Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Writing - Essay Example Not that she was interested, she always told herself, but it felt nice that even the chubby seventeen-year-old Roger was all calf-eyed around her. Brian was the tall, wiry sort with a passion for rock-climbing and biking. After a whole day spent rafting on the river, he was leading the pack on to what he called a little jaunt on the rocks. Lisa had always been afraid of heights, but never let on in front of Brian or the others. The group of reckless youngsters kept climbing, and she followed. Brian was way ahead of her, exhorting the group to keep going. "Come on, you all, we haven't got all day!" she heard him say. Lisa could hear the river gurgling below, and the hill seemed somehow empty of air. She kept going, until suddenly the root she had gripped with her left hand slithered out of the loose earth like a clumsy snake, with nothing else around to grasp, only sheer, smooth, rock. She was hanging on to the trunk of a sapling with her right hand. When Lisa glanced down, she realized that in climbing up a short incline of a few feet, she was actually hanging above a gorge a few hundred feet deep with her feet on loose rock. She choked, and the sound made Roger, w... Lisa could hear the river gurgling below, and the hill seemed somehow empty of air. She kept going, until suddenly the root she had gripped with her left hand slithered out of the loose earth like a clumsy snake, with nothing else around to grasp, only sheer, smooth, rock. She was hanging on to the trunk of a sapling with her right hand. When Lisa glanced down, she realized that in climbing up a short incline of a few feet, she was actually hanging above a gorge a few hundred feet deep with her feet on loose rock. She choked, and the sound made Roger, who was puffing ahead of her, look down. "Hold on', he said, "I will come fetch you". Lisa could barely breathe, her ears ringing, and she merely nodded her head. Her muscles screaming under the strain, she held on, not daring to move an inch. She wanted to cry out for Brian, but he was nowhere in sight. Roger was calm, all reassurance: "Give me your hand, don't worry, I won't let you go". Fear squeezing her heart, she put her left hand in his and with a wrench let go of the sapling and gave him her right hand as well. She felt a sharp, half decaying tang of mortality in her breath, and then Roger had pulled her up. "Are you alright" offered Roger, and she nodded, drawing in long shaking breaths, "Thanks, I'm alright now.. thanks to you." As she sat ona rock on that sun-dappled afternoon, she did not feel quite so invincible, and realized that this is perhaps why the human race is given fear, pain and death. She thought of that intense, spontaneous burst of prayer that issued from her soul as she let go of her grip on the hill, a prayer of surrender into hands more powerful than her own, than Roger's, more powerful even than those of even the strongest man on earth. It

Group Pressure Essay Example for Free

Group Pressure Essay Groups influence the behavior of their members, often promoting conformity. The tendency to match one’s behavior to that of others is called conformity. Some amount of group conformity provides a secure feeling of belonging; group pressure, however, can be considerable and sometimes unpleasant. Even groups of strangers can foster conformity, as a classic experiment by Solomon Asch (1952) showed. This empirical study is a classic investigation that revealed the power of group conformity. It’s always been known that our social world not only involves making attributions, it also involves our tendency to conform to or not to conform to the attitudes and behaviors of others. The story of Okiki is one of the reasons why further study is needed in this field. She’s a thirteen-year-old honors student at a Lorain, Ohio, middle school. She sat in class, her arms and legs shaking nervously. In her book bag she had a twelve-inch kitchen knife. Her plan was to wait for the bell to ring and then rush to the front of the classroom and, with the help of another student, stab her teacher to death. Why?  To settle a grudge against the teacher and to show her classmates (at least a dozen of whom placed bets as to whether or not she would â€Å"chicken out†) that she was worthy of their respect. Hearing about the plot, an assistant principal broke up the plan only minutes before it was to be carried out (Gregory, 1993). The fact that young teens are anxious about fitting in surprise no one, although many people might be amazed at the lengths some will go to gain acceptance. Sociologists have confirmed the power of group pressure to shape human behavior and found that it remains strong in adulthood as well as in adolescence. Hence further study regarding this problem is needed. Another reason is that, more people nowadays, conform by adopting the social norms or customs of the larger group. Changing fashions in dress and hair style illustrate conformity. I t would have been extremely unusual in the 1950s, for example, for a young man to wear an earring, but it is commonplace today. Most people feel pressure to go along with the fashion trend that is operative at the time for their group. Hypotheses Solomon Ach conducted this classic study with the hypothesis that: There would be little yielding to group pressure. Hence the hypothesis being tested is that group pressure affects perceptual judgments. Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions: 1. Could anything persuade a person to choose others` choice other than what the person have selected is the correct choice? 2. Do opinions of the majority have an extremely powerful influence on an individual? Type of research A controlled experiment was conducted by Asch in his famous study. The controlled experiment allows the researcher to manipulate an independent. The experimenter forms an experimental group, which will experience a change in the independent variable (the â€Å"treatment†), and a control group, which will not experience the treatment but whose behavior will be compared with that of the experimental group. It is important to take note that the control group is similar to the experimental group in every other way. ) This type of experiment is especially characteristic of studies at the micro level of sociological research. Participants The participants are college students recruited by the researcher. Asch`s control participants/group consisted of subjects who looked at the lines in a room where they were seated together but were allowed to make their judgments independently. In this group the subjects invariably matched the correct lines, just as you no doubt have. But in the experimental group a different result was produced by the introduction of an independent variable: group pressure. Procedure Solomon Asch (1952) conducted a classic investigation that revealed the power of group conformity. He formed groups of six to eight people, allegedly to study visual perception. His technique required the use of confederates, all of whom stated an obviously incorrect judgment prior to the turn of the individual whose behavior was being investigated. He arranged with all but one member of the group to create a situation in which the remaining subject would be pressured to accept conclusions that were quite unreasonable. Asch asked group members, one at a time, to match a â€Å"standard† line on â€Å"Card 1,† to one of three lines on â€Å"Card. † Anyone with normal vision could see that the line marked â€Å"A† on â€Å"Card 2† was the correct choice. Initially, everyone gave correct answers. Then, Asch`s secret accomplices began responding incorrectly, making the naive subject bewildered and uncomfortable. Results and Conclusions So what happened? Asch found that more than one-third of subjects placed in this awkward situation chose to conform to the others by answering incorrectly or they went along with the incorrect group judgment. His study suggests that many of us are apparently willing to compromise our own judgment to avoid the discomfort of being different from others, even from people we do not know. The independent variable in the study was group pressure. Asch varied the degree of group pressure experienced by the subject. The independent variable (group pressure) thus produced more â€Å"errors,† or choices (dependent variable) of the wrong line (Asch, 1966). Methodological or ethical flaws Yes, an ethical flaw in the study is evident. In Asch experiment, the subject is duped and may feel embarrassed. Since this is a sociological research, it deals with the personal lives and inner thoughts of real human beings. Although this research seems relatively innocent, there are many times when the question asked or the behaviors witnessed may be embarrassing or even more damaging. Moreover, the study did not mention informed consent. So, the researcher did not take precautions to protect the fundamental rights of human subjects. More or less, the study has good internal validity as it clearly measures what it intends to measure. Moreover, external events and contamination may cause causal conclusions of the study to be invalid. For example, when the experimental group was interviewed, something might happen which is unrelated to the result or something in their surrounding might influence the subjects in answering the questions and thus might affect the result of the survey. On the other hand, external validity is not measured in the study. Alternative Explanation An alternative explanation for the results found in this research, not related to the effects of an independent variable is the foot-in-the-door technique (Dillard, 2001). This technique can produce extraordinary degrees of compliance. Here, the experimental group will conform to the confederates not by group pressure but by voluntarily conforming to the incorrect response. This is best explained by self-perception theory, which assumes that we infer our attitudes from observing our own behavior, and provides an answer. Here, if someone freely comply with a small, worthwhile requests, the person will somehow his self as someone who has positive attitude toward worthwhile requests. As one wish to be consistent with his self-perception, he may be more likely to comply with other requests. But supporters of this alternative explanation have been mixed (Dillard, 2001). One variations of the Asch experiment suggest that the social impact of the group varies as a function of its size, the degree of unanimity in the group, and the degree to which one’s nonconforming behavior can be hidden from scrutiny. People evaluate their opinions and behavior against the standards of a reference group. If they find major differences, they feel pressure to conform – or to change reference groups.

