Qualitative analysis using the transcript provided Essay - 1

Subjective examination utilizing the transcript gave - Essay Example I resemble a pig stuck highly involved with everything. I need to carry out my responsibility well. I need to help the individuals in the network however I need to likewise tune in to the individuals accountable for me since they are my supervisors. They state a certain something, the individuals out there, they need something different. What would i be able to do? In some cases my options are limited up. Be that as it may, I do attempt to get things done to have any kind of effect to the individuals out there †those ones in the country networks in the region. There are numerous things which they are confronting which can influence their wellbeing nowadays. Perhaps I can assist them with sorting a portion of this out by working with them. P. Indeed. It’s me. There’s no one else. I convey preparing on medical problems, for example, cleanliness. I attempt to help individuals to see how they have to wash their hands before they plan food or something like that...the kids, they can become so ill with running stomachs which is awful. Or on the other hand some of the time, on the off chance that there is a flare-up, at that point I will accomplish something other than what's expected, something about what the difficulty is. On the off chance that there is cholera it isn't about avoidance it is about activity and it should be speedy and co-ordinated. Yet, it is hard for certain individuals when they don't have cleanser or when they need to bring water from some other spot or individuals are debilitated and can't work in the fields. Umm, yet truly it’s not for me to guide individuals. I am not their mom or their dad but rather I can attempt to assist them with understanding how they can support themselves . Now and then they tune in and some of the time they don’t. The old ones once in a while state ‘who is this youthful thing who is coming to mention to us what it do when we have experienced this time?’ Hopefully you are simply placing things into people’s heads and, you know, making them imagine that next time they will accomplish something. Possibly in the event that they are stressed and they can address you on the off chance that you are agreeable. No doubt about it is just me that does†¦it can be a struggle†¦(fades off). P. Me, I am the person who does

Perceptions of Reproductive Health in Muslim Undergrads

View of Reproductive Health in Muslim Undergrads A MULTIDIMENSIONAL CONSTRUCT OF PERCEPTIONS ON SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AMONG MUSLIM UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Unique This examination inspects factors affecting college understudies who are for the most part Muslims from one of the state funded colleges in Malaysia. Information were gotten from a study led among the college understudies (n=255). Standard Components Analysis (PCA) uncovered four inert elements: the electronic and printed media, information on circumcision, the Islamic qualities on sexuality and their earlier information on sexual act. In light of the perspectives on the respondents on the jobs played by educational program, religion and media in spreading information on sex-related issues, proposals are attracted to help the pertinent gatherings in concocting far reaching sexuality training for Muslim teenagers. Watchwords: sex/sexuality training, conceptive wellbeing, undergrad understudy, Muslim, recognitions, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) Presentation Studies which have been done in Muslim social orders on sexual and conceptive wellbeing are restricted. Numerous youthful Muslims are radiated from the learning procedure to cook the social and strict limitations (Cok, 2000; DeJong et al., 2007; Halstead, 1997; Nurazzura, 2007; Underwood, 2000). Almost no is, in this manner, thought about the variables that impact the Muslim adolescents on sexual and regenerative wellbeing. A few examinations in some Muslim nations detailed that Muslim youth are not decidedly ready and instructed in sexual and regenerative wellbeing because of some contributing elements. (Burazeri et al., 2003; Gãâ€"kengin et al., 2003; Mohammad Reza et al.,2006; Nik Suryani et al., 2007; Paruk et al., 2006). Cok (2000) depicted sex instruction in Turkey, as comparative the same number of other Muslim nations on the planet, as â€Å"there are no sexuality classes, no notice of sexuality in wellbeing courses or no sexuality reading material in Turkish school. Different issues take need and sexuality instruction is pushed aside as immaterial and irrelevant† (p.5). In addition, he expressed that Turkish Muslim teenagers are profoundly impacted by media particularly structure Europe and North America. Also, the investigation on 2,227 first-and fourth - years understudies at Ege Univesity, Gãâ€"kengin et al. (2003) uncovered that information about sexual wellbeing and sexuality transmitted maladies is inadequate among their examples. In Albania, Burazeri et al. (2003) detailed the mean age from the start sex 720 college understudies in Tirana was 17.9 for men and 18.8 years for lady. They additionally discovered positive relationship of parental training and salary level with sexual action and steady utilization of condoms among Albanian college understudies. Mohammad Reza et al. (2006) depicted the sex instruction in Iran that social sensitivities which might be a factor in youthful people groups poor information about conceptive wellbeing. Moreover, hardly any projects give sexuality training to young people or empower youth to pose inquiries and right misguided judgments about conceptive wellbeing. For sure, huge quantities of youthful Iranians need data about safe sex and about the aptitudes important to arrange and receive safe sex rehearses. In their investigation of 1,385 guys matured 15-18 in Tehran about their convictions and information in regards to regenerative wellbeing and their taking part in sexual action, they found that there was a moderately high commonness of sexual movement and the absence of information with respect to STIs and contraceptives represent a critical danger to the sexual and conceptive soundness of Iranian pre-adult guys. Consequently, they mentioned projects to furnish youths with the precise data and a bilities to settle on safe sexual choices. An examination led by Nik Suryani et al. (2007) with college understudies (n=300) in Malaysia , found that, by and large, understudies held a positive view toward sex and sex-related issues; in any case, their insight on sexuality training, sexual and regenerative wellbeing matters calls for consideration from the important specialists. Discoveries on their wellsprings of data on sexuality instruction additionally uncovered that more should be possible to assist them with getting an exact image of sex-related issues especially with the jobs played by guardians, school, religion and media in scattering information on sex-related issues. Paruk et al. (2006) introduced finding because of strictness on demeanor toward individuals with HIV/AIDS utilizing 90 South African Muslim college understudies. They found that higher strictness was essentially corresponded with an increasingly uplifting mentality to individuals with HIV. Ojo Bidemi (2008) led an investigation with 520 pre-adult of Nigerian understudies on contemporary garments propensities and sexual conduct of young people in the South Western