A Short Story Of Giaus - 1028 Words

Merlin sat in a tree just outside of camp giggling maniacally. They were still inside the protective barrier that Tauren and Diana always set up but that kind of barrier never kept out any of her friends, it just wasnt strong enough. Merlin clapped along to the music being played on pan pipes by a young green skinned faun. Two centaurs, one male one female pranced through the clearing in time with the music. Merlin loved these times, times when she could get away from Taurens lessons and Dianas fussing and her parents knowing and worried looks. She knew who she was, shed know the truth, her destiny for a while now but she wasnt quite sure what that meant. Bringing balance to magic could mean any number of things. It had meant killing†¦show more content†¦The glow circled the clearing once before it spotted her and flew up to the tree she was sitting in. Merlin held out her hands and the fairy landed in them looking grateful of the place to rest. She had brown skin, the color of tree bark and wore a dress made from leaves but her wings were those of a monarch butterfly. Her hair matched them, a fiery orange that faded to black at the tips. Mona! How are you? Its been ages! Mona shook her head at Merlin. No time for that now little hawk! You must warn your people, the great dragon has finally escaped his binding and is wreaking havoc on Camelot. We dont know how far he may go to seek his vengeance. Merlin nodded and leapt out of the tree, her deep blue eyes flashing a brilliant gold as she floated down to the forest floor without injury. As soon as her feet touched ground she was off like a shot racing through the forest back to the camp, Mona clinging to her hair as the trees blurred past them. They arrived in minutes and Merlin found Tauren swiftly racing into his tent with barely a knock on one of the posts to let him know he had company. He looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow. Yes young Emrys? Tauren only ever called her Merlin when her parents were around or when there were strangers in the camp which almost never happened and even then they were usually other druids who knew she was Emrys anyway. Sorry to interrupt Tauren. Mona just told me that the great

Communication And Conflicts Barrier When Dealing Or...

1. I learned that I have challenge and overcome the frustrate of communication and conflicts barrier when dealing or approaching with supervisors and co-workers. As likewise of my responsibility as a mentor is to help the mentoree’s need to overcome their obstacles which he/she circulate among their peers 2. I have discovered that I need to practice more of active listening on how the technique is to paraphrase our understanding of what the person being said by transposing it and putting it into our own words than asking for verification. This is the good solution for me to listen, and to be sensitives toward other mentoree who need to understand why sign language is very important to communicate with deaf people. I encourage them to if†¦show more content†¦For instance, about this course evolve the concepts of the staff development and evaluation practices that emphasize staff learning and reflection. It makes me feel that I was missing something of their knowledge gained through their experience with children, teacher, and supervisor every day in the workplace. In solution for advice for a mentor in teaching behavior that required building a teamwork when approaching in communication or conflict strategies. I do believe as a mentor must give a â€Å"broaden and build mod el† format of positive emotions to help mentoree to solve problems and support interpersonal relationships and to find positive meaning in ordinary events, by giving expression appreciate for a job well-done. B. Five most Important behaviors a mentor need and why you feel these are the most important. Effective Mentors 1. In my respective, while mentoring is listening and believing that the mentee can achieve their goal by allowing me to show them my positive roles, responsibility and learning skills than given greatly increased on how much learning can improved their independently toward different people, styles, and culture setting. So they can accomplish their better learning development and social approaches 2. Provide Network and Resourceful: I would provide the mentoree a better network and resourceful guiding along with employee’s handbook; the mission philosophy with aShow MoreRelatedQualitative Research Methods Essay13327 Words   |  54 Pagesqualitative research methods: case study, ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, and narrative research. These methods allow researchers to gather an in-depth understanding of social and cultural phenomena using inquiry tactics to determine the why, when, where, what, and how of the study. 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Texas Government Essay - 983 Words

The government of the state of Texas is a difficult and complicated institution that is composed of many different levels. The question comes in to everyones mind at one time or another whether or not to trust the government. It could be that people believe that the officials will take advantage of their power, or simply people dont like the idea of being controlled by someone who is not a family member or friend. To avoid this centralized power, the government is divided into stages and this is a reasonable ground for trusting the government. Government runs this state and it does deserve to be trusted. Our government here in Texas has three major parts that play a significant part in our decision making process. These levels†¦show more content†¦If issues are brought about, or arguments are carried out, then the Conference Committees are there to resolve these