Discuss Nationalism in the ERa of Good Feelings Essay Example for Free

Discuss Nationalism in the ERa of Good Feelings Essay Nationalism, not sectionalism, was the driving force during the era of good feelings. Nationalism became the leading ideology of the American republic. While sectionalism proceeded in bringing the nation into turmoil and constant bickering among the politicians, as in the case with dealings leading to the Missouri compromise, nationalism was able to unite the nation into a headstrong body, led by an ever-increasing, more powerful central government. Nationalism, many can argue, was a guiding light that helped the populous in Europe unite. As early as the late great Roman Empire, it was that notion of being a part of a uniform body of civil, governed people who helped these places flourish. In early 19th century America, during the Era of Good Feelings as one newspaper put it, Americans began to root themselves in all that the nation stood for which helped them in turn begin to think about moving the United States into a respectable position among the worlds super powers. For example, Stephen Decatur toasts the country and acknowledges that it is our country, for better or for worse. This is a sharp contrast to the views of our founding fathers because George Washington himself, the father of our nation, saluted king George although he was a part of the attempt to establish a separate nation. Poets and writers also began to capture the nations spirit. In her Address to the New York State Legislature, Emma Hart Willard, explains how America has no problem in setting precedents and taking risks for the benefit of the country. For example, did the country take a risk in having a democracy instead of a monarchy? The answer to this question is yes, because no one in the history of the world before America, was able to successfully run a government the way that new nation ran. Although they had to switch from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution, this just proved that the nation could adapt with its people, thus setting precedents. Sectionalism only succeeded in dividing the country. This is because sectionalists always had their own agendas, which often clashed with that of their opposition. The division of votes on the tariff of 1816 was a pretty noticeable one, although the final vote was not really affected by  non-tariff votes. Sectionalism can be found here in the numbers of each region. The majority of New England Votes were cast against the tariff. This should be of no surprise because New England, which at the time was largely federalist, was against the whole war of 1812 effort from the get go. If it were not for the nationalistic pride of the western and southern regions, this protective tariff would have not been passed. Nationalism creates an atmosphere which attempts to propel the nation forward instead of becoming entangled in issues which cause a separation of agendas, thought, and eventually causes a rift in peoples beliefs. The nationalism brought about by the Era of Good feelings helped the United States get on track to becoming what it is today. If you look at current events, you can see that the United States operates with more fluidity when we have a common enemy instead of creating enemies out of our brethren because of our ideals.

Factors Can Affect Validity Reliability Of Systematic Review Nursing Essay

Factors Can Affect Validity Reliability Of Systematic Review Nursing Essay Systematic review with meta-analysis are considered more objective than other types of reviews such as traditional reviews because it involve the application of scientific strategies in ways that limit the bias but the interpretation of the systematic process like any other type of research is subject to bias and this articles will illustrate the sources of bias in every step of conducting a systematic review and what is its types and ways. Keywords: Systematic review, Bias, Meta-analysis Introduction A systematic review is an overview of many studies that used clear and reproducible methods while a meta-analysis is a mathematical synthesis of the results of two or more primary studies that address the same hypothesis in the same way. Systematic reviews are very popular so about 2500 new English language systematic reviews are indexed in Medline annually (Mother D, Tetzlaff J, Tricco a, et al). While the number is impressive ,the quality of their reporting is not always ideal which lead to some kind of biased results and thus shrink their usefulness. Although meta-analysis can increase the precision of a result, it is important to ensure that the methods used for the review were valid and reliable. (Greenhangh. 1997) Speaking generally,there are two sources -at least- can generate bias in systematic reviews: the risk of bias in the included studies which it can exaggerate the results of a treatments effectiveness by 18% (Pidal J, Hrobjartsson A, Jorgensen KJ, et al) and the review itself as it has a little control over the reporting of RTCs but it can apply considrable control over conducting and reporting the review, thereby minimizing the bias of review itself. In this article we will try to spot the sources of bias in every step of conducting a systematic review and what is its types and ways and after that we will talk in details about each factor might cause a bias including publication bias, time lag bias, citation bias, the influence of external funding on the validity of systematic review and outcome reporting bias. Assessing the Quality of a Systematic Review General Tips (step-by-step) Fundamentally, the quality of a systematic review and the reliability of its result are contingent on both the quality of the included studies and the quality of the methodology used to produce the systematic review. The first most important step in conducting systematic review is proposing a clear, specific,focused and concise question which will guide the review process after. Searching for articles to be included can be retrieved by electronic databases, searching by hands through appropriate journals and by contacting researchers in the area of interest. To avoid the bias in the retrieval of articles the search strategy specified in the protocol must include as much details as possible. In most cases this amounts of to a list of keywords and how they will be combined for use in electronic search engines. Some knowledge of the capability of each subject specific database is important at this point, as some databases operate a thesaurus search system and others operate on the basis of keywords only. Next step, selective inclusion studies may bias the results of systematic reviews if selected based on report characteristics which called Biased inclusion criteria and low methodological quality of studies included in a systematic review is another important source of bias (Strerne JAC, Egger M, Smith GD 2001) and inclusion of data from sources other than randomized trials reduces the reliability of the conclusions of a systematic review on issues of prevention and treatment, so they should be thoroughly considered and properly defined to avoid ambiguity and to inform the validity of the review. As protocol availability may decrease the biased post-hoc changes to methods and selective outcome reporting, this information should be included in the review protocol to minimize this bias. Even if the study has high internal validity, it may not to be generalizable(high external validity). There is often a trad-off between internal and external validity. To decide about the generalizability of the study is to explore whether the study population appears to be representative of the population to which you wish to apply the results and even in similar populations, differences in the settings and in culture or other contextual factors, should also be considered.(Petticrew M, Robert, H 2008) Reviewing the results of a number of studies of course itself provides a est of generalizability, if the results have been replicated in several settings with different population, then this gives an indication of whether the results are transferable. If the number of studies is large enough, it can suggest the range of effect sizes to be expected in different settings. Generalizability is not often assessed separately in systematic reviews, though consideration of the issue is included in some critical appraisal checklists. (Deeks J, Dinnes J, DAmico R, Sowden A, Sakarovitch C. 2003) The risk of bias of a particular study is a key component in the assessment of studies that affect the validity of the results of a systematic review. Therefore, reducing the risk of bias assessment can be completed by using scales, checklists and every individual component should be reported for each study.