Coping With Climate Change Health And Social Care Essay

Autonomous versions may non be to the full equal for get bying with clime alteration, therefore asking deliberate, planned steps. Many options for policy-based version to climate alteration have been identified for agribusiness, woods and piscaries. These can either affect version activities such as developing substructure or edifice the capacity to accommodate in the broader user community and establishments, frequently by altering the decision-making environment under which management-level, independent version activities occur. Policybased versions to climate alteration will interact with, depend on, or possibly even be merely a subset of policies on natural resource direction, homo and animate being wellness, administration and human rights, among many others ( Yohe et al. , 2007 ) . Extenuation Schemes Agribusiness, land usage and waste history for some 35 per centum of the GHG emanations that contribute to climate alteration ( Stern, 2006 ) . At the same clip, improved agricultural patterns can do a important part at low cost to increasing dirt C sinks and to GHG emanation decreases ( Metz et al. , 2007 ) . Cardinal extenuation schemes in the agribusiness sector include: improved harvest and croping land direction to increase dirt C segregation, Restoration of debauched lands, improved rice cultivation and farm animal and manure direction to cut down methane emanations and improved nitrogen fertiliser direction to cut down azotic oxide emanations in some agricultural systems ( Metz et al. , 2007 ) . Improved direction of tropical land offers a promising agriculture-based extenuation scheme. Reduced deforestation, more sustainable forest direction and acceptance of agroforestry ( integrating of tree and harvest cultivation ) have peculiarly good potency to capture important sums of C and other GHGs and, at the same clip, to lend to poverty decrease ( CGIAR, 2008 ) . Cultivation of productive eatage grasses that sequester C can be combined with tree seting in silvopastoral systems of cultivation. Agroforestry non merely captures C and helps keep dirt wellness through N arrested development and usage of film editings as fertiliser and mulch, but it besides provides fresh fish, fruit, lumber, fuel, medical specialties and rosins. This can assist better nutrition in agriculturist families through higher incomes and by straight adding diverseness to diets ( CGIAR, 2008 ) . Agricultural research can assist make new engineerings that will ease agriculture-based extenuation schemes. For illustration, research is afoot at CGIAR-supported international agricultural research Centres to engender new, drought-tolerant assortments of sorghum that will supply nutrient, provender and fuel all from a individual works, without current trade-offs among utilizations. In the wast e direction sector, bing engineerings for extenuation are available that can lend to improved public wellness as an input into good nutrition. These include waste incineration with energy recovery, composting of organic waste, controlled waste H2O intervention and recycling to minimise waste ( Metz et al. , 2007 ) . Beginning: FAO, Policy Brief on Food Security, Figure 2, June 2006, Issue 2. FAO ‘s ‘twin-track attack ‘ for contending hunger combines sustainable agricultural and rural development with targeted programmes for heightening direct entree to nutrient for the most destitute. As outlined above, the first path addresses recovery steps for set uping resilient nutrient systems. Factors that affect nutrient system resiliency include the construction of the nutrient economic system as a whole, every bit good as its constituents such as agricultural production, engineering, the variegation of nutrient processing, markets and ingestion. Track 2 assesses the options for supplying support to vulnerable groups. This survey is looking for family nutrient security appraisal attack. Household nutrient insecurity can be assessed utilizing direct and indirect measurings. Food Sufficiency Status Question ( Briefel et al. , 1992 ) , Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project Instrument ( Wehler et al. , 1994 ) , Radimer/Cornell Hunger and Food Insecurity Instrument ( Radimer et al. , 1992 ) and Food Security Core Model ( Bickel et al. , 2000 ) and Accumulative Food Security Index ( Maxwell, 1996 ) are among questionnaire-based instruments designed to straight mensurate nucleus behaviours and experiences related to nutrient sufficiency or nutrient insecurity and to be administered to the individual most responsible for nutrient and nutrient proviso in the family. The indirect measurings of nutrient insecurity which include income-based steps of poorness, use of nutrient security-related plan, indexs of fiscal adversity, anthropometric measurings, dietetic consumption and other wellness and n utrition parametric quantities, indicate the degree of exposure in which nutrient insecurity may be moderately inferred ( Radimer et al. , 1990 ; Office of Nutrition Policy and Promotion at Health Canada, 2002 ) . The Radimer/Cornell Hunger and Food Insecurity instrument identifies nutrient insecurity experienced at the family, single and child degrees and maintains that nutrient insecurity is a managed procedure ( Radimer et al. , 1990 ) . The family makes necessary accommodations to turn to nutrient insecurity with the kids being spared until nutrient insecurity becomes terrible. In other words, the grownups will digest hunger themselves so that their kids do non endure. While the Radimer/Cornell instrument has been used extensively in the United States, its application in a different cultural scene is comparatively limited ( Kaiser et al. , 2002 ; Studdert et al. , 2001 ; Welch et al. , 1998 ) . The Radimer/Cornell instrument has been shown to be applicable in Malaysia as a direct appraisal of family nutrient insecurity ( Zalilah, 1998 ; Zalilah & A ; Tham, 2002 ; Zalilah & A ; Ang, 2002 ) .Degrees of Food security:Extensive research in the late eightiess focused on understanding family nut rient security, nutrient insecurity, and hungriness. This work led to the development by an adept working group of the American Institute of Nutrition of the undermentioned conceptual definitions, which were published in 1990 by the Life Sciences Research Office ( LSRO ) of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology: Food security – â€Å" Entree by all people at all times to enough nutrient for an active, healthy life. Food security includes at a lower limit: ( 1 ) the ready handiness of nutritionally equal and safe nutrients, and ( 2 ) an assured ability to get acceptable nutrients in socially acceptable ways ( e.g. , without fall backing to exigency nutrient supplies, scavenging, stealing, or other get bying schemes ) . † It will be measured if families show no or minimum grounds of nutrient insecurity Food insecurity – â€Å" Limited or unsure handiness of nutritionally equal and safe nutrients or limited or unsure ability to get acceptable nutrients in socially acceptable ways. † Food insecurity is apparent in family members ‘ concerns about adequateness of the family nutrient supply and in accommodations to household nutrient direction, including reduced quality of nutrient and increased unusual header forms. It will be measured if small or no decrease in members ‘ nutrient consumption is reported Hunger – â€Å" The uneasy or painful esthesis caused by a deficiency of nutrient. The recurrent and nonvoluntary deficiency of entree to nutrient. Hunger may bring forth malnutrition over clip†¦ . Hunger†¦ is a possible, although non necessary, effect of nutrient insecurity. † Food consumption for grownups in the family has been reduced to an extent that implies that grownups have repeatedly experienced the physical esthesis of hungriness. In most ( but non all ) food-insecure families with kids, such decreases are non observed at this phase for kids. At this degree, all families with kids have reduced the kids ‘s nutrient consumption to an extent indicating that the kids have experienced hungriness. For some other families with kids, this already has occurred at an earlier phase of badness. It will be measured if grownups in families with and without kids have repeatedly experienced more extended decreases in nutrient consumption. Food insecurity and hungriness, as the footings are used here, are conditions ensuing from fiscal resource restraint. Hunger, for illustration, can happen in many state of affairss, including dieting and being excessively busy to eat. The measurement process described here, nevertheless, is concerned merely with nutrient insecurity and hungriness that occur because the family does non hold adequate nutrient or money to purchase nutrient. Hunger, in this position, may be seen as a terrible phase or degree of nutrient insecurity, instead than as a distinguishable or separate status from the more general experience of nutrient insecurity. Furthermore, while this status is normally associated with poorness, it is non the same thing as general income insufficiency. Rather, it is the status of want in this one country of basic demand ; its measuring captures the badness of want due to resource restraint in this one specific country of demand, as straight experienced and described by respon dents. The full scope of nutrient insecurity and hungriness can non be captured by any individual index. Alternatively, a family ‘s degree of nutrient insecurity or hungriness must be determined by obtaining information on a assortment of specific conditions, experiences, and behaviours that serve as indexs of the changing grades of badness of the status. Research over the past two decennaries has identified a peculiar set of this sort of status, experience and behaviour form that systematically characterizes the phenomenon of nutrient insecurity and hungriness. ( Derrickson, 2000 ) It is frequently utile, both for policy and research intents, to simplify the nutrient security graduated table into a little set of classs, each one stand foring a meaningful scope of badness on the implicit in graduated table, and to discourse the per centum of the population in each of these classs. Four classs have been defined for this intent: A family is classified into one of the nutrient security status-level classs on the footing of its mark on the nutrient security graduated table, while the family ‘s graduated table mark is determined by its overall form of response to the set of index inquiries. Families with really low graduated table tonss are those that report no, or really limited, food-insecurity or hungriness experiences. These families are classified as nutrient secure. At the other extreme, families with really high graduated table tonss are those that have reported a big figure of the conditions and are classified as nutrient insecure with hungriness ( terrible ) — i.e. , with hungriness at the most terrible degree measured in the U.S. The more meaningful separations are those that autumn in the in-between scopes of the graduated table. Here, families that affirm at least three of the index conditions are classified as nutrient insecure. Most of these are classified â€Å" nutrient insecure wi thout hungriness, † as the presence of adequate indexs, of sufficient badness degree to set up confidently the presence of hungriness among family members, is missing. A smaller figure of the food-insecure families show measured badness degrees higher up the graduated table, and have affirmed at least three of the ( normally adult ) hungriness indexs. These families are deemed to be describing adequate indicants of nutrient insecurity and reduced nutrient consumption to set up a high chance of hungriness among family members, and consequently are classified â€Å" nutrient insecure with hungriness. †Questions and Instruction manuals in USAID ModelIn the past four hebdomads, did you worry that your family would non hold plenty nutrient? ( Worry about nutrient ) This inquiry asks the respondent to describe their personal experience with uncertainness and anxiousness about geting nutrient during the old month. The interviewer should besides read the definition of a â€Å" family † that was developed during the readying of the questionnaire. Mention that this definition of family applies to all the inquiries with that term. In the past four hebdomads, were you or any household member non able to eat the sorts of nutrients you preferred because of a deficiency of resources? ( Unable to eat preferable nutrients ) One sphere of nutrient insecurity ( entree ) is holding limited picks in the type of nutrient that a family chow. This inquiry asks whether any family member was non able to eat harmonizing to their penchant due to a deficiency of resources. Preference can mention to the signifier of a peculiar nutrient ( i.e. , whole rice vs. broken rice ) , type of basic ( i.e. , millet vs. maize ) or a high quality nutrient ( i.e. , a piece of meat or fish ) . Preferred nutrients may or may non be nutritionally high quality. The interviewer should besides read the definition of a â€Å" deficiency of resources. † Mention that this definition of family applies to all the inquiries with that term. The respondent needs to reply on behalf of all family members In the past four hebdomads, did you or any household member have to eat a limited assortment of nutrients due to a deficiency of resources? ( Eat merely a few sorts of nutrients ) This inquiry asks about dietetic picks related to variety – i.e. , whether the family had to eat an unsought humdrum diet ( small diverseness in the different types of nutrients consumed ) . The interviewer should read the description of what a humdrum diet might be. The respondent needs to reply on behalf of all family members. In the past four hebdomads, did you or any household member have to eat some nutrients that you truly did non desire to eat because of a deficiency of resources to obtain other types of nutrient? ( Eat nutrients they truly do non desire eat ) This inquiry, which besides captures the dimension of limited picks, asks whether any family member had to eat nutrient that they found socially or personally unwanted due to a deficiency of resources. Often these are nutrients or nutrient readyings that are consumed merely under adversity. Different people may see different nutrients to be unwanted, so it is best non to supply illustrations here at first. The respondent needs to reply on behalf of all family members, harmonizing to his or her ain perceptual experience of the types of nutrient family members ate during the old four hebdomads. If more encouragement is required, the interviewer may give some illustrations utilizing any illustrations included in the questionnaire and reviewed during preparation. For all inquiries, it is of import to remind respondents that the illustrations are non an thorough list. In the past four hebdomads, did you or any household member have to eat a smaller repast than you felt you needed because there was non plenty nutrient? ( Eat a smaller repast ) This inquiry asks whether the respondent felt that the sum of nutrient ( any sort of nutrient, non merely the basic nutrient ) that any family member Ate in any repast during the past four hebdomads was smaller than they felt they needed due to a deficiency of resources. The respondent should reply harmonizing to his or her perceptual experience of what constitutes adequate nutrient for the demands of the family members. The respondent needs to reply on behalf of all family members. In the past four hebdomads, did you or any household member have to eat fewer repasts in a twenty-four hours because there was non plenty nutrient? ( Eat fewer repasts in a twenty-four hours ) This inquiry asks whether any family member, due to miss of nutrient, had to eat fewer repasts than the figure typically eaten in the nutrient secure families in their country. The respondent needs to reply on behalf of all family members. In the past four hebdomads, was there of all time no nutrient to eat of any sort in your family because of deficiency of resources to acquire nutrient? ( No nutrient of any sort in the family ) This inquiry asks about a state of affairs in which the family has no nutrient to eat of any sort in the place. This describes a state of affairs where nutrient was non available to family members through the families ‘ usual agencies ( e.g. , through purchase, from the garden or field, from storage, etc. ) . In the past four hebdomads, did you or any family member go to kip at dark hungry because there was non plenty nutrient? ( Travel to kip hungry ) This inquiry asks whether the respondent felt hungry at bedtime because of deficiency of nutrient or whether the respondent was cognizant of other family members who were hungry at bedtime because of deficiency of nutrient. The respondent needs to reply on behalf of all family members. In the past four hebdomads, did you or any family member go a whole twenty-four hours and dark without eating anything because there was non plenty nutrient? ( Travel a whole twenty-four hours and dark without eating ) This inquiry asks whether any household member did non eat from the clip they awoke in the forenoon to the clip they awoke the following forenoon due to miss of nutrient. The respondent needs to reply on behalf of all family members.Measurement Scalea. Categorical Ranking Assessment ( USAID Model ) : It calculates for each family by delegating a codification for the nutrient insecurity ( entree ) class in which it falls. The four nutrient security classs should be created consecutive, in the same order as shown below, to guarantee that families are classified harmonizing to their most terrible response. Calculate the Household Food Insecurity Access class for each family. 