is something you learned from the Jobling and Gill article? Be specific. 2. Jobling and Gill state “as powerful as DNA analysis is, it is far from being the sine qua non of forensic casework”, what do they mean by this? And what is their reasoning behind making this statement? Be specific, and be sure to answer both questions here. I expect you to synthesize information from the entire article to answer this question.

10 Chapter: III Research Methodology Methodology: A step-by-step approach has been followed

10

Chapter: III Research Methodology

Methodology:

A step-by-step approach has been followed to meet the aims and the objectives outlined in this research. This methodology will reflect within the research design, research philosophy, and data sampling.

This study utilised qualitative data collection, a non-statistical technique of understanding the research topic which allows for better interpretation and in-depth understanding of the research (Oun & Bach, 2014). It does not involve any quantitative interpretation and is subjected to the content and the descriptive analysis of the gathered data. Qualitative research analysis will also assist in examining the research topic on the impact of cosmetic surgery advertising via social media on African American women. First-hand data collection was undertaken based upon the sampling strategy and the target population of the study. According to Benoot et al. (2016), the characteristics of qualitative research are considered practical in relation to design as it involves using the data from multiple sources and aids in inductive analysis. The qualitative approach has a relatively strong position in the research study as it will aid in the depiction and in-depth understanding of participants’ experiences, related phenomena, and overall context in relation to the research topic (Harper, 2011). With the utilisation of the qualitative approach, social issues which arise in this study can be analysed, and provides the opportunity to address participants’ experiences by initiating various questions. Overall, qualitative research will be used as an explanatory model (Campbell, 2014). It will assist in enabling the sense of social reality and depicting various social aspects (Jamshed, 2014).

The type of qualitative data collection used in the current research will be structured interviews. An interview will be designed to meet the aim and objectives of the research, and this interview will include various questions that are formulated to gain the research results (Khan, 2014). This interview will uphold various ethical considerations in order to improve the validity of the research. Each participant was also provided with informed consent prior to partaking in the research study. The rationale of choosing informed consent is that it will help maintain the confidentiality and anonymity of the research.

Research philosophy:

An interpretivist approach to research was adopted within this study. Potrac et al. (2014) defines interpretivism as the strategy required to gain knowledge and better interpret and highlight a research study’s subjective meanings. According to Bevir and Rhodes (2012), selecting this approach assists in the interpretation of different aspects of research. Utilising a subjective approach is essential for this study as it explains the subjective element of the research. The subjective element of this research will further aid in the fulfilment of the research aim and objectives (Ryan, 2018). The research study aim is to analyse the impact of social media advertising on the target population of focus. The research objectives will be achieved by highlighting the experiences and the behaviours of the individuals who took part in the research study. Chowdhury (2014) states that the interpretivist approach helps to uncover the hidden factors within a study and to further discover the underlying reasons for specific behaviour. The current research study analyses both the self-experience (i.e. self-perception in relation to body image) and the purchase intent amongst a select sample of African American millennial women within the US. The interpretivist approach will help in uncovering the impact of social media advertising on the research target population in a subjective way.

Data sampling method:

The data sampling method finds its importance in managing the samples and addressing the population involved in the research. The research will follow a purposeful sampling method. Purposeful sampling is not limited to a single strategy, but rather, utilises four different strategies (Emmel, 2013). The most befitting strategy for this research study is the homogeneity strategy. This strategy is used in qualitative research, as it allows for detailed description of a particular sub-group to reduce variations, simplify the analysis, and facilitate the findings (Suri, 2011). The sampling strategy also associates with the aims and the objectives of the research, a necessary requirement of the selected homogeneity strategy (Qu & Dumay, 2011).

Inclusion criteria:

After selecting the sampling strategy, the next step in the research methodology is to select the samples to be utilised within the research. The following is the selection criteria developed to meet the objectives of this research:

The participants must be African American millennial women aged 24-35 years of age residing in the United States

The literature review and the associated gaps have uncovered that the effects of social media advertising on African American women is an under-developed area of research, despite the encounters that this particular demographic has had in relation to the cosmetic surgery industry and its associated advertising via social media channels. 92.9% of US cosmetic surgery patients in 2018 were female, and 98% of 21-35 yr olds in the US plan to have cosmetic surgery (ASAPS, 2018), making millennial females the most engaged demographic within the US in relation to seeking cosmetic surgery procedures. These findings further propelled this study to focus on and explore the selected sample.

The participants must be users of the Instagram social media application

Alghonaim et al. (2019) suggests that Instagram is the most influential platform in cosmetic surgery desire in young women, making it a relevant social platform to focus the research study upon. A report published by Statista (2019) reveals that over half of all instagram users (approximately fifty-eight percent) are millennials, and amongst this demographic over half are female. This further justifies the selected sample criteria of both point A and point B.