The Demand Of Petroleum Products In Ghana Economics Essay

The Demand Of Petroleum Products In Ghana Economics Essay Over decades, there has been no commodity price that has received so much attention predictions and speculations than crude oil price. However, intellectuals always fail in their predictions to produce the expected results. Crude oil in its original state has no value to the consumer until it is transformed into useable products such as Liquefied petroleum Gas (LPG), Kerosene, Gasoline, Diesel and other petrochemicals.  [1]  In most countries, motor fuels (Gasoline and Diesel) are always dominant than other petrochemicals. But Liquefied Petroleum Gas and other natural gas are becoming more visible in todays global oil and gas industry.  [2]  Like any other commodity in the market, the prices of these products as well as their demand, keep responding to changes in crude oil price and other market conditions. This movement in fuel prices causes worry among pundits, politicians and everyone who uses these products. Petroleum products get to the final consumer or to the market th rough different channels. The sales of these products also vary from one market or geographical location to another. Refiners either sell to wholesalers or sell to company-owned or company franchised retail sites.  [3]  For example, in the United States of America, the open market dominates and has a greater share of the market. However, in countries such as Malaysia, Mexico and most developing countries National Oil Company (NOC) own retail outlets and hypermarkets control majority share of the petroleum product market. In most West African countries one can even see by the roadside, these products filled in bottles and jars for sale.  [4]   This shows how important these products are in the day to day activities of consumers. Ghana imports crude needs from other countries to meet almost all of its crude needs and as such face the consequences of price volatilities. Ghana like most other developing countries is faced with the problem of a pricing scheme of petroleum products that will be acceptable to the population but which will not also cripple the economy. This is because the government of the day always subsidise the prices of these products as a way of reducing the impact on the ordinary Ghanaian consumer  [5]  . Since 2000, there has been a consistent rise in the consumption level of petroleum products even though the prices of these products keep increasing  [6]  . Many have tried to analyse the effect of changes in the price of these products on the final demand and on the welfare of the consumer in other countries. But, there seems to be little literature on that of Ghana. This study therefore seeks to analyse the effect of changes in crude oil price on the demand of petroleum products in Ghana. The underlying assumption is that, any change in crude oil price manifest itself in the prices of the derived products such as petrol, diesel, LPG, kerosene and other petrochemicals. The study employed an econometric method as a way of examining and analysing the effect of changes in price of the various products on the total demand of petroleum products (petrol, diesel, LPG and Kerosene) in Ghana from 2000 up to 2011. This study is organised into four chapters. Chapter one covered the Introduction. The background as well as the demand for petroleum and the theoretical framework are captured in chapter two. Chapter three contained the analysis and discussions of the findings. Chapter four is the concluding chapter. It also captures some recommendations. CHAPTER TWO 2.0 BACKGROUND 2.1 Global Demand for Petroleum Products The oil and Gas industry is one of the largest and complex global industries which touch almost every part of the human life with products such as gasoline, kerosene, gasoil, lubricants and thousands of petrochemicals products. The demand for crude oil is derived demand  [7]  . As indicated earlier on, crude oil in its original state has no value to the consumer until it is transformed into useable products such as Liquefied petroleum Gas (LPG), kerosene, Gasoline, Diesel and other petrochemicals  [8]  . The demand for these products over the past decade has been increasing in both industrial and developing economies  [9]  . There is no product price that has received so much predictions and speculations than crude oil price. But these predictions in most cases failed to produce the expected results. Like any other commodity in the market, the prices of these products as well as their demand, keep responding to changes in crude oil price and other market conditions  [10 ]  . According to Suleiman 2009, consumption of petroleum products in Indonesia has grown significantly and as a result, by 2004, Indonesia had become a net-importer of both crude oil and refined products  [11]  . 2.2 Demand for Petroleum Products in Ghana The Ghanaian economy depends solely on import for its petroleum needs. The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is the only refinery in the country charged with the responsibility of refining crude oil to produce petroleum products for domestic demand  [12]  . But, its inability to carry out this mandate effectively and efficiently has given rise to importation of some petroleum products from neighbouring country  [13]  . Approximately, 70% of the demand is met with products are produced by TOR and the remaining 30% from imports. The country imported its entire crude oil requirement as at December 2010, which is refined at TOR. However, this is looking to change as the country now produces oil in commercial quantities. The petroleum products marketed in Ghana are Premium Gasoline, Kerosene, Residual Fuel oil, Gas oil, LPG and Premix  [14]  . Bulk supply of these products is reliable and is done through an extensive infrastructural network comprising of storage depots located at strategic parts of the country, pipelines for the movement of petroleum products, Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs) and also barges located on the Volta Lake  [15]  . The actual supplies however improved compared to the previous year and for that matter shortage of LPG and diesel were not as serious as in 2010. There are a number of factors influencing the consumption of petroleum products in the country. Among these factors are prices of the various products, real income of the consumer, changes in the number of consumers as well as the availability of these products. For instance, significant increases in retail prices of LPG for vehicular fuel have helped in reducing its consumption and on the other hand increased consump tion of gasoline and invariably the sales of the latter  [16]  . Inability to raise the required and adequate funds for the required LPG import due to cross-subsidisation enjoyed by the product might have also contributed to moderate LPG consumption compared to the Energy Commissions forecast during the year  [17]  . It was projected that the requirements for the major petroleum products-gasoline, kerosene, gas oil and LPG will increase significantly from 1.62 million tons in 2005 to 2.49 million tons by 2015 representing an annual growth rate of 5.3% over the period  [18]  . Access to petroleum products in Ghana is satisfactory, but has to be improved as the population grows. As at 2010 there were a total of 1700 petroleum products retail outlets of which 37% are Service Stations (SS), 20% are Filling Stations (FS) and 43% are Reseller Outlets (RO)  [19]  . The total number of retail outlets represents an access ratio of 71 retail outlets per 1,000,000 people  [20]  . There are also vendors who sell mainly kerosene in rural communities, thereby increasing the accessibility of petroleum products in most part of the country. The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is a statutory agency responsible for regulating, overseeing and monitoring the petroleum downstream industry in Ghana to ensure efficiency, growth and consumer satisfaction  [21]  . It is also charged with the responsibility of monitoring and regulating petroleum prices in accordance with the prescribed pricing formula. With strong economic growth and steady population growth over the past years, Ghanas total energy demand for petroleum products has grown substantially. Table 1 show the total demand for the various petroleum products in the country. It also included the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Ghana from 2000 to 2011. Figure 1 shows the trend of movement for the same period under study. TABLE 1: PETROLEUM PRODUCT CONSUMPTION AND GDP YEAR PETROLEUM PRODUCT CONSUMPTION GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) 2000 5,536.30 4,977.50 2001 5,895.20 5,176.60 2002 6,109.00 5,409.50 2003 6,048.20 5,690.80 2004 6,338.10 6,009.50 2005 6,505.10 6,364.10 2006 7,131.70 6,771.40 2007 7,407.60 7,208.80 2008 7,526.30 7,816.50 2009 8,160.40 8,180.60 2010 8,349.90 8,722.20 2011 8,877.10 9,890.90 SOURCE: National Energy Statistics 2000-2011 From the table above, the total energy demand for petroleum products 5,536.30 kilotonnes in 2000. This increased to about 8,877.10 by the end of 2011. It shows an average annual increase of 4.01% in energy demand. GDP which shows the real income of the country was US$4,977.50 billion as at 2000 and increased to US$ 9,890.90 billion by the close of 2011. This also shows an average annual growth rate of 4.5% within the same period understudied. This is a clear indication that, as the real income of the country increases, more petroleum products are demanded even though price of crude oil was on the increase as indicated in table 2 below. FIGURE 1: TREND IN GDP AND TOTAL PETROLEUM PRODUCT DEMAND From figure1 above, it is clear that, there is a strong correlation between petroleum product demand and the GDP of Ghana. The trend shows that as GDP grows, demand for petroleum products grows as well. Its further shows that as the real income of consumers increase, they tend to demand more of these products and hence movement of the two curves in the same direction. TABLE 2: PRICES OF CRUDE OIL AND SOME PETROLEUM PRODUCTS YEAR CRUDE OIL (Brent price US$) DIESEL PRICE (US$/l) PETROL PRICE (US$/l) KEROSENE PRICE (US$/l) LPG PRICE (US$/kg) 2000 28.