(Sandrson S, Tatt ID, Higgins JP 2007). As the protocol developing, all the outcomes derived from the included studies should be considered and the outcome of primary importance should be differentiated from the secondary outcomes as recent surveys have showed that the outcomes selectively reported in final reports were significantly more likely to be statistically significant than those omitted (Chan AW, Hrobjartsson A, Haahr MT, et al 2004). Therefore, if a review does not identify important variables clearly, the review risks being subject to bias. So, the reviewer might select statistically significant variables and ignore the ones were initially important by the reviewer. When it comes to analysing data, the analysing method is determined by the review question and the type of data collected and it should include a narrative synthesis for describing the results and risk of bias. The next step is usually determining if statistical synthesis is appropriate to apply or not. Indeed, such forced analysis might in the axiom garbage in garbage out, providing useless results which it will discussed Later. When the results of the analysis are ready, there are many different way to represent them but sufficient details should be presented to dtermine the potential threats to validity. As conclusion in the review, the reviewer should discuss the risk of bias, strength, limitation, weakness and applicability of the evidence for each main outcome to ensure that clinicians have all the information to interpret the results. A table outlining the users guides to the Medical Literature highlight critical appraisal questions for systematic reviews and meta-analyses may help to reduce the bias in every step when conducting a systematic review.(Table 1) Table 1. Questions should be considered in determining if the results of systematic review are valid. ( adapted from Crowther, MA. Cook, DJ 2007) Did the overview address a focused clinical question? Were the criteria used to select articles for inclusion both defined and appropriate? What is the likelihood that relevant studies were missed? Was the validity of the included studies assessed? Were the assessment reproducible? How precise were the results of the overview? In assessing the value the review, it is important to consider the following question: Can the results be applied to my patients, and will the results help me care for my patients? Are the benefits worth the harms and costs? Garbage in garbage out? The quality of component trails is important as an example if the raw material is not that quality, then the findings of reviews may also be the same. So what we put in exactly what we get out. Clearly, the studies included in systematic reviews should ideally be of high methodological quality and free of bias as possible. The biases that threaten the validity of clinical trials are relate to systematic differences in the patients characteristics at baseline (selection bias), unequal provision of care apart from the treatment under evaluation (performance bias), biased assessment of outcomes (detection bias) , and bias due to exclusion of patients after they have been allocated to treatment groups (attrition bias).(Altman 1991) Some reviews produced discordant results precisely because the authors chose to ignore the quality of component trails. The same reviewers were considerably more thorough in their attempt to identify all-relevant trails,Independent of publication statue or language of publication. Although the quality of component trails happened to be more important in this particular situation, the dissemination of findings from clinical trials is known to be biased, and a comprehensive literature search is an essential intergradient of high-quality reviews. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Putting the light on dissemination of research findings, Scherer et al. showed that only about half of abstracts presented at conferences are later published in full. The fact that sustainable proportion of studies remains unpublished after the study had been completed must be a concern as a large information remains hidden from reviewers. Making things worse, the dissemination of research findings is not a random process, rather it is strongly influenced by the nature and direction of results. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Type of reporting bias Definition Publication bias The publication or non-puplication of research findings, depending on the nature and direction of results Time lag bias The rapid or delayed publication of research findings, depending on the nature and direction of results Duplicate publication bias The multiple or singular publication of research findings, depending on the nature and direction of results Citation bias The citation or non-citation of research findings, depending on the nature and direction of results Language bias The publication of research findings in particular language, depending on the nature and direction of results Outcome reporting bias The selecting reporting of some outcomes but not others, depending on the nature and direction of results Figure 1.2 (Adapted from Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Publication Bias In a 1979 article on the file drawer problem and tolerance for null results Rosenthal said, where the journals are filled with the 5 per cent of the studies that show type I errors, while the file drawers back at the lab are filled with the 95 per cent of the studies that show non significant results. (Rosenthal R. 1979). The file drawer problem has long been recognized in the social sciences: as a review of psychology journals found that of 294 studies published in 1970s, 97% rejected the null hypothesis at the 5% level.(Sterling TD.1980) It is thus possible that studies which suggest a beneficial treatment effect are published, while an equal mass of data pointing the other way remains unpublished. In this situation, a systematic review of the published trails could identify a spurious beneficial treatment effect, or miss an important adverse effect of a treatment. In the field of cancer chemotherapy such publication has been demonstrated by comparing the result from studies identified in a literature search with those contained in an international trials registry (see figure 1.2). (Simes RJ. 1986) Time lag bias Published studies continued to appear many years after approval by the ethic committee. Among proposals submitted to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Ethics Committee in Sydney, 85% of studies with significant results as compared to 65% of studies with null results had been published after 10 years (Stern JM, Simes RJ. 1997). The average time to publication was 4.8 years for studies with significant results comparing to 8.0 years for studies with null results. In fact, the time lag was attributable to differences in the time from completion to publication.(Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) 0.7 1.0 1.3 Published 16 (1908) Registered 13 (2491) Survival ratio (95% confidence interval) Figure 1.2 (adapted from Simes) These findings indicate that time lag bias may be introduced in systematic reviews even when most or all trails will eventually be published. Trails with positive results will dominate the literature and introduce bias for several years until the negative results finally appear. The influence of external funding and commercial interests Many systematic reviews are funded by organizations such as pharmaceutical companies. As in the design of randomized trials, the design of systematic reviews can be influenced (particularly through manipulation of inclusion and exclusion criteria) to select a particular set of studies. As a result, such systematic reviews may present a biased viewpoint. Careful assessment of the quality of the systematic review should reveal the flaws in their design. Another way in which bias can be introduced is through biased interpretation of the results of a systematic review funded by industry or authored by investigators who are influenced by industry.(Crowther, MA. Cook, DJ 2007) External funding was associated with publication independently of the statistical significance of the results. Funding by government agencies was significantly associated with publication in three cohorts of proposals submitted to ethics committees whereas pharmaceutical industry sponsored studies were less likely to be published in two studies. Indeed, the pharmaceutical industry tends to discourage the publication of negative studies which it has funded. