Education, Research, and Action Theory and Methods of Participatory Action Research

It is impossible to separate active research from politics especially if it means transforming peoples lives. Even so, researchers who might be interested in applying their skills and training to address social issues find it challenging to mix politics and psychology.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Education, Research, and Action: Theory and Methods of Participatory Action Research specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this book, Mary Brydon-Miller says that the goal of Participatory Action Plan is to initiate social transformation and community empowerment by enabling researchers who undertake to work with communities to achieve desired social change by using psychology to support social, economic and political values. Beginning with definition of the concepts of Participatory Action Research which includes the little known concept of â€Å"participatory research†, this book goes on to describe a nu mber of theories and principles of building viable projects through practical teamwork, the role of the researcher and that of the subject, describing the benefits of involving the researcher in the political life of the subject. The next step referred in the subtitle, explains the methods that can be used by the researcher to engage the community in meaningful research that can help solve its problems. Finally, there is a lengthy explanation of how psychology can be combined with politics to help solve social problems openly and democratically. Issues touching on developing countries, homeless persons, and role of politicians have been discussed. Additional points worth mentioning are the inclusion of the quote, â€Å"Be There When it happens† by the late poet Joel Oppen-heimer. A well structured book, Education, Research and Action does a good job of describing the benefits of combining psychology with politics, but also why the community should be included in every researc h. Class Experience and Conflict in a Feminist Workplace: A Case Study In work places, perception of class among Euro-American women comes as a result of differences in location of work place and barriers to access of equal work relations in the place of work. In this book, Sandra Morgen uses a health clinic case study to explain how women come to perceive themselves as being either middle or working class. Contrary to popular belief, coalitions, alliances and work relationships between working-class and middle class women and between Euro-American and women of color do not suggest the existence of sisterhood.Advertising Looking for book review on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This book begins by discussing the meaning of class to Euro-American women by referring to a health clinic run jointly by middle and working class women workers. The book goes on to explain how class is identified, class differences un derstood and how they impact on activities in the clinic i.e. are there oppressive class relations etc. A discussion of class theories follows. The next step involves the discussion of the background and history of a health group called community women for health that was jointly founded by Euro-American working and middle class women. This is followed by a discussion of politics within CWH that saw the middle class women fire the working class. Causes for this outcome of events i.e. strained class relationships; conflicts due to working conditions and class based policies have been discussed. Additional points worth noting include four separate stories of Betsy, Jesse, Margret and Liz who were interviewed. The well structured book explains equal contributions made by both classes and how middle class came to dominate the clinic by discriminating against their peers. The book ends by giving a conclusion and recommendation. Feminism and Method: Ethnography, discourse Analysis, and Ac tivist Research The scientific description of customs of cultures and individual peoples or ethnography is subject to bias every time the relationship between the researcher and the subjects gets out of hand. In this book, Nancy Naples states that negative consequences arising as a result of such bias can be eliminated by taking into account methodological strategies developed by researchers who took postcolonial, postmodern and feminist standpoint. This is so because members of a community being researched are participants in the research process and certainly do affect the outcome of the research. This book begins by discussing what researchers can to avoid affecting the lives of research subjects. The book goes on to explain how a feminist approach can be used in ethnography, discuss challenges of ethnography, limits and possibilities of reflective practice i.e. it can make interactive activities between researcher and subjects to be time consuming due to lengthy consultations. N ext step involves explaining how weaknesses of reflective practice can be reduced. The book concludes by briefly discussing the role of feminist theories in ethnographic research and its shortcomings.Advertising We will write a custom book review sample on Education, Research, and Action: Theory and Methods of Participatory Action Research specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additional points worth noting is the interview conducted to demonstrate reflective practice and the relevance of findings obtained. The book which uses technical terms to bring forth its case does a good job of explaining how bias in ethnography can be overcome so as to give reliable end result. The subjects under study seem to be aware of the bias and feministic materialist approach has been noted to be the best solution to this problem. Theoretical Bases for Coalition Building: An Assessment of Postmodernism The author of this book Nancy C. M. Hart sock notes that political theory can be useful for political and policy by helping to reveal possible new coalitions and alliances. This book notes that political coalitions are formed when members of certain communities are dominated and marginalized by others. Coalitions are based on factors such as race, gender, sexuality and class. The book begins by discussing feminist and postmodernist theories. Postmodernism and the enlightenment tradition are compared. The book also discusses the root of capitalism and it has a comprehensive essay dedicated to failures of postmodernism. The book further discusses the implications of feminist theory and contributions made by Marxist theory to coalition. The book discusses how domineering groups in a society force those dominated to reconstitute themselves into coalitions. Under