1 = Food Secure, 2=Mildly Food Insecure Access, 3=Moderately Food Insecure Access, 4=Severely Food Insecure Access. Category = 1 if [ ( Q1a=0 or Q1a=1 ) and Q2=0 and Q3=0 and Q4=0 and Q5=0 and Q6=0 and Q7=0 and Q8=0 and Q9=0 ] Category = 2 if [ ( Q1a=2 or Q1a=3 or Q2a=1 or Q2a=2 or Q2a=3 or Q3a=1 or Q4a=1 ) and Q5=0 and Q6=0 and Q7=0 and Q8=0 and Q9=0 ] Category = 3 if [ ( Q3a=2 or Q3a=3 or Q4a=2 or Q4a=3 or Q5a=1 or Q5a=2 or Q6a=1 or cQ6a=2 ) and Q7=0 and Q8=0 and Q9=0 ] Category = 4 if [ Q5a=3 or Q6a=3 or Q7a=1 or Q7a=2 or Q7a=3 or Q8a=1 or Q8a=2 or Q8a=3 or Q9a=1 or Q9a=2 or Q9a=3 ] b. Rasch measuring theoretical account ( USDA Model ) : The Rasch measuring theoretical account, which was developed chiefly in the educational testing field, assumes an implicit in continuum — in the present instance, of the badness of nutrient insecurity experienced by the family — upon which both points and families can be located, and assumes that the chance of a family confirming a specific point depends on the comparative badness of the family and the point. The single-parameter Rasch theoretical account, which is used to make the nutrient security graduated table, assumes specifically that the log of the odds of a family confirming an point is relative to the difference between the badness degree of the family and the badness degree of the point. Therefore, the chance that a family at severity-level H will confirm an point at severity-level I is: Ph, i=e ( h-i ) / ( 1+e ( h-i ) ) ( 1 ) where vitamin E is the base of the natural logarithms.three. Determining the nutrient security influencing factorsSeveral variables of family composing like incomes, outgos, basic comfortss, plus ownership, fiscal and material AIDSs received from authorities or non-government bureaus, employment position, etc. , factors have impacts on family nutrient security. Climate prima factors like income decrease, seasonal unemployment, wellness consequence, etc. , can impact family nutrient security. Literature besides showed more of the nutrient insecure families were populating below the poorness line, had a larger family size, more kids and school-going kids and female parents as homemakers. To supply grounds of family nutrient insecurity and place its indexs in Malaysia, the survey will analyze the associations between family nutrient insecurity with demographic, family, socioeconomic, and climatic factors. Chi-square trial and logistic arrested development will be utilized for comparing of factors between nutrient secure and nutrient insecure families and finding of factors associated with family nutrient insecurity, severally. Here, the chief intent is to find the chance that an person with a given set of property will fall in one pick instead than the alternate, i.e. , either nutrient secure or insecure non both. The dependent variable is dummy variable, which takes a value of 0 or 1 depending on the families ‘ nutrient security position. There are attacks developed for a chance theoretical account whose response variable is dummy one. These are: the Linear Probability Model ( LPM ) , Logit Model, and Probit Model. The pick of these theoretical accounts depends on the suitableness to suit the information. LPM has built-in draw dorsums. To advert some of these downside of: it lacks to demo the uniformity of mistake footings, hetroscedasticity ( the discrepancy of the error term is non changeless ) of the error term, possibility of the acquiring the chance map consequence out of 0 and 1, and the general lower R2 value. Owing to these cardinal jobs, LPM is non logically attractive theoretical account f or dummy antiphonal variables ( Gujarati, 1995 ) . Therefore, one can utilize Accumulative Distribution Function ( CDF ) viz. Logit or Probit theoretical accounts ( Gujarati, 1995 ) . The inquiry is that which CDF theoretical account to utilize. However, both can be used for dummy antiphonal variable most research workers choose Logit than Probit arrested development theoretical account. Therefore, Logit theoretical account warrant the estimated chances additions and ne'er stairss outdoors 0 to 1 interval and the relationship between chance ( pi ) and explanatory variable ( Xi ) is non-linear. Therefore, a logistic theoretical account, besides known as Multinomial Logistic Regression, uses to place the determiners of nutrient security and to measure their comparative importance in finding the chance of being in nutrient secure state of affairs or non. Prior to the appraisal of the logistic arrested development theoretical account that the explanatory variables need to look into for the being of multicolinearity. In this survey among the other methods, Variance Inflation Factor ( VIF ) uses to mensurate the grade of additive relationships among the uninterrupted explanatory variables. Where each uninterrupted explanatory variable reasoning backwards on all the other uninterrupted explanatory variables and coefficient of finding for each alar or subordinate arrested development computes. Following Gujarati ( 1995 ) , VIF is defined as: VIF ( X J ) = 1/ ( 1-Rj2 ) ( 9 ) Where, Xj = the jth quantitative explanatory variable regressed on the other quantitative explanatory variables. Rj2 = the coefficient of finding when the variable Xj regressed on the staying explanatory variables. As a regulation of pollex, if the VIF of a variable exceeds 10 that variable is said to be extremely collinear and it can be concluded that multicolinearity is a job ( Gujarati, 1995 ) . In a similar mode, to avoid the multicolinearity job among silent person ( qualitative ) variables Contingency Coefficients ( C ) need to be computed. It is defined as follows:four. Determining the influences of climatic agents on nutrient securityIndividual dimensions of nutrient security are non discernible per Se, and are considered a latent variable depending on the footings on several climatic factors and non-climatic factors observed variables. The theoretical account can be estimated through an extension of multivariate arrested development theoretical accounts. A hierarchical/ way diagram theoretical account in which some variables are dependent on one side and independent of the other. Unobservable ( i.e. , latent ) variables have besides to be dealt with. In the causal theoretical accounts literature ( Spirtes, Glymour and Scheines, 2000 ) , circles represent latent variables and boxes represent ascertained variables. Most of the hierarchal or multi-level theoretical accounts studied in the literature trade with mensural variables, so the arrested development belongingss are extended. One of the advanced parts of this research is the appraisal of latent variable theoretical accounts in complex study informations. Sing the complexness of the theoretical account concerned, two alternate appraisal schemes could be adopted for the appraisal of family resiliency: structural equation modeling and multi-stage modeling. Structural equation theoretical accounts ( SEMs ) are the most appropriate tools for covering with the sort of theoretical account illustrated in above figure. Structural equation patterning combines factor analysis with arrested development. It is assumed that the set of mensural variables is an imperfect step of the implicit in latent variable of involvement. Structural equation patterning uses a factor analysis-type theoretical account to mensurate the latent variables via ascertained variables, while at the same time utilizing a regression-type theoretical account to place relationships among the latent variables ( Bollen, 1989 ) . By and large, the appraisal methods developed for SEMs are limited to the usually distributed ascertained variables, but in most instances ( including this one ) , many variables are nominal or ordinal. It is besides possible to utilize generalised latent variable theoretical accounts ( Bartholomew and Knott, 1999 ; Skrondal and Rabe-Hesketh, 2004 ) to pattern different response types. This survey prefers to utilize SEM to gauge the influences of climatic alterations on nutrient security. The other attack explored is a multi-stage scheme for gauging the latent variables individually, based on the relevant ascertained variables. This involves the usage of assorted sets of ascertained variables to gauge the implicit in latent variables. In other words, the circles represent the common form in the mensural variables. The methods used for bring forthing these latent variables depend on the graduated tables of the ascertained variables. Traditional multivariate methods are based on uninterrupted variables, but most of the variables in household-level studies are qualitative ( nominal, ordinal or interval ) , so it is necessary to utilize different techniques for non-continuous types of variables.v. Determining the family header schemesFor early efforts to minimise family nutrient insecurity, several get bying schemes were found to be significantly different between the two types of families. More of the nutrient secure families were able to follow the schemes of selling va luable stuffs and borrowing money compared to the nutrient insecure families. The former with higher average income have assets and belongingss that they can sell or mortgage during periods of economic adversity. On the other manus, as nutrient insecure families had more school-going kids, cut downing outgos on kids ‘s instruction is an of import header scheme which includes bespeaking a school text edition loan, cut downing kids ‘s pocket money and expenditures on school demands and activities. On nutrient schemes, borrowing money to purchase nutrient and having nutrients from household members, relations and neighbours are ways to buffer the nutrient secure families from sing nutrient inadequacy. Most of the nutrient insecure families adopted the scheme on cooking whatever nutrient is available at place, including the usage of herbs, works shoots ( bamboo, manioc, banana ) or veggies grown by the families, domestic fowl or other domesticated animate beings ( coneies, c aprine animals, cattles ) reared for ain ingestion or hard currency, and fishing from rivers, lakes and sea. In other words, these schemes do non necessitate the nutrient insecure families to utilize money to buy nutrient. The schemes on cut downing sum of nutrients cooked for repasts, sum of nutrient consumption, nutrient fluctuations in repasts and ingestion of fruits and veggies did non differ significantly between the two families. However, decrease in the figure of repasts is adopted by more of the nutrient secure families than the nutrient insecure families. Typically, breakfast or tiffin is the repast excluded by these families ( Shariff and Khor 2008 ) . The usage of schemes to get by with short-run and long-run alterations in family income and nutrient inadequacy as direct indexs has been documented in many earlier surveies ( De Garine, 1993 ; Eele, 1994 ; Frakenberger & A ; Coyle, 1993 ; Watts & A ; Bohle, 1993 ) . Maxwell et Al. ( 1999 ) indicated that in both rural and urban scenes, four classs of get bying schemes related to dietetic alteration, food-seeking behaviours, family construction and rationing are normally adopted by families sing nutrient inadequacy ; nevertheless the specific header schemes within each class may change across scenes. Due to different environmental fortunes ( e.g. cost of life, rural versus urban civilization, instruction and employment position of adult females ) , the urban low-income families may use different specific get bying mechanisms to cover with income and nutrient inadequacy than rural families. Similarly, Davies ( 1996 ) has suggested that assorted facets of get bying behaviours ( definit ion, sequence of importance or badness, short-run versus long-run alterations ) may differ between locations ( e.g. urban versus rural ) and within a location ( angling versus agricultural community in a rural country ) . Shariff and Khor ( 2008 ) besides found that the rural low-income families used food-related get bying mechanisms ( cook whatever nutrient is available at place and borrow money to purchase nutrient ) during periods of nutrient insecurity. Based on the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring ( 1994~2000 ) , Dore et Al. ( 2003 ) reported that the usage of less expensive nutrient and ingestion of home-prepared repasts were prevailing get bying mechanisms among low-income Russian families to protect the dietetic consumptions of kids. Decreased frequence and measure of nutrient consumption, compromised diet in relation to nutrient quality, nutrient penchant and nutrient permutation, alterations in nutrient shop, sale of assets and borrowing nutrient or money were reported by households in Java during the Indonesia ‘s economic crisis in 1998 ( Studdert et al. , 2001 ) . There are several advantages of utilizing get bying schemes to mensurate nutrient insecurity such as the processs are simp le, low cost and comprehendible by many, can be used in combination with other steps of nutrient insecurity and gaining control some elements of exposure and complexness related to nutrient insecurity ( Maxwell, 1996 ) . Although several nutrient get bying schemes were associated with nutrient insecurity, the findings should be farther investigated and confirmed as these schemes may be context or puting specific. Finally, get bying schemes as nutrient security indexs should be validated against other indexs such as nutrient ingestion ( family, single ) , poverty steps ( income and outgo ) , single wellness and nutritionary position and grounds of nutrient insecurity ( climate alteration factors, natural catastrophes ) .

