Electrical field-induced extraction and separation techniques: Promising trends in analytical chemistry

 

What is the analytical problem, and why is it important?

The use of electrical driving force in analytical chemistry is generalized into separation, extraction, and electrochemical techniques. Electrically assisted extractions techniques have far-reaching benefits as they easily integrate into the chip-based devices. The paper, therefore, focuses on the membrane-bound extractions methods intending to derive general ideas on the impact the electric fields have on sample treatment and to evaluate the potential of these techniques.

What criteria did the authors consider in designing their experiments?

The researchers applied and identified the essential criteria of analytical chemistry. Some of these are to attain a more uncomplicated, less expensive, faster, and climate-smart separation technique. They got motivated by the need to scale down the sample size, overcome sample matrix effect, and the need to automate the process. They, therefore, adopted the electrical driving force model, which simplifies and shortens the sample preparation process and enhances selectivity.

 

 

What is the basic experimental procedure?

The authors have described how they are going to use microwaves, ultrasound, and heat auxiliary energies in the sample preparation. Electrical driving force energy is the modern and widely used axillary energy in varied extraction techniques involving liquid-liquid extraction, solid-phase extraction, and membrane-based methods.

What interferences were considered, and how did they overcome them?

The data analysis and separation are most likely to be disturbed by analytes of biological or environmental origin. The researchers have thus put in place a series of steps to remove interfering agents. These include preconcentrating the analytes and increasing their sensitivity. This calls for the development of current and superior analyte extraction techniques.

How did the authors calibrate the assay?

The author conducted a conceptual clustering to scrutinize the varied features of different electrically assisted techniques. This will, in turn, facilitate the keeping of information for future reference. The author further carried out a theoretical review of previous works done by other researchers through a comprehensive survey. The review enables researchers to understand and explore recent advancements in the field of electrochemically modulated extractions methods.

 

 

 

 

 

How did the authors validate their experimental method?

The author validated the test results by comparing the substantial supremacy of electrical driving force to that of the auxiliary energies concerning the possibility of manipulating the relative distribution of analytes into two regions. Under these conditions, it is easier to control the properties of an extraction set up. The referred conditions are selectivity, clean up rate, and efficiency across the liquid-liquid separation and solid-liquid phase boundaries.

Is there evidence that steps 2, 3, and 4 are repeated?

Yes. The development and execution of this analytical separation technique require a continuous process. The researchers thus had to repeat steps 2,3, and 4.This has provided a substantial improvement in the separation technique improvements. The authors did conduct experiments and validated the results with the theoretical principles. The process of which demanded cyclic rational of steps from 2,3 and 4.

Was there a successful conclusion to the analytical problem?

Yes, the authors indeed identified the potential and impact of applying electrical energy on the extraction methods. They concluded that it is the possibility of manipulating the relative distribution of the analyte energies between two phases. The electrical driving forces also have the potential in the synthesis of coating films and membranes. They did a conclusive summary by proposing improvements and promotion of new ways electrically controlling sample separation and presentation (Yaminia, Rezazadeha and Seidi).

