review, 18(4), pp. 182–190. Mak, G. C. L. Chung, Y. -p. 1997. Education and labour force participation of women in Hong Kong, in: F. M. Cheung (Ed. ) Engendering Hong Kong Society: A Gender Perspective of Women’s Status, pp. 13–39 (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press). Mak, G. C. L. 1992. The schooling of girls in Hong Kong: progress and contradictions in the transition, in: G. A. Postiglione (Ed.). Education and Society in Hong Kong, pp. 167–180 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press). Morrison, A. M. , White, R. P. Van Velsor, E. The Center for Creative Leadership. 1987. Breaking the Glass Ceiling (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley). Ng, C. W. Chiu, W. C. K. 2001. Managing equal opportunities for women: sorting the friends from the foes, Human Resource Management Journal, 11(1), pp. 75–88. Ng, C. W. Ng, E. G. H. 2002. The concept of state feminism and the case for Hong Kong, Asian Journal of Women’s Studies, 8(1), pp. 7–37. Ng, C. W. Pine, R. 2003. Women and men

Fine Arts Education Issues Essay -- essays papers

Fine Arts Education Issues According to the National Art Education Association’s goals for schools, â€Å"all elementary schools shall require students to complete a sequential program of art instruction that integrates the study of art production, aesthetics, art criticism, and art history,† (Clark, 1987). Elementary schools are having difficulty because they are cutting back on the fine arts programming and many non-specialist classroom teachers are expected to integrate the fine arts into their daily curriculum. Most of these teachers feel inadequate and uncomfortable when teaching these subjects. The children are receiving inadequate lessons in art education. All elementary schools should expand their curriculum to include the fine arts as subjects, and licensed specialists should teach these subjects. More or less, it isn’t the fact that there is a lack of fine arts education; there is a lack of specialists teaching fine arts in elementary schools. One reason for the lack of art specialists in the elementary schools is the fact that the fine arts aren’t considered core curriculum. The fine arts are thought of as expendable and not as important as mathematics, sciences, language, and literacy, when in fact Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences explains that there are several different ways of learning. â€Å"Gardner has identified eight "accepted" modes of learning: Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Linguistic, Mathematical, Musical, Naturalist, and Spatial. Traditional education emphasizes Linguistic and Mathematical Intelligences,† (Martin, 2000). Certain intelligences are enhanced through participation in the fine arts. This is why fine arts are actually equally as important as other core curriculum. ... .... Miller, M. and Hart, C. (1998). Bridging the gap. Thrust for Educational Leadership, Vol. 28 Issue 1, p22. Missouri Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education. (1996). Missouri's framework for curriculum development in fine arts, K-12. Jefferson City, Mo: The Dept. National Education Association. (1999). The 1999-2000 Resolutions of the National Education Association. NEA Today, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p51. http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2214068&db=aph Online Educator Network: Music Center Education Division. [Online]. Available: http://www.musiccenter.org/educators/ Reardon, C. (1995). A Jazzy Introduction to Music. Christian Science Monitor, Vol. 87 Issue 229, p14. Tunks, J. (1997). Integrating community arts programming into the curriculum: A case study in Texas. Arts Education Policy Review, Vol. 98 Issue 3, p21, 6p. Fine Arts Education Issues Essay -- essays papers Fine Arts Education Issues According to the National Art Education Association’s goals for schools, â€Å"all elementary schools shall require students to complete a sequential program of art instruction that integrates the study of art production, aesthetics, art criticism, and art history,† (Clark, 1987). Elementary schools are having difficulty because they are cutting back on the fine arts programming and many non-specialist classroom teachers are expected to integrate the fine arts into their daily curriculum. Most of these teachers feel inadequate and uncomfortable when teaching these subjects. The children are receiving inadequate lessons in art education. All elementary schools should expand their curriculum to include the fine arts as subjects, and licensed specialists should teach these subjects. More or less, it isn’t the fact that there is a lack of fine arts education; there is a lack of specialists teaching fine arts in elementary schools. One reason for the lack of art specialists in the elementary schools is the fact that the fine arts aren’t considered core curriculum. The fine arts are thought of as expendable and not as important as mathematics, sciences, language, and literacy, when in fact Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences explains that there are several different ways of learning. â€Å"Gardner has identified eight "accepted" modes of learning: Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Linguistic, Mathematical, Musical, Naturalist, and Spatial. Traditional education emphasizes Linguistic and Mathematical Intelligences,† (Martin, 2000). Certain intelligences are enhanced through participation in the fine arts. This is why fine arts are actually equally as important as other core curriculum. ... .... Miller, M. and Hart, C. (1998). Bridging the gap. Thrust for Educational Leadership, Vol. 28 Issue 1, p22. Missouri Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education. (1996). Missouri's framework for curriculum development in fine arts, K-12. Jefferson City, Mo: The Dept. National Education Association. (1999). The 1999-2000 Resolutions of the National Education Association. NEA Today, Vol. 18 Issue 1, p51. http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2214068&db=aph Online Educator Network: Music Center Education Division. [Online]. Available: http://www.musiccenter.org/educators/ Reardon, C. (1995). A Jazzy Introduction to Music. Christian Science Monitor, Vol. 87 Issue 229, p14. Tunks, J. (1997). Integrating community arts programming into the curriculum: A case study in Texas. Arts Education Policy Review, Vol. 98 Issue 3, p21, 6p.