Oaklahoma Tornado

On Monday may 20th, 2013 a devastating tornado ripped through the small town of Moore, Oklahoma. This tornado was part of an outbreak of tornados that began in the plains on the 19th. Many towns were affected by Monday’s tornado however Moore got the brute of it. Moore is just 20 minutes south of Oklahoma City. The final death toll is 24 people; this was considered a miracle considering the amount of damage. Many rescue crews worked day and night to try to save as many people as they could. Everyone had to work together for it to be organized. Moore, Oklahoma is a town of 55,000 people. The first tornado warning was issued at exactly 2:40pm. This was 16 minutes before touch down of the massive twister. An average warning only goes out 8-10 minutes before a tornado. During this massive tornado outbreak, 28 tornados were reported touching down in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa. Tornados are rated on how severe they are on a scale called the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which is named after the man who invented it, Dr. Theodore Fujita. The Enhanced Fujita Scale goes from EF-0 (light damage) to EF-5 (incredible damage). EF-0 tornados are 65-85mph (105-137km/h) winds. EF-5 tornados are greater than 200mph (322km/h) winds. The national weather service originally classified the tornado that tore through Moore as an EF-4, but later changed it to an EF-5. This tornado was 2 miles wide at its widest point and traveled a 17 mile long path. Authorities said this was the deadliest tornado in the United States since 161 people died in Missouri 2 years ago. Over 13,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by this life shattering tornado. Originally 51 people were reported dead directly from the tornado and injuries sustained from it. That number later dropped to 24 people. It was said that bodies were counted multiple times in the field and reported but the official number came from the coroner’s office. Out of those 24 dead, 9 of them were children. 7 of those 9 children came were at the Plaza Tower Elementary school when it was turned to rubble. The Plaza Tower Elementary was smashed by the tornado sending many to the hospital. Hospital staff worked around the clock and called many extra workers in to help the overwhelming amount of people coming in. 299 were reported to be seen at any area hospitals. Moore Medical Center was evacuated after it was damaged from the storm. All patients were sent to either Norman Regional Hospital or Healthplex Hospital. Between those two 80 patients were seen for various traumatic injuries. Oklahoma University Medical Center treated 93 patients, 59 children and 34 adults. They treated injuries from minor cuts and lacerations to impalements and open fractures. St. Anthony Hospital treated 36 patients, 14 of them being children. They also transferred 3 patients to another hospital because of their injuries. 0 patients were reported to be seen at Integris Southwest Medical Center for trauma related injuries. On Tuesday 60 patients remained hospitalized following Monday’s tornado. Hospital staff worked nonstop to get done what needed to be done and to get people healed. Countless amounts of people came from all over to help. Some of the first to arrive were the first responders. Firefighters, EMS crews, police officers, the military and many more had to work together in a race against the clock looking for survivors and getting the injured help. Oklahoma army and air guard troops were activated to help search. Fire crews from all over Oklahoma came to help including the fire crew from Tinker Air Force base, which is the closest base to the affected area. 80 National Guard members were deployed for search and rescue. Because of the mass amounts of people coming to help the roads were packed. State Highway Patrol asked people not involved in search and rescue to stay off the roads so emergency responders can do their job. Firefighters used thermal imaging cameras (TIC) to find victims trapped in the rubble. Because crews worked all night the cameras helped see when it was too dark. The National Guard had other specialized equipment to also help. One of the first places searched was the Plaza Tower elementary. Rescuers pulled many children unharmed from the school and took them to a triage center set up in the parking lot. Cadaver dogs were used to sniff for survivors trapped in the rubble. At dawn new search and rescue teams moved switching out with 200 or so emergency responders who worked timelessly all night. Moore fire Chief, Gary Bird said they were going to search every building â€Å"at least 3 times†. After 24 hours he said he was confident there were no more suriviors or bodies. After a place or car was searched they were parked with a red X. An incident command system is needed in place of every disaster. In the case of a tornado everything needs to be smooth. The command post has to be located in the right spot. It must have good communication abilities and enough space for everyone to work. The command post should set up a place to receive 911 calls directly so they can quickly assign recon teams to where they are needed. It is also a good idea to have a TV at the post so they can watch what the news helicopters are covering and where needs the most attention. The Fire Department had an important role in the entire process. They have the tools and equiptment to extract vitims and 4Ãâ€"4 vehicals to access areas that others can not. EMS of course is very important. They were limited emergency treatment and transport so they did not become engaged in long rescues and so more patients can be seen in the hospital. EMT’s were limited to triage so the more advanced paramedics can do more treating en-route to the hospital. The police played a major role which was perimeter control. Many people wanted to see the damage which was getting in the way of workers. They also had to keep people back because of the hazards from downed power lines and natural gas leaks. Everyone that came to help played a role that was beneficial to everyone. This tornado was a terrible disaster. Mother Nature is a powerful thing and should never be under estimated. Everyone affected by this tornado is never going to forget this, but they all will get past it. The town of Moore will be rebuilt and stronger than before. All hospital staff will remember this day as one of the busiest days of their career. Incident command systems are always needed to be set up ASAP to get everything handled correctly and fluidly.

