Common core standards for mathematics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Common core standards for mathematics - Essay Example Reaching grade level seven, students must arm themselves with the basic knowledge in Geometry. It may all be about identifying shapes or using figures to solve a problem, but in Common Core State Standards Initiative or CCSSI (2012), the guideline set in this category goes beyond classifying figures since the emphasis was on the application on â€Å"angle† measurements and covered distances. The ability of students to grasp the idea of distance within surfaces in solving realistic situations is the goal of teachers in this grade level (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012). On the other hand, New Jersey Department of Education Office of Academic Standards or NJCCCS (2008) focuses on how to measure geometrically-perceived things and expects students to innovate, as well as execute cognitive actions, to come up with the measured distances of the shapes combined. Guidelines include the use of grids for estimating measurements (New Jersey Department of Education Office of Academic Standards, 2008). Both guidelines from CCSSI and NJCCCS are somewhat interconnected. Both focus on the ability of students to apply prior knowledge in real events and their lives, as well. The goal is for students to master the guideline and all its related outcomes affixed for grade seven Geometry. Once a student has proven to accomplish the grade level’s expectations, he/she will be able to move to the next level to optimize his/her learning

ACL Injury Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

ACL Injury - Research Paper Example There are other knee ligaments injuries but the most common injury associated with instability at the knee is ACL injury (Chaudhari, 2008). Perhaps this is because of the fact that ACL injury presents quite a number of ways through which it can suffer tears. Research has shown that the most common ACL injury occurs when the knee is bent exceedingly to the or to the sides more than it is used. Such scenarios are highly likely to occur amongst sports persons during trainings when they engage in activities aimed at making them flexible. In other instances, ACL injury may also occur when there is a direct pressure exerted on the thigh at a time when a person is standing on one leg (Tiidus, 2008). Studies have also revealed that ACL injury may also occur when a victim makes abrupt stop from a significantly highly speed, or attempts to make a sudden turn to the side while on a significantly high-speed motion. In all the above instances, one may observe that they all tend to exert pressure to the sides or on the ligaments at the back of the leg as had been noted. It is not a straightaway guarantee that any of such movements will result in ACL injury, but that they put a person at a highly risk of suffering from ACL injury. Therefore, there is a need to advise persons that take part in physical activities quite often on how what precautions to take during active periods of activities (Chaudhari et al., 2008). However, many physiotherapists and health professions have researched and proposed various ways for recovery and rehabilitation for detected cases of ACL injury. The thesis statement of this research shall be: Appropriate response to ACL injury should be case specific rather than universal approach for recovery and rehabilitation. This research shall assess various cases and analyze each depending on its magnitude. This is because prevalence of ACL injury has revealed that each case

Money Management Final-1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Money Management Final-1 - Essay Example After analyzing own risk profile, the investment decisions will be made, that in which investment vehicle I need to invest. This report will focus on the investment strategy and objectives need to be adopted, difference between ETFs and the mutual funds and how to manage the portfolio risk in order to experience good flow in investing. Further, it will also take into consideration the financial instruments which are accessible for investments, the role and influence of the main players in the financial markets, relationship between the financial markets and the macroeconomic forces and the benefits and risks of investing in different investment vehicle. Analyzing Risk Profile All investors have contradictory attitudes towards risk, so when it comes to investing, it is essential that we need to judge our own risk profile including that the returns on my investments could fluctuate broadly from year to year and also how comfortable I am with the likelihood of losing money. Understandin g personal risk tolerance will provide assistance in selecting a suitable asset allocation. My asset allocation includes stock, mutual fund, cash and property. It depends broadly on the time horizon and my risk tolerance ability. So, in order to judge own risk profile, following points need to be taken into consideration: Investment Experience The investment experience will indicate my understanding of financial markets such as just started investing or know the basics of investing or investing for several years or have enough knowledge of financial markets and have been making investment decisions boldly (See Appendix A). So, my experience is that I understand the fundamentals of investing. Risk Tolerance In order to ascertain an investment strategy that suits my risk profile, first I need to think about the likelihood that my investment value may decline although this may be temporary and must be prepared to admit the probability of negative return at any time for the purpose of l ikely higher long term returns. It will focus on the factors that whether I will neglect short term losses or interested in collecting regular income from investment or long term growth in investment value or want protection against inflation. So, I consider neglecting any short term losses and if in any case, the investment value fell by 20% in a short time then I would like to hold the investment and sell nothing (See Appendix B). Investment Goals and Objectives The investment goals include capital growth, purchase of new car, to purchase a new plot of land, to get a house and a young child’s education in future. My investment goals are for long term, so I afford to take some risk for a higher return. My investment objectives include investing in mutual funds because of its diversification benefits, property and stocks because they offer higher returns than fixed interests. It also includes investing in cash because it is highly liquid

The Wireless Networks and Installations in Municipals Essay