Nigeria. They found that there is no noteworthy contrast in the elements impacting youths dressing propensities and furthermore the way that there is connection between garments propensities and their sexual conduct. In Pakistan, Qidwai (2000) studied recognition among 188 Pakistani youngsters, who introduced to family doctors, at the outpatient division of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, about happiness regarding sexual encounters in ladies. He found a high predominance of misinterpretations about female sexuality among Pakistani youngsters. Moreover, Hennink, Rana, Iqbal (2005) concentrated on information on close to home and sexual improvement among youngsters in Pakistan. They found that young ladies ordinarily gain data from a set number of sources while youngsters got to a wide assortment of data sources outside the home. From contemplates done in different Muslim nations, notwithstanding, there isn't sufficient data on factors impacting the essential sexual and regenerative wellbeing among Muslim undergrad understudy just as in other creating nations (Singh, Bankole Woog, 2005). Intercession contemplates are to a great extent missing. There is a need in this manner to decide factors related with Muslims sexual recognition to build up an unmistakable comprehension in understudy factors, the aftereffects of which may add to help understudies on their insight and conduct in regards to sexual and conceptive wellbeing and it will help decide best wagers for programs for sex training for Muslim adolescents. The reason for this examination was to review Muslim college understudies discernments in sexual and conceptive wellbeing, and in doing as such, to explain the significance of the build itself. Along these lines, the examination tended to the accompanying exploration questions: What are the components affecting Muslim college understudies discernments towards sexual and regenerative wellbeing? This investigation depends on the crossed various populaces and geographic districts affecting element immature on sexual and regenerative wellbeing concentrated by Manlove et al. (2001). They called attention to that there are numerous spaces in a youths life related with regenerative wellbeing results. By grounded on the environmental methodology, singular factor, family factor, peers, accomplices, school setting, neighborhood, network, and social approach qualities are totally connected with sexual practices, pre-adult pregnancy, and STI. Be that as it may, this examination just took a gander at specific measurements which included (1) singular factor (strictness, information on conceptive wellbeing and mentalities and conviction about sex); (2) school setting (educational plan); and, (3) media. The creators, along these lines, estimated that there are four impacting components of undergrad Muslim understudies discernment on sexual and regenerative wellbeing: (1) school and tertiary educational program support, (2) Islamic qualities on sexuality, (3) electronic and printed media, and (4) understudies earlier information on sexual and propagation wellbeing. Centrality of Study Consequences of this investigation are envisioned to give experimental information on factors affecting recognition on sexual and conceptive wellbeing among Muslim college understudies that have not been completely contemplated. In this manner, the consequences of this investigation are required to help in the comprehension of understudies observation towards sexual and regenerative wellbeing and sex instruction which is advanced by a few components. The discoveries are useful to comprehend and decide the achievement or disappointment of elements impact and the usage of sex training in Islamic higher learning foundation as saw by understudies. Such data can assist with improving the technique so as to achieve the sex instruction especially for Muslim young people. Technique Examination structure In this examination, the overview technique was utilized. A poll was chosen from Nik Suryani et al. (2007) estimated these connections. It comprised of two sections. The surveys were disseminated haphazardly to an example of undergrad in the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Populace and test The populace is the college understudies in IIUM, Gombak grounds, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. All were Malaysians. An arbitrary examining was utilized to choose members. The standard part examination (PCA) was directed where the quantity of test relies upon the things of the poll. Since the quantity of the thing is 40, the base example size is 40 x 5 = 200 members. In this examination, the members were 255 which were more than the base necessity (Hair et al., 2006). Information Collection To appropriate the polls, analysts looked for help from three understudies which specialists have known. The poll has a joined covering letter that guarantees the secretly of information gathered and portrays the significant parts of surveys to be finished. Understudies were given multi week to finish the polls and needed to return them to the doled out people inside the time dispensed. The usable returned reaction rate was 72.9 % (n=255) out of 350 understudies. The information gathered was worked on January 2008. Legitimacy and Reliability To set up the face and develop legitimacy of the instrument, the

Sniper Attacks essays

Expert rifleman Attacks expositions Since the start of October until the finish of October an expert rifleman has been going wild in the Washington territory executing honest and clueless individuals. This man or now as we probably am aware, men, were extremely keen or maybe shrewd is a superior word. They did an excellent activity on not getting captured until the end when they got imprudent. Tragically enough it has caused numerous families bunches of anguish including the expert marksmen families. The expert sharpshooter of the Washington region carried out criminal acts since the start of October, and now it is finished, fortunately before any longer individuals were executed. On October 4, 2002 in Silver Springs, Maryland, the law implementation operators went on the quest for an expert rifleman who the police accept to have haphazardly picked 5 individuals to murder. Every individual murdered with a solitary shot. The casualties were a cab driver at a service station, a greens keeper cutting the yard, a lady at a mail station, another lady who was vacuuming out her vehicle, and the latter was in a parking garage. On Friday, Police Chief, Charles Moose stated, Theres still no data to lead us to think our casualties are related, they dont seem, by all accounts, to be anyones foes, simply irregular targets. About 7:45 on Thursday morning James L. Buchanan, 39, of Arlington Virginia, was the first of the people in question. He was cutting grass at a vehicle sales center in the White Flint territory. The following casualty was 8:15 a.m. on a similar morning. About a half-hour later Sarah Ramos was killed. The killings carried the quantity of murder to 25 this year, in the Montgomery County. The last time the same number of individuals were killed in one day in the district was in July 1995, when a handymans associate killed podiatrist David Marc Goff, his three girls and a contractual worker at Goffs home in Potomac. On October 6, 2002 a multi year elderly person was shot in the back in Michaels make store parking garage. No capture had been made in the shootings that started Wednesd ... <!

