Cannery Row Essay

Cannery Row Cannery Row, is not just a novel written by John Steinbeck, but it is also a very good example of huge variety of different people and human beings that are presented in most of the societies. This story tells us how people are trying to be happy and take the best out of each situation they are in, even in bad situations. The author gives us the view on the Cannery Row from different prospectives like peepholes so we can better understand the whole idea of the novel.While looking from one peephole we can see that Mack and the boys are nice guys even if they steel things from other people. They are just enjoying their lives, they don’t have work because they don’t want, from one side it is very good because most people want to do what they want but not what they should. John Steinbeck is showing to us that if there is a desire people are able to do it. He shows us the Cannery Raw as a small kind of world with its own rules and values of each person living the ir.Mack and the boys are steeling not because they can not find any jobs, but because they just don’t want. They don’t like when anyone is controlling them, they want to be free and do what they like, enjoy their lives. I think that they are doing the right thing, because we are given our lives for enjoing them but not for spending them on the things that you don’t like. Of course it is not always this way but people must have an aim and go for it. We can see it in the novel, most of the

Analyzing why difficulties arise in intercultural communications Essay

In analyzing why these difficulties arise in intercultural communications, Sheryl L. Lindsley (assistant professor of communication at California State University, Stanislaus), put forth four layers of intercultural communication in 1999: The first layer is the â€Å"macro-context,† which includes the economic and political situations in which the communications occur. A good example is the domination of Mexico by the U. S. , while at the same time increasing Mexico’s revenue made possible by NAFTA (Jennifer Peltak, n.d. ). Lindsley’s second layer consists of individual competency or incompetence, in regard to bilinguals who are generally the bridges to communication. In terms of intercultural businesses, if the bilinguals harbor their own stereotypes of the other culture, some problems cannot be overcome. The third layer is comprised of communicative behaviors. This is in the perception category; using Mexican/American relations as an example, Lidsley identifies expectations on both sides as a potential problem in negotiating. Mexicans tend to keep conflicts private and save face in public, where Americans have no problem resolving conflict in public, and then acknowledging privately that there are no hard feelings. The fourth layer individual attribution to meaning. In the case of preconceived stereotypes, the listener can misinterpret the speaker’s intent because of the mind set barrier. Messages can be perceived selectively, reinforcing cultural stereotypes. While this information may cast a better light on solving or minimizing obstacles to intercultural communication, if we look on the broader scale of business relations, a critical problem emerges; people, no matter what culture, have become a means to an end rather than an integral and important part of a company. This became very obvious in the 1990’s when more companies went global and acquisitions and mergers occurred. In 1993, Business International published the key factor for international business failure: cultural differences (Charles Gancel, Chilina Hills, 1997). To avoid this problem of collapse of the infrastructure of an international company based on a shift in the balance of power and the inaccessibility of remote teams geographically dispersed, Gancel and Hills recommend three fundamental conditions: 1. Clarifying the objective (the company’s philosophy, protocol and methodology must be clearly understood). 2. Negotiating its implementation (in a complex structure, introduction and implementation of systems does not need to be imposed. Some of the systems can be designed and negotiated by those that will be applying them, incorporating the needs of the culture involved). 3. Accompanying change (managers being trained in intercultural relations, informed of their new culture’s way of communicating and imparting information). Last, nonverbal communication and the method by which information is given are important to note. While Americans and many Europeans have no problems asking for and receiving feedback or suggestions from corroborators, a Chinese or Indian individual would see this practice as a personal affront. This is but one example of cultural differences in the workplace. Management that will be working abroad should have a through knowledge of the culture they are about to enter and work within. Along with this verbal exchange, it is important to understand that certain gestures or even forms of eye contact are offensive or insulting to another culture. In order to get the most from the foreign work force, understanding the culture, even having a coach within the new culture is imperative in order to achieve a smoother transition. While intercultural communications will always have its problems and comical blunders, it need not be so painful. Understanding another culture is, now more than ever, the key to successful negotiations from the individual to the corporate level. Works Cited Brislin, Richard. â€Å"Encouraging depth rather than surface processing about cultural differences through critical incidents and role plays. † Online Readings in Psychology and Culture. Center For Cross Cultural Research, Western Washington University. N. d. , 23 April 2006 http://www. ac. wwu. edu/~culture/brislin. htm Burgess, Guy & Heidi. â€Å"Language Differences. † Conflict Research Consortium, University Of Colorado. 1998 – 2002, 21 April 2005 http://www. colorado. edu/conflict/peace/problem/langdif. htm Gancel, Charles & Hills, Chilina. â€Å"Managing the pitfalls and challenges of intercultural communication. † Communication World. December 1997, 22 April 24, 2006 http://www. findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m4422/is_n1_v15/ai_20219196 Jones, Anna & Xuan Quach. â€Å"Intercultural Communication: For Students In the Faculty Of Economics and Commerce. † University Of Melbourne. 2004, 22 April 2006 tlu. ecom. unimelb. edu. au/pdfs/intercul_comm. pdf Peltak, Jennifer. â€Å"Intercultural communication problems are best seen via multiple levels. † National Communication Association. N. d. , 23 April 2006 http://www. natcom. org/pubs/CM/cm699. htm.

Alexander the Great vs. Cyrus the Great

In our past, we have had many leaders. Some were better than others, but what must a leader do to acquire the label â€Å"great†? Of course, one could simply go by the definition of the word and deem the leader â€Å"above average†. Did the great ones of ancient times exceed these standards or were they just above average like a standard dictionary would have us believe. Let us focus on two â€Å"great† leaders of our past by the names of Alexander and Cyrus. Both of these kings were famous for the way they ran their empires but were they both, so called, great? Cyrus the Great was the first king of the Achaemenid Empire. While he was king, he freed 4,000 Jews from Babylon. He also founded a new capital, invented the first postal system, and was mentioned 22 times in the old testament. Not only did he build one of the most powerful empires in ancient times, but he made its glory last by organizing it and expressing his tolerance of different races and religions. Alexander the Great lost his father and became a king at the age of 20. While he was king, he expanded Macedonian territory. He did this through conquest and was never defeated in battle. In fact, he conquered half of what was known in the world at the time. He also founded a city in Egypt and named it â€Å"Alexandria† (after himself, of course) and Wheatley2 discovered trade routes in Asia. But, because of the excellent battle strategies he was known for, he is often called the greatest military leader of all time. These great leaders were very different in the ways that they ran their kingdoms, but they did have some things in common. For one, they both had large and exceptional empires. Also, they were both born princes and became kings of small kingdoms and sought through conquest to enlarge them. But the biggest comparison I found was that it was said Cyrus had an influence on Alexander. In my opinion, Alexander did the most to signify his existence and roles in ancient times. He was an amazing leader and was known to never lose a battle. As another example, he expanded his empire greatly by doing what he was best at. Battle took him and his kingdom far and that’s something people wouldn’t soon forget. When it comes to contribution to the subject of Western Civilization, I do believe that Cyrus takes home the gold. After all, he came before Alexander did. What is a leader without his inspirations? He freed Jewish slaves, created the first postal service, and created the greatest, most-powerful empire in ancient times. If it weren’t for him and his examples, perhaps Alexander wouldn’t have been so infamous for his tactics in ruling his kingdom. I guess the people we call â€Å"great† these days are not as wonderful as they seem. Maybe if people took a look into our past at the real great ones, the leaders in our present would only be average.

Accounting for Management Decisions Research Paper

Accounting for Management Decisions - Research Paper Example In order to be highly competitive in the market, an organisation must be able to forecast future changes in customer needs and market trends. Organisations normally predict possible future market changes by assessing past and current market flows. For this purpose, an organisation deploys a number of business evaluation tools. Activity based costing, value chain analysis, and customer profitability are the three major frameworks that assist an organisation to evaluate its business flow. This paper conducts a detailed research to identify the core concepts, objectives, pros and cons, and applicability of each of these business evaluation methodologies. The paper includes an extensive literature review section and an analysis section. The major findings reflect that: †¢ Cost centre and cost driver are two core concepts of activity based costing †¢ Governance, innovation and upgradation, benchmarking, and product positioning are the key ideas of value chain analysis †¢ Cash flow, customer capital/equity, and customer as a real option constitute the core concepts of customer profitability †¢ The ABC approach greatly assists users to better identify their overheads with regard to activities and resources. †¢ The most advantageous feature value chain analysis is that this methodology assists its users to get a clear view of their core competencies The concept of customer profitability aids an organisation to identify its profitable customer groups and secure them from competitors. II. Introduction Today, organisations are widely using business evaluation tools like ABC, value chain analysis, and customer profitability analysis to evaluate their (organisations’) business feasibility and secure future profitability. Application of these tools assists firms to identify their pitfalls in supply chain activities, their potential strengths and weaknesses, and most profitable customer segments. Although all these three techniques are complex and time consuming, they are the best available tools to accurately evaluate a business concern. The ABC approach is mainly concerned with allocation of cost to various supply chain activities along with the firm’s resources whereas the value chain analysis explores activities that create value for the organisation and those do not create. The former method specifically focuses on profitability of each activity and process while the latter tries to define the organisation’s core competencies over its rivals. In contrast, the concept of customer profitability aids a firm to identify profits generated by its individual customers. All the three approaches are based on some core accounting and management concepts. The following sessions critically analyse these three business evaluation tools in detail. III. Literature review 1. Activity based costing Activity based costing (ABC) can be simply referred to a special costing approach that clearly identifies and defines activities in an organisation and allocates costs of each activity among all products and services based on actual consumption by each activity. According to the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing-International (CAM-I), activity based costing is a costing model â€Å"that assigns cost activities based on their use of resources, and assigns costs to cost objects, such as products or custome rs, based on their use of activities† (Lewis, 1995, p.114). The ABC is a valuable accounting tool as it provides an organisation with more clear view of the product and process costs. This concept can be effectively employed to improve management decision making process and thereby promote the firm’

The Current Position of Starbucks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

The Current Position of Starbucks - Essay Example Though profit maximization, sales maximization makes the backbone of every company’s objective, Starbucks have over insisted on this and failed to maximize its quality management and customer needs. The replacement of comfy seats with stands, stylish coffee cups with general cups, stuffy environments and supply of sandwiches whose smell overpowered the sweet scent of brewed coffee is also another strategy that led to the drastic decline of the company’s sales. This shows a complete diversion of the company’s mission and goal. Waitresses and waiters have also been overburdened; they no longer appreciate their work. They feel that the goal they were working hard to achieve and sustain has suddenly changed (Mulcaster, 2009). Brewing of coffee was the major idea behind Starbucks formation. However this idea has changed to automatic making of coffee that customers complain about. The quality of coffee is not felt anymore and so is the social effect of the stores. The employees’ attachment with the customers has reduced due to the tall coffee making machines that destruct the customers view when coffee is made (Mintzberg et al., 2003). ...ategy to help them cope up with the food crisis problems, such as decreasing its prices, or even changing the type of cups to small ones that were affordable just like its competitors deed. Nonetheless, this company did not take into concern efforts made by its competitors. Many stores came up with new strategies to combat Starbuck’s increased sales. The strategy then employed by this company was to open even more stores in the US. However they failed to carry along their distinctive character with them, such as brewing coffee, presence of comfy seats, and ensuring that the sweet aroma of coffee was still intact. As a result the decline of its shares in the stock exchange was inevitable. This is because there is no one who would like to be associated with a declining firm which translates to low di vidends due to the low profits and sales realized. Though Starbucks Company still has the capabilities and resources that can help it to still lead in the coffee world, the environment in which it is running its business is too tight. First the economy has changed. Food prices have hiked, meaning that the disposable income of the consumers is low. They will therefore not opt to take expensive coffee. In addition, its competitors are doing all they can to make sure that they also increase their sales and also penetrate the market just as Starbucks is doing. They are thus growing at the same level. The company’s employees are also getting tired of the introduction of new products. Not that it is wrong, but because their opinion is not taken into concern. They feel that they are not part of the company anymore. However, Starbuck Company can be able to reinstate itself once more and be on the lead in coffee roasting and retailing.