the subtopic developing alternative visions, the book suggests to the reader the sources of additional information for better understanding of the subject matter. Something else that is worth noting is the inclusion of a poem by Gloria Anzalduas that illustrates the plight of the subjugated or dominated communities. The book contains additional short notes that give a brief overview of the kind of ideas that are being discussed in the book and that guides the reader through some of the issues that have been discussed. The book also has a list of contributors that made the work possible. A well structured book, Theoretical Bases for Coalition Building does a good job of describing existing theories that explain the root of coalitions and also describe alternative theories that can be used to explain the origin of coalitions. Feminist Approaches to Social Movements, community and Power: Some Theoretical â€Å"Musings† about Gender and Resistance We are living in times of profound changes. These changes have changed the way knowledge is produced in the field of international relations. In this book, Marianne H. Marchand notes that the most important of these changes include cold war and globalization and the impact that these have had on IR. The end of Cold war changed how international politics were viewed earlier by introduced some subjects for debate like environment etc.Advertising Looking for book review on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Globalization has made IR scholars shift their attention to issues like social movements, transnational corporations and the likelihood of emergence of a global civil society that could end up forming a â€Å"New World Order†. The order is often fought by people who often resist changes in global political economy. Beginning with a discussion of knowledge of issues pertaining to globalization, gender and feminism, this book the goes on to describe a number of issues related to gender based resistance to social change, setbacks to globalization and explaining their effect the establishment of new world order. Next come the issues referred to in the subtitle, which undermine swift implementation of globalization. Finally there are a number of provocative essays discussing diverse subjects such as gender and resistance to global changes, social movements i.e. women’s health movement etc, feminist resistance practices, globalization and politics of resistance. Additional p oints worth mentioning are the inclusion of excerpts from women’s movements and other activists and some long notes from the author to help the reader understand the source of some of the ideas. The book was published in Columbia, South Carolina. The book gives clear details of how feminist movements hinder global development. Rethinking Feminist Organizations Despite the increase in popularity of social feminist movements scholars continue to overlook some strategies, ideologies and forms embodied by feminist organizations. Patricia Yancey Martin who is the author of this book argue that most scholars who are involved in judging feminist organizations pay more attention to collectivism and bureaucratic issues while at the same time choosing to overlook some qualities of these organizations. This means that a lot remains to be discussed especially when it comes to comparing non feminist and feminist organizations. The author begins by outlining all key aspects of feminist org anizations that he is going to discuss in the book including definitions. The book then goes ahead to discuss some contested issues, how organizations are classified of feminist and non feminist, how feminist organizations lose power by working more with the government, internal structure of the organization, what distinguishes a feminist organization from the others and the ten dimensions or aspects of a feminist organization. The most important thing done by the author is to define the concept of feminist organizations comprehensively together with all associated terms. This is closely followed by essays discussing all of the ten dimensions that distinguish a feminist organization from a non feminist organization. Additional points worth noting is the note given by the author to the reader that refers him or her to an earlier version of the book that the reader can use to gain much understanding concerning the issue being discussed. The book also gives the background of the author and issues she is currently covering. The book is well structured and it describes the link between feminist organizations and social movements. Men’s work: Men’s voices and Actions against Sexism and Violence It is the duty of men to prevent violence perpetrated against women, however, little is known about men who commit their lives towards prevention of violence against women. In this book, Rus Ervin Funk observes that it can be a bit confusing to focus attention to men only while ignoring women victims of various forms of violence. The book focuses on and how men can prevent fellow men from perpetrating violence against women. The book begins by giving a summary of findings of a project that was carried out whose purpose was to see how violence against women can be controlled. The book then goes on to discuss the role played by men to prevent violence against women, it then discusses the various forms of violence that exist in the society and finally the book give s details concerning the project undertaken, what the findings were and the recommendations. The next step outlined in the subtitle, explains the need for men to re examine themselves by redefining the meaning of a real man in order to effectively tackle the problem of violence against women. Finally, the book gives details of the outcomes of the project that involved obtaining the views of men concerning violence against women and how much the notion of being a real man contributed towards such violence. All forms of violence are discussed including sexual assault, dating abuse, sexual harassment, domestic violence, prostitution, pornography, and stalking. Additional Points worth noting include an overview of key words to guide the reader towards understanding better the subject matter under discussion and the list of acknowledgement that gives the background of the author. Social Movements: Creating Communities of Change Social movements and political protests can have significant impact on politics and public policy. It is not easy trying to understand social movements. In this book, David S. Meyer says that since social movements have become a feature that is increasingly associated with modern political life, there is the need to understand them better. This requires analyzing factors