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The Protagonist Victor in “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie

Victor In the absolute first sentence of Sherman Alexie's â€Å"This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,† you can acce...

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Arts and Politics in Fifth Century Athens Free Essays

The 5th century proved to be the height of cultural and intellectual progression in Athens. Athens, during the 5th century, is an emerging powerful city-state whose military and organized political system is recognized by the world. At the pinnacle of democratic government within Athens there has been an undergoing active exchange of intellectual activities hailing from the philosophers and the artists which includes poets, tragedians, sculptors, etc. We will write a custom essay sample on Arts and Politics in Fifth Century Athens or any similar topic only for you Order Now The cultural and intellectual achievements that happened in Athens are equated with its political institution – democracy (Join Association of Classical Teachers, 2003, p. 284). This struggle is an apparent purpose of influencing the masses through public participation whether in debates, tragedies, or any form of rhetoric to be able to persuade people. Philosophers and poets alike became involved in a politically active environment aimed for political power through intellectual influence. Intellectuals such as Aristotle, Sophocles, Plato, and Socrates became successful in propagating their respective wisdom in different medium such as tragedies or impromptu debates. The latter is most commonly used by Socrates in which he initiated questions about morality, truth, and freedom to a common man. When most thinkers used rhetoric to get political power and influence, Socrates concentrated on the ethical and morality within debates and critical-thinking. In Plato’s Crito, Socrates has criticized the way intellectuals have run the political unit of Athens. He emphasized that is the men who ruled and implemented the laws who are wrong and not the law itself. From this perspective, the intellectuals who run Athens under corrupt ways can be the reason why Socrates did not participate in the politics of Athens. Instead he reached to the ordinary men to ignite debates and makes them realize how it is to be a good citizen behaving under the laws of morality and the laws of the state. This intellectual struggle between the philosophers and the poets might have been the glamorous side of Athens, but it also became the cause of its downfall, as intellectual men clouded by self-interests interpreted the Athenian laws in their own hands, thus, even bringing down their wisest thinker of all time. Reference Joint Association of Classical Teachers. (2003). The World of Athens. UK: Cambridge University Press. How to cite Arts and Politics in Fifth Century Athens, Papers