Work cited

Yaminia, Yadollah, Maryam Rezazadeha, and Shahram Seidi. “Electrical field-induced extraction and separation techniques: Promising trends in analytical chemistry – A review.” Analytica Chimica Acta (2013): 1-22. 23 October 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL | 27
Few things are more difficult than to see outside the bounds of your
own perspective—to be able to identify assumptions that you take as universal
truths but which, instead, have been crafted by your own unique
identity and experiences in the world. We live much of our lives in our
own heads, in a reconfirming dialogue with ourselves. Even when we discuss
crucial issues with others, much of the dialogue is not dialogue: it is
monologue where we work to convince others to understand us or to
adopt our view.
HOW DOES YOUR
POSITIONALITY BIAS YOUR
EPISTEMOLOGY?
by David Takacs
How does your positionality bias your epistemology? I’ve
been asking this question to students, weaving it as a
theme throughout my courses. Of course, a resounding
chorus of bafflement greets the initial question. What I’m asking
is: How does who you are shape what you know about the world?
I think this is one of the most important questions one can ask
during an undergraduate education, and a student’s search for
answers may open up new possibilities for understanding her connections
to the world. As a reflective practitioner of the teaching
profession, I constantly grapple with these questions, as well.
David Takacs is an associate professor in the Department of Earth Systems Science &
Policy at California State University Monterey Bay, where he teaches courses in the environmental
humanities. He is the author of The Idea of Biodiversity.
28 | Thought & Action SUMMER 2003
Simply acknowledging that one’s views are not inevitable—that one’s
positionality can bias one’s epistemology—is itself a leap for many people,
one that can help make us more open to the world’s possibilities.
When we develop the skill of understanding how we know what we
know, we acquire a key to lifelong learning. When we teach this skill, we
help students sample the rigors and delights of the examined life. When
we ask students to learn to think for themselves and to understand themselves
as thinkers—rather than telling them what to think and have them
recite it back—we help foster habits
of introspection, analysis, and open,
joyous communication.
Unfortunately, many students
come to college without some
of the skills they need to succeed in
academic work. In California, the
richest state in the richest country the
world has ever known, we skulk in
the bottom fifth among states in per
capita spending on education. The
state system has shortchanged many
students who live in poorer school
districts. Crammed into overcrowded classrooms, led by underpaid teachers
who labor in crumbling infrastructure, many students do not get the
quality education they deserve. To compound this misfortune, some college
administrators and professors view these students—often poor, often
minority, sometimes bilingual—as “deficits.” These students pose problems
for our teaching; we have to spend lots of money to “compensate”
for their “deficiencies.”
Asking students to think about how their positionality biases their
epistemology helps us live an assets model of multiculturalism in our
classrooms. For example, we can see speaking English as a second language
as a deficit. Or, we can focus on an ESL student’s assets: she is bilingual,
a facile language learner who has much to teach about bridging cultures.
As a simultaneous insider and outsider, she can help native English
speakers see things they might have missed about their own language and
culture, about their own positions in the world.
By respecting the unique life experiences that each student brings into
the classroom—by asserting that the broadest possible set of experiences
is crucial to help each of us understand the topic at hand as completely
as possible—we empower all students as knowledge makers. We allow
each student to assert individualized knowledge that contributes to a collective
understanding. Rather than “tolerating” difference, we move to
respect difference, as difference helps us understand our own world-
When we develop the
skill of understanding
how we know what we
know, we acquire a key
to lifelong learning.
THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL | 29
view— and thus the world itself—better. From respect, we move to celebration,
as we come to cherish how diverse perspectives enable us to
experience the world more richly and come to know ourselves more
deeply.
Connecting positionality to epistemology simultaneously empowers
and disempowers individual expertise in the classroom. Students are
empowered because they recognize that they have unique claims to
knowledge that others can not deny. Only I have lived my life; only you
have lived yours. This encourages me
to listen to you and you to me, as we
each have a unique perspective. This
is not a lapse into navel gazing solipsism.
Rather, if this experience works
well, we are led into doubts about
the “correctness” of our own position,
as we come to learn that our
views may be constrained by the limits
of our own experiences.
Recognizing this, we are more
willing, eager, or obliged to talk with
others, as we realize we make
assumptions based on our own positionality,
and that this must bias how we view the world. Only by listening
to others can I become aware of the conceptual shackles imposed by
my own identity and experiences. The feminist scholar Sandra Harding
promotes “strong objectivity”1: Through recognizing and analyzing the
cultures in which we are positioned, and that therefore cannot help but
mold our worldviews, we take steps to become more aware and even
more objective. We come to know the world more fully by knowing how
we know the world.
Each year at California State University Monterey Bay, in an environmental
justice course I teach, I ask students to write about and talk
about how their positionality biases their epistemology. In one example
of how this approach helps promote awareness, one student found that
she:
can’t understand how materialism can outweigh the value of life. There’s
no reason why families should have to struggle for survival or fight to live
in a sustainable environment; we all are human beings and have the right
to be treated with respect and consideration. We cannot allow greed,
ambition, power or money to drive our world to a slow end.
Her views on what constitutes justice were shaped by what she had
seen and experienced:
Only by listening to
others can I become
aware of the conceptual
shackles imposed by my
own identity and
experiences.
30 | Thought & Action SUMMER 2003
I grew up in Mexico where money is all that matters, where being poor
means living in unbearable conditions. I have seen some of the well-educated
people abuse poor communities and their environment due to their lack
of wealth. Such communities are left alone without hope of improving their
living conditions, knowing that neither the government or the people with
power will ever care to provide some kind of assistance. These same communities
live in substandard housing where they lack a potable water system,
electricity, and a proper sewage system. . . . Some houses are built with wood