of social protest movements handled mostly through feminist protest movements but have often been missing from conventional political analysis. The book begins by discussing the phenomena of social movements and how such understanding can help social scientists understand the movements better. The book the goes on to discuss how feminist theories can be used best to explain the origins of social movements and protest politics. The next thing referred in the subtitle, explains how social movements transform the lives of the participants. It also details additional means that can be used by social movements to engage in conventional political activities e.g. public education c ampaigns, running electoral campaigns, lobbying and non conventional means such as political violence, demonstrations, civil disobedience, picketing, and boycotts. Additional points worth noting are the authors description of real life movements that helps the reader understand circumstances under which social movements are formed, what political opportunities are created and the effects that social protest movements have on culture, policy, and lives of participants. The book focuses mainly on feminist theory and its contribution to politics, community and social life. The book ends with a note that guides the reader in understanding the context of the book. Critical Race Theory: The Intersection of Race and Gender The last twenty years have seen women desire to shape their lives increase. Women have realized that there is power in numbers. In this book, Kimberley Williams Crenshaw says that transforming problems that were formerly seen as individual and isolated i.e. violence agai nst women, gays, lesbians, African Americans etc into a form of social movement can help solve these problems more effectively. The social movements give the desired political identity that helps fight race and gender based prejudices. The book begins by discussing means of increasing membership for a social movement in order to give it more social significance. The book mostly focuses on describing gender and race aspects of violence against women of color, failures of contemporary antiracist and feminist theories to address problems faced by women of color. The next step referred in the subtitle, explains the intersection between racism and sexism in discrimination against black women. The book also discusses the details of a field study on shelters that was conducted in Los Angeles, discrimination against women of color and high rates of unemployment among them, race and domestic violence support services. Additional points worth noting include excerpts taken fro other books to h elp the reader gaining better understanding of the subject under discussion. Elaborate discussion of racism and rape occurring against women of color. The book also has additional notes that direct the reader towards sources for further reading. This book is well structured and it gives comprehensive details on how violence against women of color can be controlled by strengthening social movements that address women problems. This can be achieved effectively by addressing individual and isolated cases of violence through social movements. This book review on Education, Research, and Action: Theory and Methods of Participatory Action Research was written and submitted by user Livia K. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Forgiveness Essays - Virtue, Emotions, Forgiveness, Mythology

Forgiveness Essays - Virtue, Emotions, Forgiveness, Mythology Forgiveness Forgiveness is Freedom One of the most important issues that we all face in life is the question of forgiveness. It is important because, whatever our belief in moral matters, we will never be free of the need to receive forgiveness or give it to one another. Most believe that forgiving is the right thing to do, but when it comes down to it human nature takes over and grudges take place. Many people do not realize the rewards of forgiveness or the cost of refusing to forgive. In his novel, The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, Simon Wiesenthal challenges readers with the moral question of forgiveness. If someone is truly remorseful, should he or she be forgiven? Are some actions too horrible to forgive? Though it may be difficult, depending on our circumstances, it is important to understand how crucial and liberating forgiveness can be, even for Wiesenthal when faced with the dying Nazi member, who murdered innocent women and children. To be able to forgive is to be able to strive for the future instead of regretting the past. Being unforgiving enslaves the one who cannot forgive. Even years later, Wiesenthal was still haunted by the incident and was still pondering whether or not he did the right thing in not forgiving Karl. It was obviously not his duty to pardon Karl, but forgiveness would have been for his own benefit. The purpose of forgiveness would not be to excuse or benefit Karl, but rather to free Wiesenthal. Forgiveness is not a sign of weakness or a way of condoning the evil done; rather it is a way to experience freedom and healing. As Jose Hobday strongly asserted in The Sunflower, "No one, no memory, should have the power to hold us down, to deny us peace. Forgiving is the real power." The concept and benefits of forgiveness have been explored in religion, social sciences and medicine. Most world religions include teachings on the nature of forgiveness, and many of these teachings are the basis for the varying modern day traditions and practices of forgiveness. Most Christian denominations teach that a believer receives forgiveness directly through a genuine expression of repentance to God, and that the believer completes this in the act of forgiving others. In Buddhism, forgiveness is seen as a practice to prevent harmful thoughts from causing destruction to one?s mental well-being. Not having the ability to forgive causes such emotions as anger, bitterness, despair and resentment. These harbored feelings are toxic, creating stress and even illness. Whether we realize it or not, these underlying emotions affect our lives and our relationships with others. Unforgiveness can cause immense harm physically, relationally, emotionally and spiritually. Very few people say forgiveness is easy, but even fewer question how great they fell when they forgive. If Wiesenthal desired healing, the best way to receive it would have been by forgiving. But how could he have forgiven such a man, who slaughtered his people and tortured them? Harold S. Kushner, profoundly comments about this matter of forgiveness in The Sunflower, "Forgiving is not something we do for another person?Forgiving happens inside us. It represents a letting go of the sense of grievance, and perhaps most importantly a letting go of the role of victim . . . For a Jew to forgive the Nazis would mean, 'What you did was thoroughly despicable and puts you outside the category of decent human beings. But I refuse to give you the power to define me as a victim. I refuse to let your blind hatred define the shape and content of my Jewishness. I don't hate you; I reject you.' And then the Nazi would remain chained to his past and to his conscience, but the Jew would be free." I had to ask myself Wiesenthal?s question: What would I do if I was a prisoner in a concentration camp and a dying Nazi soldier asked for my forgiveness? As a Christian, I would want and be compelled to forgive him. However, I have never been in a situation where such atrocities were committed against me or those I love, nor have I ever been in any troubled time where survival is