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.5 2001 24.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 2002 25 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 2003 28.8 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 2004 38.3 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 2005 54.5 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 2006 65.1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.8 2007 72.4 0.98 0.9 0.8 0.9 2008 97.3 1 1.1 1 0.9 2009 61.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5 2010 79.5 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 2011 111.3 1.1 1 0.6 0.7 SOURCE: National Petroleum Authority From Table 2 also, it can be seen that crude oil price has been volatile, but generally on the rising side from 2000 up to 2011. The price of crude oil was US$ 28.5 in 2000 which decrease to about US$ 25 in 2002. It picked up again in 2003 and rose continuously to a high of US$ 111.3 by the end of 2011. Also prices of the various petroleum products responded accordingly to changes in the price of crude oil as indicated in table 2 above. In 2000, diesel was sold at US$ 0.4 per litre, petrol US$ 0.3 per litre, LPG US$ 0.5 per kg and kerosene was US$ 0.3 per litre. However, as crude price increases, the prices of diesel, petrol and kerosene also increased to US$ 1.1, US$1.0 and US$0.6 per litre respectively by the end of 2011. LPG also increased to US$ 0.7 per kg over the same period. FIGURE 2: TREND OF PRICES OF CRUDE OIL AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS From Figure 2 above, it is also clear that, the prices of the various petroleum products respond positively and directly to changes in crude oil prices. This can be explained by the fact that, these products are derived from crude oil and hence, any change in its price or quantity will have corresponding effects on its products. 2.3 Theoretical framework The price of crude oil has been characterised by major swings especially in the 1970s and 2008 and has always impacted on the demand for petroleum products. This has increase the interest of many economists and other intellectuals and has since led to a number of studies that seek to investigate the relationships between real income, real prices and the consumption of petroleum products  [22]  . Dahl (1994) conducted a survey of petroleum demand in developing countries  [23]  . The result showed that the average price elasticity of demand of petroleum products for developing countries was -0.36, and income elasticity was 2.20. This suggested that, the demand for petroleum products is more responsive to changes in income than changes in real prices. Suleiman S.2009, used selection criteria from various models as way of cointegration approach to estimate the price and income elasticities of demand for total petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel in Indonesia. The results suggested that both total products and gasoline share estimates are more responsive to changes in income than changes in the real price of petroleum products. Based on this, he suggested that policy makers may need to use market-based pricing policies and other policies such as public enlightenment in addition to regulations like minimum energy efficiency standards to promote efficiency and conserv ation and curb the rising consumption of petroleum products in Indonesia.  [24]   Akin et al 2009 conducted empirical studies which sort to estimate the demand elasticities of petroleum products in Nigeria. The study employed a multivariate cointegration approach to estimate both the short-run and long-run price and income elasticities. The result showed that, energy consumption responds positively to changes in GDP and negatively to changes in energy prices. The study concluded that both price and income elastticities are inelastic even though the elasticities of demand vary according to product type.  [25]   Maria et al 2011 employed an econometric method developed by Deaton to calculate the price and income elasticities of demand for domestic energy in Mozambique. The calculations were done for all households at the national level, differentiating urban household from that of rural folks. The result showed that the responsiveness to changes in both price and income were higher for high-grade energy sources such as gasoline, diesel and LPG and lower for low-grade sources such as charcoal and fire-wood. They concluded by indicating that, the potential for energy transition in the domestic context is not directly visible from the price and income elasticities.  [26]   2.4 Methodology From the theoretical framework above, Dahl (1994), Suleiman S. (2001) and Akin et al all employed the cointegration approach in analysing the relationship between demand of petroleum products and changes in price. Maria et al (2011) applied an econometric method developed by Deaton in their study  [27]  . This study follows the approach adopted by Maria et al (2011). It is advantageous because it uses unit values as the prices of goods and hence provides the opportunity for the use of individual fuel prices. However, the usage of these unit values can lead to biased elasticity estimates  [28]  . The total demand for petroleum products (share of gasoline, Diesel Kerosene and LPG) can be specified as a function of real per capita GDP and real prices of Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene and LPG. This can be modelled as follows: ED= f (GDP per capita, Price of Petrol, price of Diesel, price of Kerosene and price of LPG)à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (1) Forming a linear regression equation from the function gives; Ed= a0 + b0GPD/p + c0pP + d0pD + e0pK + f0pLPG + u0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (2) Both the dependent variable and the independent variables are transformed to natural logarithms and hence double log estimation equation. This is written as follows lnEd= a0 + b0lnGPD/p + c0lnpP + d0lnpD + e0lnpK + f0lnpLPG + u0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (3) Edà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Demand for petroleum products GDP/pà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Gross Domestic Product per capita pPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..price of petrol pDà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..price of Diesel pKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ price of Kerosene pLPGà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas a0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..constant term u0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..stochastic term CHAPTER THREE: 3.0 ANALYSIS AND OUTCOMES Using the double log estimation equation as; lnEd= a0 + b0lnGDP/p + c0lnpP + d0lnpD + e0lnpK + f0lnpLPG + u0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Where, Edà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Demand for petroleum products GDP/pà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. .Gross Domestic Product per capita pPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. price of petrol pDà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. price of Diesel pKà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..price of Kerosene pLPGà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas a0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦constant term u0à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦stochastic term TABLE 3: REGRESSION ANALYSIS lnGDP/p lnpP lnpD lnpK lnpLGP coefficients 1.017487 0.081134 -0.0214456 0.049237 -0.11419 p- values 0.022904 0.822455 0.925098 0.732547 0.276798 R Square 97.8% Confidence interval 95% Standard error 0.029936 Source: Arthurs construct 3.1 Discussion of outcomes 3.1.1 Gross Domestic Product per capita From the analysis summarised in table 3, GDP per capita as a variable shows a positive sign in its coefficient against demand for petroleum products. This implies that, as real per capita income of consumers increases, their demand for petroleum products increase as well. Its p-value of 0.022904 is also below the significant level of 0.05 (95% confidence) which is an indication that, the effect of changes in GDP per capita on the demand for petroleum products is statistically significant. 