and bricks hammered together and with plastic glued as windows, so if it
rains they have leaks and flooding are easy to occur. Most of the people living
in these communities just dig a hole into the ground and make it into a bathroom.
They wash their clothes in the river closest to them or they have their
children bring buckets of water from some well that most likely is not safe to
drink. Flies and other insects are everywhere spreading diseases, because there
is trash and stagnant water throughout the community. Children playing outside
are constantly getting parasites into their system and infections on their
skin. These poor communities are also denied health care because they can’t
afford it, so they send their children to school sick and without energy to
learn.
Cassel’s classmates incorporated her views on justice into their own
developing theories, because she drew her expertise from the concrete
richness of what she had experienced as a young Mexican woman. This
experience had meaning for her classmates because they realized their
own views on justice were shaped by an incomplete relationship with the
world.
THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL | 31
At the same time, Cassel learned from her classmates’ positionalities.
Last semester, a student described knowing hunger as an army wife raising
three kids on less than sustainable wages; from this, she knew that the
nation did not necessarily honor its commitment to those in the armed
services in a just way.
Several white students have grappled with this question: Their parents
started out poor but managed to make it through sheer hard work. If they
could do it, why can’t everyone? But the question does not just remain
rhetorical because another student
can tell a different story: perhaps it
had something to do with the color
of their parents’ skin? Some students
who had hit hard times and pulled
out of it share those experiences with
the class, so the class may understand
how the “system” sometimes undermines
justice; others use their own
experiences to show that anyone can,
in fact, pull themselves out of bad circumstances.
The point is that these students
undergo an intensive workshop in
understanding how their experiences and identities shape what they know
about the world, and, using this experience, they teach their classmates, so
that their classmates come to see their fellow students—fellow community
members—as sources of valued expertise.
Knowledge does not arrive unmediated from the world; rather, knowledge
gets constructed by interaction between the questioner and the
world. We might label this epistemological stance constrained relativism,
or perhaps constructivist realism. When we encourage examination of
our own knowledge formation processes, we develop habits of informed
skepticism—of questioning the authority of all knowledge sources,
including ourselves. But skepticism can easily segue into cynicism or apathy
when faced with a relativistic world where truth is not always apparent
and easy to grasp. I work hard to avoid fostering these habits of cynicism
and apathy. Rather, I put forth a classroom model where students
explore and exchange their unique knowledge perspectives, we may all
come to more deeply rooted, deeply reflective, shared understandings of
the world. We become more connected to that world, and to each other,
and feel that communally, we can act upon that world to change it for the
better.
To foster these connections, we must teach how to listen, that fundamental
and overlooked skill. At CSUMB, we teach “cooperative argu-
Knowledge does not
arrive unmediated;
rather, knowledge gets
constructed by
interaction between the
questioner and the
world.
32 | Thought & Action SUMMER 2003
mentation.” It’s not an oxymoron; rather, in our classrooms we argue
towards consensus rather than towards winning. When you truly listen,
you listen to understand, not to judge or triumph. When all are experts,
because their knowledge comes in part through life experience, all can
learn—but only if you listen. Rather than convincing others of the
inevitability of your position, when you listen to others’ perspectives, you
may question your assumptions and lower the barriers to be able to reach
consensus.
In all my classes, we do consensus
building listening exercises. For
the second day of Environmental
Justice class, students read Garrett
Hardin’s “Lifeboat Ethics.”2 It’s a litmus
test. Hardin’s classic, controversial
essay argues that people in
wealthy countries float on a
resource-rich lifeboat. While we
might want to share those resources
with poorer countries, to do so
would mean we swamp the lifeboat,
and everyone drowns. It’s a potent
metaphor that serves as a focal point to which we return throughout the
semester, especially as we continually delve into assumptions Hardin
makes about the world, and explore how his positionality might bias his
epistemology. (In fact, the first and last thought pieces students write are
about this essay.)
I ask the students who tends to agree, who tends to disagree, and who
can go both ways with Hardin’s thesis. Students break into groups with
representatives from each point of view. Their task: Each student in a
group takes two minutes to explain why they do or do not agree with
Hardin: What life experiences do they bring that lead them to their position
on Hardin’s thesis? When each person has taken their turn, they ask
respectful questions of each other, all in an attempt to come to some consensus
statement on Hardin, something to which they all can assent.
Rather than trying to convince a fellow student of the correctness of
his own position, a student must listen to how others’ life experiences
lead them in different directions in the world. The student must take
these experiences in and accept them as valid if he is to work successfully
with his peers to reach consensus. So, from the beginning of the class,
students are connecting positionality to epistemology, learning to listen
to understand, as others do the same, and using what they hear to question
their own positionality and epistemological claims.
By encouraging an assets model of multiculturalism through an
When you listen to
others’ perspectives, you
may question your
assumptions and lower
the barriers to be able to
reach consensus.
THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL | 33
appreciation of positionality and epistemology, we encourage a nuanced,
scholarly, personal exploration of the racism, classism, sexism, homophobia,
and the other “isms” that roil society and can roil our classrooms
if we delve into these topics insensitively.
When we explore these issues in the context of academic subject matter,
and we tie our explorations to students’ lived experiences, we can
limn them in a less judgmental, less charged way. Everyone’s perspective
is valued; “bias” is seen as a resource that can help us each understand our
positions in society, can help us
gain some perspective on the
assumptions we may blindly hold
about each other.
Since positionality is the multiple,
unique experiences that situate
each of us, no one student’s perspective
is privileged. Rather, all
are privileged, and therefore all are
empowered to speak: the students
from minority as well as majority
cultures can help teach each other
in an atmosphere of mutual
