Future trends in data mining

This article talks about the future applications of data mining and the process of data gathering and analysis. The authors said that data mining had become one of the most useful and popular concept from computer science that have gained a number of applications in real life settings. Although the article greatly deals with the technical and computing side of data mining, the article is able to give a clear description of what data mining is, how it started and the future applications of the process.

I found the article difficult to read, since my primary orientation had been on the business and management side, but then data mining is simply the gathering and processing of data and information which can be used to make decisions and major business strategies. The article has information that have been taken up in class, but the rest was alien to me, I did not know that data mining could also be used in health and medical sciences and a host of other fields. There are also a number of different ways in which data can be mined, although the course material have made mention of it, this article was really more informative.

The authors say that the future of data mining will be complex and exciting, which means that the kind of data storage and retrieval could get more complex and difficult to manage. They recommend that data mining specialists should be aware of such developments, I wonder though if this has been happening in organizations that uses data mining. Data mining without doubt is an important resource, but being able to make use of the information derived from data mining effectively needs a more precise and reliable way of gathering data, selecting which data to use and how to analyze the data.

Domingos, P. (2007). Toward knowledge rich data mining. Data Mining Knowledge Discovery, 15, 21-28.

This article argues that data mining is knowledge poor and that although data mining have been around for a long time and that it has been used in a number of fields and applications, it still is knowledge poor. The author says that the information used from data mining has not been maximized and that it remains to be poorly utilized despite the fact that it has many uses. The author also argued that data mining have become very expensive especially that pre-processing the data has become very expensive.

It is also a fact that the effectiveness of the mined information is only made possible by the ability of the organization to determine how to use the information and the data. He proposes that knowledge rich information can be achieved by the organization if it follows a number of steps that would ensure data mining information is effectively used. Knowledge-rich information should be the goal of all organizations and the author suggests how it could be achieved. The article was easy to read, he was able to make use of real-life examples that made the application of data mining more real and more important.

The course materials and readings have also stressed the need for knowledge-rich data mining results but it did not specifically say how it could be done, this article gave concrete steps on how it should be done. I also felt interested about the information in the article since it was more closely related to our course materials. This is an important read for me as it supplemented my learning in the class. I would recommend it to anyone in my class and to others who might want to learn about it.

In summary the two articles have furthered my learning on data mining. I have learned that data mining has been the brain child of computer science and from the desks of technical and mathematical minds have come a very useful technique in making use of the various information that are gathered by different businesses and institutions. In data mining, business organizations have found a scientific tool which aids in decision making, in developing business strategies and marketing strategies.

The wealth of information that can be used to determine the next products and market trends have really become the trend in industries and sets apart the major players from the less successful ones. On the other hand, data mining has its own weaknesses, and this is raised by the second article, in that it needs to be knowledge rich. This is the most important point raised by the article and steps to make data mining knowledge rich also enriches my learning.

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A Social Family Institution in India

Table of contents

Location

India has an area of approximately 3,287,580 sq. kilometers. It serves as a border to the Bay of Bengal the Indian Ocean, and to the Arabian Sea located to its west. Directly north of India are the Himalayas, the world”s biggest mountain range. India also serves as a neighbor to several different countries. Myanmar and Bangladesh located to its east, China, Nepal and Bhutan to the north, Sri Lanka to the South, and finally Afghanistan and Pakistan on the northwest.

Topography

India is separated into 4 main regions, these are the Ganges, Indus Plains, Desert zone, and the Southern Peninsula. Physiologically India is divided ten times.

A senior male usually heads families in India. In the senior males household a family can be very large. The senior male”s family can include his unmarried children, married children alongside their wives and kids, unmarried younger brothers and sisters, and married brothers with their wives and children. It is common however for families to separate once the father dies. This idea of family is true for both nuclear family and extended family.

As already stated above the size of a typical Indian family is very large. The senior male is responsible for providing the financial assistance to the family while his wife takes care of the house. She assigns chores to all of the females in the household. The Elderly are taken care upon dearly by their family members.

The marriage traditions in India have been in existence for a very long time. The have a long and important set of rules that are carefully followed by most. A marriage arrangement is a big responsibility for the parents of both the female and male. A marriage is arranged based primarily on religion, family wealth, and the hope for a good biological reproduction.

Marriages in India are no different than in most of the countries around the world. It is a very special event for the bride and grooms family and friends. For both the male and the female marriage is a big change not only socially but mentally as well. Only once married is one truly considered to have made the transition to adulthood. Married couples display a strong for male children. Males are desired more because of financial contribution the may supply for the family. Girls on thew other hand are some times viewed as very big liabilities, The more one has the more liable one is. They are viewed as very expensive to support and require very expensive dowries once they are married. Families that have many girls and very few or no males are in great danger of experiencing financial disaster.

The roles played by males and females in the Indian society have a very strong presence. Their roles have changed very little in the last couple of decades. Males are the dominant sex in the society. Females have very little power or control over their lives. The male”s main role is to provide financial stability.

India’s educational system is one that is very similar to that held by the British. It consists of five levels of education. Level one is preprimary, followed by primary (which in the American system would equal grades 1-5), middle class (middle school), secondary (9 and 10 grades), and finally higher levels (11 and 12 grades). India s governments is currently working very hard to make the peoples education a top priority. The Indian government supplies the people with free education, even with free education only about half of the children attend school. It is viewed by the Indian people that it is more important for the males to attend school than it is for the females. Out of the 50 Indian population is illiterate, 66% of these are females.

Higher education in India is not very big. Out of all of the people that attend primary and secondary education less than 10% go on to higher education. It”s popularity however is increasing greatly compared to past years. India”s collegiate system is divided into three. One of these three types is the religious college. These are colleges found by politicians and by wealthy families. They did this in order to gain popularity amongst the people. Government colleges constitute the second type; these are colleges that are found on the outskirts of big cities. They lack private investments and are therefor founded by the government. The third type is called Professional colleges. These are colleges that mainly receive both government and private aid. Professional colleges are the beset of colleges to study carriers such as medicine, engineering etc.

India Literacy rate is very high in numbers but very low in percentages. They have over 400 million people that can read but this constitutes only about 56% of the population.

India runs its government under a constitution created in 1949. The president of India is elected by the parliament and serves a term of five years. The Prime Minster of India is also a very powerful man in this country. It is said that he has more power than the president. Lok Sabah, otherwise know as the Lower House of Parliament is controlled by the ministers. The federal Parliament consists of no more than 250 members. The President appoints twelve of them and most of the others are appointed by their state. The Lower House has no more than 545 members. Just like the president they serve terms that last fore five years. In case of a national emergency the president can overrule any state government.

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The Fundamental Problem of Exchange

The creation of the government bonds market was one of the earliest financial markets created. It formed ways of raising funds for the government through compulsory loans on which interest was regularly paid, which is directly comparable to modern day government bonds. It is possible to see just how prosperous the Venetian Republic was in comparison to other European countries by looking at the GDP per Capita it had. In 1500, it had a GDP of $1100, which was far larger than other countries; the UK had a GDP of $714, Spain $698 and the second highest GDP per capita was Belgium with $875.