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001). Duplicate publication bias Once a list of articles is obtained, they should be reviewed by two or more individuals and compared with a list of pre-developed inclusion and exclusion criteria The production of multiple publications from single studies can lead to bias in a number of ways. Two or more systematic reviews on the same topic may arrive at different conclusion, which raise concern about validity. Studies with significant results are more likely to lead to multiple publications, which makes it more likely that they will be located and included in a meta-analysis. Moher and Johansen and Gotzsche described the difficulties caused by redundancy and the disaggregation of medical research when results from multicentre trail are presented in several publications. It may be impossible for reviewers to determine whether two papers represent duplicate publications of one trail or two separate trails, since example exist where two articals reporting the same trail do not share a single common author. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001). Citation bias The perusal of the reference lists of articles is used to identify additional articles that may be relevant. The problem with this approach is that the act of citing previous work is far from objective and retrieving literature by scanning references lists for many possible motivations such as decoration and showing up-to-dateness and knowledge may thus produce a biased sample of studies. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Language bias Language bias still evident in many reviews (Hearther, 2009). Reviewers are often exclusively based on trails published in English. For example, among 36 meta-analyses reported in leading English-language general medicine journals from 1991 to 1993, 26 had restricted their search to studies in English language. Reviewers in other countries will published their work in local journals as well as English language journal if their results are positive while negative results will just be published in local journals. This is demonstrated for the German language literature when comparing articles published by the same author, 63% of trails published in English had produced significant results as compared to 35% of trails published in German. Thus bias could be introduced in meta-analyses exclusively based on English-language reports.(Figure 1.3) (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Figure 1.3 (adapted from Egger et al.) Outcome reporting bias Reporting the outcome can be influenced by the results: the outcome with the most favorable findings will generally be reported. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001). The future of unbiased, systematic reviewing Reporting biases is potentially serious problem for systematic review. While the Cochrane Collaboration has a simple aim -help people to make well informed dicisions about healthcare-, there are many challenges that must be met to achieve this aim. Ethical and social challenges include finding ways to continue to build on enthusiasm while avoiding duplication and minimizing bias, to ensure sustainability and to accommodate diversity. Logistical challenges include finding ways to identify efficiently trails and manage criticisms and updates of reviews. Methodological challenges include developing sound guidelines for deciding what types of studies to include in reviews, effective ways of communicating the results of reviews and summarizing the strength of evidence for specific effects. (Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001). Conclusion and Summary points In summary, There are numerous ways in which bias can be introduced in reviews and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials. All these biases are more likely to affect small studies therefore, their results need large treatment effect to be significant. On the other side, the large studies invest more money and time that means they are more likely to be high methodological quality and published even if their results are negative. Bias in a systematic review may become evident through an association between the size of the treatment effect and study size. Reliability and validity often not established within quality assessment instrument (Heather, 2009).If the methodological quality of trials is inadequate the findings of reviews of this materials may also be compromised. Publication bias can distort findings because trials with statically significant results are more likely to be published, and without delay, than trials without significant results. Among published trails, those w ith significant results are more likely to get published in English, more likely to be cited, and more likely to be published more than once which means that they will also be more likely to identified and included in reviews. The choice of the outcome that is reported can be influenced by the results. The outcome with the most favorable findings will generally be reported, which may introduced bias. Criteria for inclusion of studies into a review may be influenced by knowledge of the results of the set of potential studies. The definition of eligibility criteria for trails to be included, a comprehensive search for such tails, and an assessment of their methodological quality are central to systematic reviews. Systematic reviews are thus more likely to avoid bias than traditional, narrative reviews.(Eddger,M. Dickersin, K. Smith,G, S 2001) Nevertheless, the systematic review is a powerful research methodology which answers question on the the basis of good evidence and provides researchers with a valuable, impartial, comprehensive and up-to-date summary of the work conducted in a specific area.

The formation of friction ridge skin

The formation of friction ridge skin The formation of friction ridge skin and how it relates to the permanence of fingerprints A large part of the human body is protected by a layer of skin that is reasonably free from difficulties or impediments. Friction Ridges can be found on our fingers, the bottom of our feet and on the palms of our hands. They are called friction ridges is because one of their main functions is to help us easily take hold of objects (Girard, 2008). The friction ridges deposits things like sweat and other types of contaminants directly to any surface that it comes in contact with. The impression which is left behind is an exact reproduction of the part of friction ridge skin that touched the surface. A lot of times the impression cannot be seen with the naked eye so hence the reason why it is called a latent print, which means that the print is there but not clear to the vision (Keogh, 2001). During the third to fourth month of the development of a fetus fingerprints are distinguished. These fingerprints are made up of individual traits known as bifurcations, ridge endings, dots and many other ridge shape differences. Single kinship of individual distinguishing trait does not change throughout an individuals life, until the individual dies and the body decomposes (Keogh, 2001). After the fingerprint of the infant is formed, the growing ridges are a lot like taking a pen and drawing a face on a balloon then blowing up the balloon to see if the face will open up consistently in all different directions. Perverse alterations to fingerprints include cuts or injuries that are very deep and penetrating all layers of the outer epithelial layer of the skin and other diseases like leprosy (Girard, 2008). Except for if an individual has any type of cuts, or scarring on the fingers their prints never change and there is no similarity between two fingerprints. The lines on the hands and feet of all individuals have three characteristics (ridge endings, bifurcations and dots) which are evident in sequences that never recur on the feet and hands of any two individuals. A ridge ending is merely the end of a line (also known as an ending ridge). A split of an individual ridge that is shaped into two is known as a bifurcation. A short ridge that is similar to a dot is called a dot. Up until recently these two premises has been introduced as three propositions. The first is that before birth friction ridges are developed on the unborn. Secondly, there is no change of friction ridges as an individual age and throughout their lifetime with the exception for scars left permanently from an accident or serious injury. Thirdly, the patterns and details in areas that are very small on friction ridge s are unlike any other and are never recurring What is the scientific method, and how is this theory applied to fingerprint analysis? The scientific method also known as ACE-V is the abbreviation for the analysis or modified version of the scientific method that is followed by friction ridge examiners: Analyzing, Comparing, Evaluating, Verifying. The first time that ACE-V was used for physical evidence was in 1960 and ridge detail in 1980. Inspector Roy A. Huber, RCMP, developed