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Select one of the technologies / organisations listed immediately below and make an evaluation of its commercial potential.

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Coursework 1 – Essay

A 2,000 word essay.

This assignment represents 50% of the marks for the module.

NB     2,000 words is the MAXIMUM word count (i.e. no +10%).
You are unlikely to meet all assessment criteria if you are markedly under this word limit.

This piece of work will form the basis of the individually assessed coursework for the module:

Select one of the technologies / organisations listed immediately below and make an evaluation of its commercial potential.

Choose ONE of the following University Projects / Charities / Companies to base your individual essay on:

  • Good Box: Payment solutions for charities
    (https://www.goodbox.com/)
  • Curb Hunger: Vending machines to ease homelessness / poverty

(https://curbhunger.org)

(https://www.sustainablewaterswp.com/)

NB;DO NOT contact any of these organisations directly to seek information, a meeting, discussions etc.

For ALL Individual essay options you should evaluate the commercial potential of the organization and recommend what steps you think the “business” should take over the next 3-5 years.

You should think of your essay in the form of a business report (as if you were reporting on this topic to the Board of Directors or a potential Investor) rather than a traditional academic essay.  This is likely to impact on the report style, formatting, use of “real world” evidence (versus academic references) etc.  More information and discussion / clarification will be provided in lectures and seminars.

As a minimum, please address each of the following 6 areas in your report (although the weighting between sections does not have to be equal and you can “bundle” some sections together):

Intellectual Property: Evaluate the intellectual property position taken for the technology. If a patent has been filed, consider whether the company has freedom to operate given rival patent activity. If an alternative to patenting has been used, consider what competitive advantage the firm has over potential rivals.

Technical feasibility: Consider the ease or difficulty of developing the technology and in achieving manufacture and distribution of the product or delivery of the service. Are the projected timescales realistic and scale up plans plausible?

Societal factors: Are there particular issues such as environmental, safety or public health concerns that need to be addressed? Consider how comparable companies have addressed these issues for similar technologies.

Market Attractiveness: Consider the size and dynamics of the potential market and whether the correct target market has been selected. Discuss how the technology compares with the competition from the point of view of the ultimate customer. Consider any barriers to acceptance along the value chain from technology to market and how these can be overcome. Consider the financial viability of the venture. Is there the potential to develop a profitable business and therefore create value for potential investors?

Business Strategy: What is the most appropriate business model for this technology? Is the opportunity business to business or for a consumer market? Recommend how the company should develop or acquire the necessary skills and experience to deliver the optimum business model.

Financial Potential: Do you think that the company is pricing its product at the correct level? (if already selling).  How big is the addressable market?

Please also use the Win2 checklist and Business Model Canvas from class to suggest any additional points of particular relevance in addition to the key sections above.

Advice

Choose an organization / technology doing something which you are – potentially – interested in.

Read around the topic and use the Business Plan tools introduced in class to guide your analysis.

Essays which gain higher marks will also:

  • provide evidence of reading around the topic and show a good understanding of the key concepts
  • include relevant theory and a variety of “real world” evidence
  • utilize varied sources (which are up to date and referenced accurately and correctly)
  • critically discuss different viewpoints with arguments carefully developed and clearly expounded
  • show originality of thought
  • have good structure and a clear presentation (including introductory and concluding sections, headings etc)

 

Search for two further sources that will be useful in elaborating your project; you should provide references for these, and explain the criteria you used in selecting them and how they relate to your research topic.

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Collection and analysis of secondary data.

Imagine that you have chosen to do a research project based on secondary data and materials using the briefing paper, ‘Measuring progress and human development’.

You would like to make use of this report as a key source for your project.

Read the briefing paper and then do the following:

  1. Define a manageable research topic, with a possible research question related to the report. The research topic should be related to economic welfare.
  2. Search for two further sources that will be useful in elaborating your project; you should provide references for these, and explain the criteria you used in selecting them and how they relate to your research topic.
  3. Provide a written statement explaining how you would design your case study, specifying the sections into which the study would be divided.

Identify one piece from the course content, reading or listening assignments (title, composer, genre) – Compare and contrast these two pieces based on a) elements of music (melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, texture, form, timbre)

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Reports For the online concert that you watch this semester, you will also write a concert report (minimum 500 words @ 75 points each concert report). These reports are opportunities for you to accurately apply your musical knowledge and to demonstrate your understanding of central course concepts and ideas. During the performance take careful notes on what you observe in order to help you compose each report essay. I would recommend listening all the way through one time and then going back to take notes and keeping in mind the report you will write. Here are some guiding questions for your concert notes: • What is the venue like?

• What is happening before the concert starts, as it unfolds, and as it concludes?