respect. Each student confronts his
or her empowerment or disempowerment, privilege or lack thereof, and
no implicit or explicit judgment is leveled against them. No one student
comes to embody the despised oppressor, and no one student comes to
embody the embattled oppressed. Rather, we encourage a scholarly contemplation
and personal appreciation of all perspectives in a less politically
loaded, less judgmental context.
In this way, it is increasingly likely that students who would otherwise
be marginalized will be heard, and less likely they will be heard defensively.
In my experience, if anger ensues, it is not likely to be directed at
others in the class; rather, it gets channeled towards the forces of society
that lead to oppression—and hence that anger is more likely to result in
deeper understanding, and, I hope, informed action in the world.
Examining the connections between positionality and epistemology is
a fundamental part of a praxis pedagogy that my colleague Gerald
Shenk and I are developing at California State University Monterey Bay.
In our classes, we ask students to work through a cycle of praxis. First, we
ask them to name their own values, assumptions, and passions. They
then examine these values through study in the disciplines we teach,
through discussions with classmates, and through constant consideration
of how their positionality is biasing the epistemological claims they
make. They then take intentional action in the community, either
Since positionality is the
multiple, unique
experiences that situate
each of us, no one
student’s perspective is
privileged.
through a service learning experience, or through a political project.
The Political Project, developed by my colleagues at CSUMB, first asks
students to define what counts as “politics” for them. They then choose a
community group with whom they work to change the world in some
way in consonance with their values: they do politics. As I write this, our
semester is only a few weeks old, but students in our co-taught Social and
Environmental History of California course are embarking on their
political projects.
They’re helping organic farmers
market to the campus community;
starting a new social action ‘zine;
raising funds so an elementary
school class can visit a planetarium;
constructing middle school
curricula on reproductive health;
organizing ecological restoration
projects in local creeks; educating
their soccer team about the presidential
candidates’ positions; trying
to convince the city of Santa
Cruz to build artificial surf reefs;
and devising a plan to promote
carpooling between student housing and campus.
Throughout the semester, and in their concluding papers, students
report on how their values have changed and reexamine the positionality
and the epistemological claims about the world they now make.
Through this process, we help prepare students to become ethical, effective,
self-aware members of their chosen communities—be they family,
social, neighborhood, political, spiritual, or even ecological communities.
We help them articulate, justify, and embody values they find meaningful
without imposing our values on them. And we help them to understand
where those values come from, what values others hold, and how
one can both assert one’s own values while respecting those of others.
Asking students to study how their own positionality biases their epistemology
furthers the program of a liberatory pedagogy. Like Paolo
Freire, I want to work with students to mutually achieve “emergence of
consciousness and critical intervention in reality.”3 Like bell hooks, I
believe that students “want knowledge that is meaningful. Asking students
to connect positionality and epistemology works to achieve bell
hooks’ desire that we help students acquire “ways of knowing that
enhance their capacity to live fully and deeply.”4 Rather than the teacher
acting as sole holder of expertise to make meaning of material for the students,
the teacher starts from where the students are. When students con-
34 | Thought & Action SUMMER 2003
We help the students to
articulate, justify, and
embody values they find
meaningful without
imposing our values on
them.
nect positionality to epistemology, we find out where they are because we
ask them! We start from a position of respect for the student, and we start
from the position that students ought to respect each other’s positions.
We foster the belief that students should be comfortable their own expertise
so that they respect themselves as authorities.
When the teacher lectures at his students, his students can only see
themselves as passive recipients of knowledge. Students are not empowered
to make knowledge themselves, and they are not encouraged to see
their fellow students as respected
sources of knowledge. Nor are they
empowered to use knowledge
they’ve created to change the
world.
Those who would challenge the
powerful in society face strong
backlash. Witness, for example,
crusades against affirmative action,
bilingual education, gay rights. By
highlighting alternate claims to
power, those who advocate for the
marginalized highlight the structures
that keep dominant positionality
as seeming inevitable.
By naming the ideologies that are not inevitable or divinely ordained,
we can look for points at which to intervene so that power and privilege
may become more equitably distributed. Asking students to understand
how positionality biases epistemology and how those with certain kinds
of positions arrogate power can be part of an educational agenda aimed
towards promoting greater social justice.5
As my students gnaw on how positionality biases epistemology, so do
I. It’s an ongoing project, peeling away the layers of my own knowledge,
attempting the arduous task of seeing outside of my own position,
of trying to gain a foothold from which to look at me. How do I know
I’m making assumptions about the world if the world only reinforces
those assumptions?
I began asking these questions at an early age, when I realized I was
gay. I was a self-aware adolescent, and I developed a minor obsession
with examining how the world teaches us that heterosexuality and its
norms are the natural, inevitable way to be. It’s imperceptible because of
its banal omnipresence: it surrounds us through friends, family, advertising,
politicians, culture makers—all the forces that shape our worldviews
and self opinions, that shape our epistemological grasp on the planet
around us. And it’s insidious because those for whom the norms work
THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL | 35
When the teacher
lectures at his students,
his students can only
see themselves as
passive recipients of
knowledge.
don’t ever need to even be aware that they fall subject to these norms. If
you’re heterosexual, you’re not obliged to think about the norms and
how they’re shaped because the norms work for you, and nearly every signal
you receive reinforces those norms.
When I point out assumptions those who are heterosexual make
because of their heterosexuality, even my most liberated straight friends
sometimes recoil because they hadn’t realized they had anything to question.
Their simple displays of public affection aren’t potentially life
threatening; they don’t risk being
barred from a hospital room
should their loved one become ill.
No one ever challenged the norms