Nike and its Approach to Corporate Responsibility Essay

Nike and its Approach to Corporate Responsibility - Essay Example Nevertheless, large and multinational enterprises face major distrust by the broad public perhaps due to that the expectations of society regarding business has tremendously changed in recent years. The business of business shouldn’t be just ‘business’, but it has to extend its contribution to social justice, community welfare, economic development and quality of social life as well. This piece of paper discusses the corporate social responsibility of Nike and provides an in-depth analysis of Nike’s social responsibility initiatives in recent years by using strategic analysis tools. 1.1- Nike’s Corporate Social Responsibility Nike Inc, world’s number-one shoe and apparel company, designs and develops athletic footwear, apparel, equipments and accessories to market them worldwide. It sells its athletics products to its customers through its own retails stores and internet apart from independent distributors and retailers (Reuters.com, 2013). Ni ke Inc. headquartered in Beaverton, USA, has been ranked #126 by Fortune 500 Companies (Hoovers.com, 2013). Amid some issues related to employees poor working conditions in Nike’s manufacturing centers including Indonesia and that media as well as NGOs have recently given greater importance about Nike’s issues of responsibility towards its stakeholders, the company took a very positive strategic way to its corporate social responsibility. It explored new sustainable business model to prepare the company a different operating environment. In recent years, Nike has changed the way it operated and it developed focus for its social responsibility on improving employees’ working conditions in its contracted factories aiming for carbon neutrality with a view to maintain sustainable business by making sports available to youngsters across the world (mallenbaker.net, 2013). 1.2- Corporate Social Responsibility The significance of CSR has been continuously increasing in the business contexts for the last few years and this can be very evident from the fact that more than 90 percent of the Fortune-500 companies do have explicit social responsibility initiatives (Bueble, 2009, p. 1). As this term is discerned from Corporate, Social and Responsibility, it is very clear that it refers to the responsibilities that are inherent in the relationship between corporate and the society (Werther and Chandler, 2006, p. 6). Kotler and Lee (2005, p. 3) elucidate the concept of CSR that it is a commitment of an enterprise to improve community well-being through discretionary management activities. The social responsibility of an enterprise involves society’s economic, legal, ethical and other discretionary expectations from that enterprise (Sims, 2003, p. 43). The basic four elements of CSR are economical, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibilities a business is expected to fulfill (Pearson and Robinson, 2004, p. 50). Hence, it is expected that a bus iness need to protect human rights (Banerjee, 2009, p. 94), sustain natural environment (Banerjee, 2009,

Crises, Defaults and Controls Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Crises, Defaults and Controls - Essay Example Discussions in previous chapters to this paper reveal the sorry state of affairs with regard to the reforms made and the results gained and also in relation to other markets. There had been insignificant growth in domestic capital markets of various economies from early 1990s in comparison to that in industrialized economies. Some economies actually experienced deterioration in their capital markets. There has been a decrease in liquidity and listing in capital markets of many developing countries as firms cross-list and raise capital in financial centres internationally such as in London and New York. Stock markets remain segmented and highly illiquid, with capitalization and trading focused on few stocks. This chapter focuses on the more normative and puzzling part of the observation, which is motivating. This happens to be the question; what should be done on the reform agenda on capital markets going forward? To get the answers to this question, the study looks into what went wrong with all the reforms made before trying to look at what needs to be done moving forward. Three typological views are presented that shed light into perspectives that lead to different diagnoses plus policy recommendations. These views have messages summarized as (a) Get the right sequence (b) Observe patience and redouble effort and (c) Revisit fundamental issues and look into expectations Observe patience and redouble effort. This view provides that important elements of the reform package for capital markets are well known. According to this view, (a) Reforms are required to improve an enabling environment for the capital markets. (b) The reforms should have measures in place for efficiency enhancement and discipline in the market through completion. (c) Reforms in some areas have the important complementary role. (d) There is need for more specialized and technical reforms for enhancing capital market integrity and transparency. It is further noted that many of the