• Is there an audience present? Was it created to be presented online or does it seem to be uploaded as an afterthought? • How do the performers interact with the audience? Is the event formal or informal?

• If you watch the live streamed concert, do you find yourself reading the realtime comments? Does this alter your perception, and, if so, do they add or distract from the performance?

• How is the music presented? What instruments of voices are featured?

• What are the musical highlights? What genres and styles are presented?

• Describe the fundamental musical elements that characterize the pieces performed (melody, harmony, dynamics, texture, form, timbre). Once you’ve listened to the concert, you will use your performance notes to create an essay that contains the following elements:

1.) Background information (Minimum 150 words) – Event Information (venue description, performer/band/group name(s) – Overview of genre – Performer/Audience Description (who’s there, how many, demographics) – Performance Highlights (instruments, styles, genres, format, program)

2.) Comparative Analysis (Minimum 350 words) – Identify one piece from the concert (title, style)
– Identify one piece from the course content, reading or listening assignments (title, composer, genre) – Compare and contrast these two pieces based on a) elements of music (melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics, texture, form, timbre)

b) performance context, techniques, and practices; style/ genre characteristics

c) social and cultural significance Each report must be at least 500 words total and must adhere to the format and content outlined above to be eligible for full credit for the assignment. You may exceed the minimum word total as much as necessary to describe and analyze the music selected for the assignment. You should use musical terminology and concepts accurately throughout your report(s) Format: Use complete sentences throughout the entire essay. Your descriptions and analyses must be in your own, originally- composed, words and you must proofread your report prior to submitting it to correct any grammatical, spelling, and formatting errors. The assignment must be typed and double-spaced with one (1) inch margins and and no extra spaces between paragraphs. Include your name and the course/section at the top left corner of the first page. Submit your completed assignment as a .doc file or pdf to the appropriate folder on our course site by 11:59pm on the posted due date(s) (see our course calendar/ site for details). No email submissions will be accepted. Late assignments: a) will be worth a maximum of half credit for the assignment and b) will not be accepted more than 48 hours past the posted deadline

Apply the methods and skills learnt to conduct an independent research project that provides evidence of an ability to critically evaluate argument/s.

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A: Learning Outcomes

2.Critically assess the various potential methodological and analytical approaches that could be employed in the design of a research project.

3.Apply the methods and skills learnt to conduct an independent research project that provides evidence of an ability to critically evaluate argument/s, analyze data into information, report research findings and to synthesize evidential and theoretical concepts.

4.Provide evidence of critical reflection through reporting of relevant judgements that demonstrate an ability to articulate information, develop ideas and/or propose solutions through the application of autonomous learning.

B: Assessment Task

Report

Submit your full management research report presented according to the format laid out in the Structure & Marking Scheme overleaf.

Cpecific Criteria/Guidance

See the Structure & Marking Scheme (overleaf) for section weighting and key criteria.

All students’ research reports are marked by their supervisor and by a second marker.  Where there is a disparity between these grades a third marker is sought. Following this a sample of scripts is scrutinized by the External Examiner.

 

D: Key Resources

The set text for this module is:

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2016). Research Methods for Business Students (7th ed.) London: Prentice Hall.

Alternative texts and subject specific guides are also available. They include:

Cottrell, S. (2014). Dissertations and project reports: A step by step guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Davies, M. B., & Hughes, N. (2014). Doing a successful research project: Using qualitative or quantitative methods (2nd ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Fisher, C., & Buglear, J. (2010). Researching and writing a dissertation: An essential guide for business students (3rd ed.). Harlow: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.

McMillan, K., & Weyers, J. (2014). How to complete a successful research project. New York;Harlow, England;: Pearson.

Each of the textbooks listed other than Cottrell is available as an e-book through the library as well as in hard copy. The Cottrell text is currently available new at £11.99 (correct at 6th September 2019).

 

Criteria 90-100% 80-90% 70-79% 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% 30-39% 20-29% 10-19%

 

 0-9%
Methodology (15%)

 

Explanation & justification for:

 

Methodological paradigm & research design

 

Research population & sampling method

 

Research methods and means of data analysis

 

 Research paradigm explained & justified

 

Research approach identified & justified

 

Research method appropriate, thorough & imaginative

 

Sample size significant & appropriate

 Research paradigm explained & justified

 

Research approach identified & justified

 

Research method appropriate, thorough & imaginative

 

Sample size significant & appropriate

 Research paradigm explained & justified

 

Research approach identified & justified

 

Research method appropriate & thorough

 

Sample strong

 Research paradigm explained

 

Research approach identified

 

Research method identified but not justified

 

Sample adequate but limited in size or quality

 Research paradigm attempted but only partly grasped

 

