Test Bias Essay -- Bias in Mental Testing

In the helping professions such as psychology, counseling, social work and education, it is imperative that we as professionals understand tests and be able to administer them properly to our clients or students. Tests should be carefully selected, as each has a purpose and as we are aware, there are biases within various tests. A biased test is one in which there are methodical distinctions in the meaning of test scores correlated to different groups. Most tests are well-formulated; however none are absolute. Tests are often administered to make substantial conclusions that will affect the lives of the test-taker. The test-taker is unaware of these biases that are in favor of or in opposition of specific groups of people and the results could have a major effect on the test-taker. Testing has become a major aspect of the American society. In academic settings, tests scores are used in determining if a student will graduate high school, selecting students for admission to college, placing students into special education, and various other reasons. Within the corporate arena, businesses may use testing to select individuals for job placement. In the United States, testing is inescapable, and test results could have an extensive influence on individuals. Despite the commonality of testing there is a large discrepancy of results between individuals of certain races, social class, and geographical locations. It was previously suggested that the generous gap in test scores were due to differing educational systems, however researchers now seek other justifications. Is it possible that these tests are erroneous? Did they measure what they were intended to measure? Individuals in the field of education, who agree that individua... ...ork: Free Press. Hilliard, A.G., III (1995), ed. Testing African American students: special reissue of the Negro Educational Review. Chicago: Third World Press. Jencks, C. and Phillips, M. (1998), eds. The black-white test score gap. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. Jenson, A.R. (1980). Bias in mental testing. New York: Free Press. Matarazzo, J. (1972) Wechsler’s measurement and appraisal of adult intelligence. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins. Reynolds, C.R. and Brown, Robert T. (1984), eds. Perspectives on bias in mental testing. New York: Plenum Press. Thorndike, R. (1971). Concepts of cultural-fairness.Journal of Educational Measurement,  8(2), 63-70. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/pss/1433959 Whiston, S. (2009).  Principles and applications of assessment in counseling. (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In Veterans :: Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD

As with many other diseases, early detection and treatment of mental disorders are key components to rehabilitation and a cure. The prognosis for a better quality of life for veterans suffering with PTSD is increased through early intervention. The VA has developed the Seamless Transition program for the target group of soldiers that served in Iraq and Afghanistan (Currey, 2007). The focus of the program is to deliver the highest level of care in a timely manner, according to Dr. Roswell, M.D. (Currey, 2007). A holistic approach is taken by social workers to treat the whole person and not just the symptoms. Social work practice often requires advocating and navigating for clients within bureaucratic systems. New soldiers entering the war are at risk of being exposed to trauma, which increases the chance of being diagnosed with PTSD. Other target groups at heightened risk for PTSD are those required to serve multiple deployments and female service members. According to the NADCP (2007) 1 in 5 veterans report symptoms of a mental disorder. These figures can be utilized to predict and implement future treatment needs and funding requirements. Streamlining the application process, by allowing timely access to benefits, can result in reduced benefit necessities. A policy which improves access to benefits for veterans is supported by veteran’s organizations everywhere. A recent change in the policy removes the requirement for veterans to submit written documentation of a stressful event during military service. The most critical support for this change is that of U.S. politicians who make policy decisions. President Obama, in his speech on July 10, 2011, expressed his support for veterans, specifically those suffering with PTSD. He understands the plight of soldiers of war, whether in combat or non-combat, being affected by the war’s trauma. President Obama understood the necessity for new policy as the old policy prevented many of those with PTSD from receiving the care they needed. As stated by the President â€Å"I don’t think our troops on the battlefield should have to take notes to keep for claims applications† (The White House, 2010). The Texas Veteran Commission, realizing the growing number of vete rans with PTSD, is optimistic in its view that the new policies will allow this vulnerable group easier access to benefits (Cervantes, 2010). B. Christopher Frueh, a professor of psychology and director of the Division of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaii, is not a supporter of the rule change.