Current National Patient Safety Goals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Current National Patient Safety Goals - Essay Example These professionals, referred to as the Patient Safety Advisory Group, include clinical physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and healthcare managers. In addition, the commission tailors the goals to be program-specific towards a specific accredited organization. The Joint Commission implemented the goals to assess the safety and the eminence of care provided for patients. There are some achievements accrued from the implementation of the goals. This paper explores "Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections" as one of the goals of the National Patient Safety Goals. Â  Goal number seven outlines Preventing Healthcare-Associated Infections as an important consideration of patient safety (The Joint Commission, 2015). It species the need to implement evidence-based practices to prevent infections in areas such as central line-associated bloodstream infections, healthcare-associated infections, surgical site infections, and indwelling catheter-associated urinary tract infections. In addition, it presents hand hygiene guidelines and outlines goals for improving hand cleaning as specified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Healthcare professionals infect millions of people in the process of giving care, treatment, and healthcare services in healthcare organizations. Healthcare-related infections are thus an integral component of patient safety in healthcare settings. Hand cleaning and the myriad forms of infections are detailed below. Â  

Ireland Building Costs Shipping Container House vs House

Ireland Building Costs Shipping Container House vs House Chapter 1 An outline of aim and objectives. A review of the research undertaken by others. An outline of what will be discussed throughout the thesis. 1.1 Thesis Structure Chapter One Introduction This section introduces the thesis topic, outlines aims and objectives and briefly explains the current housing situation in Dublin. Chapter Two Literature Review The chapter provides the background of shipping containers and review of development examples made of shipping containers around the world. Chapter Three Research Methodology This section demonstrates the research strategy that have been used by the author to obtain relevant information and how these findings will be used to Also research limitations are mentioned in this section. Chapter Four Presentation of research findings This chapter presents data received from available sources. Chapter Five Analysis of research findings This section focus on analysis and comparison of data received. Chapter Six Conclusions and Recommendations This chapter will conclude the study by summarising all findings and data which allow the author to draw conclusions and make recommendations based on findings readdressing them to the aim and objectives. Chapter 2 This section consists of an account of published articles and papers. Available literature is related to shipping containers and current housing situation in Dublin. The chapter provides the background of shipping containers, which may be a possible solution for emergency accommodation in Dublin. Literature review starts with the history of shipping containers. Then it overviews the different uses of shipping containers, strength and weaknesses, their availability, as well as a review of development examples made of shipping containers around the world. Chapter 3 This chapter explains the research design and methodology undertaken for this study. To create a structured and well-ordered thesis an author created the research diagram which demonstrate the whole process of research and where it could lead. Empty bubbles show the possibilities that may occur during the further data collection and research. The original image is included in the Appendix section. The research area, an author is focusing, has not been researched previously, in terms of an Irish perspective. Therefore finding data for the thesis will have to be interpreted through investigation of existing data, and based on the examples from other countries. 3.1 Research question The study aims to answer whether shipping containers are suitable for emergency accommodation as an alternative to other types of housing solutions. 3.2 Research process To achieve the aim of that study, following areas have to be investigated: The background of shipping containers. Segregate two concepts: home and emergency accommodation Determine the meaning of temporary accommodation. Determine the meaning of home. Investigate of current housing situation in Dublin in terms of the housing supply, demand and rental prices. To determine emergency housing providers in Dublin Compare the building cost of providing traditional housing vs. shipping container housing. Investigate social acceptance of shipping container houses. In order to achieve the objectives of this study the necessary methods of research were identified. Author chooses to use primary (e-survey, case study) and secondary methods or research. 3.3 Primary research There are many types of primary research which consists of surveys, interviews, observations, analysis, etc. during which data is collected from the real world. For this thesis author chooses, e-survey questionnaire and case study analysis. 3.3.1 Survey questionnaire The one of the primary research method is survey questionnaire when information is collected from the individuals through their responses to the questions designed in relation to studys research. Fink (2003) believes that questionnaire surveys would be one of the best methods in collecting data on the observations, attitudes, feelings, experiences or opinions. Questionnaire surveys may not be feasible and reliable, however, it was decided to use this method to investigate social acceptance of shipping container houses. The target audience have not been chosen as author expected to receive unbiased opinion from a variety of respondents. E-survey questionnaire included ten questions. They were drafted and posted online. Fifty responses have been received so far. Also the same questions have been sent by email to selected professionals who are working in the areas such as housing, social housing, planning and development, urban economy, charity housing organizations and are directly related to the thesis topic. 3.3.2 Case study Case study method is comprehensive as it can use many approaches for data collection. A case-study approach has been chosen to investigate and overview an existing development projects around the world.   3.4 Secondary research The secondary research consists of data and information collected from existing sources, such as journals, text books, websites, company and government reports and publications (Creswell, 2007). Hence, sources mentioned above were used to gather available information which was directly related to the thesis topic. For this study author uses available literature review and online sources. 