This shows just how prosperous the Venetian Republic really was. Between 1147 and 1249, Portugal emerged from Arab rule. It did so with a significantly different political regime in comparison with that of Venice, as military aristocracy and the church became major landowners, and the interests of the church and the state became very closely linked. The fact that it was placed very well geographically meant that it was able to develop a strong empire through its unearthing of new trade routes and voyages of discovery.

The Portuguese state was willing to give Jewish merchants and scholars refuge after they were driven out of Spain, as they recognised the value they had to society through the skills they were able to bring. They were able to provide scientific development, as well as being providing valuable links in trading with the Islamic world. This allowed important networks to be built up, which increased the volume of trade that Portugal came into contact with and so built up its strength as an empire. Although Portugal was extremely successful in its core business areas of shipping and trade, this success did not lead to successful wider development.

This can be seen when looking at figures for per capita income before the nineteenth century, which gives an estimate of the per capita income of Portugal of $632. This is far lower than other relatively similarly dominant economies, such as Italy and Belgium, who had per capita incomes of $1100 and $875 respectively. The reason for this can be given by the fact that in general, agriculture and industry were the determining factors when analysing the per capita incomes, and in Portugal these industries were quite underdeveloped relative to other countries.

In comparison to Portugal, Venice was far more prosperous. Not only when looking at the per capita incomes, but also when seeing how much more developed the Venetian institutional framework was. It was formed to be favourable to merchant capitalism, which vastly strengthened its trading platform as a country, and therefore the amount of money it was able to make. Trading was only possible through solving the fundamental problem of exchange. Over time, ways of solving the problem became more sophisticated; from using boycotts and networks of trust, to legal frameworks and courts of law.

We have been able to become more affluent as economies due to the advantages that trade brings us, as can be seen looking at examples of economies from hundreds of years ago that first experienced the prosperity that trade brought. We have also been able to see the importance that institutions hold in nurturing and maintaining an environment that is favourable to trade, namely in Venice.

References: ‘The Fundamental Problem of Exchange: A research agenda in Historical Institutional Analysis’ – Avner Greif, 2000 Cambridge University Press

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The Survey of Factors Influencing Kolej Asa Students

The survey of factors influencing Kolej Asa students in choosing Diploma in AccountancyCourse as their major 1 CHAPTER 1 1. 0 INTRODUCTION The introduction of this study, will discuss the background of the survey of factors influencingKolej Asa students in choosing Diploma in Accountancy Course as their major. The significant and objectives of the project, the limitation encountered during the investigation of this project. 1. 1 OVERVIEW OF STUDY

Accountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers . The communication is generally in the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the control of management; the art lies in selecting the information that is relevant to the user and is reliable. The principles of accountancy are applied to business entities in three divisions of practical art, named accounting, bookkeeping, and auditing.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) defines accountancy as “the art of recording, classifying, and summarizing in a significant manner and in terms of money, transactions and events which are, in part at least, of financial character, and interpreting the results thereof. ” 2 Accounting is thousands of years old; the earliest accounting records, which date back more than 7,000 years, were found in Mesopotamia (Assyrians). The people of that time relied on primitive accounting methods to record the growth of crops and herds. Accounting evolved, improving over the years and advancing as business advanced.

Early accounts served mainly to assist the memory of the businessperson and the audience for the account was the proprietor or record keeper alone. Cruder forms of accounting were inadequate for the problems created by a business entity involving multiple investors, so double-entry bookkeeping first emerged in northern Italy in the 14th century, where trading ventures began to require more capital than a single individual was able to invest. The development of joint stock companies created wider audiences for accounts, as investors without firsthand knowledge of their operations relied on accounts to provide the requisite information.

This development resulted in a split of accounting systems for internal (i. e. management accounting) and external (i. e. financial) purposes, and subsequently also in accounting and disclosure regulations and a growing need for independent attestation of external accounts by auditors. 3 Today, accounting is called “the language of business” because it is the vehicle for reporting financial information about a business entity to many different groups of people. Accounting more concentrates on reporting to people inside the business entity is called management accounting.

It used to provide information to employees, managers, owner-managers and auditors. Management accounting is concerned primarily with providing a basis for making management or operating decisions. Accounting that provides information to people outside the business entity is called financial accounting and provides information to present and potential shareholders, creditors such as banks or vendors, financial analysts, economists, and government agencies. Because these users have different needs, the presentation of financial accounts is very structured and subject to many more rules than management accounting.

The body of rules that governs financial accounting in a given jurisdiction is called Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or GAAP. 4 1. 2 BACKGROUND OF STUDY Accounting is a significant subject in the middle of students. Essentially accounting process involves record keeping—recording, classifying, reporting and interpreting economic events. However accountingat the moment is somuch more. Currently, the accountant is an even more precious member of the corporate strategic team with involvement in the corporation’s planning, evaluating and forecasting of the future.

According to Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib b TunRazak (Speech on The Occasion of the ICAEW Malaysia Achievers’ Ball, 2004) by the year 2020 in line to achieved residential country status it has been predictable that Malaysia needs 60,000 accountants. The figure now stands at 21,000. All the way through Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW’s) hard work, and together with the Malaysian accountancy bodies, can show to students the charisma of an accounting profession and lend a hand to correct any misconceptions on the career. For the Diploma Accountancy course in Kolej Asa, students are being exposed to the importance of current situation of our country. Students require to completing 7semester in order to gain their Diploma in Accountancy. Understanding students’ perceptions of accounting is a very significant first step in the effort to attract the best to the accounting profession. This paper aims to study the factors such as personal factors, reference group and job related factors that may possiblymanipulate Kolej Asa students in choosing accounting course as their foremost. 1. PROBLEM STATEMENT Even though there are many opportunities created in the accounting profession, there are also many challenges the accounting profession has to contend with (Mladenovic, 2000; Parker, 2001). In today’s world accounting profession is facing one challenge that is rehabilitating the public perception of the accounting profession itself, especially in the aftermath of the many high-profile scandals in the United States involving corporate giants such as Enron, WorldCom and others. 6 Choosing a course to study after “Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia” (SPM) is not easy.

On the one hand, it can be quite confusing due to the plethora of courses and institutions available to the student to choose from. On the other hand there are many pitfalls that a student should avoid in order to make the right choice (Loke, 2008). Several programs and marketing material are design by The American Institute of Certified PublicAccountants (AICPA) and some state societies to attract students to accounting. According to AICPA research conducted in 2002, the number of graduates of accounting programs, undergraduate and graduate, declined by 21. 3%, from 59,140 in 1990/1991 to 46,555 in 2000/2001.

In Canada, the UK and the US the decline in quantity and or quality of students majoring in accounting and entering the profession has been an issue of concern for several decades, (Adams et al. , 1994; Stice and Swain, 1997). Recent evidence from The USA, the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada indicates that professional accountancy practice is becoming less attractive to accounting graduates and trainees from universities and colleges, and that professional accountancy firms are concerned about losing bright accounting candidates to other professions (Ahmed et al. 1997; Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Felton et al. , 1994; Marriot and Marriot, 2003). 7 This research intends to find the relationship regarding the factors that influence student’s choice in accounting course. According to Carolyn, Susan and Brian (2005) understanding students’ perceptions of accounting is an important first step in the effort to attract the best to the accounting profession. Many studies have been done at universities on the universities level for example research by Cohen and Hanon (1993), Ahmed et al. (1994) and Saeman et al. (1999). 1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS Based on the previous discussion, research question is to help out the researcher to respond and clarify the problem statement. The research questions are: i. Is there any significant relationship between “personal factors” and student’s choice of accounting course? ii. Is there any significant relationship between “reference group” and students choice of accounting course? iii. Is there any significant relationship between “job related factors” and students choice of accounting course? 8 1. 5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objectives of this research are: i.