that have always enveloped them.
“Norms” are called norms for a
reason. You have to first be aware
that your positionality might bias
your epistemology before you can
conceive of a more equitable world,
before you can listen to understand,
before you can admit other
voices and other ways of knowing
the world around you. And you
have no choice but to continuously examine these connections if you
want a fair, pluralistic society and an enlightened, expansive view of the
planet around you—and this should be a major part of what education is
about.
It took an embarrassingly long time before I realized how oblivious I
was to my own positionality. As a white male, for example, I never had
to examine my white privilege or male privilege—I had never even heard
of these terms. No one challenged me to examine my privilege, and I didn’t
need to challenge my privileges because my privileges worked for me.
I don’t worry about walking alone at night; I’m not stopped on the highway
because of the color of my skin.
I now take it as part of my work—not just as professor, but as a member
of diverse communities—to keep examining my assumptions about
the world. And as a professor, I constantly examine power relations to be
aware that my positionality as the Ph.D. holder and grade giver can lead
me to abuse my power in the classroom unless I am vigilant. Because of
the power I hold in the classroom, my assumptions are less likely to be
challenged. Things I believe are true—about the world beyond the classroom,
the subject matters I teach, the students with whom I
interact—may or may not be a reflection of my own identity and experiences.
It’s only by keeping an attitude of mindfulness, a willingness to be
36 | Thought & Action SUMMER 2003
No one challenged me
to examine my
privileges, and I didn’t
need to challenge them
because my privileges
worked for me.
vulnerable, and a constantly engaged critical consciousness that I can
move and change. Only then can I really listen to what my students say.
Rather than tying what they say into the latticework of my own beliefs, I
can start to hear them on their own terms, to conceive of different paradigms,
to judge views that may differ from my own as valid or consistent
or worth subscribing to or switching to. I even am currently considering
whether my own positionality leads me to focus on the connection
between positionality and epistemology in ways that might not be appropriate
or constructive in the classroom!
It’s an admittedly unscientific
sample, but I have found that my
male science students have the most
trouble connecting positionality to
epistemology. I ask students to write
a Theory of Environmental Justice that
uses scholarly investigation, service
learning experiences, and positionality
as evidence.
Last semester, four male students
came to me with the same problem.
They couldn’t insert a section on how their positionality biases their epistemology
because they couldn’t figure out where it fits: “It interrupts the
flow.” As they explained it, they are not comfortable with the possibility
of the subjectivity of knowledge. They’ve been taught that truths are discovered
irrespective of the discoverer’s identity. They see themselves as
unbiased conduits for reporting objectively derived facts, and are not
comfortable presenting themselves as knowledge makers whose own lives
count as factual evidence about the world.
Their multiple privileges have made it more difficult to understand
how their positions are positions. Women, on the other hand, have thus
far tended to feel liberated when allowed to show how, for example, their
experiences in the world shape their views on justice.
You can help students connect positionality to epistemology in any
academic discipline. My courses are offered in our science department,
although they are about ethics, justice, and history. But any science student
can study how scientific knowledge is constructed and how the scientific
process works if she examines how what a scientist knows—or
how what “science” knows—is shaped by the positionality of the scientist,
and the positionalities of those who have been scientists. They can
examine why certain questions get asked and answered, examine how values
shape observation. Stephen Jay Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man6 and
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy’s The Woman Who Never Evolved7 offer accessible
THE NEA HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNAL | 37
It’s an admittedly
unscientific sample, but
I’ve found that my male
science students have
the most trouble
connecting positionality
to epistemology.
examples of how the positionality of scientists has shaped the knowledge
they’ve produced. These books can help students envision how a more
self-reflective science, where its practitioners ask themselves how who
they are shapes what they know, can lead to more balanced, accurate
knowledge about the world.
No matter where they live or work, students will interact daily with
people with different perspectives, whose positionalities bias their
worldviews in profoundly different ways. Education can have no more
crucial function than helping students to function most productively and
joyously in their communities. This means learning to listen with open
minds and hearts, learning to respect different ways of knowing the world
borne of different identities and experiences, and learning to examine
and re-examine one’s own worldviews. These skills also seem requisite for
the reflective practitioner of the teaching craft. When we constantly
engage to understand how our positionality biases our epistemology, we
greet the world with respect, interact with others to explore and cherish
their differences, and live life with a fuller sense of self as part of a web of
community.
E N D N OT E S
1 Harding, Sandra, “After the Neutrality Ideal: Science, Politics, and ‘Strong Objectivity,’”
Social Research 59, 1992: 567-87.
2 Hardin, Garrett, “Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor,” Psychology Today
September 1974: 38-43, 124-126.
3 Freire, Paolo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Continuum Publishing, New York, 1997: 62.
4 hooks, bell, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, Routledge, New
York, 1994: 19,22.
5 A recent, accessible, and delightful work that helps students understand what this might
mean: Brechin, Gray, Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin, Berkeley,
University of California Press, 1999.
6 Gould, Stephen Jay, The Mismeasure of Man, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 1981.
7 One could teach a whole note on positionality and epistemology in primatology.
Among other sources: Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer, The Woman That Never Evolved, Cambridge,
Harvard University Press, 1999; Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer, Mother Nature: A History of Mothers,
Infants, and Natural Selection, New York, Pantheon Books, 1999; Haraway, Donna J.,
Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science, New York,
Routledge, 1989; Altmann, Jeanne, Baboon Mothers and Infants, Cambridge, Harvard
University Press, 1980; Small, Meredith, Female Choices: Sexual Behavior of Female
Primates, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1993.
38 | Thought & Action SUMMER 2003