Managing uncertainty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Overseeing vulnerability - Essay Example Also, millennial are all the more ready to face challenges and exceptionally taught contrasted with the former ages. These distinctions will undoubtedly bring about some erosion at the working environment, where in the past it has been noticed that associations have selected to leave them to determine themselves. Nonetheless, this is ending up being unfruitful as millennial are leaving the workforce to begin their own organizations and work as specialists. Having understood their significance, associations need to recognize methods of drawing in and holding this workforce just as guaranteeing they work in attachment with the more seasoned age (Cahill et al 2012, p.4). Well known sociology has endeavored to classify the living ages into five-develops/veterans or manufacturers, children of post war America, and the ensuing age X, Y and Z. Directly, people born after WW2, age X and Y are the ones effectively occupied with the workforce. Each age is related to its own one of a kind chara cteristics with the gen X-ers conceived between mid-1940s and mid-1950s, and manufacturers for the most part in their late 60s and 70s, sharing a likeness of having the option to work for extended periods in an auxiliary way. While the rest are known for being adaptable, having an expanded comprehension of innovation and by and large looking for a healthy lifestyle, the last being especially so for age X conceived between mid-1960s to mid 1980s. The test for HR experts lies in finding some kind of harmony between addressing the requirements of an association and the prospering desires for the multigenerational workforce. Generally, age Y and Z want to have an adaptable work routine that suggests them not being attached to the workplace an entire day. Remarkably likewise, associations are confronted with the tough errand of perceiving and managing the contending issues of age Y and Z and the customers/clients which may not be fundamentally unrelated. HR directors need to perceive and value the various perspectives held by a multigenerational workforce (Mitchell 2008, p.666). Associations need to reconsider their necessities and objectives from an all encompassing point of view and structure a set of working responsibilities that will offer representatives an open door for development alongside different obligations; which thus will bring about them being held and fulfilled in their activity. This is confused by the way that there will be miscommunications, misunderstandings and separations in a multigenerational workforce, concerning work duty and privilege. Moreover, operational regions, for example, forefront representatives have must be rebuilt as the executives rehearses have developed throughout the years and methods of correspondence have changed from top-down, task-based directions to straight contemporary methods of conveying. Administrative positions have likewise gotten pointless attributable to efficiencies made by late office advances. This infers c ertain positions have gotten repetitive and workers who have been with an association over a significant stretch should have their earlier positions reexamined. HR supervisors should look to their qualities and assign new duties as needs be instead of releasing them as their experience makes an open door for mentorship to the more youthful, approaching workforce (Mosley and Kaspar 2008, p.94). Moreover, HR chiefs have

Womens Reform Essays - Child Labor In The United States, Jane Addams

Womens Reform annon Ladies in the late nineteenth century, aside from in the couple of western states where they could cast a ballot, were precluded much from securing a job in the administering procedure. Regardless, instructed the white collar class ladies considered themselves to be an ethically elevating power and proceeded to be reformers. Jane Addams opened the social settlement of Hull House in 1889. It offered a variety of administrations to assist the poor arrangement with ghetto lodging, sickness, swarming, jobless, newborn child mortality, and ecological perils. For ladies who held employments, Hull House ran a day-vehicle focus and a boardinghouse. Addams was just one of numerous early reformers to take up social work. Jane Porter Barrett, an African American, established the Locust Road Social Settlement in Hampton, Virginia, in 1890. Her settlement offered dark ladies indispensable guidance in youngster care and in aptitudes of a being a homemaker. Lillian Wald, a little girl of Jewish migrants from New York City, started a meeting attendant help to arrive at those too poor to even consider paying for specialists what's more, medical clinics. Her Henry Street Settlement offered a large group of essential administrations for outsiders and poor people. Wald proposed the development of a Government Children's Bureau. Before the finish of the nineteenth century, numerous ladies reformers concentrated on the requirement for state laws to limit kid work. Small kids from poor families needed to work late hours in mines and processes and were misused by plant directors. No state laws kept the youngsters from being exhausted or then again mishandled. One of the first to challenge the abuse of stranded or subordinate youngsters was Sophie Loeb, a Jewish worker from Russia Once her dad was expired, she viewed the franticness of her mom as the family slipped into neediness. As a writer, Loeb crusaded for window's benefits when this was as yet another thought. Helen Stuart Campbell, conceived in 1839 in New York, started her open profession as a writer of kids' books. At that point she utilized books to uncover thin life's harming impact on ladies. In 1859 she composed a novel around two ladies who break from their reliance on men and graph new lives. Campbell additionally composed how simple it was fir ladies' lives to be destroyed by neediness and despair. A few ladies went past upholding change to advancing upheaval. There are numerous different well known ladies who helped lead the battle to change. Like Florence Kelley. In 1891 Kelley worked with Addams at Hull House and turned into a specialist for the Illinois Bureau of Labor, and afterward was delegated the U.S. Chief of Labor. In 1891 Kelley came back to New York City and worked with Wald's Henry Street Settlement and made a difference make the U.S. Youngsters' Bureau. In 1921 made sure about section of the Infant what's more, Maternity Protection Act. More than any other individual, Ida B. Wells uncovered lynchings as a wrongdoing against mankind. er 40 years of unwavering exertion neglected to stop the wrongdoing and didn't deliver a government hostile to lynching law. In any case, lynchings diminished by 80 percent after her crusade started, and her archived proof on the wrongdoing of lynching and her pledge to equity awakened the world's inner voice. When Wells kicked the bucket in 1931, other ladies and men had gotten her touch.