3.4.1 Literature review To obtain the information for this study relevant literature relating to containers background and existing developments around the world were reviewed. An extensive search for literature was undertaken of previous thesis and dissertations, journals, reports and related websites. The sources of literature are evident in the references. The literature review was a method of learning such as author examined the literature which has been wrote and analysed by others (professionals, scholars, experts). Secondary research was essential in completing the literature review chapter as it was guidance towards further information sources to complete this study. This led in to investigation of further topics such as determination the meaning of home and emergency accommodation; investigation of the current housing supply, demand and rental prices in Dublin; determination of emergency housing providers in Dublin. 3.4.2 Online sources The most information required was freely available from the websites. However, the internet is vast but extremely disorganized source of information. To use it effectively, we must be able to formulate a search strategy using appropriate keywords (How at al., 2005). Keywords used for the research were: emergency accommodation, shipping container houses, shipping container prices, shipping container house manufacturers, construction costs, Irish housing market, supply, demand, accommodation for rent/for sale, meaning of home, homelessness, etc. Shipping container suppliers and shipping container house manufacturers were contacted by email in relation to shipping containers cost and construction costs of shipping containers houses. 3.5 Expected Outcomes Through the research author expects to rationalise why shipping container houses are not used in Irish construction industry while they are widely used in other countries; highlight advantages and disadvantages of shipping container houses; to find an answer if demand of emergency accommodation meets supply; in other words if there is a shortage of that type of emergency accommodation in Dublin. It is also important to get to know the social acceptance of shipping container houses (positive or negative). 3.6 Limitations The main objective of this study is to compare of traditional house building cost against shipping container house building cost. However, those two units cannot be compared directly as it is usually done in a property market valuation, when properties with similar parameters (size, location, condition, etc.) are compared to calculate its market value, rental value, capital value and etc. The layout of units is seen as limitation in terms of comparison as well. Such as units are so unlike that there is no basis for comparison. Therefore author decided to concentrate on the shipping container house which is close by size to minimum requirements allowed in Ireland and compare it with traditional house multiplying the same size (considering that shipping container is in a same size as traditional house unit) per price per sq metre. Such as there are only two shipping container houses in Ireland, thus large data set analysis is not currently possible because costs are not disclosed. Analysis must be limited and rely on projects from around the world that are available for review. Therefore, methodology of research primarily relies upon literature review, questionnaire survey, case studies and financial analysis of available construction data. For this reason, author decided rely on shipping container housing prices in UK. Costs in pounds will be converted to Euros in accordance with the relevant exchange rate. Another difficulty is to obtain the most up to dated statistical data that relates to the current housing market such as supply and demand. In this case, for example, some papers are issued once a year, so the information is old enough. However, data obtained is going to be used with assumptions that population growth would be faster than delivery of required accommodation. Thus, demand for housing will continue to increase and consequently demand for emergency housing will stay high. Chapter 4 4.1 Current housing situation in Dublin in terms of the housing supply, demand and rental prices. Dublins housing stock has 535,000 properties. 3,619 properties were listed for sale last year in Dublin which is 7.7% less than previous year, according to MyHome (2016). SCSI (2017) believes that activity levels were decreased due to Central Bank mortgage lending restrictions which are not conductive to the first-time buyers and also UKs decision to leave the EU. However, demand for housing will remain high due to changed household structures and increased demand for single person households (RIAI, 2016). Dublin experiences insufficient supply to meet growing demand which is caused by rapid population growth and fast decline of unemployment (CIF, 2016; Duffy at al, 2016). As a result lack of supply supported the rise in house prices, therefore more people who wish to buy a home, but cannot afford it are forced to continue to rent (My Home, 2017). Moreover this may intensify pressure on social housing increasing the social housing waiting list, put upward pressure on rents and force some people into homelessness (CIF, 2016; Duffy at al, 2016). Residential property values in the Dublin Region increased by 64.7% since 2013 and is forecasted to grow further by 6.6% in 2017. Key factors that play role for positive growth were the shortage in new house builds, increased employment rates; an improvement in mortgage lending and finance availability; improved consumer confidence and economic stability (SCSI, 2017). p18 Research shows that average couple-nurse, Garda, teacher or civil servants with 5 years experience-are unable to secure a mortgage for average priced house in housing market (CIF, 2016; Duffy at al, 2016). The same factors mentioned before play role for Private Rented Sector (PRS) which according to (McCartney, 2017) is growing. Since Q1 2011 the number of people in PRS- Private Rented Sector increased by 107,500 in Dublin (McCartney, 2017). The total number of tenancies registered with RTB in Q4 2016 stands at 325,375 and represents 705,465 occupants (RTB, 2017) Between September and December of previous year 2016 rents rose by an average of 13.5% and now are 14% higher than in the 2008. An average rental prices in Dublin are demonstrated in the table and chart below: Average rent Y-on-Y change North City à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   1,529 14.4% City Centre à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   1,655 15.5% South City à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   1,763 13.9% North County à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   1,375 14.9% South County à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   1,855 14.2% West