The Wireless Networks and Installations in Municipals - Essay Example In addition, Wi-Fi networks provide a platform for the municipals to  offer  connectivity for the city workforce, attract companies and businesses to  situate  in their downtowns,  develop  their  conference  centres to be sought-after and  provide  all citizens access to broadband internet. Municipal Wi-Fi networks are crucial in increasing the effectiveness of the  state  delivery services. They support the provision of government services, for example, utility monitoring, police or fire protection, meter reading and code enforcement. Furthermore, these networks  enhance  the existing city networks  thus, reinforcing the tasks undertaken by the workforces, as well as communications in the inter-governmental departments and organizations. Therefore, the Wi-Fi technology usage  provides  inexpensive and improved  network  coverage in the urban areas (Bing, 2008). This, in turn, enhances the performance of the government and reduces the  provisi on  costs of the services of the government. ... The city of Philadelphia plans to  construct  a Wi-Fi system, which will  cover  the whole 135-square-mile city area. The main objective of this project is to make Philadelphia to  stay  as a competitive city for businesses and an  appeal  to visitors. According to Kallen (2006), the municipal governments may not have the appropriate technological expertise and are highly  probable  to be  incompetent  in choosing the technological, business models, approaches and applications. In addition, Bing (2008) argues that the government involvement, supporting one technology, produces  alteration  by foreclosing  antagonism  among options in the marketplace. Private companies have appropriate technology that is up to date with the changes in the Wi-Fi networks and their installations. The collaboration between the government and the private sector will lead to the selection of the  suitable  Wi-Fi technology for the city. The local government thus can  f orm  agreements with the private companies. Bing (2008) argues that cities may  opt  to  promote  the  building  of Wi-Fi systems by several players. This can include retail businesses, local Wi-Fi co-operatives, or community businesses, in addition to commercial system providers. Consequently, this makes up an  extension  of the existing installation  format  for Wi-Fi, where a variety of  autonomous  public  and private efforts has steered to the  installation  of uncoordinated Wi-Fi  coverage  locations. As municipal governments  deliberate  their alternatives to  promote  more reliable services and  coverage, one of their preferences will  be  to exercise their  power  to  support  greater harmonization

Iraq War Essay Example for Free

Iraq War Essay The past decade had been one of the few significant eras for international relations and international politics. Various activities and phenomenon had occurred which made such era a memorable moment in which the topics of decision making including the people whom creates and enacts the decisions had become significant. One of the numerous events which had occurred in the past happened during the day of September 11, 2001 in which two buildings in New York City were seen by all the people in the world to be crashing slowly in front of their eyes. This news was spread in different parts of the world and made a mark in the history. The violent actions or the terrorists created a difference in the relationship of various states most especially United States and also led to different actions of the offended state. As said by different analyst, newspaper columns and politicians, it is said that one of the major results of the September 9, 2001 event was the war in Iraq which was launched by the United States. Many various speculations were theorized by the different people and one of the most common speculations was that United States wanted to have revenge against the terror that they have experienced. Different theorists have presented their point of view regarding the situation and stated that the few reasons were: 1. the September 9, 2001, Saddam Husseins stock of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the stock of oil in Iraq. The three speculations were the most talked about and debated by known personalities in politics and in media. As the war continues on, the interest of the United States were slowly presented to the world. After the United States invaded the state of Iraq, the troops of the Americans seek for the weapons of mass destruction but then, the group was not successful in finding any weapon which could threaten the whole world. The prosecution of Saddam Hussein became the last reason for the United States to occupy Iraq. However, the United States did not leave Iraq immediately—which was expected by most of people at watch of the situation. The situation of Iraq war was influenced by different actors within the international community. Different organization as well as individuals became involved in the resolution and the activities of the War in Iraq. The most significant personality in the Iraq war was President George W. Bush Jr. The United States President acted as the main person that lead the whole nation to war and encouraged the world to join in the battle against terrorism. Another actor was the former Prime Minister of United Kingdom Tony Blair. Tony Blair, together with President Bush teamed up in order to fight the violent groups in which promoted terroristic activities. The United Nations also became a great part in the actions in which the United States had taken. The organization of the United Nation became the actor in which the actions of United States were justified. The United Nations was one of the international organizations in which supported the mission of the United States to pursue its goals to put a stop in the violent actions of groups and individuals. Another great influence in the decision to attack and invade Iraq were the republicans in which were really persistent in the promotion of war against terrorists. For the masses to understand the decision making processes in the Iraqi war the theoretical framework called â€Å"Global Complexity† was used by McGoldrick in order to understand the process as well as the decision making of the actors. McGoldrick provided the â€Å"tipping points† which he took from John Urrys definition: â€Å"three notions: that events and phenomena are contagious, that little causes can have big effects, and that changes can happen in a non-linear way but dramatically at a moment when the system switches† (McGoldrick 2004, p. 8). However, in the written work of Daniel Masters and Robert Alexander they stated that President George Bushs administration molded the war related to September 9, 2001. The administration became the â€Å"front† of the whole state to justify the actions that the state had made. The authors stated that President George Bush made use of the situation of the devastating event and then made the hearts of the American Nation follow to the desires as well as the beliefs of the President. (Masters and Alexander, n. p. ) References Masters, D. S. and Alexander, R. M. (2007, Mar) Framing War: The 9/11-Iraq link and public support for the Iraq War Paper presented at the annual meeting of the WESTERN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION, La Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. Online PDF Retrieved 2008-08-20 from http://www. allacademic. com/meta/p176638_index. html. McGoldrick, Dominic. (2004) ‘9-11’ To the ‘Iraq War 2003’: International Law In An Age Of Complexity. Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Hart Publishing.