the ACE-V process and Sergeant David Ashbaugh, RCMP, made this process popular among the friction ridge identification field. Analyze The first step which is analysis, compels the expert to test and dissect all variables that has an affect on the friction ridge characteristics in question. Once latent fingerprints are being tested there are quite a few factors that one has to be considered and probed into. Some of these factors are the material upon which the latent print has been placed, the process of development, pressure distortion, and elements on the outside like blood and grease. The amount and type of latent print ridges has an effect on the testers competence to carry out the next phase. The end of the analysis process determines whether there is sufficient information existing to go on to the next step (Jones, 2006). Compare The process of comparing bring into play the known model with which the latent print must be compared. At this particular point, there is also another aspect of analysis occurring. This analyzing is of the known model in an effort to bring about the suitability for achieving the end result set out in the information above. There is a possibility that the recognized model may have fingerprint images that had too much ink, or was smudged so therefore it was not reliable, stopping a comparison from being definitive. The process of comparison starts with determining the overall ridge circulation and fit in an effort to orient in a proper manner the latent print with an accompanying area of the known model fingerprint. This is usually followed by choosing key traits, understanding their position, trend and relationship and then showing the differences of this structure with the structure in the known models. The type and amount of this information directly affects how easy or di fficult the process is (Jones, 2006). Evaluate The conclusion of the comparing is the evaluating process or making a conclusion. The overall fingerprint society refers to the end result drawn as being one of three options. First, the two characteristics (the latent and the known print) were made by the exact finger of the same individual. Second, the latent characteristic has not been produced by any of the fingers of the model fingerprints. And thirdly, an ending of the comparing could not be accomplished, and this is due to the fact that there is not enough clarity or the lack of area to be compared in the known models. (Jones, 2006). Verify The final process is verification. The overall guide is that the process of establishing identity must be confirmed by another individual or expert who is qualified. This process of confirmation by a second examiner is a self governing test of both fingerprint characteristic (latent fingerprint and known model fingerprint) applying the scientific procedures of analysis, comparison and evaluation described above (Jones, 2006). There have been some recent challenges in New Hampshire vs. Richard Langill and Maryland vs. Bryan Rose. These two cases have pinpointed a couple of issues that are important for the latent print community: documentation and the rate of error. Each step of the ACE-V process or its equivalent needs better. In order to rebuild that analysis, enough documents are needed. By documenting the relevant information gathered during the analyzing, evaluating, and comparing of latent prints so the ground work for the conclusion (identifying, excluding, or inconclusive), the tester will produce a transparent record of the procedure and that way supply the courts with more information to determine how reliable that particular method is for a for a exact case. At present, examiners are not required to document, within a latent support, which features support both their reasoning and support.

Amish Culture :: Amish Culture Cultural Essays

All students should take notice and interest in cultural diversity. There are numerous different cultures in America. One in particular is the Amish culture, which I would like to familiarize you with. The Amish culture consists of many unique beliefs that makes their ways unlike that of any other culture. They lead a life of simplicity and yet have very harsh ways of doing things. The Amish is perhaps the most diverse culture in the entire United States. The Amish of Pennsylvania and Ohio greatly differ with the rest of American society. "Although the Amish look like they stepped out of the rural nineteenth century, in fact they do change," (Amish Cultures). Their lives move more slowly than ours, but they definitely are not stuck anywhere. They move on slowly but surely. Instead of accepting new technology like the rest of American society, they choose to examine change carefully before they approve of it. If the new idea or gadget does not succeed in keeping their lives simple and their families together, they will most likely reject it. Family is among the most important values the Amish stress. They don't like to let anything break their family ties. The fact that they have li ved this way for hundreds of years and not allowed the "modern" world to deter them from their pursuit of their service to God, is truly unbelievable. As mentioned earlier, the Amish do not like anything technologized in fear that it will break the family up. In actuality, they are completely right. If you take a look at an Amish family and compare it to an average American family, you would see major differences. The average American family would be very divided. You'd find the children and parents watching T.V., accessing computers, surfing the internet, playing video games, etc. In the Amish family, everyone would gather together to eat, work, and play. The Amish keep their materials basic. This way they are certain no technological advance can pull them apart. "Old order groups all drive horses and buggies rather than cars, do not have electricity in their homes. Bottled gas is used to operate water heaters, modern stoves and refrigerators. Gas-pressured lanterns and lamps are u sed to light homes, barns, and shops," (The Amish People 14). The Amish place very large emphasis on humanity, family, community, and separation with the rest of the world. They place value on simplicity and self-denial, whereas, typical Americans cherish comfort, convenience and leisure.

Essay --

Equality is on a broad spectrum in the world. What does equality and freedom actually mean? And is America really equal. We are going to explore some of the most famous people who set standard for us to be called equal. Several years ago it was a fight for many people around the country to be able to call themselves free, now what do we have to show for that. The new generation coming into to the world are becoming lazy and not learning what it actually mean to be free and equal. America was made a free country, but there are still injustice things here and on the uprising. Did Dr. King really make a change? Did Emmett till get us to listen and open our minds? Or was it Abraham who tried to get people to hear his speech about freedom? All of these men did something to help change how segregate and unfair laws were back then. But what can do to make these men continue to be the reason why we call ourselves free? The people of today and tomorrow have to do better because yes, a lot has changed, but that doesn’t mean it will stay this way. I heard that history repeats itself and if that is true then the upcoming generations are going to have to get on board and continue to strive for equality and freedom. I don’t think America is truly free nor are the American people just settling because they know that this freedom might be as far as we can go. Sometimes settling isn’t the right thing to do if we are unhappy with the situation we are in we should change it. As Obama said, I know my country has not perfected itself. And at times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best inten... ...ll trying to figure itself out. Lincoln dedicated his speech to the dead because they died in vain and he wanted them to be happy to see a country that was equal. Equality today is much different than it was during Lincoln’s days and it’s come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. To conclude, we have had a fair share of struggle to get America to where it is now. In a way we are a free country because of what these three men have sacrificed, but we will not continue this way if we do not keep striving for more. We have to set an example for new generation coming up and we have to let people know that the work our ancestors and people like Dr. King, Emmett, and Abraham did not work for nothing. The day will come when history might repeat itself, but we need to be prepared and ready so that when it appears we will not let our future return as our past.