To investigate the relationship between personal factors and the choice of the Kolej Asa students’ in accounting course. ii. To investigate the relationship between reference group and the choice of the Kolej Asa students’ in accounting course. iii. To investigate the relationship between jobs related factors and the choice of the Kolej Asa students’ in accounting course. 9 1. 6 SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY Accounting profession is becoming less attractive to accounting graduates and trainees from universities and colleges, and that professional accountancy firms are concerned about losing bright accounting candidates to other professions.

The misinformation about accounting effects students’ decisions in choosing accounting as a potential career or major. However, when students are exposed to more information about accounting, there is a significant increase in their interest in accounting (Saudagaran, 1996). The AICPA and some state societies have introduced several programs and marketing materials designed to attract students to accounting. Employers and universities also have a stake in attracting students to accounting careers (Hardin al. , 2000).

Recruiting efforts should begin early and should emphasize the challenging nature of accounting work and provide specific information about starting salaries. Rather than avoiding discussion of the recent accounting scandals e. g. Enron, recruiters should considering using them as an illustration of the critical role accounting plays in our capital markets. 10 1. 6. 1 STUDENTS A good starting place is to listen to high school students’ perceptions of theaccounting profession. In Malaysia, students have to make a decision in choosing a course to study afterSPM.

Business studies has become one of the main courses offered in many tertiaryinstitutions be it public or private universities or colleges. Students choosing a businesscourse will have to major in one the fields such as accountancy, finance, marketing,human resources or business administration. While there has been increasing effortsamong the universities and colleges in offering the courses that matches the students’qualifications and needs, very little research has been conducted on the factors thatactually influences the students’ choice. 1. 6. KOLEJ ASA This research will subsequently help those producers to know more about the opinion of accounting students on influences on accounting course provided in Kolej Asa. 11 1. 6. 3 FUTURE RESEARCHER This research will also benefit future researcher sources of in information if they are in fasted to do the topic related with this study. They also can extend to the other factors that studied in this research. 1. 7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1. 7. 1 SUBJECT This research is focus on the student’s influences factors on accountancy course in Kolej Asa. 1. 7. LOCATION Kolej Asa in Rawang town has been chosen. The reason of choosing is, Rawang town area has more students compare to rural area. 12 1. 7. 3 RESPONDENTS The student consists of accountancy course provided in Kolej Asa. The specific chosen sample for this survey is in Kolej Asa. In this survey there are 50 students from accountancy course were being chosen. This research is essentiallyfocused on students who study accountancy course. 1. 8 LIMITATION I do aware that my research is not possible to accomplish due availability of current resource.

Besides that, shortage of time is the main constraint to me. In addition to that, the information that I obtain from secondary data might not be accurate. The subject area of my research is student’s satisfaction. Therefore, customer perception will not be included. As this research is conducted at Kolej Asa in Rawang, the result will not reflect the view of student in other state within Malaysia. Alongside, the college authorities are not co-operate enough, disallowed survey on their student. 13 1. 8. 1 TIME

In my research, I realize that shortage of time is the main constraints to me due to the reason that we just provide 4 months to conduct the survey. With the given 4 month of time, it is actually very limited amount of time for me to collect data and report analysis. Therefore, due tom the reason above with lacking of time, I had to settle this research for non-random sample of population. 1. 8. 2 COST By conducting this survey, we realize that the semester holiday of Kolej Asa will be factor that will be the factor that will affect this research.

From this, we know that semester holiday of Kolej Asa is different from other College. Therefore, it is very hard to estimate the holiday of Kolej Asa and due to this research, I have to waste some cost in order to prepare my research as well as some expenses in order to do the questionnaire papers to conduct my survey. 14 1. 8. 3 RESPONDENT The respondents are the student study in Kolej Asa at Rawang. Therefore, this research is conducted student at Kolej Asa; Rawang town such as other colleges will not be the respondent of the research. 1. CONCLUSION The chapter 1 is the introduction to the reader on the topic of my research. It started out with a general introduction about the intended study before deductively moving towards narrowing down the research scope. I have given a brief introduction about accounting and the factors influencing them. Besides that, I had identified the subject area of my study: student’s preferences towards in accounting course. Further, problem faced by the accounting course have been clearly stated and identified in the problem statement section.

I had list out 3 research question related to this research and subsequently the research objective to the research question. Significant of the study have been clearly mention in this chapter in which this research will benefit the students, Kolej Asa and future researchers. This study will be specifying on the students influencing in accountingcourse. 15 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEWAPTER 2 2. 1 Introduction This chapter reviews factors that are significant to student’s choice in accounting majoring.

Using quite a few present literatures, we will talk about factors such as individual personal factors, reference group, job related factors and institutional factors that manipulate students in choosing accounting course as their foremost. There were researches done in United States of America and Australia in identifying factors influencing student’s choice of business major. Some of this research examined the subjective factors including social, cultural, sociological, psychological and personal factors, some looked at the objective factors and many others took into consideration both categories.

The dramatic decrease in both accounting graduates and enrollments prompted the AICPA to undertake a comprehensive survey of the factors causing the downturn in accounting majors. The AICPA engaged the Taylor Consulting and Research Group toconduct the survey and the report of the study can be found on the AICPA web site (AICPA, 2001, http://accounting. rutgers. edu/raw/aaa/aapg/spr01/spr01-6. htm). 16 The findings reveal that the accounting profession is facing several critical challenges, including the awareness and understanding by students about accounting careers as well as negative perceptions of the profession.

High school educators have a relatively low opinion of accounting as a career option for high school students (Hardin et al, 2000). Hardin et al. identified three major hurdles in changing high school teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the accounting profession. First, it is difficult to get the message that accounting is a challenging and rewarding career to the teachers who interact with the best and brightest students. Second, when accounting is offered in high schools, it is offered as part of a vocational track.

Third, many students say that their counselors had discouraged them from taking high school accounting because it was not for college-bound students. Students who attend high schools that offer accounting courses and even students who take accounting in high school are no more likely to take a college accounting class than those who attend high schools that do not teach accounting. It appears that having a high school accounting class does not encourage students to study accounting in college. 17 Accounting education has been the subject of considerable debate since 1980s.

Prior research documents that introductory accounting students study accounting with negative perception on accounting. Accounting is attractive to the students in terms of professional, but “negative views regarding the nature and role of accounting persist” (Fisher and Murphy, 1995, p56). Similar findings have been documented by other researchers. The accounting majors also because of less attractive in accounting education. According to Albrecht and Sach (2001), most introductory accounting classes often focus on the preparation of financial data rather than on its use.