3.1.2 Petrol In terms of elasticities, a coefficient of 0.081134 for petrol shows that, the demand for it is inelastic. This implies that changes in the price of petrol leads to less than proportionate change in demand. The positive sign however does not follow the a priori expectation. But it shows that, over the period under study, there is a direct relationship between demands and price of petrol. Thus, any increase in the price petrol leads to an increase in its demand. The p- value however confirms that, this direct effect is not significant at 0.05 significance level since the value 0.822455 is greater than 0.05 (significance level). 3.1.3 Diesel From the table, the coefficient of diesel is quite revealing as it follows the a priori expectations in it demand. It has the expected negative sign which confirms that any increase in it price will result in decrease in it demand and hence decreasing the level of total demand for petroleum products in Ghana. But this is not significant at 95% confidence interval as the p-value of 0.925098 is greater than 0.05. 3.1.4 LGP Also from the table, the coefficient of LPG revealed the a priori expectations in it demand. It has the expected negative sign which confirms that any increase in it price will result in decrease in it demand. This is an indication that, decrease in the level of total demand for petroleum products in Ghana can be the result of increases in the price of LPG. But this is also not statistically significant at 95% confidence interval as the p-value of 0.276798 is greater than 0.05. Thus, inelastic demand for LPG. 3.1.5 Kerosene The variable price of kerosene shows a positive sign. This sign again does not follow the a priori expectation. This result implies that, there is a direct relationship between demands of kerosene and its price and hence, any increase in the price kerosene leads to an increase in its demand. But this is not the case or the expectation as the demand for kerosene decrease due to increases in it price. However, the p- value shows that, this direct effect is not significant at 0.05 significance level since the value of 0.732547 is greater than 0.05. The R2 of the analysis is measures the overall goodness of fit of the regression. The test result indicates that, the R2 =0.978 = 97.8%. It shows that the independent variables (GDP per capita, price of petrol, price of diesel, price of LPG and price of kerosene) explain the dependent (demand for petroleum products) variable to the tune of 97.8%. CHAPTER FOUR: 4.0 Conclusion This study analysed the effect of oil price change on the demand for petroleum products. This effect is analysed through the changes in the various prices of the major petroleum products (petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene) consumed in Ghana from 2000 to 2011. The study employed a double log equation in its analysis. It included the Gross Domestic Product per capita as a measure of the real income of consumers. The results show that aggregate demand for petroleum products in Ghana follows with the a priori expectations of negative price elasticity and positive income elasticity. The results also showed that, the demand for petroleum products in Ghana has been on the increase from 2000 to 2011 and future still promise to show more increment if the economy maintain its strong growth pattern. The analysis of the results show that the real income of the consumer measured by GDP per capita has a positive sign which indicates that, as real per capita income of consumers increases, their demand for petroleum products increase as well. Its p-value of 0.022904 is also below the significant level of 0.05 (95% confidence) which shows that, the effect of changes in GDP per capita on the demand for petroleum products is statistically significant. The test result also shows that, for the period under consideration, the demand for the major petroleum products (petrol diesel LPG and kerosene) is inelastic even though their individual coefficients vary. Their prices continue to increase throughout the period under consideration as oil price increases. Total demand for these products increase as well. Notwithstanding the values of the study, it should be noted that energy demand might assume different implications in different economic sectors. Different sectors of the economy have different consumption behaviours and as such, have different optimal demand decisions under the same constraints and do not necessarily demand the same services from the various energy forms. Sectoral analyses of the demand for petroleum products will therefore, offer an in-depth analysis in future research works. 4.1 Recommendation In terms of policy implications, the study recommend that policy makers should design policy frameworks that will promote energy efficiency and conservation. These policies can be market-based pricing and taxation policies, policy that can ensure minimum energy efficiency standards and has the tendency of informing the public the consequences of the present trend in consumption and importation. Otherwise, the consumption of petroleum products is likely to continue to grow at a significant rate as long as per capita income continues to grow.

Irish Political History and Structure Essay -- essays research papers

The modern political history of Ireland can be separated into two time periods. The first period is it’s time spent under British rule as only one territory of the United Kingdom. The second period, which represents the beginning of the modern Irish state, took place during the early twentieth century. The road to national sovereignty was neither easy nor short as Britain was far from eager to let its dependent state go. The first organized movement towards independence occurred in 1916 when revolutionaries declared Ireland to be free from British rule on Easter of that year. Despite the ultimate failure of this initial push towards freedom Britain eventually granted the southern 26, of 38, counties dominion status in 1921. Further steps were taken in 1937 when Ireland drafted its constitution and was granted full sovereignty. The final phase in southern Ireland’s independence came in 1949 when its status as a British commonwealth ended and the nation was declared a re public. However, even after disassociating itself from the United Kingdom the southern counties of Ireland wouldn’t be completely satisfied as long as the remaining 6 counties that comprised Northern Ireland were still a part of Britain’s empire. The predominantly protestant northern counties of Ireland have been a barrier to peace in the region from the first days of the Republic up to today. These counties are considered as a separate state but can also be considered as the same nation. This topic will be explored in more depth after the explanations of both the current Irish state as well as what can be considered the Irish nation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The state of Ireland encompasses 26 of the islands 32 counties and occupies all but the northeastern quarter of the island. The national government is a Republican Democracy and consists of a duel executive, a bicameral legislature and a judicial branch. The Executive branch is split into two parts and is considered to follow a variation of the Duel Executive model. The head of state in the executive branch is the president, or Uachtaran, who is directly elected by the citizens and serves a seven year term. The Executive power of the state is exercised by the cabinet, which is led by the Prime Minister. Ireland’s executive system can be considered to be a variation of the duel executive method due to the fact that the head of state ... ..., despite pledges from both governments to work towards peace, negotiations have still been rocky at best.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the subject of foreign affairs Ireland has traditionally stuck to a position of non-involvement and has remained neutral in the conflicts of the twentieth century. Despite Ireland’s inactivity in military affairs the nation has been considered quite active as a member of the UN since its induction in 1955. Ireland is currently very active in the Security Council and is a proponent in the process of disarmament as well as other areas of International policy. Also, there are currently some 515 Irish personnel serving on 9 UN missions. Ireland's most significent and longest standing contribution to UN peacekeeping was to the UNIFIL force in Lebanon, to which Ireland provided troops since its inception in 1978 until late 2001. Ireland is also a member of the European Union and has been since 1973. In fact this year it is Irelands turn to act as president of the EU. Participation in international groups has increased over the decades but the activities of the IRA continue to put a strain on foreign relations, especially those with Great Britain.

