Educational Play: Theories, Perspectives, and Proposals

Educational Play: Theory, Programs, & Perspectives Abstract The following play program educational survey and observation details the educator and administrator perspectives on performance outcomes in four Virginia Beach schools. The use of play as an effective educational method is supported by the comprehensive literature review on the topic which discusses the major theories of Piaget, Erikson, and Vygotsky as the foundation for concluding how to best utilize play in the formal elementary education segment. The data provides a look into the primary factors driving play program success as well as hurdles to program effectiveness. Further research is needed to substantiate the solidification of play programs as empirically-supported components of successful education initiatives. Insert Title Page1 Abstract2 Introduction: Literature Review4 Literature Review5 Method8 Participants8 Instruments8 Process9 Issues and Considerations11 Data Analysis12 Results14 Group A16 Group B18 Group C19 Group D21 Discussion: Use and Limitations22 References:25 Appendices:27 Table 1. Total Respondents Breakdown27 Table 2. Survey Race and Gender Demographic Breakdown27 Table 3. Top Suggested Improvements for Play Program Effectiveness27 Appendix 1. The Play Curriculum Teacher Questionnaire28 Introduction: Literature Review In childhood education, the theory of play is of major importance to actualizing learning despite increasing administrator and educator focus on testing scores and performance outcomes. Theorists have posed a number of perspectives that address the importance and role of play in the primary education sector. Hymes (1981) contends that play is a solid foundation for teaching children as well as an insightful tool through which educators can accurately observe and assess student learning. Erikson’s (1950) theory of psychosocial development posits that play in not only helpful, but essential to childhood development. The psychologist states that play creates a safe space in which children can work out their conflicts. The imagination, when allowed to run free, facilitates self-exploration and autonomy. An environment can be deliberately designed to initiate play without personalizing the child’s engagement and interaction, thereby supporting freedom. Piaget (1962) expands play theory from the individual education to social interaction learning and development. Play and imitation become critical elements to learning and adapting to an external environment as the child learns about their world and self within this context. This hands-on involvement allows the child to experiment with symbols and self. According to Vygotsky (1978), play is also pertinent to developing the ability to defer immediate gratification as fantasy play assists the child in adapting to their circumstances and experiences through more mature means. For the purpose of this study, Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories of play will be used o evaluate the use of play in the primary education environment for self and social teaching; this will be achieved through a comprehensive review of current literature in conjunction with a play program survey to connect the theoretical foundation of play theory with the practical application of play in the classroom. Using four primary play programs in the Virginia Beach school district, the author examines play promotion and hindranc e to outline avenues for improving the use of play in the elementary education environment. Literature Review The United States school systems have moved away from the integration of play in primary education despite the extensive theories and research supporting the importance and use of play to childhood education and development. Even recess has been reduced as administrator and educator focus has been forcibly shifted to core education activities and test score outcomes (Stokes-Guinan, 2009; Smith & McKnight, 2009) with 40% of school districts having eliminated – or nearly eliminated – recess altogether (Zygmunt-Fillwalk & Bilello, 2005). However, while less students are receiving play opportunities in their structured school curriculum, this does not negate the wealth of research evidencing the social, emotional, and physical benefits of research and play (Stokes-Guinan, 2009). The U. S. system’s prioritization of student achievement is short-sighted in its scores-focus, failing to comprehend the building blocks that allow for students to build and sustain the capacity for greater individual and social learning success, thus improving academic advantage. Play assists children in navigating the real world through fantasy by empowering decision-making, initiative, rules, consequences, and uncertainty (Annetta, et al. , 2009). Research concludes that play is both imaginative and symbolic (Galvez-Martin, 1997). Bronson (1995) states that play is crucial to human existence and that this need extends into human learning as it is maintained and utilized throughout the individual’s lifespan (Galvez-Martin, 1997). Additionally, play is both an educational experience and a learning process s children engage their internal and external environments. According to Isenberg and Jacob (1982), in play, children learn how to learn. â€Å"When children play, they learn† (Annetta, et al. , 2009, p. 1091). This translates into the idea that, while playing, children are learning new methods, techniques, and skills through incidental ways. Researches often quote Piaget, Erikson, and Vygotsky’s theories of play in which play facilitate s intellectual, psychological, linguistic, and social growth through cognitive and symbolic exploration (Rivera, 2009). Fein (1985) examples the powerful creative component of play; however, the author also upholds play’s vital contribution to the development of language, memory, and problem solving (Galvez-Martin, 1997). A majority of modern education is defined by a rule-oriented realism in which play is, at best, compartmentalized. In 1987, Bergen contended that empowering academic achievement and cognitive capacity required the introduction and encouragement of play, stating that mastery of such skills would result in more sophisticated problem-solving and ingenuity. Play is a realm that fosters more in-depth understanding of environment, interpretation, and response; this definition speaks to the individual play perspective. However, there is also a social sphere wherein groups participate in this same development but through social role-playing and collaboration (Stokes-Guinan, 2009). As toys act as symbols, they can be insightfully used to teach fundamental principles and reinforce factual comprehension (O’Brien, 1993; Galvez-Martin, 