In that case Students are not exposing to the business operation financially and they feel that accounting course are too hard and need more time to study. Nowadays preparation and dissemination will be faster, easy and not an expensive process due to advance in technology. In Malaysia, business studies has become one of the main courses offered in many tertiary institutions be it public or private universities or colleges. Students choosing a business course will have choose to major in one the fields such as accountancy, finance, marketing, human resources or business administration.

While there has been increasing efforts among the universities and colleges in offering the courses that matches the students’ qualifications and needs, very little research has been conducted on the factors that actually influences the students’ choice of major. 18 Research in other countries such as United States of America, United Kingdom and Australia have established that students’ choice of major appear to be influenced by several factors ranging from personal to job related factors.

Gender, race, their quantitative skills, students’ interest in the subject, expected marketability, performance in major classes, the approachability and teaching reputation of the faculty are among the factors that have some influence on the students’ choice. 2. 2 Factors influencing students’ choice 2. 2. 1 Reference Group Students’ norms, attitudes, and values through direct interaction are providing by reference group including family and non-family groups. Previous studies confirmed that reference groups either family or non-family groups who have significant amount of interaction could influence student’s choice of major.

Other studies have found that students’ decision to major is influence by referents. Study confirmed that parents do influence students’ choice of business major except for those who chose accountancy as their major. Parents, followed by instructors had a strong influence on students’ choice of majors. 19 Parent’s occupations are also influence students’ choice of business major. Research has showed that the instructors including high school teachers and college lecturers play a significant role in influencing a student’s final choice of business major.

This study aims to explore if Malaysian students with a different cultural background are influence by either parents or educators in choosing their business major. 2. 2. 2 Personal factors An important selection factor is the genuine interest in the subject. Many research revealed that one of the significant factors identified that influences their choice of major are student’s interest in the subject found that factors such as interest in the subject, ability to do the major is important for the students in making such choice. Other factor such as quantitative skills and intellectually challenging also influences student’s choice.

When students considered that accounting is interesting and enjoyable they are more likely to choose accounting as a major. This finding was further supported by results of where intrinsic rewards such as enjoyment of the study of the topics studied in accounting, were a predictor of intention to undertake a career in accounting. 20 Other research findings indicated that students with better quantitative skills tended to choose either accountancy or finance as business major whereas those who chose to major in marketing, management and management information system were those with weaker quantitative skills.

This is consistent with the finding of who suggest that accounting requires good number skills. 2. 2. 3 Job related factors A number of studies have indicated that in accounting students’ discipline choice, a job satisfaction is important. Many research indicated that student’s choice of business major are influenced by higher earnings, prestige and career advancement discover students who chose other business major were more influenced by personal and normative factors and students who choose accounting as their major feel that compensation, career opportunities and prestige were significant factors that influence them.

The findings from many other studies also support the result that student’s choice of business major are influenced by higher earnings, prestige and career advancement. This means that accounting students’ discipline choice has traditionally been heavily influenced by earnings potential and job market conditions or opportunities. 21 There should be a general awareness among students on the career opportunities available in Malaysia and overseas and level of compensation for accountants as it has been widely published in the local newspapers.

With the amount of news publicity given to a particular profession, it is interesting to find out if these job-related factors are the key factors influencing student in choosing accountancy as a major in Kolej Asa. 2. 3 Summary Based on the literature discuss above, this paper investigates if the personal factors, reference group and job related factors have significant influence to the KOLEJ ASA students in choosing accounting course as their major. 22 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3. 1 Introduction

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influencing Kolej Asa students in choosing Diploma Accounting course as their major. Survey based methodology was used in this research to obtain data from the respondents namely first semester Diploma Accountancy students from KOLEJ ASA. It was a basic question regarding their choice of choosing Diploma Accountancy course in KOLEJ ASA. The questionnaire was developed to study the factors that influence students in choosing Diploma Accountancy course as their major. The data for this study was collected through a self-administered questionnaire.

In the survey, respondents were asked to indicate the influence of four different factors on their selection of Diploma Accountancy. The set of four possible influences on decision to choose Diploma Accountancy course were determined from internal and external factors. 23 3. 2 Research Theoretical Framework ? The research theoretical framework is presented in the figure 1 below: Figure 1 – Research Theoretical Framework |Personal Factors | |Reference Group | | | STUDENT’S CHOICE | |Job Related Factors | • In this framework the dependent variable is a students’ choice while the independent variables are personal factors, reference group and job related factors. 24 3. 3 Hypotheses Development Paolillo and Estes (1982), Zhang (2006), Malgawi et al. (2005) and Pimpa, (2007) studied on the factors which influence the choice of course. From these previous researcheshypotheses were developed in finding the relationship of the three factors influencing students in choosing accounting course as a major. 3. . 1 Personal factors Personal factors such as interest in the subject, ability to do the major quantitative skills and intellectually challenging and not boring were examined. Many research revealed that student’s interest in the subject is one of the significant factors identified that influences their choice of major. Research findings indicated that students with better quantitative skills tended to choose either accountancy or finance as business major whereas those who chose to major in marketing, management and management information system were those with weaker quantitative skills.

Many research revealed that student’s interest in the subject is one of the significant factors identified that influences their choice of major. It was conclude that personal factors have a relationship with student’s choice. 25 Based on these previous researches, it can be suggested that personal factors has a relationship with student’s choice in choosing accounting course. Therefore, for the purpose of the current research, the hypotheses built will be: | |H1 – There is a significant relationship between personal factors and students’ choice on their major. | 3. 3. 2 REFERENCE group There was a positive relationship between reference group and the choice of student which indicates that parents, high school teachers and college lecturers play significant role in influencing student’s choice. Other than that, parent’s occupation could also influence student choice on accounting course as a major.

Therefore, the hypothesis built for this paper is: | | |H2- There is a significant relationship between reference group and students’ choice in accounting course. | 26 3. 3. 3 Job related factors The Albrecht and Sach (2001) study asked participants to identify the “most important reason” students choose to major in accounting. A study conducted by Doran also found that the “most important action” that would attract more high-quality students to the accounting profession would be to “pay higher starting salaries” (Doran, 2001). | |H3 – There is a significant relationship between job related factors and students’ choice in accounting course. | Zhang (2006), found that job-related factors including potential job opportunities and compensation are two keyfactorsthat influence the student’s choice. The research by Giladi, Amoo and Friedman (2002) found that higher earnings, prestige and career advancement influence the choice of student. From the previous researches, it was found that job related factors do have significant effect on student’s choice. Therefore, the hypothesis build for this paper is: 7 3. 4 Variables Definition 3. 4. 1 Personal factors ? Including interest in the subject, ability to do the work, workload and challenge. 3. 4. 2 Reference group ? Including parents, relatives, friends, school teacher and counselor. 3. 4. 3 Job related factors ? Including job opportunities, higher earnings, career advancement and prestige. 28228 3. 5 Operational Definition 3. 5. 1 Personal factors ? The degree to which the students believes that the interest in the subject, ability to do the workload and challenge can influence them in choosing accountancy course. . 5. 2 Reference group ? The degree to which the students believes that parents, relatives, friends, school teacher and counselor can help them in making decisions. 3. 5. 3 Job related factors ? The degree to which the students believe that job opportunities, higher earnings, career advancement and prestige can influence them in choosing accountancy course. 29 3. 6 Sampling and Data Collection The population or the unit of analysis for this research will be the first and second semester of Diploma Accountancy Students in KOLEJ ASA.