Student Information System

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all we would like to thank program director Mr. Satya Bahadur Shrestha and our subject teacher Mr. Keshav Poudel for providing us with an opportunity to do our project work on â€Å"Student Information System† as part of our syllabus. We are heartily indebted to our subject teacher Mr. Keshav Poudel for his constant support and guidance throughout this project. It was his valuable suggestions that helped us to cope up with emerging obstacles during the development of this project. Group Members Ashish Shahi Sanjay Maharjan Sulashyana Shrestha TABLE OF CONTENTTable of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 2. 1. Introduction about the Project 2. 2. Objectives 2. 3. Scope of the Project 2. SYSTEM STUDY 3. 4. Existing System 3. 5. Disadvantage 3. 6. Proposed System 3. 7. Advantage of the Proposed System 3. 8. Problem Definition and Description 3. SYSTEM ANALYSIS 4. 9. Package Selected 4. 10. Resources Required 4. 11. Feasibility Study 4. 12. 1. Operational Feasibility 4. 12. 2. Technical Feasibility 4. 12. 3. Economic Feasibility 4. 12. Functional Requirement 4. 13. Non Functional Requirement 4. 14. Use Case 4. 15. Sequence Diagram 4. 16. Project Scheduling . SYSTEM DESIGN 5. 17. Process Diagram 5. 18. Entity Relationship 5. TESTING 6. 19. Testing 6. 20. 4. Unit Testing 6. 20. 5. Integration Testing 6. 20. 6. System Testing 6. CONCLUSION 7. 20. Summary of the Project 7. 21. Future Work INTRODUCTION Introduction about the Project Nowadays technology has reached its highest level and is in the phase of developing more with the new innovations. Student’s Information System (SIS) is an important aspect of any educational institute. The information about the student’s overall performance is important as to generate student’s progress report.Still different colleges record student’s performance report on the paper. Although records can be recorded on the paper manually, but this process is time consuming activity. With the a dvancement of technology, computerized techniques are more useful and consume less time compared to paper work. Hence computerized techniques should be used in colleges to record and access student’s data which is more effective and efficient to use. The Student Information System is aimed to computerize the record keeping system as to make the job easier for the college administrators. 1. 2 ObjectivesThe main objective of this project is to develop software that helps in easy access of the information about the student, their overall performance in one click. Our system is focused to make a web based SIS which makes the work of measuring student’s performance easier and efficient. The main intention is to provide a system with suitable efficiency and accuracy while maintaining its main objective to access student’s performance report. * Ensures that end users have input the design process. * Accomplish project goals and objective within defined budget and time parameters. To implement a computer based program as to make the work effective and efficient. Scope of the Project As discussed above this project is based on developing software that is capable of finding student’s performance report. The system will be able to show student’s performance report. This system will help to reduce the effort to record the entire student’s performance data in files. This system will save time and increase efficiency. This project is purely based on the research and along with the study and requirement of this project in academic field. 2. SYSTEM STUDY 2. 1 Existing SystemThe existing system of managing SIS in the college is based on the file recording system. The recording method of this system is totally based on file system and the data about the students are recorded in a file and to search the performance graph about a student the files are to be searched according to the student’s semester. 2. 2 Disadvantage The existin g system is very time consuming and is not effective as it is based on the file recording system. To search one student’s report all the existing files are to be searched. Modification and updating process is hazard, which is time consuming and inefficient. . 3 Proposed System The system we are about to make is a web based system dealing with the Student Information System. Particularly it is based on the activities related to the recording and accessing the student’s performance report. The proposed system is a computerized system which will be much more effective than the filing system. 2. 4 Advantage of the Proposed System As the system is a computerized system, it will reduce the effort to record the student’s progress report on the files. It will also save time in recording, managing and accessing the student’s data. 2. 5 Problem Definition and DescriptionIn any academic institute student’s information is an important aspect as it is related t o the institute and the student studying in it. The student’s information about their overall performance in their academic career is essential and it is to be recorded in a proper way, so that the necessary information can be access when required. Our system Student Information System (SIS) is focused make a computerized system that records the student’s performance information. The main intention is to provide a system with suitable efficiency and accuracy while recording, managing and accessing the recorded data along with appropriate speed. SYSTEM ANALYSIS 3. 1 Packages Selected The package used in the development of our system is Java Net Bin. 3. 2 Resources Required 3. 2. 1 Hardware Requirement Hardware: PC compatible with a Intel Pentium- III processor RAM: 1-GB RAM Hard disk: 20-GB 3. 2. 2 Software Requirement Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional Software: jdk 1. 7. 0_02, jre 7 Front End: Java Back End: MySQL 3. 3 Feasibility Study We made our estimation on whether the system is able to satisfy the user’s need using the software/hardware technologies being used in the developing the system.We made our study on the basis of cost effectiveness of the proposed system from the business point of view. Considering the time and cost the feasibility study were made and further detailed analysis was done. The study is based on the following: * Whether the system contributed to the main objective of the project * Whether the system can be engineered using current technology and within budget and schedule constraints. 3. 3. 1 Operational feasibility We made our study on the basis of the operational factors of the system. Our system is feasible on the operational environment as well.The users who are going to operate on this system will able to understand the system and can use it easily by some training. 3. 3. 2 Technical feasibility The hardware and software used in this system are easily available in the current technical environment so it is easy to use and feasible with our system. Due to technical feasibility further changes can be performed easily. 3. 3. 3 Economic Feasibility Our system is economically feasible as it is under our budgetary constraints. This system is cost effective because * The tools and technologies used for this system are free for non commercial use. This system provides quality of information and the ease of access to the information required. The system can prove effective and efficient and can establish itself as valuable assets for the one who implements it. 3. 4 Functional Requirement The system provides a web base where a large number of pages are crawled for a particular domain and are stored. The statement of services that our system provides as the systems functional requirements are as follows * The administrator would be able to insert, delete, modify and update the records based on student’s the performance. The system would be able to display all the recorded perfor mance information about the student. 3. 5 Non-Functional Requirements * Usability Our system will provide the web interface to the end users with the optimum user- friendliness so that they can get accustomed while operating the system. * Reliability The system developed will be able to meet the expectations of the user as well as, it would be reliable to matchup with the existing products * Performance Our system shall return the matched documents from its web base within considerable amount of time. Security Our system provides a web interface, so in order to make the system secure, any user needs to get authenticated. This would help the system be free from spamming and other kinds of attacks. 3. 6 Project scheduling | Gantt Chart| | | | | Days| 1-5 days| 6-10 days| 11-15 days| 16-20 days| 21-25 days| 26-30 days|   | | | | | | | Activities| | | | | | | Planning|   | | | | |   | Feasibility study| |   |   | | |   | System analysis| | |   |   | |   | System design | | |   |   | |   | Coding| | |   |   |   |   | Testing| | |   |   |   |   |Implementation|   |   |   |   |   |   | The above Gantt chart represents the activities conducted by our team members and the days required to complete all the activities. The activities performed were planning which required five days, feasibility study which required ten days from day 6 to day 15, database design, and interface design required ten days from day 11 to day 20, coding would require ten days, testing would require five days from days and lastly implementation would also require five days from days.As this project is based on the design of the Student Information System, coding system testing and implementation was not conducted but duration was separated for these activities as well. 4. SYSTEM DESIGN 4. 1 System Design 4. 