differences. The most common Governmental figure in Texas is the Governor. This power is nothing more than that of a celebrity status. Although the Governor has the power to appoint independent boards and commissions, the senate has to confirm these appointments. This is called senatorial courtesy What is meant when this job is more like a celebrity is because of the Governor‘s ceremonial roles as acting as Chief of State. This increases the Governor‘s popularity and prestige, and broadens the image of the office. One important power or role that the Governor is responsible for is coordinating relations between Texas and other states. This can definitely be an important factor. For example, the need of federal aid during the time of an emergency can require the help of other states. The Governor also acts as the Chief Budget officer of the state. Even though the presiding officer presides over this office, the Governor does have some control. This is a very effective example of a good trustworthy system. 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When Can You Trust Your Gut free essay sample

Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman and psychologist Gary Klein debate the power and perils of intuition for senior executives. For two scholars representing opposing schools of thought, Daniel Kahneman and Gary Klein find a surprising amount of common ground. Kahneman, a psychologist, won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2002 for prospect theory, which helps explain the sometimes counterintuitive choices people make under uncertainty. Klein, a senior scientist at MacroCognition, has focused on the power of intuition to support good decision making in high-pressure environments, such as firefighting and intensive-care units. In a September 2009 American Psychology article titled â€Å"Conditions for intuitive expertise: A failure to disagree,† Kahneman and Klein debated the circumstances in which intuition would yield good decision making. In this interview with Olivier Sibony, a director in McKinsey’s Brussels office, and Dan Lovallo, a professor at the University of Sydney and an adviser to McKinsey, Kahneman and Klein explore the power and perils of intuition for senior executives. 3 March 2010 â€Å" My general view would be that you should not take your intuitions at face value; overconfidence is a powerful source of illusions Daniel Kahneman is a Nobel laureate and a professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. He is also a fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Gallup senior scientist. † The Quarterly: In your recent American Psychology article, you asked a question that should be interesting to just about all executives: â€Å"Under what conditions are the intuitions of professionals worthy of trust? † What’s your answer? When can executives trust their guts? Gary Klein: It depends on what you mean by â€Å"trust. † If you mean, â€Å"My gut feeling is telling me this; therefore I can act on it and I don’t have to worry,† we say you should never trust your gut. You need to take your gut feeling as an important data point, but then you have to consciously and deliberately evaluate it, to see if it makes sense in this context. You need strategies that help rule things out. That’s the opposite of saying, â€Å"This is what my gut is telling me; let me gather information to confirm it. † Daniel Kahneman: There are some conditions where you have to trust your intuition. When you are under time pressure for a decision, you need to follow intuition. My general view, though, would be that you should not take your intuitions at face value. Overconfidence is a powerful source of illusions, primarily determined by the quality Strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut? 4 and coherence of the story that you can construct, not by its validity. If people can construct a simple and coherent story, they will feel confident regardless of how well grounded it is in reality. The Quarterly: Is intuition more reliable under certain conditions? Gary Klein: We identified two. First, there needs to be a certain structure to a situation, a certain predictability that allows you to have a basis for the intuition. If a situation is very, very turbulent, we say it has low validity, and there’s no basis for intuition. For example, you shouldn’t trust the judgments of stock brokers picking individual stocks. The second factor is whether decision makers have a chance to get feedback on their judgments, so that they can strengthen them and gain expertise. If those criteria aren’t met, then intuitions aren’t going to be trustworthy. Most corporate decisions aren’t going to meet the test of high validity. But they’re going to be way above the low-validity situations that we worry about. Many business intuitions and expertise are going to be valuable; they are telling you something useful, and you want to take advantage of them. Daniel Kahneman: This is an area of difference between Gary and me. I would be wary of experts’ intuition, except when they deal with something that they have dealt with a lot in the past. Surgeons, for example, do many operations of a given kind, and they learn what â€Å" Many business intuitions and expertise are going to be valuable; they are telling you something useful, and you want to take advantage of them † Gary Klein is a cognitive psychologist and senior scientist at MacroCognition. He is the author of Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions, The Power of Intuition, and Streetlights and Shadows: Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making. 