Absenteeism and Attendance of Employees – Paper

Absenteeism and Attendance of Employees Employee absenteeism is one of the most common workplace problems facing employers in today’s workplace. Legitimate illnesses still account for the majority of employee absences, but some studies have shown that less than one-third of absences from the workplace are related to poor health. Most employers offer their workers vacation,  sick leave, paid time off, or other kinds of paid and unpaid  leave. A key to curbing abuse is to have an absenteeism policy that clearly sets forth which absences are allowed, and what behavior will subject the employee to  discipline.Absenteeism problems can range from employees not calling in or not showing up for their shifts, taking sick leave when well, and exhausting their available leave every month, to requesting extra time off and establishing patterns of abuse. For these non-protected absences employers can, and should, discipline their employees. A company’s policy should be clearly written and disseminated to all employees. In addition, the employer should make sure to  train all supervisors and managers  to ensure that the policy is being fairly applied.It’s a good idea to spot check attendance issues in every department to make sure that company rules are being fairly imposed. Absenteeism is the term generally used to refer to  unscheduled  employee absences from the  workplace. Many causes of absenteeism are legitimate—personal illness or family issues, for example—but absenteeism also can often be traced to other factors such as a poor work environment or workers who are not committed to their jobs. If such absences become excessive, they can have a seriously adverse impact on a business's operations and, ultimately, its profitability Read more:  http://www. nswers. com/topic/absenteeism#ixzz2OV25Xt00 Absenteeism  is the term used to describe the fact of an individual's missing his or her regular daily activity The habit ual non-presence of an employee at his or her job. Possible causes of absenteeism include job dissatisfaction, ongoing personal issues and chronic medical problems. Regardless of cause, a worker with a pattern of being absent may put his reputation and his employed status at risk. However, some forms of absence from work are legally protected and cannot be grounds for termination. Absenteeism  is a habitual  pattern  of absence from a  duty  or  obligation.Traditionally, absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implicit contract between employee and employer; it was seen as a management problem, and framed in economic or quasi-economic terms. More recent scholarship seeks to understand absenteeism as an indicator of psychological, medical, or social adjustment to work. In this study absenteeism is defined as: temporary, extended or permanent incapacity for work as a result of sickness or infirmity The purpose o f the study was to investigate the incidence of learner bsenteeism in the country, the reasons why learners absent themselves from schools and examine the systems that exist to monitor and reduce learner absenteeism. Firstly, there are reasons for absenteeism associated with personal factors, such as illness, age, gender and learning difficulties. Secondly, absenteeism may be caused by socio-economic factors relating to food insecurity, problems with transport to school, the impact of HIV/AIDS on children and families How to Deal with Employee Absenteeism Employee absenteeism is one of the major areas of concern for organizations today.It reduces productivity and puts burden on the available staff. Let us take a look at some methods through which you can keep it in check in your organization. One of the biggest challenges that organizations face today is unplanned absenteeism. Frequent absenteeism from employees not only hampers the productivity of an organization, but it also affec ts the morale of hard-working employees. It is therefore essential that organizations get their act together and take necessary steps to reduce it. Absenteeism can either be for genuine reasons or culpable.It is the responsibility of a manager to identify employees who are frequently absent, and look for steps to counter it. Some researchers are of the view that punitive action is the only way by which unplanned absenteeism can be reduced, but this belief has few takers. You can persuade an employee to come to office but the chances that he would work wholeheartedly are slim. You don't want to create an atmosphere where your employees come up with new ideas to call in for a day off. This will also make it more difficult for employees who genuinely need a leave to tend to their personal or family issues.Besides, you can't have different set of rules for different people as this will lead to accusations of discrimination. Analysts have pointed out that an authoritarian style of manage ment is one of the prime reasons behind frequent absenteeism and tardiness. Managers who set up targets that are simply unachievable or blame everyone expect themselves for any failure, put their employees under a lot of stress. This is one of the major reasons why employees don't feel like coming to office. Organizations which fail to have an efficient leave policy in place also witness high absenteeism.In the absence of a point of contact, employees get more leverage which can lead to higher absenteeism levels. How to Reduce Employee Absenteeism? Reducing employee absenteeism requires sustained effort, and the first and foremost step in this direction is to provide coaching to the team leaders/managers of your organization. Managers should be provided with adequate training to improve their interpersonal skills. They should also be reminded that the power that has been conferred upon them has to be used to make the organization a better place to work, not to boss around and put pe ople off.This will not only help you in addressing the issue, but also in tackling issues like employee turnover, and low morale among your staff. Having a clear leave policy is essential if you don't want your employees to abuse their privileges. It is important that you explain all the policies to your employees when you recruit them so that there is no scope for miscommunication. This helps especially in case of large organizations where it is virtually impossible to keep an eye on every employee. Having an effective communication system helps in maintaining transparency and keeps rumor mongers at bay.It dispels negativity and makes employees feel that they are being recognized as a part of the organization. Trusting your employees by giving them more responsibility instills a sense of confidence in them and creates a good atmosphere in the workplace. Rewarding employees who have shown good performance by missing lesser work days can go a long way in helping you deal with employe e absenteeism. It will not only help in recognizing hardworking employees, but also motivate employees to come to work rather than staying at home.Unplanned absenteeism costs a few million dollars to American companies every year, so it is important that you address this issue with utmost seriousness. If yours is a small or a mid-scale business, then the effects are much more grave. You can't completely wipe out this issue, but what you should essentially aim to do is to reduce the frequency of culpable absenteeism. Absenteeism – employees not showing up for work when scheduled – can be a major problem for organisations. As pressures increase on the budgets and competitiveness of companies, more attention is being given to reduce workplace absenteeism and its cost.Most research has concluded that absence is a complex variable and that it is influenced by multiple causes, both personal and organisational. Job satisfaction has been noted as one of the factors influencing an employee’s motivation to attend. INTRODUCTION To many in the world of work, absenteeism is one of those stubborn problems for which â€Å"†¦.. there is no clear culprit and no easy cure† (Rhodes & Steers, 1990, p. 1). Furthermore, as a general phenomenon it does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex, race and religion. Bydawell (2000, p. 5) postulates that â€Å"employers have the right to