Self-Schema and How It Functions

Self-Schema and How It Functions Theories Cognitive Psychology Print Self-Schemas in Psychology By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Updated on January 23, 2020 Bloom Productions / Getty Images More in Theories Cognitive Psychology Behavioral Psychology Developmental Psychology Personality Psychology Social Psychology Biological Psychology Psychosocial Psychology In This Article Table of Contents Expand Overview How They Work How They Form Influence on Behavior Determine Your Self-Schema View All Back To Top We all have ideas and beliefs about other people, but we also hold the same sort of impressions about ourselves. The term schema refers to the cognitive structures we have to describe various categories of knowledge about the world, and like many other things, we also hold schemas about ourselves. In psychology, these are known as self-schemas. What They Are So how exactly do self-schemas function? These categories of knowledge reflect how we expect ourselves to think, feel, and act in particular settings or situations. Each of these beliefs includes our overall perceptions of ourselves (outgoing, shy, talkative) as well as our knowledge of past experiences in similar situations. For example, if you have to give a speech in one of your classes, your self-schema might be that you are shy in situations where you have to speak in public. Since you have an overall belief about your personality as well as past experiences talking in public situations, you probably already have a fairly good idea of how you will feel, think, and act in this situation. Among other things, people can hold self-schemas about: Physical characteristics (Im pretty, Im overweight)Interests (I love sports, I like art)Personality traits (Im shy, Im friendly)Behaviors (Im assertive, I avoid conflict) When people are very high or extreme in a certain area, they are described as being self-schematic in that dimension. For example, a person who believes that they are a people person and not remotely timid or shy would be said to be self-schematic in that area. If a person does not hold a schema for a particular dimension, they are said to be aschematic. What Are the 5 Key Personality Traits? How They Work There are a few key characteristics of self-schemas: Self-Schemas Are Individualized Each person has very different self-schemas that are influenced heavily by past experiences, relationships, upbringing, society, and culture. Who we are and our self-perceptions are heavily influenced by how we are raised, how we interact with others, and the impressions and feedback we receive from societal influences. As you might have already noticed, most of these schemas involve bipolar dimensions: healthy versus unhealthy, loud versus quiet, mean versus kind, sporty versus geeky, active versus sedentary. People often think of them as either/or traits, but most actually exist as a continuum with each person lying somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. Self-Schemas Form Our Self-Concept All our various self-schemas combine and interact to form our self-concept. Our self-concepts tend to be highly complex, which is not surprising since we learn about and analyze ourselves probably more than anything else. As we go through life and gain new knowledge and experiences, we are constantly adding to or even reconfiguring our existing self-schemas and self-concepts. How Does Self-Awareness Form? Self-Schemas About Our Future Selves In addition to holding self-schemas about our current selves, some experts have suggested that we also have self-schemas about our future selves. These reflect how we think we will turn out in the coming years, which might include both positive and negative ideas about our future selves. How They Form Our initial self-schemas begin to form in early childhood based on feedback from parents and caregivers. Sociology professors John DeLamater and Daniel Meyers suggest, Our self-schema is produced in our social relationships. Throughout life, as we meet new people and enter new groups, our view of self is modified by the feedback we receive from others. Self-schemas are also shaped by the various roles we play throughout life. Our experiences as friends, sisters, brothers, parents, co-workers, and other roles influence how we think and feel about ourselves and how we act in particular situations. How They Influence Behavior So we know that we have self-schemas about how we think, feel, and act, but how much do these ideas really influence how we behave? Researchers have found that if you believe you are self-schematic on a particular dimension, you are more likely to perform well in that area. In one study, participants who rated themselves as self-schematic for independence or dependence were faster at identifying words associated with those traits than people who felt they were aschematic in those areas.?? How to Determine Yours One of the easiest ways to get a better idea of your own self-schemas is to answer the question Who am I? Imagine that you are providing these answers only to yourself and not to another person, and write down 15 different things that answer this question as they occur to you without spending a lot of time thinking about how logical or important they are. Once you are done, you should have a fairly good representation of some of your central self-schemas. How Your Sense of Identity Forms

Difficulties Of Cost Control During Construction Stage - Free Essay Example

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Problem Statement: In every industry, cost control is a must in order to make sure that a project or production can make maximum profit or to make sure that the budget of a project does not burst. Locally, the actual costs of development of a project will normally being higher than necessary. In order to have an effective cost control in construction industry, it is necessary for us to determine the difficulties of cost control and to identify the factors contribute to the cost control difficulties in a project in order to overcome the difficulties or to avoid those factors that may cause difficulties to cost control of a construction project during construction stage, thus to have an effective cost control for the construction project and complete the project within the budget or under budget. 1.2 Aim and Objective: The aim of this paper is to study the difficulties of cost control in construction industry during the construction stage. In order to achieve the study of aim, some objectives have been established as below: To ascertain the importance of applying cost control in local construction industry. To highlight the cost control difficulties in local construction firm during the construction stage. To investigate the factors contributing to cost control difficulties in local construction firm during construction stage. 1.3 Background: Cost control is a process that should be continued throughout the project life cycle of a project. In construction industry, cost control should be continued from the inception of the project until the completion of the project to ensure that the cost of the construction project is kept within the agreed cost limits. For cost control of construction industry, it can be divided into two major stages; the control of cost during design stages and the control of cost by construction firm right after the commencement of the construction work of the construction project. According to Ashworth (2004), cost and schedule control is one of the most important functions of management once a project is identified. Cost control is paramount during the feasibility and design phases because a projectà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s feasibility is normally tied to the cost of a project. Besides that, cost control during the construction phase can be paramount for large projects due to their potentially high construction cost and profiles. As mentioned by Nunnally (1998), the measuring and collecting the cost record of a project and the work progress are included in the cost control of a project. Besides that, the comparison of actual progress with the planning is also involved. The main purpose of cost control of a project is to gain maximum profit within the designated period and satisfactory quality of work. According to Pilcher (1994), he defined cost control as the regulation, by executive action, of the cost of carrying out the various activities which go to make up a project or a contract. The regulation (for cost control) designed for a specific industry will need a major modification if it is used in other industry because of the different nature or the business. He also said that for all construction projects, costs must be controlled and monitored from all the parties involved including client, consultants and contractor. This study will mainly focus on the difficulties of applying cost control during construction stage. That is because of in my opinion, what is needed in a cost control methodology is to proactively seeks out potential difficulties and factors contributed to those difficulties and provides project managers with as much warning as possible before their occurrence. This study provides a milestone for construction firm in the factors that likely to causes the difficulty in cost control. 