5 March 2010 problems they’re going to encounter. But when problems are unique, or fairly unique, then I would be less trusting of intuition than Gary is. One of the problems with expertise is that people have it in some domains and not in others. So experts don’t know exactly where the boundaries of their expertise are. The Quarterly: Many executives would argue that major strategic decisions, such as market entry, MA, or RD investments, take place in environments where their experience counts—what you might call high-validity environments. Are they right? Gary Klein: None of those really involve high-validity environments, but there’s enough structure for xecutives to listen to their intuitions. I’d like to see a mental simulation that involves looking at ways each of the options could play out or imagining ways that they could go sour, as well as discovering why people are excited about them. Daniel Kahneman: In strategic decisions, I’d be really concerned about overconfidence. There are often e ntire aspects of the problem that you can’t see—for example, am I ignoring what competitors might do? An executive might have a very strong intuition that a given product has promise, without considering the probability that a rival is already ahead in developing the same product. I’d add that the amount of success it takes for leaders to become overconfident isn’t terribly large. Some achieve a reputation for great successes when in fact all they have done is take chances that reasonable people wouldn’t take. Gary Klein: Danny and I are in agreement that by the time executives get to high levels, they are good at making others feel confident in their judgment, even if there’s no strong basis for the judgment. The Quarterly: So you would argue that selection processes for leaders tend to favor lucky risk takers rather than the wise? Daniel Kahneman: No question—if there’s a bias, it’s in that direction. Beyond that, lucky risk takers use hindsight to reinforce their feeling that their gut is very wise. Hindsight also reinforces others’ trust in that individual’s gut. That’s one of the real dangers of leader selection in many organizations: leaders are selected for overconfidence. We associate leadership with decisiveness. That perception of leadership pushes people to make decisions fairly quickly, lest they be seen as dithering and indecisive. Gary Klein: I agree. Society’s epitome of credibility is John Wayne, who sizes up a situation and says, â€Å"Here’s what I’m going to do†Ã¢â‚¬â€ and you follow him. We both worry about leaders in complex situations Strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut? 6 Overconfidence in action? Does management admit mistakes and kill unsuccessful initiatives in a timely manner? C-level execs Yes Non-C-level1 80% No Yes 49% No 20% 52% 1Figures do not sum to 100%, because of rounding. Source: December 2009 survey of 463 executive readers of the McKinsey Quarterly Executives responded to the survey after reading â€Å"Competing through organizational agility,† by London Business School professor Don Sull, on mckinseyquarterly. com. ho don’t have enough experience, who are just going with their intuition and not monitoring it, not thinking about it. Daniel Kahneman: There’s a cost to not being John Wayne, since there really is a strong expectation that leaders will be decisive and act quickly. We deeply want to be led by people who know what they’re doing and who don’t have to think about it too much. The Quarterly: W ho would be your poster child for the â€Å"non–John Wayne† type of leader? Gary Klein: I met a lieutenant general in Iraq who told me a marvelous story about his first year there. He kept learning things he didn’t know. He did that by continuously challenging his assumptions when he realized he was wrong. At the end of the year, he had a completely different view of how to do things, and he didn’t lose credibility. Another example I would offer is Lou Gerstner when he went to IBM. He entered an industry that he didn’t understand. He didn’t pretend to understand the nuances, but he was seen as intelligent and open minded, and he gained trust very quickly. 7 March 2010 The Quarterly: A moment ago, Gary, you talked about imagining ways a decision could go sour. That sounds reminiscent of your â€Å"premortem† technique. Could you please say a little more about that? Gary Klein: The premortem technique is a sneaky way to get people to do contrarian, devil’s advocate thinking without encountering resistance. If a project goes poorly, there will be a lessons-learned session that looks at what went wrong and why the project failed—like a medical postmortem. Why don’t we do that up front? Before a project starts, we should say, â€Å"We’re looking in a crystal ball, and this project has failed; it’s a fiasco. Now, everybody, take two minutes and write down all the reasons why you think the project failed. The logic is that instead of showing people that you are smart because you can come up with a good plan, you show you’re smart by thinking of insightful reasons why this project might go south. If you make it part of your corporate culture, then you create an interesting competition: â€Å"I want to come up with some possible problem that other people havenâ⠂¬â„¢t even thought of. † The whole dynamic changes from trying to avoid anything that might disrupt harmony to trying to surface potential problems. Daniel Kahneman: The premortem is a great idea. I mentioned it at Davos—giving full credit to Gary—and the chairman of a large corporation said it was worth coming to Davos for. The beauty of the premortem is that it is very easy to do. My guess is that, in general, doing a premortem on a plan that is about to be adopted won’t cause it to be abandoned. But it will probably be tweaked in ways that everybody will recognize as beneficial. So the premortem is a low-cost, high-payoff kind of thing. The Quarterly: It sounds like you agree on the benefits of the premortem and in your thinking about