Violent Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Violent Crime - Essay Example Rational choice theory can be used to explain the high rates of crimes in areas characterized by poverty, unemployment, school dropouts, and divorce among others in many ways. First, the theory notes that the offenders are willing to do all that they can to obtain money, sex, status and any other thing that can make them happy (Ahmad, 2014). As it is commonly known, those who are unemployed lack the basics of sustaining themselves such as the daily upkeep and decent housing. Because of this, they are likely to be involved in violent crimes to get what they want. Same thing applies to the school dropouts who lack the skills that employers look for their employments. Lastly, the theory bases on cost benefit analyses among the offenders (Ahmad, 2014). Residents living in recession areas weigh the impact of violent crimes to obtain what they want with the punishment they are to get. In most cases, some of them commit violent crimes and run before being caught. This encourages them to continue with the act since the benefit is high compared to cost because they are not caught. Hence, the unemployed, poverty stricken, and school dropouts are more likely to commit violent crimes often compared to others. In conclusion, rationale choice theory of crimes assumes that human beings are rational actors who calculates and weighs their behaviors before committing a crime. They indulge in violent crimes after considering the impact in terms of pleasure versus pain.

International Law in Justifying a Special Classification of Researcher Research Paper

International Law in Justifying a Special Classification of Researchers or Journalists as a Group Deserving Additional Protections in Conflict Zones - Research Paper Example This is because these journalists and researchers reveal some of the key information of the terrorists and the other types of criminals of the world. the area outside the conflict zone creates immense risk for the researchers along with journalist in their future actions2. 2.3 The journalists and the researchers need to have a strong obligation of protection of their lives from the hands of the terrorist groups and others. There is a need to have an additional security to those researchers and journalists who are engaged in the conflict zones. Moreover, it is advisable to the researchers and the journalists to avoid the most vulnerable conflict zones in the absence of the security forces. This would lead to the safety of the researchers and the journalists of the world3. There have been some of the evidential facts about the journalists who have been killed in some of the dangerous locations of the world. It is to be noted that around 70 journalists were killed in the year 2013. Since 1992 there are more than a thousand journalists killed throughout the world due to the lack of protection and law. Moreover, the number is increasing at a higher accelerated rate through the passage of time. The number of people killed in some of the dangerous places is more horrible. One of such dangerous place is considered to be the Middle East Countries. In this region, Syria has been the most dangerous location for the civilians. A report reveals that over 72 people had been killed in Syria in the year 1992. Most significantly, the number of people killed in 2012 was 31 and 29 for the following year 2013. In 2014, till September, the number of journalists killed in Syria was 10. Other than Syria, Turkey is also considered to be one of the riskier regions for the jo urnalists. The lack of protection from the International law was evident from the fact that over 20 journalists and researchers were killed since 1992.  Ã‚  

The painting of Joseph Wright Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The painting of Joseph Wright - Essay Example The essay "The painting of Joseph Wright" discovers The painting of Joseph Wright. The fright associated with seeing the bird die overcomes one of the children until she shies away from the view. Her father holds her and encourages her to witness the experiment. The man in the front view of the picture seems to engross himself in deep thought and reflection. There appears to be excitement among the youth on how the experiment is progressing. There are two lovers on the left who seem to have little clue on the experiment and are more keen on each other than they are on the experiment. The bird in the flask unifies and focuses the disparate elements of the painting. The painting employs the use of spherical and curved shapes on the glass flask, the objects on the table, and the moon bringing out a sense of perfection. The candle dramatically lights the elements in the painting while the moon adds to this drama by presenting a view of the outside world. There is a skull in a container b arring the candle’s light. The scientist appears to look at the viewer of the painting with a suggesting impression of seeking the viewers’ opinion on whether to continue with the experiment or not. The other people on the painting seem to have less concern for the fate of the bird. The father shows attention to his daughters while the lovers show affection to each other. The boy at the window appears to raise the cage, lower the cage, or to open the curtain in order to allow the moonlight to penetrate.

Pharmacology and Pathologies Treatment Case Study

Pharmacology and Pathologies Treatment - Case Study Example The dosage of drugs this patient receives will be initially higher than the standard recommended because the circulation loss means that the required amount of drug may not have the desired distribution effects (Dreyer, 2005). Due to the gastrointestinal tract removal, the administrating doctor may decide that any treatment for PVD needs to be administered intravenously, and as such the dosage will be lower due to the differences in absorption via this method. The nurse must monitor the progression of the symptoms of PVD. For example, if the patient was presenting with claudication, then the extent of this would need to be continuously monitored throughout the treatment period to see if this was improving. Additionally, blood pressure would need to be measured periodically to see if there was any improvement in blood flow throughout the vascular system (Birkett, 2002). The patient would also need to be monitored for cardiovascular events such as cardiac arrest or stroke as these occur more frequently in patients presenting with PVD (Dreyer, 2005). Heparin is cleared from the body one of two ways, depending on the dosage used. At low doses, it is cleared through the reticuloendothelial system, and at high doses, both this and a renal clearing system are employed. As the dosages involved here are fairly high, and clearance is reduced in patients with cirrhosis of the liver or renal failure (Granger et al., 2001), we may make the assumption that there may be some issues in the renal clearing system in this patient and we may have to make further investigations into the state of the kidney.

Public and social issues Essay Example for Free

Public and social issues Essay Slowly there was huge controversy regarding the manner in which domain names were allocated and provided registration by the NSI. There was a huge increase in the trademark disputes especially in the . com TLD domain. The IANA had no concern for legal issues over the domain name allocations. Hence, many nations including the US had concern over the allocation of domain names over the internet . In 1997, the management of several generic TLD’s were handed over to the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC). The organisation helped in framing 7 new generic TLD’s and ensuring greater amount of healthy competition in the second level domain names . The NSI and the IANA were together concerned with the development of a set of rules and regulations for the assignment of domain names. They developed a corporation that would have jurisdiction for the assignment of domain names throughout the world. This organisation (ICANN) also helped in the development of rules and regulations for the internet domain names. The US DOC also played a major role in the development of the ICANN. The final version of the bylaws by the ICANN was released on October 2, 1998, and released by the DOC. On November 1998, the ICANN and the DOC decidedly to jointly design rules, regulations, mechanisms and methods to ensure Domain name functions. The DOC and other organisations were interested in bringing about better competition and ensuring stability. The role of the US government was slowly being transferred to the ICANN. The NSI also changed its name to Verisign. It was concerned with developing a shared registration system and provides services under the generic TLD’s such as . com, . net, etc. Verisign has to sell certain number of registers in order to have authority of the . com register in 2001. However, some of the registries of Verisign and ICANN still are shared from May 2001. Verisign would operate various registries such as the . org registry till 2002, the . net registry till 2005, the . com registry till 2007. The ICANN has allocated the . org registry from 2002 to 2008 to Public Internet Registry and Verisign for the . net registry from 2005 to 2011 . The domain name has turned out to be a huge business model for several companies. The ads-per-click policy, which would ensure that advertisements placed in the domain name would make more money than the domain itself, would ensure that the domain is continued. On the other hand, if the cost of the domain is more than the advertisements, then the domain is ceased for the next year. There is also a five-day grace period (following registration), which ensures that anybody who has registered a wrong domain can go back and correct his/her mistake. Today, domain names are created and dropped at a very fast rate, and hence, people are in huge confusions. This is happening at a very fast rate, even faster than the rate trademarks are picked up and dropped. To ensure certain amount of control at the rate at which the domain names are picked up and dropped, the ICANN is monitoring several registries. It has given certain number of its registries to companies that can sell out domain name. Such companies are known as ‘registrars’, and they would usually be working on the . com and . net TLD. However, the ICANN has introduced a 5 day window period, which would allow the registering body to make changes or take back the domain name registration within a period of 5 days. The ICANN can also recommend the owner to make modify or even remove certain domain names registered during the window period. This would ensure that any illegal activities or potentially abuse over the internet can be prevented. At the same time, healthy competition can be encouraged over the internet . Since January 003, there has been a shift in the management of the . org TLD from Verisign to the Public Internet Registry, which is an organisation created in 2002 keeping the public internet in mind . During the mid-1990’s, the US government decided to shift several infrastructure and governance that the US government and the military had over the internet over to private bodies. The government felt that the main reason for implementing such policies were because the industry themselves can specialise in creating effective policies and ensure development and advancement through regulations and policies framed over internet. The US government also tried to install several institutional controls means to ensure that the private bodies that had certain governance over the internet. Several organisations such as the ICANN and the IAHC also felt that the international involvement was very important in developing a domain name policy.