Monday, May 4, 2020

Management in Context to Systems Implementation

Question: Describe about the project management concepts. Answer: Purpose This project has been undertaken to offer some light into the project management concepts. The assignment would help in offering a practical level of experience to understand the ways to handle project management in context to systems implementation. The primary objectives that this assignment emphasises strongly upon are listed below: Understanding the importance of a suitable software tool for project management purpose and learning the fundamental skills to use the same. In this assignment, the tool to be discussed in Microsoft Project. Developing and discussing key elements of the project management while carrying out a proper planning regimen that would let adjust the project proposal and would ensure that it fits perfectly within the schedule. Trying to incorporate some professional communication skills along with options for proper practicing sessions while writing memorandum to the concerned Project Manager that would explain the entire planning while seeking recommendation for necessary action The approaches that needs to (would) be followed to complete the assignment Grabbing appropriate knowledge to use the project management tool. This assignment along with online tutorials would definitely make it easier to understand the proper ways to use the Microsoft Project application Implementing all the necessary knowledge that has been collected from the tutorial program to develop a proper plan for the project and then get it adjusted in order to meet the requirements. Developing a memo that would describe the revised project proposal. This is important since it would be able to challenge the researchers ability to justify and explain the changes in complex programs in brief with special mention for the recommended actions. Finally, it is mandatory to submit the assignment within the prescribed deadline Using Microsoft Project, it would become easy enough to manage, plan, communicate, and consolidate information regarding the project effectively and in a very efficient manner. It would integrate graphical environment with critical scheduling path method with the help of Gantt charts, PERT charts, and other resource and task reports. Introduction to Project Management Project Management is basically managing tasks through proper planning and organizing of resources in order to achieve a certain objective. It would definitely involve a certain deadline as well monetary expenses. Be it large, small, complex, or simple projects, they are usually slashed down into smaller tasks that can be managed easily. In fact, it becomes easier to schedule these tasks and then track their progress. Project management tries to find answers to questions like: What needs to be done? Who are the ones to complete the task? What is the time duration? must it be done? What would be the total expenditure involved? What happens if the deadline is not met? Discuss each of the major sections of the PMP The major areas of PM are illustrated below and other deliverables are also important but these are the most significant one. Planning the project followed by schedule creation This is the primary stage where tasks are defined along with the time duration. It is also in this stage where relationships are created between each of these tasks while ensuring that all the resources are assigned properly. Remember, the forthcoming phases would depend heavily upon this stage. So be very careful while carrying it out (Ruiz Fernndez et al., 2011). Managing changes This process is ongoing and starts with scheduling of the project. It ends with the end of project. The phase deals with tracking as well schedule adjustment and reflecting the changes that has taken place during the commencing of the project. Communicating project information This phase is highly crucial and involves detailed communication process with the management, staffs, and clients, and every one of those involved in the project. Remember, any Project management software tool would be considered to be highly productive if it suitably assists the professionals involved in the project. In fact, handling such a software solution requires proper expertise. Introduction to Microsoft Project Microsoft Project is a project management software solution that would offer the necessary guidance while handing the project to ensure that deadline and financial constraints are met perfectly. Certain computer software tools could play significant role in the process to record, calculate, analyse, consolidate, and present the project in detailed formatting. But wait, becoming too much sanguine on achieving a successful project plan is not guaranteed. It all depends upon the project management team on how they approach and play the dice. However, Microsoft Project definitely offers the best of assistance in developing a better plan. The software tool asks the user to define the tasks in a more specific manner, thus letting the users get involved more into the project detailed scenario. MS Project also ensure that the projections become easy enough to calculate and become more reliable. The software tool would calculate a perfect schedule depending on the data being entered. MS Project would also figure out inconsistencies and problem areas in the project plan. It would detect any in-discrepancy or when deadline is not met. MS Project can generate printed reports to make it easy and more convincing to sell the plan to higher management levels. It becomes easy enough to communicate with a printed report. Format of this Assignment The assignment has been created using a 2-phased approach. Information is provided regarding how