Research approach identified

 

Research method identified but not justified

 

Sample limited

 Research paradigm not addressed or not understood

 

Research approach not justified

 

Research method very general

 

Sample inadequate

 Research paradigm not addressed

 

Research approach not explained

 

Research method very general

 

Sample inadequate

 Research paradigm not addressed

 

Research approach not explained

 

Research method identified only in part

 

Sampling technique not explained

 Research paradigm not addressed

 

Research approach not explained

 

Research method unclear

 

Sampling technique not explained

 Research paradigm not addressed

 

Research approach not explained

 

Research method missing

 

Sampling technique not explained
Presentation of findings (15%)

 

Description of critical findings

 

Use of appropriate forms of analysis (quantitative / qualitative)

 

Clear data presentation (tables / diagrams)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Findings clearly & imaginatively presented.

 

Diagrams & tables aid understanding.

 

Commentary complements data to ensure awareness of key points.

 Findings clearly & imaginatively presented.

 

Diagrams & tables aid understanding.

 

Commentary complements data to ensure awareness of key points.

 Findings clearly & imaginatively presented.

 

Diagrams & tables aid understanding.

 

Commentary complements data.

 Findings clearly presented.

 

Diagrams & tables aid understanding.

 

Commentary useful but may only draw attention to obvious points.

 Findings clearly presented.

 

Diagrams & tables aid understanding but may be unnecessary at times.

 

Commentary useful but may only draw attention to obvious points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Insufficient thought given to presentation of findings.

 

Most points illustrated by pie or bar charts even if not needed.

 

Over reliance on percentages

 Commentary largely absent and findings presented mainly in pie or bar charts.

 

 

 Commentary largely absent and findings presented mainly in pie or bar charts.

 

May be errors in these.

 Findings  very limited Findings absent
Criteria 90-100% 80-90% 70-79% 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% 30-39% 20-29% 10-19%

 

 0-9%
Analysis & interpretation of findings (20%)

 

Explanation of data / analysis presented

 

Interpretation of data in relation to findings and the literature / concepts / theory (variance and concurrence)

 

 Clear connection made between different questions or elements of original research.

 

Exceptional connections made with existing research to demonstrate how findings add value.

 Clear connection made between different questions or elements of original research.

 

Clear connections made with existing research to demonstrate how findings add value.

 Clear connection made between different questions or elements of original research.

 

Connections made with existing research to demonstrate variance & concurrence.

 Clear connection made between different questions or elements of original research.

 

Reference to existing research but connections to it may not be clear.

 Some connection made between different questions or elements of original research.

 

Reference to existing research on subject limited or missing.

 Analysis adds little to the research findings.

 

Reference to existing research on subject limited or missing.

 Analysis adds little to the research findings.

 

Reference to existing research on subject limited or missing.

 Analysis so perfunctory as to have little or no value. Barely any analysis No analysis
Conclusions (10%)

 

Appropriate conclusions

 

Reviews limitations

 

Considers potential improvement and opportunities for further research

 

Recommendations (if/where applicable)

 Provides considered & convincing answers to how far each aim has been realised & the research question answered.

 

Provides highly informed critical reflection on the research process.

 

Identifies areas for further or connected research.

 Provides considered & convincing answers to how far each aim has been realised & the research question answered.

 

Provides informed critical reflection on the research process.

 

Identifies opportunities for further or connected research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Provides considered answers to how far each aim has been realised & the research question answered.

 

Critically reflects on the research process.

 

Identifies opportunities for further research.

 Addresses how far the research question has been answered.

 

Acknowledges limitations in the research process.

 

Identifies opportunities for further research.

 Typically omits one of:

 

how far the research question has been answered;

 

limitations in the research process;

 

opportunities for further research.

 A thin conclusion that may omit limitations in the research process and opportunities for further research Inadequate conclusion that fails to add value to the report by answering the question or setting the scene for future research Conclusion is not connected to the research question No meaningful conclusion No conclusion
Criteria 90-100% 80-90% 70-79% 60-69% 50-59% 40-49% 30-39% 20-29% 10-19%

 

 0-9%
Written Expression (5%)

 

Clear, coherent writing style.

 

Competence in grammar, spelling, syntax and proof-reading.