1.4 Scope of Study: Cost Control is commonly used in every industry and almost in every project, the study will only focused on cost control difficulties of construction industry or a construction project during the construction stage. This study will ascertain the importance and the use of applying cost control in local construction industry. Besides that, the difficulties in applying cost control during construction stage also falls within the scope of this study. After highlighting the difficulties theoretically, an interview will be conducted with experienced Contract Executive or Contact Manager or Project Manager to determine the difficulties of cost control during construction stage practically. Finally, after understanding the difficulties of cost control during construction stage, the factors contributing to cost control difficulties during construction stage will also be highlighted. 1.5 Research Methodology The study is conducting in three stages. First stage is literature review. The literature review will started with the introduction to cost control. In the introduction to cost control, the definition of cost control will be reviewed and the literature will also review the importance of cost control in construction industry. Moreover, the literature also will review the difficulties of applying cost control during construction stage. Furthermore, articles and notes about the cost control difficulties will be searched. All literature will be review deeply by referring the previous research paper, article, journal and etc. These sources can all be found in Google, Emerald, Yahoo and from the library of College Tunku Abdul Rahman. At second stage, an interview will be conducted with experienced Contract Executive or Contracts Manager or Project Manager face-to-face to obtain the information about their current practices in cost control system of their company, the practical difficulties and factors contributing to the difficulties in cost control will be identified by the Contract Executive or Contract Manager or Project Manager. The chosen Contract Executive or Contract Manager or Project Manager must be experienced enough in cost management of construction industry and willing to provide valuable information regarding the research topic. Last stage is writing up the content of the dissertation and the information obtained during the interview will be analyse and compare with the theoretical information. Conclusion of this study should be the result of the comparison between the practical and theoretical difficulties during cost control of construction stage faced by the contractor. 1.6 Benefits of Study By conducting this study, it allows me to have a rough idea on the Cost Control system. Completing this study also gives me a better understanding regarding the purposes and importance of Cost Control. Besides that, it also provides me with better perception regarding the difficulties during the application of Cost Control during construction stage. Furthermore, the interview conducted with the experienced Personnel will definitely allow me to review the current practices of Cost Control in the construction industry. 1.7 Dissertation Organisation Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Cost Control Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology Chapter 4: Analysis of the Result and Discussion Chapter 5: Conclusion CHAPTER 2: COST CONTROL 2.1 Introduction to Cost Control 2.1.1 Definition The term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Costà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is defined by Dictionary.com (an application of iPod Touchà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢) as the price paid to acquire, produce, accomplish, or maintain anything. Whereas the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in Dictionary.com, it defines à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? as the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command. For construction industry, the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Costà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? should be referred to the amount paid by a party; either a person or a corporation, to another party; normally a contractor, either to construct a complete building or a particular section of a building. And for the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? in construction industry, it should be referred to an official mean of regulation or restraint in the management of the project. According to Marchesan and Formoso (n. d.), the combination of the term à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Costà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? should be defined as the application of procedures that result in early illumination of potential changes in resource requirements and in the timely surveillance of the usage of funds to permit action that will keep cost within a predetermined range. While for the other definition of Cost Control, we can refer to Ashworth (2004), he defined Cost Control as a process of planning, checking and verifying project expenditure based on established standards and taking the necessary corrective action to ensure that the total project expenditure is approximately to the estimated budget. While according to Ritz (1994), he stated that Cost Control gives a different meaning to a different people. Some people engage it with engineering costs; some states that it is a cost report, value engineering, cost management etc. Cost Control involves all the activities above in different time by different parties and all the parties involved in a project will have their own responsibilities and roles in cost minimization and Cost Control. Other than that, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyor Committee defined Cost Control as the total proves which ensures that the contract sum is within the clientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s approved budget or cost limit. Further definition can refer to Mueller (1986), he stated that the cost control is the ability to influence the final cost of project positively with modifying negative performance trends. In addition, Kwayke (1997) defined Cost Control as a process where construction cost of a project is manage with the best method and systematic approach in order that the contractor would not suffer losses during the execution of the activities of the project and the cost of construction of a project would not be over-estimated by the developer. By concluding all the definition mentioned above, Cost Control in construction industry should be the application of procedures or regulation during the construction project life cycle to plan, check and verify the construction project expenditure based on the established procedures or regulations to ensure that the construction project expenditure is within the project budget, within given timeframe with quality specified and also to ensure that resources are used to best advantages or maximization of the profit for the construction project. 2.1.2 Statement of Facts in Cost Control As stated by Roger (2000), he said that Cost Control is a broad set of cost accounting methods and management techniques with the common goal of improving business cost-efficiency by reducing costs, or at least restricting their rate of growth. Cost Control is used in business to monitor, evaluate and the most important to increase the efficiency of specific areas within their operations. As for Nunnally (1998), he stated that cost control of a project involves measuring and collecting cost record and work progress of a project. Besides that, comparison of actual progress with the planning is also involved. He also mentioned that the main objective of Cost Control of a project is to maximize profit within the given timeframe and to achieve satisfactory quality of work. If the application of cost control is by a systematic procedure, it will result in ease of collection of important cost data in estimating and controlling of the cost of the coming projects in future. Kwakye (1997) states the main purpose in cost controlling for a construction project should be active controlling of final costs for owner, and not just to record and registering the payment. Cost Control Reports must be prepared for efficient Cost Control. The Cost Control Report is based on the cost data collected, it is important to project the costs in to future and to estimate or re-estimate the cost of the work yet to be completed. Amount of detail and the time interval between Cost Control Reports must be considered and the time interval is varied depends on the level of management for which they prepared the Reports for. For example, Cost Report should be received by site manager on weekly basis. Since the commencement of the contract, any new information must be taken into account and makes a suitable reporting system is important for a cost control system. According to Koh (2005), if an adequate reporting system is used, the estimator would become more reluctant in the future to use cost data that have been fed back from the site and granting the estimator some time to determine sufficient detail about the data and conditions they acquired. In addition, Koh (2005) also suggested two areas to check whether the Cost Control reporting system is efficient or not. First is to check on the profitability of the work and second would be check on efficiency carried out against the standard of the output rates that were used by the estimator in compiling the estimate. 