Music in Films Essay Example for Free

Music in Films Essay Talents are strewn around everywhere in the form of music, acting, editing, singing, etc. Stories and themes are left undiscovered in the slums of India. Who would pick them up and give an artistic touch? Hats off to Danny Boyle, an English director who did it. He took the challenge of making it to the silver screen and ended up with Oscars, the highest authority on movies that acknowledged Slum Dog Millionaire with 8 out of 10 nominations. An 18-year old boy Jamal who was raised in Mumbai slum wins 10 million dollars in a quiz competition which is popularly known as â€Å"Who will be the millionaire. † in Indian television show. As he keeps winning, the doubt â€Å"How an uneducated tea supplier working in a call center could answer all questions correctly? † raises. Was he cheating? An obvious question that arises in the minds of everyone which the movie alone could answer. Just one more question the next day will make him a millionaire. That night, Jamal was taken to police station and was beaten brutally on charges of cheating in the quiz competition. The answer to the question â€Å"How Jamal would know the answers to all the questions? † is the central theme of this movie with which the entire story is built. Usually rich ones with good schoolings have better access to quiz competitions with the probability of winning. But Jamal had no formal education. The vicious streets of Mumbai, the horrific nights, the villainous characters around taking every opportunity to exploit poor children like him are all the lessons Jamal went through in the open and unsafe streets of Mumbai. The insecurity for the poor in the slums and the social weaknesses of the Indian society is brought about by the movie in a thrilling fashion. Thugs turning children blind and making them beggars for their selfish motives is one such example. For every question asked in the competition, Jamal derived answer from his life time experience. In other words, there were events in his life which had some connection to the answers. He uses his intelligence and memory to recollect the events and tries his luck. Of course a bit of luck is also necessary in everything one does. Another way of looking at Jamal is that talents are everywhere in forms suppressed, in royal institutions as well as in the slums. Bringing them up to the surface is what heroism is. While young, Jamal made an awkward choice of jumping into the pool of shit to come out of the toilet and finally making it with Amitabachan (a leading actor in India) for an autograph shows his drive and enthusiasm. Jamal meeting her girl friend Lathika back in Mumbai after a long gap is an ecstatic moment. Girls like Lathika after being grown up are eyed seriously by lewd males. Even Jamal had to ruffle with his brother to get Lathika out of him. Both Jamal and Lathika are safe in the end and their love materializes. Jamal talking to Lathika over phone as a lifeline friend is symbolic of Jamal winning his invaluable prize Lathika before winning his 10 million dollar. The movie is a combination of everything – scores of music, songs, cinematography, editing, etc. A. R. Rehman struck his chord with his rich and varied notes scoring over horror, melody, love and misery. The distinction shown among all these items with originality and inventiveness are something special which won him the Oscar for Original Scores. The choice and combination of music themes applied make the movie prolific. For example â€Å"Ring ring ringa, Ring ring ringa†¦. † is used when prostitutes are shown. â€Å"Jai ho, jai ho† is used when Jamal and Lathika meet or when there is a heroic deed performed. The â€Å"jai ho jai ho aaja aaja jind shamiyane ke tale aaja jariwale nile aasman ke tale jai ho jai ho ratti ratti. † song transcends the barriers of language and reaches out to audience worldwide to enthrall and has yielded him yet another Oscar for song. It is the music that takes the song everywhere. Every time when there is a change of scene, the music is simply astounding. The change of mood is rightly set by the music. The background music of quiz program is not new to the people of India, as the real program on television show was similar to this one. However, the typical music recorded in multiple tracks give thrill and excitement when questions are being rolled out. The song â€Å"I fly like paper, get high like planes If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name If you come around here, I make em all day I get one down in a second if you wait   Ã¢â‚¬  while the train is moving has all the gravity of cheerfulness compassioned with the advent of nature. Music is the language whenever flashbacks have to be short and quick. If the arrival of Taj Mahal has some humorous events in it, the music compensates it with reverence. The background music when the prostitutes are shown in the slums of Mumbai, the humming love music when Jamal meets Lathika after a gap, and the song at the end of the movie which brings winning moments for everyone – for the hero, for the director, for the musician, etc is worth mentioning. Whenever the scenes have the power to move the audience, the music leaves an impression in the minds for an everlasting memory. Titanic Titanic is a movie of all times for its unparalleled mixture of fact and fiction filmed on a massive scale. The grandeur of the ship, the differences shown between the rich and poor in the backdrop of Edwardian influence, the love between Rose and Jack tied together in the heart rendering scores of James Horner, the magnanimous touch of James Cameron as writer, director and editor eventually became the first movie of its kind in Hollywood. The movie is screened for just three hours but it comprises a mammoth research by reaching out to the depth of the Atlantic where the original Titanic sank in 1912, and by building a main production set at Rosarito Beach in Baja California, Mexico. As one of the crew members rightly says in the movie, â€Å"The ship is known for grandeur. † it has everything in it: the restaurants, swimming pool, elevators, grand staircase connecting seven decks, a huge glass dome, and all the luxury items. The gigantic ship has massive propellers to pull it all along. The cost of first class tickets are so high even close to $4000 for some which is equal to the amount of $50000 today. Cameron begins the movie in a striking manner as he uses the latest submergence technology and the grandeur with which it explores the wreck of Titanic. The entire operation under water around Titanic in