Water Quality Parameter Prediction In Stream Flow Environmental Sciences Essay

In This paper, the truth public presentation of preparation, proof and anticipation of monthly H2O quality parametric quantities is discussed when using Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System ( ANFIS ) . This theoretical account analyze historical informations were generated through uninterrupted monitoring Stationss of H2O quality parametric quantities ( dependent variables ) of Johor River in order to copy their secondary property ( independent variables ) . However, the informations originating from supervising Stationss and experiment may be polluted by noise signals owing to systematic mistakes and random mistakes. This noisy informations frequently makes the predict undertaking comparatively hard. In order to counterbalance for this augmented noise the primary aim of this manuscript is to develop technique that can heighten the truth of H2O quality anticipation ( WQP ) . Therefore, this survey suggests an augmented Wavelet – Neuro-Fuzzy ( WDT-ANFIS ) based informations me rger faculty for WQP. The efficiency of the faculties was examined to foretell critical parametric quantities that affected due to the urbanisation around the rivers. The parametric quantities have been studied ; electrical CONDuctivity ( COND ) , entire dissolved solids ( T.D.S ) and TURBidity ( TURB ) . Results showed that the optimal degree of truth was achieved by doing the length of the cross-validation equal to one fifth of the information record. Furthermore, WDT-ANFIS faculty outperformed the ANFIS faculty with important betterment in anticipation truth. This consequence indicates that the proposed attack is fundamentally an attractive option, offering a comparatively fast algorithm with good theoretical belongingss to de-noise and predict the H2O quality parametric quantities. This new technique will be valuable to help determination shapers in describing the position of H2O quality, probe of spacial and temporal alterations.IntroductionWater quality mold is the footing of H2O pollution control undertaking. It predicts the inclination of H2O quality assortment harmonizing to the current H2O environment quality status, transportation and transmutation regulation of the pollutants in the river basin. In H2O quality mold, [ 1 ] reported that the turbidness was related closely to both its respiration rate and the H2O temperature. Model users will see sunlight strength fluctuation within the H2O column when imitating the eutrophication phenomenon [ 2 ] .These illustrations reflect that human intelligence uses bing cognition to cut down the figure of picks in order to raise the effectivity of theoretical account use. Each clip, they tend to change simply one or two parametric quantities. This is because if they modify many parametric quantities at the same clip, they may easy acquire lost in the use way. However, due to the size and heterogeneousness of the set possible input variables, and because of the nonlinear nature of the job, conventional methods are non assuring. To this terminal, unreal intelligence techniques ( AI ) techniques are capable to mime this behaviour every bit good as to complement the lack. Recently, AI has been accepted as an efficient alternate tool for mold of complex non-linear systems. The theoretical accounts normally do n't see the internal mechanism but build theoretical accounts to foretell H2O quality via the relationship between inputs and end products. At present, unreal intelligence techniques ( AI ) have been used intensively for anticipation in a figure of water-related countries, including H2O resource survey [ 3 ] , oceanology [ 4 ] , and air pollution [ 5 ] . The above survey attempts were usually based on an premise that the informations to be used should be dependable and accurate. However, the informations originating from probe and experiment may be polluted by noise signals due to the subjective and/or nonsubjective mistakes [ 6 ] . For illustration, the experiment mistakes may be resulted from measuring, reading, recording, and external conditions. Since these noisy signals are likely to falsify the consequences of theoretical accounts, it is a must to take them ( that is, signal denoising ) before utilizing any original informations. Signals can be denoised through the application of a set of additive filters [ 7 ] . However, one job of these filters is that they are more appropriate in additive systems than nonlinear systems. In add-on, Fourier analysis technique ( FAT ) is a classical tool for cut downing noises, but it is merely suited for denoising data/signals incorporating steady noises. Due to the noises that are unsteady in