Pricing strategy in video game industry Essay

Video Gaming industry has gone dramatic changes when more and more digital platforms emerge and improved technology in portable devices, mainly in social games(Facebook, Myspace) and mobile games. 27% of US online population play at least one game on social network, and Facebook gaming revenue hit $1. 32 billion in U. S market in 20111. Also, as more than more people have smart phone especially apple’s iOS devices, gaming application becomes more and more popular in mobile market(72% game applications on iTune)2. There are traditional console game players such as EA, Activision, Nintendo and Ubisoft in this industry, also there are leading company in the social game area such as Zynga in the market. Traditionally, console games are sold in retail stores with $39. 99 to $59. 99 retail price for the whole disc content. Hard-core games such as Call of Duty(Activision), Assassin’s Creed(Ubisoft) and etc. usually price at $59. 99 while casual titles such as Nintendo wii games price around 30$. Usually the pricing approach for these console game companies is the industry standard – means every player in this market follows the same rule as the same price. It can be considered as based on cost structure because of the long time of development (18 to 36 months), money-consuming game development cost and all kinds of add-on cost (packaging, marketing and third-party licensing etc. )3 They also only have two months’ shelf time as the game lunch. Because of the high entry barrier in the console game industry and high brand perception among customers, several main competitors dominate the market. The console game price does not differentiate too much among these players. However, as facebook’s extreme success leads to people’s behavior change to be more â€Å"social† associated, a plenty of small companies start to enter into social gaming market and undergo blast growth speed such as Zynga. Zynga’s pricing strategy is â€Å"Free-to-Play† and charging in-game micro-transaction items such as virtual gift or buildings. The free-to-play concept is not new in this industry because plenty of Korean online game companies such as Nexon, NcSoft already using this business model while traditional online games use subscription model ($15. 99 per month) such as World of WarCraft(Blizzard) and EVE Online(CCP Games). As the internet bandwidth improvement and more internet users in US(250 million)4, online games and social games represent strong growth trend comparing to traditional console games. And as users have more options in â€Å"free† games rather than premium games, more and more companies enter into this industry by offering products for free with micro-transaction options. Zynga’s most popular title â€Å"CityVille† has over 70 million monthly active users while best selling single console game Call of Duty(Activision) has 14 million copies sold in US market. Facing the competition of Facebook games with free to play concept and high growth potential of online game market, some of the traditional package-good game companies start to offer cross-platform Facebook game titles to increase their competency in the market such as EA, Sony and Ubisoft. Their main strategy is to develop Facebook companion games(Free to Play) to featured console game title. Those companions games not only offer free-to-play game content but also allow users to unlock items in the main console game such as Dragon Age Legend(EA). They intend to leverage their brand awareness in the gaming industry, acquire more users to play main games and increase monetization channel to increase revenue. EA responded very quickly in this digital trend by doing aggressive acquisitions for popular facebook or mobile game studios. However, a lot of other traditional console game companies react very slow (Ubisoft, Sony) or refuse to change (Nintendo). Most of console game companies conduct a conservative strategy and will develop several social games(much shorter develop time) to make trial because overall the console retail sales revenue is much higher than that in social and mobile market. Others are not capable of following this fast-paced digital step and suffered loss (THQ laid off 200 employees in 2011 because of decreasing sales in retail products). Most customers that play hard-core video console games generally are not satisfied with the â€Å"free-to-play† social companion games because of lower quality of overall game content and totally different game play with main games. A low quality companion product of Facebook platform will damage the company’s reputation in this industry for new users. However, since the users profile between hardcore players (average 29 years old male) and social players (average 35 years old female) are so different with very few overlap, it makes these console game companies indifferent to the failure of Facebook product. Online game market, on the other hand, the free to play options have a big impact to customers’ options. For example, World of Warcraft ( Most popular Massive Multiplayer Role Playing game, 12million users with $15. 99 monthly subscription fee) lost 600,000 users since 2008 while RuneScape(Jagex) (free-to-play game with subscription options at $5) has 150 million registered users and over 10 million active users. Blizzard responded to the competition since 2011 on â€Å"free to Play† options until level 20 in the game. Another game Lord of the Rings switched from subscription model to free to play model and saw double revenue and 400% user growth immediately. I would suggest the pricing decision maker in video game industry to look at customer, company capability, product feature, customer and competitors’ issues. Company – Analyze company’s positioning in terms of digital trend in the industry and focus on the products with higher profit margins – Analyze company’s cost structure and allocate reasonable resources on other platform product development based on financial forecast Product. – Since console game products have fixed price in the retail stores, figure out other possible channels for monetization such as digital add-on contents, special side-product package etc. – Decide possible virtual buying items based on the game mechanics and gamers motivation (self-expression, social status and social network) Distributor – Corporate and form good relationship with retail distributors for more resources on shelf presence and brand promotion Customer. – Deliver social companion games with high-quality contents to enhance main game – Deliver social games that directly target Facebook users – Promote company brand and establish community to highly engage with users Competitor – Learn from competitors on the digital content development – Expand to other country that competitors did not focus. Resources: 1. www. bizreport. com/2011/07/2011-social-gaming-revenues-to-exceed-1billion. html 2. http://mashable. com/2011/07/13/mobile-gaming-trends/ http://www. businessinsider. com/getting-into-the-mobile-gaming-game-2011-7.