Integrated Business Research Project:

 

Proposal Topic Self Evaluation

 

• Introduction
• Aims and Objectives
• Methodology
• Lit review
• Research questions

 

Title- How Mental ill- health affects employees in a workplace?  A critical analysis focusing on how Anxiety & Depression affect people within a workplace (company)

 

Introduction:

For my project, I will be exploring mental ill health and how it affects employee’s ability to perform well at their place of work. I will be focusing on two main conditions which a lot of employees are affected by which are anxiety and depression, I will be using a variety of tools, models and theory concepts to help provide additional evidence which will help support my research, I will be talking about EAP and how they help employees who feel stressed and feel like they are going through mental health issues.

 

Background- We all have mental health, just as we have physical health and they can change throughout our lives just like our bodies and mind sets can become unwell. The world health organisation describes mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community’.

 

The most common mental health conditions are anxiety and depression, people with the same mental health condition can experience different types of symptoms and can go to different extents.

 

Aim- To explore Anxiety and depression of employees within the workplace and how these factors of mental ill health effects people in everyday operations, and how companies can help resolve these issues.

 

Research Question – Is anxiety and depression a common factor within workplace and how it be prevented?

 

Objectives – 

 

• To analyse the HR of a specific firm and how they engage their workload with employees.
• Compare two firms that deal with mental health accurses and analyse their impacts on to employees.
• Are there any other elements involved with mental health that can affect employee performances within a workplace?

 

Literature Review- 800 words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marketing Plan Project

 

Purpose of this?

1. to improve understanding of marketing through application of the concepts and content of the course
2. to learn more about the marketing strategies and business for a chosen or assigned company/organization
3. to learn how and what research is needed to develop marketing strategies and plans
4. to learn how to write a professional and properly cited business research report

 

Preliminary Situation Analysis

1. Choose your company/organization.

First, you need to select a company/organization to analyze.  This can be a company or organization that is (1) for- profit or not-for-profit, and (2) local or national. You will use this company/organization as the foundation for the situation analysis and for your final marketing plan.  Note: if you choose a well-known for-profit national company, it will be easier to find information and research to complete this project.

Later this situation analysis along with other analyses will be used to support a new product or product line (either physical/tangible good or an intangible service) that you will recommend that the company/organization should develop and market.

You may choose any of the top brands/companies mentioned here:  https://www.businessinsider.com/top-100-millennial-brands-2018-9.  It is best to choose a company that you are most familiar with, can find research about, and will have fun being creative with a marketing plan for them.  If you prefer a company that is not on this list, then you should email the professor for advance permission to use by the end of week 3 in the course.  Be sure to include the company’s website link so a judgement for approval can be made.

For your chosen company, you will complete a preliminary situation analysis (including a SWOT analysis) to understand: (1) what the company currently has to offer in the form of products, services, and resources, etc. (the controllable), and (2) what are the forces in the marketing environment (the uncontrollable or 5Cs) that provide guidance for future marketing decisions.  This will be the requirement for the preliminary situation analysis so the professor can provide you feedback to determine if you are on track with the project (20 points).

After receiving feedback for the preliminary situation analysis, you will improve this part of the assignment and use this research to identify a market need to fill by developing a new product/product line for your chosen company.  Then you will complete the final marketing plan project with your marketing strategic decisions (STPs, 4Ps) for this new product/product line

While the content from your reading/study, quizzes, mid-term, and final exams can provide you with the needed knowledge to complete this project, it is your further study/reflection for understanding and application of the important concepts and processes that will guide you in completing the marketing plan project.

If you have any doubts about the quality of application about a potential company or a new product/product line, then email the professor at least one week before the due dates.

 

2. Begin Your Company and Situation Analysis Research Immediately.
3. You should cite current research from credible and reliable sources.

Most of your content can be found in three to five research sources.  Be sure that you use current research sources (with cites/research no older than 3 years).  Beyond 3 years would not be considered up-to-date.

Note: if you cannot easily find the date of a research source, then it is not a source you should use in this project.  Without a current and proper date of the source, the quality of the research cannot be judged, and this will negatively affect your project grade.

Company Research Guide http://libguides.unco.edu/business/company

1. Your research citations should be complete and of proper style (e.g., APA).

As you find the information needed to complete this assignment, you will also need to record the source of your research for citation.  The web links below are provided to guide you in judging quality research sources and for properly citing those sources.  Proper and complete citations are a major part of your grade for this project and failure to cite properly will likely earn a C or lower grade on the project.

Citation: http://libguides.unco.edu/content.php?pid=85068&sid=1024771

More about the APA Format for Reference Citations (for citing sources within your pager and on the reference page): http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/

Pay attention about how to properly cite research from: (1) a Full Text Article from Library Databases (Electronic) or (2) a web page.  If your citation is only a web address, then it is considered incomplete and not acceptable.  What is most important is that your reference citations are complete and with consistency of style (i.e., APA).

Note 1: If using a database to find research sources, make sure that the web link provided works and links directly to the original source (a permanent link).  While signed into a database, the link found in your browser is often a temporary link and does not work for others not signed into your database.

Note 2: GMID Passport is an excellent database for your project.  But, make sure you have a separate citation for each report used in this database (see Citation link above).  A single citation for GMID does not provide adequate detail for judging the date and source of specific data used in your paper.

Note 3: Research citations from web sources need two dates: (1) date of the source, and (2) the date retrieved or downloaded (see APA style).

Note 4: If you do not have a date for a source, then you should not use it because its quality and currency cannot be judged.  Sometimes when you cannot find an immediate date, you can look at the bottom of the page and find the copyright date.

Note 5: you may use a Bibliography Maker, such as EasyBib or BibMe, but you will need to make sure you have input the extra information often needed.