real-world instances, its application is still limited. To get the better of the jobs of traditional denoising techniques, more sophisticated techniques such as wavelet de-noising technique ( WDT ) has been proposed. WDT is utile for denoising multi-dimensional spatial/ temporal signals incorporating steady/unsteady noises. It has been widely applied to technology systems for patterns acknowledgment and cognition find [ 8 ] and [ 9 ] . However, few of these surveies were applied to H2O quality direction systems, where the H2O quality monitoring informations demands to be used for parametric quantity anticipation [ 10 ] . In this survey a WDT is proposed for cut downing noises induced by complex uncertainness. As mentioned before, there are many different types of AIs techniques among them unreal nervous webs ( ANN ) and adaptative neuro-fuzzy illation systems ( ANFIS ) have late gained attending in literature. Although ANN is rather powerful for patterning assorted existent universe jobs, it besides has its defects. If the input informations are less accurate or equivocal, ANN would be fighting to manage them and a fuzzed system such as ANFIS might be a better option. ANFIS theoretical account shows significantly higher truth and dependable in term of anticipation than ANN [ 11 ] . In this article, ANFIS faculty is proposed to foretell WQP at Johor River Basin. Furthermore, an augmented WDT-ANFIS based informations merger faculty for WQPP will present. In add-on, comprehensive comparing analysis is carried out between ANFIS and DWT-ANFIS to measure the public presentation that achieved after take the noising from the informations.MethodologySTUDY AREA Johor is the 2nd largest province in Peninsula Malaysia with an country of 18,941 km2. Johor River considers the chief river in Johor. The river flows in a approximately north-south way and empties into the Johor. The H2O quality of Johor River has been deteriorated with increasing degrees of assorted pollutants. Besides, it persists to be silted and chocked by rubbish and wastes as a effect of storage of enforcement by local-authorities. These contaminations finally flow into Johor River Estuaries, which are rich wonts that provide engendering and feeding countries for fish and domestic fowl. In this research, a survey of ANN patterning to foretell entire dissolved solids, electrical conduction and turbidness in Johor River basin is presented. These H2O quality parametric quantities were measured 60 samples within continuance 1998-2007 at chief watercourse as shown in Fig. 1. WATER QUALITY PARAMETERS In this survey, the H2O quality parametric quantities of involvements are entire dissolved solids ( T.D.Solids ) , electrical conduction and turbidness due to their importance in the Johor River and its feeder. The information appears that conduction is extremely affected due to cumulative consequence of urban land usage from upstream in the survey country. While, high concentration of dissolved solids were found in the survey country and caused H2O balance jobs for aquatic beings. Furthermore, the turbidness values exceed 300A NTU ( Nephelometric Turbidity Units ) . This poses serious jobs for the H2O intervention station located near the river. There are many parametric quantities more of import than what we selected in our survey such as COD, BOD and DO. But the scope of BOD harmonizing to the DOE monitoring station in the survey country was found between ( 1-2 ) which indicate there is non much organic waste nowadays in the H2O. Same scenario was observed in COD information which is ranged ( 10-15 ) . Therefore, this manuscript focuses on critical parametric quantities that affected due to the urbanisation around the rivers. ADAPTIVE NEURO-FUZZY INFERENCE SYSTEM ANFIS Adaptive neuro-fuzzy illation system ( ANFIS ) , foremost was proposed by Jang in 1993 [ 12 ] , can accomplish a extremely nonlinear function and it is superior to common additive methods in bring forthing nonlinear clip series [ 13 ] . Throughout this research, it was considered the ANFIS architecture for the first order Sugeno fuzzy theoretical account [ 14 ] . The ANFIS is a multilayer provender forward web which uses nervous web larning algorithms and fuzzed logical thinking to map an input infinite to an end product infinite [ 15 ] . Assuming the fuzzy illation system under consideration has two inputs, ten and Y, and one end product, degree Fahrenheit for a first-order Sugeno fuzzy theoretical account, a common regulation set with two fuzzy if.then regulations can be expressed as: Rule 1: If x is A1and Y is B1 so f1=p1 x+q1 y+r1 ( 1 ) Rule 2: If x is A2 and Y is B2 so f2=p2 x+q2 y+r2 ( 2 ) Where A1, A2 and B1, B2 are the rank maps ( medium