the rumbles of James Horner is a rare phenomenon to watch. â€Å"She is the largest moving object ever made by the hand of man† as said by a character in the movie, it also felt by the music effect. Brock Lowett, an explorer in the movie is curious to possess the necklace with blue diamond worn by Rose in 1912. He ends up discovering a nude painting of Rose. The 100-year old Rose, watching this incident on television calls Brock Lowett and tells the fact that she is the one in the picture. What rose recollects from her memory is the main story of Titanic. Everyone around Rose including her fiancee Caledon is of typical business people who restrict women. Unable to bear with the economy based love and affection running deep in the hearts of her fiance, Rose decides to commit suicide and runs to edge of Titanic and climbs on the railing. Jack comes at the right time to her rescue and the compassionate words of Jack brought her back to life. Jack boarded the third class in the last minute because of the Jackpot he won. He is only a survivor and is no match to the rich and elegant families of the first class passengers who were made to invite him for a dinner party for rescuing Rose. But Jack is well mannered, clear headed, charming and he feels for others. He has passion for drawing and some of his paintings attract Rose. The movie scripts are written aptly to bring Jack and Rose together after an initial disapproval by Rose when Jack asked her â€Å"Do you really like the guy? † Later it turns out to be good and they had a good understanding. Their togetherness in the ship after they started loving each other is the sweetest moment of the movie. It includes Jack’s mystical touch in painting her nakedness wearing only the Heart of the Ocean, their running around the deck and cargo hold of Titanic in joy, their standing at the edge of the ship on the railing with their hands straitened in excitement singing: â€Å"Every night in my dreams I see you. I feel you That is how I know you go. † †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. † This song has become the magical spell of the movie Titanic all over the world and this still picture of their stance became the trademark of the movie Titanic. The music fastens with the solo violin bringing momentum. After a while, the fatal iceberg strikes the edge of Titanic and in the next couple of hours or so everything goes under water. The serious episode of the movie begins with the gradual inflow of water into the ship sinking it gradually and bringing panic. The entire mechanism of how a gigantic ship would submerge under water is a massive research effort discovered and shot for screening by James Cameron. Rose and Jack face predicaments in the ship when they are in search of each other as the ship is sinking gradually. The thrill, excitement and horror are maintained well. Silence followed by music and vice versa creates impression in these scenes. Jack and Rose reached the edge of Titanic from where they jump off the drowning ship and were in the waters of Atlantic waiting for a survival boat. No boats are in the vicinity. Jack prepared to be in the water leaving Rose on a piece of oak panel that is available. The chilly water frozen in minus degree centigrade would not keep Jack alive for long. Rose cries in emotion â€Å"Jack come back†, â€Å"Jack come back†. â€Å"There is a boat Jack. † The music of the song â€Å"Every night in my dreams, I see you. I feel you, That is how I know you go† in low humming voice hardly leaves anyone without tears in eyes. This is one of the greatest emotional scenes on the screens. As she promised Jack she lives until she becomes old enough. It is not just the James Cameron has given The 20th Century Fox has not just produced a movie that has just won 11 Academy awards but has gifted the world a movie of great proportion that would stand all ages. School of Rock School of Rock reveals the power of music through a group of children aged around 10 from a prep school. The spirited hard rock singer and guitarist Dewy Finn masked as a substitute teacher in a class room could not go fizzled out when the music director Craig Wedren has his full support. The hero Dewey Finn visualizes no way out but to be with the rock that paid him nothing. â€Å"Do you want me to give up my band? † he goes weird while talking to his friend Ned Schneebly when he pressurizes him to pay the share of his room rent. Voted out from the band due to his hyper active stage antics, Dewy has no source of income to pay off anything. He is a lone talent unexplored on the stage, dreaming of a great rock career. All that he needs is â€Å"One little thing, it’s music†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  and he has challenged his band members who voted him out, â€Å"I’ll set up my own band. We are going to start a revolution. † So the fire is burning within him contributes to the central theme of the movie. He turns a phone call of Mr. Schneebly in his favor and decides to go as a substitute teacher in the name of Schneebly to make some money for his immediate needs. As desired, he gets into the school and there begins a new lease of life when he spots children attending music classes amidst his boring class room sessions comprising mainly of recess. He senses a vibrant rock band in his students that could back him up back on to the stage. His mind worked brilliantly. He worked in that direction shifting musical instruments back and forth to the class room and away. He picked up students and assigned each student an instrument and engaged them in practice. The music of comedy is well underway with Dewy managing his students answering all their questions to comfort them that they are doing a school project. That’s how he tells students instead of telling the truth that he wants to win in the Battle of the Bands. Either ways it is a competition – a competition to disclose talents to the public. His conversations with Ms Mullins, the Principal of the preparatory school and other teachers are full of comedy. The words of Dewy, â€Å"It’s experimental teaching. We were learning in singing songs. † confuses the Principal as there is no such thing. Gradually, Ms. Mullins has a special liking for Dewy as he drags her for tea with his artistic eloquence in praise of her profession and her way of handling things. She is much more impressed by his reverence tinged with fun for her profession and especially when he tells her that she is cool and capable. The movie takes a dramatic turn when Schneebly and his fiance come to know of the fraud when Dewy opens up how