 

 Extremely well-written, with accuracy and flair; sophisticated, fluent and persuasive expression of ideas

 

Near perfect spelling, punctuation and flowing syntax

 Very well-written, with accuracy and flair; sophisticated, fluent and persuasive expression of ideas

 

Near perfect spelling, punctuation and flowing syntax

 Well expressed, fluent, sophisticated and confident expression; highly effective vocabulary and clear style

 

Near perfect spelling, punctuation and syntax

 Clear, fluent, confident expression; appropriate vocabulary and style

 

High standard of accuracy in spelling, punctuation and syntax

 Clearly written, coherent expression;

reasonable range of vocabulary and adequate style

 

Overall competence in spelling, punctuation and syntax, although there may be some errors

 

 Expression and style reasonably clear but lack sophistication.  Limited vocabulary.  Limited or no proof reading

 

Inaccuracies in spelling, punctuation and syntax do not usually interfere with meaning but are too frequent and indicative of a careless approach

 Expression of ideas insufficient to convey clear meaning; inaccurate or unprofessional terminology.

 

Many errors in

spelling, punctuation and syntax – often repeated.  No evidence of proof-reading

 Lack of clarity, very poor expression; style inappropriate, terminology; inadequate and inappropriate vocabulary

 

Many serious errors of spelling, punctuation and syntax that interfere with meaning and clarity of expression

 Inaccuracies of expression and vocabulary render meaning of written work extremely unclear

 

Many serious errors of even basic spelling, punctuation and syntax that undermine or block clarity of meaning and discussion

 Inaccuracies of expression and vocabulary render meaning of written work completely unclear

 

Many serious errors of even basic spelling, punctuation and syntax that undermine or block clarity of meaning and discussion
Referencing (5%)

 

Accuracy in referencing according to the APA system.

 

Number of references and balance between types of source material.

 

Ability to paraphrase rather than use direct quotations

 All sources acknowledged and meticulously listed/cited.  A comprehensive list of references.

Reference sources integrated into argument with direct quotes used for impact only.

 All sources acknowledged and meticulously listed/cited.  A very thorough list of references.

Reference sources integrated into argument with direct quotes used for impact only.

 All sources acknowledged and correctly listed/cited.

Reference sources integrated into argument with direct quotes used sparingly

 Sources mainly acknowledged and mostly accurately listed/cited.

Appropriate number and balance of listed references (i.e. books, journals and web articles).

Some direct quotes could have been worked in  more effectively

 Sources usually, but not always, acknowledged; referencing generally accurate, but with too many inaccuracies and errors.

 

Modest number of listed references which lacks balance between sources.  Inclined to rely too much at time on direct quotations.

 Sources not always acknowledged; references too often incorrectly cited/listed.  Over-reliance on using direct quotations and website URLs.

 

Low number of listed references.

 

Paraphrasing weak and inaccurate.

 

Over-reliance on web sources.

 Referencing incomplete, or inaccurate.

Little or no paraphrasing with excessive use of direct quotations.

Deliberate or unintentional plagiarism.

Little attempt to apply APA system.

Large reliance on web sources.

 Referencing highly inaccurate or absent.

Paraphrasing non-existent.

.

 No meaningful attempt at referencing.

 

No attempt to use or apply APA system

 No attempt at referencing.

 

.

What month (and year) is summarized? What was the unemployment rate for that month? How does that rate compare with the rate in the previous month?

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DATA EXERCISE #2

Due at the End of Week 5

Format of the Project:

The Data Exercise must be posted to the LEO Student Assignments as a Attachments are limited to a maximum two files in doc, docx., xls. xlsx., or rtf. formats. OTHER FORMATS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE, will not be reviewed or graded.

Please note that hand-written and scanned works, pdf. files, jpg. files, as well as files posted in google drive, will not be accepted or graded.

The paper should be written in APA style Research Paper format.

No more than 20% of the text of the project should be made up of quotes.

Please note that Use of APA Citation Methodology is required for all parts of the assignment

Written projects must be:

  1. typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font, with margins no wider than one inch
  2. have footnotes or endnotes, with correct citations
  3. have a bibliography of sources used
  4. include, for each entry, the author, title, city and state of publisher, publisher’s name, year, and page numbers
  5. prepared using word processing software (Microsoft Word preferred), in a manner similar to the preparation of a written assignment for classroom submission

DATA EXERCISE #2  

Consists of three parts

Part 1: The Unemployment Rate (weight 30% of the assignment grade)

Complete the following exercise

Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web Site, www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm). Select Employment Situation Summary.

Please note that using the data from previously published releases and summaries will produce grade zero for this part of the project.

Write a report (1 – 2 pages double spaced) in your own words to answer the questions:

  1. What month (and year) is summarized? What was the unemployment rate for that month? How does that rate compare with the rate in the previous month?
  1. What were the unemployment rates for adult women, teenagers, blacks, Hispanics, and whites? How did these rates compare with those a month earlier?
  2. What factors make it difficult to determine the unemployment rate?
  3. Why is unemployment an economic problem?
  4. What are the noneconomic effects of unemployment?
  5. Who loses from unemployment?
  6. Please analyze and discuss the significance of the data that you received for this Data exercise. Reflect on what you have learned from this exercise.