The research participants must have had any form of cosmetic surgery within the last five years

It was imperative that participants involved in the study had a prior history of cosmetic surgery in order to ascertain how the advertising via social media aided in their thought process and eventual purchase intent in relation to undergoing cosmetic surgery. This criteria allowed for rich data to be collected in order to further meet the research aim and objectives.

Research Procedure:

First of all, the research study will set the aims and objectives of the research to find out a dimension of the research, as it will help better understand the research topic. After deciding the samples and the targeted population, the next step is to use different strategies for reaching the population. Before interviewing the participants, they are provided with the consent form to deal with their confidentiality and anonymity issues. Debriefing will also be provided to the participants to let them know about the research study. After taking their consent, the next step will be interviewing those participants (Ratislavová & Ratislav, 2014). The participants will ask the interview questions to get a more in-depth understanding and deeper analysis of the research topic. The interview participants will be asked questions one by one after getting to know about their demographics. After taking interviews from the focus group of the target example, the next step will be to analyze the data gathered. The data analysis in the qualitative research study involves identifying the themes, experiences, and opinions in between the participants’ responses. This will be done by using qualitative software as that of NVIVO. This software will help in identifying the common themes for reporting the results. After obtaining the results, these findings will be compared with empirical research to see the current research’s validity and consistency.

Ethical considerations:

The current research will be ethically considerate, and it will consider all the ethical measures to improve the validity and consistency of the research. The ethical considerations that will be considered in the current research include confidentiality, anonymity, informed consent, integrity, and honesty in the research (Connelly, 2014). All the principles are followed in the current research, and the participants are also provided with informed consent to deal with their ethical concerns. Voluntary participation of the participants is vital to provide respect to the rights of each participant, as per Recker (2012). Also, the participants will be made aware of the detailed description of the data collection and analysis. The identity and the confidential information of the participants will be kept anonymous in the entire study. And the data of the study will be kept confidential and saved in a computer system that is encrypted by using a password to get access. All the findings of the research will be widely reported, and the authors will be honestly acknowledged.

Limitations:

Although the research study is reliable and valid, it still has certain limitations that cannot be ignored. One of the research limitations is that it is subjective, which means that the researcher’s personal experiences and viewpoints can influence the research findings. The findings of the research cannot be generalized because of the limited sample. Moreover, COVID-19 has caused a significant number of challenges to conduct the research. The data collection cannot be possible face to face due to COVID-19 restrictions, but in the current case, zoom meetings will be held to achieve the aims of the research. The current research is qualitative rather than quantitative research, which is another limitation of the research. These limitations can be addressed in the future for the improvement of the current research study.

To summarize, the research methodology followed in the research is qualitative, and it will follow the interpretivism approach. The primary data collection will be held by the participants directly by taking their interviews via online platforms. A step-by-step approach will be used in the research to meet the aims and objectives of the research. The research will be ethically considerate, and all the ethical principles will be kept in mind. However, the study has limitations due to the lack of generality and restrictions to do face-to-face interviews.

References

Bevir, M. and Rhodes, R.A., 2012. Interpretivism and the analysis of traditions and practices. Critical policy studies, 6(2), pp.201-208.

Benoot, C., Hannes, K. and Bilsen, J., 2016. Purposeful, sampling in a qualitative evidence synthesis: A worked example on sexual adjustment to a cancer trajectory. BMC medical research methodology, 16(1), pp.1-12.

Connelly, L.M., 2014. Ethical considerations in research studies. Medsurg Nursing, 23(1), pp.54-56.

Campbell, S., 2014. What is qualitative research?. Clinical Laboratory Science, 27(1), p.3.

Chowdhury, M.F., 2014. Interpretivism in aiding our understanding of the contemporary social world. Open Journal of Philosophy, 2014.

Emmel, N., 2013. Purposeful sampling. Sampling and choosing cases in qualitative research: A realist approach, pp.33-45.

Harper, D., 2011. Choosing a qualitative research method. Wiley Blackwell.

Jamshed, S., 2014. Qualitative research method-interviewing and observation. Journal of basic and clinical pharmacy, 5(4), p.87.

Khan, S.N., 2014. Qualitative research method-phenomenology. Asian Social Science, 10(21), p.298.

Oun, M.A. and Bach, C., 2014. Qualitative research method summary. Qualitative research, 1(5), pp.252-258.

Potrac, P., Jones, R.L. and Nelson, L., 2014. Interpretivism. In Research methods in sports coaching (pp. 31-41). Routledge.

Qu, S.Q. and Dumay, J., 2011. The qualitative research interview. Qualitative research in accounting & management.

Ratislavová, K. and Ratislav, J., 2014. Asynchronous email interview as a qualitative research method in the humanities. Human Affairs, 24(4), pp.452-460.