2.1.3 The Purposes and Importance of Cost Control One of the principal objectives of Cost Control for most project or organisation is the achievement of minimum cost for a particular project. Achievement of minimum cost is to maximize the profit and profit in simple terms is what is left after all the income accruing to the enterprise has been received and all of the costs or outgoings have been paid. For all construction projects, cost must be monitored and controlled, whether from the point of view of owner, designer or a contractor. It helps to distinguish the problems arise and understanding of the problems which occur in each phase of industry enables better co-ordination of the activities of the many participants in a single project (Pilcher, 1994). Besides that, according to Pilcher (1994), the importance of Cost Control is due largely to the following: To provide the relevant feedback, carefully qualified in detail by all the conditions under which the work has been carried out, to the estimator who is responsible for establishing the standards both historical and future; To provide the client with a value-for-money project. Example: To give the building client a building which is soundly constructed, of satisfactory appearance and well suited to perform the functions for which it is required, combined with economical construction layout. To provide data to assist in the valuation of those variations that will arise during the course of the work; To provide immediate warning of uneconomic operations, both in the long and the short term; To limit the clientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expenditure to within the amount agreed. In simple terms this means that the tender sum and final account should approximately equate with the budget estimate. To achieve balanced design expenditure between the various elements of the buildings. Thus, the sums allocated to cladding, insulation, finishing, services and other elements of the building will be properly related to the class of building and to each other. To summarize progress. To promote cost consciousness; The contractor may ascertain the maximum income that they may receive according to the contract sum, then ascertain the initial cost expenditure, or provide detailed brief to his own construction team who will then determine the actual cost that may involved. But most schemes are a combination of these two extremes. There has in recent years been a great need for an understanding of construction economics and Cost Control, particularly during the construction stage of projects. As stated by Ashworth (2004), Cost Control also should serve the following purposes: The clientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s requirements today are more complex, a more effective system of control is therefore desirable during the construction stage up to the completion of final account and thereafter during costs-in-use. There has been a trend towards modern designs and new techniques, materials and methods of construction. The designer is able to choose from a far wider range of products and this has produced variety in construction. The traditional methods of estimating are unable to cope in these circumstances to achieve value for money and more balanced designs resulting that in the end the contractor may need to bear for extra cost due to the faulty design. Contractorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ profit margins have in real terms been reduced considerably during the past decade. This has resulted in their greater cost-consciousness in an attempt to redress possible losses. There is a general trend towards greater cost-effectiveness, and thus a need to examine construction costs not solely in the context of initial costs but in terms of whole-life costs, or total-cost appraisal. World recession has generally produced a shortage of funds for capital purposes and construction in general. This has been coupled with high inflation and interest charges, resulting in the costs of construction soaring to high levels. Although the relative costs compared with other commodities may be similar, the apparent high costs have resulted in greater caution, particularly on the part of contractor. 2.2 Difficulties of Applying Cost Control Procedures At present, serious problems exist in the cost control and management of construction project. For example, for some construction project, the design is earlier than the study of feasibility, which makes the later turn into useless. In bidding, some construction companies perform illegally, which makes the bidding fail to control project cost well. The popularization of assigned subcontracts and various subcontracts serve as potential threats for project quality. The delay for project payment, especially for workersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ wages, is serious. Some projects can not manage the changes of designs, construction companies fail to follow the designs completely, which may lead to larger costs for construction. Some construction companies emphasize on the control of quality and period but fail to control the cost. All these activities make the cost of construction project out of control in our country, which is harmful for the sustainable and healthy development of construction ind ustry. Gao (2009) has stated that the following is the difficulties in Cost Control of construction stage. 2.2.1 Fail to Estimate the Project Exactly The project estimation is performed at the very beginning, namely in the study of feasibility. Present compilation of study of feasibility is lack of details. No effective items to control the number of project. The estimation has a lower preciseness. Besides, the study of feasibility has no necessary investigation. Some potential geological disasters can not be identified effectively, which leads to the rise of costs. Although some companies make à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“details for implementà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, the effect is poor. In order to establish the project, some companies may reduce the number of project and decrease costs. 2.2.2 The Compilation of Project Budget Has Poor Reliability At the stage of design, the investigation is far from sufficient. Some fundamental materials for design are inexact. As a result, the design may be irrational and will be changed significantly in construction, which causes the poor reliability of budget. 2.2.3 Working Drawing Budget is Unpractical At the working drawing design stage, compile the project budget according to the design. The working drawing budget is to calculate the cost of design. The rationality of working drawing budget is about how to organize the construction and how to reach the design requirements by what kinds of methods, plus how to arrange the construction period, and how to manage workers and machines under different seasons, according to scientific designs. All these tasks are supposed to be arranged by construction companies. For design companies, to compile the budget is unpractical. 2.2.4 Do not Follow Basic Construction Procedures and Can not Control Costs For some projects, time is urgent. Therefore, the design is maybe imperfect. And the construction does not follow the basic procedures strictly. Sometimes, the study of feasibility turns into useless papers. As a result, the estimation and the budget can not control the project cost effectively. 2.2.5 Contract is not Managed Well Some developers neglect to manage contracts. They do not follow the terms written in contracts strictly. Besides, some developers can not calculate the cost of project quantities correctly. They are incapable of managing external workers effectively. 2.2.6 Irregular Management and Many Changes for Project Developers can not design properly and have to change the management methods. Or, the execution is weak. They can change the design as will. Then, the scale of project is increasing and the cost is rising. 