First Cars PLC Plan

It is clearly showing that for the p rapports it is going in the correct direction. With the market expected to grow in terms of market volume, mutinously year on year reaching its final point 1 increase above the baa SE year in 2014 and showing the same trend however with a greater increase for the market v alee, expecting to grow by around 300% over the period shown.This data clearly backs up the e idea of the proposal as it is suggesting that they are entering a market that is showing the at it should be thriving in the forthcoming years and therefore suggesting that they should g o into the new market earlier rather than later because as the car club market increases like the data suggested so will the competition that is in the market, therefore making it ha deer for them to enter the market the later they wait.Secondly if they do decide to go ahead with the proposal, the data suggests the at the company is likely to become more professional in the way it operates as they move i nto a prestigious office in London this will come with a more decentralized organizational struck true. What this means for the company is the fact that the decision making process is spread out to include the more junior managers in the hierarchy, making the decisions made close r to the customer and therefore should hopefully mean that the end service is going to be close to what those who are going to consume it want.It is also a good way of training junior man eager into how the decision making process works and allows them to be making decisions in the company from very early on, therefore increasing the responsibility they have in the such cues, this will also improve the motivation that they have for their job and decrease the decide Soon making time.Further to this it will have a massive positive effect on the staff turnover of the business as shown in Appendix C from Human Resources, this table shows that labor turnover is restarted to fall to 5% from 30%, this could be due to the new structure Of the e business, allowing everyone a part in the fundamental decision making process that face sees them every day or the fact that with better working conditions such as a large office in Lo Indo and a higher salary they are bound to be happier in their work. Further to this the 10 w labor turnover will hopefully reduce the training costs that they are pumping into the e new strategy.As they have a huge budget for training you assume that this will mean that e employees should feel more motivated as they see the effort the company is putting in to et them highly trained in their job, this should mean that the high cost of training will very m such be a one off cost to the business as this alongside the low labor turnover means that the y should be in a position where they aren't training new recruits regularly, only if the case arise sees that they have to expand or when they decide they are doing well enough in the market to d o so.Further to the arguments above the AIR of the investment into the car club p rapports is forecasted to be 15. 6%, this figure passes the expectation of the Directors' who o said they anted it to be at 12%, this means that they are going to achieve the original investment of E Million quicker that what is expected however there could always be the chant CE for error in the forecasted figures. Other arguments for the proposal would be the fact the at the cost of traveling is predicted to increase by 20% over the next 4 years as price of peter 01, car tax and insurance is growing more and more over time.Also as said in the date an Inc erase in the emphasis of reducing our carbon footprint has led to people questioning thee r decision to own a car, and this will be further contemplated as car clubs become ever more pop alular, therefore paving the way for car clubs to come into the market. Finally the car club Indus story has a proven track record and therefore instead Of it being a risky option for the co many what it in fact is doing is differentiating testifiers a market that they are beginning to I SSE market share in.Arguments against: My first argument against would be the fact that they are already running a s successful car rental business and as with any business why would you change something if it is still bringing in a decent revenue, their USPS Of being a no thrills business that is always undo recruiting its imitators is always going to appeal to the tourist that is looking for a simple e car hire for their time in the country.However the case study does then go onto say that they a re losing market share in a competitive market, therefore they need to change something. Ho waver maybe the idea of moving into a market that is not as widely well known could be devastate dating especially as First Cars PL has no previous experience of the car club market, this could lead to a large amount of unwanted start up costs as they haven't really got someone d riving the project that IS likely to know exactly what is happening.Further to this the car club market is already occupied by a lone large company owning 60% of the market share m meaning that it is a monopoly as a result of this they are going to have to do something dramatic calla different to have any affect on the market they are moving into as without a strong USPS t here is no way they will fare well against an already well established successful company that dominates the market market share.Secondly the previous question tells us that the website is likely to take 1 0 we seeks longer than what the critical path analysis says in Appendix B, because they don't think the t they can design and test the website in under 15 weeks this means that Amy has made a massive mistake and misjudged by 1 0 weeks, this will have a detrimental effect on the whole process and will put it back to last 27 weeks as opposed to the 23 weeks previously sees admitted, this also changes the critical path from BEG to CHI].As a result of this First Cars P LLC could experience a number of serious cash flow problems as instead of the comma nines website getting up and running and the first orders coming in, will still be in the pro diction process causing a further cost to the business creating no revenue.