leadership. Where don’t you see eye to eye? Daniel Kahneman: I like checklists as a solution; Gary doesn’t. Gary Klein: I’m not an opponent of checklists for high-validity environments with repetitive tasks. I don’t want my pilot forgetting to fill out the pretakeoff checklist! But I’m less enthusiastic about checklists when you move into environments that are more complex and ambiguous, because that’s where you need expertise. Checklists are about if/then statements. The checklist tells you the â€Å"then† but you need expertise to determine the â€Å"if†Ã¢â‚¬â€has the condition been satisfied? In a dynamic, ambiguous environment, this requires judgment, and it’s hard to put that into checklists. Strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut? 8 Daniel Kahneman: I disagree. In situations where you don’t have high validity, that’s where you need checklists the most. The checklist doesn’t guarantee that you won’t make errors when the situation is uncertain. But it may prevent you from being overconfident. I view that as a good thing. The problem is that people don’t really like checklists; there’s resistance to them. So you have to turn them into a standard operating procedure—for example, at the stage of due diligence, when board members go through a checklist before they approve a decision. A checklist like that would be about process, not content. I don’t think you can have checklists and quality control all over the place, but in a few strategic environments, I think they are worth trying. The Quarterly: What should be on a checklist when an executive is making an important strategic decision? Daniel Kahneman: I would ask about the quality and independence of information. Is it coming from multiple sources or just one source that’s being regurgitated in different ways? Is there a possibility of groupthink? Does the leader have an opinion that seems to be influencing others? I would ask where every number comes from and would try to postpone the achievement of group consensus. Fragmenting problems and keeping judgments independent helps decorrelate errors of judgment. The Quarterly: Could you explain what you mean by â€Å"correlated errors†? Daniel Kahneman: Sure. There’s a classic experiment where you ask people to estimate how many coins there are in a transparent jar. When people do that independently, the accuracy of the judgment rises with the number of estimates, when they are averaged. But if people hear each other make estimates, the first one influences the second, which influences the third, and so on. That’s what I call a correlated error. Frankly, I’m surprised that when you have a reasonably well-informed group—say, they have read all the background materials—that it isn’t more common to begin by having everyone write their conclusions on a slip of paper. If you don’t do that, the discussion will create an enormous amount of conformity that reduces the quality of the judgment. The Quarterly: Beyond checklists, do you disagree in other important ways? 9 March 2010 Gary Klein: Danny and I aren’t lined up on whether there’s more to be gained by listening to intuitions or by stifling them until you have a chance to get all the information. Performance depends on having important insights as well as avoiding errors. But sometimes, I believe, the techniques you use to reduce the chance of error can get in the way of gaining insights. Daniel Kahneman: My advice would be to try to postpone intuition as much as possible. Take the example of an acquisition. Ultimately, you are going to end up with a number—what the target company will cost you. If you get to specific numbers too early, you will anchor on those numbers, and they’ll get much more weight than they actually deserve. You do as much homework as possible beforehand so that the intuition is as informed as it can be. The Quarterly: What is the best point in the decision process for an intervention that aims to eliminate bias? Daniel Kahneman: It’s when you decide what information needs to be collected. That’s an absolutely critical step. If you’re starting with a hypothesis and planning to collect information, make sure that the process is systematic and the information high quality. This should take place fairly early. Gary Klein: I don’t think executives are saying, â€Å"I have my hypothesis and I’m looking only for data that will support it. † I think the process is rather that people make quick judgments about what’s happening, which allows them to determine what information is relevant. Otherwise, they get into an information overload mode. Rather than seeking confirmation, they’re using the frames that come from their experience to guide their search. Of course, it’s easy for people to lose track of how much they’ve explained away. So one possibility is to try to surface this for them—to show them the list of things that they’ve explained away. Daniel Kahneman: I’d add that hypothesis testing can be completely contaminated if the organization knows the answer that the leader wants to get. You want to create the possibility that people can discover that an idea is a lousy one early in the game, before the whole machinery is committed to it. The Quarterly: How optimistic are you that individuals can debias themselves? Daniel Kahneman: I’m really not optimistic. Most decision makers will trust their own intuitions because they think they see the situation clearly. It’s a special exercise to question your own intuitions. Strategic decisions: When can you trust your gut? 10 I think that almost the only way to learn how to debias yourself is to learn to critique other people. I call that â€Å"educating gossip. † If we could elevate the gossip about decision making by introducing terms such as â€Å"anchoring,† from the study of errors, into the language of organizations, people