Effectively Managing A Work Life Balance Social Work Essay

Effectively Managing A Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Work-life balance is defined here as an individuals ability to meet their work and family commitments, as well as other non-work responsibilities and activities. Work life balance, in addition to the relations between work and family functions, also involves other roles in other areas of life. In this study, due to its more extensive associations, the concept of work -life balance is preferred. Work-life balance has been defined differently by different scholars. In order to broaden our perspectives, some definitions will be presented. Greenhaus (2002) defined work -life balance as satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home with a minimum of role conflict. Felstead et al. (2002) defines work-life balance as the relationship between the institutional and cultural times and spaces of work and non-work in societies where income is predominantly generated and distributed through labor markets. Aycan et al. (2007) confined the subject only with work and family and put forward the concept of life balance with a more whole perspective. Scholars defined life balance as fulfilling the demands satisfactorily in the three basic areas of life; namely, work, family and private. Work demands work hours, work intensity and proportion of working hours spent in work. Additional work hours subtract from home time, while high work intensity or work pressure may result in fatigue, anxiety or other adverse physiological consequences that affect the quality of home and family life( White et al.,2003). Family demands include such subjects as the roles of the individuals (e.g. Father, mother, etc.,) family responsibilities (e.g childcare, house chores, etc) looking after the old members, children. Besides this, there are some other demands in work life balance than family and work live relaxation, vacation, sports and personal development programmes. Work -life balance is not the allocation of time equally among work, family and personal demands. In literature, it is also emphasized that work-life balance is subjective phenomenon that changes from person to person. In this regard, work-life balance should be regarded as allocating the available resources like time, thought and labor wisely among the elements of life. While some adopt the philosophy of working to live and sees work as the objective, others consider living to work and situated work into the centre of life. DETERMINANTS OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE Many things in life are the determinants of work life balance. The subjects in the literature that are related the most with work life balance are grouped here. INDIVIDUAL: An individual is the most important determinant of work -life balance. two American cardiologists Rosenman and Friedman determined two different types of personality depending on heart disorders and individual behaviours: type A and type B. Type A expresses someone who is more active, more work oriented, more passionate and competitive, while Type B is calm, patient, balanced and right minded. It can be argued that since type A is more work oriented, there will be a negative reflection of it to work -life balance. Yet work holism, which is considered as an obsessive behavior, is another thing that destroys work-life balance. When work holism connotes over addiction to work, being at work for a very long time, overworking and busy with work at times out of work. Since life is not only about work, workaholics suffer from alienation, family problems and some health problems. Porter(1996) states that alcoholics, workaholics neglect their families, friends, relations and other social responsibilities. FAMILY: The demands that one experience in family life and that have effects on life balance can be given as the demand of workload and time, role expectations in family and support to be given to the spouse. It is also included in the literature that such variances as marriage, child rising, caring of the elderly at home have effect on work-life balance since they demand more family responsibilities. Those who have to look after a child or the elderly might sometimes have to risk their career by shortening their working hours, which becomes a source of stress for them. On the other hand, those without children or any elderly to look after at home experience less work-life imbalance. WORK AND ORGANISATION: Work environment is more effective in work-life imbalance than the family environment. The job and the institution one works in both demands on his time, efforts and mental capacity. Among the efforts to increase organizational efficiency, one of the subjects managers focus on is to raise the organizational efficiency, one of the subjects managers focus on is to raise the organizational loyalty of the staff. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT: Another determinant of work-life balance is social environment. Especially in countries that stand out with their culturally collectivist characteristics, an individual also has responsibilities towards certain social groups he belongs. CONSEQUENCES OF WORK-LIFE IMBALANCE The stress based conflict occurs when one of the roles of the individual at work or in the family causes stress on the individual and this stress affects the other roles of the individual. The behavior stress occurs when the behavior at work and out of work are dissonant and conflicting. PERSONAL IMPLICATIONS According to Lowe (2005), work life imbalance affects the overall well-being of the individual causing such problems as dissatisfaction from life, prolonged sadness, using drugs or alcohol. FAMILY IMPLICATIONS: Organization expects from individual to allocate more time for their work while at the same time the family want him to perform his responsibilities too. Those who cant sustain work-life balance are bound to experience many problems in their families such as lower family satisfaction, decreased involvement in family roles etc. ORGANIZATIONALIMPLICATIONS: Those whose demands of the family and ones social interest are not met duly naturally prefer sacrificing his working hours, and carry out their personal needs. ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE In order to decrease the negative consequences of work- family conflict on working individuals, family friendly organizational culture and human resources applications have recently been in agenda of executive. The components of the organizational strategy are flexible working hours , child care and elderly care scheme, home working ,job sharing. Supportive programmes for the family life of employees in an organization contribute to providing work -life balance. Thanks to these programmes, the employees will be encouraged, their attendance will be supported and their efficiency will increase. Flexible working hours is one of the methods used to maintain work-life balance. For example employees with flexi-time will have to fulfill certain amount of time weekly. Other thing which can be done is to allow employees to work at home away from traditional work environment. CONCLUSION: If one has managed to allocate the required time for every aspect of life duly and not to reflect the problems in one part of life to another it means that he has been able to achieve work-family balance. Life as a whole is composed of many other aspects along with work. Those who have achieved a balance among these aspects are sure to achieve the life balance, which does away with any imbalance.

William S. Burroughs :: Biography Biographies Essays

William S. Burroughs      Ã‚  Ã‚   William Seward Burroughs died recently at the age of 83 in the quiet of Lawrence, Kansas. Probably no other major American writer ever received such viciously damning "praise" upon his death. Whereas the once ridiculed Ginsberg was eulogized as a major American bard, obit writers like the New York Times' Richard Severo (someone enormously unacquainted with Burroughs' work) could dismiss this oeuvre as druggy experimentation and Burroughs' audience as merely "adoring cultists." Other obit writers, hearing of cut-up techniques and randomness, seemed drawn to the cut and paste icons of their PCs, with which they cobbled lit crit phrases into gibberish. Thus, for the Associated Press, Naked Lunch "unleashed an underground world which defied narration" and was somehow written "without standard narrative prose."      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What does it say about the hegemony of realistic modes, and publishers' niches, that a book, first published in Paris almost 40 years ago, still poses such a threat to establishment arbiters that it must be continuously misrepresented. The literary world, after all, is not likely to be flooded by Burroughs wannabes. Though he has influenced experimental filmmakers, conceptual artists and rock bands, his influence on writers and literature is harder to find. He left no school, few followers, no imitators. He was as unique as Joyce. But whereas countless writers all over the world attempted to incorporate Joycean techniques, few have picked up on Burroughs'.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even back in the mid-60s, the task of mass marketing Burroughs necessitated pigeonholing his work within familiar genres. "The only American novelist living today who might conceivably be possessed by genius," Norman Mailer proclaimed on the cover of the first American paperback edition of Naked Lunch. Its publisher, Grove Press, the most important and most courageous publishing house of that time, knew what it had to do, and subsequent works like Nova Express, The Ticket That Exploded, and The Soft Machine were all pointedly labeled "a novel." Yet Burroughs then and always was "merely" writing books. He was not necessarily trying to change or explode the form of the novel.   In Burroughs' books, routines, raps, skits and rants are held together by the sinews of sharply etched narrative prose. Reading him when he first appeared was like listening to a Lenny Bruce monologue. The "characters" who appeared were all carny voices--barkers, pushers, con men seeking rubes and marks--politicians, presidents of anti-fluoride societies, script-writing old saw bones lecturing on the viral nature of bureaucracy and the State.

Health and Aging :: Fitness Health Age Essays Papers

Health and Aging Often we take our health, or the absence of illness, disease, or injury for granted until we become sick. It is then that we recognize the worth of being without ailments. It is then that we appreciate feeling strong, robust and healthy. Being healthy and, being physically and mentally sound, is associated with one's satisfaction with life. Developmental health psychologists - specialists who study the interaction of age, behavior, and health and gerontologists - specialists in the science of aging -- are piecing together the details of diet, exercise, personality and behavior that make it practical to shoot for 80, or even 120. People approaching middle age can expect a bonus of several years of extra living thanks to continuing medical progress against cancer, heart disease and stroke.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Specialists in the field of aging, developmental health psychologists, and gerontologist , concentrate their area of study on determining health status over the course of adulthood, and determining the nature and origin of age-related diseases. They are also concerned with describing the effects of health on behavior and describing the effects of behavior on health. The goals of these specialists are: prevention of diseases, preservation of health, and improved quality of health for those suffering from disability and disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What does it mean to be healthy? Health is a state of complete physical , mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease, illness or infirmity. It is important to distinguish between disease and health. Disease is the prognosis of a particular disorder with a specific cause and characteristic symptoms. On the other hand, illness is the existence of disease and, the individual's perception of and response to the disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether in sickness or in health age and the progression through life play a large part in our health and our developmental status. The role of age in regard to health is listed below: - Most young adults are in good health and experience few limitations or disabilities. Nearly 71% of adults older than 65 living in a community report their health as excellent, good, or very good. - Health and mobility decline with age especially after age 80. Disease is more common among older adults. - Most of the diseases of later life have their origin years earlier. - Income is related to perception of health. - The older the individual, the more difficult it is to recover from stress. - As an individual age, acute conditions decrease in frequency while chronic conditions increase in frequency. 4/5 of adults over 65 have at least one chronic condition. - Older adults may have multiple Health and Aging :: Fitness Health Age Essays Papers Health and Aging Often we take our health, or the absence of illness, disease, or injury for granted until we become sick. It is then that we recognize the worth of being without ailments. It is then that we appreciate feeling strong, robust and healthy. Being healthy and, being physically and mentally sound, is associated with one's satisfaction with life. Developmental health psychologists - specialists who study the interaction of age, behavior, and health and gerontologists - specialists in the science of aging -- are piecing together the details of diet, exercise, personality and behavior that make it practical to shoot for 80, or even 120. People approaching middle age can expect a bonus of several years of extra living thanks to continuing medical progress against cancer, heart disease and stroke.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Specialists in the field of aging, developmental health psychologists, and gerontologist , concentrate their area of study on determining health status over the course of adulthood, and determining the nature and origin of age-related diseases. They are also concerned with describing the effects of health on behavior and describing the effects of behavior on health. The goals of these specialists are: prevention of diseases, preservation of health, and improved quality of health for those suffering from disability and disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What does it mean to be healthy? Health is a state of complete physical , mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease, illness or infirmity. It is important to distinguish between disease and health. Disease is the prognosis of a particular disorder with a specific cause and characteristic symptoms. On the other hand, illness is the existence of disease and, the individual's perception of and response to the disease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether in sickness or in health age and the progression through life play a large part in our health and our developmental status. The role of age in regard to health is listed below: - Most young adults are in good health and experience few limitations or disabilities. Nearly 71% of adults older than 65 living in a community report their health as excellent, good, or very good. - Health and mobility decline with age especially after age 80. Disease is more common among older adults. - Most of the diseases of later life have their origin years earlier. - Income is related to perception of health. - The older the individual, the more difficult it is to recover from stress. - As an individual age, acute conditions decrease in frequency while chronic conditions increase in frequency. 4/5 of adults over 65 have at least one chronic condition. - Older adults may have multiple

Spelling and Differently: Kinship, Deception and Challenges :: Alice Munro Spelling Differently