1997). In any activity where mastery is the intended goal, play is the means for reaching this destination (Rivera, 2009). A wealth of perspectives on defining play and its impact exist; however, researchers have reached consensus on the integral importance of play in early childhood development and education programs using the theoretical foundations of Piaget (1962) and Vygotsky (1978). Each of the quoted authors cites various researchers, programs, and theorists in the goal of substantiating play as a plausible method for educational outcomes. The largest points of contention concern the definition of play and the exact cognitive connections. For example, Piaget’s (1962) assimilation theory does not necessarily equate to Vgotsky’s (1978) theory of cognitive development (Fox, n. d. ). While these divergences exist, there is little debate concerning the fundamental importance of play as the majority of researchers corroborate the vital need for play as a crucial framework for childhood education. Another point of divergence is the practical application of play in the classroom. The researchers offer a wealth of methods yet fail to construct a best practices model for play program development in elementary education. Furthermore, measuring the outcomes of these programs is a difficult task as it is challenging to isolate variables and validate causation. There are an extensive number of factors engaged in the creation of play programs, including government, administrator, educator, parent, and student influence and involvement. The necessity in research is to move beyond these limitations and reliance on theory, reaching empirically-based evidence for the use of play programs in public and private education forums. This is a difficult task for the academic research community. The theoretical framework for logically grasping the importance and role of play in learning is rooted in qualitative measures of study, exampled by surveys, observations, and other perception analyses. There are ways of comparing educational outcomes using strict tactics of methods separation to delineate the most effective techniques by their correlating outcomes; but again, it is important to highlight that the primary causation remains elusive as each child’s learning style, capacity, and conditioning are uniquely derived and affecting. Therefore, research in this field is likely to continue it trajectory of working from a sound theory context by aligning educational tactics to fit this construct. Method Participants The Virginia Beach School District has a total of seven schools (public and private) who have some form of official play program currently in place. The focus of this study is in detailing the success of implemented programs that have been operating these programs for a minimum of two years. In meeting this criterion, two schools were eliminated as possibilities and another denied an offer of participation through omission of response. Therefore, the survey sample population was reduced to four school groups, two private and two public, who qualified and accepted study inclusion. Prior to receiving the survey, each of the four school groups were contacted and the purpose of the study was discussed with the administration. After receiving agreement to allow their programs to be evaluated for this project, the participating staff received a preliminary email explaining the process and intent of the study which is to gain more in-depth understanding of factors that contribute to and factors that harm play program success. Administrators and educators were encouraged to submit any questions or concerns in response to the email; however, no further clarification was needed. Initial confirmation was received from 29 faculty members; but this number decreased to 27 as the final count of total survey completion upon commencement of the survey process. The sample qualifies as random in that the researcher set the criteria of the study population and both the schools and the staff members then determined participation voluntarily. Instruments The study instruments are two-fold. The first and major source of data collection is the play program questionnaire. The questionnaire includes a number of areas pertinent to further understanding the construct of the play programs, the participant or leaders backgrounds, the makeup of the professional and student body, and the perceived outcomes of the play program implementation. Additionally, respondents were asked to communicate in open-ended question format for a number of items to gain more specific feedback regarding their program achievements and pitfalls. The second arm of analysis is the on-site visitation and observation. Each of the four schools allowed the researcher to sit in on play program class times. This observation relies on the researcher’s perception and evaluation. In preparation for the analysis, an observation format checklist and focal point document was created to guide the researcher. Particular attention was directed at classroom engagement, learning outcomes, student interactivity, faculty attitudes, play duration, and play activities. The observation period additionally acts as an open-ended question response as the researcher aimed to incorporate as much information as possible regarding the design, delivery, and success of these individual programs. During this day period, the researcher optimized any opportunity for individual discussion with faculty members. Given the age of the students, it was determined unnecessary to include them in the evaluation at this time other than observing their perceived connection, response, and learning during the play period. Each program differed greatly; therefore, the researcher, after meeting the written document guide points of consideration, recorded observations freely in an attempt to eliminate preconceived analysis or areas of importance. Process The survey invitations were sent out on the same day; seven days after this, each of the five possible candidate schools were contacted via telephone. During this call, the researcher spoke to the Principle or Program Director. Within three days, four of the five candidates confirmed their commitment to the project, understanding the survey and the observation period framework of the study. The fifth institution was contacted twice more; however, after failing to obtain confirmation, the school was eliminated from participation. The questionnaire was then sent out to a total of 29 potential respondents who were identified by the school administrators as having direct involvement in the play program although in varying degrees. Participants received the survey via email at their school accounts. The questionnaires were