2.2.7 Rise of Cost Due to Unreasonable Financing Structure At present, the funds for construction project in Malaysia are mainly from domestic loans, foreign funds, self-collected by construction companies, and other sources. Although financing ways are few and some are immature, limits are more. Sometimes, funds can not arrive in time. In order to insure the process of project, the construction companies have to apply loans from banks. Therefore, a large proportion of construction funds are from banks as loans. And the credit period is long and can not match with investment return. The characteristics of construction industry determine the lagged-behind investment return. One financing channel increases risks and costs, which leads to the accumulation of loan balance in banks, increasing construction costs and pressures for later in operation. 2.2.8 System is imperfect One of the factors that cause overspending is the management. Main items that cause overspending include management fees, compensation fees for removing, and supervision. Main reasons include: Lack of a perfect cost control system and can not manage and control the cost systematically, which makes it hard to identify the out-of-control of cost in time. Lack the idea of cost control and the constraint mechanism. Project managers are always focusing on quality and construction period, but not cost control. The absence of system makes the expenditure more irregular. No integrated standards for management fee are effective. Workers are more than necessary in construction companies. 2.3 Factors Contributing to the Difficulties of Cost Control 2.3.1 Control of labour cost The control of labour cost frequently causing much troubles to Cost Control because of the productivity of labour is variable and causing the difficulty to the estimating stage. Although experienced estimators have their own database of historic cost data, but these data can only ever be regarded as an average for a given trade and does not make allowance for particular circumstances. A prediction of how labour will perform in the future on a particular project must be incorporated into an estimate of cost. Site management is greatly affecting the labour efficiency and their productivity. It is important that all labour resources, either self-employed or employed as labour and materials sub-contractors, are fully supervised and co-ordinated, to ensure that the labour resources are efficiently organized and making best used of them. If the labour resources are not well organized, it may reduce the productivity of the labour and making cost of labour to be higher hence causing difficulties to Cost Control because the labour cost is different with the estimated cost. 2.3.2 Site Condition After the design of engineer, quantity surveyor will normally estimate the amount of the designed work, but due to the site condition is unpredictable, it cause the cost estimation is rather difficult. In many of the construction project, there are majority of unforeseen and differing site condition are found in subsurface work such as tunneling and foundation work, such situation can also arise in rehabilitation and restoration work, retrofitting to meet revised seismic codes and projects that improve energy efficiency. Where ground water level is close to the surface of the site, closely pumping operation may be needed throughout the substructure work. This unforeseen situation will increase the construction cost. A wet site may also involve raising temporary sheds and offices on brick bases and more costly temporary work. The cost of excavation in rock is much more expensive than working in normal ground. This type of strata will need to be examined and to determine what type of support is needed to the sides of excavation. All this will contribute to the difficulty in cost control when the construction method is carried out wrongly. 2.3.3 Location of site The cost of building on a site in a city could be much expensive than construct a similar building on a provincial site. This is due to higher wages, materials and other costs. For instance, a project on a remote location site may involve long lengths of temporary access road and of temporary power cable for electricity suppliers and increased costs of transporting operatives and materials to the site. A site in a congested central area of a city will give rise to major problem in delivery and storage of materials and equipment, protection of adjoining building, construction method to carry out substructure work, restriction on the use of mechanical plant and to the protection of the public. Overcoming these problem involve considerable additional cost and all these will considerably contribute to the difficulty in cost control. 2.3.4 Materials In some of the guides the cost of materials can be easily identified, and adjustment to the measured rate is therefore a simple process. Material prices often depend on contractor, location, quantity and discount and hence making the estimation process to be rather difficult. The materials wastage of site will also contribute to this because there will be difference between the actual amount used and the estimated amount used. 2.3.5 Overheads and profit In most case, during the estimation process, the amount of overheads and profit will normally just referred back to previous projects. But the amounts included in the published rates vary considerably. In some guides nothing has been allowed, and these expect the user to add an appropriate amount. In other information, up to 25% has been included on margins of 3%. In addition, overhead costs have generally been reduced in order to keep costs to an absolute minimum, while seeking to maintain the required workload. Builders will therefore need to access their own percentage and adjust this according to that quoted. Surveyors, in attempting to predict tender values, will also need to take this into account in their approximate estimate. 2.4 Chapter Summary Cost Control in construction industry should be the application of procedures or regulation during the construction project life cycle to plan, check and verify the construction project expenditure based on the established procedures or regulations to ensure that the construction project expenditure is within the project budget, within given timeframe with quality specified and also to ensure that resources are used to best advantages or maximization of the profit for the construction project. Cost Control need to serves the purposes like to provide the relevant feedback, to provide the client with a value-for-money project, to provide data to assist in the valuation, to provide immediate warning of uneconomic operations, to limit the clientà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expenditure, to achieve balanced design expenditure, to summarize progress and to promote cost consciousness. Difficulties of Cost Control during construction stage are failed to estimate the project exactly, the compilation of project budget has poor reliability, working drawing budget is unpractical, do not follow basic construction procedures and can not control costs, contract is not managed well, irregular management and many changes for project, rise of cost due to unreasonable financing structure and system is imperfect. Factors that contribute to those difficulties are control of labour cost, site Condition, location of site, materials and overheads and profit. It is necessary for management to study the difficulties involved and the factors contributing to these difficulties so that they will design a cost control system that more efficient for a particular project. chapter 3: Research design and methodology 3.1 Introduction In this chapter, the research methodology used in this research will be discussed. The method of conducting research to achieve the aim and objectives will be reviewed to ensure that all the information obtained is reliable. Among two research strategies that suggested by Naoum (2007), which is Quantitative Research and Qualitative Research, Qualitative Research will be used as the research strategy for this dissertation. The reason to use Qualitative Research is because of it allows the topic being studied to give much valuable answers to questions put to them. Structured interview will be conducted with at least five (5) contractors so that sufficient information can be obtained to proceed with the field work. The interview will be carried out face to face with the interviewee, however, it also may be carried out over the telephone or any other methods like email or webcam. The targeted personnel to be interviewed are contract executive, contract manager or the project manager of the company. Since it is a structured interview, the questions to be asked are presented in the same order and with the same wording to all interviewees. The main objectives of this interview section are to clearly understand the ability of the contractor