Alice Munro's Spelling and Differently:  Ã‚   Kinship, Deception and Challenges  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The two short stories Spelling and Differently, written by Alice Munro, deal with female relationships.   These relationships paint a vivid picture of the kinship, deception, challenges, and associations that affect friends and family as they journey through life. "Spelling" is about the relationship of two women, Rose and Flo. Although from the outset the relationship between Rose and Flo is not clear, near the end the reader has no doubt they are mother and daughter.   Munro illustrates the awkward relationship between a parent and a child and the difficult problems that face children as their parents age.   After visiting the county home in an attempt to find a place for Flo to live,   "Rose spoke of the view and the pleasant rooms.   Flo looked angry; her face darkened and she stuck out her lip.   Rose handed her a mobile she had bought for 50 cents in the County Home crafts centre.... Stick it up your arse, said Flo" (Oates 151).   The reader sees no affection between the two.   In fact, the tone of the story illustrates a lack of acceptance and even disappointment by Flo and shows that there has always been a distance between the two. The title is derived from a patient Rose met at the nursing home whose only communication was spelling words.   After meeting this patient, Rose dreamed that Flo was in a cage and spelling words like the old patient she met in the nursing home.   Rose tells Flo about her visit to the nursing home and is obviously trying to influence Flo into going to the home.   Flo is suffering from some sort of dementia, perhaps Alzheimer's.  Ã‚   In this story the author doesn't tell the characters ages, Rose's occupation,   and other information necessary to develop a clear picture.   Instead, Munro makes the reader use more of ones imagination in developing the story.   Although Munro is not explicit, the story is about an unhappy relationship between a daughter and mother. In the story the narrator flashes back to a time in Rose's career when she was in a play with her breast exposed.   Flo showed her displeasure by writing her a letter that said "shame" and adding that if her father was not already dead, he would wish that he was (Oates 154).   Yet, the reader feels that Rose is still trying to earn her mother's respect and   love. Spelling and Differently: Kinship, Deception and Challenges :: Alice Munro Spelling Differently Alice Munro's Spelling and Differently:  Ã‚   Kinship, Deception and Challenges  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The two short stories Spelling and Differently, written by Alice Munro, deal with female relationships.   These relationships paint a vivid picture of the kinship, deception, challenges, and associations that affect friends and family as they journey through life. "Spelling" is about the relationship of two women, Rose and Flo. Although from the outset the relationship between Rose and Flo is not clear, near the end the reader has no doubt they are mother and daughter.   Munro illustrates the awkward relationship between a parent and a child and the difficult problems that face children as their parents age.   After visiting the county home in an attempt to find a place for Flo to live,   "Rose spoke of the view and the pleasant rooms.   Flo looked angry; her face darkened and she stuck out her lip.   Rose handed her a mobile she had bought for 50 cents in the County Home crafts centre.... Stick it up your arse, said Flo" (Oates 151).   The reader sees no affection between the two.   In fact, the tone of the story illustrates a lack of acceptance and even disappointment by Flo and shows that there has always been a distance between the two. The title is derived from a patient Rose met at the nursing home whose only communication was spelling words.   After meeting this patient, Rose dreamed that Flo was in a cage and spelling words like the old patient she met in the nursing home.   Rose tells Flo about her visit to the nursing home and is obviously trying to influence Flo into going to the home.   Flo is suffering from some sort of dementia, perhaps Alzheimer's.  Ã‚   In this story the author doesn't tell the characters ages, Rose's occupation,   and other information necessary to develop a clear picture.   Instead, Munro makes the reader use more of ones imagination in developing the story.   Although Munro is not explicit, the story is about an unhappy relationship between a daughter and mother. In the story the narrator flashes back to a time in Rose's career when she was in a play with her breast exposed.   Flo showed her displeasure by writing her a letter that said "shame" and adding that if her father was not already dead, he would wish that he was (Oates 154).   Yet, the reader feels that Rose is still trying to earn her mother's respect and   love.

Subjects to Citizens: Locke, the Enlightenment

The idea of people as citizens rather than as subjects originates in 16th century Europe, during the Early Modern Period. During this period, European social order was in a state of flux as the rule of kings was confronted with a persistent and determined challenges defined by social forces that were pushing for more secular and democratic governments. There were both individuals and events that today may be seen as powerful drivers of those forces, and among them are John Locke, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution.As such a force, the Enlightenment, which began during the mid-17th century and remained a major political and philosophical phenomenon until approximately 1800, had tremendous impact in the rise and triumph of democracy over monarchy. The Enlightenment was catalyzed by the persistent discourse of a number of philosophers and historians, one of the foremost of which was John Locke.The magnitude of change introduced by the Enlightenment is rendered more clearly whe n viewing that period in context of the preceding era—the Medieval Period, during which the rule of kings prevailed, sustained by an embedded religious institutions that qualified the lineages of kings for ruler ship through divine ordainment. The Church enjoyed considerable reciprocity from the crowns by doing so, because rulers recognized the equity that religion held in the minds of their â€Å"subjects†, and found value in making mutually beneficial agreements with the church to preserve this closed loop cycle of maintaining and preserving a rigid social order.The losers of course were the â€Å"subjects† of those kingdoms, who ultimately had little say in who ruled them, and who were indoctrinated into a life of mute slavery and poverty, deprived of both education as well as the right to imagine upward social mobility, much less the access to opportunities to actually pursue such improved quality of life.It was the endpoint of these social dynamics, and the progressive deterioration of social responsibility throughout the dual leadership trees of church and crown, that catalyzed the French Revolution during the last decade of the 18th century. The French Revolution, in a nutshell, was the revolt of the long repressed peasantry against what they rightfully recognized as a corrupt governmental power cartel defined by the closed loop relationships between the crown and the Church.The French Revolution really punctuates the spirit of the Enlightenment, because the Enlightenment was all about waking people up to the notion that they had a right to select their leaders and that anybody was capable of exercising reason and logic in doing so, and most importantly that exercising those capacities was a much better answer to society’s problems than continuing to rely on superstitious belief in the right of a lineage of kings to continue ruling despite worsening social conditions.It was not until the French Revolution however that the Enl ightenment really manifested full force. John Locke died nearly a century before the French Revolution, but he played a key role in developing the philosophies that activated and drove the Enlightenment, particularly through his composition of the Two Treatises. In these documents, he makes an effort to refute the notion that people do not have the capacity or knowledge or political understanding to select their own rulers.Locke’s philosophical arguments here really took those of opposing contemporaries like Sir Robert Filmer, whose viewpoints closely reflect the social order maintained by pre-Enlightenment establishment. Filmer’s Patriarcha: The Natural Power of Kings Defended Against the Unnatural Liberty of the People, a composition that presented arguments supporting the pre-existing social order of monarchic rule. The prevailing establishment justified monarchic rule through a number of arguments, both sociological and religious.Among these, they did so by arguing that a nation is like a family, with the population as the children as the king as the parent. Another argument was that to share the power of leadership in a democratic manner would be to invite and embrace the breakdown of social ethics, presumably because the natural disposition of a populace is to chafe under rules and laws and to desire more freedom, and that the endpoint of this would be excessive liberties, the deterioration of morality and ultimately the rise of an era where selfish and unjust rulers would take power.Rulers believed that the population simply could not, nor would they ever in a sustainable manner be capable of, responsibly selecting its own leaders. Locke challenged these ideas by introducing the concept of the Commonwealth, which would be defined by a social contract whereby the members of the Commonwealth participate in surrendering a certain level of liberty in order to ensure the stability of society and the preservation of the community.This surrender would only be the minimum required to preserve the peace, safety and security of the commonwealth, and part of this would involve the implementation of a democratic or republican system by which citizens would have at least a representative body in the government to ensure their needs were addressed. Notably, this was a key factor that activated in the French peasantry a desire to overthrow the First and Second estates, which they felt were taxing them without caring for their needs or interests.

The Mixtape

Mr. Lonely – Akon In the song the singer’s girlfriend runs away and now he is lonely and his whole life has come crashing down, and â€Å"he has nobody to call his own. † This song relates to the theme of Holden’s loneliness. Throughout the book Holden is desperately and constantly seeking for companionship. Holden even calls up a prostitute so he can talk to her and hopefully form some kind of relationship. Phoebe is the only one who is close to Holden. He is constantly trying to fill in other people with whom he can have relationship with similar to how the singer of Lonely is trying to find his girlfriend. .Firework- Katy Perry In this song the singer asks if one has ever felt so sensitive, so ‘paper thin’, like a plastic bag, wanting to start again. Which is how Holden feels, he is depressed and feels as though there is no turning back. No one has been able to help able to help him, although he has looked for someone to help him. But there is a chance for Holden to get out of that depression, the song says ‘Do you know that there’s still a chance of you? ’Holden’s chance to get out of this depression is to seek counseling from a psychiatrist. 3. Help! – The BeatlesIn this song the singer talks about his seek for help because he is feeling down, he feels insecure and not so self assured, the singer looks for someone that will help him bring his mood back up, and the song also says that the person’s life has changed in so many ways which has led him to feel insecure. Holden feels down and depressed throughout the book because of Allies death, which changes his whole life around and constantly looks for someone to help him release his depression and help him be happy again, he seeks for a friend.4. Like a Stone- Audioslave In this song the guy is in a room full of emptiness, talks about how he is ost and he is reading a book of death and how he will die alone, the song also about being lost and loneliness. The song talks about death, which at one point in the book Holden thinks about death which leads him to think about Allie. Holden loneliness leads him to depression and thinks about death. 5. Rehab- Amy Winehouse The song talks about being a drunk, which is what Holden is half the time not caring of what his age is, though he is under aged. The song also says that â€Å"I’m never going to drink again; I just need a friend†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Holden relies on the alcohol as his friend, since he feels lonely and depressed.Alcohol, being a depressant itself does not help Holden get any better, yet it makes him feel worse. 6. Use Somebody- Kings of Leon In this song the singer talks about how lonely he is and how he needs somebody to be with him. He has been roaming around the streets and he needs someone to talk to and share his thoughts, this relates greatly to Holden because in those three days that he goes off on his â€Å"trip† he desperately lo oks for someone to listen to him, and not only during the trip but also throughout the book he looks for someone to listen to him. 7.What’s My Age Again? – Blink 182 In this song the guy is on a date with a girl, the guy acts immature. The speaker makes prank phone calls and acts â€Å"like a freshman. † This song relates to the coming of age them in the novel. Holden is still young, naive and immature but faces many adult situations such as violence and sexuality. Both the singer and Holden appear to be between childhood and mature adulthood. Both come across adult situations and handle them in childish etiquettes, such as when Holden runs away from school or calls up a prostitute just to talk to her. . Yesterday-The Beatles The song says that only yesterday the troubles seemed so far away, and now it seems like they’re here to stay. The singer talks about a â€Å"she† and says why she wouldn’t stay, and now she’s gone and now he lon gs for yesterday. This relates to Holden losing Allie, right after Allie’s death is when his problems really started and Holden asks himself why did Allie had to leave, and he blames himself. It seems like it was only yesterday that Holden lost Allie since he always brings him and talks about him.