could talk about other people’s mistakes in a more refined way. The Quarterly: Do you think corporate leaders want to generate that type of gossip? How do they typically react to your ideas? Daniel Kahneman: The reaction is always the same—they are very interested, but unless they invited you specifically because they wanted to do something, they don’t want to apply anything. Except for the premortem. People just love the premortem. The Quarterly: Why do you think leaders are hesitant to act on your ideas? Daniel Kahneman: That’s easy. Leaders know that any procedure they put in place is going to cause their judgment to be questioned. And whether they’re fully aware of it or not, they’re really not in the market to have their decisions and choices questioned. The Quarterly: Yet senior executives want to make good decisions. Do you have any final words of wisdom for them in that quest? Daniel Kahneman: My single piece of advice would be to improve the quality of meetings—that seems pretty strategic to improving the quality of decision making. People spend a lot of time in meetings. You want meetings to be short. People should have a lot of information, and you want to decorrelate errors. Gary Klein: What concerns me is the tendency to marginalize people who disagree with you at meetings. There’s too much intolerance for challenge. As a leader, you can say the right things—for instance, everybody should share their opinions. But people are too smart to do that, because it’s risky. So when people raise an idea that doesn’t make sense to you as a leader, rather than ask what’s wrong with them, you should be curious about why they’re taking the position. Curiosity is a counterforce for contempt when people are making unpopular statements. Copyright  © 2010 McKinsey Company. All rights reserved. We welcome your comments on this article. Please send them to [emailprotected] com.

The Love of My Life by T. Coraghessan Boyle free essay sample

A first person narrative of infanticide. This paper looks at the style of writing and the tale of infanticide in this work of Boyles. The paper discusses the innocuous sounding title followed by an extremely gruesome tale regaled in the first person. It analyzes the boys actions and his self-belief that he is committing this act out of love rather than fear or resentment. From the paper: The story of The Love of My Life by T. Coraghessan Boyle, the author sets up a series of expectations by the reader that he subsequently and systematically subverts over the course of the narrative. Both the subject and plot of what transpires in flashback and the piecemeal, postmodern first-person narrative style enable the author to achieve this desired effect. This effect is also achieved as well by the grotesque and destabilizing language unconsciously used by the narrative I. (117-133) When a reader learns that the title of a short story is The Love of My Life, certain associations are immediately created in his or her mind. We will write a custom essay sample on The Love of My Life by T. Coraghessan Boyle or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Such a title is not ambiguous, like a story with a one-word name.

6858005143500 Essays - Victorias Secret, Clothing, Business, Economy

6858005143500 Sierra Haverfield 03831294 Roy Raymond, a man who was embarrassed to buy lingerie for his wife, founded Victoria's Secret in 1977. Soon to follow was a mail-order catalog and three more stores in the San Francisco area. The first year was very successful, grossing $500,000, however after five years the company was headed for bankruptcy and Roy sold VS to the Limited Brand in 1982. By the 90's, the company was the largest and most successful lingerie company in the U.S. making over one billion dollars annually. Furthermore, the extravagant runways shows have many people working to put them together, however one the most important minds is Todd Thomas, the creative director for the VS Annual Fashion show. He has been working on the design team for 11 years now with the company. (Xu) Today, the headquarters for this massive fashion empire are located in Columbus, Ohio, however the first store was opened in our very own San Francisco back in 1977. (Victoria's Secret) The first store's designs mimicked those of a burlesque costume shop because they were catering to men's fantasies. This was done because Roy Raymond wanted men to feel comfortable buying lingerie for their wives. After the Limited purchased the company in 1982 however, the designs were changed. Now the main store is designed just like the rest of them, pink stripes, classy Victorian design, and friendly sale's associates. The lingerie is displayed on ways and tabletops, with some mannequins even wearing the infamous angel wings. Company Milestones 1963: Leslie H. Wexler founded The Limited Brands in 1963. 1977: Roy Raymond founded the first Victoria's Secret store in San Francisco, CA because he was embarrassed to buy lingerie for his wife. 1977-78: Victoria's Secret grossed $500,000 in its first year of business. 1980: Roy started the mail-order catalog and added four additional stores in the San Francisco area 1982: The Limited Brand bought Victoria's Secret for four million dollars. 1982: Victoria's Secret store and catalogue are purchased for $1 million 1993: Roy Raymond commits suicide by jumping off of the Gold Gate Bridge on August 20th. 1998: Victoria's Secret launched their website, Victoriassecret.com. The website has been profitable since the day that it was created. 