frequency ) for inputs x and y, severally ; pi, chi and Rhode Island ( one = 1 or 2 ) are additive parametric quantities in the attendant portion of the first-order Sugeno fuzzy theoretical account. The corresponding tantamount ANFIS architecture is showed in Fig. 2, where nodes of the same bed have similar maps. ANFIS consists of five beds as follow: Optimization Scheme of ANFIS Module Parameters For each of WQP we used same architectures that presented in Fig. 2.Where, three inputs ( suspended solids, pH and temperature ) were used to foretell the TURB. One input ( T.D.S ) was used to foretell the COND, while same faculty used to foretell the T.D.S after utilized the COND as input. It is to be noted that there is no analytical method to find the optimum figure of MFs. The optimum figure of MFs is normally determined heuristically and verified by experimentation. Hence, the figure of MFs is selected in test and mistake footing. In the interim, it is noted that we have tried four types of rank map: ( a ) triangular, ( B ) trapezoidal, ( degree Celsius ) gaussian, and ( vitamin D ) bell-shaped to build the fuzzed Numberss. After a big figure of tests, as a consequence bell-shaped distributed rank map compared with the others have obtained the minimal comparative mistake. Table 1 illustrates the figure and the types of MFs that adopted in this survey to make faculties.The ANFIS faculty is trained until making certain minimal mistake or after finishing certain figure of developing era. In this survey, the less no. of loop was introduced in order to devour the clip Fig 3 depicts the alteration in Root Mean Square Error ( RMSE ) for the ANFIS faculty during preparatio n and cross- proof. It is obvious from the figure that the faculty reaches the end 300 era. WAVELET DE-NOISING Wavelet analysis represents the following logical measure after short-time Fourier transforms ( STFT ) . It is based on a windowing technique with variable-sized parts. Wavelet transform ( WT ) allows the usage of long clip intervals where we want more precise low frequence information, and shorter parts where we want high frequence information [ 16 ] . In general, the major advantage offered by ripples is the ability to execute local analysis ; that is to analyse a localised country of a larger signal. The discrete-time WT of a clip domain signal is given as [ 10 ] : ( 3 ) Where, is the female parent ripple while and are, severally, the grading and switching indices. The grading gives the DWT logarithmic frequence coverage in contrast to the unvarying frequence coverage of the STFT. This analysis method so consists of break uping a signal into constituents at several frequence degrees, which are related by powers of two ( a dyadic graduated table ) [ 16 ] . The filtrating attack to multi-resolution WT is to organize a series of half-band filters that divide a spectrum into a high frequence set and a low frequence set. It is formulated on a grading map or low-pass filter ( LP ) and a ripple map or high-pass filter ( UP ) [ 17 ] . Wavelet Multi-resolution analysis ( WMRA ) builds a pyramidic construction that requires an iterative application of grading and ripple maps to low-pass and high base on balls filters, severally. These filters ab initio act on the full signal set at the high frequence ( small-scale values ) foremost and bit by bit cut down the signal set at each phase. As in Fig.4, the high-frequency set end products are represented by the item coefficients ( Dl, D2, D3 ) , and the low-frequency set end products are represented by the estimate coefficients ( Al, A2, A3 ) . Optimum parametric quantity choice for wavelet de-noising of WQP informations When utilizing ripples to de-noise WQP information, there are many factors that must be considered. Examples of these picks are which ripple, degree of decomposition, and thresholding methods to utilize. MATLAB provides several households of ripples including the Morlet, Mexican chapeau, Meyer, Haar, Daubechies, Symlets, Coiflets and Spline biorthogonal ripples and provides farther certification about these ripple households [ 18 ] . In order to obtain perfect Reconstruction consequences, merely extraneous ripples will be considered. The extraneous ripple transform has certain benefits. It is comparatively concise, allows for perfect Reconstruction of the original signal and is non comparatively hard to cipher. The two common methods of thresholding a signal are soft thresholding and difficult thresholding which are used in the MATLAB ripple tool chest [ 9. M. Misiti, Y. Misiti, G. Oppenheim and J.