Every citation should include some or all of the following (just fill in all the missing information requested by the Bibliography Maker): (1) the author, (2) the source (e.g., name of magazine, newspaper, web site, book, database, etc.), (3) title (article title, web page title, film title, report title, etc.), (4) date published or created, (5) date accessed or retrieved (for web sites only), (6) page numbers (for printed sources only), (7) direct permanent link to the specific article (for web sites only), (8) publisher (for books or web sites only), and other information, depending on the type of source and format style.

1. You should cite your research sources where used in the written presentation.

This is called an in-text citation.

The most common way to reference a research source in the body of the presentation is to present a citation in parentheses, by author and date, and may include page numbers.

For example, if the content from this paragraph came from research source by authors McDonald and McDonald, then it is indicated as it is here (McDonald and McDonald 2018). Two references are separated by a semi-colon, e.g., (Engel and Blackwell 2010; Stocker 2011).  Page numbers are indicated by a colon, e.g., (Engel and Blackwell 1982:7), which means reference found on page 7.  Page numbers are only needed for direct quotes.  In most cases, paraphrasing should be used instead of direct quotes. Excessive use of direct quotes will count against you.

3. Complete Preliminary Situation Analysis of the Marketing Plan Project (Part 1).

You must include cover page, table of contents, headings, sub-headings, proper spacing, intext citations, reference page, etc.

1. The format for your project is as follows:
2. Cover Page that includes the title of paper and your current name, address, phone, and email. Note: I will not share your personal contact information with anyone, though it is important that I know how to reach you in case of a problem with your project submission. Make it look professional.
3. Table of Contents page that includes all headings, subheadings, and their related page numbers aligned on the right side of the page (see any book Table of Contents for an example; hint: use tabs for alignment).
4. Content:
5. Write in paragraph form, not with bullets. This is a formal report and not an outlined presentation as done in past semester classes. You do need to explain yourself as with writing a formal report.
6. 12-point font, Times New Roman recommended for easier reading.
7. Use all headings and subheadings from the project outline. Be consistent in their indentations/alignment. Note: in the outline below, the numbers represent the 1^st level headings (1, 2, 3, 4), the capital letters represent the 2^nd level headings/sub (A, B, C, D), and the lower case letters represent the 3^rd level headings/sub (a, b, c, d).
8. Use single spaces within paragraphs and double spaces between paragraphs, headings, and subheadings.
9. Cite sources where used in the paper (in-text citation) using a footnoting method by author and date (see citing reference sources section above).
10. Include visuals (images, videos, etc.) in the body of your paper to liven up the written presentation (show and tell). Be sure to provide headers/captions/labels and reference cites for all graphics/pictures used in the paper. All graphs, tables, charts, figures, etc. should be numbered and discussed in the body of the paper.  Be sure to explain any visuals that are used, and do not use the visuals as a substitute for your written content.  Note: do not cut and paste tables, charts, etc. from the web.  This is considered plagiarism.
11. Include web links to demonstrate something important, such as an advertisement or video for your brand/company. Be sure to explain any links that are used, and do not use the links as a substitute for your written content.
12. References Page.

 

1. Expected minimum length for Part 1 of the Project:

2,500-5,000 words (or about 5 to 10 total pages of content, not including cover page, table of contents, visuals, and reference cites; and with formatting explained in section 3A above)

You will upload your paper under the module for Preliminary Situation Analysis so that VeriCite can be used.

 

1. Content for completing Part 1 of the Project (Situation Analysis):

The 5Cs provide the heart of the “situation analysis” (see textbook Chapter 17 and Appendix for guidance). The first step in planning is to understand about the company/brand’s current situation.  That assessment requires our nailing down characterizations of our company, customers, context, collaborators, and competitors (the 5Cs). The ideal result of a situation analysis is to answer every part of every question as comprehensively as possible, using secondary data and research citations as extensively as possible (required). Please note that the creation of marketing plans is not perfectly linear – when you find the answers to 1 of the Cs, you might need to adjust another C.

To complete this assignment, you need to begin with a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of your company/brand.  While not required to turn in with this paper, a SWOT will guide you in completing the situation analysis.  SWOT is described in Chapter 4 on Targeting and Chapter 16 on Marketing Strategy.  Some researchers recommend that you carefully examine linkages between the four SWOT elements of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and that you consider designing objectives that either help to maximize the impact of the linkage or minimize the impact of the linkage in to the future.  Please note, objectives are not required for the completion of this assignment.

This section draws from information gathered from the 5Cs marketing framework outlined in your textbook.  The 5Cs consist of Company, Customer, Context, Collaborators, and Competitors. The textbook chapters mapped to the marketing framework are found in Figure 1.4 in Chapter 1.  An example spreadsheet of the 5Cs is in Table A17-1 (click full book button in Cengage to get there).

 

Below outlines topics that fall under each one of the 5Cs.  A SWOT analysis is used for several aspects of the situation analysis, so it is best to work on this first to guide you in summarizing the information below.

 

 

 

 

1. Company (4 points)

Describe its origins, brief history, sales, product lines or mix, etc.

• What are we good at? Known for?  Do a SWOT to determine this!
• What do we want to become? Future strategy.

This requires research about your chosen company.  Visit their web pages.  Google search for more.  Refer to the research resources mentioned in 2B above.

This comes from the strengths and weaknesses of your company (SW of SWOT).

1. Customers (4 points)

 

The company tries to understand its customers by collecting data on them.  The company starts with studying secondary data to know the background trends, and then as an option collects fresh data on customers and potential customers.