Recker, J., 2012. Ethical considerations in research. In Scientific Research in Information Systems (pp. 141-147). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Ryan, G., 2018. Introduction to positivism, interpretivism and critical theory. Nurse researcher, 25(4), pp.41-49.

Suri, H., 2011. Purposeful sampling in qualitative research synthesis. Qualitative research journal.[supanova_question]

Methodology Research philosophy The initial element of the research methodology for this

is something you learned from the Jobling and Gill article? Be specific. 2. Jobling and Gill state “as powerful as DNA analysis is, it is far from being the sine qua non of forensic casework”, what do they mean by this? And what is their reasoning behind making this statement? Be specific, and be sure to answer both questions here. I expect you to synthesize information from the entire article to answer this question. Methodology

Research philosophy

The initial element of the research methodology for this dissertation is to define the underlying research philosophy for the investigation. In the case of the present dissertation, this methodology must provide the potential to examine the role of digital marketing in supporting business recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. As this is a broad and exploratory research process, the optimal research philosophy will be interpretive in nature (Ghauri and Grønhaug, 2005). This is due to the value of an interpretive philosophy in focusing on the contextual nature of the research situation and the various social factors around it. As such, an interpretive research aims to create knowledge and insight by interpreting the present research scenario within its social context (Easterby-Smith et al, 2012). This interpretive focus will help to facilitate understanding around the role of digital marketing in supporting business recovery as economies begin to emerge from the worst effects of the pandemic. Such a philosophy contrasts with others such as positivism, which aim to describe situations through detailed mathematical processes involving scientific analysis and rational inquiry (Saunders et al, 2009). As such, the present research will look to be more interpretive and open to the nature of digital marketing and its role in the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery, in order to provide high levels of insight and to support the development of a framework to support digital marketing in the future (Gray, 2014).

Research methods

Within the overall research philosophy, it is important for a researcher to consider the specific choice of research methods. In particular, research needs to consider the use of either primary or secondary methods, and whether these methods will be guided by the use of qualitative or quantitative data. This broadly requires a consideration of the ability of each research method to provide data that is both reliable and valid, and also suitable for the purpose of analysis and fulfilment of the objectives of the work (Denscombe, 2010). In the case of the present research, as the study is interpretive in nature, it is most strongly aligned with primary and qualitative research methods, as these can provide the highest level of interpretive insight around the nature of the topic and the role of digital marketing in supporting business recovery as economies begin to emerge from the worst effects of the pandemic. This in turn indicates that the present research is best advised to use a primary and qualitative method. In this regard, an interview strategy has been selected as the main method of empirical research for this dissertation. This is due to the value of interview strategies in providing strong levels of insight into a specific research phenomenon, whilst also enabling the use of a broad sample rather than a focus on a specific organisation (Dilanthi, 2002). This hence lends itself to the use of interviews in the collection of qualitative primary data, which can be used to develop sufficient insight around the research topic and its implications for theory and practice (Patton, 2002).

Sampling strategy

In order to ensure the data is reliable and valid, it is important to apply a valid sampling strategy. In this regard, the purpose of this research project would be to examine the role of digital marketing in supporting business recovery as economies begin to emerge from the worst effects of the pandemic. This requires a sampling strategy which can provide sufficient insight into the role played by digital marketing in this context, whilst also ensuring a degree of breath and representativeness of the wider population (Bryman and Bell, 2015). In the case of the present research, the decision has been made to focus on developing maximum insight, in order to build the framework for future digital marketing interventions. As such, the sampling strategy will be purposive in nature, with a total of ten interviews carried out with the leaders and marketing managers of businesses that have been observed to use digital marketing effectively in responding to the pandemic. This will help to provide insight into the most effective ways digital marketing can be used to support business recovery, with the choice of ten interviews also providing some level of breadth and representativeness (Kumar, 2014).

Data collection

Within the interview strategy, it will be important to consider how the interviews will be conducted, in order to ensure the effective collection of data in a meaningful and valid manner. As noted above, a total of ten interviews will be carried out with individuals selected from organisations that have used digital marketing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. These interviews will be semi-structured in nature, enabling the researcher to ensure a strong underlying structure to the interviews, but also offering the potential to probe some issues in further depth, and thus develop additional insights where required (Qu and Dumay, 2011). The interviews will be carried out on a face to face basis, with the researcher travelling to the workplaces of the interviewees, or an agreed third party location, in order to maximise convenience for the respondents. Face to face interviews have been shown to be a strong way to collect interview data, enabling a better rapport and deeper answers and insights (Jankowicz, 2005). As such, this process will be used to collect the data, whilst ensuring social distancing is observed and all necessary precautions are taken in light of the risk of COVID-19. The questionnaire instrument is contained in the appendices to this work.