certain procedures are undertaken along with usage of certain techniques. Boxes have been used to provide detailed explanation for concepts and terms. The knowledge being acquired from this information would be used for developing this assignment. COURIER font is used for specific set of instructions. The Palmers Golf Course Project Project background Palmers Golf Course is one of the reputed golf courses in Auckland. However, it is a modern day gold course that was established two years back. It is known for the signature style and unique designing settings. It is the uniqueness that makes Palmers membership status experience a strong boost. With the increasing number of membership, the information system is being suffering a lot. As a result, the present system is now used only for processing accounts payables and receivables. More paperwork is getting conducted due to increase in the membership status. Be it bookings, maintenance, or HRD related tasks, paper works are increasing. As a result, there seems to be a strong requirement for a new system that could minimize the paper work. Lets assume your role in the project management for Palmers Golf Course. You have been appointed as the Project Leader for Soft-development Ltd, the company that has been contracted by Palmers to undertake the software development project. Your responsibility is to create a plan that would feature the planning and development structure for the new system while focusing on the budget and timeline. Palmers have asked you to start the project by Mon, 9th May 2016 and must be completed by Thu, 26th October 2016. Your reporting senior is Mr Robinson, the Project Manager for Soft-development Ltd, who liaises with Palmers Golf Course. You are ordered to report all the progress as well project planning to Mr Robinson on regular basis. Setting the Project Start Date Click on Menu Bar, go to the Project tab, and then click Project Information. Set project start date to Mon, 9th May 2016. Do NOT enter the finish date. Click OK. Set the Project Calendar A calendar needs to be created for the project that would highlight the working days as well non-working days with statutory holidays. The working time can be changed from tools under the menu tab. Setting a Finish Date In Microsoft project, from the project tab, choose project information to include a project information box. This box would provide you with a global view of the entire project. It also opens the option for What if scenarios from within the box. It can be used to specify a start date or a finish date. However, both at the same time cannot be specified. Remember, every project comes with a certain deadline. In case you dont need to reconcile the resource overloading part, it also offers the option to safely reschedule the project from the fixed finish date. Most of the projects come with limited resources. To help with resource overloads, this software tool can play an integral part. Set Durations The durations are displayed through Gantt Chart (available on the next page). Have a look at the process: Select Duration field for first task. Type a number to indicate the total length of duration along with duration unit in abbreviated format Simply press enter or tick mark These three steps need to be repeated for all the other tasks of the project Once completed, the Gantt chart would look something similar to the chart in the next page with "PALMERS GOLF COURSE PROJECT being tagged as Task 1 and "Initial Study as Task 2. According to the chart, it would take a total of 10 working days to complete the project tasks 26 and 27(the red bars). Since these are the most critical parts, these have been indicated by red colour on the chart. This also indicates the fact that every task is of independent nature and would run parallel to one another. Each of the task would start at the same time and same date (Cardea, 2015). Establishing Relationships between Tasks This is a crucial stage. Once the Gantt chart is formed, it becomes important to create a linking between the tasks and organize them in sequence to figure out the total time it would take to finish the project. Once the tasks are properly linked with one another, a relationship is being established between the tasks and it becomes easy enough to specify a series of events to be introduced in a sequential pattern. Once a task starts immediately after culmination of the previous task, the sequence is described as finish-to-start relationship. This relationship is considered to be most common in this kind of projects. Then, there is also finish-to-finish relationship where both the tasks end at the same time. Another option, start-to-start relationship witnesses starting of both the tasks at the same time. However, the most uncommon relationship is start-to-finish relationship where start of later task would be given prominence for completing previous task (Hlscher, 2014). References Cardea, E. (2015). Less would have been more. PsycCRITIQUES, 60(18). Cindrela Devi, A. (2015). Development of Resource-Driven Scheduling Model for Mass Housing Construction Projects. IJET, 7(5), pp.419-423. Eduardo Yamasaki Sato, C. and de Freitas Chagas Jr, M. (2014). When do megaprojects start and finish? Redefining project lead time for megaproject success. Int J Managing Projects in Bus, 7(4), pp.624-637. Hlscher, A. (2014). Racing from Finish to Start. Research World, 2014(44), pp.14-17. Jaber, K., Sharif, B. and Liu, C. (2016). An empirical study on the effect of 3D visualization for project tasks and resources. Journal of Systems and Software, 115, pp.1-17. ODowd, A. (2016). Trusts have been set impossible task to balance books, say NHS leaders. BMJ, p.i1444.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