the check in the name of Schneebly reached him from the preparatory school. The secrets are let out and the police enters the class room when Dewy is in a parents day meet. He is out of school now. Parents are in despair complaining to the Principal about their children’s studies suffered. Ms. Mullins has a tough time answering all the parents and so shuts the door in anger. The power of music is still alive with the students. They secretly take the school bus and reach Dewy’s place to pull him up for the Battle of the Bands. Dewy never dreamt students would be so taken by the rock. They rushed to the theater. Their turn is about to come. Surprise mounts up as the parents and the principal too rushed to the theater to rescue their children. The school of Rock is finally on the stage in colorful dresses. Zack is amazing with his guitar. Freddy is rollicking with his drums. Lawrence is working mystery with his keyboard. Tonika enchants the audience with her voice. â€Å"Baby we was making straight As, But we was stuck in a dumb daze, Dont take much to memorize your life, I feel like Ive been hypnotized. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. † Dewy goes wild on his power stance, moving, dancing, rolling all over and jumping into the crowd to bring a swashbuckling finish to the song. Their performance is surprising, unbelievable, absolutely stunning. Every parent delights at his or her child for doing great on the stage. The music in the last few minutes of the movie brings a complete change of moods. The parents who rushed in panic are now cool after discovering great talents in their children. The principal runs out of words when people praised her. The power of rock took everyone by surprise. Finally the music wins. School of Rock fails to win the $20,000 prize but the audience shouts, â€Å"School of Rock† â€Å"School of Rock† repeatedly asking for once more. Once again The School of Rock is on the stage with a song once again. Dewy gets a chance to train students in music after school hours. The filmmaker Richard Linklater has directed the movie in accordance with, â€Å"Guitar in hands and rock in our hearts. † References Retrieved March 21, 2009,http://www. mygodwithin. com/2009/02/slum-dog-millionaire-receives-8-oscar. html Retrieved March 21, 2009, http://www. futuremovies. co. uk/review. asp? ID=139 Retrieved March 21, 2009, http://www. hollywoodlot. com/titanic/james-cameron. html

Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI)

Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) Discuss the weaknesses of the Occupational Stress Indicator. What are the alternatives? The Occupational Stress Indicator (OSI) is one of the most frequently used measures of occupational stress. Its intention is to provide practical help to individuals and their organizations (Cooper et al., 1988). It was designed to measure the key components of the stress process and work study in a wide variety of organizations. The original occupational scale contained over 200 items scored on a 6-point Likert-type scale. The Indicator consists of one biographical questionnaire and six questionnaires each measuring different dimensions of stress. For example, source of stress, moderating factor in aspects of dealing with stress and the stressors affects on the individual and situation. The sources of pressure questionnaire have six subscales and are a measure of factors thought to have a role in the aetiology of occupational stress. There are three questionnaires for assessing moderating variables: these are for type A behaviour pattern with three subscales, locus of control with t hree subscales, and coping strategies with five subscales. A further three questionnaires for mental ill-health, physical ill-health, and job satisfaction (with six subscales), assess strain or `stress effects. In simple terms, the OSI uses questionnaire statements to assess, a) how you feel about your job b) how you assess your current state of health, c) the way you behave generally, d) how you interpret events around you e) sources of pressure in your job, and f) how you cope with the stress you experience. OSI questionnaires are based on identifying three key elements of the stress process-effects, sources, and individual differences-and the scale places appraisal at the centre of the process. In particular, it is felt that it is not the demand or the source of pressure itself that is the issue; it is the perception of that pressure (Lazarus, 1966). It follows that the perception of individual differences such as coping and support and the perception of stress outcomes such as w ell-being and job satisfaction should also be measured. Pratt and Barling (1988) stated that it is as important to measure the interpretation that individuals give to an event as it is to measure the event itself. The recognition that appraisal plays a key role in the stress process makes it appropriate to use self-report questionnaires to measure stress at work. The essence behind the OSI was to provide a measurement scale, which would in turn provide a link between theoretical knowledge – in particular Lazarus (1966) Transactional Model and empirical evidence. Before discussing alternatives, it is important to evaluate the strengths of the instrument – and assess the positive attributes that the indicator has provided for future research. Although self-report mechanisms of discovering data have had criticism for its susceptibility towards experimenter bias – i.e. participants lying for socially desirable reasons, or over-playing/down-playing their answers for personal means, self report instruments are a valuable way of seeking responses from the core source themselves. Thus responses are first hand – and not an interpretation from a second or third party. In regards to work related stress – it has been found that self- reported health is a good indicator of the health status (Farmer Ferraro, 1997) and there is a positive relationship between self-reported health and self-efficacy (Parkatti, Deeg, Bosscher, Launer, 1998). Thus, this may imply that self report responses collected from a measurement like the OSI may well yield valid responses in regards to their health and how this in turn may affect how they feel about their working environment and how they perform within it. There has been a considerable body of research that has investigated self-reported health and occupational stress. It is accepted that in work situations stress due to increased psychological demands and reduced job control is related to poor self- reported health (Andries et