At Kolej Asa there are 5accounting classes and total of the students are 100. From the total population, the researcher tried to achieved 100% response rate, however, due to certain limitation, response rate that were obtained was only 50 students. A set of questionnaire were given to the class representative and he was responsible to distribute the questionnaires to the respondents and to collect the questionnaire after being filled by the respondents. The respondents were given 15 minutes to answer the questionnaire and returned it to the class representative.

The next day, researchers collect the questionnaire from the class representative from each class. 30 3. 7 Instrumentation and measurement of variables The questionnaire was divided into two parts. Part 1 of the questionnaire solicited demographic information such as gender, race and basic qualification. In Part 2 of the questionnaire was further divided into section A, B and C. Section A contains 10 questions on respondents’ personal factors that would influence them in choosing accounting course using a five point Likert scale (1= strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree).

Section B contains 9 questions on respondents’ referent group view of their choice and the degree of importance they placed on the referents’ view. Using a five point Likert scale (1= strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree), respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with the statement that their parents/relatives/friends/counselor think that they should choose accounting course. Section C is set out to ascertain the job related factors that would influence them in choosing accounting course.

Respondents were asked to indicate the extent of their agreement on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 (1= strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree). In this section there were 9 questions to be answered. The questionnaire used was adapted from Tracy (2003) and Marriot (2003), however, certain alteration has been made to suit the condition of this research. Refer Appendix B. 31 3. 8 Validity and reliability of measurement In determining the validity of the measurement used, pretest had been conducted.

According to ASA (1997), pretesting a questionnaire is central to planning a good survey and is critical for identifying questionnaire problems. The problems can occur for both respondents and interviewers regarding question content, patterns, or formatting. Before the questionnaire was distributed to the respondents, the researcher firstly sent the questionnaires to 6 pretest respondents consisting of colleagues and friends to comment on the questionnaires. The purpose of pretesting is to get the experts’ view on the questions. After the comment was obtained, modification was made to the questionnaire.

For the purpose of testing the reliability, Cronbach alpha was used to determine the reliability of each the data collected for each factor. The analysis was done using SPSS package. Cronbach alpha are widely used to describe reliability of tests and measurements (Kistner and Muller, 2004). A high alpha indicates that the factors has a high reliability and vice versa. According to guidelines by Sekaran (2003), a coefficient of below 0. 6 is considered to be poor, 0. 7 is acceptable, and over 0. 8 is good. Therefore, from the alpha score, the conclusion on whether the data is reliable can be concluded.

If the alpha is low, this indicates that some of the items for a factor might not consistent with other items for the same factor. To overcome this problem, the items which are not consistent with other items will be eliminated. 32 3. 9 Data Analysis The analysis was done by using SPSS package and was divided into several phase. The first phase of analysis involved the analysis of central tendency. In this research, mean was used, which enable the interpretation of data where the point of greatest concentration can be obtained.

Therefore, it can be observed on which factor the respondents will be in choosing Diploma Accounting course. The next phase involved the analysis of standard deviation. This was done to study the spread of dispersion of data. Therefore, interpretation of data involved in seeing whether the choices of respondents were dispersed or their choices were converged to certain point. The final phase involves the analysis on the relationship between the independent variables (Personal factors, Reference group and Job related factors) with the dependant variable, which is students’ choice. These were one through the analysis of multiple regressions and enable the data interpretation to see the strength and direction of each independent variable with dependent variable. Therefore, it can be identified on whether the independent variables have a significant relationship to dependent variables as being hypothesized previously. The analysis had also identified the independent variable that have the most influence on choosing Diploma Accounting course. 33 In determining the regressions among the independent variables and the dependent variables, the impact of multi co linearity should not be neglected.

Multi co linearity results from the situation where exists the correlation amongst predictor variables or the independent variables (Polhemus, 2005). When this situation happens, the regression results between the independent and dependent variables might be imprecise. 34 CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS 4. 1 Respondents background The main objective of this research is to find out if there is a significant relationship between reference groups, personal factor, job related factor and institutional factor of KOLEJ ASA accounting students in choosing accounting course as being hypothesized before.

As explained in the earlier chapters, the scope of this research is limited to KOLEJ ASA accounting students. The population for this research is 50, and from this total population, the data gathered was from 50 respondents, which represents 25% of the total population. Table 1 shows the respondents’ backgrounds which represent 78 % are female and male 22%. They are from various races where, 44% is Chinese, 38% is Indian, 16% Malay and 2% others. All the respondents are students currently studying in KOLEJ ASA. 35 Table 1: Respondents Background Respondents |Frequency |Percent | |Gender | | | |Male |11 |22% | |Female |39 |78% | |Race | | | |Chinese |22 |44% | |Indian |19 |38% | |Malay |8 |16% | |Others |1 |2% | Figure 1: Distribution of gender[pic] 36 Figure 2: Distribution of type of race [pic] 37 QUESTIONAIRE |STRONGLY AGREE |AGREE |UNSURE |DISAGREE |STRONGLY DISAGREE | | |(5) | | | |(1) | | | |(4) |(3) |(2) | | |2. Accounting is interesting |32 |14 |3 |1 | | |3. I would enjoy being an accountant |42 |7 | |1 | | |4. I am willing to learn accounting subject |32 |18 | | | | |5. I am willing to spend a lot of time studying accounting |40 |7 |2 |1 | | |6.

I can do better in calculation |42 |7 |1 | | | |7. I like to answer question in figures |43 |4 |3 | | | |8. Accounting is a course with lots of classwork |18 |29 |3 | | | |9. Learning accounting is very challenging |31 |17 |2 | | | |10. I can maintain high greed point average (GPA) |28 |19 |3 | | | |11.

My family wants me to choose accounting course |13 |29 |3 | |5 | |12. My friends think I should choose accounting course |29 |15 |5 |1 | | |13. Other students recommend accounting course to me |32 |15 |3 | | | |14. My teacher thinks that I should take accounting course |45 |5 | | | | |15. My own motivations for choosing accounting course |35 |15 | | | | |16.

My counselor at school recommend accounting course to me |35 |12 |3 | | | | | | | | | | |17. Performance in secondary school subjectmatter makes me | | | | | | |choose accounting course |39 |11 | | | | |18. My parent’s occupation encourage me to choose accounting |12 |21 |15 |1 |1 | |19. My parent wants me to choose accounting course |40 |10 | | | | |20.

If I choose accounting course,there will be job |26 |24 | | | | |available for me when I graduate | | | | | | |21. If I choose accounting course,there will be a great job |39 |8 |3 | | | |market demand for people like me | | | | | | |22. I can get a high paying job if I graduate with accounting|36 |14 | | | | |23.