The Picture Of Dorian Gray By Oscar Wilde (1856 - 1900) Essays

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1856 - 1900) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1856 - 1900) Type of Work: Fantasy novel Setting London, England; late nineteenth century Principal Characters Dorian Gray, an extremely handsome young man Basil Hallward, Dorian's older friend, a portrait artist Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian's vile tempter Sibyl Vane, Dorian's actress-lover James Vane, Sibyl's brother Story Overveiw As Basil Hallward artfully put the finishing touches on his full-length portrait of an extraordiiiarily beautiful young man, Lord Henr Wotton paid him a call. Lord Henry mucn admired the painting and desired to meet the subject. The artist objected, knowing the poisonous influence of which Lord Henry was capable; young Dorian Gray was his ideal of purity and had inspired Basil to the most expressive art of his life. Just then, in walked Dorian Gray. Against Hallward's wishes, the two met, and Dorian was immediately taken by Lord Henry's fascinating words, presence and wittiness. Henry flattered Dorian with his comments on the virtues of beauty, the charms of youth, and expressed his sadness at the thought that such youth should fade into the ugliness of age. This caused Dorian to plummet into melancholy. Seeing his portrait for the first time, Dorian gasped at his own beauty. He lamented that the picture would mock him his entire life; age would indeed steal his color and grace: "I know, now, that when one loses one's good looks, whatever they may be, one loses everything ... Lord Henry Wotton is perfectly right. Youth is the only thing worth having. When I find that I am growing old, I shall kill myself." Then he wished instead that the picture might grow old while he remained forever young: "I would give everything. I would give my soul for that!" Alarmed by these passions in the young man, Hallward attempted to destroy the painting, but Dorian stopped him and had it taken home that very evening. After that first meeting, Dorian and Lord Henry became fast friends and frequent partners at local theatres. Henry presented Dorian with a gift - a book about a young man's passions, sins and vileness. Dorian became captivated by its plot. For years he leafed through its pages - anct the book became an entrenched, tragic guide in the life of Dorian Gray. Dorian met and fell madly in love with Sibyl Vane, a beautiful and talented actress who was portraying Juliet in a cheap theatrical troupe. But the night Dorian invited Lord fienry and Basil Hallward to meet his new love, her performance was lifeless. She was hissed and booed by even the uneducated audience. Afterward, she joyfully explained to the disappointed Dorian that her love for her "Prince Charming," - as she knew him - had transformed her from a mere actress into a real woman. Dorian coldly shunned her, admitting that his love for her had been killed, and vowed that he would see her no more. On returning home, he was surprised to notice that the face in his painting had changed. A touch of cruelty now lined the mouth. His wish that the painting might be seared with suffering and guilt while his own face was left untarnished, had been granted! But now he pitied the portrait and resolved to live a pure life. He would return to Sibyl and marry her. He would see no more of the selfish Lord Henry. Dorian wrote Sibyl a passionate letter and fell asleep, confident that he would make amends to Sybil the following day. However, that next morning Lord Henry brought bad news: in grief, Sibyl had killed herself during the night. Lord Henry charmed the devastated youth, urging him to imagine the tragedy as a drama, with Juliet or Ophelia the victims, not the flesh-and-blood Sibyl. No, she will never come to life. She has played her last part ... To you at least she was always a dream, a phantom that flitted through Shakespeare's plays ... But don't waste your tears over Sibyl Vatic. She was less real than they are. Now Dorian forgot his good resolutions. If fate would deal unjustly with him, he, in turn, determined to give himself up to a life of pleasure and let the portrait bear the burden of his corrupting soul. Eternal youth, wild joys, infinite passion would be his. Horrified at Dorian's lack of remorse and feeling, Basil Hallward tried to reason with him. But Dorian was unmoved. He continued to guard the secret of the portrait from Basil, first covering it a with a sheet, and later moving it to an upstairs room, unopened since his grandfather had died mere five