Good teacher Essay

If I were to describe one of my teachers that I have had throughout these years, the one who I considered a good teacher is my present English teacher. The reasons why I would like to characterize my English teacher are various. Firstly, she’s well to take responsibility. She came to teach punctually. Especially, she always keeps in touch with us to try hard to study by her homework for every day. She speaks English fluently, and her voice is so loud that can make students in the class easy to listen. Actually, when we tired, she always tells jokes that always keep us smiling. Secondly, she’s been teaching for long time, so she’s got many experiences. I like the way she pronounce clearly. Moreover, I could say she is a good explainer but she also gives her best in order to help students to improve their knowledge in English. She likes to correct us each time we make mistakes both in pronunciation and grammar. Thirdly, she’s a work hard teacher. She always do a research more new documents for  the students to easy to get understand. And she also got some music lyrics, puzzle, or any other to relax at the weekend or after exam. Sometimes, she looks strong-mined to make us to try hard to study but I know that inside she’s very kind, polite and honest. In conclusion, I can say that, her lectures are well organized, interesting and her methods of teaching us demonstrate the desirable teaching method for our use. I thought that I’m very lucky that I’ve met a very good teacher like her.

Mobile phone: a blessing or a curse

Men check your pocket, Ladies check your purse, something is ringing and vibrating. Yes, the mobile phone, it is a portable gadget, which is made by the people and for the people. A tiny thing which was a status symbol but today, it is the necessity of everyone. Our unique ten-digit numbers allows us to receive or dial calls. It is the identity of the person nowadays and without this people stare at you as if you are not from the 21st centaury. Because for being social you do not have to meet your friend or relatives every weekend, you can call, SMS, email, write on the Facebook wall or merely tweet them. All this is possible with this protean mobile. People are really blessed as this mobile technology has changed our life completely because we have the whole universe in our pocket. A friend in need is a friend indeed, but without a mobile phone you cannot contact your friend and he will not be able to help in emergency. Mobile phone is a true friend and also a live saver, for example, your car broke down in a lonely road where there is no one to help, you can call for help with the help of a mobile phone. On the other hand you can also send SMS or email to contact someone. With the help of the thumb exercise you can send text in the wink of an eye. The other two giant social networking websites, Facebook and Twitter, are also accessible with the phone. So being in contact with friends and relatives is really easy. Other than this there are some basic handy features like Alarm, Stopwatch, Calculator, World Clock, Calendar and Tasks. Don’t you need this features everyday? But if you do not have a mobile phone you will need an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a world clock, a calendar and notebook to write the tasks. Mobile phone is an artist and can do everything you need in your daily life. Along with this if you like to be a spy these features will be very much in need like the camera, video camera and voice recording are some ingredients which will spice up your life. Not only this, a mobile also has a huge capacity to store data. So you can feed the memory with music, videos, photos, games and many more things that you like. So when you are in the airport waiting for hours, surely this will be an entertaining friend and you will never be bored. You can also watch live television so that you never miss your show or match on the go. Nevertheless you can access the whole Internet. That means you can do your work without sitting on the computer because almost everything can be done on the mobile phone. It is like a hand-computer and will never disappoint you because it works for days. To add to the total we have the GPS (Global Positioning System), NFC (Near Field Communication), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, inbuilt compass and last but not the least the mobile application store like the android market place and the iOS app store where you will find millions of reasonable application which suits your need and style. On top of it, mobile phone makers are making slimmer mobiles with good battery backup also with a faster and better processing gadget so that it makes are life much more faster and simpler. In some countries like Australia, if you have done online booking for your flight you just have to scan a unique code, which is in the form of a barcode. While boarding the barcode displayed on the phone is scanned. This eliminates the need of a paper-boarding pass. In the future with the help of Near Field Communication we can do transactions and pay money with our mobile phone. This way we can see that the mobile phone is the greatest invention of modern time