Microeconomics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Microeconomics - Term Paper Example The various market structures that are discussed within microeconomics are perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. One of the objectives of microeconomics is to analyze the mechanisms of market. Microeconomics sets up the relative prices amongst the services and the goods and allocates the available amount of limited resources among the alternative uses. Some of the significant fields of study under this branch of economics include asymmetric information, general equilibrium, game theory and choices under uncertainty. All wealth that fulfills the wants of consumers constitutes the wealth of a nation. Therefore, the aim behind expanding wealth is broadening the choices of the consumers in terms of quality, quantity and variety. Economists are involved in researches on the idea of free market with socially optimal allocation. The notion of competition constitutes the central part of economic theory. The objects of the choices available to the consumer are called the consumption bundle. The consumer has the objective of maximizing the well being. They are well informed about the availability of the goods in the market and desires variety in their consumption bundle. There are two sets of consumption bundles (x1, x2) and (y1, y2). The consumer ranks the availabilities according to their affordability. When the consumer is just satiated consuming the bundle of x goods as compared to the satisfaction he would have earned consuming the other bundle of y goods, according to his own preferences, then it is said that the consumer is indifferent. The axioms of consumer theory are complete, reflexive and transitive (Samuelson, 1956. p.3). The two axes represent a typical consumption pattern of goods 1 and 2. A consumption bundle (x1, x2) is offered along with the other bundles of consumption that are weakly preferred to the selected bundle. The other consumption bundles are called the weakly preferred sets. The indifference

Role of commercial banks in causing the financial crisis Term Paper

Role of commercial banks in causing the financial crisis - Term Paper Example On the other side of Europe, the G7 financial ministers have assumed the crisis to be an American problem until much of the European banking system effectively collapsed. In countries such as Germany, the bailing out of the major industries including the Hypo Real estate as well as European mega banks came to hit them hard as they are the big lenders. Other nations like Britain emulated what was happening and commendably made their banking systems to become national. By October 2008 many of the European countries including Canada had gone so far as to guarantee not only the deposits but as well the debts of the banks as well. The financial system in the world is the umbrella body that will be concerned with how all the institutions that deal with finances will work including the borrowing of money in the form of loans that will be repaid in a period that will be short or relatively longer. At times, the webs of debt and credit have always been fragile in times of panic, spreading problems from a part of the global economy to the other. The reason that is responsible for this is that when one link in the very intricate chain becomes weak and breaks and defaults on some debt, it can leave creditors hazardously short of funds, unable to assure the credit of other firms. In this way, the consequences of one failure can spread throughout the entire economy and hence the entire money market (Roubini and Mihm 117) . There are always marketing risks arising when financial institutions trade assets and liabilities as well as derivatives as opposed to holding them for longer investment, funding or hedging purposes, (Saunders and cornett 184). When this happens, the financial institutions are assumed to directly control the maturities of their assets and liabilities as well as the interest issues are concerned. As interest rates fall, many mortgage borrowers seek to repay their existing loans and refinance at a lower rate.

Family Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Family Assessment - Essay Example Caroline is 38 years old. She has a 15 year old daughter. Carol and her daughter lived alone until Carol’s recent marriage to Trey Reyes. Carol is a very successful Sales Manager and travels a lot with her company. Mrs. Janice Jackson and Carol have a very strong bond. Lenny is Mr. and Mrs. Jackson’s third child. Lenny Jackson is 33 years old married to Desiree and has one child, a son Marcus. Marcus is 9 years old. Shelldon Jackson is Mr. and Mrs. Jackson’s youngest child. Shelldon is 32 years old married to Leigha and together have a daughter 4 years of age. Lenny also has a son from a previous relationship. Lenny’s son Alex is 12 years of age. The Jackson family is extremely close. Mrs. Jackson is very involved in not only all of her children’s lives and activities but also those of her grandchildren. Mr. Jackson unfortunately is not allowed the same opportunity due to his rigorous work schedule. Mr. Jackson is a chef and has to be up early in th e morning to be at work for 4 am. So when he gets home he usually sleeps a lot of the time. Mr. Jackson is there whenever he can be. The Jackson Family is and always has been very female influenced and dominated. â€Å"A Woman’s intuition never steers wrong† is there family motto. The males have always taken the role as the main providers of the family. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson are very involved in their church community and scold their children when they are not. Mrs. Jackson was raised a strong Baptist believer. The children are not always able to be there because of work and busy schedules. Mrs. Jackson does not feel that is an appropriate excuse. There should always be time for God since He’s made time for you. The Jackson Family does manage to attend church together as a whole at least one Sunday out of the month. Developmental The Jackson Family has always declared home their safe haven. Which means no matter what mistakes you make in life, do not ever think h ome is no longer an option. Home in the Jackson Family is where the center and heart of love is. There is no problem too great to solve and no hurt too great that can’t be healed. Usually behind the solutions to every problem and every hurt was Mrs. Jackson. Mrs. Jackson is the backbone of the family, until about a year ago. About a year ago Mrs. Jackson was getting ready to leave work when all of sudden she could not catch her breath. After causing the serious concern of her co-workers an ambulance was called. Mrs. Jackson was taken to a nearby hospital and admitted. Mr. Jackson was notified and arrived right away. Not long after the entire Jackson Family was sitting in a waiting room waiting to hear news that would devastate them all. Mrs. Jackson kidneys were failing and she needed a kidney transplant right away. The entire family went through tests to see if they were matches none of them passed the test. Mrs. Jackson’s condition continued to get worse even on the dialysis treatment. Functional Mrs. Jackson has had to relearn how to live life. The change her family has seen in her is devastating. A once strong woman is now defeated and trying to survive. Now it’s the family’s turn to be the backbone. The only problem is Mrs. Jackson refuses to allow anyone to take her place even though the days become more and more difficult for her. Mr. Jackson finally decided to take a risky stand cutting his hours at work to be at home more with Mrs. Jackson to monitor her. This was of course against Mrs. Jackson’

Lithuania position on international security issue Assignment

Lithuania position on international security issue - Assignment Example A particular concern to the Lithuanian nation in terms of international security issues is the issue of war and terrorism. Through numerous armed conflicts and instability situations globally makes us reflect back on the main purpose of forming the United Nations (Shelton 18). The main purpose, which is to keep and maintain peace throughout the world. Lithuania, the United Nations member and a having a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, Lithuania is committed to this core objective and principle. Our common task, objective and guiding goal as a group of nations is to maintain and guarantee undivided security. We have to put our collective efforts towards stopping acts of terrorism and or war and to maintain peace be it in our country, our neighbor or any global nation (Berger 22). The following draft resolution for the issue regarding global terrorism and war and the efforts needed to be put forward, collectively as a group of nations in combating the vice and ensuring indiv idual safety and security. In January 2014, Lithuania took over the presidency of the Council’s Counterterrorism Committee and the relevant working group. This highlights the important issue of terrorism to the Lithuanian nation in promoting human security, promoting human rights and arms control and disarmament. With the danger of terrorist activities and war spreading globally, now is the right time to stop and reconsider the actions we ought to take in order to stop or put an end to the fighting. All terrorism should be stopped, be it in our homeland, neighboring nations, or in our regions. The nature of international security is dramatically altered, we are witnessing non-state actors, religious sycophants and rebellious criminal gangs terrorizing nations and threatening the safety and human rights of people. Terrorism has evolved dramatically to include the recent dangerous ISIS, which seeks a geographical annexation of

Literary Commentary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Literary Commentary - Essay Example But there is nothing inevitable about these outcomes. Such cycles of boom and bust in capitalist market economies are by no means laws of nature. To the contrary they are totally man made. They are specially designed and promulgated by the ruling elites of this country – the top one-tenth of the top one percent of the population. This narrow profit motive and lack of concern for the greater common good has accelerated the process of deterioration of environment. I am highly indignant about the nature of our economic system and the ethos of the political class that abets unjust practices. I am also restless to think of alternatives to the system, which we have tolerated and been complicit with for too long. As a symbol of my disillusionment with the both our lawmakers and business leaders, I have come to believe that the only meaningful change has to be propelled from below, meaning that they originate from the masses. Hence, I shall propose a novel change to our social norms w hich would greatly reduce the risk of economic and social crises in the future. I hereby propose that the youth of the country abstain from all sexual activity till the age of 25! I am sorry fellow students - I know how impossible a task this is for most of you! But being disciplined sexually during our teens and early adulthood will lead to great benefits for the economy, culture and beyond. I’ll explain how. At a time when the nation is going through economic slowdown, a measure of austerity needs to be followed. And there is nothing austere about activities like dating, romance and sex. In fact, these are luxuries even during a boom period for the economy, let alone during a crisis. For boys and young men, keeping their girlfriends happy and satisfied is a costly business. They have to take them out to dinners, to the cinema, buy them gifts periodically, etc, which consume valuable money. Usually, this money is not even theirs but of their parents, which makes it all the m ore objectionable. Another important loss is time. The amount of time young men spend in chatting with their girlfriends about apparently no particular topic is something the weak state of the economy cannot bear. Their time and energies can be better directed toward creative and constructive activities such as studying for exams, doing community work, or even yoga and meditation. The ‘savings’ in terms of money, energy and time that young men make is equally applicable to young women. Think of the multi-billion dollar beauty industry that promotes cosmetics, fashionable clothing, plastic surgery and other abominations. After all, the main reason young women dress up well and make themselves pretty is to attract the opposite sex. When all sexual activity under the age of 25 is outlawed, they would automatically lose incentive to waste valuable money on propping up their vanities. Diverting all this money into essential expenditures such as tuition fees will help extend quality education to more number of Americans. This will lead to the growth of social capital. This money could also be channeled into creating jobs in the manufacturing sector which has long lost out to foreign competition, thereby making ours a predominantly services industry. There is another