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Essay RenadA ENG3UR U2L7a1

Essay RenadA ENG3UR U2L7a1 Essay RenadA ENG3UR U2L7a1 Lord of the Flies Literary Essay Symbolism is a very important element that is used in many novels. In William Goldings Lord of the Flies, the use of symbolism is very present and is shown through objects and characters. In Lord of the Flies, Simon symbolises the natural goodness in a human being. He is compassionate towards other people's feelings which shows true kindness. He helps other people out without needing any reasons for doing so, and he also is the only boy on the island that finds out the real truth about the beast. Even though Simon didn't really fit in well with the other boys on the island, he still remained very wise and tried his best to make a difference in other people's lives and his too. In the novel, Simon was described as a "skinny, vivid little boy...," (24) showing that he might have been weaker than the others physically, but not mentally. Despite his size, he still tried to help other people out on the island as best as he could. When the littluns could n ot reach the fruit, "Simon found for them the fruit they could not reach, pulled off the choicest from up in the foliage, passed them back down to the endless, outstretched hands." (56) He also was the only person that helped Ralph build shelters, while everybody else was doing their own thing, and having fun. Ralph said, "...I work all day with nothing but Simon...," (54) which shows that even though Simon could be doing his own thing like everybody else was, he stayed and helped Ralph out just for the good of it. The other boys on the island thought of Simon as "..queer...funny," (55) because he was rather odd, always going away in the forest alone for long periods of time. Every time Simon tried to talk to the other boys, his "effort fell about him in ruins; the laughter beat him cruelly and he shrank away defenseless in his seat." (89) Even though he was considered an outcast by the other boys, he still thought of other people's feelings, even though they didn't think of his. In the end, he was trying more to tell the boys what he knew, but they just thought he was weird. He told Ralph, 'You'll get back alright.';(111) Ralph's response was only that he thought Simon was 'batty.'; In another instance, he went to tell the others that he found out what the beast really was (the parachutist), but got caught in their bestial dance. They heard him 'crying something about a body on the hill,'; (152) but it was too late. In the darkness, he had been mistaken for the beast and was killed. Although Simon's life was a short one and he did not have the time to go through much change, he proved that there was hope for being rescued. He may have been an outcast and slightly weird, but he knew that everything would be just fine. Had he lived through the assault that took his life, the other boys would have seen that he was not as strange as they thought he was. It always seems that the children who know the most are mistaken for something else and are automatically sing led out. Finally, the good or moral person should be someone who stands up for what is right regardless of what others think, is willing to sacrifice for the greater good and is a very rational person. In the novel, Simon is the character who is shown as the good that exists in our society. First, Simon openly admits that he does not believe in the beast. Regardless of what the other boys think of him, he stands his ground. Secondly, Simon sacrifices his free time to help Ralph build shelter for all the boys. Although this involves much labour and hard work, he is willing to do anything he can to help out. Lastly, Simon is one of the only boys who does not jump to conclusions when rumors and stories of the beast begin to surface. Simon is the morally good boy. His selflessness and goodness comes from within. He is kind to the little boys, and helps the outcasts. For example, when none of the boys want to give Piggy meat from the first pig, Simon steps up and takes