al., 1996). Therefore, asking employee’s to complete the complex occupational stress indicator questionnaires may indicate where this stress is coming from and how the person perceives they are dealing in the situation. The major advantage of the OSI is that it is a mechanism of which may highlight a potential damaging work-related stress problem – not only high-lighting the problem, but the scale attempts to highlight its source and potential solution as well. The OSI has been used extensively since its publication in 1988. However, up until the late 1990’s, the scale has not been changed or been amended in any way. A number of studies have reviewed the design and use of the questionnaire in attempt to test the psychometric properties of the OSI, and to see if the instrument could be improved. The original OSI suffered from being developed on the basis of a very small (N = 156) sample. Therefore, it was important in any evaluation of the scale to include a vast sample to prepare the analysis from. In attempt to evaluate the scale structure and reliability, Williams (1996) analyzed the data for over 20,000 participants working in over 100 different organizations. The data was collected between 1990 and the end of 1995 from a wide variety of organizations in the public and private sector in the United Kingdom. Accounting for errors, a sample of 4,455 individuals in total adds support to a great body of literature that presents a consi stent picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the Occupational Stress Indicator. Through analyse, the scale appears strong at measuring job satisfaction, mental and physical health, and sources of pressure (Cooper Bramwell, 1992; Rees Cooper, 1992; Robertson et al., 1990). However, if the aim of the OSI questionnaires are to identify key elements of the stress process- e.g. the effects, sources, and individual differences-the indicator is somewhat flawed. The indicator is not so strong at evaluating the extend to which the individual feels in control of their situation (i.e. locus of control) or what behaviour, coping strategies people are most likely to adopt (Kirkcaldy, Cooper, Eysenck, Brown, 1994). Thus, the scales seem to lack in the ability to address the fundamental issue of individual differences in the process of stress, and how one perceives and copes with their situation. Therefore, there is strong evidence to suggest that the scale itself needs improvement or redesi gn to account for this (Williams Cooper, 1997). To discuss alternatives or improvements for the Occupational Stress Indicator – one needs to highlight how we define stress and how this definition is relevant in the work place. Stress can be regarded as the sum of total of environmental demands that tax our mental resources. For some (e.g. Lazarus, 1975), stress only has impact if we appraise it as threatening or harmful to ourselves. Symptoms of stress are varied but often present itself as some kind of strain in psychological, physiological, behavioural or physical health. Information about the individual and stress is often accumulated through self-report questionnaires. The most common (but not necessarily the strongest method) is through the use of a cross sectional design – such as the OSI. All data collected via this method is self-report and collected from the same people at the same time. There is danger in this approach – as it can often inflate the correlations observed between job-factors and the st rain outcome, and this does not accurately indicate the direction of causality. Conclusions derived from such analysis are often in terms of ‘main effects’ (of work related factors) and modifiers (moderate, mediators – variables that serve to enhance or attenuate the effect of job stress). For example, the level of control or autonomy against level of work load put upon the individual. However, this does not clearly tell us whether these two variables are related or independent of each other. It is merely assumed that one causes the other. As mentioned before, the flaws of the OSI seem to be in its ability (or lack of ability) to reliably identify how one perceives their situation and addresses coping strategies to suit. Lazarus (1975) account of occupational stress is useful here. He purposes a transactional cognitive view of stress. Lazarus believes that it is not just the environment that needs to be taken into account when considering sources of stress, but also a look at the person and how they ‘fit’ into the environment. Lazarus (1975) believes that there is a transaction between the environment and the person. This transaction is only stressful if a) the person believes the outcome of behaviour is relevant to personal goals/beliefs and b) if the person recons that the environmental demands exceed the personal resources of the individual. Furthermore, every encounter between the environment and the person involves appraisal and coping strategies. Lazarus (1975) believes that since perception of the s tressor is all important, it is pointless to pursue objective indicators of the environment. Rather it is this perception of the situation that indicators how stressed one will feel. A great criticism of the OSI is in its complexity and its length. This makes the administration of the scale a timely process. In response to this, Faragher, Cooper and Cartwright (2004) purpose an alternative, two-stage, risk assessment process. This involves an initial screening questionnaire for all employees of a given work place, and then conventional risk assessment tools are used to evaluate in detail just those individuals identified as having a potential stress problem. There are three main sections of the questionnaire which measure employee perceptions of their job, organizational commitment and employee health. This shorter version of the Occupation Stress Indicator is termed the ASSET – A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool. Tests of just under 10,000 employees in 100 public and private sector organizations within Britain found ASSET to be quick and easy to complete, generating a high response rate. Thus in comparison to the OSI, the evaluation of the ASSET provides evidence that it possesses good reliability (a small number of reliable factors which increases the ease of interpretation) and has good reports of validity. However, it could be regarded that this shortened scale may have negative consequences for its validity. For example, the ASSET is put forward as a two stage ‘risk assessment’. This implies that the scale is administrated to assess the employee’s