Part 2: The Inflation Rate (weight 30% of the assignment grade)

Complete the following exercise:

Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web Site,

www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.toc.htm (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.toc.htm). Select Consumer Price Index Summary.

Please note that using the data from previously published releases and summaries will produce grade zero for this part of the project.

Write a report (1 – 2 pages double spaced) in your own words to answer the questions:

  1. What month (and year) is summarized? What was CPIU for that month?
  2. What was the rate of inflation (percentage change in the CPIU) for the month? How does that rate of inflation compare with the rate in the previous month?
  3. Which two categories of goods or services had the greatest price increase for the month?
  4. Which two categories of goods or services had the lowest price increase (or greatest price decrease) for the month?
  5. Who loses from inflation?
  6. Who benefits from inflation?
  7. Please analyze and discuss the significance of the data that you received for this Data exercise. Reflect on what you have learned from this exercise.

Part 3: Unemployment Data by Labor Force Groups and Duration (40% of the project grade)

Go to https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/erp

This is the home page of the Economic Report of the President.

Click on the last available Report, scroll down, and download individual tables as Excel.

Please note that using the data from previous Reports will produce grade zero for this part of the project.

  1. Find unemployment data (Table B–27.—Civilian unemployment rate) for each year 2000 to present. Use three labor force groups: men 20 years and over, women 20 years and over, both sexes 16 to 19 years of age.
  1. Present the result in your project as a table.
  2. Create one or more charts (line graph, bar graph, etc.).
  1. Find unemployment data (Table B–27.—Civilian unemployment rate) for each year 2000 to present by educational attainment (25 years and over). Use the following groups: less than an high school diploma; high school graduates, no college; some college or associate degree; bachelor’s degree and higher.
  1. Present the result in your project as a table.
  2. Create one or more charts (line graph, bar graph, etc.).

 

  1. Use the Economic Report of the President (Table B–28.—Unemployment by duration and reason) to find data on the duration of unemployment for each year 2000 to present.
  1.  Present the result in your project as a table.
  2. Create one or more charts (line graph, bar graph, etc.).

Write a report (1 – 2 pages double-spaced) in your own words about the results you received.

In this paper consider, but do not be limited to the following:

  1. Which years had the highest and lowest unemployment rates? How do the rates compare among these groups?
  2. Compare the unemployment rates by educational attainment. How do the rates compare among these groups? What relationship, if any, do you find?
  3. Compare the distribution of unemployment by duration over these years. Which years had the highest and lowest unemployment duration? What relationship, if any, do you find?
  4. Demographic studies show that the proportion of teenagers and minorities in the U.S. population is likely to increase in the near future. In your opinion, what implications, if any, will this trend have on the natural rate of unemployment?
  5. Please analyze and discuss the significance of the data that you received for this Data exercise. Reflect on what you have learned from this exercise.

 

 

How would you relate the information in the article to the propositions proposed by MM?

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This week’s readings in the textbook concern the capital structure decisions of firms–i.e., should a firm use debt or equity to finance its operations. The textbook describes the MM Propositions on the effect of debt on the value of the firm.

This discussion question takes a much broader view of the use of debt in our economy. Today, the use of debt is a given by all participants in our economy–governments, businesses, and consumers. Read the article “Repent at leisure” from The Economist. The article describes debt for various groups in the economy and across a variety of countries. Part of the article includes an interactive graph that visually examines debt levels around the world for various sectors of the economy.

Please read the article and ‘play’ with the interactive graph. Respond to the following questions:

  1. Describe and discuss the main points in the article–i.e., what did you learn from it?
  2. How have debt levels for various segments of society changed over time? What have been the benefits of this increased debt? What are the negative effects of it?
  3. How would you relate the information in the article to the propositions proposed by MM?

Assignments, which are data cases from the textbook, require current market data for their inputs. All market data (e.g., prices, rates, shares outstanding, etc.) must be current and the date the data is retrieved must be included in your analysis. Any solution using data that is more than one week old will receive a grade of 0.

Must use textbook as a reference

STUDYING CHAPTERS 14,15 THIS WEEK

Text book: Vitalsource.com (corporate finance)

Username sarah@lennondesign.com

Password Mazziotti1006!

Book: Corporate Finance found under the “my bookshelf” tab

 

How do you think you might go about answering the question? Do you have a preference for using quantitative methods such as survey based research, or for qualitative methods such as interviews and observation?

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UNIVERSITY DECITION AND FEEDBACK ON THE PROPOSAL:

The academics considered it is an interesting and substantively relevant choice of research problem. However, the proposal does not evidence sufficient familiarity with the literature and it is unclear why and how the study adds value.