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Direct Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Direct Marketing - Essay Example It is a system of interactive marketing which is aimed at maintaining and building long term relationships with customers through the products and services offerings (Koekemoer & Bird, 2004, p.332). On the other hand, mass marketing aims to target the total market without emphasising on specific market segments. In such a case, the marketer believes that the entire market would be satisfied through the single product offering. The product is offered in the market with minimum or completely no variation in the marketing. It includes a single price, one single promotional campaign targeting the entire market and also a single method of distribution (Strydom, 2001, p.61). This is a relatively less costly affair which includes only a single standard package using one promotional message. Some of the common differences between the two are discussed as follows. The traditional advantages associated with mass marketing are that the production costs remains low because of a single production run for a product which is homogeneous in nature. The advertising cost also remains low because of the launch of a single campaign. It also does not require extensive market research which is why the cost associated with market research also remains low (Strydom, 2001, p.62). ... It is said that the strategies for direct marketing must be in alignment and should be guided by the marketing strategy of the organisation on the whole. It shows the way in which the customers can be reached on a one to one basis. This includes determining the product strategies, setting the price and arranging for the distribution. The L. L. Bean Inc. targets the outdoor apparel niche by the use of catalogue marketing. Many companies have used direct marketing to communicate with the target market. For example, Dell Inc. employs sales contact directly with the business customers, internet sales and telephone sales (Cravens, 2009, 377). Dell Inc. is also said to be using the internet for providing customers with the necessary information prior to taking an order over the telephone. The following paragraph discusses some of the common features of both forms of marketing. In term of the costs involved, direct marketing is said to be less costly as compared to mass marketing because it targets less number of people and is carefully aimed at a selected few. It would be more applicable for businesses which have a small or medium target market and which has string prospects. For example, the TV home shopping channels, like Home Shopping network is one the modes of direct marketing (Kennedy, 2006, p.3). In other words, direct marketing involves an one to one customer relationship on the basis of personalized communications (Stone & Jacobs, 2007, p.10). Another basic difference between the two is that direct marketing has a greater conversion rate than mass marketing. It is likely to be surer of converting the first person it targets before moving to its next target. Also,

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - Essay Example This is a clear indication that his theme of self-improvement emanates to as early as that tender age of twelve (Franklin 1899). Later on, it happened that he quarreled with his brother and he left for Philadelphia, where he got a job as a printer. This was not to last long and he left for London, where he met no fulfilling promises and then went back to Philadelphia, where he worked for a business (Leo 1986). Upon the death of the business owner, he left to establish his own printing firm, where his journal, the â€Å"Pennsylvania Gazette† when he stopped writing for the journal, he embarked on printing on it â€Å"Father Abraham’s sermon† the greatest of his works that rose him to the hall of fame, he belongs to till today (Franklin 1899). All this are illustrations of his theme of self- improvement, in that from the point he quarreled with his brother, he proceeded to seek ways to earn a living, working under different people in different fields. He emerges as a positive minded personality who struggled to make ends meet with a dream that never died to excel in the writing and publishing field (Stuber 1790). By stating, that he emerged from a state of poverty to that of affluence and fame in his autobiography further indicates the strength of the theme of self-improvement in his life (Leo 1986). He describes through his reference to personal pride that he upheld, which for some reasons created a room for change and improvements that enabled him achieve the success that he did achieved during his life time (Franklin 1899). According to him, self-pride is not evil, since it is the seed planted to reap improvements and advances in personal character traits, which are Congruent with the achievement of success. During his years at grammar school at a tender age of eight, he proved to be an excellent student. Through self-improvement, he managed to rise his position from that at the middle of the class performance to be the head of the class. This saw him moved to the next class, before his duration for the first class was over. Unfortunately, this was not long lasting and he was moved out of school to support his father’s business at the age of ten (Franklin 1899). In recounting his events, he had a liking for seafarer that his father so much opposed. However, he did all he could in his means to become an excellent one, leading the other boys. All this demonstrates the spirit of self-improvement that developed at a very tender age. Worth noting is the fact that in his family, inheritance was passed on to the first son, and thus being the last one, the hopes of any good life were extinguished by such default (Stuber 1790). More of his self-improvement theme is discovered when he states that he had not a good access to books while working under his brother, but he could borrow one in the evening, read it the whole night and return it early morning to avoid the book being noticed missing (Leo 1986). His self-improve ment theme, as advanced by his autobiography, he came up with a scheme to leave a legacy. This he did by setting up an academy, which later translated to a university. This alone was not enough, so he went on to founding the â€Å"American Philosophical Society.† The intentions of this was to provide the other scientific