susceptibility to feeling stressed. Therefore, this ignores that there is an interaction between the environment and the person, but instead, puts heavy emphasis on the person’s ability to cope in a given environment. Therefore, this type of risk assessment may be perceived as more of a ‘test’ – rather than a support mechanism. Therefore, the validity of the screening scale itself is put into question – as it is highly likely that participants will want to answer in a socially acceptable manner to avoid incrimination. . Another scale that has adopted a shorter format is the Pressure Management Indicator. Williams Cooper, (1996) cite this model as more reliable, more comprehensive, and shorter than the OSI. The Pressure Management Indicator did infact evolved from the Occupational Stress Indicator. Therefore, the comparisons between the two scales here, opposed to the ASSET scale, are more valid and useful. Therefore, its inventors regard it as the replacement indicator of occupational stress. Williams and Copper (1998) examined existing measures of stress (directly and indirectly related to work) – these included questionnaires on mental health (e.g., Crown Crisp, 1979), job satisfaction (e.g., Warr, Cook, Wall, 1979), and locus of control (e.g., Rotter, 1966) and worked from the original OSI to produce a standardized, reliable, compact, and comprehensive instrument to measure work-related stress. The PMI incorporates three main scales; stress-outcome, stressor and the moderator factor. The stress-outcome scales measure, job and organizational satisfaction, organizational security, organizational commitment, anxiety-depression, resilience, worry, physical symptoms, and exhaustion. The stressor scales cover pressure from workload, relationships, career development, managerial responsibility, personal responsibility, home demands, and daily hassles. The moderator variables measure drive, impatience, control, decision latitude, and the coping strategies of problem focus, life work balance, and social support. To overcome the limitations of the original OSI, Williams and Copper (1998) embarked on a comprehensive analysis of the scale, ranging from analysis of the name of the scale – e.g. it was found that the mention of ‘stress’ in the title of the original scale implied there was a ‘stress problem’ in the organisation. Thus changing the name to ‘Pressure’ intended to imply a more neutral term (opposed to stress – the n egative consequence of pressure – William 1994). Through the extensive analysis of the OSI Williams and Copper (1998) revealed the main attributes of the original scale that existed as its weakness – and purposed to find solutions to these problems. For example, as stated the scale could be interpreted as threatening and time consuming. Thus a shortened version was essential. Another issue highlighted with the use of such a lengthy scale – was infact the possibility that a large number of items would increase the co-efficient alpha rating – and thus making the scale appear more reliable than it actually is. Therefore, the production of the PMI was designed to revise the questionnaires and number of items, without sacrificing its psychometric properties. Furthermore, it may be felt that the items on the OSI were bias towards white-collar or executive levels – ignoring the stress felt at lower levels of the organisation. The length and complexity of the OSI may have been bias towards workers who took on re ading activities regularly – opposed to the more manually skilled employee’s with more hands on day to day tasks. With this diversity in mind – it is essential that a vast number of employment scenarios are covered on any stress indicator scale. It may be interpreted that the original OSI was not so diligent in representing such diversity in the work-force. Williams and Copper (1996) were careful to use an extremely diverse data set representing over 100 different organisations from the public and private sectors. Incorporating diversity, it is also important to eradicate cultural boundaries in the questioning material. For example, the acknowledgement and understanding that many companies want to investigate work-related stress across national and ethnic boundaries is important. Therefore, can the OSI be regarded as a multi-cultural measure of occupational stress? It may be suggested that the mere fact it was based on a very small sample of just over 150 people , that it is impossible that is has gained a representative view of the world and the people and organisations within it. Furthermore, the consideration that the world of work is always changing means that the questions on the scales need to reflect changes in demand such as job insecurity and technology. The fact that, the original OSI scale has not been amended since its production renders it out-of-date in many respects. To combat these downfalls, William and Copper (1996), attempt to combine the questionnaires with organization-specific items, in hope of identifying sources of pressure and the use of coping mechanisms. The original scale lacks the ability to provide a cross-occupational and cross-company analysis. The solution was to develop a standardized measure covering all aspects of the stress-strain relationship that is, stressors, moderating factors, and stress outcomes (William and Copper, 1996). The new PMI questionnaires are intended also to help raise awareness of occ upational stress at the individual and organizational level, identify those individuals who need remedial help, and provide information for the design of appropriate interventions In light of the discussion above, the Occupational Stress Indictor has presented many weaknesses – in particular reference to its design, practical administration, validity and reliability. Many have questioned the length and complexity of the original self-report questionnaire. This has led to a revised version of the scales in the form of the PMI (Williams and Copper, 1996). The PMI, developed just under ten years after the original OSI, intended to combat many of its methological concerns such as shortening the administration process and taking into account cultural and occupational differences of its users. It would appear that through the quest to appeal to a wide audience – i.e. a diverse work base, the original OSI flawed due to its lack of ability to be able to offer a reliable source of stress indicator in reference to the individual’s perception of the situation and how they perceive they are coping. Although the original OSI was giving an accurate rep resentation