Database Solutions

DATABASE SOLUTIONS (2nd Edition) THOMAS M CONNOLLY & CAROLYN E BEGG SOLUTIONS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS Chapter 1 Introduction- Review questions 1. 1List four examples of database systems other than those listed in Section 1. 1. Some examples could be: †¢A system that maintains component part details for a car manufacturer; †¢An advertising company keeping details of all clients and adverts placed with them; †¢A training company keeping course information and participants’ details; †¢An organization maintaining all sales order information. 1. 2Discuss the meaning of each of the following terms: (a)dataFor end users, this constitutes all the different values connected with the various objects/entities that are of concern to them. (b)database A shared collection of logically related data (and a description of this data), designed to meet the information needs of an organization. (c)database management system A software system that: enables users to define, create, and maintain the database and provides controlled access to this database. (d)application program A computer program that interacts with the database by issuing an appropriate request (typically an SQL statement) to the DBMS. (e)data independenceThis is essentially the separation of underlying file structures from the programs that operate on them, also called program-data independence. (f)views. A virtual table that does not necessarily exist in the database but is generated by the DBMS from the underlying base tables whenever it’s accessed. These present only a subset of the database that is of particular interest to a user. Views can be customized, for example, field names may change, and they also provide a level of security preventing users from seeing certain data. 1. 3Describe the main characteristics of the database approach.Focus is now on the data first, and then the applications. The structure of the data is now kept separate from the programs that operate on the d ata. This is held in the system catalog or data dictionary. Programs can now share data, which is no longer fragmented. There is also a reduction in redundancy, and achievement of program-data independence. 1. 4Describe the five components of the DBMS environment and discuss how they relate to each other. (1)Hardware:The computer system(s) that the DBMS and the application programs run on. This can range from a single PC, to a single mainframe, to a network of computers. 2)Software:The DBMS software and the application programs, together with the operating system, including network software if the DBMS is being used over a network. (3)Data:The data acts as a bridge between the hardware and software components and the human components. As we’ve already said, the database contains both the operational data and the meta-data (the ‘data about data’). (4)Procedures:The instructions and rules that govern the design and use of the database. This may include instructions on how to log on to the DBMS, make backup copies of the database, and how to handle hardware or software failures. 5)People:This includes the database designers, database administrators (DBAs), application programmers, and the end-users. 1. 5Describe the problems with the traditional two-tier client-server architecture and discuss how these problems were overcome with the three-tier client-server architecture. In the mid-1990s, as applications became more complex and potentially could be deployed to hundreds or thousands of end-users, the client side of this architecture gave rise to two problems: †¢A ‘fat’ client, requiring considerable resources on the client’s computer to run effectively (resources include disk space, RAM, and CPU power). A significant client side administration overhead. By 1995, a new variation of the traditional two-tier client-server model appeared to solve these problems called the three-tier client-server architecture. This new arc hitecture proposed three layers, each potentially running on a different platform: (1)The user interface layer, which runs on the end-user’s computer (the client). (2)The business logic and data processing layer. This middle tier runs on a server and is often called the application server. One application server is designed to serve multiple clients. (3)A DBMS, which stores the data required by the middle tier.This tier may run on a separate server called the database server. The three-tier design has many advantages over the traditional two-tier design, such as: †¢A ‘thin’ client, which requires less expensive hardware. †¢Simplified application maintenance, as a result of centralizing the business logic for many end-users into a single application server. This eliminates the concerns of software distribution that are problematic in the traditional two-tier client-server architecture. †¢Added modularity, which makes it easier to modify or replace o ne tier without affecting the other tiers. Easier load balancing, again as a result of separating the core business logic from the database functions. For example, a Transaction Processing Monitor (TPM) can be used to reduce the number of connections to the database server. (A TPM is a program that controls data transfer between clients and servers in order to provide a consistent environment for Online Transaction Processing (OLTP). ) An additional advantage is that the three-tier architecture maps quite naturally to the Web environment, with a Web browser acting as the ‘thin’ client, and a Web server acting as the application server.The three-tier client server architecture is illustrated in Figure 1. 4. 1. 6Describe the functions that should be provided by a modern full-scale multi-user DBMS. Data Storage, Retrieval and UpdateAuthorization Services A User-Accessible CatalogSupport for Data Communication Transaction SupportIntegrity Services Concurrency Control Servic esServices to Promote Data Independence Recovery ServicesUtility Services 1. 7Of the functions described in your answer to Question 1. 6, which ones do you think would not be needed in a standalone PC DBMS? Provide justification for your answer.Concurrency Control Services – only single user. Authorization Services – only single user, but may be needed if different individuals are to use the DBMS at different times. Utility Services – limited in scope. Support for Data Communication – only standalone system. 1. 8Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of DBMSs. Some advantages of the database approach include control of data redundancy, data consistency, sharing of data, and improved security and integrity. Some disadvantages include complexity, cost, reduced performance, and higher impact of a failure.Chapter 2 The Relational Model – Review questions 2. 1Discuss each of the following concepts in the context of the relational data model: (a)relati on A table with columns and rows. (b)attribute A named column of a relation. (c)domain The set of allowable values for one or more attributes. (d)tuple A record of a relation. (e)relational database. A collection of normalized tables. 2. 2Discuss the properties of a relational table. A relational table has the following properties: †¢The table has a name that is distinct from all other tables in the database. †¢Each cell of the table contains exactly one value. For example, it would be wrong to store several telephone numbers for a single branch in a single cell. In other words, tables don’t contain repeating groups of data. A relational table that satisfies this property is said to be normalized or in first normal form. ) †¢Each column has a distinct name. †¢The values of a column are all from the same domain. †¢The order of columns has no significance. In other words, provided a column name is moved along with the column values, we can interchange c olumns. †¢Each record is distinct; there are no duplicate records. The order of records has no significance, theoretically. 2. 3Discuss the differences between the candidate keys and the primary key of a table. Explain what is meant by a foreign key. How do foreign keys of tables relate to candidate keys? Give examples to illustrate your answer. The primary key is the candidate key that is selected to identify tuples uniquely within a relation. A foreign key is an attribute or set of attributes within one relation that matches the candidate key of some (possibly the same) relation. 2. 4What does a null represent?Represents a value for a column that is currently unknown or is not applicable for this record. 2. 5Define the two principal integrity rules for the relational model. Discuss why it is desirable to enforce these rules. Entity integrityIn a base table, no column of a primary key can be null. Referential integrityIf a foreign key exists in a table, either the foreign key value must match a candidate key value of some record in its home table or the foreign key value must be wholly null. Chapter 3 SQL and QBE – Review questions 3. 1What are the two major components of SQL and what function do they serve?A data definition language (DDL) for defining the database structure. A data manipulation language (DML) for retrieving and updating data. 3. 2Explain the function of each of the clauses in the SELECT statement. What restrictions are imposed on these clauses? FROMspecifies the table or tables to be used; WHEREfilters the rows subject to some condition; GROUP BYforms groups of rows with the same column value; HAVINGfilters the groups subject to some condition; SELECTspecifies which columns are to appear in the output; ORDER BYspecifies the order of the output. 3. What restrictions apply to the use of the aggregate functions within the SELECT statement? How do nulls affect the aggregate functions? An aggregate function can be used only in the SEL ECT list and in the HAVING clause. Apart from COUNT(*), each function eliminates nulls first and operates only on the remaining non-null values. COUNT(*) counts all the rows of a table, regardless of whether nulls or duplicate values occur. 3. 4Explain how the GROUP BY clause works. What is the difference between the WHERE and HAVING clauses? SQL first applies the WHERE clause. Then it conceptually arranges he table based on the grouping column(s). Next, applies the HAVING clause and finally orders the result according to the ORDER BY clause. WHERE filters rows subject to some condition; HAVING filters groups subject to some condition. 3. 5What is the difference between a subquery and a join? Under what circumstances would you not be able to use a subquery? With a subquery, the columns specified in the SELECT list are restricted to one table. Thus, cannot use a subquery if the SELECT list contains columns from more than one table. 3. 6What is QBE and what is the relationship between QBE and SQL?QBE is an alternative, graphical-based, ‘point-and-click’ way of querying the database, which is particularly suited for queries that are not too complex, and can be expressed in terms of a few tables. QBE has acquired the reputation of being one of the easiest ways for non-technical users to obtain information from the database. QBE queries are converted into their equivalent SQL statements before transmission to the DBMS server. Chapter 4 Database Systems Development Lifecycle – Review questions 4. 1Describe what is meant by the term ‘software crisis’.The past few decades has witnessed the dramatic rise in the number of software applications. Many of these applications proved to be demanding, requiring constant maintenance. This maintenance involved correcting faults, implementing new user requirements, and modifying the software to run on new or upgraded platforms. With so much software around to support, the effort spent on maintenan ce began to absorb resources at an alarming rate. As a result, many major software projects were late, over budget, and the software produced was unreliable, difficult to maintain, and performed poorly.This led to what has become known as the ‘software crisis’. Although this term was first used in the late 1960s, more than 30 years later, the crisis is still with us. As a result, some people now refer to the software crisis as the ‘software depression’. 4. 2Discuss the relationship between the information systems lifecycle and the database system development lifecycle. An information system is the resources that enable the collection, management, control, and dissemination of data/information throughout a company. The database is a fundamental component of an information system.The lifecycle of an information system is inherently linked to the lifecycle of the database that supports it. Typically, the stages of the information systems lifecycle include: pla nning, requirements collection and analysis, design (including database design), prototyping, implementation, testing, conversion, and operational maintenance. As a database is a fundamental component of the larger company-wide information system, the database system development lifecycle is inherently linked with the information systems lifecycle. 4. 3Briefly describe the stages of the database system development lifecycle. See Figure 4. Stages of the database system development lifecycle. Database planning is the management activities that allow the stages of the database system development lifecycle to be realized as efficiently and effectively as possible. System definition involves identifying the scope and boundaries of the database system including its major user views. A user view can represent a job role or business application area. Requirements collection and analysis is the process of collecting and analyzing information about the company that is to be supported by the d atabase system, and using this information to identify the requirements for the new system.There are three approaches to dealing with multiple user views, namely the centralized approach, the view integration approach, and a combination of both. The centralized approach involves collating the users’ requirements for different user views into a single list of requirements. A data model representing all the user views is created during the database design stage. The view integration approach involves leaving the users’ requirements for each user view as separate lists of requirements. Data models representing each user view are created and then merged at a later stage of database design.Database design is the process of creating a design that will support the company’s mission statement and mission objectives for the required database. This stage includes the logical and physical design of the database. The aim of DBMS selection is to select a system that meets th e current and future requirements of the company, balanced against costs that include the purchase of the DBMS product and any additional software/hardware, and the costs associated with changeover and training. Application design involves designing the user interface and the application programs that use and process the database.This stage involves two main activities: transaction design and user interface design. Prototyping involves building a working model of the database system, which allows the designers or users to visualize and evaluate the system. Implementation is the physical realization of the database and application designs. Data conversion and loading involves transferring any existing data into the new database and converting any existing applications to run on the new database. Testing is the process of running the database system with the intent of finding errors.Operational maintenance is the process of monitoring and maintaining the system following installation. 