Monday, January 27, 2020

Risk Behaviours of Cardiovascular Diseases Study

Risk Behaviours of Cardiovascular Diseases Study Title of the Study To identify the prevalence of ineffective physical activity and unhealthy dietary pattern among MSc Nursing students; could lead to cardiovascular diseases. Significance of the Research Problem Global Burden of Cardio Vascular Diseases: There are many risk factors associated with coronary heart disease. Some risk factors such as age, ethnicity and family history, cannot be changed. Additional risk factors that can be treated or changed which include tobacco exposure, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, unhealthy diets, and harmful use of alcohol. In terms of attribute global deaths, the leading CVD risk factor is raised blood pressure 13%, tobacco use 9%, raised blood glucose 6%, physical inactivity 6 % and overweight and obesity 5% (World Health Organization, 2012). Low- and middle-income countries are disproportionally affected: over 80% of CVD deaths take place in low- and middle-income countries and occur almost equally in men and women (Mendis, Puska Norving, 2011). The number of people, who die from CVDs, mainly from heart disease and stroke, will increase to reach 23.3 million by 2030 (Mendis, Puska Norving, 2011). Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and obesity, physical inactivity, high blood pressure, diabetes and raised lipids. Cardiovascular diseases and Ineffective physical activity: Insufficient physical activity is the fourth leading risk factor for mortality. People who are insufficiently physically active have a 20 to 30 percent increased risk of all-cause mortality compared to those who engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most days of the week. In 2008, 31.3% of adults aged 15 or older (28.2% men and 34.4%) were insufficiently physically active. Cardiovascular diseases and unhealthy dietary patterns: Approximately 16 million and 1.7 million of deaths worldwide are attributing to low fruit and vegetable consumption (Mendis, Puska Norving, 2011). Frequent consumption of high-energy foods, such as processed foods that are high in fat and sugar, promotes obesity compared to low-energy foods. Adequate consumption of fruit and vegetables reduces the risk of Cardio Vascular Disease. A healthy diet can contribute to a healthy body weight, a desirable lipid profile and a desirable blood pressure (Mendis, Puska Norving, 2011). Risk Behaviors The vulnerable populations of MSc Nursing students are at high risk of developing such risky behaviors that might endanger their own lives. Although, the above behaviors are modifiable but due to shortage of time and increase load of studies, students are seems careless of their diets and physical activity. Purpose The purpose of this study is to look for the two main risk behaviors of cardio vascular diseases among MSc Nursing students. These are: Ineffective physical exercise. Unhealthy diet. Research Questions What is the prevalence of ineffective physical activity among MSc Nursing students? What is the Prevalence of unhealthy dietary pattern among MSc Nursing students? Target Population The target population for this study would be the existing students of, Masters of Science in Nursing of the Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. Study Design This would be a descriptive cross sectional study design. Key Study Variables The key variables of the study would be ineffective physical activity and unhealthy diet. Operational Definitions of the Study Variables Ineffective Physical Activity Ineffective physical activity can be defined as ‘less than five times 30 minutes of moderate*activity per week, or less than three times 20 minutes of vigorous activity** per week, or equivalent(Mendis, Puska Norving, 2011). *Moderate activity level Your heart beats faster than normal; you can talk but not sing. Examples include fast walking, aerobics class, doing weights, or swimming gently. **Vigorous activity level Your heart beat increases a lot; you can’t talk or your talk is broken up by large breaths. Examples include jogging, running, basketball, or hiking up a steep hill (World Heart Federation Organization, 2014). Unhealthy Diet: High dietary intakes of saturated fat*, trans-fats** and salt, and low intake of fruits, vegetables and fish (white meat) are linked to cardiovascular risk (Mendis, Puska Norving, 2011). *Saturated fats found primarily in animal sources including red meat and whole milk dairy products. **Trans fats found in vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, baked goods, and other processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (World Heart Federation Organization, 2014). Hypothesis There is a prevalence of unhealthy diet among MScN students. There is a prevalence of ineffective physical activity among MScN students. Description of the Questionnaire A questionnaire is formulated to test the hypothesis under the light of the research question. The questionnaire comprises of the following three parts. Demographic information: The first part addresses the basic demographic information. The aim of acquiring the demographic information from the participants is to gather a baseline data about the key characteristics of the sample. Moreover demographic variables will be needed to assess the similarities and differences between the participants and characterize them accordingly. A total of 6 items are included in this section. The demographic characteristics included in the questionnaire comprises of name which is kept optional. The other components of this part include age, gender, ethnicity, family history related to (angina, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disorder), use of any medications, language, and family relationships. We make this form with the help of available literature and exclude other points like education level, because it is already known from sample. Physical Activity The second part consists of 12 items modified and derived from the Healthy heart questionnaire, which develops by Colorado Public Health Research. We modified it according to the developing country life style. We adopt the pattern of multiple choice and nominal scale for clarification of analysis (Colorado Public Health Research, 2010). For fulfilling the purpose we include the questions related to WHO definitions and for making user friendly, we have given the conceptual definition of the moderate, light and vigorous exercises in easy English words, and these definitions are also derived from American Heart Association guidelines. Dietary Pattern The third part of the questionnaire comprises questions related to dietary pattern. These questions are derived and modified from American Heart Association and American Nutrition guidelines. The scale includes; more than once a day, about once a day, 2-3 times a week, about once a week, 1-3 times a month, and less than once a month, for accuracy of the data of the nutritional status (Colorado Public Health Research 2010). Assumptions underlying the Statistical tests to be used The analysis of the data would be done through available valid statistical software like SPSS 19.0. For the purpose of analyzing the data three statistical tests would be applied in order to measure different levels of association between the key variables. The demographic information would be presented through descriptive statistical analysis (Beitz, 2008). This would include measures of central tendency like (mean, median and mode) to describe the overall demographic characteristics of the study population. Apart from the measures of central tendency, percent analysis (Beitz, 2008) would be used to determine the presence and overall prevalence of ineffective physical activity among study participants. Also percent analysis would be used to determine the unhealthy dietary pattern. In order to determine the association between various demographic variables like age, gender, height and weight of sample size individuals, univariate analysis would be used while determining that the obse rvations would be independent of each other. Population is normally distributed and assuming the homogeneity among the population variances (Bluman, 2011). Moreover, Pearson correlation analysis would be used to examine the strength and nature (positive, negative, inverse, none) of 2 variables of cardio vascular disease. With unhealthy dietary habit, keeping in mind the four assumptions of correlation i.e. the variables should be measured in interval and ratio scale, variables should have a linear relationship between the two, there, all significant outliers should be predicted and removed and the variables should be approximately normally distributed (Beitz, 2008). Effectiveness and Correctness of the Tool Pre –testing of the tool In order to test the effectiveness and correctness of the tool, the tool was pilot tested among three fellows from the MScN students from our class. The tool was distributed for filling the form. The feedback which was received from fellows is quite helpful .While testing the questionnaire; we identified a few components that needed to be modified. Firstly, they identified that in dietary pattern, if we add the instruction that tick the examples mention in bullets so it would be helpful to analyze that which type of ingredient is more common in our population. Secondly they suggest that the BMI should be added in the questionnaire with that feedback we respond that we asked in our questionnaire about weight and height which is equivalent to BMI therefore it was not added in the questionnaire. The feedback was taken as a positive critical reflection and first advice would be incorporated in the final questionnaire for the study purpose. Reflection Overall the questionnaire development was a stimulating and challenging task. The process of questionnaire development in itself is quite difficult as it requires researchers to critically analyze the hypothesis and research questions and formulate such questions that fulfill the overall inquiry of the subject understudy while excluding the unnecessary those details which are not suitable for developing country. In conclusion, the tool development task was a vigorous exercise that would help us to develop an effective tool for our thesis in particular. The pilot testing was an effective strategy to be kept in mind while developing the final tool. Acknowledgement We would like to thank Dr. Raisa Gul and Ms. Yasmin Parpio for their valuable support and guidance throughout the process of the questionnaire development. We would also like to acknowledge and thank all the three study participants who co-operated with us and provided us their valuable time and required data to test the questionnaire.