expect good attendance from their employees as employment is a contract between two consenting parties. † The author further states that absentee issues will undoubtedly arise within the employment relationship, and should be resolved in a manner which is fair and equitable to both the employer and the employee. Absenteeism can be very costly to organisations and enormous savings can be realised through effective management of non-attendance at work. Besides the cost implications, absenteeism is influenced by dozens of interrelated factors hich make it even more difficult to â€Å"quantify, qualify, or rectify† (Tylczak , 1990, p. 9). One of these factors which have been cited by different researchers is an employee’s level of job satisfaction in the workplace. In conjunction with this, George and Jones (2002, p. 93) maintain that â€Å"†¦many researchers have studied the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction in an attempt to discover ways to reduce absenteeism. † Early job satisfaction research has emphasised the underlying assumption that job dissatisfaction represents the primary cause of absenteeism (Steers, Porter & Bigley, 1996). McShane’s (1984) review as quoted by Steers et al. (1996) supported the notion that employees who are dissatisfied with various aspects of their jobs are more likely to be absent. Studies by McShane (1984) found â€Å"job satisfaction to be more highly related to frequency of absences than to number of days lost† (Steers et al. , 1996, p. 4 09) Rhodes and Steers (1990) propose that employee attendance is based on an employee’s motivation to attend as well as their ability to attend. According to George and Jones (2002), job satisfaction is one of the factors affecting an employee’s motivation to attend.It becomes important to measure the strength of the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction as â€Å"†¦.. positive attitudes can at times serve to â€Å"pull† the individual towards the organisation and the reverse can be expected when attitudes are more negative † (George & Jones, 2002, p. 94). An employees’ ability to attend is influenced on the other hand by factors such as family responsibilities, transportation problems, accidents and the like. Once all these variables are identified, managers may begin to understand why employees sometimes choose not to come to work when they are fully capable of attending.By the same token, it is â€Å"equally important for ma nagers to understand those circumstances in which people, for whatever reason (illness or otherwise), are genuinely unable to come to work† (Rhodes & Steers, 1990, p. 13). Absenteeism seems to be a behaviour that organisations can never eliminate, but they can rather control and manage it. George and Jones (2002, p. 94) note that â€Å"organisations should not have absence policies that are so restrictive that they literally force workers to come to work even if they are ill. Organisations may want to recognise that a certain level of absence is indeed functional. PROBLEM STATEMENT Tremendous pressure is being placed on companies to reduce costs either through downsizing, outsourcing or restructuring. For many employees, these changes can cause feelings of insecurity regarding the nature of their jobs as well as their future. Not having people at work increases the workload of fellow employees, reduces productivity and increases the cost of contract labour. Absenteeism In ter ms of the discussion, the three terms â€Å"absence, absenteeism and sickness absence† will be used as synonymous in meaning, implying that workers who were scheduled for ork and expected to attend, did not do so. Cascio (2003, p. 45) defines absenteeism as â€Å"any failure of an employee to report for or to remain at work as scheduled, regardless of the reason. † Milkovich and Boudreau (1994) define absenteeism from an organisation’s perspective as â€Å"the frequency and/or duration of work time lost when employees do not come to work. † Absenteeism therefore implies â€Å"an unplanned, disruptive incident; but more specifically, it can be seen as non-attendance when an employee is scheduled for work † (Van der Merwe & Miller, SUMMARY OF CHAPTERIn summary, this chapter highlighted the fact that absenteeism is pervasive throughout most organisations and can place huge financial burdens on organisations. A central concern in organisations is proba bly that some employees believe that it is their â€Å"right† to 13take sick leave whether they are sick or not. These short, unscheduled absences impact on work schedules, increase workloads of other employees and can also have a detrimental effect on productivity. Furthermore, this chapter emphasised that absenteeism is influenced by a number of interrelated factors ranging from family responsibilities to satisfaction on the job.Literature suggests that absenteeism is a major problem in many organisations, hence, the importance of focusing on this behaviour within the organisation. Various studies have attempted to examine the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction as absence is commonly viewed as one of the means of withdrawal from stressful work situations. According to Luthans (1995), research has generally revealed a consistent inverse relationship between job satisfaction and absenteeism, i. e. when satisfaction is high, absenteeism tends to be low and w hen satisfaction is low, bsenteeism tends to be high. ABSENTEEISM 2. 2. 1 INTRODUCTION Unscheduled absences affect almost every type of organisation. Hoque and Islam (2003, p. 81) describe absenteeism as a â€Å"subject to be studied, matter to be thought over and a problem to be solved. † Besides the direct costs associated with absenteeism, there are also indirect costs such as hiring of casual staff, reduced productivity, turnover and potential loss in revenue (Cole, 2002; Mason & Griffin, 2003). Robinson (2002) further notes that the indirect costs of absenteeism can be up to three times higher than the direct osts of absenteeism. It therefore becomes vital that organisations recognise the extent of this problem due to the high costs associated with continued unscheduled absences. The main problem is perhaps that many employees believe sick leave is a â€Å"benefit † like annual leave and they are entitled to take it, irrespective of the condition of their health. This has implications for organisations because it is difficult for an organisation to operate smoothly if employees fail to report for work. According to Robbins et al. (2003), having sick leave programmes in organisations, i. e. providing paid sick eave, actually enforces the wrong behaviour, which is absence from work. The authors argue that organisations should rather reward employees for attendance, not for being absent. Moreover, the importance of good attendance and its benefits should be clearly communicated to all employees (Bydawell, 2000). Rhodes and Steers (1990) maintain that people tend to have different perspectives or attach different meanings when viewing the topic of employee absenteeism. To the 20manager, absence is often seen as a problem to be solved, but to the employee it can take on a very different meaning.For the employee, absenteeism can be symbolic of deeper feelings of hostility or perceptions of inequitable treatment in the job situation or a way to sab otage the organisation for the poor work environment or other attributes of the job. TYPES OF ABSENTEEISM Van der Merwe and Miller (1988) classify absenteeism into three broad categories that help to understand the nature of this phenomenon. They are: (1) sickness absence, (2) authorised absence/absence with permission and (3) unexcused absence/ absence without leave. Sickness absence Sickness absence is a category where employees claim ill health as their reason for bsence. Requirements regarding medical/doctor’s certificates vary and are determined by company policy or the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 (1997) stipulates that a certificate needs to be produced after two days of sickness absence. Most managers have found that certification is not a guarantee of genuine absence as it has become easy for people to gain access to medical certificates. Van der Merwe and Miller (1988, p. 10) maintain that â€Å"having a criti cal attitude to short sick absence, and indicating to employees that heir absence behaviour is regularly monitored, is likely to result in a better norm of attendance. † 2. 