Data analysis

The use of interviews to collect primary data for the research requires said data to be analysed using appropriate and valid qualitative analysis techniques. As such, the decision has been made to undertake qualitative analysis of the interview data by using the process of narrative and thematic analysis (Creswell, 2013). Of these, the thematic analysis involves assigning codes to the data based on the main themes and identified issues. These codes are then compared across different responses and interviews, in order to identify the most significant and important roles of digital marketing in supporting business recovery as economies begin to emerge from the worst effects of the pandemic amongst the sample businesses (Cassel and Symon, 2004). Following these process, the codes are structured in order to craft a narrative outlining the overall role of digital marketing in supporting business recovery, and how this has aided some companies in surviving and thriving in this context (Easterby-Smith et al, 2012). The final stage of analysis is to discuss the results critically within the wider context of the academic literature, identifying and discussing relevant consistencies and inconsistencies in order to develop a deeper level of insight and answer the overall research questions (Quinlan, 2011).

Research ethics

In order to ensure ethical research, the research process has been sure to follow relevant ethical guidelines. Specifically, all relevant guidelines and requirements imposed by the university have been followed closely, whilst the researcher has also adhered to best practice guidelines around ethical academic research in general (Bell, 2014). In the present context, due to the collection of primary data, the work involves individuals and organisations as direct participants in the research process, creating the ethical requirement not to cause any harm, including physical and psychological harm, to any participant or other body affected by the research (Robson, 2011). This has been achieved by obtaining informed consent from all individuals and organisations involved in the research, through the use of consent forms. The researcher has also ensured that the privacy and confidentiality of all participants is maintained, and that no vulnerable people were included in the research process (Bryman and Bell, 2015). In addition to this, all relevant COVID-19 protocols have been followed, including ensuring vaccinations and social distancing, to minimise the risk of physical harm. Finally, the researcher has also carefully followed ethical guidelines around the research reporting and process, including making necessary acknowledgements and references and reporting results in an open and transparent manner, which acknowledges the limitations of the work (William et al, 2013).

Methodological limitations.

The main limitation of the present research is that it is a mono method study. This means that the work has only used one source of data, namely the qualitative interviews. As such, this may limit the insight and validity provided by the results, with Creswell (2013) noting that superior quality research often uses multiple sources of data to offer maximum value and develop superior understanding. In addition to this, the present research takes place in the context of recovery from COVID-19, but only in the early stages, with the potential for future lockdowns and restrictions if cases rise again. As such, this limits the ability of the work to explore fully the role of digital marketing in supporting business recovery as economies begin to emerge from the worst effects of the pandemic. This indicates that future research in this area should consider a longitudinal strategy, analysing businesses and recovery over a long period of time to assess the evolution of digital marketing and its impacts.

References

Bell, J. (2014) Doing Your Research Project: A guide for first-time researchers. London: McGraw-Hill Education

Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2015) Business Research Methods. 4th Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Creswell, J.W. (2013) Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. 4th Edition. London: Sage Publications

Denscombe, M. (2010) The good research guide: for small-scale social research projects. 4th Edition. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill

Dilanthi A. Baldry, D. Sarshar, M. and Newton, R. (2002) Quantitative and qualitative research in the built environment: application of “mixed” research approach. Work Study. 51(1) p17-31

Easterby-Smith, M. Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. (2012) Management research. 4th edition. London: SAGE Publications

Ghauri, P. and Grønhaug, K. (2005) Research methods in business studies. Harlow, UK: Financial Times Prentice Hall

Gray, D. (2014) Doing Research in the Real World. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Jankowicz, A. (2005) Business Research Projects. 4th Edition. London: Thomson

Kumar, R. (2014) Research methodology: A step-by-step guide for beginners. 4th Edition. London: Sage

Patton, M. Q. (2002) Qualitative Research Evaluation methods. 3rd edition. London: Sage Publications

Qu, S. and Dumay, J. (2011) The qualitative research interview. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management. 8(3) p238-264

Quinlan, C. (2011) Business research methods. Andover: South-Western Cengage Learning

Robson, C. (2011) Real world research: a resource for users of social research methods in applied settings. Chichester: Wiley

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009) Research methods for business students. Harlow, England: Prentice Hall

William, G. Barry, J. Jon, C. and Mitch, G. (2013) Business Research Methods. 9th Edition. London: Cengage Learning[supanova_question]

Instructions Please submit Meal Planning for Carbohydrates Assignment here. Part A Please

Instructions

Please submit Meal Planning for Carbohydrates Assignment here.

Part A

Please respond to the following questions in complete sentences and paragraphs. This section should be at least 200 words.

Write a separate paragraph for each question.

What is meant by the AMDR, and what is this range for carbohydrates?

How does the type of carbohydrate impact health?

What is one negative health impact from carbohydrate intake?

What is one positive health impact from carbohydrate intake?