County à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   1,446 13.9% Availability of properties increased by 200 in Dublin and almost 1,600 properties were available to rent on the 1st February 2017 (Lyons, 2016) Nearly 20,000 households were qualified for social housing support in 2016 (Housing Agency, 2016). However, the current stock of social housing is insufficient to satisfied social housing need (ICSH, 2016). To all the factors influence housing market in Dublin mentioned above, there is also the number of vacant dwellings which represents an inefficient use of valuable resources and makes negative impact on local areas and communities. Census 2016 records 35,000 vacant dwellings in Dublin (Housing Agency, 2017). To satisfied social housing need in July of 2016 Government launched an ambitious plan to provide housing nationally. During six years 47,000 new social houses and 25,000 new units (yearly) have to be built (SCSI, 2017). During 2015 there were only 12,600 new houses built instead of 21,000 (ICI, 2016). Currently, Dublin city region experiences shortfall of 35,242 homes (Housing Agency, 2017). But despite of that development activity is growing every year as demonstrated in Table below Planning Permissions in Dublin region 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 -57% 77% -8% 129% 27% Some of 12,388 housing units were granted with planning permission in the 2016 (CIS, 2016) According to Housing Agency, (2017a) Dublin City Region will require 33,109 new homes during 2016-2020. Their analysis shows that annual average of required houses is 6,600 per annum over the period to 2020. 4.2 Segregation of two concepts: home and emergency accommodation Very often people do not fully understand the meaning of home and meaning of emergency accommodation. They are confused of those two concepts. Therefore author thinks that those two concepts have to be clearly explained to the reader. 4.2.1 The meaning of home All of us even the truly homeless live somewhere and each therefore stands in some relation to land as owner-occupier, tenant, licensee or squatter (Gray, and Symes, 1983). There is no a straight or single answer what does home means. The answer is very complex and multidimensional. First of all home is physical structure which provides privacy, comfort, safety, continuity and permanence. Home also represents the success, family wealth so it can be considered as a financial investment which can be accumulated and then passed on to future generations as inheritance. But again, home is not only financial asset. It could be seen as identity and self-identity which relates to the deep emotional meaning and particularly memories tided to the places where we live. And it can be a place for self-expression (Gray, and Symes, 1983; Stern, 2009; Fox, 2013). Home means different things to different people. Furthermore, the meanings that home represents to an occupier may change over their life course (Fox, 2006). 4.2.2 The meaning of emergency accommodation The role of emergency accommodation is to provide short-term accommodation for people who are homeless or those who are in crisis. In other words, it could help people who are sleeping on the street; those who are in danger of being hurt in their own homes (experiencing domestic violence), or those who are evicted from home and have no place where to stay until new permanent place to live will be found. Emergency Accommodation includes apartments, private houses and BBs, hostels and hotels. Emergency housing provides only basic necessities, such as a place to sleep, shower, do laundry, get clothing, and eat or get money for food. http://settlement.org/ontario/housing/emergency-and-short-term-housing/emergency-housing/what-is-emergency-housing/ http://www.thejournal.ie/homeless-hostels-housing-first-accommodation-1678286-Oct2014/ 4.3 Reasons for Becoming Homeless There is no single reason why people become homeless. There are many causes which can be determined such as: structural causes, when people are at risk of becoming homeless due to financial crisis that causes poverty, unemployment, and lack of good quality, affordable housing; Institutional Causes, touches those people who leaving prison or mental health institutions and nowhere to go to on their release/discharge; Relationship Causes; Personal Causes, when person is addictive to the alcohol or/and drug use, mental illness, learning difficulties. People with combination of these factors are the most vulnerable part of society and in most cases become homeless. http://www.dubsimon.ie/Homelessness/ReasonsforBecomingHomeless.aspx 4.4 An overview of the current situation in Dublin in terms of emergency accommodation 1007 families with 2026 dependents were registered as homeless in the first month of 2017in Dublin region. 764 families with 1551 dependents were accommodated in hotels and 243 families with 495 dependents in homeless accommodation (DRHE, 2017). Table below shows the number of individuals in Emergency Accommodation. Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Homeless adults 2678 2692 2750 2806 2767 2871 2922 2950 2988 3036 3021 3162 3247 Adults (no dependents) 1636 1629 1618 1618 1549 1601 1591 1612 1631 1660 1656 1780 1894 Families 769 790 839 888 913 939 993 998 1014 1026 1023 1028 1007 Single parent 496 517 546 588 608 608 655 658 671 676 678 674 661 Couple 273 273 293 300 305 331 338 340 343 350 345 354 346 Number of dependents 1570 1616 1723 1786 1847 1894 2020 2012 2065 2110 2110 2096 2046 http://www.dubsimon.ie/Homelessness/HomelessStatistics/DublinStatistics.aspx There are approximately 3000 beds available in emergency accommodation in Dublin region. The chart below demonstrates the number of empty beds in emergency accommodation during Christmas and the New Year period. There are few reasons in relation to increased vacancy. One of the reasons is the provision of significant number of additional new beds; another reason is that some people do not use any other form of shelter they only accept to sleep rough; some of them combine rough sleeping with access to emergency accommodation (DRHE, 2016). Figure 9 Despite of that, in winter 2016 there were discovered 142 persons sleeping rough which represents an increase of 51 persons in comparison with winter 2015 The majority of sleeping rough are those of aged between 31and 40 which accounts for 38%, 27% were aged 18- 30 and another 27% aged 41-50, aged 51 years and over represent remaining 8%. Chart below demonstrates the number of adults discovered sleeping rough on the night of the rough sleeping count which took place on the night of 22nd November 2016 (DRHE, 2016). 