of job satisfaction, mental and physical health, and the sources of pressure – i.e. concrete certainties that are easily measurable, the scale was not so reliable in measuring more abstract properties such as perceptional qualities. Therefore, it may seem a valuable option to concentrate on the perceptual properties of the scale itself to produce more reliable scale that measures how the individual feels, opposed to just how the individual acts in their environment– hence the development of the Pressure Management Indicator. This goes hand in hand with the theoretical assumptions that underpin the measurement scales – e.g. Lazarus transactional model of stress – purposing that there is a transaction between the environment and the person – which in turn may render the interaction as a stressful one or not. It is important to take into account that stress is an interactive process between the stressor and the moderator and the stress out come. The newly revised PMI scale is more advanced than the original OSI scale in that it takes into account this interaction. An important factor highlighted by the ASSET scale is that the administration of an Occupation Stress Indicator or Pressure Management Indicator needs to be as impartial as possible. A large weakness that needs to be overcome about any type of stress indicator is that it is not measuring the person’s ability to cope in stressful situations. For example, the scale is not intended to assess or question personality or to test the personal attributes of the individual, but instead, to provide an indication of how one perceives their working environment and how a number of variables interact to produce potentially stressful effects for the individual. The overall aim of a stress indicator scale is to identify physical and psychological areas of concern that can be highlighted to encourage an optimal balance of stress, coping strategies and support in the w ork place. References Books Cooper, C. L., Sloan, S. J., Williams, S. (1988). Occupational Stress Indicator. Windsor, England: NFER- Nelson. Lazarus, R. S. (1966). Psychological stress and the coping process. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lazarus, R.S. (1975). The healthy personality: a review of conceptualizations and research. In Levi, L (Ed). Society, stress and disease, vol 2. Oxford. Oxford University Press. Pratt, L. I., Barling, J. (1988). Differentiating between daily events, acute and chronic stressors: A framework and its implications. Cited in Hurrell, J.J., Murphy, L.R. Sauter, S.L., Cooper, C.L (1998) (Eds.), Occupational stress: Issues and developments in research. London: Taylor Francis. Williams, S. (1994). Managing pressure for peak performance. London: Kogan Page. Williams, S., Cooper, C. L. (1996). Pressure Management Indicator. Harrogate, England: RAD. Williams, S., Cooper, C. L. (1997). The Occupational Stress Indicator. In R. J. Wood Zalaquett, C. (1997) (Ed.). Evaluating stress: A book of resources. Huntsville, TX: Sam Houston State University. Journals Andries, F., Kompier, M. A. J., Smulders, P. G. (1996). Do you think that your health or safety are at risk because of your work? A large European study on psychological and physical work demands. Work Stress, 10, 104-118. Farmer, M. M., Ferraro, K. F. (1997). Distress and perceived health: Mechanisms of health decline. Journal of Health Social Behaviour, 38, 298-311. Cooper, C. L., Bramwell, R. S. (1992). Predictive validity of the strain components of the Occupational Stress Indicator. Stress Medicine, 8, 5760. Cited in Williams and Copper (1998). Measuring Occupational Stress: Development of the Pressure Management Indicator. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, 306-321 Crown, S., Crisp, A. H. (1979). Manual of the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Cited in Williams and Copper (1998). Measuring Occupational Stress: Development of the Pressure Management Indicator. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, 306-321 Kirkcaldy, B., Cooper, C. L., Eysenck, M., Brown, J. (1994). Anxiety and coping. Personality and Individual Difference, 17, 681-684. Parkatti, T., Deeg, D. J. H., Bosscher, R. J., Launer, L. L. J. (1998). Physical activity and self-rated health among 55- to 89-year-old Dutch people. Journal of Aging and Health, 10, 311-326 Rees, D. W., Cooper, C. L. (1992). Occupational stress in health service workers in the U.K. Stress Medicine, 8, 79-90. Cited in Williams and Copper (1998). Measuring Occupational Stress: Development of the Pressure Management Indicator. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, 306-321 Robertson, I. T., Cooper, C, L., Williams, J. (1990). The validity of the Occupational Stress Indicator. Work Stress, 4, 29-39. Cited in Williams and Copper (1998). Measuring Occupational Stress: Development of the Pressure Management Indicator. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, 306-321 Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal vs. external locus of control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80 (1), 609. Cited in Williams and Copper (1998). Measuring Occupational Stress: Development of the Pressure Management Indicator. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, 306-321 Warr, P., Cook, J., Wall, T. (1979). Scales for the measurement of some work attitudes and aspects of psychological well-being. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 52, 129-148. Williams, S. (1996). A critical review and further development of the Occupational Stress Indicator. Doctoral thesis, University of Manchester, Manchester, England. Cited in Williams and Copper (1998). Measuring Occupational Stress: Development of the Pressure Management Indicator. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, 306-321 Williams and Copper (1998). Measuring Occupational Stress: Development of the Pressure Management Indicator. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, 306-321 Bibliography Hurrell, J.J., Murphy, L.R. Sauter, S.L., Cooper, C.L (1998) (Eds.), Occupational stress: Issues and developments in research. London: Taylor Francis. R. J. Wood Zalaquett, C. (1997). (Eds). Evaluating stress: A book of resources. Huntsville, TX: Sam Houston State University. Schweizer, K. and DÃ ¶brich, P. (2003). Self-reported health, appraisal, coping, and stress in teachers. Psychology Science, Volume 45, (1), p. 92-105 Williams and Copper (1998). Measuring Occupational Stress: Development of the Pressure Management Indicator. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 4, 306-321