4. 4Describe the purpose of creating a mission statement and mission objectives for the required database during the database planning stage. The mission statement defines the major aims of the database system, while each mission objective identifies a particular task that the database must support. 4. 5Discuss what a user view represents when designing a database system. A user view defines what is required of a database system from the perspective of a particular job (such as Manager orSupervisor) or business application area (such as marketing, personnel, or stock control). 4. 6Compare and contrast the centralized approach and view integration approach to managing the design of a database system with multiple user views. An important activity of the requirements collection and analysis stage is deciding how to deal with the situation where there is more than one user view. There are three approaches to dealing with multiple user views: †¢the centralized approach, †¢the view integration approach, and †¢a combination of both approaches.Centralized approach Requirements for each user view are merged into a single list of requirements for the new database system. A logical data model representing all user views is created during the database design stage. The centralized approach involves collating the requirements for different user views into a single list of requirements. A data model representing all user views is created in the database design stage. A diagram representing the management of user views 1 to 3 using the centralized approach is shown in Figure 4. 4.Generally, this approach is preferred when there is a significant overlap in requirements for each user view and the database system is not overly complex. See Figure 4. 4 The centralized approach to managing multiple user views 1 to 3. View integration approach Requirements for each user view remain as separate lists. Data models representing each user view are created and then mer ged later during the database design stage. The view integration approach involves leaving the requirements for each user view as separate lists of requirements.We create data models representing each user view. A data model that represents a single user view is called a local logical data model. We then merge the local data models to create a global logical data model representing all user views of the company. A diagram representing the management of user views 1 to 3 using the view integration approach is shown in Figure 4. 5. Generally, this approach is preferred when there are significant differences between user views and the database system is sufficiently complex to justify dividing the work into more manageable parts.See Figure 4. 5 The view integration approach to managing multiple user views 1 to 3. For some complex database systems it may be appropriate to use a combination of both the centralized and view integration approaches to managing multiple user views. For examp le, the requirements for two or more users views may be first merged using the centralized approach and then used to create a local logical data model. (Therefore in this situation the local data model represents not just a single user view but the number of user views merged using the centralized approach).The local data models representing one or more user views are then merged using the view integration approach to form the global logical data model representing all user views. 4. 7Explain why it is necessary to select the target DBMS before beginning the physical database design phase. Database design is made up of two main phases called logical and physical design. During logical database design, we identify the important objects that need to be represented in the database and the relationships between these objects.During physical database design, we decide how the logical design is to be physically implemented (as tables) in the target DBMS. Therefore it is necessary to have selected the target DBMS before we are able to proceed to physical database design. See Figure 4. 1 Stages of the database system development lifecycle. 4. 8Discuss the two main activities associated with application design. The database and application design stages are parallel activities of the database system development lifecycle. In most cases, we cannot complete the application design until the design of the database itself has taken place.On the other hand, the database exists to support the applications, and so there must be a flow of information between application design and database design. The two main activities associated with the application design stage is the design of the user interface and the application programs that use and process the database. We must ensure that all the functionality stated in the requirements specifications is present in the application design for the database system. This involves designing the interaction between the user and the data, w hich we call transaction design.In addition to designing how the required functionality is to be achieved, we have to design an appropriate user interface to the database system. 4. 9Describe the potential benefits of developing a prototype database system. The purpose of developing a prototype database system is to allow users to use the prototype to identify the features of the system that work well, or are inadequate, and if possible to suggest improvements or even new features for the database system. In this way, we can greatly clarify the requirements and evaluate the feasibility of a particular system design.Prototypes should have the major advantage of being relatively inexpensive and quick to build. 4. 10Discuss the main activities associated with the implementation stage. The database implementation is achieved using the Data Definition Language (DDL) of the selected DBMS or a graphical user interface (GUI), which provides the same functionality while hiding the low-level DDL statements. The DDL statements are used to create the database structures and empty database files. Any specified user views are also implemented at this stage.The application programs are implemented using the preferred third or fourth generation language (3GL or 4GL). Parts of these application programs are the database transactions, which we implement using the Data Manipulation Language (DML) of the target DBMS, possibly embedded within a host programming language, such as Visual Basic (VB), VB. net, Python, Delphi, C, C++, C#, Java, COBOL, Fortran, Ada, or Pascal. We also implement the other components of the application design such as menu screens, data entry forms, and reports.Again, the target DBMS may have its own fourth generation tools that allow rapid development of applications through the provision of non-procedural query languages, reports generators, forms generators, and application generators. Security and integrity controls for the application are also impleme nted. Some of these controls are implemented using the DDL, but others may need to be defined outside the DDL using, for example, the supplied DBMS utilities or operating system controls. 4. 11Describe the purpose of the data conversion and loading stage.This stage is required only when a new database system is replacing an old system. Nowadays, it’s common for a DBMS to have a utility that loads existing files into the new database. The utility usually requires the specification of the source file and the target database, and then automatically converts the data to the required format of the new database files. Where applicable, it may be possible for the developer to convert and use application programs from the old system for use by the new system. 4. 2Explain the purpose of testing the database system. Before going live, the newly developed database system should be thoroughly tested. This is achieved using carefully planned test strategies and realistic data so that the entire testing process is methodically and rigorously carried out. Note that in our definition of testing we have not used the commonly held view that testing is the process of demonstrating that faults are not present. In fact, testing cannot show the absence of faults; it can show only that software faults are present.If testing is conducted successfully, it will uncover errors in the application programs and possibly the database structure. As a secondary benefit, testing demonstrates that the database and the application programs appear to be working according to their specification and that performance requirements appear to be satisfied. In addition, metrics collected from the testing stage provides a measure of software reliability and software quality. As with database design, the users of the new system should be involved in the testing process.The ideal situation for system testing is to have a test database on a separate hardware system, but often this is not available. I f real data is to be used, it is essential to have backups taken in case of error. Testing should also cover usability of the database system. Ideally, an evaluation should be conducted against a usability specification. Examples of criteria that can be used to conduct the evaluation include (Sommerville, 2000): †¢Learnability – How long does it take a new user to become productive with the system? Performance – How well does the system response match the user’s work practice? †¢Robustness – How tolerant is the system of user error? †¢Recoverability – How good is the system at recovering from user errors? †¢Adapatability – How closely is the system tied to a single model of work? Some of these criteria may be evaluated in other stages of the lifecycle. After testing is complete, the database system is ready to be ‘signed off’ and handed over to the users. 4. 13What are the main activities associated with oper ational maintenance stage.In this stage, the database system now moves into a maintenance stage, which involves the following activities: †¢Monitoring the performance of the database system. If the performance falls below an acceptable level, the database may need to be tuned or reorganized. †¢Maintaining and upgrading the database system (when required). New requirements are incorporated into the database system through the preceding stages of the lifecycle. Chapter 5 Database Administration and Security – Review questions 5. 1Define the purpose and tasks associated with data administration and database administration.Data administration is the management and control of the corporate data, including database planning, development and maintenance of standards, policies and procedures, and logical database design. Database administration is the management and control of the physical realization of the corporate database system, including physical database design and implementation, setting security and integrity controls, monitoring system performance, and reorganizing the database as necessary. 5. 2Compare and contrast the main tasks carried out by the DA and DBA.The Data Administrator (DA) and Database Administrator (DBA) are responsible for managing and controlling the activities associated with the corporate data and the corporate database, respectively. The DA is more concerned with the early stages of the lifecycle, from planning through to logical database design. In contrast, the DBA is more concerned with the later stages, from application/physical database design to operational maintenance. Depending on the size and complexity of the organization and/or database system the DA and DBA can be the responsibility of one or more people. . 3Explain the purpose and scope of database security. Security considerations do not only apply to the data held in a database. Breaches of security may affect other parts of the system, which may in turn affect the database. Consequently, database security encompasses hardware, software, people, and data. To effectively implement security requires appropriate controls, which are defined in specific mission objectives for the system. This need for security, while often having been neglected or overlooked in the past, is now increasingly recognized by organizations.The reason for this turn-around is due to the increasing amounts of crucial corporate data being stored on computer and the acceptance that any loss or unavailability of this data could be potentially disastrous. 5. 4List the main types of threat that could affect a database system, and for each, describe the possible outcomes for an organization. Figure 5. 1 A summary of the potential threats to computer systems. 5. 5Explain the following in terms of providing security for a database: authorization; views; backup and recovery; integrity; encryption; RAID. AuthorizationAuthorization is the granting of a right or privilege t hat enables a subject to have legitimate access to a system or a system’s object. Authorization controls can be built into the software, and govern not only what database system or object a specified user can access, but also what the user may do with it. The process of authorization involves authentication of a subject requesting access to an object, where ‘subject’ represents a user or program and ‘object’ represents a database table, view, procedure, trigger, or any other object that can be created within the database system. ViewsA view is a virtual table that does not necessarily exist in the database but can be produced upon request by a particular user, at the time of request. The view mechanism provides a powerful and flexible security mechanism by hiding parts of the database from certain users. The user is not aware of the existence of any columns or rows that are missing from the view. A view can be defined over several tables with a user being granted the appropriate privilege to use it, but not to use the base tables. In this way, using a view is more restrictive than simply having certain privileges granted to a user on the base table(s).Backup and recovery Backup is the process of periodically taking a copy of the database and log file (and possibly programs) onto offline storage media. A DBMS should provide backup facilities to assist with the recovery of a database following failure. To keep track of database transactions, the DBMS maintains a special file called a log file (or journal) that contains information about all updates to the database. It is always advisable to make backup copies of the database and log file at regular intervals and to ensure that the copies are in a secure location.In the event of a failure that renders the database unusable, the backup copy and the details captured in the log file are used to restore the database to the latest possible consistent state. Journaling is the process of keeping and maintaining a log file (or journal) of all changes made to the database to enable recovery to be undertaken effectively in the event of a failure. Integrity constraints Contribute to maintaining a secure database system by preventing data from becoming invalid, and hence giving misleading or incorrect results. EncryptionIs the encoding of the data by a special algorithm that renders the data unreadable by any program without the decryption key. If a database system holds particularly sensitive data, it may be deemed necessary to encode it as a precaution against possible external threats or attempts to access it. Some DBMSs provide an encryption facility for this purpose. The DBMS can access the data (after decoding it), although there is degradation in performance because of the time taken to decode it. Encryption also protects data transmitted over communication lines.There are a number of techniques for encoding data to conceal the information; some are termed irreve rsible and others reversible. Irreversible techniques, as the name implies, do not permit the original data to be known. However, the data can be used to obtain valid statistical information. Reversible techniques are more commonly used. To transmit data securely over insecure networks requires the use of a cryptosystem, which includes: †¢an encryption key to encrypt the data (plaintext); †¢an encryption algorithm that, with the encryption key, transforms the plain text into ciphertext; †¢a decryption key to decrypt the ciphertext; a decryption algorithm that, with the decryption key, transforms the ciphertext back into plain text. Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) RAID works by having a large disk array comprising an arrangement of several independent disks that are organized to improve reliability and at the same time increase performance. The hardware that the DBMS is running on must be fault-tolerant, meaning that the DBMS should continue to operate even if one of the hardware components fails. This suggests having redundant components that can be seamlessly integrated into the working system whenever there is one or more component failures.The main hardware components that should be fault-tolerant include disk drives, disk controllers, CPU, power supplies, and cooling fans. Disk drives are the most vulnerable components with the shortest times between failures of any of the hardware components. One solution is the use of Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) technology. RAID works by having a large disk array comprising an arrangement of several independent disks that are organized to improve reliability and at the same time increase performance. Chapter 6 Fact-Finding – Review questions 6. Briefly describe what the process of fact-finding attempts to achieve for a database developer. Fact-finding is the formal process of using techniques such as interviews and questionnaires to collect facts about systems, requiremen ts, and preferences. The database developer uses fact-finding techniques at various stages throughout the database systems lifecycle to capture the necessary facts to build the required database system. The necessary facts cover the business and the users of the database system, including the terminology, problems, opportunities, constraints, requirements, and priorities.These facts are captured using fact-finding techniques. 6. 2Describe how fact-finding is used throughout the stages of the database system development lifecycle. There are many occasions for fact-finding during the database system development lifecycle. However, fact-finding is particularly crucial to the early stages of the lifecycle, including the database planning, system definition, and requirements collection and analysis stages. It’s during these early stages that the database developer learns about the terminology, problems, opportunities, constraints, requirements, and priorities of the business and t he users of the system.Fact-finding is also used during database design and the later stages of the lifecycle, but to a lesser extent. For example, during physical database design, fact-finding becomes technical as the developer attempts to learn more about the DBMS selected for the database system. Also, during the final stage, operational maintenance, fact-finding is used to determine whether a system requires tuning to improve performance or further developed to include new requirements. 6. 3For each stage of the database system development lifecycle identify examples of the facts captured and the documentation produced. . 4A database developer normally uses several fact-finding techniques during a single database project. The five most commonly used techniques are examining documentation, interviewing, observing the business in operation, conducting research, and using questionnaires. Describe each fact-finding technique and identify the advantages and disadvantages of each. Exa mining documentation can be useful when you’re trying to gain some insight as to how the need for a database arose.You may also find that documentation can be helpful to provide information on the business (or part of the business) associated with the problem. If the problem relates to the current system there should be documentation associated with that system. Examining documents, forms, reports, and files associated with the current system, is a good way to quickly gain some understanding of the system. Interviewing is the most commonly used, and normally most useful, fact-finding technique. You can interview to collect information from individuals face-to-face.There can be several objectives to using interviewing such as finding out facts, checking facts, generating user interest and feelings of involvement, identifying requirements, and gathering ideas and opinions. Observation is one of the most effective fact-finding techniques you can use to understand a system. With this technique, you can either par ¬ticipate in, or watch a person perform activities to learn about the system. This technique is particularly useful when the validity of data collected through other methods is in question or when the complexity of certain aspects of the system prevents a clear explanation by the end-users.A useful fact-finding technique is to research the application and prob ¬lem. Computer trade journals, reference books, and the Internet are good sources of information. They can provide you with information on how others have solved similar prob ¬lems, plus you can learn whether or not software packages exist to solve your problem. Another fact-finding technique is to conduct surveys through questionnaires. Questionnaires are special-purpose documents that allow you to gather facts from a large number of people while maintaining some control over their responses.When dealing with a large audience, no other fact-finding technique can tabulate the same facts as efficiently. 6. 5Describe the purpose of defining a mission statement and mission objectives for a database system. The mission statement defines the major aims of the database system. Those driving the database project within the business (such as the Director and/or owner) normally define the mission statement. A mission statement helps to clarify the purpose of the database project and provides a clearer path towards the efficient and effective creation of the required database system.Once the mission statement is defined, the next activity involves identifying the mission objectives. Each mission objective should identify a particular task that the database must support. The assumption is that if the database supports the mission objectives then the mission statement should be met. The mission statement and objectives may be accompanied with additional information that specifies, in general terms, the work to be done, the resources with which to do it, and the money to pay f or it all. 6. 6What is the purpose of the systems definition stage?The purpose of the system definition stage is to identify the scope and boundary of the database system and its major user views. Defining the scope and boundary of the database system helps to identify the main types of data mentioned in the interviews and a rough guide as to how this data is related. A user view represents the requirements that should be supported by a database system as defined by a particular job role (such as Manager or Assistant) or business application area (such as video rentals or stock control). 6. How do the contents of a users’ requirements specification differ from a systems specification? There are two main documents created during the requirements collection and analysis stage, namely the users’ requirements specification and the systems specification. The users’ requirements specification describes in detail the data to be held in the database and how the data is to be used. The systems specification describes any features to be included in the database system such as the required performance and the levels of security. 6. Describe one approach to deciding whether to use centralized, view integration, or a combination of both when developing a database system for multiple user views. One way to help you make a decision whether to use the centralized, view integration, or a combination of both approaches to manage multiple user views is to examine the overlap in terms of the data used between the user views identified during the system definition stage. It’s difficult to give precise rules as to when it’s appropriate to use the centralized or view integration approaches.As the database developer, you should base your decision on an assessment of the complexity of the database system and the degree of overlap between the various user views. However, whether you use the centralized or view integration approach or a mixture of both to build the underlying database, ultimately you need to create the original user views for the working database system. Chapter 7 Entity-Relationship Modeling – Review questions 7. 1Describe what entities represent in an ER model and provide examples of entities with a physical or conceptual existence.Entity is a set of objects with the same properties, which are identified by a user or company as having an independent existence. Each object, which should be uniquely identifiable within the set, is called an entity occurrence. An entity has an independent existence and can represent objects with a physical (or ‘real’) existence or objects with a conceptual (or ‘abstract’) existence. 7. 2Describe what relationships represent in an ER model and provide examples of unary, binary, and ternary relationships.Relationship is a set of meaningful associations among entities. As with entities, each association should be uniquely identifiable within the set. A uniquely identifiable association is called a relationship occurrence. Each relationship is given a name that describes its function. For example, the Actor entity is associated with the Role entity through a relationship called Plays, and the Role entity is associated with the Video entity through a relationship called Features. The entities involved in a particular relationship are referred to as participants.The number of participants in a relationship is called the degree and indicates the number of entities involved in a relationship. A relationship of degree one is called unary, which is commonly referred to as a recursive relationship. A unary relationship describes a relationship where the same entity participates more than once in different roles. An example of a unary relationship is Supervises, which represents an association of staff with a supervisor where the supervisor is also a member of staff.In other words, the Staff entity participates twice in the Supervises re lationship; the first participation as a supervisor, and the second participation as a member of staff who is supervised (supervisee). See Figure 7. 5 for a diagrammatic representation of the Supervises relationship. A relationship of degree two is called binary. A relationship of a degree higher than binary is called a complex relationship. A relationship of degree three is called ternary. An example of a ternary relationship is Registers with three participating entities, namely Branch, Staff, and Member.The purpose of this relationship is to represent the situation where a member of staff registers a member at a particular branch, allowing for members to register at more than one branch, and members of staff to move between branches. Figure 7. 4 Example of a ternary relationship called Registers. 7. 3Describe what attributes represent in an ER model and provide examples of simple, composite, single-value, multi-value, and derived attributes. An attribute is a property of an entit y or a relationship. Attributes represent what we want to know about entities.For example, a Video entity may be described by the catalogNo, title, category, dailyRental, and price attributes. These attributes hold values that describe each video occurrence, and represent the main source of data stored in the database. Simple attribute is an attribute composed of a single component. Simple attributes cannot be further subdivided. Examples of simple attributes include the category and price attributes for a video. Composite attribute is an attribute composed of multiple components. Composite attributes can be further divided to yield smaller components with an independent existence.For example, the name attribute of the Member entity with the value ‘Don Nelson’ can be subdivided into fName (‘Don’) and lName (‘Nelson’). Single-valued attribute is an attribute that holds a single value for an entity occurrence. The majority of attributes are singl e-valued for a particular entity. For example, each occurrence of the Video entity has a single-value for the catalogNo attribute (for example, 207132), and therefore the catalogNo attribute is referred to as being single-valued. Multi-valued attribute is an attribute that holds multiple values for an entity occurrence.Some attributes have multiple values for a particular entity. For example, each occurrence of the Video entity may have multiple values for the category attribute (for example, ‘Children’ and ‘Comedy’), and therefore the category attribute in this case would be multi-valued. A multi-valued attribute may have a set of values with specified lower and upper limits. For example, the category attribute may have between one and three values. Derived attribute is an attribute that represents a value that is derivable from the value of a related attribute, or set of attributes, not necessarily in the same entity.Some attributes may be related for a p articular entity. For example, the age of a member of staff (age) is derivable from the date of birth (DOB) attribute, and therefore the age and DOB attributes are related. We refer to the age attribute as a derived attribute, the value of which is derived from the DOB attribute. 7. 4Describe what multiplicity represents for a relationship. Multiplicity is the number of occurrences of one entity that may relate to a single occurrence of an associated entity. 7. 5What are business rules and how does multiplicity model these constraints?Multiplicity constrains the number of entity occurrences that relate to other entity occurrences through a particular relationship. Multiplicity is a representation of the policies established by the user or company, and is referred to as a business rule. Ensuring that all appropriate business rules are identified and represented is an important part of modeling a company. The multiplicity for a binary relationship is generally referred to as one-to-on e (1:1), one-to-many (1:*), or many-to-many (*:*). Examples of three types of relationships include: †¢A member of staff manages a branch. A branch has members of staff. †¢Actors play in videos. 7. 