Reflective journal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflective journal - Research Paper Example Therefore, managers must be conscience of the ever-changing environmental dynamics for making appropriate decisions, strategies, and policies. Toys â€Å"R† Us-Australia has incorporated an adhocracy/creates culture where innovation and creativity is greatly encouraged as between the employees and the management with a long-term view of growth, product uniqueness, and maintaining market leadership. Removal of a key dimension such as empowerment will: Virgin’s founder and CEO, Richard Branson is well known for his strong work culture and strong business ethics. Virgin Atlantic has grown to become one of the largest airlines in Britain.(Martindale, 2007)His strong work ethic has seen the Virgin group grow rapidly since the terrorism scare in 2002. In line with this growth was the firm’s deviation from the norm by filling vacancies internally. This reward mechanism was highly motivational and saw capacity building amongst its employees build strongly in line with the firm’s overall growth and profit strategies. From such a young, inexperienced team, the management has grown from strength to strength and building a strong organizational culture based on performance setting, strong ethics, and dedication to close relations between various aspects of its business. A strong â€Å"create† culture is key for Toys â€Å"R† Us in light of the type of business it operates. The business primarily relies on high innovation and creativity to differentiate its products in the market as well as penetrating the market in line with the parent firm’s overall objectives of market dominance. Toys â€Å"R† Us has also diversified its business from traditional toy making to capture the broader market of expectant mothers under the line Babies â€Å"R† Us. The consolidation of this market requires extensive new product development to meet its profit

Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Art History - Essay Example Long time ago, pottery vessels would be used mainly for four functions. These functions include; eating, drinking, cooking and storage purposes. With respect to the artwork under analysis, the Red Figure Column Krater is one form of pottery that has an outstanding history rooted in the culture and lifestyles of the Greeks (Museum of Fine Arts). The Column Krater is made out of ceramic clay, and was mainly used by the Greeks to mix and drink wine. The Column Krater was valued as a special vessel, thus it was used majorly in households to serve wine to esteemed guests. The vessel is estimated to have come into existence around 470BC (Museum of Fine Arts). This paper will contextualize the Red Figure Column Krater within the parent culture. The red figure column krater originated for Greece. It should be understood that Greeks started engaging in pottery as early as the 7th Millennium BC (Museum of Fine Arts). Original use of pots specifically happened at the eastern peninsula of the Me diterranean Sea, in the Neolithic era. There have been various pieces of evidence which suggest that Greek culture might have been the starting point of all form of pottery. Pots made in the era range from the clay-made vessels to bronze-aluminum vessels. Most signatures of the artists behind ancient Greek artistic works have been found either on the vessels themselves are where they were found. Currently, signatures can be seen in ancient pots kept in most of the archives and museums in the world. Art History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words Art History - Essay Example The video considers a variety of early 20th century artists that implemented African art techniques, and argues that it was these early Western artists that in great part shaped the way later Western artists would use and implement African sculpture. The video goes on to demonstrate through side-by-side comparisons ways that Western artists appropriated African sculpture within their own work. It argues that in this appropriation Western artists oftentimes misinterpreted the African art. One such example comes in terms of a sculpture of an African face, and its appropriation in a Western painting. One of the weaknesses of the video is that it takes a somewhat pedantic view of influence in criticizing Western appropriation of these African sculptures. For instance, the video never gives an in-depth explanation of how the artists misread the African art. It also neglects to note that it may not have been the intention of the Western artists to accurately interpret the African art, but instead to implement its structural or artistic dimensions as a means of influence. Perhaps some of the most engaging elements are the video are the biographical footage it contains into the lives and apartments of early 20th century artists. These photos provide the viewer with direct insight into the lives and habitats of these Western artists.

Communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Communication - Assignment Example He is concerned about the impact of their current behavior on the quality of their event performance and on the health of the director. Q: There is indeed some deficiency in the team’s commitment and enthusiasm with regards to the envisaged event. Is there anything in particular that is diluting the interest and sincerity of the team members? The CEO of a major American company (owned by an Italian firm) was advised that he had to step in and take over more responsibilities with another company the Italian firm had acquired in Texas. He has to fly once a month from the US to Italy for a headquarters’ meeting, fly to Texas once a week to work with the staff there, and meet with all of the teams at the Italian-owned, Texas Company. The CEO has let the owners know that he is developing burn-out and exhaustion. The high school swim team meets every other week to plan for the summer fundraiser. The team’s seniors know that the next summer will be hectic for them because they will be working and planning college entrance activities. Because the swim team is a national competitor and travels to meets all over the country, they have to acquire these funds to offset the costs. The team’s coach advises them that they must help. They are balking and resist attending any of the planning meetings. The coach says that the lack of enthusiasm is undermining the work and potential fundraising of the entire