My starting salary will be satisfying if I graduate with |27 |23 | | | | |accounting | | | | | | |24. Accountants are boring people |6 |19 |2 |8 |15 | |25. Being an accountant has a lot of prestige |42 |8 | | | | |26. The accounting profession is well respected |31 17 |2 | | | |27. Accounting is a profession on par with medicine and law |45 |5 | | | | |28. Accounting is a field with broad exposure to business |39 |11 | | | | 39 4. 2 Validity and Reliability of the Instrument Earlier chapter explain that to increase the validity of the instrument, the researcher has conducted pretest, where the questionnaires are distribute to the experts who gave their comments. The questionnaires are then being amended to increase the validity.

Apart from that, the questions are also being design to include both positive and negative questions. In managing the data, the negative questions are being transformed and record into different variables before being analyzed. In other words, the negative questions were being transformed to positive questions. 40 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS 5. 1 Discussions The purpose of this paper is to find out factors influencing Kolej Asa students in choosing Diploma Accounting course as a major. From the data analysis gathered from 50 respondents, as explained in Chapter 4 the three factors have been supported by the findings which is significantly influence the student’s choice.

Reference group, personal factors and job related factors indicate a significant correlation with students’ choice, which means that all the factors had a relationship which will influence the respondents’ to choose accounting course. However, the strength of influence by reference group is considered moderate compared to personal factors and job related factors. This showed that the respondents perceived personal factors, although significant and to be a huge influence to the students choice. 41 Among all the three factors, personal factors is seen to have the strongest influence over students’ choice which is consistent with the result found in Adams, Pryor and Adams (1994)Doran ( 2001), and Pritchard et al. , (2004).

Therefore, it can be concluded that the respondents perceived that their choice in choosing accounting course will be determined more by independents, higher earnings, career advancement and prestige, followed by the job related factors which influence them to choose accounting course which consistent with the finding in Adams, Pryor and Adams (1994), Doran ( 2001), and Pritchard et al. , (2004). 5. 2 Conclusions The above discussion is based on the objective of the research, which is to find out if there is any significant relationship between the personal factors, reference group and job related factors and the students’ choice in choosing accounting course at KOLEJ ASA. All the factors indicated a significant relationship to the students’ choice. 42 5. 3 Implications The implications of this findings suggest the importance of career counseling road shows and career fairs to create awareness and understanding among young high school leavers who intent to pursue an accounting course in higher education institution.

This will rectify the problem of students enrolling into other courses of which they have no knowledge of the subjects taught and future career options thus minimizing the number of students dropping out when they found out they are not interested in the subjects taught at all. The awareness and understanding of subjects taught and career options available are important to high school leavers who intent to pursue an accounting course as this research found that the utmost important factors influencing their choice of courses include interest in the subject, career advancement and career opportunities available. Another implication derived from this research is the emphasis of factor influencing undergraduate’s choice of courses.

It is vital to highlight to undergraduate who intent to pursue a particular course on the possibility of the existence of factor influencing them to choose a particular course. This research hopes to highlight the importance of the role of the higher education institutions in offering sufficient and relevant information to potential students who want to pursue an accounting course so that these young high school leavers are able to make informed decision about their future career. 43 5. 4 Limitations This study has the following limitations. Firstly the study has a limited reference from local researchers so it is more depend on research that had been done abroad.

It is also lack of accounting research which could help to explain on local situation. Secondly the study selected only four variables because of time constrains. Thirdly the questionnaire was only administered at one institution. The limitations of this study provide a pathway for further research in this area. 44 References ? How to Conduct Pretesting. 1997. American Statistical Association. ? Speech on The Occasion of the ICAEW Malaysia Achievers’ Ball, 2004 ? Brown, J. W. 2004. Techniques of Multivariate Data Analysis ? Adams, S. J. , L J. Pryor, and S. L. Adams. 1994. Attraction and retention of high –altitude students in accounting: An exploratory longitudinal study. Issues in Accounting Education. Ahmed, K. , K. F. Alam, and M, Alam. 1997. An empirical study of factors affectingaccounting students’ choice in New Zealand. Accounting Education: an international journal. ? Albrecht, W. S. , and R. J. Sach, 2001 . The Perilous Future of Accounting Education. The CPA Journal. ? Auyeung, P. and J, Sands. 1997. Factors influencing accounting students’ career choice; a cross cultural validation study. Accounting Education: an international journal. ? Bryman, A. and D, Cramer. 2001. Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS Release 10 for Windows : A guide for social scientists, East Essex: Rout ledge ? Cohen, J. , and D. M. Hanno. 1993.

An Analysis of Underlying Constructs Affecting theChoice of Accounting Major, Issues in Accounting Education. ? Doran, D. T. 2001. Concern for the Future of the Accounting Profession, The CPAJournal ? Dowall, M. T . 2008. What influences accounting students’ attitudes towards accounting as a profession? Available from :http:///www. afaanz. org/opencofafaanz2008/modules/request. php 45 ? Felton, S. , N. Burh and M. Northey. 1994. Factors influencing the business student’s in chartered accountancy, Issues in Accounting Education. ? Fisher, R. , and Murphy. 1995. “A pariah profession? Some student perceptions ofaccounting and accountancy. ” Studies in Higher Education. ? Geiger, M. A. and S. M. Ogilbly. 2000.

The first course in accounting: students’ perceptions and their effect on the decision to major in accounting. Journal ofAccounting Education. ? Hair, J. F. , R. E. , Anderson, R. L. Tatham, and W. C. Black. 1998. Multivariate Data Analysis,5thEd. , London: Prentice Hall. ? Hardin, J. R. , D. O’Bryan, and J. J. Quirin. 2000. Accounting versus engineering, law, and medicine: Perceptions of influential high school teachers. Advancesin Accounting. ? Howieson, B. 2003. Accounting practice in the new millennium: is accountingeducation ready to meet the challenge? , The British Accounting Review, 35(2). ? Inman B. C. , A. Wenzler and P. D. Wickeert. 1989.

Square pegs in round holes: are accounting students well-suited to todays’s accounting profession? Issues in Accounting Education. 46 ? Jack ling, B. and C. Calero. 2006. Influences on undergraduate students’ intentions to become qualified accountants: evidence from Australia. Accounting Education:an international journal. ? Kim, D. , F. S. Markham and J. D. Cangelosi. 2002. Why students pursue the business degree: a comparison of business majors across universities. Journal of educationfor Business. ? Kistner, E. O. , & K. E. Muller. 2004. Exact Distributions of Interclass Correlation and Cronbach’s Alpha with Gaussian Data and General Covariance Psychometric. Leppel, K. , M. L. , Williams and C. Waldauer. 2001. “The Impact of Parental Occupation and Socioeconomic Status on Choice of College Major. ” Journal ofFamily and Economic Issues. ? Lowe, D. R. and K. Simons. 1997. Factors influencing choice of business majors – some additional evidence: a research note, accounting education. ? Lowe, D. R. and K. Simons. 1997. Factors influencing choice of business majors – some additional evidence: a research note, accounting education. 47 ? Malgwi, C. A. , M. A. Howe and P. A. Burnaby. 2005. Influences on students’ choice of college major, Journal of education for business. ? Marriott, P. and N. Marriott. 2003.