2 Design Description 4. 2. 1 Use Case The use case defines a goal oriented set of interaction between external actors and the system under c onsideration. Actors are parties outside the system that interact with the system. In SIS actors are the users. Use case diagram of Student Information System Insert records Delete recordsUpdate records Search required record View records record Administrator User 4. 2. 2 Sequence diagram for â€Å"Student Information System† 2. Accept password 1. Enter Password Display System Information System Login System 3. System Access 4. Display Record 5. Display require information to the user User Fig: Sequence Diagram for Student Information System 4. 2. 3 Architectural Process Diagram Fail Pass Add Delete Edit Edit Delete Submit Exit Report Action Exit Operation Performance Info Student Info Student Informationon 4. 3 Entity Table: Table name: StudentAttributes| Data type| Length| Constraints| S_Id| Integer| 20| Primary Key| S_name| Varchar| 20| -| S_semester| Integer| 20| -| S_phone| Integer| 20| -| Table name: Result Attributes| Data type| Length| Constraints| S_name| Varchar| 20 | -| S_marks| Integer| 20| -| Table name: Login Attributes| Data type| Length| Constraints| Username| Varchar| 20| -| Password| Varchar| 20| -| Time| Varchar| 20| -| Table name: Administrator Attributes| Data type| Length| Constraints| Admin_Id| Integer| 20| Primary key| Admin_name| Varchar| 20| -| 4. 4 Entity DiagramStudent S_name S_Id S_phone S_semester Fig 4. 3. 1. Entity diagram for student Result S_name Marks Fig 4. 3. 2. Entity diagram for result Username Password Time Login Fig 4. 3. 3. Entity diagram for login Admin_Id Admin_name Admin Fig 4. 3. 4. Entity diagram for Admin 4. 4. 1 ER-Diagram of â€Å"Student Information System† Login Admin Student Result Attend Performs Records Performs 4. 5 Context Diagram: Update info Marks Student details Administrator Student information system Student Id Semester result Student Login details 5. TESTING 5. 1 TestingOur system has been tested throughout the design of the system. As testing is important part of the system developmen t process, we have tested the system throughout the design phase rather than testing the system after the complete development. The following tests are to be done during the system development 5. 1. 1. Unit Testing We will have to test each and every small units of our system. The source code of our system would be divided into modules, which in turn would be divided into small parts called units having their specific behavior.From the unit testing we will come to know if the combination of the units leads to the fulfillment of the software requirements or not. 5. 1. 2. Integration Testing In this testing we will combine the modules and test it as a group. Modules would be typically code modules, individual applications, client server application in the network, etc. Integration testing follows unit testing and precedes system testing. 5. 1. 3. System testing As there are the possibilities of different unexpected errors to occur after integration so the system testing would be done. The system would be tested to check whether it met its requirements and ensure the known and predictable results. System testing would be based on the process description, emphasizing pre-driven process links and integration points. 6. CONCLUSION 6. 1 Summary of the Project Managing student’s performance information is a very important activity of any educational institute. This project is aimed to develop a computerized Student Information System that helps to make recording and accessing the information easy and effective. Subsequent numbers of lectures were reviewed before starting the project.Then further steps were taken such as system study, system’s feasibility and many others considerations. Though the system needs some improvements and future enhancement is also a challenging task, the overall outcome of the project is expected in its design considerations. Enormous knowledge has been gained throughout the project. The importances of background research, syste m study, requirement analysis different methodologies were learnt. Also implementing techniques, testing have been exercised. Thus we hope our system provides appropriate nformation to the users according to the chosen service and would help to reduce unnecessary time managing the repots on the paper. 6. 2 Future Work Our Student Information System has many aspects that can be upgraded with future works. There are different future possibilities that the system can enhance its features in terms of the technology and design. In order to make even more effective and efficient use of the system the user interface can be developed in a more interactive way and technological changes can be made. As per the time, knowledge and necessity the system scan be made better in future. Student Information System ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all we would like to thank program director Mr. Satya Bahadur Shrestha and our subject teacher Mr. Keshav Poudel for providing us with an opportunity to do our project work on â€Å"Student Information System† as part of our syllabus. We are heartily indebted to our subject teacher Mr. Keshav Poudel for his constant support and guidance throughout this project. It was his valuable suggestions that helped us to cope up with emerging obstacles during the development of this project. Group Members Ashish Shahi Sanjay Maharjan Sulashyana Shrestha TABLE OF CONTENTTable of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION 2. 1. Introduction about the Project 2. 2. Objectives 2. 3. Scope of the Project 2. SYSTEM STUDY 3. 4. Existing System 3. 5. Disadvantage 3. 6. Proposed System 3. 7. Advantage of the Proposed System 3. 8. Problem Definition and Description 3. SYSTEM ANALYSIS 4. 9. Package Selected 4. 10. Resources Required 4. 11. Feasibility Study 4. 12. 1. Operational Feasibility 4. 12. 2. Technical Feasibility 4. 12. 3. Economic Feasibility 4. 12. Functional Requirement 4. 13. Non Functional Requirement 4. 14. Use Case 4. 15. Sequence Diagram 4. 16. Project Scheduling . SYSTEM DESIGN 5. 17. Process Diagram 5. 18. Entity Relationship 5. TESTING 6. 19. Testing 6. 20. 4. Unit Testing 6. 20. 5. Integration Testing 6. 20. 6. System Testing 6. CONCLUSION 7. 20. Summary of the Project 7. 21. Future Work INTRODUCTION Introduction about the Project Nowadays technology has reached its highest level and is in the phase of developing more with the new innovations. Student’s Information System (SIS) is an important aspect of any educational institute. The information about the student’s overall performance is important as to generate student’s progress report.Still different colleges record student’s performance report on the paper. Although records can be recorded on the paper manually, but this process is time consuming activity. With the a dvancement of technology, computerized techniques are more useful and consume less time compared to paper work. Hence computerized techniques should be used in colleges to record and access student’s data which is more effective and efficient to use. The Student Information System is aimed to computerize the record keeping system as to make the job easier for the college administrators. 1. 2 ObjectivesThe main objective of this project is to develop software that helps in easy access of the information about the student, their overall performance in one click. Our system is focused to make a web based SIS which makes the work of measuring student’s performance easier and efficient. The main intention is to provide a system with suitable efficiency and accuracy while maintaining its main objective to access student’s performance report. * Ensures that end users have input the design process. * Accomplish project goals and objective within defined budget and time parameters. To implement a computer based program as to make the work effective and efficient. Scope of the Project As discussed above this project is based on developing software that is capable of finding student’s performance report. The system will be able to show student’s performance report. This system will help to reduce the effort to record the entire student’s performance data in files. This system will save time and increase efficiency. This project is purely based on the research and along with the study and requirement of this project in academic field. 2. SYSTEM STUDY 2. 1 Existing SystemThe existing system of managing SIS in the college is based on the file recording system. The recording method of this system is totally based on file system and the data about the students are recorded in a file and to search the performance graph about a student the files are to be searched according to the student’s semester. 2. 2 Disadvantage The existin g system is very time consuming and is not effective as it is based on the file recording system. To search one student’s report all the existing files are to be searched. Modification and updating process is hazard, which is time consuming and inefficient. . 3 Proposed System The system we are about to make is a web based system dealing with the Student Information System. Particularly it is based on the activities related to the recording and accessing the student’s performance report. The proposed system is a computerized system which will be much more effective than the filing system. 2. 4 Advantage of the Proposed System As the system is a computerized system, it will reduce the effort to record the student’s progress report on the files. It will also save time in recording, managing and accessing the student’s data. 2. 