Adult learning and motivation Essay Example for Free

Adult learning and motivation Essay An exploration in to the multi-dimensionality of participatory behaviour; and what motivates adults to return to education. The research question that was initially formulated aimed to inductively generate a theory (Rothchild 2006; Cohen et al., 2000). Unfortunately, the initial question became subject to ethical challenges; and within a framework that would demonstrate rigour, validity and reliability, unsurprisingly; it was far better too approach/explore the multi-dimensionality of participatory behaviour; and what motivates adults to return to education. An enquiry designed around this approach has a better fit to a pragmatic framework (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007; Bryman, 2007) and the BERA ethical directives. Furthermore, this should help bolster the totality of coherence; or as Moss et al., (2009) would suggest as; ‘a chain of reasoning and logic’. Similarly, individual agency and how the experiences of adult learners’ are co/re-constructed (Clark 2011; Flowers 2009; p. 3) needed a greater relationship to an interpretivist epistemology (E891 Part 2: Action 2.9; Gage 1989). As the researcher primarily overlooked these factors that, in turn, determine what is seen as valid and invalid knowledge; then [those] factors would have been overlooked when inferences were made during the research process reducing the quality and internal and possibly external validity. Obviously, this incommensurability will be addressed before the researcher analyses any data generated (Bryman, 2007; p. 19). With these approaches better placed the researcher could demonstrate that generally social and cognitive phenomena are simultaneously quantitative and qualitative (Ercikan and Roth, 2006; p.16) and participatory behaviour is an outcome of the ‘meaning-made’ (Clark 2011) i.e. social-cognitive collocation. This would then show that cognition is co-constructed (Clark 2011) and re-constructed by experience resulting in the multiple interpretations that create the social realities in which people act (Flowers 2009; p. 3). It could be suggested that the initial ‘meaning-made’ is a primary motivator which persists until the time the learner feels satisfied (Park and Choi 2009), or, has achieved ‘what they set out to achieve’ (Gustafsson Mouwitz, 2008). This also implies that ‘meaning-made’ is mutable (Gibbons Bylsma 1984) and subject to further co/re-construction; adjustment; or complete abandonment. Research philosophy After extensive ‘Adult learner’ research and talking with tutors that instruct adult learners’ highlighted a distinct difference in the approaches from which children (Pedagogy – teaching method) and adults (Andragogy – teach how to learn) are taught. The implementation of informal learning methods, however, appears to have dominance in the adult education field (Gibbons Bylsma 1984). Therefore, in order to shape and advance the theory, research design and instrument/s required conducting a focussed literature review of several learning theories (see fig 1); namely, Knowles’s Andragogy Theory (Houde 2006), Cross’s Characteristics of Adult Learners (CAL) (Kohl-Frey and Schmid-Ruhe 2007; Crittenton Women’s Union 2012), Margin (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984) and Proficiency Theory (Gustafsson Mouwitz, 2008). Fig. 1 is showing the associated theories that characterize adult learners’ What becomes problematic is; adult learning has not been researched as vigorously as others areas of education, so the real challenge will be – as Hodkinson and Macleod (2010) encountered to anchor the line of enquiry in a combined paradigmatic harbor. In contrast to Hodkinson and Macleod (2010), the upcoming report will be combining the aforementioned theories with the following paradigms’ as they display a distinct homogeneity. Specifically, social (E891 Part 2: Action 2.5), and cognitive constructionism (De Abreu 2000), Interpretivism (E891 Part 2: Action 2.4; Gage 1989) with quantitative and qualitative data collection i.e. mixed methodology. A critical review of the initial report by Street (2013) and Holmes (2013) exemplified the scarcity of knowledge and understanding some had on the associated theories. Both commented on differing aspects of the line of enquiry, but these were conceptual in nature. Street (2013) illustrated that the researcher must remain aware of the macro/micro societal effect that the learning environment has on the adults lived/shared experience and Holmes (2013) suggested that there needed to be a better fit to the realities of the adult learner. With this in mind I re-conceptualized the report and reflected more specifically on the feedback and guidance. Therefore, in order to steer the paradigms so that they pull in the same direction, the aforementioned theories naturally occurring and overlapping dimensions will be grouped (i.e. constant comparison method; Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151) by their substantive statements (i.e. content analysis; Gillham, 2000; p. 137) and used to engender questions. This process generated four themes that naturally expanded upon their shared features. Social contact and Relationships Goal and relevancy orientated External expectations Internal expectations In order to check for consistencies/inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999; p. 217-8) between the questionnaires i.e. Phase 1 and Phase 2 and interview responses both datasets will be triangulated to assess the overall motivation/s toward participatory behaviour i.e. cross-sectional design (Bryman, 2006; p. 104). This ‘Mutual’ approach (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007) will be implemented during the adult learners’ regular session/s, which should (1) reduce bias (Nederhof, 1985) and attrition (Torgerson 2009), (2) be more pragmatic than experimental research (Torgerson 2009), (3) increase internal validity, reliability and research quality, (4) support external validity and (5) decrease demand characteristics due to any researcher effects. Research enquiries can be polarized into qualitative and quantitative classifications based on how phenomena are represented (Ercikan and Roth, 2006). But, the researcher firmly believes; if representative qualitative and quantitative data have shared aspects that are dependent on their counterpart for completeness (Ercikan and Roth, 2006; p.16; Bryman, 2006; Bryman, 2007), then the incorporation of cross-validation is warranted to best serve this enquiry. This strategy should ensure internal validity; especially when considering using complementary methods (Armitage and Keeble-Allen, 2007). Moreover, as these quantitative and qualitative counterparts contain a fundamental element of the interactive dependency that is shared, and required, for individual understanding i.e. the connectivity of interactivity and the influence on representative individuality then the research must be aware to consider that both methods have shared and conflicting elements. Consequently, when considering multidisciplinary approaches, mixed methods i.e. quantitative and qualitative and triangulation one must be aware that incommensurability can exist between them. Brannen (2005) suggests that some methods become more feasible than others and deemed a better ‘fit’ as [they] provide more sensitivity when investigating complex social phenomena. Hence, certain methods, used in conjunction can become less than complimentary with the other. Additionally, Yin (2006) suggests that the ability to tighten the use of mixed methods so that they do in fact occur as part of a single study requires integration. The claim is that, the more that a single study integrates mixed methods, the more that mixed methods research, as opposed to multiple studies, is taking place (Yin, 2006). Furthermore, Houghton et al., (2010) highlight one of the ethical challenges, which have important implications for qualitative research, practical examples and solutions. The unpredictability of qualitative research means that an a priori prescription for ethical conduct is not always possible. Therefore, the researcher must be constantly mindful of the on-going impact that the research might have on those involved, while simultaneously being ethically sensitive and morally competent Although, mixing methods does provide an inferential narrative to the statistical outputs from quantitative analysis, it might not sufficiently negate the qualitative and quantitative dichotomy (Yin, 2006), or, necessarily produce the expected scholarly standard for presenting credible evidence (Maclure, 2005). These qualitative and quantitative complements are noticeably even arguably intrinsic facets of social/cognitive interaction/functioning; hence, the methods used to collect data in this enquiry will be trying to procure what happens when the internal interact/s with an external influence/s (Yin, 2006). This illustration provides a start for thinking about yet other types of mixed method research. The point is, if a relationship is completely absent— particularly where two or more methods address wholly different dependent, independent, or descriptive variables—the mixed methods are likely to form separate studies, not a single study (Yin, 2006). All these influences are important and relevant, but they are only some of the processes that, together, comprise a complex social world and unfortunately; understanding that the relevance and value assigned to learning by adults’ highlights the importance induced, does not necessarily liberate them (Hacking 1999; p. 2) from any disenfranchisement they could feel. Likewise, the researcher understands that the aforementioned factors are not the only variables that are existent; however, the researcher is of the opinion that those factors (see fig. 3 + 4) are the most prominent from the observations made and literature review conducted. Research Design Fig. 2 is illustrating the design and flow of data analysis that establishes the internal validity, reliability and quality of the research enquiry. Historical background Considering participation in adult learning since 1996 we see it has remained around 40% for those of working age (16 – 69) for seventeen years. These were either currently participating, or had recently participated in the last three years. Of those that did participate, there is an equivalent amount that has not participated since leaving full time education. Although, 80% of students’ currently participating intend on continuing in further education after they have completed the present course (see Tab.1). Whilst participating in Further Education and Lifelong Learning I observed a possible explanation for the existence of these variances (that being relevance and value). A possible explanation for the disordinal interaction (percentages decrease in the ‘Likely to learn in the future’ group whilst percentages for ‘Unlikely to learn in the future’ group increase) demonstrated in table 1 could be; the further in years an adult moves away from education the less relevance and value they attribute to returning to it. Or, is it as Siraj-Blatchford (2010) may suggest; that the adults are overscheduled and more committed to sustaining the home environment and maintaining a career with ‘on the job’ training. Multimodal Heuristics Informal learning is seemingly multimodal i.e. being valuable and relevant to the matter at hand and socially constructed through long/short term interactions (GTC 2006). The informal learning mechanisms that mediate influence shapes learning environments’ (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6), cognitive processes and our social interactions (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6). ‘Meaning’ then, is co/re-constructed by experience resulting in the multiple interpretations that create the social reality in which people act (Flowers 2009; p. 3). And as Vygotsky would state; context affects cognitive and by way of behavioural activities (De Abreu, 2000; p. 3) Bruner’s suppositional framework suggests that learners form new ideas or theories based upon what they already know (GTC 2006). His theory of learning, not only, related to the way childrens thinking developed, but it could also be applied to adults learning new and unfamiliar material (GTC 2006). Learners, as Bruner proposes, are creators and thinkers through the use of inquiry (GTC 2006). The process of which how learners dynamically construct knowledge is heavily in focus: implying the transformation of information, which suggests that Bruner’s theory of Constructivism falls into a cognitive domain (GTC 2006). Learners are provided with opportunities to construct new knowledge and new meaning from authentic experiences (Brockmann 2011). As a result, this exposes the pivotal role Multimodal Heuristics start to have when adults’ decide to return to education. For instance, a parent can reassure a frightened child that ‘shadow monsters do not exist!’ Although, a sibling can suggest leaving the light on to scare the monsters’ away. This indicates that informal learning can alter our worldview (e.g. ‘When did you stop believing in Santa?’) if it is seen to offer a plausible solution. This supports the concept of how informal learning can contribute to our understanding, cognitive processes (De Abreu 2000), social interactions, and the associated behaviours (Schwartz 1995; p. 5). These multimodal components; not only determine the level of commitment and motivation (Park Choi 2009) that is ascribed to the retention of relevant and valuable information (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984; p. 23), but also contributes to the ease of transfer and retrieval of that information (Ekey 2012). The characteristically pragmatic nature of adult learners’ (Abdullah, et al., 2008; Kohl-Frey and Schmid-Ruhe 2007; Crittenton Women’s Union 2012) also demonstrates this need/requirement for information to have applicability to their life. This is determined by the perceived applicability it has to their future experiences and interaction. The internal dimensions of meaning-making are also multimodal (Clark 2011) and seemingly derived from the combination of the value and relevance (or Multimodal Heuristics adults’ decide, through cognitive appraisal, their own level of involvement) assigned by the adult to measure applicability. Consequently, we could suggest that this is an ad hoc contribution to our social cognition (Aronson et al., 2005; p.57 – 64; De Abreu 2000; p. 4), our availability heuristics (Rules of thumb; Aronson et al., 2005; p. 74 75) and the associated behavior and schemas (Aronson et al., 2005; p. 59 61), which then assist navigation of social environments’. Unfortunately, understanding that the relevance and value assigned to learning by adults’ highlights the importance induced, does not necessarily liberate adults’ (Hacking 1999; p. 2) from the disenfranchisement they could feel in institutions where learning is delivered primarily from a traditionally pedagogical approach. Similarly, these interactions are situational and experienced directly by participation, so it will be difficult to generalize the results further than adult learning. Theory development Essentially, humans tend to seek out information that confirms what they think/believe to be most relevant or true to their experiences and/or future interactions; a relative cost-benefit/means-end (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6) cognitive appraisal that enables Multimodal Heuristic co/re-construction (Clark 2011). This process begins to filter out information that is considered worthless. The cost-benefit (Primary appraisal) and means-end analyses (Secondary appraisal), along with the personal value and relevance adults’ assign to learning (‘rule of thumb’ Gustafsson, L., Mouwitz, L. (2008); p. 5) appear to be hierarchical and Maslowian in nature. Additionally, an adult must consider, through means-end analysis, the benefit of actively participating and building upon their knowledge and experience, throughout their participation in learning. Ultimately mediating their need for satisfaction i.e. Socio-emotional negotiation and selectivity (Houde 2006). As a result, for the adult to consider participation Multimodal Heuristics must negotiate support for expectation and assess the benefit knowledge, learning and education have in recompense for reorganizing multiple obligations, and competing priorities (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 12). Therefore, is socio-emotional negotiation and selectivity a process of fragmenting information so that it creates a heuristic commensurability with an individual’s normative social and cognitive functioning, which therefore, influences behaviour i.e. influential connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity affecting the potentials for action? Fig. 3 is showing the internal framework of the decision making, and meaning-making, mechanisms that help generate mental constructs of multimodal heuristics. To some degree, we can compare the assessment of value and relevance to Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) description of Proficiency Theory, and, means-end and cost-benefit analyses to McClusky’s Margin Theory (1974, as quoted in Gibbons Bylsma 1984). These theories emphasize a need to be competent at tasks’ whilst being realistic about certain physical, mental and social capabilities. If there is conflict between primary and secondary appraisals this could be seen as a violation of expectation (Deffenbacher 1993), which may account for drop-out rates, serial signers’, absenteeism, non-participation in task relevant activities, specific course popularity, the cost-benefit/means-end analysis (Evans, et al., 2010; p. 6; Geertz 1993; p. 4 5) for staying the course and societal perception of lifelong learning (Tab. 1). For instance, after asking my students’ (12 in total) if they had any questions about what had been learnt, they responded with â€Å"what would I do if†¦?