2. 3. 2 Authorised absence Absence with permission is where employees prov an â€Å"excuse† for their absence whether that be for holidays, study leave, special leave and the like. Normally such a request is included in the absence policy (Van der Merwe & Miller, 1988, p. 11). 2. 2. 3. 3 Unexcused absence All absences not falling into the two previous categories and where no reason is given, or not accepted, are regarded as unexcused (Van Der Merwe & Miller, 1988, p. 11). This ype of absence, when it reaches problematic proportions, will have to be pointed out to employees in question in order to bring their attendance in line with acceptable norms Employees who come to work later in the day or who leave earlier are normally not recorded on the leave records of employers and the supervisor is normall y aware of such absences (Wolmarans, 1994). CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Sickness absence has attracted attention in response to competitive pressures and tightening labour markets and by managing absence, organisations can achieve a better competitive edge (Johnson et al. 2003). For many organisations however, absenteeism management remains a daunting task, as it can place huge financial burdens on organisations. Aware of the indirect costs associated with absenteeism, management must determine what factors are responsible for absenteeism and how these factors can be addressed to curb this challenging problem. The main goal of the present study was to determine the impact of job satisfaction on absenteeism as research generally states that dissatisfied employees are more likely to miss work than satisfied employees (Aamodt, 2004; Saal & Knight, 1988). The study owever only found a weak, albeit inverse correlation between satisfaction and absenteeism. The role of other variables, for example personality, work-group norms, organisational commitment and family related responsibilities have not been included although their impact on absenteeism have been noted (Mowday et al. , 1982; Rhodes & Steers, 1990). In order to improve on this, it is suggested that further research be undertaken to ascertain the potential effect of these variables on absenteeism. 145Since the current research utilised a non – probability sampling method, certain groups may have been under-presented.Although the sample of 121 is considered appropriate, a larger, stratified random sample would have enabled greater precision and control with respect to the sample. Furthermore, the sample employed was relatively small, reducing the study’s generalizability to the larger organisation. Moreover, the small number of female respondents prevented meaningful comparisons being made. The study was conducted in one organisation in the Western Cape, which further limits its applicabilit y to a wider population. A cross-sectional design was used for the study as it provided the researcher with a napshot of the research elements at a given point in time. Even though this design is considered appropriate, a longitudinal study would allow for forming a better understanding of the true nature of absenteeism and job satisfaction as it uses the same sample over a period of time. The study is further limited in that it used self –report measures of absence, which is highly subjective. Johns (1996) as quoted by Siu (2002) – argues that â€Å"employees do not have accurate perceptions of their own absenteeism, some employees underestimate their own absenteeism and overestimate the absenteeism of co-workers† (Siu, 2002, p. 218).Further research should adopt more objective measures of absence. The second goal of the study focused on the relationship between personal characteristics and absence. Significant correlations were found and it is important for ma nagement to 146understand these dynamics in order to control absenteeism in the workplace. The importance of understanding specifically the impact of age on the work force will continue to grow, owing to changes in legislation (age discrimination, non-mandatory retirement) and also the impact of HIV and AIDS (Kacmar & Ferris, 1989). Organisations need to have stringent policies in place to control absenteeism, and a ulture of attendance needs to be cultivated amongst employees. Future research needs to also examine the absence severity rate (ASR) which indicates the number of days sick leave per incident over a period of time, which is how long employees are off when they do take sick leave (Mowday et al. ,1982). Excessive absenteeism can escalate to the point that it directly affects productivity, quality and morale. A final goal of the study was to examine the impact of personal characteristics on job satisfaction. While the study focused on personal predictors of job satisfaction , there re other variables (job and organisational) that may be better predictors of job satisfaction (Spector, 1997; 2000). It is suggested that further research needs to be conducted to identify these factors that contribute to employees’ job satisfaction. 147REFERENCE LIST Aamodt, M. G. (1996). Applied Industrial/Organisational Psychology (2nd ed. ). USA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Aamodt, M. G. (2004). Applied Industrial/Organisational Psychology (4th ed). USA: Thomson/Wadsworth. Alavi, H. R. , & Askaripur, M. R. (2003). The relationship between self-esteem and job satisfaction of personnel in government organisations.Public Personnel Management 32 (4) : 591-599. Anderson, A. E. (2004). What’s absent in absence management. Employee Benefits Journal 29 (1) : 25-30. Anderson, N. , Ones, D. S. , Sinangil, H. K, & Viswesvaran, C. (2001). Handbook of Industrial, Work and Organisational Psychology- Volume 2 London : SAGE Publications. Anthony, W. P. , Perrewe, P. L. , & Kacmar, K. M. (1999). Human Resource Management- A strategic approach (3rd ed. ). Publishers: Harcourt Brace College. 148Armstrong, M. (1996). Personnel management practice (6th ed. ). London : Kogan Page. Atchison, T. (1999). They myths of employee satisfaction.Healthcare Executive 14 (2) :18-23. Bajpai, N. , & Srivastava, D. (2004). Sectorial comparison of factors influencing job satisfaction in Indian banking sector. Singapore Management Review 26 (2) : 89-99. Berkowitz, L. (1987). Pay, equity, job gratifications and comparisons in pay satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology 72 (4) : 544-551. Bless, C. , & Higson-Smith, C. (1995). Fundamentals of social research methods. An African perspective. (2nd ed. ). South Africa : Juta and Co, Ltd. Brief, A. P. (1998). Attitudes in and around organisations USA : SAGE Publications. Butler, J. (1994).To conduct an investigation into absenteeism in Cape Town organisations. Unpublished masters thesis, University of Cape Town. Buitenda ch, J. H. , & De Witte, H. (2005). Job insecurity, extrinsic and intrinsic job satisfaction and affective organisation commitment of maintenance workers in a parastatal. South African Journal of Business Management 36 (2) : 27-33. 149Bydawell, M. (2000). Managing people who don’t come to work. People Dynamics 18 : 15-19. Carr, M. , & Human, P. (1988). Job satisfaction and its relationship with demographic and work-related variables: A case study in the Western Cape, South Africa.South African Journal of Labour Relations 10 (3 & 4) : 60-67. Cascio, W. F. (2003). Managing Human Resources : Productivity, quality of work life, profits (6th ed. ). MacGraw-Hill Irwin. Chambers, J. M. (1999). The job satisfaction of managerial and executive women: Revisiting the assumptions. Journal of Education for Business 72 (2) : 69-75. Cole, C. L. (2002). Sick of absenteeism? Get rid of sick days. Workforce 81 (9) : 56-60. Connolly, K. , & Myers, E. (2003). Wellness and mattering: the role of h olistic factors in job satisfaction. Journal of Employment Counseling 40 (4) : 287-295. Cooper, D. , & Emory, C. 1995). Business research methods (5th ed. ). USA: McGaw-Hill. Cooper, C. , & Locke, E. (2000). Industrial and organisational psychology Blackwell Business. 