Business Continuity Planning Pros and Cons

Business Continuity Planning Pros and Cons Advantages and Disadvantages of Business Continuity Planning In a Financial Organization under the Incident Command System Abstract This research paper is primarily focused on highlighting the specific pros and cons of a business continuity plan that is used in a financial organization under the incident management system. The advantages associated with the use of incident command systems in a BCP in any financial organization are paramount including being able to install preventive and corrective measures that can either reduce partial or complete impact in cases of disruptions. However still there exist some cons associated with its usage i.e. fast amounts of time required for its implementation, asset acquisition and in most cases the size of the organization might hinder the implementation of an incident command system. Introduction A business continuity plan is very critical in the facilitation of the smooth running of the organization or guidelines that can help reco ver from disruptions hence ensuring the provision of services even in cases of disturbances. The process focuses on assessment and identification of all the potential threats that might disrupt service delivery and their potential impacts with the aim of creating measures to ensure the resilience of the system. Technology should enable recovery of applications from disruptions and other critical data through the disaster recovery plan. An incident command system is the technical developments for a given company that entails its main functionality being to mitigate the impacts of the unforeseen incidents that can result in loss of critical data. Business continuity planning are corrective measures established in an organization or an institution to govern the daily and future activities within it (Ramakrishnan et al., 2015). These measures are for ensuring that there is smooth running of the necessary activities. Failure to establish the plan could lead to the company collapsing, l ow profit in the day to day sales or even shut down of the business which is a big loss to the business. Business continuity planning should be done to any organization that takes its customers or clients seriously. Continuous planning takes the owner of the business miles ahead of the other competitors within the same field (Heng, 2015). Advantages I. During planning the potential of the business booming up is established plus the possible weaknesses and challenges the company might face are outlined and effective solution are established in advance. II. The main advantage that any financial institution stands to gain from the use of an incident command system is the ability to identify potential threats and plan in advance hence avoiding suspension of critical financial operations. The threats might range from natural epidemics, cyber-attacks or just computer failures as a result of hardware or software issues. III. The financial organization has increased abilities to mai ntain effective coordination and to maintain the response directions. Besides, the organization can gain insights on the importance of coordination of resources and the ability to identify the incident priorities. IV. The financial institution has a good platform for testing and reviewing the most likely threat hence allowing for coordination of BCP with external stakeholders. V. The long-term use of incident command systems is an advantage in itself as it leads to gaining of experience hence I the long run will lead to higher efficiency in restoration and fast recoveries. However, the full implementation becomes a disadvantage as it is time-consuming. VI. The financial section of the organization if it implements the recovery systems well can work as a competitive advantage as it safeguards against financial losses of the organization VII. Although this is later on stipulated as a disadvantage, it can still be an advantage. Incident command system can be used to accomplish tasks that people couldn’t do in disaster – prone areas hence preventing payment disorder whereas reducing the risks associated with miscommunication between the responder. VIII. Embracing the current evolution computing technology brings efficient fast and timely delivery of the service given by the organization. This can help in record keeping and monitor the business activities. IX. Business continuity planning helps one in marking the best insurance cover that matches the criteria of business. The cover is of great help in case of disasters like fire or thefts or any other disaster that could strike the organization. X. Business continuity planning helps one building best platforms for marketing and branding of the business and products.one is in a position to establish the effective and most suitable mode of reaching out that is fault tolerant and can assure customers of uninterrupted service delivery. XI. The target audience is created. He/she is in a pos ition to outline the reach people or group one is aiming at. This helps one avoid going out of the set individuals. Disadvantages Failure to do business continuity planning one is at a significant risk of either: I. The implementation process is often considered as tedious hence requiring professionals to handle it. Besides the organization has to employ qualified personnel to handle that. No business intends to invest heavily in preparing for unknown threats as they rather wait for it to happen then defend (Systems, 2012). II. The process of using incident command systems as a business continuity planning tool is both costly and time-consuming. This may lead to over investment of funds that could have otherwise been dedicated to other business operations. III. Business collapsing or failure that is as a result of poor management skills, techniques, and evaluation techniques. Hence, one is not in a position to establish the coming danger and ends up regretting the already outcome. IV. The death of individuals could occur after the fire, building collapsing where the insurance covers have been ignored, have not been implemented by professionals or due to lack of adequate testing of the possible scenarios. Conclusions The implementation of a business continuity plan through incident command systems has been faced with numerous advantages and disadvantages. Some of the benefits include; response, recognition of threats, competitive benefits, coordination mechanisms, experience and an excellent testing platform with the option testing and reviewing. The main disadvantages include the need for specialized skills in handling the recovery systems. In addition to this, small businesses cannot implement the system as this may result in losses through maintenance cost. However, analysis of the pros and cons suggests that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. All this indicates the importance for all financial institutions to implement the incident c ommand system as part of the business continuity plan (Drennan, 2014). References Drennan, L., McConnell, A., & Stark, A. (2014). Risk and crisis management in the public sector . 2 nd ed. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group London and New York. Heng, Goh Moh. (2015) â€Å"Business Continuity Management Planning Methodology†. International Journal Of Disaster Recovery And Business Continuity , vol 6, 2015, pp. 9-16. Science And Engineering Research Support Society , doi:10.14257/ijdrbc.2015.6.02. Ramakrishnan, R. K., & Viswanathan, S. (2015). The Importance of Business Strategy in Business Continuity Planning. The Definitive Handbook of Business Continuity Management, 31-35. doi:10.1002/9781119205883.ch3 Systems, S. (2012) The CEO’s Guide to Succession Planning: Managing Risk & Ensuring Business Continuity. SSRN Electronic Journal . http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1633523