Part B

Here is a sample one-day menu for Mr. Brown. His doctor just told him to cut down on added sugars in addition to increasing his fiber intake. He hopes to meet with a dietitian next week, but in the meantime needs some help making these changes. List five different suggestions for Mr. Brown’s diet. Make sure to provide only changes that address the meal planning goals mentioned above. Tell him which foods you would have him omit and how you would replace these foods.  Highlight (yellow) or bold the item you are changing. Then write the change next to that. Explain how each change specifically reduces added sugar and/or increases his fiber intake.

Do not simply replace a menu item with water. Do not simply reduce the portion sizes.

Do only five different suggestions to his menu.

Write complete sentences for each suggestion and include: Describe the suggestion. Will it cut down sugars or increase fiber? How?

.

Breakfast
1 cup sugar-frosted flake cereal
8 oz 1% milk
8 oz orange juice
2 scrambled eggs

Snack
1/2 peanut butter and jelly sandwich (1 slice white bread, 1 TBSP Skippy peanut butter, 1 TBSP grape jelly)

Lunch
8 oz tomato soup
6 Saltine crackers
1 turkey sandwich (3 oz turkey, 2 slices white bread)
1/2 cup canned pears in heavy syrup
8 oz grape juice

Snack
6 oz fruited yogurt, sweetened
1 oz almonds

Dinner
5 oz BBQ chicken
1 medium baked potato with 1 TBSP butter
1/2 cup cooked broccoli
8 oz cola
4 oz 1% milk

Snack
1/2 cup chocolate ice cream

Attachments[supanova_question]

Me Talk Pretty One Day. Authors: Sedaris, David Source: Esquire. Mar1999, Vol.

Me Talk Pretty One Day.

Authors: Sedaris, David

Source: Esquire. Mar1999, Vol. 131 Issue 3, p86. 3p. 1 Black and White Photograph.

Document Type: Article

Subject Terms: *LANGUAGE & languages
*EDUCATION
FRANCE — Languages

NAICS/Industry 611710 Educational Support Services

Codes: 923110 Administration of Education Programs
611699 All Other Miscellaneous Schools and Instruction

Abstract: Recalls the experience of the author at a French class in Paris. Reason for his relocation to Paris; Attitude of the teacher; Efforts exerted by the author.

Full Text Word 1975

Count:

ISSN: 0194-9535

Accession Number: 1592411

ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY

Section:

life in france

Welcome to French class, where you must learn to juggle irregular verbs, flying chalk, and the constant threat of bodily harm

AT THE AGE OF FORTY-ONE, I am returning to school and having to think of myself as. what my French textbook calls “a true debutant.” After paying my tuition, I was issued a student ID, which allows me a discounted entry fee at movie theaters, puppet shows, and Festyland, a far-flung amusement park that advertises with billboards picturing a cartoon stegosaurus sitting in a canoe and eating what appears to be a ham sandwich.

I’ve moved to Paris in order to learn the language. My school is the Alliance Francaise, and on the first day of class, I arrived early, watching as the returning students greeted one another in the school lobby. Vacations were recounted, and questions were raised concerning mutual friends with names like Kang and Vlatnya. Regardless of their nationalities, everyone spoke what sounded to me like excellent French. Some accents were better than others, but the students exhibited an ease and confidence I found intimidating. As an added discomfort, they were all young, attractive, and well dressed, causing me to feel not unlike Pa Kettle trapped backstage after a fashion show.

I remind myself that I am now a full-grown man. No one will ever again card me for a drink or demand that I weave a floor mat out of newspapers. At my age, a reasonable person should have completed his sentence in the prison of the nervous and the insecure–isn’t that the great promise of adulthood? I can’t help but think that, somewhere along the way, I made a wrong turn. My fears have not vanished. Rather, they have seasoned and multiplied with age. I am now twice as frightened as I was when, at the age of twenty, I allowed a failed nursing student to inject me with a horse tranquilizer, and eight times more anxious than I was the day my kindergarten teacher pried my fingers off my mother’s ankle and led me screaming toward my desk. “You’ll get used to it,” the woman had said.

I’m still waiting.

THE FIRST DAY OF class was nerve-racking, because I knew I’d be expected to perform. That’s the way they do it here–everyone into the language pool, sink or swim. The teacher marched in, deeply tanned from a recent vacation, and rattled off a series of administrative announcements. I’ve spent some time in Normandy, and I took a monthlong French class last summer in New York. I’m not completely in the dark, yet I understood only half of what this teacher was saying.

“If you have not meismslsxp by this time, you should not be in this room. Has everybody apzkiubjxow? Everyone? Good, we shall proceed.” She spread out her lesson plan and sighed, saying, “All right, then, who knows the alphabet?”

It was startling, because a) I hadn’t been asked that question in a while, and b) I realized, while laughing, that I myself did not know the alphabet. They’re the same letters, but they’re pronounced differently.