-M. Poggi. Wavelet Toolbox: For Use With, The Math Works Inc ( 1996 ) .18 ] . Although difficult thresholding is the simplest method, soft thresholding can bring forth better consequences than difficult thresholding. Therefore, the soft thresholding was adopted in this survey. There are four threshold choice regulations that are available to utilize with the ripple tool chest [ 9. M. Misiti, Y. Misiti, G. Oppenheim and J.-M. Poggi. Wavelet Toolbox: For Use With, The Math Works Inc ( 1996 ) .18 ] are shown in table 2. These threshold choice regulations use statistical arrested development of the noisy coefficients over clip to obtain a non-parametric appraisal of the reconstructed signal without noise. Merely the Sqtwolog was investigated in this survey which this method uses a fixed signifier threshold, which consequences in minimax public presentation multiplied by a factor proportional to logarithm of the length of the signal. Sing to the degree of decomposition, in this manuscript we reached the decision that a decomposition degree of 4 produced sensible consequenc es after utilised test and mistake method for all faculties. CROSS VALIDATION PROCEDURE FOR ANFIS MODULE Cross proof is a exemplary rating method that provides an indicant of how good the scholar will make when it is asked to do new anticipations for information it has non already seen. One manner to get the better of this job is to non utilize the full informations set when developing a scholar. Some of the information is removed before preparation Begins. Then when preparation is done, the informations that was removed can be used to prove the public presentation of the erudite theoretical account on â€Å" new † information. This is the basic thought for a whole category of theoretical account rating methods called cross proof. The training/validation informations split can hold a important impact on the consequences of the theoretical accounts [ 19 ] . Several methods for implementing the cross-validation theory were proposed in the literature ; nevertheless, the kernel of all these methods is similar. Among these different techniques the hold-out method is adopted in this survey due to its simpleness. Most of other methods ( like k-fold and Leave-one-out ) are computationally expensive. The hold-out method is the simplest sort of cross-validation. The information set is partitioned into two sets, called the preparation set and the testing set, without any peculiar pick of the divider. As shown in Fig. 5, the map approximator is trained to suit a map utilizing the preparation set merely. Then the map approximator is used to foretell the end product values for the information in the testing set. Elect optimal length of informations for Cross Validation The job with using the cross-validation attack in our survey is choosing the length of the information set utilised. It is of import for this choice to be representatives for characteristics of both developing informations set and the expected information set in the anticipation procedure. Different length of the cross-validation informations set of one ten percent, one fifth and one tierce of the information records has been examined Fig. 6.RESULT AND DISCUSSIONSince the H2O parametric quantities were truthfully monitored over these ten old ages, the public presentation of the proposed faculties can be examined and evaluated. The public presentations of the faculties are evaluated harmonizing to Mean Absolute Error MAE. ( 4 ) Where m is the figure of proving sample, pi ( trial ) is the theoretical account end product for each parametric quantity, Ti is the existent value for each parametric quantity, I is the parametric quantity index. In this survey, for a given set of ANFIS parametric quantities, three web architectures were developed for each parametric quantity in order to obtain the optimum length of cross-validation informations set that provides the high degree of anticipation truth. The table 3 verifies that, taking one tierce of the information records was non sufficient.The chief ground for this is there was non adequate information record for the preparation procedure, which made it hard to make the mistake end. On the other manus, when one ten percent of the information was used for the cross proof procedure, the high degrees of mistake were observed. Choosing one ten percent of informations records lead to failing in observing the characteristics of the expected information set in anticipatio n procedure. It appears from the tabular array that the MAE was lessening to the about half for the ANFIS faculty that adopted to foretell the T.D.S. after using the one fifth of the information record comparing with cross-validation length equal to tierce. Furthermore, the MAE for the ANFIS that used to foretell the TURB equal to 36.54 when cross-validation equal to one ten percent, while