6How does multiplicity represent both the cardinality and the participation constraints on a relationship? Multiplicity actually consists of two separate constraints known as cardinality and participation. Cardinality describes the number of possible relationships for each participating entity. Participation determines whether all or only some entity occurrences participate in a relationship. The cardinality of a binary relationship is what we have been referring to as one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many.A participation constraint represents whether all entity occurrences are involved in a particular relationship (mandatory participation) or only some (optional participation). The cardinality and participation constraints for the Staff Manages Branch relationship are shown in Figure 7. 11. 7. 7Provide an example of a relationship with attributes. An example of a relationship with an attribute is the relationship called PlaysIn, which associates the Actor and Video entities. We may wish to record the character played by an actor in a given video.This information is associated with the PlaysIn relationship rather than the Actor or Video entities. We create an attribute called character to store this information and assign it to the PlaysIn relationship, as illustrated in Figure 7. 12. Note, in this figure the character attribute is shown using the symbol for an entity; however, to distinguish between a relationship with an attribute and an entity, the rectangle representing the attribute is associated with the relationship using a dashed line. Figure 7. 12 A relationship called PlaysIn with an attribute called character. . 8Describe how strong and weak entities differ and provide an example of each. We can classify entities as being either strong or we ak. A strong entity is not dependent on the existence of another entity for its primary key. A weak entity is partially or wholly dependent on the existence of another entity, or entities, for its primary key. For example, as we can distinguish one actor from all other actors and one video from all other videos without the existence of any other entity, Actor and Video are referred to as being strong entities.In other words, the Actor and Video entities are strong because they have their own primary keys. An example of a weak entity called Role, which represents characters played by actors in videos. If we are unable to uniquely identify one Role entity occurrence from another without the existence of the Actor and Video entities, then Role is referred to as being a weak entity. In other words, the Role entity is weak because it has no primary key of its own. Figure 7. 6 Diagrammatic representation of attributes for the Video, Role, and Actor entities.Strong entities are sometimes r eferred to as parent, owner, or dominant entities and weak entities as child, dependent, or subordinate entities. 7. 9Describe how fan and chasm traps can occur in an ER model and how they can be resolved. Fan and chasm traps are two types of connection traps that can occur in ER models. The traps normally occur due to a misinterpretation of the meaning of certain relationships. In general, to identify connection traps we must ensure that the meaning of a relationship (and the business rule that it represents) is fully understood and clearly defined.If we don’t understand the relationships we may create a model that is not a true representation of the ‘real world’. A fan trap may occur when two entities have a 1:* relationship that fan out from a third entity, but the two entities should have a direct relationship between them to provide the necessary information. A fan trap may be resolved through the addition of a direct relationship between the two entities th at were originally separated by the third entity. A chasm trap may occur when an ER model suggests the existence of a relationship between entities, but the pathway does not exist between certain entity occurrences.More specifically, a chasm trap may occur where there is a relationship with optional participation that forms part of the pathway between the entities that are related. Again, a chasm trap may be resolved by the addition of a direct relationship between the two entities that were originally related through a pathway that included optional participation. Chapter 8 Normalization – Review questions 8. 1Discuss how normalization may be used in database design. Normalization can be used in database design in two ways: the first is to use ormalization as a bottom-up approach to database design; the second is to use normalization in conjunction with ER modeling. Using normalization as a bottom-up approach involves analyzing the associations between attributes and, based on this analysis, grouping the attributes together to form tables that represent entities and relationships. However, this approach becomes difficult with a large number of attributes, where it’s difficult to establish all the important associations between the attributes. Alternatively, you can use a top-down approach to database design.In this approach, we use ER modeling to create a data model that represents the main entities and relationships. We then translate the ER model into a set of tables that represents this data. It’s at this point that we use normalization to check whether the tables are well designed. 8. 2Describe the types of update anomalies that may occur on a table that has redundant data. Tables that have redundant data may have problems called update anomalies, which are classified as insertion, deletion, or modification anomalies. See Figure 8. 2 for an example of a table with redundant data called StaffBranch.There are two main types of insertion anomalies, which we illustrate using this table. Insertion anomalies (1)To insert the details of a new member of staff located at a given branch into the StaffBranch table, we must also enter the correct details for that branch. For example, to insert the details of a new member of staff at branch B002, we must enter the correct details of branch B002 so that the branch details are consistent with values for branch B002 in other records of the StaffBranch table. The data shown in the StaffBranch table is also shown in the Staff and Branch tables shown in Figure 8. 1.These tables do have redundant data and do not suffer from this potential inconsistency, because for each staff member we only enter the appropriate branch number into the Staff table. In addition, the details of branch B002 are recorded only once in the database as a single record in the Branch table. (2)To insert details of a new branch that currently has no members of staff into the StaffBranch table, it’s nec essary to enter nulls into the staff-related columns, such as staffNo. However, as staffNo is the primary key for the StaffBranch table, attempting to enter nulls for staffNo violates entity integrity, and is not allowed.The design of the tables shown in Figure 8. 1 avoids this problem because new branch details are entered into the Branch table separately from the staff details. The details of staff ultimately located at a new branch can be entered into the Staff table at a later date. Deletion anomalies If we delete a record from the StaffBranch table that represents the last member of staff located at a branch, the details about that branch are also lost from the database. For example, if we delete the record for staff Art Peters (S0415) from the StaffBranch table, the details relating to branch B003 are lost from the database.The design of the tables in Figure 8. 1 avoids this problem because branch records are stored separately from staff records and only the column branchNo re lates the two tables. If we delete the record for staff Art Peters (S0415) from the Staff table, the details on branch B003 in the Branch table remain unaffected. Modification anomalies If we want to change the value of one of the columns of a particular branch in the StaffBranch table, for example the telephone number for branch B001, we must update the records of all staff located at that branch.If this modification is not carried out on all the appropriate records of the StaffBranch table, the database will become inconsistent. In this example, branch B001 would have different telephone numbers in different staff records. The above examples illustrate that the Staff and Branch tables of Figure 8. 1 have more desirable properties than the StaffBranch table of Figure 8. 2. In the following sections, we examine how normal forms can be used to formalize the identification of tables that have desirable properties from those that may potentially suffer from update anomalies. . 3Describ e the characteristics of a table that violates first normal form (1NF) and then describe how such a table is converted to 1NF. The rule for first normal form (1NF) is a table in which the intersection of every column and record contains only one value. In other words a table that contains more than one atomic value in the intersection of one or more column for one or more records is not in 1NF. The non 1NF table can be converted to 1NF by restructuring original table by removing the column with the multi-values along with a copy of the primary key to create a new table.See Figure 8. 4 for an example of this approach. The advantage of this approach is that the resultant tables may be in normal forms later that 1NF. 8. 4What is the minimal normal form that a relation must satisfy? Provide a definition for this normal form. Only first normal form (1NF) is critical in creating appropriate tables for relational databases. All the subsequent normal forms are optional. However, to avoid th e update anomalies discussed in Section 8. 2, it’s normally recommended that you proceed to third normal form (3NF).First normal form (1NF) is a table in which the intersection of every column and record contains only one value. 8. 5Describe an approach to converting a first normal form (1NF) table to second normal form (2NF) table(s). Second normal form applies only to tables with composite primary keys, that is, tables with a primary key composed of two or more columns. A 1NF table with a single column primary key is automatically in at least 2NF. A second normal form (2NF) is a table that is already in 1NF and in which the values in each non-primary-key column can be worked out from the values in all the columns that makes up the primary key.A table in 1NF can be converted into 2NF by removing the columns that can be worked out from only part of the primary key. These columns are placed in a new table along with a copy of the part of the primary key that they can be worked out from. 8. 6Describe the characteristics of a table in second normal form (2NF). Second normal form (2NF) is a table that is already in 1NF and in which the values in each non-primary-key column can only be worked out from the values in all the columns that make up the primary key. 8. Describe what is meant by full functional dependency and describe how this type of dependency relates to 2NF. Provide an example to illustrate your answer. The formal definition of second normal form (2NF) is a table that is in first normal form and every non-primary-key column is fully functionally dependent on the primary key. Full functional dependency indicates that if A and B are columns of a table, B is fully functionally dependent on A, if B is not dependent on any subset of A. If B is dependent on a subset of A, this is referred to as a partial dependency.If a partial dependency exists on the primary key, the table is not in 2NF. The partial dependency must be removed for a table to achieve 2NF. See Section 8. 4 for an example. 8. 8Describe the characteristics of a table in third normal form (3NF). Third normal form (3NF) is a table that is already in 1NF and 2NF, and in which the values in all non-primary-key columns can be worked out from only the primary key (or candidate key) column(s) and no other columns. 8. 9Describe what is meant by transitive dependency and describe how this type of dependency relates to 3NF. Provide an example to illustrate your answer.The formal definition for third normal form (3NF) is a table that is in first and second normal forms and in which no non-primary-key column is transitively dependent on the primary key. Transitive dependency is a type of functional dependency that occurs when a particular type of relationship holds between columns of a table. For example, consider a table with columns A, B, and C. If B is functionally dependent on A (A ? B) and C is functionally dependent on B (B ? C), then C is transitively dependent on A via B (provided that A is not functionally dependent on B or C).If a transitive dependency exists on the primary key, the table is not in 3NF. The transitive dependency must be removed for a table to achieve 3NF. See Section 8. 5 for an example. Chapter 9 Logical Database Design – Step 1- Review questions 9. 1Describe the purpose of a design methodology. A design methodology is a structured approach that uses procedures, techniques, tools, and documentation aids to support and facilitate the process of design. 9. 2Describe the main phases involved in database design. Database design is made up of two main phases: logical and physical database design.Logical database design is the process of constructing a model of the data used in a company based on a specific data model, but independent of a particular DBMS and other physical considerations. In the logical database design phase we build the logical representation of the database, which includes identification of the important e ntities and relationships, and then translate this representation to a set of tables. The logical data model is a source of information for the physical design phase, providing the physical database designer with a vehicle for making tradeoffs that are very important to the design of an efficient database.Physical database design is the process of producing a description of the implementation of the database on secondary storage; it describes the base tables, file organizations, and indexes used to achieve efficient access to the data, and any associated integrity constraints and security restrictions. In the physical database design phase we decide how the logical design is to be physically implemented in the target relational DBMS. This phase allows the designer to make decisions on how the database is to be implemented. Therefore, physical design is tailored to a specific DBMS. . 3Identify important factors in the success of database design. The following are important factors to the success of database design: †¢Work interactively with the users as much as possible. †¢Follow a structured methodology throughout the data modeling process. †¢Employ a data-driven approach. †¢Incorporate structural and integrity considerations into the data models. †¢Use normalization and transaction validation techniques in the methodology. †¢Use diagrams to represent as much of the data models as possible. †¢Use a database design language (DBDL). Build a data dictionary to supplement the data model diagrams. †¢Be willing to repeat steps. 9. 4Discuss the important role played by users in the process of database design. Users play an essential role in confirming that the logical database design is meeting their requirements. Logical database design is made up of two steps and at the end of each step (Steps 1. 9 and 2. 5) users are required to review the design and provide feedback to the designer. Once the logical database design has been ‘signed off’ by the users the designer can continue to the physical d