† and â€Å"When would I use†¦?† As there were only subtle variations in discourse, in regards to relevance and value, I feel this highlights (1) what comprises Multimodal Heuristic co-construction, and (2) what is required from information when it is presented outside of their interpretation of it. Moreover, adults maintain autonomy (Gibbons Bylsma 1984) by performing a cost-benefit analysis to justify their participation; being that peripheral or full (Swan 2005; p. 5). Firstly this, amongst others mentioned, will form the basis of ‘what counts as value and relevance evidence’, and, from which, quantitative data will be collected (questionnaire). Lastly, the quantitative data will be qualitatively complemented with a semi-structured interview to produce a rich narrative and attain thick descriptions (Geertz 1993). The semi-structured interview will be conducted with a subset of the surveyed group and will represent a cross-section of the adult learners’ in that group i.e. single parent, co-parent and a single male/female with no dependants. And as Denscombe (1999) and Brockmann (2011) found; interaction is situational and experienced directly by participation, making it essential to respect [their] views, with, further recognition given to the possibility that [their] priorities may not reflect the general consensus view or official theory. For example, Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) have reported; what is valued and encouraged in formal learning environments lacks to varying degrees explicit relevance in the workplace. Therefore, adults must demand a greater degree of relevance, value and satisfaction when deciding to return to, and participating in, education (Abdullah, et. al. 2008; Houde 2006). Fig. 4 is showing the internal framework of secondary appraisal that aims to justify the decision made and validate the perception of learning by paralleling meaning-made with the realities of the study. Illustrating, not only that the individual agency of these interpretations of relevance and value are co/re-constructed (Clark 2011) cognitively (GTC 2006) and socially (Hacking 1999), but also that adults’ apply this form of Heuristic Multimodality when seeking satisfaction from having their expectations fulfilled. Park Choi (2009) have reported that relevance and satisfaction, being sub-dimensions of motivation, are known to be interrelated with various course-related issues. Even though the societal influences mentioned in this report can modify (1) the assessment of relevance and (2) affect the personal satisfaction adults cultivate (Park Choi, 2009) they can also mediate and reinforce participatory behavior (Park Choi, 2009) by enhancing the importance adults’ induce when deciding an academic and/or social level of involvement (Gibbons Bylsma 1984). Furthermore, students’ have asserted that relevance is a significant mediator in their assignment of value. Many students’ have commented that relevance paralleled the value assigned to learning and their specific choice of subject(s). These statements were observed over time and place using a relative constant comparison method (Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151). Their comments demonstrated the application of a cost-benefit and means-end analysis e.g. â€Å"How relevant is†¦in the big scheme of things?†, â€Å"When would I use†¦?† and â€Å"I don’t see the relevance? Evidently, the use of Multimodal Heuristics acts as a mechanism that could also increase commitment, dedication and motivation (Park Choi 2009). In constant comparison data are compared across a range of situations, times, groups of people, and through a range of methods (Cohen et al., 2000; p. 151 2). The process resonates with the methodological notion of triangulation. The constant comparison method involves four stages: Comparing incidents and data that are applicable to each category, comparing them with previous incidents in the same category and with other data that are in the same category Integrating these categories and their properties Bounding the theory Setting out the theory The subjective ontological/epistemological view, research design and methodology exhibited in this report is sufficient and necessary to explore this direction of enquiry, if it were absent, it would prove problematic supporting a theory with an accompanying objective approach that advocates detachment (Flowers 2009; E891 Part 2: Action 2.2; Gage 1989; E891 Part 2: Action 2.5), when, in this case, it is more advantageous to explore the subjectivity of individual agency, participatory behaviour and situational experiences, motivation, and, the personal value and relevance assigned to learning, as these are closer to the truth. Instrument Design There will be two distinct phases to data generation; firstly, questions will be formulated from each of the four themes that CAL, Andragogy and Margin and Proficiency theories appear to create and then randomly assigned (Nederhof, 1985) to a questionnaire. A descriptive analysis of each question will be conducted to address whether the aforementioned multi-dimensionalities of adult learners’ are being considered. The strength of the trend in the agreement/disagreement should build a picture of the shared experiences. These questions will then be relocated back to the themes that created them, scored (Likert Scale; the higher the score the more relevance and value is attributed) and compared with the descriptive analysis to, not only generate a semi-structured small group interview schedule (Gillham, 2000), but also to get a sense of what is personally valuable and relevant about learning. This is an attempt to demonstrate; how meeting these multi-dimensionalities may be instrumental in maintaining learner participation (Park and Choi 2009). Furthermore, by mapping these realities, establish whether they support the general consensus view of these adult learning theories. An opportunity sampled group (16 – 35+) will be surveyed using this questionnaire (13 in total) with a small group interview being administered to a subset of the surveyed group (5 in total). Ideally, this subset should be representative of the adult learners’ in that educational facility. Even though the whole group will be opportunistically surveyed; in phase 2 every effort will be made to be more purposive. In order to support internal validity and ensure the reduction of any bias the incorporation of a ‘social desirability’ measure (Nederhof, 1985; SDR) will be added to the questionnaire. Certain questions will be cross referenced with one another to assess whether the adult learners’ are responding in a socially desirable way. This local blocking technique should increase the internal validity of the questionnaire, enhance the internal consistency of the small group interview questions, reduce bias and maintain rigour when all the data is analysed. This should also allow individual agency (E891 Part 2: Action 2.4; Gage 1989; Denscombe 1999), shared experience and the personal value and relevance attributed to learning to be highlighted. Due to the amount of data that could have been reported the evaluation will be specifically limited to the triangulation narratives of the ‘Theme Summaries’, interview data i.e. content and descriptive analysis (Clark, 2011). The researcher firstly formulated questions from these naturally occurring themes and searched for consistencies and inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999) between the summary narratives (Gillham, 2000) and statistical outputs from the descriptive analyses (Bryman, 2007). Phase 1 As there were 30 questions generated from the four themes the in-depth analysis of each question will be triangulated and presented in the theme summaries. In an attempt to expose any consistencies/inconsistencies (Denscombe, 1999; p. 217-8) in the responses the data will be compared against the learning theories that created them: ensuring validity. Consequently, due to the amount of quantitative data generated from the in-depth analysis of the individual questions, this report will only include the second stage of Phase 1 i.e. descriptive analysis and theme summary triangulation. The interview responses from Phase 2 will be further triangulated with these summaries and content analysed to highlight the adult learners’ realities and ascertain what influences their decisions and motivates them to return too education i.e. by constant comparison method. Theme Summaries Social contact and Relationships Q1, Q2, Q6, Q7, Q17 Q19 and Q30 The adult learners’ appear to value social interaction and feelings of reciprocal respect whilst participating in learning, which demonstrates that the adult learners’ value a sense of ‘belonging’ (16/21). However, there is a small percentage that does not see ‘belonging’ as being of value. Therefore, the feelings of reciprocal respect and support cannot be generalised as influencing their decision to continue in learning. Internal expectations Q10, Q13, Q14, Q15, Q18, Q22, Q26, Q28 and Q29 This theme relates to the adult learners satisfaction. Satisfaction, being a sub-dimension of motivation, is something that must be regarded as paramount in the adult learning experience. The consistent attendance of the adult learners’ at the session/s is testament to their satisfaction with the course and the delivery thereof (18/27). In essence, if the adult learner considers that the potential learning opportunity is not transferable to the workplace, is not satisfied, or perceives it as inadequate at providing improvement to their problem solving capabilities could ultimately diminish their motivation to participate. Goal and relevancy orientation Q3, Q4, Q5, Q9, Q11, Q16, Q20, Q23, Q25 and Q27 External expectations Q8, Q12, Q21 and Q24 As these last two dimensions, respectively and comparatively, share a greater degree of similarity they will be interpretatively combined and presented together. Looking at these from a political perspective; the demand for lifelong learning to have greater prevalence in society sets an industry standard that demands conformity to it. Subsequently, this appears to facilitate the re/co-construction of self-directedness and the personal interests of adult learners’ so that they begin to mirror ‘what is required of them’; which is indicative of a cost-benefit/mean-ends analysis. Therefore, some adult learners’ might be so focussed or motivated on getting the qualification that they adjust their sense of self-direction in order to reorganise their lives and satisfy what is required of them i.e. Mutability for the betterment of self. It could also be suggested that the pressure too have certain qualifications encourages participatory behaviour in some adult learners’ and determines the relative conformity to industry demands and learning the required skills i.e. something they adapt to rather than adapted for them (Q8, Q9 and Q10). Conformity, in this sense, would then act as a pre-determinant to achievement; the perception of economic sustainability and upward mobility and what value, and relevance, learning has. Not surprisingly, this could be one reason why thousands of people leave their jobs: they only took the job because it is what was demanded of them, which is in direct conflict with their personal interests, self-directedness and life goals. Which also illustrates that cognition can be influenced by social interaction and be co/re-constructed by experience and meaning-made. The questionnaire included items that let the participant assess the value and relevance they attribute to learning as an adult. The overall strength of this agreement was guided by their experiences as an adult learner. However, some of the diagnostic questions seemed to be complex and ask two things of the participant. As this is a major source of error (Hammersley et al., 2003) the validity of those questions will be scrutinised as the participants may have weighted one aspects of the complex question more important than the other aspect, hence, an adumbrated response i.e. a decrease in validity. However, all of the responses were reduced to one mean average for that individual question, and as these were pooled from the four themes that characterise adult learners’ it reduced sampling error and bias. Furthermore, as there was a two stage analysis in phase one the validity of the research instrument is strengthened; especially when we factor in the use of the SDR measure to control for bias (Nederhof, 1985) and the encouragement of omission (Hammersley et al., 2003) when the participant had no opinion. What we cannot suggest at this stage of the analysis, however, is that the shared experience led to a shared meaning. As Denscombe (1999) ascertained; the perceptions of the individual are not always consistent with the general consensus view (Brockmann, 2011) of the group as a whole. This extends to the meaning-made and the individual nature of the meaning-making process. The surveyed group cultivated differing levels of relevance and value from their shared experiences. But, this was seemingly determined by the level of relevance and value that was extrapolated from their continued participation. Hence, the individual agency of meaning-making is an outcome of the level of value and relevance attributed to the shared experiences of learning as an adult, the level of satisfaction and a sense of mutability for the betterment of self. Phase 2: Narrative of Qualitative data Before the triangulation, constant comparison and content analysis the researcher must point out that (1) this was a small scale study, (2) the interviews was held in a small group so full disclosure by each participant was not always possible and (3) the results should not be over generalised to other adult learning situations. All that is being sought is an insight in to the connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity and the subsequent influence on representative individuality; the multidimensionality of participatory behaviour and what the adults felt their motivations for returning to education were and still are. This should (1) map the external/internal influences on the adult learner; (2) expose the dimensions behind this seeming connectivity of socio-cognitive interactivity that create the potential/s for designated types of action i.e. Multimodal Heuristics and (3) if the analysis supports the researcher’s theory and the adult learning theories that feature in this enquiry. Some of the interviewee’s shared a meaning to one degree, but had a different meaning-making process before reaching that decision; the salient feature was a shared-meaning in a shared-goal in reaching university or attending a higher level course from the successful completion of the current course of study. This gave them a common ground on which to build upon ‘what learning means’ to them on an individual basis whilst allowing the shared-meaning element distinguish and define their individual social relationships in the class; whom they sought clarification from; what level of involvement they chose and what comparative judgements they begin to make on others in the session/s. Walter: â€Å"Well I think if you do†¦ I think if you do†¦like, we are social people, things†¦we are social and that’s that, that’s what we are†¦we are designed to be social people, if we exclude ourselves we do not, you know, we lose all basic human function, it’s like the guy at the front, you know he doesn’t †¦ he can exclude himself, he doesn’t do anything, he doesn’t enjoy being here, doesn’t have any excitement about coming and learning†¦if you exclude yourself from everyone else you’ll probably not learn!