in cost control and the difficulties that they are dealing with during cost control of project they undertake. While the other objectives are to ascertain the importance of cost control during construction stage with the contractor and last but not least to investigate the factors that contribute to difficulties that they are dealing with during cost control. The interviewing session has the advantage of providing experience or opinion based information for the dissertation. Questions prepared are open- ended questions for the interview so that in-depth information can be collected. The questions are set by referring to the aim and objectives, data obtained will be of the opinions and perception as individual interviewee knowledge and experience of research area. 3.2 Questionnaire Construction The principles that are followed in constructing the questionnaire for the research are as shown in Figures 3.1 below: Research objectives + Literature review Questions Lead to Lead to Issues, topics and ideas Principles on how research objectives are translated into specific questions. (Naoum, 2007) Before constructing the questionnaire, the potential ideas which can be developed into a questionnaire at a later stage are listed out. In order to have the ideas to develop into questionnaire, the research proposal and the literature review is reviewed and all possible questions which are related to the research is written down to obtained the first thought questions. Those listed out question are all based on the aim and objectives of the research. After the first thought questions have been identified, the final questionnaire is constructed by introducing a number of section or categories for the questionnaire and the first thought questions are fitted into these sections. The research questionnaire was divided into two sections in which the first section is to obtain the back ground and information of the interviewees as well as their organization. This is to ensure that the contractor and the personnel is experienced enough and is highly knowledgeable to provide sufficient information required by the research. While for another section, the contractor will be asked to highlight the difficulties that they are dealing with in cost control. The factors contributing to the difficulties will also be investigated and the importance of cost control will be ascertained. 3.3 Basis of Interview Questions The interview questions are designed in format and wording that can be easily understood by interviewees. These questions were set to achieve the aim and objectives of dissertation. Information obtained should be able to support or make comparison with the theoretically as presented in the previous chapter. Through the interviews, the information regarding difficulties and factors contribute to those difficulties of cost control during construction stage will be obtained. Besides that, the importance of cost control will also be obtained. Each question is designed to achieve certain aims and purposes. For questions set in the first section, it is to make sure that the interviewee has sufficient knowledge and experience in cost control of construction project during construction stage. The interviewees will first being asked how many years has he been in the construction industry and how many years had he been involved in the post that related with cost control during construction stage. The interview will then proceed by asking the interviewee how many projects that the intervieweeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s firm has completed within budget or under budget to determine the ability of the firm in Cost Control. For the subsequent section, questions are designed to obtained information to meet the aim and objectives. The interviewees will first being asked to give his opinions regarding the importance of cost control during construction stage. 3.4 Potential Problems and Contingency Plan Primary data of this research will be obtained by structured interview, but as we know, interview often causes bulks of problem no matter during the interview or after the interview which is to analyze the data. Potential problems that may arise will be discussed and contingency plan to solve those problems will be suggested in this sub-chapter. Interview can help the interviewer to obtain in depth information regarding the research. However, the ability to ask open questions and to create an open environment in which the interviewees feel comfortable to answer is a difficult and complex set of achievements. This is the most challenging part in conducting an interview. So, a well preparation for the question is needed and the designed question should be checked and rechecked to ensure that the question is leading the interviewee to provide necessary information. Besides that, the interviewer shall train himself to ask question correctly before the interview session to ensure a success and good interview can be done. Since only left a short period of time which is before the final submission of thesis is available for conducting the interview and analyze the data obtained, there might be insufficient of time to collect enough data for the fieldwork. For example: only able to obtain two or three face to face interview out of five (which is the minimum). If this problem occurs, interview may be carried out via telephone, email or webcam. Conducting an interview via all these communication devices require shorter time and they are more convenient for interviewees as they do not need to purposely arrange a time for the face to face interview in which the arrangement of time might take a long time. But interview via these communication devices will be harder for the interviewer to obtain in depth information, hence, a set of well prepared and structured questions is needed to obtain as much information as possible. Different languages may be used by different interviewee, since the dissertation is written by using English, some terms or words just cannot be translated directly. If those terms or words are translated directly, it may have a very different meaning. Besides that, the data collected are all in words, in which it may be tricky enough for the interviewer to understand what those interviewees mean although they are all using the common language because words may take on a different meaning in different cultures or different usage. When facing this kind of problem, try to seek clarification of the meaning of the special terms. It could make the data analysis become a difficult and hard job if the data collected are not clear enough of the specific meaning or rationale. The interviewer can ask for clarification by repeating and double confirm the answer with the interviewee. The notion of interviewer bias does not simply refer to the way in which questions might be asked and how answers are responded to. Interviewer bias refers to the whole character of the interviewer and the impact this may have on the responses of the interviewee. Therefore, while doing the data collection and data analysis, must always bear in mind that not to insert interviewer bias into the work. 3.5 Method of Analysis The research strategy that being use in this dissertation is qualitative research. Since it is a qualitative research, it is necessary to analyze the content. It involves essentially analyzing the interview contents to identify and isolate the main themes that permeate right through the responses from the interviewees. The data collected will be analysed manually because the sample size is small (minimum of 5) and the number of variables are not many. Several steps are required to analyse the qualitative data: Step 1: Set the objectives for the interview Since the interview session is to obtain information to achieve the objectives of this research dissertation, the objectives of this research dissertation will as well be used as the objectives of the interview session and the following are the 3 objectives for this research dissertation: To ascertain the importance of applying cost control in local construction industry. To highlight the cost control difficulties in local construction firm during the construction stage. To investigate the factors contributing to cost control difficulties in local construction firm during construction stage. Step 2: Identify and isolate main themes Step 3: Classify responses under the main themes A careful perusal of the descriptive responses from the interviewees for each question can uncover the meaning underlying the responses. Examine the responses in all the interviews and classify each response under the different themes which have developed. Use appropriate wording to accurately represent the meaning of the responses. Step 4: Integrate themes and responses into the text of research write up. While discussing the main themes that run through the research study, one can bring in verbatim responses to substantiate the discussion of the research.