4.5 Minimum floor areas and standards for the accommodation of single person Every type of building and its surroundings must provide safety and welfare for people. Therefore all developments should be built in accordance with the prescribed National Guidelines. The minimum requirements are set out in 12 parts which are classified as Parts A to M (DHPCLG, 2017). Table below is created to demonstrate minimum size requirements for one bedroom apartment and studio flat (ESLG, 2015). Minimum overall apartment floor areas Studio 40 sq m One bedroom 45 sq m Table Source: http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/apartment_guidelines_21122015.pdf 4.6 Building costs of shipping container house Container homes are built out of new purpose built and highly secure steel units and include living spaces, bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms. For an additional 30-40% cost container houses can be built to meet UK building control regulations. Example of container home sizes and prices provided by manufacturer Size in feets Size in Sq m Description Sterlings Euros Appendix 20 x 8 14.90 single unit container home  £11,995 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬13785 Plan 1 24 x 10 22.30 double unit container homes  £16,995 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬19531 Plan 2 30 x 10 27.87 single unit container home  £19,995 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬22979 Plan 3 40 x 10 37.16 double bedroom container home  £22,995 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬26426 Plan 4 40 x 12 44.59 double bedroom container home  £24,995 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬24,995 Plan 5 http://www.container-housing.co.uk/container-homes-costs/ 4.7 Building costs of traditional house Author uses house building costs produced by the Quantity Surveying Professional Group of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).   The Society of Chartered Surveyors analysed a number of live house building projects in the Greater Dublin Area. Extensive and detailed study has been done on the 30 units that were under construction in late 2015 and early 2016. Chartered Quantity Surveyors analysed all cost inputs. For the comparison purposes only hard costs were taken into consideration for this study, where the figures assume structure (traditional strip foundation on good bearing soil); superstructure (timber or block work frame, render finish, tiled roof, insulated to 2011 Part L); completion (double glazed windows; paint grade softwood doors, skirting window boards internally); finishes (paint finished walls, tiling to bath and shower rooms); fittings (Fitted kitchen c/w Formica w/t; wardrobe to main all bedrooms (no appliances)); Services (including Sanitary ware, rainwater, solar panel, heat recovery, condensing boiler and radiator, plastic fittings and pendants throughout for electricity, wired for alarm). Any other costs such as site preparation, VAT, professional fees, land acquisition and development costs, finance costs were excluded. Hard costs according to SCSI research is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1084 per square metre.Author excluded from comparison smaler size units and took into account only units that are close to building requirements. As was mentioned in section 4.4 minimum overall floor areas are for studio flat 40 sq m and one bedroom apartment 45 sq m. Size in Sq m Description Euros Appendix 37.16 double bedroom traditional home à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬40,281 Plan 4 44.59 double bedroom traditional home à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬48,336 Plan 5 https://www.scsi.ie/documents/get_lob?id=885field=file https://www.scsi.ie/advice/house_rebuilding_calculator 4.8 Survey questionnaire 4.9 Case studies Chapter 5 In this chapter I am going to analyse all of the data found through my research. And I would try to establish the link between literature and data collected. First, it focused exclusively on single person accommodation. 5.1 Shipping container house versus traditiona

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

The Class of 2012. How long have we heard these words applied to us? Long years starting with broken crayons in kindergarten to inside-out sweatshirts in middle school to late English essays — 13 years of learning from the simplest counting to complicated algebra and calculus, from reciting our ABCs to reading Shakespeare. Imagine, us coming out of our respective middle schools into this monster of a campus. With three times as many people — people who drive. People who have cars and are legal adults. We’ve been here for four years. Count the quarters: there are 16 of them. Remember freshmen year: that infatuation with older students, and how being friends with a senior gave you immeasurable social status? There were some sophomores who didn’t tease us for being freshmen, and we clung to them. Remember walking in late to every class on the first day of school, and maybe the second... maybe the third... Every morning we rode the yellow school bus. Our first pep assembly was amazingly loud and we walked out half-deaf. The cheerleaders were trying to get us to shout something, alter we figured out it was "double-oh." Remember when our "commitment to graduation" banner was stolen out of the library? And that first last, day of school: promising to meet everyone again come September. Four down, 12 to go. Sophomore year. Well, maybe by the time we were sophomores we may not have been completely settled into our own high-school persona but at least we knew where we were. And maybe, that first day of school, we still were late to every single class. We learned the meaning of the word â€Å"sophomoric† that year, and teased the freshmen, getting some symbolic retribution for what the sophomores did to use the year before. Eventually... ...ers ago, so were we. Yesterday has passed. Now we stand on the brink of adulthood. We have counted the cost, we’ve counted the quarters and paid the price, we’ve paid four years. Sixteen quarters. Right now we all have a legacy that we’ve left on Ayer High School, a legacy developed from four years of walking down the halls, eight semesters of sitting in the classrooms and sixteen quarters of developing our personalities. We were the anxious freshmen, the obnoxious sophomores, the lazy juniors and the graduating seniors. But, in 10 years, who are we going to be? Will we still drink Sobes, Jones or Yogochinos? Have the same wallpaper on our computer monitors? Will we still fly out at any hour of the night to go to Dick’s or Taco Bell? Whatever the answers, what we’ve each learned here will remain at the core of the people we become. We are the Class of 2006.