“Ahh.” The teacher went to the board and sketched the letter a. “Do we have anyone in the room whose first name commences with an ahh?”

Two Polish Annas raised their hands, and the teacher instructed them to present themselves, giving their names, nationalities, occupations, and a list of things they liked and disliked in this world. The first Anna hailed from an industrial town outside of Warsaw and had front teeth the size of tombstones. She worked as a seamstress, enjoyed quiet times with friends, and hated the mosquito.

“Oh, really,” the teacher said. “How very interesting. I thought that everyone loved the mosquito, but here, in front of all the world, you claim to detest him. How is it that we’ve been blessed with someone as unique and original as you? Tell us, please.”

The seamstress did not understand what was being said, but she knew that this was an occasion for shame. Her rabbity mouth huffed for breath, and she stared down at her lap as though the appropriate comeback were stitched somewhere alongside the zipper of her slacks.

The second Anna learned from the first and claimed to love sunshine and detest lies. It sounded like a translation of one of those Playmate of the Month data sheets, the answers always written in the same loopy handwriting: “Turn-ons: Mom’s famous five-alarm chili! Turnoffs: Insincerity and guys who come on too strong!!!”

The two Polish women surely had clear notions of what they liked and disliked, but, like the rest of us, they were limited in terms of vocabulary, and this made them appear less than sophisticated. The teacher forged on, and we learned that Carlos, the Argentine bandonion player, loved wine, music, and, in his words, “Making sex with the women of the world.” Next came a beautiful young Yugoslavian who identified herself as an optimist, saying that she loved everything life had to offer.

The teacher licked her lips, revealing a hint of the sadist we would later come to know. She crouched low for her attack, placed her hands on the young woman’s desk, and said, “Oh, yeah? And do you love your little war?”

While the optimist struggled to defend herself, I scrambled to think of an answer to what had obviously become a trick question. How often are you asked what you love in this world? More important, how often are you asked and then publicly ridiculed for your answer? I recalled my mother, flushed with wine, pounding the table late one night, saying, “Love? I love a good steak cooked rare. I love my cat, and I love…” My sisters and I leaned forward, waiting to hear our names. “Tums,” our mother said. “I love Tums.” The teacher killed some time accusing the Yugoslavian girl of masterminding a program of genocide, and I jotted frantic notes in the margins of my pad. While I can honestly say that I love leafing through medical textbooks devoted to severe dermatological conditions, it is beyond the reach of my French vocabulary, and acting it out would only have invited unwanted attention.

When called upon, I delivered an effortless list of things I detest: blood sausage, intestinal pate, brain pudding. I’d learned these words the hard way. Having given it some thought, I then declared my love for IBM typewriters, the French word for “bruise,” and my electric floor waxer. It was a short list, but still I managed to mispronounce IBM and afford the wrong gender to both the floor waxer and the typewriter. Her reaction led me to believe that these mistakes were capital crimes in the country of France.

“Were you always this palicmkrexjs?” she asked. “Even a fiuscrzsws tociwegixp knows that a typewriter is feminine.”

I absorbed as much of her abuse as I could understand, thinking, but not saying, that I find it ridiculous to assign a gender to an inanimate object incapable of disrobing and making an occasional fool of itself. Why refer to Lady Flesh Wound or Good Sir Dishrag when these things could never deliver in the sack?

The teacher proceeded to belittle everyone from German Eva, who hated laziness, to Japanese Yukari, who loved paintbrushes and soap. Italian, Thai, Dutch, Korean, Chinese–we all left class foolishly believing that the worst was over. We didn’t know it then, but the coming months would teach us what it is like to spend time in the presence of a wild animal. We soon learned to dodge chalk and to cover our heads and stomachs whenever she approached us with a question. She hadn’t yet punched anyone, but it seemed wise to prepare ourselves against the inevitable.

THOUGH WE WERE forbidden to speak anything but French, the teacher would occasionally use us to practice any of her five fluent languages.

“I hate you,” she said to me one afternoon. Her English was flawless. “I really, really hate you.” Call me sensitive, but I couldn’t help taking it personally.

Learning French is a lot like joining a gang in that it involves a long and intensive period of hazing. And it wasn’t just my teacher; the entire population seemed to be in on it. Following brutal encounters with my local butcher and the concierge of my building, I’d head off to class, where the teacher would hold my corrected paperwork high above her head, shouting, “Here’s proof that David is an ignorant and uninspired ensigiejsokhjx.”

Refusing to stand convicted on the teacher’s charges of laziness, I’d spend four hours a night on my homework, working even longer whenever we were assigned an essay. I suppose I could have gotten by with less, but I was determined to create some sort of an identity for myself. We’d have one of those “complete the sentence” exercises, and I’d fool with the thing for hours, invariably settling on something like, “A quick run around the lake? I’d love to. Just give me a minute to strap on my wooden leg.” The teacher, through word and action, conveyed the message that, if this was my idea of an identity, she wanted nothing to do with it.