5 Problem Definition and DescriptionIn any academic institute student’s information is an important aspect as it is related t o the institute and the student studying in it. The student’s information about their overall performance in their academic career is essential and it is to be recorded in a proper way, so that the necessary information can be access when required. Our system Student Information System (SIS) is focused make a computerized system that records the student’s performance information. The main intention is to provide a system with suitable efficiency and accuracy while recording, managing and accessing the recorded data along with appropriate speed. SYSTEM ANALYSIS 3. 1 Packages Selected The package used in the development of our system is Java Net Bin. 3. 2 Resources Required 3. 2. 1 Hardware Requirement Hardware: PC compatible with a Intel Pentium- III processor RAM: 1-GB RAM Hard disk: 20-GB 3. 2. 2 Software Requirement Operating System: Windows 2000 Professional Software: jdk 1. 7. 0_02, jre 7 Front End: Java Back End: MySQL 3. 3 Feasibility Study We made our estimation on whether the system is able to satisfy the user’s need using the software/hardware technologies being used in the developing the system.We made our study on the basis of cost effectiveness of the proposed system from the business point of view. Considering the time and cost the feasibility study were made and further detailed analysis was done. The study is based on the following: * Whether the system contributed to the main objective of the project * Whether the system can be engineered using current technology and within budget and schedule constraints. 3. 3. 1 Operational feasibility We made our study on the basis of the operational factors of the system. Our system is feasible on the operational environment as well.The users who are going to operate on this system will able to understand the system and can use it easily by some training. 3. 3. 2 Technical feasibility The hardware and software used in this system are easily available in the current technical environment so it is easy to use and feasible with our system. Due to technical feasibility further changes can be performed easily. 3. 3. 3 Economic Feasibility Our system is economically feasible as it is under our budgetary constraints. This system is cost effective because * The tools and technologies used for this system are free for non commercial use. This system provides quality of information and the ease of access to the information required. The system can prove effective and efficient and can establish itself as valuable assets for the one who implements it. 3. 4 Functional Requirement The system provides a web base where a large number of pages are crawled for a particular domain and are stored. The statement of services that our system provides as the systems functional requirements are as follows * The administrator would be able to insert, delete, modify and update the records based on student’s the performance. The system would be able to display all the recorded perfor mance information about the student. 3. 5 Non-Functional Requirements * Usability Our system will provide the web interface to the end users with the optimum user- friendliness so that they can get accustomed while operating the system. * Reliability The system developed will be able to meet the expectations of the user as well as, it would be reliable to matchup with the existing products * Performance Our system shall return the matched documents from its web base within considerable amount of time. Security Our system provides a web interface, so in order to make the system secure, any user needs to get authenticated. This would help the system be free from spamming and other kinds of attacks. 3. 6 Project scheduling | Gantt Chart| | | | | Days| 1-5 days| 6-10 days| 11-15 days| 16-20 days| 21-25 days| 26-30 days|   | | | | | | | Activities| | | | | | | Planning|   | | | | |   | Feasibility study| |   |   | | |   | System analysis| | |   |   | |   | System design | | |   |   | |   | Coding| | |   |   |   |   | Testing| | |   |   |   |   |Implementation|   |   |   |   |   |   | The above Gantt chart represents the activities conducted by our team members and the days required to complete all the activities. The activities performed were planning which required five days, feasibility study which required ten days from day 6 to day 15, database design, and interface design required ten days from day 11 to day 20, coding would require ten days, testing would require five days from days and lastly implementation would also require five days from days.As this project is based on the design of the Student Information System, coding system testing and implementation was not conducted but duration was separated for these activities as well. 4. SYSTEM DESIGN 4. 1 System Design 4. 2 Design Description 4. 2. 1 Use Case The use case defines a goal oriented set of interaction between external actors and the system under c onsideration. Actors are parties outside the system that interact with the system. In SIS actors are the users. Use case diagram of Student Information System Insert records Delete recordsUpdate records Search required record View records record Administrator User 4. 2. 2 Sequence diagram for â€Å"Student Information System† 2. Accept password 1. Enter Password Display System Information System Login System 3. System Access 4. Display Record 5. Display require information to the user User Fig: Sequence Diagram for Student Information System 4. 2. 3 Architectural Process Diagram Fail Pass Add Delete Edit Edit Delete Submit Exit Report Action Exit Operation Performance Info Student Info Student Informationon 4. 3 Entity Table: Table name: StudentAttributes| Data type| Length| Constraints| S_Id| Integer| 20| Primary Key| S_name| Varchar| 20| -| S_semester| Integer| 20| -| S_phone| Integer| 20| -| Table name: Result Attributes| Data type| Length| Constraints| S_name| Varchar| 20 | -| S_marks| Integer| 20| -| Table name: Login Attributes| Data type| Length| Constraints| Username| Varchar| 20| -| Password| Varchar| 20| -| Time| Varchar| 20| -| Table name: Administrator Attributes| Data type| Length| Constraints| Admin_Id| Integer| 20| Primary key| Admin_name| Varchar| 20| -| 4. 4 Entity DiagramStudent S_name S_Id S_phone S_semester Fig 4. 3. 1. Entity diagram for student Result S_name Marks Fig 4. 3. 2. Entity diagram for result Username Password Time Login Fig 4. 3. 3. Entity diagram for login Admin_Id Admin_name Admin Fig 4. 3. 4. Entity diagram for Admin 4. 4. 1 ER-Diagram of â€Å"Student Information System† Login Admin Student Result Attend Performs Records Performs 4. 5 Context Diagram: Update info Marks Student details Administrator Student information system Student Id Semester result Student Login details 5. TESTING 5. 1 TestingOur system has been tested throughout the design of the system. As testing is important part of the system developmen t process, we have tested the system throughout the design phase rather than testing the system after the complete development. The following tests are to be done during the system development 5. 1. 1. Unit Testing We will have to test each and every small units of our system. The source code of our system would be divided into modules, which in turn would be divided into small parts called units having their specific behavior.From the unit testing we will come to know if the combination of the units leads to the fulfillment of the software requirements or not. 5. 1. 2. Integration Testing In this testing we will combine the modules and test it as a group. Modules would be typically code modules, individual applications, client server application in the network, etc. Integration testing follows unit testing and precedes system testing. 5. 1. 3. System testing As there are the possibilities of different unexpected errors to occur after integration so the system testing would be done. The system would be tested to check whether it met its requirements and ensure the known and predictable results. System testing would be based on the process description, emphasizing pre-driven process links and integration points. 6. CONCLUSION 6. 1 Summary of the Project Managing student’s performance information is a very important activity of any educational institute. This project is aimed to develop a computerized Student Information System that helps to make recording and accessing the information easy and effective. Subsequent numbers of lectures were reviewed before starting the project.Then further steps were taken such as system study, system’s feasibility and many others considerations. Though the system needs some improvements and future enhancement is also a challenging task, the overall outcome of the project is expected in its design considerations. Enormous knowledge has been gained throughout the project. The importances of background research, syste m study, requirement analysis different methodologies were learnt. Also implementing techniques, testing have been exercised. Thus we hope our system provides appropriate nformation to the users according to the chosen service and would help to reduce unnecessary time managing the repots on the paper. 6. 2 Future Work Our Student Information System has many aspects that can be upgraded with future works. There are different future possibilities that the system can enhance its features in terms of the technology and design. In order to make even more effective and efficient use of the system the user interface can be developed in a more interactive way and technological changes can be made. As per the time, knowledge and necessity the system scan be made better in future.