† Serena: â€Å"I like learning with a group but then it’s dependent on what I do with that information†¦but when it’s writing things down or posters and stuff I can’t have other people touching.† This illustrates that the need to feel self-directed and sometimes being free from outside interference is just one of the commonalities we start to see in the participants responses. Although, some of the interviewee’s do highlight that; Sally: â€Å"I came because I needed to do it, but now I quite, I’ve more motivation to do it because I enjoy it.† Therefore, the individual agency of meaning-making is, not only an outcome of the level of value and relevance attributed to the shared experiences of learning as an adult, the level of satisfaction and a sense of mutability for the betterment of self, but also the means/ends-cost/benefit interconnectivity seen in their decision-making process i.e. motivated to do it and their continued participation in the session/s that seemingly contributes further to the mutability for the betterment of self in these adult learners. The individual meaning-made is a product of these connective interactivities varying – and individually decided high/low levels of cost/benefit the course has and what perceived means/end reward the course provides for successful completion i.e. the multimodal heuristic factors that led to participatory behaviour and satisfaction. The shared-meaning is an accidental affinity that becomes synchronous with other people that are pursuing a similar goal as them. This suggests that they share similar educational values and relevancies due to their common or shared goals. The shared-meaning dimensions presumably start to mediate the differing high/low connective interactivity level in the cost/benefit and means/end analyses. Furthermore, this also starts to define and distinguish individual social relationships; who we seek advice and clarification from; what level of involvement we chose and what comparative judgements we make on others i.e. asynchronous affinity with others. The comments from these interviewee’s also highlights the need to feel proficient and competent about the material in the course and where they culture this confidence. It seems the more confident the adult learner gets about understanding the material and being able to discuss, question and seek clarification on their understanding the more proficient and competent they feel. This bolsters their feelings of satisfaction and adds to their motivation to continue through reducing the physical and mental sense of effort i.e. cost and/or means and increasing the perception of benefit cultured from continuation in the session/s. e.g. internal expectations and social relationships. This could be defined as a beneficial compromise for the betterment of self being the mediation of the perceived value social contact offers in raising confidence, increasing feelings of proficiency and reducing our fear of incompetency. The commentaries also point toward Margin theory (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984) in the manner of how ‘power’ and ‘load’ i.e. the amount we can manage is balanced with the effort we can assign to it and ‘expansive’ and ‘restrictive’ perceptions of future time i.e. the older you are the more urgent something becomes also contributes to the motivations of the adult learner (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984). So, is motivation the product of a restrictive ‘future time’ perspective creating a behaviourally urgent response to the realisation of your current educational inequities; therefore, adding to the perception of the reduction in opportunities for sustaining economic upward mobility? For example the following conversation illustrates the reasoning behind this question; Researcher: ‘so does anyone find, you know, that helps them decide to do a course, or, was it a combination of both things were like valuable and relevant to you as well?’ Walter: ‘Yeah, yeah†¦that’s the reason I’m here, you know you can’t get a well-paid job without English and Maths!’ Leroy: †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢and without those I can’t precede on to university’ Researcher: ‘So you can see the as an industry standard kind of then?’ Walter: ‘Yeah, this is the industry standard’ Researcher: ‘So to actually progress you need these things to progress?’ Walter: ‘Yeah†¦yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Leroy: ‘Like to myself, like to have this qualification would make me feel better about it†¦but,’ Researcher: ‘Yeah†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Leroy: ‘†¦it’s a requirement’ Researcher: ‘yeah like a stepping stone’ Leroy: ‘yeah.’ Therefore, these adult learners’ may just see the benefit of having the qualification to progress beyond where they are now. This could also suggest that these adults’ are fully aware that the ‘real world’ applicability of certain subjects are determined by the industry demand for that subject, making a qualification economically more relevant and valuable to these adult learners’. We could theorise that society has a shared understanding about what industry requires of the workforce and how this requirement places a demand on the learner to rearrange their lives in order to participate in learning. Therefore, shared meaning in society could be facilitated by a shared understanding of what it demands of society, which supports the theory that adult learners’ must assign more personal relevance, value and expectations of satisfaction to learning before there is the motivation to return to education i.e. is there a beneficial compromise between what I want and what they require. And as can be seen in the descriptive analysis of Q20, Q21 and Q22.These questions relate to social influence and societies perception of value and relevance assigned to learning. The adult learner agrees that the decision to attend a course of study was suggested to them (Q20) and that this social influence/encouragement essentially provides the persuasive reinforcement to their implicit understanding that; learning increases an adult’s chances of employment (Q21). The adult learners’ also feel that the support they receive from the different sources of this social influence/encouragement is at a level which permits their participation on the course of study. We could again theorise that an individual knows what is demanded of them in the employment market, but they seek confirmation on what they already know. This suggests that ‘meaning’ is socially co/re-constructed by the individual seeking confirmation on their present understanding in order to reinforce their decision, and by way of, increase motivation to return to learning. Furthermore, the adult learners’ do not feel they have to make allowances to attend a course, as long as the scheduled session/s is at a convenient time for them to attend i.e. the conscious effort to avoid the conflicts between personal obligations and scheduled session/s. Moreover, showing that, for these adult learners’, the course of study has value and is personally and economically relevant to them. And as it was outlined in the ‘Theory Development’ section of this report; we can compare the assessment of value and relevance to Gustafsson Mouwitz (2008) description of Proficiency Theory, and, means-end and cost-benefit analyses to McClusky’s Margin Theory (1974, as quoted in Gibbons Bylsma 1984). These theories emphasize a need to be competent at tasks’ whilst being realistic about certain physical, mental and social capabilities. Moreover, because the theories that were used in this study have overlapping dimensions (e.g. Q3, Q4 and Q12 overlap Social contact and Relationships; Goal and Relevancy orientation and External Expectations) with each dimension seemingly providing a piece to the decisional mà ©lange that affects the internal expectations i.e. individual agency of the adult learner. We could therefore suggest that Multimodal Heuristics and co/re-constructive social influence, not only becomes more evident when motivation towards participation is being established and/or maintained, but may also be one of the key components in the processes that assist the transformation of identity. Hence, as a sense of belonging, competency, proficiency and satisfaction are valued and relevant to the adult learner and evolve as they evolve; as do their identities. Equally, in a sociocultural ontology progress in learning is viewed along trajectories of participation and growth of identity, so both competency and belonging matter in understanding learning. It is for these reasons that a sociocultural ontology describes learning as a transformation of identity. And as the report is looking at the macro and micro-structural influences on the adult learner and how that comes to mediate and motivate them toward participation we can suggest quite firmly that identity transformation is closely tied to multimodal heuristics which is apparently mediated by a co/re-construction between the connectivity of social/cognitive interactivity thus having an impact on the identity formation of the adult learner. So the relevancy and value that is selected from external sources is fragmentally factored from differing micro and macro-structural influences and negotiated in to cognitive constructs i.e. internally mediated hence facilitating the decisional components that create the motivation for, and support continued participation towards, designated types of action. Discussion, implications and conclusions So, are social contact and relationships the result of synchronous affinities? Is the use of multimodal heuristics an actual contributor to identity transformation? All that can be suggested is that the results support the theory of multimodal heuristics and the connectivity of interactivity and imply that motivation is established through the individual deliberately, and sometimes vicariously, extracting information from these proximal and distal influences. Hence, social/cognitive collocation comes to, not only reinforce their decision to participate in designated types of action, but also – to a greater or lesser extent impacts upon the transformation of identity. But, we must keep in mind that this is paralleled with a balance between the beneficial compromises for the betterment of self and the perceived value social contact i.e. belonging offers in raising confidence, increasing feelings of proficiency and reducing the fear of incompetency. The real implication of these results is the noticeable benefit of informal conversations being used to reinforce learnt knowledge. The participants suggest that more time for reflection and confirmation would go some way to aiding the retention of new information, how the information actually relates to their personal circumstances and how this also contributes to feelings of belonging, proficiency, competency and feelings of increased confidence. For example; Walter : â€Å"†¦if you have a conversation with someone, say after this class, you’ll remember that conversation better than you would, you know than someone standing at the front of the class going ‘this guy wrote this poem about this† And like the small child that is afraid of ‘shadow monsters’ and leaves the light on; the sessions could benefit from the incorporation of small group/whole class learning reinforcement dyads of informal conversations. This would then start to determine the level of commitment and motivation (Park Choi 2009) that is ascribed to the retention of relevant and valuable information (Gibbons Bylsma, 1984; p. 23), and further contribute to the ease of transfer/retrieval of the current learning material/s and any new information (Ekey 2012). In conclusion, if adults are autonomous, self-directed and pursue their personal interests and goals then; when an adult decides to return to education the course of study must display a greater degree of relevance to the adults. If the course of study is perceived as having relevance, it (1) fulfils their need for feeling autonomous, (2) allows the adult to make an informed decision as to the value it has, (3) contributes to the continuation of feelings of self-directedness and (4) also contributes to their perceptions of being closer to achieving their goals’; thus adding value. Especially when we factor in that adult learners’ are complying with requirements’ laid down by someone else and may need to reorganise multiple obligations and competing priorities in order to participate. Another reason that these adult learners’ generally value the social interaction, support and reciprocal respect they receive whilst attending a course of study. Hence, the sense of belonging would be enhanced if there were more opportunities for interaction. Therefore, creating more opportunities for reflection between learners’ could, not only, reinforce learning, but also support the feelings of belonging through increasing the opportunities for discussion on how the material covered in that session/s contextually relates to them. Moreover, focussing on enhancing feelings of proficiency by allowing the adult learner to co/re-construct their current understanding through reflecting upon it with learners’ that share the same learning experience and synchronous and asynchronous affinities. References Abdullah, M, Parasuraman, B, Muniapan, B, Koren, S Jones, ML. (2008) ‘Motivating factors associated with adult participation in distance learning program’ International Education Studies, 1 (4), pp. 104-109. 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(2011) ‘Problematizing short-term participant observation and multi-method ethnographic studies’, Ethnography and Education, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 229–43. [online] http://www.tandfonline.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1080/17457823.2011.587361 (accessed 18/04/2013) taken from The Open University (2013) ‘E891 Action 3.10: Short term Ethnography; Part 3: Research design and data production, Milton Keynes, The Open University Bryman, A. (2006) ‘integrating quantitative and qualitative research: how it is done?’ Sage Publications, London, vol. 6(1) 97–113. [online]