Are we turning them off: a longitudinal study of undergraduate accounting students’ attitudes toward accounting as a profession, accounting Education: an international journal. ? Mauldin, S. , J. L Crain and P. H. Mounce. 2000. The accounting principles instructors’ influence on students’ decision to major in accounting, Journal of Education for Business. ? Sekaran. (2003) Measurement: Scaling, reliability, validity. In Research methods for business: A skill building Approach. John Wiley. ? Zickmund, W. G. 2003. Business Research Methods. Thomson South Western, Ohio 48 QUESTIONNAIRE GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Gender ? Male ? Female 2. Race ? Malay ? Chinese ? Indian ? Others 3. Basic qualification ? SPM ? STPM Other institution Stated below are a number of questions to test on the factors that influence the respondent in choosing Diploma Accountancy course in KOLEJ ASA. Circle the best answer for each question according to the scale provided below: Strongly Agree (5) Agree (4) Unsure (3) Disagree (2) strongly disagree (1) Part 1 PERSONAL FACTORS 1. I like accounting 5 4 3 2 1 2. Accounting is interesting 5 4 3 2 1 3. I would enjoy being an accountant 5 4 3 2 1 4. I am willing to learn accounting subject 5 4 3 2 1 5. I am willing to spend a lot of time studying accounting 5 4 3 2 1 6. I can do better in calculation 5 4 3 2 1 7.

I like to answer question in figures 5 4 3 2 1 8. Accounting is a course with lots of class work 5 4 3 2 1 9. Learning accounting is very challenging 5 4 3 2 1 10. I can maintain high gred point average (GPA) 5 4 3 2 1 Part 2 REFERENCES GROUP 1. My family wants me to choose accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 2. My friends think I should choose accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 3. Other students recommend accounting course to me 5 4 3 2 1 4. My teacher thinks that I should take accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 5. My own motivations for choosing accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 6. My counselor(s) at school recommend accounting course to me 4 3 2 1 7. Performance in secondary school subject matter makes me choose accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 8. My parent’s occupation encourage me to choose accounting 5 4 3 2 1 9. My parent wants me to choose accounting course 5 4 3 2 1 Part 3 JOB RELATED FACTORS 1. If I choose accounting course, there will be job available for me when I graduate. 5 4 3 2 1 2. If I choose accounting course, there will always be a great job market demand for people like me. 5 4 3 2 1 3. I can get a high paying job if I graduate with accounting 5 4 3 2 1 4. My starting salary will be satisfying if I graduate with accounting 5 4 3 2 1 5.

Accountants are boring people 5 4 3 2 1 6. Being an accountant has a lot of prestige 5 4 3 2 1 7. The accounting profession is well respected 5 4 3 2 1 8. Accounting is a profession on par with medicine and law 5 4 3 2 1 9. Accounting is a field with broad exposure to business 5 4 3 2 1 Suggestions / Comments: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for your time in completing the questionnaire. I am sure that the responses will be a great help and useful for the purpose of this research. [pic][pic]

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Formalism vs Substantivism

The Disembedded economy Why might Polanyi claim that disembedded economies are less stable than embedded ones? Does a market society require a certain level of insecurity for its members? How might people find a disembedded economy empowering? Can there be such a thing as a ‘pure’ market society? Is ‘marketization’ a helpful concept with which to understand contemporary capitalism? Industrial capitalism and machines etc were all part of the establishment of the market economy. The motive of subsistence must become one of gain. The merchant makes his profits on the market and prices are allowed to regulate themselves.

Such a self-regulating system of markets is what we call a market economy. The transformation to this system is like the metamorphis of a caterpillar- so stark that it is almost not like a continuous process. Machines in a society transform nature into a commodity. Dalton on Polanyi: Material self-gain is institutionally enforced In traditional bands the institutions through which goods were produced and distributed wer embedded in an inseperable part of social institutions, and the economy functioned as by product of kinship political and religious obligations and relationships. economy’ is not a field of experience of which humans have always been aware. Primitive societies are gemeinchaften not gesellshaften. Hunger is not an incentive for production. Classical economics and Marxist socialism came from the industrial revolution. Laissez faire capitalism was created in response to the need for machine technology Burling Economics deals with the material means to man’s existence: Does the good have to be ‘material’ in order to be in the realm of economic? Price of a ticket or the cost of someone’s wages are not material yet are economic.

We economize between material and non material ends. Do I work overtime in order to afford myself a DVD or do I refuse the overtime and have more leisure time at home with my family? Polanyi makes the distinction between economics in the substantive sense that’s material, and in the formal sense- rationalizing and calculating. Polanyi says that because we have the market these two aspects come together but they wouldn’t in a primitive economy. Primitives economize too. The materialness is irrelevant.

Economics is the distribution of goods and services: But not any goods and services, only economic ones… which makes this statement useless. If its to do with price systems then some societies don’t have economics. ‘Economics is the allocation of scarce means to multiple ends’ Draws parralells with Freud and maximizing by sacrificing pleasure for future gain. We need to escape the notion of economic as involved with the material , in order to move on with the discussions. Cook ‘Love distorts indeed, but hate distorts even more’

Substantivist theory built around the market and pre-market societies. Now the pre-market societies are almost extinct. Dalton- the section being dominated by the market principle is becoming enlarged. Bohannan- transitional and peasant economies are mentioned. Frank knight and merville herskovitz debate- herskovitz didn’t understand the economic man. Romantic anti-market syndrome Polanyi-primitive societies, reciprocity and redistribution- alledgedly a conflict-free model. Le Clair- why is there a felt need for a substantivist definition of economics.

Polanyi and Dalton- scarcity is solely a function of social organization Anti market ideology. Go against the scientific method of enquiry- test and dismiss Dalton Economic theory cannot be applied to primitive economies Economic theory was influenced by factory industrialism and market organization. The market continues outside of market places in the west It is market organization that compels its participants to seek material self-gain: each must sell something of market value to acquire the material means of existence.

Back in the 19th century the economy was a cohesive entity apart from other subsystems in society. Neither government, family or religion controlled market organization. They did obviously affect supply and demand though (eg more fish in catholic countries). When market organization is economy wide it creates a market society in the sense that social organization has to adapt to market needs to allow the sustained provision of material goods and of money incomes with which to acquire goods. A market economy can only exist in a market society… society itself is subordinated to the laws of the market’- Polanyi (e. g when labourers wages drop they look for work elsewhere and migrate, so location of population conforms to market registered needs for labour) The market economy is highly decentralized, and this reinforces the atomistic view of society as simply an aggregate of self-interested individuals. William Townsend- hunger makes people work

Malthus- natural fertility of humans makes food scarce and population growth brought about wages. Man’s existence requires material sustenance, but not unlimited wants, this is product of social organization. Economic in the substantive sense ‘provision of material goods which satisfy biological and social wants’. Economic in the formalist sense is described by the terms ‘economical’ and ‘economizing’. Denotes a set of rules designed to maximize the achievement of some end or to minimize the expenditure of some means.

Substantivists believe that all places have an economy, but formalists believe that all places economize. In primitive economies people do not want profit. Where money is used in a primitive economy, it is not all-purpose money. -cattle/bridewealth. Market economy is unicentric because of the wide variety of material items and labour transacted in the sphere of market exchange. In contrast, primitive economy is multicentric and the dominant centres are organized through nonmarket patterns of intergration such as reciprocity and redistribution.