150Cooper, D. , & Schindler, P. (2001). Business research methods (7th ed. ). McGraw- Hill Irwin Cooper, D. , & Schindler, P. (2003) Business research methods (8th ed. ). MacGraw-Hill Irwin. Cranny, C. J. , Cain-Smith, P. , & Stone, E. F. (1992). Job satisfaction: How people feel about their jobs and how it affects their performance Lexington Books. Cresswell, J. (2003). Research design-Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed. ).USA : SAGE Publications. De Vos, A. S. (1998). Research at grass roots: A primer for the caring professions J. L. Van Schaik Publishers. Du Plessis, A. , Visser, D. , & Fourie, L. (2003). Die omvang en aard van afwesigheid in die werkplek; ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse gevalst udie. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology. 29 (1) : 58-67. Egan, M. , & Kadushan, G. (2004). Job satisfaction of home health social workers in the environment of cost containment. Health and Social Work 29 (4) : 287-295. Employee assistance programmes (June 2004). Employee Benefits. 151Ericson, D. (2001). Lessons in absenteeism management. Benefits Canada, 5 (4) : 89- 91. French, W. L. (1998). Human Resources Management. Boston, New York : Houghton Mifflin Company. Friday, S. , & Friday, E. (2003). Racio-ethnic perceptions of job characteristics and job satisfaction. Journal of Management Development 22 (5) : 426 – 442. Fried, Y. , Melamed, S. , & Ben-David, H. (2002). The joint effects of noise, job complexity, and gender on employee sickness absence: exploratory study across 21 organisations –the CORDIS study. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology 75 : 131-144. George, J. M. , & Jones, G. R. (2002). Organisational behaviour. (3rd ed. ). New Jersey :Pr entice Hall. Gibson, J. , Ivancevich, J. , & Donnelly, J. (1997). Organisations: Behaviour, structure, processes. (9th ed. ). Chicago : Irwin. Goldberg, C. , & Waldman, D. (2000). Modelling employee absenteeism: Testing alternative measures and mediated effects based on job satisfaction. Journal of Organisational Behaviour 21 : 665-676. 152Gragg, E. (2004). Telecommuting comes of age. Office Solutions 21 (4) : 46-47. Hair, J. F. , Babin, B. , Money, A. & Samouel, P. (2003). Essentials of business research methods Leyh Publishing, LLC. Hardy, G. E. , Woods, D & Wall, T. D. (2003). The impact of psychological distress on bsence from work. Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (2) : 306-314. Harris, D. (2005). Dealing with sickness absence. Training Journal Haswell, M. (2003). Dealing with employee absenteeism. Management Services 47 (12) Hodgkiss, K. (2004). Attending to staff absence. Cabinet Maker 5397 : 12. Hoole, C. , & Vermeulen, L. P. (2003). Job satisfaction among South African airc raft pilots. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology 29 (1) : 52-57. Hoque, E. , & Islam, M. (2003). Contribution of some behavioural factors to absenteeism of manufacturing in Bangladesh. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research 81 (3/4) : 81-96.

Building a Data Warehouse Essay

Starbucks is a company that is specialized in offering a range of products including coffee, handcrafted beverages, merchandise, and fresh food. As an enterprise, they require a proper data management to enable them serve their customers efficiently. Data on sales, customer views, customer information, market analytics, products, and production needs a proper storage and retrieval system hence the use of data warehousing. To make informed decisions, the management at all the levels within the company requires data analysis to make those decisions. The Coffee Company has a website for buying their coffee products, as well as gifts, and explores the coffee world by learning more about its origin. The data warehouse stores are built using SQL Server 2000 that stores information about the occurrences on the website. Business Desk reports enable processing of data imported from the website. Several steps are involved in exporting these data. The first step is reporting that is provided through Business Desk. These data includes weblog data, user profile information, campaign information, catalog information and transaction data (Microsoft, 2000). Data cubes are prepared by running the report processing tasks. The Business Desk is secured and can only be accessed by Starbucks Corporate networks and allows only Secure Socket connections. Reports that resides on the data warehouse server can be accessed and viewed through from the business application. To plan the data warehouse at Starbucks, three aspects of the site must be taken into consideration. The storage, processing, and bandwidth requirements are the elements needed to deploy the data warehouse. The storage requirements consider the amount of space required for web log files. The number of servers, web log file sizes per server per day and total log file sizes must be known in advance for the data warehouse planning. After sometime, these accumulated preferably three months, archiving should be done on old data to ensure that the business users will be able to view and run historical data. Since the data is imported from the website, processing time is of great importance to the success of the warehouse. Therefore, time to import web log files and processing time of web log files into analysis cubes is necessary for planning purposes. Lastly, consideration of bandwidth requirements is done before deploying the data warehouse. For example, the data bandwidth used will be f or moving the web log files. Also considered is the bandwidth required for actual running of the reports.The process of creating a data warehouse is procedural. It begins by building a business model followed by definition of the requirements of each model. Identification of data sources is carried out after business modeling. The process of building the data warehouse is done after the selection of data warehouse tools (Vincent, 2007). Data collection through asking the question about the performance of the company will help identify data to appear on the data warehouse. Reports from time reporting system, accounting packages, and customer relationship management application are other important sources. Designers of the data warehouse have to find a way of harmonizing these data with the knowledge of how people process information within the company. In making the decisions, the data within the system are retrieved for analysis. This process is known as extraction. It is defined as the process of retrieving data from a source for use in the data warehouse environment. The extracted data can then be transformed and finally loaded into storage. The primary internal data sources for a data warehouse in Starbucks is the transaction processing application. Data extraction methods are of two types that include full logical and physical extraction method and depend on the business requirements, performance and source system. In logical extraction method, there are two subdivisions, complete extraction, and incremental extraction. Full removal is where the data is completely extracted from the system source files. No additional information is necessary on the site. The second data extraction method is the physical extraction method. Physical extraction is of two types, online and offline extraction. Online mining, extraction is directly from the source files. The process of extraction can directly connect either source tables’ or the intermediate data store. The latter, offline extraction, is where data is sourced outside the source files. Conclusion For a leading international company like Starbucks, planning, building and maintenance of a data warehouse are very critical and requires technical expertise. The building process requires cooperation from IT and business people in order to come up with a successful data warehouse. For implementation purposes, it requires coordination by all stakeholders to highlight all the requirements, needs, and tasks. Breaking down of the data collected enables incorporation of all the requirement to appear on the data warehouse. References BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Microsoft. (2000). Starbucks technical deployment guide. Microsoft. Vincent. (2007). Building a Data Warehouse. Apress. Source document