Research proposal should look something like this:

  • Rationale for the research project, including: a description of the phenomenon of interest, and the context(s) and situation in which you think the research will take place; an explanation of why the topic is of interest to the author; and an outline of the reasons why the topic should be of interest to research and/ or practice (the ‘so what?’ question); a statement of how the research fits in with that of potential supervisor(s) in the Department of Management.
  • Issues and initial research question. Within the phenomenon of interest: what issue(s) do you intend to investigate? (This may be quite imprecise at the application stage); what might be some of the key literatures that might inform the issues (again, indicative at the application stage); and, as precisely as you can, what is the question you are trying to answer?
  • Intended methodology: How do you think you might go about answering the question? Do you have a preference for using quantitative methods such as survey based research, or for qualitative methods such as interviews and observation?
  • Expected outcomes: how do you think the research might add to existing knowledge; what might it enable organisations or interested parties to do differently?
  • Timetable: What is your initial estimation of the timetable of the dissertation? When will each of the key stages start and finish (refining proposal; literature review; developing research methods; fieldwork; analysis; writing the draft; final submission). There are likely to overlaps between the stages.

What cases from the book or mentioned in lecture apply here. Describe each case and their application?

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Law Scenarios Mid-Term

Spring 2020

For each of the scenarios below, answer the questions using your knowledge of media law and case law. Address the issue from both the plaintiff’s and the defendant’s view point. Define the terms you use and cite cases (and describe them specifically as to how they fit this case) we’ve discussed or read about in class, or other cases that you might be aware of. Detail is important here. Back up the following scenarios from a legal perspective, not your own.

Address these with each scenario….

  1. What is the case about specifically? (For example is a First Amendment case, a libel case, a copyright case, a FOIA issue, etc…). Define the issue. Be very specific.
  2. What cases from the book or mentioned in lecture apply here. Describe each case and their application?
  3. How could the plaintiff win? How could the defendant win?
  4. Define the legal terms you use in each scenario using your own words.
  5. With every answer, detail is important… be specific.
  6. Make sure not to use your opinion, but your legal knowledge.

Each answer should be a minimum of two pages. Some questions may require more like four pages to answer in full. Answer all three scenarios. Grammar counts for 10% of your grade. The rest of your grade goes towards answering the different questions that come up with each scenario.

 

SCENARIO 1

Sheila and Tom were getting divorced. They had two children. The divorce was particularly complex and acrimonious. During the course of the divorce, Sheila argued that she should have custody of the children because Tom had sexually abused the children when they were younger. Tom denied the abuse allegations and argued that Sheila was an unfit mother because she had a nasty temper and drank too much. After many months of litigation, the court eventually awarded custody of the children to Tom. The local newspaper ran a story about the divorced and custody ruling with the headline: “Losing custody to a ‘child molester.” Tom then sued the paper for libel.

  1. What is the case about specifically? (For example is a First Amendment case, a libel case, a copyright case, a FOIA issue, etc…). Define the issue. Be very specific.
  2. What cases from the book or mentioned in lecture apply here. Describe each case and their application?
  3. How could the plaintiff win? How could the defendant win?
  4. Define the legal terms you use in each scenario using your own words.
  5. With every answer, detail is important… be specific.
  6. Make sure not to use your opinion, but your legal knowledge.

Evaluate whether Tom has a good libel claim. What factors would matter in deciding whether Tom might win or lose?

 

SCENARIO 2

Trevor Noah (comedian and host of The Daily show) hosted a rally—the Rally to Restore Sanity—on the National Mall (in Washington D.C. where the statues and memorials are). Assume for the purposes of this scenario that the following are true representations of what happened:

Noah wrote an inspiring speech about the importance of logic and rationality as crucial tools in political discussion and debate. He also lamented the lack there of in most modern political debate and poked fun at several prominent commentators. Noah’s speech was written down on paper and he read it at the rally word-for-word.

During the course of the performance, Noah stood in front of a giant screen upon which was displayed several 20 second clips of various Fox News shows featuring various hosts and commentators, such as Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Megyn Kelly and others. Noah mocked the people in the clips as each was played, noting the contradictions in their statements.

Comedy Central (the TV station that broadcasts Noah’s show recorded the entire event and played the recording on the air.

Jennifer, a D.C.-area college student, also recorded the event on her digital camera. She immediately posted her video of the entire event on her blog.

Please evaluate:

  1. Does Noah have a copyright infringement claim against anyone?
  2. Does Fox News have a copyright infringement claim against Jennifer?
  3. Does Comedy Central have a copyright infringement claim against Jennifer?
  4. Does Jennifer have a copyright infringement claim against Comedy Central?