What is a money economy to an anthropologist appears as a market economy to an economist. In primitive economy the basic institutional precondition is absent, the bulk of material income is not derived from, and therefore does not depend on market sales of output. Firth in NG-There is no final measure of the value of individual things, and you can’t make everything have a value in relation to one thing as there are many types of exchange.

In primitive societies there are no penalties for non-repayment of loans. Primitive economy is different from market industrialism not in degree but in kind. Cancian Considers the two sides of the argument Formalists- even if a man is maximizing using only the scarcity of his human energy it is still maximizing. So he is economizing. It’s wrong to reject the strategy before trying to balance the equation. Burling-economic anthropology should be the search for the multiple actors that people maximize. t

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MSc Development Finance

Furthering my knowledge in finance and economics is one of my goals. As a native of Brunei, a developing country, I would like to contribute to my country’s progress with the use of the knowledge and skills that I acquired during my undergraduate studies. Majoring in accounting and economics has provided me extensive knowledge of various economic principles and theories and their application in the business world. Although the University of Manchester has given me sufficient knowledge in the field that I have chosen, I believe that pursuing to study under this programme would provide me a broad yet focused knowledge in development finance and its practical application in the public sector.

I chose to pursue this programme because of its international focus, group work, and emphasis on learning public finance, bank and non-bank financial institutions, international finance organizations, aid agencies and other finance-related areas of study that can help in understanding how the financial theories governing our country and the world economy work. The program is also designed to teach me financial inclusion and microfinance in relation to poverty reduction.

My interest in development finance first sparked during my junior years. My wish to contribute to my country’s progress was further intensified by a course about economic policies of developing countries and their role in the international market. Working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Development in Brunei under the Finance Department for summer internship last summer 2007 has also provided me first-hand experience and knowledge in international trade.

I am confident that this university has the capacity to provide students with knowledge beyond the conventional financial educational program. The programme of University of Manchester also includes strengthening the analytical decision-making skills of students. It also offers wider academic opportunities and school resources that will deepen my expertise and broaden my perspectives. I am especially interested and looking forward to the overseas field visit which is a crucial part of the programme.

Most of the countries visited are developing countries like Brunei which face similar economic situations. The programme also allows students to conduct research in government and non-government organizations and other universities in the U.K. This can not only broaden my knowledge and hone my skills in finance, but also enhance my socializing and communication skills.

With hopes and persuasion in my mind, I aim to establish a career that can contribute to the further development of the financial situation in my county. One of the careers that I have in mind is a job in Brunei Investment Agency (BIA). As mentioned earlier, my country is a developing country. Although we are an oil-producing country, I believe that in terms of investment and contribution to the world economy, there is still much room for progress. Through this programme, I know that I would be able to obtain what is necessary to achieve my goal. Thus, I see myself successful in a career on this field and making Brunei a more developed and investment-focused country.

 

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Social Problems Of The Institution Of Family

The family is a social institution that has been underestimated and placed in a box for generations. In America, television and media has portrayed the “typical” family to be a Caucasian bread winning father, homemaker wife, and there 2 kids all living under one roof. But according to Eitzner’s book “Social Problems”, the actualization of how a family looks under one roof is based on economic conditions, and the typical family portrait never applied to immigrants and racial minorities because these people were denied equal opportunities to earn a family wage, and denied support of such grants as the GI Bill.

Extended families as well as extended households grew in the light of immigration and socioeconomic reform. Now there is no longer a single culturally dominant family pattern. The idea of family has to be reconstituted frequently to relate to ever changing personal and occupational circumstances. Some of the social problems that the family institution is dealing with are gay marriages, multi-generational households, and teenage pregnancy. In this essay, I will briefly discuss each problem, but also I will develop a program for change.

The collective variety of the family in the U. S. has led researchers to study if and how different family systems are linked with different groups of people who then may experience different results. Research has found that not all racial groups participate in each family type equally, thus not all family forms are equally available to all people Intellectuals have also found that each type of family (e. g. , married with kids, married with no kids, single-parent with young children, etc. ) is associated with different economic, child, and health outcomes.

This may be a stereotype but researchers say that children who grow up with only one of their parents “are more likely to drop out of high school, to become teenage and single mothers, and to have trouble finding and keeping a steady job in young adulthood, even after adjusting for differences in parents’ socioeconomic background (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). I will now discuss each of my topics further. Gay marriage is a hot topic right now in America because there are a lot of states deciding whether to legalize homosexual marriages.

The debate over legalizing gay marriages is to do with religion; it’s against everything that it says about marriage in the Bible. But it also goes against everything that we are familiar with when it comes to marriage (husband and bride). It is a hot debate as many already know, but, there are far worse things happening in the world today such as Catholic Priest molesting innocent children. The solution, in my opinion, is for gay people to be accorded all the civil rights and social benefits heterosexual people enjoy, without regard for popular sentiment or other people’s religious beliefs.

The decline of the traditional family nucleus should only prove that option was only for a few. I have to admit that I come from that type of nucleus. My dad worked and my mom stayed home with me and my sister. Times were very different in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The economy to day is teaching families how to adjust to new trends and new ways of living. We should appreciate the new forms of family and community that are occurring. Since the onset of the financial crisis there has been an increase in the number of multi-generational families.

It’s the new normal. Younger adults live with their parents into their 30’s now and approximately 50 million Americans are in multigenerational households, that’s a 10% increase from 2007. Economic circumstances, as well as other cultural factors, have no doubt influenced families to start incorporating widowed grandparents, unemployed in-laws and adult children back into a common home. Life on life’s terms has incorporated the return of extended family formations. Another reason for extended families is the current epidemic of teenage pregnancies.

And while the teenage mother is affected by the circumstance, this issue affects the entire family. Issues of trust, financial stress, and decision making are all factors involved. Some research suggests that women who have children at an early age are no worse off than similar women who wait to have children. According to this research, many of the disadvantages set up for young mothers are related to their own lack of everything during upbringing. This research suggests that it would be unwise to relate all of the problems faced by teen mothers to their youth.

But the truth is that other research proves that teen mothers are less likely to finish high school, less likely to ever marry, and more likely to have additional children outside marriage. Thus, an early birth is not just a marker of preexisting problems but it may prove to be a barrier to successive upward mobility. I have seen success stories with teenage girls who choose to keep their children. But even if married, these women face much higher rates of poverty and dependence on government assistance than those decide to wait.

And early marriages are much more likely to end in divorce. So marriage, while it may be helpful in establishing the family nucleus that is so longed for in Western civilization, is no verified solution. Now I would like to discuss my idea on a program for change in the family. Social inequality will continue to exist without bold action. We need to empower families to take charge of their lives and shift perception of people to understand that families that come from an unconventional family nucleus are still valued citizens.

Government, business, community, education are all sectors that can benefit from an improvement in circumstance of the institution of family. What is needed is a re-invigoration of the “family movement” to works towards building stronger, more inclusive communities. Remember that united we stand, and divided we fall. One major setback for America is the division in every aspect, be it race, social class, gender. I don’t want to say I am a communist, but I do understand how a communist society may be the best to incorporate equality for all.

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OUR GIFT TO YOU
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