truth ANFIS reduces this mistake to 20.52 after cross proofs equal to one fifth of information record was introduced. Same scenario was obtained in the faculty that used to foretell the COND. As complete, the optimal degree of truth was achieved by choosing the length of the cross-validation equal to one fifth of the information record. After select the optimum length of cross-validation, a comparing between the ANFIS faculties and WDT-ANFIS faculties will present in order to analyze the effectivity of the proposed faculties to foretell WQP. Fig.7 demonstrates the public presentation of the WDT-ANFIS during preparation and cross-validation procedure. It ‘s obvious in Fig. 7 that the public presentation end of was achieved in less than 100 eras, while the same end could non be achieved in Fig. 3. This consequence depicts that the WDT-ANFIS capable to devour the clip. Apparently from Fig. 8 that the WDT-ANFIS based faculty outperformed the ANFIS and was able to supply betterment in anticipation truth of TURB with MAE equal to 0.1. While, inefficient public presentation was observed harmonizing to ANFIS faculty when the MAE was exceed 20. It is apparent with the addition of noise strength ; the WQP will hold more accurate anticipation value through the informations de-noised by WDT than those without de-noising. This indicates the high quality of WDT in cleaning the information. Apparently, the ANFIS faculty that used to foretell the T.D.S was able to accomplish acceptable consequence after using natural information. This consequence figures out that the ANFIS faculty can efficaciously capture nonlinearity in input/output function. More sweetenings in anticipation of T.D.S were achieved after using WDT-ANFIS. Where the truth was betterment eight times comparing with the ANFIS faculty. Albeit the mistake while proving is consider comparatively high comparing with preparation and cross- proof stage, achieve a MAE do n't transcend 3.4 which is consider best consequence in predict the T.D.S. This consequence showed that the WDT-ANFIS faculty could be considered as the appropriate mold technique for anticipation such WQP. It can besides be observed that the WDT-ANFIS faculty outperformed the ANFIS faculty and was able to supply betterment in anticipation truth for COND. It can be noticed that the WDT-ANFIS was capable of accomplishing high degree of truth in anticipation phase equal to 2.2, while inefficient public presentation was observed harmonizing to the ANFIS faculty when the per centum of MAE exceed 25. Over all, in this research, the WDT-ANFIS can hence be declared as the best web architecture because it outperforms ANFIS. These consequences show that the WDT-ANFIS theoretical account was non merely capable of bettering the truth of WQPP but the theoretical account besides was capable of capturing the temporal forms of the H2O quality which allowed it to supply important sweetening in anticipation. As a consequence, ANFIS module become more capable to capture the moral force and the complex processes that hidden in the informations itself for WQP after augmented it with WDT. The above observation is farther illustrated in Fig.9 demoing the public presentation of WDT-ANFIS faculties while preparation, cross-validation and anticipation procedure for the WQP. It is obvious from the Fig. 9 ( a ) that the proposed faculty that adopted to foretell the COND was capable to placing the complex non-linear relationship between input and end product informations where merely one fifth of records were used during anticipation. It is clear from the figure that the maximal per centum mistake for all the trained and cross-validation records is merely 1.85 % and 1.2 % severally. While, the maximal per centum mistake for all the predicted records is merely 3.9 % . This consequence reveals that the proposed faculty able to imitating the existent behaviour of the COND in the H2O organic structure. In order to salvage clip and avoid making independent faculty to each parametric quantity, old faculty that utilized to foretell the COND will follow and examined to foretell the T.D.S. it can be noticed from Fig. 9 ( B ) that using one parametric quantity as input does non let the WDT-ANFIS faculty to hold the exposure to enough input kineticss and the chance to be suitably evaluated during cross-validation procedure. Consequently, the mistake degrees during the anticipation procedure may get down to be larger than those obtained during transverse proof. As a consequence, the system may non be able to keep the same degrees of truth for both the cross proof and anticipation procedure. Even though the degree of mistakes in the anticipation phase is comparatively high, moderately