Coffee Crisis Essay

Introduction Stephen Quinlan and Jose Gomez-Ibanez describes, in â€Å"The Coffee Crisis†, that in 2004 the governments of coffee producing countries were considering how to respond to rapid decline to coffee prices. In 2001, coffee prices hit a forty-year low, which resulted in extreme hardships for the local farming communities. On that note, this decline in coffee prices was considered â€Å"the coffee crisis. † The coffee crisis came to be thanks in part to coffees: overproduction, under-consumption and oligopoly market structure. International Nature and Structure. At best, coffee should be grown in an area with a warm climate and an abundance of rain. Coffee is centrally grown near the equator; however, it is primarily consumed in the northern hemisphere. It is traded in 60-kilo bags and the annual crop exceeded 100 million bags in recent years. â€Å"In 2003, for example, 101 million bags were produced of which roughly 95 million bags were consumed and the remaining 6 million added to storage in the hopes of fetching higher prices in later years†(Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 1, 2004). Coffee is comes in two types: Arabica, which is milder in flavor, and Robusta, which is acidic. Robusta, which is grown in Asia and some countries in Africa, is easier to grow and is primarily used to make instant coffee, espresso and local consumption in the producing countries (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 2, 2004). Arabica, which is grown primarily Latin America makes up, historically, two-thirds of the coffee produced and is the longest to produce. The long production time begins with a two year period before the coffee seedling can bear fruit followed by several more years before reaching full production (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 2, 2004). Supply and Demand Analysis There was a rapid decrease in coffee consumption due to an increase in soft drink consumption. In the U. S. , it is estimated that coffee consumption fell from 36 gallons to 17 gallons per person and soft drinks increased from 23 to 53 gallons per person (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 2, 2004). As U. S. coffee consumption began to slow down in the 1990s, due in part to the increased liking to premium coffees thanks to Starbucks, Pete’s and other coffee chains, European coffee consumption increased along with other countries helping offset the U. S decline. Beginning in 1962, the International Coffee Organization (ICO), an association of coffee exporting and importing countries, managed the coffee market by negotiating exporting and import quotas to support target prices (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 3, 2004). The ICA collapsed in 1989 and this opened the door for non-traditional suppliers like Vietnam and traditional supplier Brazil. During this period, Brazil had always been the world’s largest coffee producer, growing Arabica by traditional labor-intensive methods in frost-prone areas (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 3, 2004). Since most Arabica coffee is grown on steep slopes, Brazilians utilized new plantations on leveled ground; developed new large-scale coffee plantations in less frost-prone areas, mechanical harvesters along with other cost-cutting devices to replace donkeys in how they produce coffee. Vietnam, who had never exported coffee before through government assistance, was able to build irrigation systems to help in the production of Robusta coffee beans (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 3, 2004). These beans produced in Vietnam had a poor quality, less flavorful and were processed at lower quality standards than traditional Arabica. Within a couple of years Vietnam had become a top supplier and was setting the price in which all other Robusta producers would have to compete. By the end of the decade, Vietnam had become the largest Robusta producer in the world, although its costs were rising as the rapid growth in the Vietnamese economy was increasing local income and wages (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p. 3, 2004). Market Structure The overall coffee market resembled that of an oligopoly, which is defined as â€Å"a market dominated by a few large producers of homogeneous or differentiated product. Because of how few exist, oligopolies had considerable control over their prices, but each must consider the possible reaction of rivals to its own pricing, output, and advertising decisions† (McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2012, p. 223). Oligopolies are also characterized by barriers to market entry (McConnell, Brue & Flynn, 2012). Although there were many countries producing and exporting coffee, the market was largely dominated by a few countries (i. e. , Brazil, Colombia, and later on, Vietnam). Oligopoly, by its very nature, limits transparency in the market place. Within ten years this country grew from a relatively insignificant producer to the world second largest – ahead of Colombia (producing ~11 million bags accounting for 10% world export) but behind Brazil (producing ~35 million bags accounting for 35% world export) – producing well over 11 million bags annually and accounting for approximately 12% of world exports (CRB, 2006). Factor Markets From the ICA collapse bringing forth Vietnam’s entrance into the coffee market to the quality degradation, the coffee crisis affected more than just the market. With a drop in coffee prices, the farmers not being able to cover all of their costs so grower’s families many had to remove their kids in order to help out at the farm (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, 2004). There was the merging of coffee blends and the experimentation of new ways of creating low quality coffee beans in an effort to meet demands. As a result many of the beans were of poor quality, which caused the coffees to taste cheap. Furthermore, such an increase in low-quality beans causes the price to drop in order to remain competitive (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, p.3, 2004). Many major roasters experimented with technical advances in finding new ways to mask the bitterness of the acidic bean. They even went as far as combining Robusta and Arabica beans together. This line of production caused the price of coffee to decrease, which hurt many producers because the profits weren’t enough to cover most of their overhead (roughly 65-90 US cents per pound) (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, Exhibit 6, 2004). This caused the quality of coffee to diminish because many roasters were using beans that should have been discarded. It also caused countries whose costs were high (Central America, Colombia and Mexico) with average or lower quality coffee to be in trouble (Quinlan & Gomez-Ibanez, 2004). Reference: Commodity Research Bureau (CRB). (2006). The CRB Commodity Yearbook 2006. [eBook] Retrieved from http://books. google. com/books? id=GmzxkvNhxnIC&printsec=frontcover McConnell, C. R. , Brue, S. L. , & Flynn, S. M. (2012). Wage Determination. Economics (19th ed. ), (pp92-114). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Quinlan, S. & Gomez-Ibanez, J. (2004). The Coffee Crisis. Capella University. McGraw-Hill.