 

• Demographics (e.g., age, income, household composition)
• Psychographics (e.g., attitude to product, attitude toward brand)
• Current levels of customer satisfaction
• Describe loyalty programs and other efforts at Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Buying behavior (e.g., what they buy, when they buy, what channel do they prefer, sensitivity to price?)
• Other customer issues (e.g., What changes have we seen with these customers, why don’t non-buyers buy?)
• See more in the Appendix

This requires research about your company’s customers or target markets.  Visit their web pages to find their typical customers and research the trends or growth segments for these consumers.  You may also research their competitor’s customers to identify segments that are overlooked by your company. Google search for more.  Refer to the research resources mentioned in 2B above.

This comes from the strengths and weaknesses of your company and opportunities and threats from the market (SW and OT of SWOT).

 

1. Context (4 points)

 

The Company assesses the uncontrollable macro-environmental issues that affect it.  Sample questions that the company should pose help with understanding the business context.  The company revisits these questions when it sees changes in its environments or when it changes its brand or target segments.  The following topics should be included in this section as follows.

 

• Is the economy a factor? Is it stable? Growing? What’s the consumer mood?
• Are politics a factor? Are our partners stable?
• Is legal a factor? Are any consumer laws looming?
• Is technology a threat/opportunity? Machines? IT?
• Any societal concerns? Demographic shifts? Attitude shifts?

This requires research about your company’s industry.  Visit their web pages.  Google search for more.  Refer to the research resources mentioned in 2B above.  This is about your research as support and not about your opinion.

This comes from the market opportunities and threats to your company and its marketing (OT of SWOT)

1. Collaborators (2 point)

 

The company should also study the relationship it has with its providers in the supply chain.  The following topics should be included in this section as follows.

 

• Good relations with supply chain providers?
• Good relations with distribution channel members?
• Want any modifications?

This requires research about your chosen company’s supply chain and distribution channels.  Visit their web pages.  Google search for more.  Refer to the research resources mentioned in 2B above.

This comes from all areas of the SWOT.

1. Competitors (2 point)

 

Using a SWOT analysis helps the company determine its strength relative to other providers in the marketplace. The following topics should be included in this section as follows.

 

• Who are your major competitors?
• What are our competitors’ strengths? (these are threats in a SWOT analysis)

This requires research about your company’s competitors.  Visit their web pages.  Google search for more.  Refer to the research resources mentioned in 2B above.  This is about your research as support and not about your opinion.

This comes from the market opportunities and threats to your company and its marketing (OT of SWOT).

 

 

 

1. Summary (2 points)

 

Summarize the key conclusions about the situation analysis that will serve as the foundation for future analysis and formation of marketing strategies for a new product/product line.

 

1. Format, spelling, and grammar (2 points)

 

Be sure to follow the formatting instructions provided in this assignment.   Failure to do so could result in an overall grade reduction of 10%.

1. 
   Grading Rubric for Part 1 of the Project:

This assignment is worth 20 points as outlined above for the 5Cs.  Points will be earned based on grammar and completeness of response.  Since the SWOT is the basis of some of the Cs, it would behoove you to spend some quality time on the formation of this tool.

 

Situation Analysis	Very strong evidence	Moderate Evidence	Evidence is lacking
Company / worth up to 4 points	Clear and engaging description of company and what it wants to become (4 points).	Some evidence of clear and engaging description yet a minimal amount of confusion or missing information (2 points).	Evidence is unclear and not very engaging with a lot of confusion or missing information (1 points).
Customers / worth up to 4 points	Clear and engaging description of demographics, psychographics (if appropriate), customer satisfaction, buying behavior, and other customer issues (4 points).	Some evidence of clear and engaging description yet a minimal amount of confusion or missing information (2 point).	Evidence is unclear and not very engaging with a lot of confusion or missing information (1 point)
Context / worth up to 4 points	Clear and engaging description of economic, political, legal technological, and societal issues (4 points).	Some evidence of clear and engaging description yet a minimal amount of confusion or missing information (2 point)	Evidence is unclear and not very engaging with a lot of confusion or missing information (1 point)
Collaborators / worth up to 2 points	Clear and engaging description Modifications needed with either supply chain partners or distribution channel partners (2 point)	Some evidence of clear and engaging description yet a minimal amount of confusion or missing information (1 point	Evidence is unclear and not very engaging with a lot of confusion or missing information (0.5 point)
Competitors / worth up to 2 points	Clear and engaging description of SWOT and who are the main competitors and their threats to us (2 point).	Some evidence of clear and engaging description yet a minimal amount of confusion or missing information (1 point).	Evidence is unclear and not very engaging with a lot of confusion or missing information (0.5 point)
Summary / worth up to 2 points	Clear and engaging description of key conclusions about the situation analysis that will serve as the foundation for future analysis and formation of marketing strategies (2 points).	Some evidence of clear and engaging description yet a minimal amount of confusion or missing information (1 point).	Evidence is unclear and not very engaging with a lot of confusion or missing information (0 point).
Format, Spelling, and Grammar / worth up to 2 points	Format, spelling, and grammar are perfect (2 points).	Format, spelling, and grammar show a lot of errors (1 point)	Format spelling, and grammar show an overwhelming amount of errors (0 points).