good consequence was obtained for the anticipation of T.D.S where maximal per centum mistakes during anticipation procedure did non transcend 10 % Ali et at. [ 20 ] adopted RBF-NN to foretell the TURB at Johor River Basin. High degree of mistake was obtained due to one parametric quantity was used as input to the faculty. In this portion of this paper, three parametric quantities were introduced as input to the faculty after investigated the correlativity between the inputs and end product. Fig.9 ( degree Celsius ) shows the faculty public presentation while preparation, cross proof and anticipation for TURB. It can detect that the maximal mistake in preparation procedure is falling within 0.05 % which indicates that the theoretical account able gaining control the relationships between input/output. Although the mistake of anticipation phase equal to four times the mistake in cross-validation, the faculty provides high degree of truth comparing with the other faculties that used to foretell the COND and T.D.S where the maximal per centum mistake for all the predicted records is merely 0.21 % .DecisionAdaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Infer ence System ( ANFIS ) can cover with extremely variable, lingual, obscure and unsure informations or cognition. Therefore, this manuscript employs ANFIS theoretical account as a feasible agencies to foretell three H2O quality parametric quantities ; Electrical CONDuctivity ( COND ) , Total Dissolved Solids ( T.D.S ) and TURBidity ( TURB ) at Johor River basin, Malaysia. However, legion incompatibilities in information records are observed in the informations that mensurating by Department of Environment ( DOE ) monitoring Stationss owing to systematic mistakes, random mistakes and mistakes associated with informations entry. This blunt mismatch generate noise corrupted the records of the existent value of the parametric quantities. Therefore, the truth of the ANFIS is significantly affected by such mistakes nature and forms of the monitored informations. In order to predominate over these insufficiencies, ANFIS theoretical account is augmented with Wavelet De-noising Technique ( WDT ) to better the truth. The consequence shown that the WDT can be applied successfully and lend to heighten the truth of H2O quality anticipation by synthesis it with ANFIS algorithm.RecognitionsThe writers wish to thank Department Of Environment for supplying the needed informations for developing this research and to Dr. Sundarambal Palani for her penetration and counsel throughout this research. This research was supported by the research grant for the 2nd and 3rd writers from University Kebangsaan Malaysia UKM-GUP-PLW-08-13-308.

Ancient Egypt The Greatest Civilization Of The Past

Believed to have begun around 3100 BCE; the stories of ancient Egypt still live on today. Built along the Nile River; Egypt was once the greatest civilization of the past. Egypt built several groundbreaking architectural structures from the world’s first dams, to the first super structures predating the Ziggurat of Ur. Ancient Egypt survived three millennia before falling to the roman’s control. Egypt is most known for its pyramids, mummies, pharaohs, and its’ polytheistic religion. The Egyptians answer to the terrible question â€Å"Why are we here?† The Egyptians believed that they were to spend their lives preparing for their afterlife as seen through their literature, architecture, and burial rituals. Furthermore, The Egyptians most famous preparation for the afterlife is easiest seen through their architecture. The early kings of Egypt would spend their lives building their Mastaba’s, bench shaped mound tombs, to rest their physical bodies in there afterlife. Underneath the Mastaba the kings would have chambers built, like an underground palace. Mastabas would have several chambers for the kings’ possessions. It wasn’t until approximately 2650 BC that the first pharaoh, Djoser, would have the first pyramid built. The First pyramid built is known as the Step Pyramid. The Step Pyramid was envisioned by pharaoh Djoser’s chief architect, Imhotep. Imhotep built the Step Pyramid much like the Mastaba but instead of one single level the pyramid is made of several levels. The StepShow MoreRelatedEgyptian, Islamic and Roman Architecture Essay1539 Words   |  7 PagesEgyptian Civilization: I chose Egyptian civilization because it’s known as the birthplace of modern civilization. Another reason I chose Egyptian civilization is because its contributions to the world still seen, studied and absorbers. Egypt contribution has come along way and has mad an impact in on thousands of cultures worldwide. 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