My fear and discomfort crept beyond the borders of my classroom and accompanied me out onto the wide boulevards, where, no matter how hard I tried, there was no escaping the feeling of terror I felt whenever anyone asked me a question. I was safe in any kind of a store, as, at least in my neighborhood, one can stand beside the cash register for hours on end without being asked something so trivial as, “May I help you?” or “How would you like to pay for that?”

My only comfort was the knowledge that I was not alone. Huddled in the smoky hallways and making the most of our pathetic French, my fellow students and I engaged in the sort of conversation commonly overheard in refugee camps.

“Sometimes me cry alone at night.”

“That is common for me also, but be more strong, you. Much work, and someday you talk pretty. People stop hate you soon. Maybe tomorrow, okay?”

Unlike other classes I have taken, here there was no sense of competition. When the teacher poked a shy Korean woman in the eyelid with a freshly sharpened pencil, we took no comfort in the fact that, unlike Hyeyoon Cho, we all knew the irregular past tense of the verb “to de feat.” In all fairness, the teacher hadn’t meant to hurt the woman, but neither did she spend much time apologizing, saying only, “Well, you should have been paying more attention.”

Over time, it became impossible to believe that any of us would ever improve. Fall arrived, and it rained every day. It was mid-October when the teacher singled me out, saying, “Every day spent with you is like having a cesarean section.” And it struck me that, for the first time since arriving in France, I could understand every word that someone was saying.

Understanding doesn’t mean that you can suddenly speak the language. Far from it. It’s a small step, nothing more, yet its rewards are intoxicating and deceptive. The teacher continued her diatribe, and I settled back, bathing in the subtle beauty of each new curse and insult.

“You exhaust me with your foolishness and reward my efforts with nothing but pain, do you understand me?”

The world opened up, and it was with great joy that I responded, “I know the thing what you speak exact now. Talk me more, plus, please, plus.”

PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Welcome to French class, where you must learn to juggle irregular verbs, flying chalk, and the constant threat of bodily harm

~~~~~~~~

By David Sedaris[supanova_question]

Breaking Down the MEAL Plan: Beginning with the Main Idea Monday, April

Breaking Down the MEAL Plan: Beginning with the Main Idea

 Monday, April 21, 2014  Featured , Organization , Paragraphs  14 comments

The MEAL plan* of paragraph development and organization is a popular acronym at Walden. Whenever I ask students if they’ve heard of it, at least half already have and the other half immediately start taking notes as I explain it. The reason it’s popular is clear. It’s easy to remember and helps to demystify a topic that can seem quite murky: paragraphs.

However, to use the MEAL plan effectively to develop and revise paragraphs, it needs a little bit of explanation. In this first of a series of blog posts about the MEAL plan, I’m going to tackle the first letter: M, standing for “main idea.”

The main idea of a paragraph is often called a topic sentence. 

There are a few requirements of a topic sentence that you should always check off:

? You should always have one! Each paragraph should start with a topic sentence—that’s right, each and every paragraph. This type of sentence is that important.

? The topic sentence needs to introduce the main idea you’ll be exploring or explaining in the rest of the paragraph. It’s sort of like the thesis statement of the paragraph in this way: it helps tell the reader what topic all the sentences in the paragraph will have in common.

? It probably shouldn’t have a citation. While this isn’t a hard and fast rule, it’s a good guideline. A topic sentence may include research (with a citation), but it usually doesn’t because it should be an overall statement of the paragraph’s focus (rather than a specific idea or fact that needs a citation).

Here’s a sample paragraph with a topic sentence: 

          Many infant and mother deaths can be prevented, especially in the third world. Worldwide, around 11,000,000 children under 5 years old die primarily from preventable diseases, and over 500,000 mothers die from pregnancy- or delivery-related complications annually; almost 99% of these occur in developing countries (Hill et al., 2007). This high number is devastating because while infants in these countries have a high risk of dying, their risk does not stop once they are adults. For women, the lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes is about 100 times higher in Bangladesh than in developed countries (WHO, 2004). The continued failures in implementing straightforward interventions targeting the root causes of mortalities have been responsible for these deaths (McCoy, 2006). The medical community has not been able to come up with simple, cost-effective, and life-saving methods that would help save lives in developing countries. This lack of innovation in the medical field has resulted in the continued unnecessary deaths of thousands of mothers and children.

In analyzing this paragraph, we can check off all of our requirements for a topic sentence:

? First, it exists! I know this sounds simple, but students often forget to include topic sentences in their hurry to include evidence from sources.

? Second, it tells us what this paragraph’s focus will be about. After reading the rest of the paragraph, we can see that all the other sentences reflect this focus—they develop and support this idea that (a) infants and mothers are dying, (b) these deaths are preventable, and (c) this is happening in the third world.

? Third, the statement is general enough that it doesn’t need a citation. Instead, it’s an overall statement that summarizes the focus of the entire paragraph, not just one idea or fact that would need a citation.

? Lastly, take another look at the paragraph and imagine if that topic sentence wasn’t there. While each sentence on its own would make sense, we wouldn’t know the main point or idea of the paragraph until the very last sentence. Waiting until the end of the paragraph to understand the paragraph’s main idea impedes the reader’s ability to understand how these sentences fit together. 

I hope you’re getting a sense of what a topic sentence looks like and why it is important. However, most writers don’t naturally include topic sentences in their paragraphs, and that’s okay! What’s important is that you are able to revise for topic sentences. To do so, I always suggest that students review each paragraph of a first draft: look for paragraphs that don’t have a topic sentence that fulfills the requirements I outlined above, and add or adjust as needed.

* The MEAL plan is adapted from the Duke University Writing Studio.[supanova_question]

You are providing nutritional counseling to a family of four. A 35-year-old

You are providing nutritional counseling to a family of four.  A 35-year-old man who is sedentary and weighs 230 pounds and is 77 inches tall, a 30 woman who is very active and weighs 150 pounds and is 69 inches tall, a 10-year old girl weighing 61 pounds, and an 18 month old boy who weighs 16 pounds.  

You will need to assess the nutritional needs for each individual, including the children.  How many calories must they consume daily? (Use the inside of your textbook cover for EER – Estimated Energy Requirements as well as Appendix F. Remember to subtract calories for any age over 30, see the small print at the bottom of appendix F 4-6 of your textbook). Of the calories they must consume, break down using the daily recommended intake percentages and include how many calories should come from carbohydrates, fat, and protein.   

Next, create a meal plan for the family that meets everyone’s nutritional needs.  Include breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  You can create a chart; you can just write it down in a document.  Feel free to be creative. Utilize your textbook for recommendations for toddlers and children. You should be sure to follow USDA guidelines and ensure recommendations for all food groups are met.  Follow the MyPlate guidelines which you can find on the Food Tracker website. You must also show that all the nutrient requirements are met show the caloric, carbohydrate, protein, and fat content intake with each meal for each individual. 

Lastly, imagine that this family was very low-income and had to feed the entire family on $10/day.  What changes would you make to the menu?  How could you make it more cost-effective without sacrificing nutritional content?  Be specific.  Tell me what you would change on the menu itself and determine the cost of each meal with those changes. You will need to ensure that all caloric and nutrient needs have been met with those changes.

Please submit the assignment in a Word document to the Canvas assignment link.[supanova_question]

ACTIVITY 6 MB655 Business Law Lesson 6: Employment Law Activity 6: Employment

ACTIVITY 6

MB655 Business Law

Lesson 6: Employment Law

Activity 6: Employment Compliance Memo

Your company, a manufacturer and distributor of sports equipment, has grown quickly over the last few years from just a few employees to 25. There has been no time to pay attention to employment issues, but recently the president of the company has asked you to focus on the employment area and provide her information on the following. Your activity responses should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the activity itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your response and document in a bibliography using APA style. (100 points) (A 4-page memo is required.)

Part A An overview of key legal employment rules that apply to the company. Include discussion of the Fair Labor Standards Act, limitation on employment at-will, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and state discrimination laws.

Part B Recommendations for employment practices to ensure compliance with the key legal rules. Include recommendations regarding notices, forms, employee handbooks, personnel files, disciplinary processes, training supervisors, and periodic reviews.

Grading Rubric

Please refer to the rubric on the following page for the grading criteria for this assignment.[supanova_question]

DISCUSSION QUESTION 1-2 MB655 Business Law Lesson 1: Introduction to Law and

DISCUSSION QUESTION 1-2

MB655 Business Law

Lesson 1: Introduction to Law and the Legal Environment of Business

Upon completion of the Required Readings, write a thorough, well-planned narrative answer to the following discussion question. Rely on your Required Readings and the Lecture and Research Update for specific information to answer the discussion question, but turn to your original thoughts when asked to apply, evaluate, analyze, or synthesize the information. Your Discussion Question response should be both grammatically and mechanically correct, and formatted in the same fashion as the question itself. If there is a Part A, your response should identify a Part A, etc. In addition, you must appropriately cite all resources used in your responses and document in a bibliography using APA style.

Discussion Question 2 (50 points)

Evaluate this statement: The First Amendment protected all kinds of speech equally. (50 points) (A 2-page response is required.) Then provide two examples of the U.S. Supreme Court’s position on freedom of speech as that right pertains to businesses.

Grading Rubric

Please refer to the rubric on the following page for the grading criteria for this assignment.[supanova_question]