1998: "Intimate Beauty Corporation is created to develop and build a portfolio of distinct beauty businesses. Victoria's Secret Beauty is the first brand in its portfolio." (The Limited Brands) 2007: Grace Nichols retired from her position as CEO at Victoria's Secret 2007: Lauri Greeley became CEO of Victoria's Secret. Mark Weikel became president, alongside his title of COO. This same year, the Limited Brands sold The Limited companies, focusing more on Victoria's Secret and PINK because the majority of their profit was coming from there. 2008: Victoria's Secret Pink launched their collegiate collection. 2009: Victoria's Secret created their Facebook page 2009: Victoria's Secret launched their trial for their "Travel and Tourism Stores." These stores were put into airports and different tourist destinations around the world. (The Limited) 2010: Victoria's Secret PINK reaches one billion dollars in sales. 2012: Opened first Victoria's Secret full-assortment stores in London - New Bond Street and Westfield Stratford City. (The Limited) When the idea of Victoria's Secret was born, it came from Roy Raymond, a man too nervous to buy any lingerie for his wife. After five short years, Roy Raymond's business had become so successful that he sold it to Leslie H. Wexler in 1982, the CEO of The Limited Brands. What Raymond did not realize was that this store was only going to getter bigger and become more appealing to just those men who were too scared to go into a lingerie store. Victoria's Secret's target market is now to middle class women, but it attracting high school girls up to older woman as well. Grace Nichols joined the Victoria's Secret team in 1986, and from there the store became one of the top ten most recognized companies. ("History and Background of Victoria's Secret") After Nichols retired in 2007, Lori Greeley took over and is keeping the company moving forward. Greeley has been working for the company since 1989, starting as an Associate Merchandiser of Sleepwear. Greeley quickly moved her way up to vice president of merchandising, and eventually to EVP/GMM of Intimates in 2002. ("Limited Brands, Inc. Announces Executive Appointments") Along side

A Critical Essay evaluating a published piece of research from a research skills and methods point of view The WritePass Journal

A Critical Essay evaluating a published piece of research from a research skills and methods point of view Introduction A Critical Essay evaluating a published piece of research from a research skills and methods point of view IntroductionPositivist Research PhilosophyQualitative and Quantitative Research MethodFrame AnalysisData CollectionSources CasesConclusionReferencesRelated Introduction The article that forms the basis of the methodology analysis of this paper is Balabanova and Balch (2010) titled Sending and receiving: The ethical framing of intra-EU migration in the European press. In brief, the article explores the role played by ethics of immigration control in Europe in communication processes. It examines how the news media in two European states, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom, frame intra-EU migration. As the article contains a section identifying the methodology used in the article, this will form the basis of analysis. Through examination of the methodologies identified therein, the effective use of these techniques will be critiqued, as well as those present in the article, which have not been identified in the section. This paper will explore the methodology used in the article from a broad philosophical approach to the methodology, to factors of analysis, research methods, data collection and appropriateness of the sources used. Positivist Research Philosophy Positivism is a structured approach to interpretation of research and the use of this methodology aims to replicate or test theory. Use of this methodology sees the researcher making certain interpretations about the data that will be collected. These interpretations will be quantified and generalised using some form of statistical analysis (Carter New, 2004) and thus its application within the natural sciences to the study of a subject in a social reality. This approach is deductive in nature where the research develops a theory and then subjects it to testing in the form of measureable hypotheses (Feyerabend, 1981). This has clear application in the current article as the authors are looking to interpret the data collected to draw certain conclusions about the role of the media in intra-EU immigration. Against this research philosophy it is possible to then examine the different kinds of research methods undertaken. This research philosophy is not identified in the article itself, however it is clear that there is a positivist approach taken to the research as there is a strong representation of certain interpretations made on the basis of collected data. Qualitative and Quantitative Research Method From the outset it is clear that the paper makes use of both qualitative and quantitative research methodology. The article identifies the approach used in testing the hypothesis as linking media framing with normative political theory in a systematic way. This approach superficially indicates the inclusion of qualitative research due to the very nature of normative theory. Qualitative research centers around the idea that meaning is socially constructed by individuals based on their interactions with the world and that the world is not based on positivist or quantitative assumptions (Merriam, 2002; 32). Qualitative research suggests that instead, reality is based on multiple interpretations that change over time, and researchers concern themselves rather with understanding these interpretations at a particular time.   This research in particular focuses on plurality of interpretations (Flick, 2009). If one understands normative theory as being prescriptive of how one ideally shoul d or ought to act, imposing a value judgment based on these interpretations (Over, 2004; 3), one can see the understanding of normative political theory as inherently qualitative in nature.   