If there are any additional facts you think you need to know to make a determination, please say what those facts are and how they would help you decide?

Also, address these issues…

  1. What is the case about specifically? (For example is a First Amendment case, a libel case, a copyright case, a FOIA issue, etc…). Define the issue. Be very specific.
  2. What cases from the book or mentioned in lecture apply here. Describe each case and their application?
  3. How could the plaintiff win? How could the defendant win?
  4. Define the legal terms you use in each scenario using your own words.
  5. With every answer, detail is important… be specific.
  6. Make sure not to use your opinion, but your legal knowledge.

 

SCENARIO 3

Duane Benson, a solider from Lake Wobegon, MN, was killed in June by an IED in Iraq. His body was returned to Minnesota and Duane’s parents announced plans in the local paper, the Lake Wobegon Herald, for a funeral at the Luther church with burial to follow at the town’s lakeside cemetery.

Less than twenty-four hours after the announcement of a funeral plans for Duane Benson, the Reverend Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka posted a notice on the church’s website that members of the congregation planned to travel to Minnesota to protest at the Benson funeral ceremony. The notice came as no surprise. The Westboro Baptist group engages in protests at funeral and burial ceremonies from many soldiers killed in combat to show its hatred of America’s alleged tolerance of homosexuality. The Westboro group views homosexuality as an abomination condemned by the Bible.

When word got out of the Westboro gang was coming to Lake Wobegon, a group of townspeople met to plan a counter-demonstration designed to show their disgust with Phelps and his group’s agenda.

Duane’s funeral took place on a beautiful July afternoon. After a service at the church that brought most of the hundred or so funeral-goers to tears, a motorcade drove the mile to Lake Wobegon Lakeside Cemetery. What they saw as they proceeded through the cemetery gates made the mourners cringe. Gathered on a public sidewalk bordering the cemetery were about a dozen protesters carrying signs that read “God hates America,” “God Hates Fags,” “Thank God for IEDs,” and “Duane, Rot in Hell!: The group included two children, including a toddler wearing a diaper made out of an American flag and seven0year-old who, following the commands of an adult, was dumping pig manure on an American flag.

Duane’s burial plot was about 200 feet from the protest. As Pastor Ingkvist said prayers and the coffin was lowered into the ground, mourners could hear in the background the Westboro demonstrators chanting, “Welcome to Hell, Duane!” The mourners were also surprised to see, at the same time, a pontoon boat full of Lake Wobegonians cruise by the cemetery, about 199 feet from the shore. The boat deck with a banner reading, “We Love You, Duane!” Several members of the local barbershop quartet, assembled on the pontoon, broke into a stirring rendition of “Amazing Grace” in an attempt to drown out the chanting of the Westvoro demonstrators gathered by the cemetery fence. The adult members of the Westboro protest group were arrested after the burial service by Lake Wobegon’s police chief, Darryl Tolvesrud. Chief Tolvesrud charged the group with: (1) disturbing the peace (chanting during the service), (2) flag manipulation (diaper wearing and dumping manure on a flag), (3) child abuse (ordering a child to dump manure on a flag), (4) creating a public nuisance (based on the dumping of the pig manure), and (5) conducting a demonstration during a funeral or burial service. The latter charge was based on a Minnesota statute, enacted in response to previous Phelps protests, that prohibits “any demonstration within 300 feet of a church, cemetery, or other place in which a funeral or burial service takes place in the period from one hour before the service to one-half hour after the service.”

No charges were brought against any of the person on the pontoon demonstrating their support for the Benson family.

On month later, the Benson family filed suit against Phelps. The suit sought damages of $5 million for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Please discuss the First Amendment issues raised by the criminal and civil lawsuit brought against Westboro Baptist members.

  1. What is the case about specifically? (For example is a First Amendment case, a libel case, a copyright case, a FOIA issue, etc…). Define the issue. Be very specific.
  2. What cases from the book or mentioned in lecture apply here. Describe each case and their application?
  3. How could the plaintiff win? How could the defendant win?
  4. Define the legal terms you use in each scenario using your own words.
  5. With every answer, detail is important… be specific.
  6. Make sure not to use your opinion, but your legal knowledge.

Give 3 operational definitions for “anxiety” and explain how research using all 3 definitions could result in converging operations.

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Citations are not required. Answer all the questions. You don’t have to submit the question portion of the assignment, just be SURE that the answers are properly labeled so that it’s obvious what questions they belong to.

1A) What is meant by dehoaxing and desensitizing and how are these concepts related to debriefing?