By contrast, quantitative methods of research are those which concern data analysed in terms of numbers (Punch, 1998). It is conceivable therefore that normative political theory may be assisted by quantitative research methods, however essentially this requires a value judgment on what political theory ought to be, is essentially positions itself within qualitative research by its very definition, as a value judgment requires the consideration of factors that typically fall within the realm of qualitative research, such as context and evaluation.  Ã‚   Arguably, the omission of this statement of methodology from the section in the article itself is justified through redundancy. That is to say, that to the extent that this is both understood as a methodology of normative theory application, as well as the assumptions made about this theory within the paper rather than a process of research or discovery as to what this theory is, perhaps the inclusion of this consideration in the methodology section is somewhat redundant and unnecessary. A mixed method of qualitative and quantitative research exists in this article further in the identification of content analysis as the primary method of analysis in the paper (Balabanova Balch, 2010; 386). Content analysis classified textual material by reducing it to manageable pieces of data by quantifying the occurrence of certain phrases or themes within a text (Weber, 1980). It is therefore clear that content analysis is quantitative to the extent that it attempts to quantify certain themes within the text itself. However, it is simultaneously qualitative in that it takes account of the context of text components, latent structures of sense, distinctiveness in individual cases and things that do not appear in the text itself (Ritsert, 1972). For this reason, the inclusion of qualitative content analysis in analyzing communication texts, such as the current case of media, these factors are important for including context in the process of analysis. This however is not the quali tative inclusion that is referred to by Balabanova and Balch (2010; 396), as the methodology section purports to include qualitative factors through qualitative reading of selected articles to identify the ethical position and the range of communitarian and cosmopolitan issues. Whilst it arguable that these factors are a necessary inclusion of qualitative factors in the research, this should not be the extent of this inclusion. This is a clear inclusion in the Balabanova and Balch (2010; 386) article if one considers the nature of sources analyzed as being media sources of a particular topic, particularly considering the ethical dimension thereof. There is a definitely inclusion of certain ethical judgments in the content analysis which is essential to the topic itself. To the extent therefore that the content analysis used in the paper is of mixed methodology, this is entirely appropriate given the multifaceted nature of the inquiry itself. By making use of the sources that take ac count of the context, particularly in the choice of sources, it is clear that there are features of qualitative content analysis present in the article. Frame Analysis A further method identified by the methodology section of the article is a framing analysis, which essentially works as a method of defining how an issue is problematised and the effect that this has on the broader discussion (Hope, 2010; 2). Framing, involves selection and highlighting of certain facets of events, making connections between them so that they promote a particular interpretation, evalua ­tion or solution (Entman, 2004). By framing an issue in a certain way the media organize and structure their presentation, in the process including and excluding ideas and argu ­ments to produce a coherent construction and understanding of the issue (Pan and Kosicki, 1993). Despite the inclusion of this methodology, it is questionable whether the authors have made use of this analysis method, as there is no evidence of a discussion involving the framing of the problem statement in a manner that is consistent with this methodology. This is a precise methodology involving various st eps of conceptualization from the primary framework, to the metaframes and finally, the issue frame leading to the problem statement. Essentially, this moves from a very broad general understanding of the issue and moves towards the very specific (Hope, 2010; 5). Whilst it is clear that Balabanova and Balch (2010; 383) have clearly stated their problem statement in the introductory paragraphs of the article, this is not however consistent with the steps of analysis used in a frame analysis. The introduction to the problem statement arguably is well reasoned from the onset, and there is no development or discovery of logic as the process enfolds. Therefore, it is fair to conclude that there is an adequate formation of the problem statement, however this is not done by a frame analysis which purports to form the foundation of the research itself. Data Collection It is arguable that the method of data collection used by Balabanova and Balch (2010) is a qualitative data collection method. This is so because generally empirical or first-hand research is undertaken in quantitative studies which involves the independent collection of data by the researcher, rather than analyzing data that is already available. To this extent, the authors have circumvented a number of logistical issues with regards to the ethics of empirical research. Generally speaking, empirical research must be accompanied by a statement of ethics to ensure that the appropriate ethical standards are adhered to when dealing with research participants. Qualitative data therefore is representative of