  1. B) Comment on the “pros” and “cons” of “complete debriefing” in Milgrams’s studies on

Milgram’s study:-

In keeping with psychology’s penchant for drawing data-based conclusions, the APA committee took an empirical approach when developing the code. Using a procedure called the critical incidents technique, the committee surveyed the entire membership of the APA (about 7,500 members at the time), asking them to provide examples of “incidents” of unethical conduct they knew about firsthand and to indicate what [they] perceived as being the ethical issue involved” (APA, 1953, p. 4). The request yielded over 1,000 replies. Although most concerned the practice of psychology (e.g., psychotherapy), some of the reported incidents involved the conduct of research (e.g., research participants not being treated well). A second committee, chaired by Nicholas Hobbs, then organized the replies into several drafts that were published in American Psychologist, APA’s primary journal; readers were encouraged to comment on the drafts. The APA’s council of directors accepted a final version of the code in 1952 and it was published the next year. Although it was concerned mainly with professional practice, one of its sections in this first ethics code was called “Ethical Standards in Research.”

In the early 1960s, not long after APA created its first ethics code, a young, Yale psychologist named Stanley Milgram began a series of studies that became as well known for the questions they raised about research ethics as it did for their conclusions about human behavior. Milgram, who was Jewish, was motivated by questions about the Nazi Holocaust and deeply concerned about the problem of obedience to authority. (During the Nuremberg trials, a common defense used by Nazi war criminals was that they were just following orders.) Did the Holocaust reflect some basic flaw in the German psyche? Or is the tendency to obey authority found in all of us, produced when the circumstances are right? To answer his own questions, he developed his now famous research on obedience to authority. In the guise of a study on the effects of physical punishment on learning, Milgram induced volunteers to obey commands from an authority figure, the experimenter (who was actually a member of the research team and a high school biology teacher in real life). Playing the role of teachers, participants were told to deliver what they thought were high-voltage shocks (no shocks were actually given) to another apparent volunteer (also a member of the research team and a railroad payroll auditor in real life) who was trying, without much success, to accomplish a memory task (see Figure 2.1). A surprisingly high percentage of subjects complied with the “orders” from an experimenter to deliver shock and, in doing so, most subjects became quite distressed. In his original study, Milgram (1963) reported he had observed a mature and initially poised businessman enter the laboratory smiling and confident. Within 20 minutes he was reduced to a twitching, stuttering wreck, and was rapidly approaching a point of nervous collapse.

2) Pretend that you’re writing a research report (journal article) on the effects of education level on time to complete a puzzle. Make up an abstract using no more than 250 words (use the “Lecture Notes” on Research Reports as a guide – file attached as “Lecture Notes”).

3) Give 3 operational definitions for “anxiety” and explain how research using all 3 definitions could result in converging operations.

4) Suppose that I’m convinced that bald men are more intelligent than men with hair because the four bald men that I know personally are indeed intelligent. Comment on the problem with this type if evidence and how it “fits in” with science.

5A) You want to determine the effectiveness of speech therapy and you have a choice between implementing a withdrawal design or a multiple-baseline design, which would you choose and why?

  1. B) You want to determine the effectiveness of a new treatment that stops “self-destructive head- banging in severely autistic children and have a choice between implementing a withdrawal design or a multiple-baseline design, which would you choose and why?

6A) A researcher uses a multiple-baseline design to evaluate the effectiveness of a therapy to treat one given behavior in the same person but in 3 different settings. The results showed that, in all 3 settings, the “treatment” responses increased in frequency as anticipated. Also, results showed that when the behavior was treated in Setting 1, the behavior in Setting 2 and Setting 3 also increased in frequency (even if it had not yet been treated in Situation 2 and Situation 3). Draw a graph that illustrates these above-mentioned hypothetical results (hand-drawn graphs are acceptable). Be sure to label where appropriate.

  1. B) Given the results, what conclusion can be drawn about the effectiveness of the therapy?

7) How are a theory and hypothesis related?
Suppose that you were working from the theory “frustration causes aggression”, what might be a plausible hypothesis (be sure to operationalize your independent and dependent variables)? If your hypothesis was substantiated, what can we say about the theory and how should you proceed? If your hypothesis was not substantiated, what can we say about the theory and how should you proceed?

Identify its larger taxonomic group (loris, lemur, tarsier, New World monkey, Old World monkey, or ape).Explain how its traits justify its classification as a member of this taxonomic group.

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Use the “Primate Factsheets” assembled by The National Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets.Links to an external site.

For the primate species (or genus) that you choose:

a. Describe its geographic distribution, habitat, and diet.

b. Describe two unique anatomical traits.

c. Describe two unique behavioral traits.

d. Identify its larger taxonomic group (loris, lemur, tarsier, New World monkey, Old World monkey, or ape).

e. Explain how its traits justify its classification as a member of this taxonomic group.