language data or the experience of the participants of the study, whereas quantitative data is a collection of numbers and figures (Polkinghorne, 2005). Whilst, the article does make use of quantitative data in terms of the fact that it uses this data to form the basis of the analysis , it similarly makes use of qualitative data which can be described as an ‘account’ or ‘evidence’ of human experience (ibid). It stands to reason therefore, that if one considers the subject matter of the article, the findings are a reflection of an experience and otherwise described as evidence of a certain circumstance. To this extent, the quantitative figures are used as a supporting mechanism to add to the validity and reliability of these findings. Validity generally implies that the instrument must measure what it was intended to measure (Barbour, 2008). Therefore to the extent that this data collection method has been used to gather the appropriate evidence and therefore measure the topic of the article, it is a valid mechanism of doing so. The article however does not address the issue of data collection, although it is fairly evident that it is qualitative in nature considering that it was chosen from a specific demographic country, with specific interests in mind when collecting this data. There are certain superficial indicators of reliability in research relating to repetition or consistency in assertion. Golafshani (2003; 598) identifies three types of reliability referred to in research, which relate to, namely the degree to which a measurement, given repeatedly, remains the same, the stability of a measurement over time; and the similarity of measurements within a given time period. Arguably by the very nature of the means of analysis, namely content analysis, these results should prove to be reliable, as the subject of what this method measures is precisely the repeated incidence of specific themes and phrases within the data sampled. The reliability of the data therefore is reliant on the reliability of the tool of analysis in this case. It can be concluded that, despite the lack of discussion as to the reliability of the data, the nature of the test is one which is inherently reliability. This is mitigated further by the limited size of the population of the st udy itself. Sources Cases Generally speaking, it is not appropriate to rely solely on newspaper articles as the basis of academic findings, however for the purposes of the current research, particularly in that the article is based on the influence of the media on the perception of intra-EU migration. As a result therefore the use of these sources is appropriate. The reliability and validity of the research with regards to the sources is upheld in integrity, as there is the adequate inclusion of reputable academic sources, as well as the use of these newspaper sources which form the basis of the data analysis. Conclusion By and large the application of the outlined methodology in the article itself is successful. One could argue that the relevant theoretical considerations with regards to research methodology have been adequately addressed in the article given the length and depth of the subject matter. This however is not to say that the authors have not excluded the fundamental considerations of methodology that merit inclusion, such as more exploration of qualitative research methodology, which has been argued to contribute significantly to the outcomes of the study, yet are not sufficiently included. Despite this exclusion, the collection of data and the sources used to support the hypothesis of the article are sufficient and appropriate in the circumstance, considering that the topic at hand requires an inquiry into the opinions and role of the media in these circumstances. This is supported by a superficial, yet adequate methodological explanation that allows the reader a basic understanding of the methodology used in the paper. References Balabanova and Balch (2010) Sending and receiving: The ethical framing of intra-EU migration in the European press. European Journal of Communication, 25, pp. 382 408 Barbour, R.S (2008) Introducing Qualitative Research. Sage Publications: Los Angeles Carter, B and C. New (2004) Making Realism Work. Routledge: London Entman R (2004) Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion, and US Foreign Policy. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press Feyerabend, P.K. (1981) Realism, Rationalism and Scientific Method.   Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) Flick, U. (2009) An Introduction to Qualitative Research. (4ed) Sage Publications: London Golafshani, N. (2003) Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. The Qualitative Report, 8(4), pp. 597 607 Hope, M. (2010) Frame Analysis as a Discourse-Method: Framing ‘climate change politics’. Paper delivered to the Post-Graduate Conference on Discourse Analysis March 2010,University of Bristol. Merriam, S. (2002) Qualitative Research in Practice. (1ed) John Wiley Sons: New York Over, D (2004) Rationality and the Normative/Descriptive Distinction in Koehler, D. Harvey, N. (eds) ‘Blackwell Handbook of Judgment and Decision Making’ Blackwell: New York Pan Z and Kosicki G (1993) Framing analysis: An approach to news discourse. Political Communication 10(1): 55–75. Polkinghorne, D. (2005) Language and Meaning: Data Collection in Qualitative Research. Journal of Counselling Pyschology, 52(2), pp 137 145 Punch, K. (1998)  Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. Sage Publications: London Ritsert, J. (1972  Inhaltsanalyse und Ideologiekritik. Ein Versuch à ¼ber kritische Sozialforschung. Frankfurt: Athenum Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag (as translated) Weber, R. (1980) Basic Content Analysis. (2ed) Sage Publications: London