then either mailed or emailed to the researcher. Within a ten-day period, 27 questionnaires were received and two administrators reported they were no longer involved significantly in the programs and could not honestly add to the survey. Upon receipt of the results, using the devised coding system, the researcher recorded replies in the research database. The surveys protected anonymity; the only identifying factor was the institution. The purpose of this distinction was for comparison of institutions as well as the difference between private and public school programs. After each of the surveys was properly coded, the observation period was conducted. Unfortunately, given each school’s constraints in procedure, it was impossible to replicate the observation at each of the schools. For example, School A included a four-hour total observation of the play program activities, five brief staff interviews, and a one hour interview session with the Play Program Director. School B’s observation was solely comprised of three hours of direct program observation. Each of the observation periods allowed for total checklist completion; however, the results were undeniably weaker in those periods where the researcher was not able to conduct interviews. After completion of the four observations, the researcher then applied a similar coding structure and documented these results in the study database. Patterns and insights were recorded as well. Interview responses were compartmentalized, coded, and quoted according to the devised system and to the perceived importance of input or reply. Results were then compiled and analyzed as outlined in the data analysis. During this procedure, the researcher identified patterns of similarity and differentiation as well as exacted a number of factors that seemed to have little relevance given the diversity of the results. Issues and Considerations The selection of the survey method is due mainly to ease of use, time constraints, and cost limitations; however, the questionnaire also aligns with study intention in its qualitative efforts of delineating factors of successful play programs. The survey structure also allows for a flexibility in data analysis as the results facilitate multivariate assessment. The standardization of the survey further provides an economy of analysis as the researcher determines the questions, and responses to be asked, recorded, coded, and analyzed. The disadvantages of this method of data collection are primarily linked to the study’s limited capacity for analysis through more scientific and mathematic modes of date correlation. Another consideration is the weakened validity of these results given the reliance on close-ended questions. The greatest area of concern, however, is both the human element of the respondents and the researcher. Reporting accuracy is difficult to ascertain and may be largely dependent upon circumstances, attitudes, and beliefs that have no direct connection to the program or study direction. The primary challenges included properly coding responses and determining study significance. In asserting correlations or points of interest, the researcher is met with questions of causation. The survey results yield useful information regarding play program design, delivery, assessment, and improvement; however, the reliance on qualitative data undermines the validity and generalization of the study. Instead, the study reveals a strong comparison within this small sample population but lacks quantitative empirical support through student performance assessments and comparison to prior to and following play program introduction. Understanding the realistic perimeters of the study is necessary for comprehending the actual and applicable usage of the results. For the participating institutions, the study builds a solid foundation for present and future objectives by taking the temperature of the current program faculty and educator perceptions. This microcosm perspective may be applied to other school districts where researchers seek similar comparison. On the macrocosmic scale, the results are guideposts in play program implementation and suggest future avenues of study in this field. Anonymity did not prove to be an ethical necessity for this study. Participants were willing and open to interdepartmental discussion; 85% of respondents included their names despite the lack of request. Data security was therefore unsubstantiated in this study sample. Despite the limitations of the questionnaire, the method of study aligns with research intent. Acknowledging analysis barriers offers a lens for grasping the integrity of the results as well as in understanding the importance of the human element in any organization initiative. With this clarity of mind, the study reveals useful data for the play program community as a whole. Data Analysis Data analysis is the process of data evaluation in which data is logically and mathematically deconstructed. In this project, the data was collected from the selected sample populations which consisted of both public and private primary education sites. In total, 27 participants committed to the project. Data preparation in this process involved logging the survey results, checking for accuracy, entering the data into the computer system, and developing a document database structure for examining various data measures and outcomes. Along with the survey, the researcher conducted four on-site observation periods, which included discussions with administrators and educators concerning student progress and implication. This data source serves to create a more comprehensive context for data and program comparison. The data collection is fundamentally qualitative. The main body of data collection is the questionnaire, which predominantly contains Likert scale reporting, short answer input, short response, and short answer questions. The first portion of the questionnaire collects demographic data relaying the respondents’ personal and professional history. This data was recorded and analyzed as it correlates with the specific play programs in question and the sample segment as a whole. Teacher age, education, sex, language fluency, race, profession, experience, and subject are outlined in this section and are analyzed for correlations, dependences, and relationships. The compilation of this raw data was used in relation to the Likert scale results to identify underlying trends, similarities, or dissimilarities in the reporting. The classroom portion is additionally intended to assist the researcher in differentiating results and relationships. The Diversity Item grouping allows the respondent to give more detailed observations of the student group and the diversity of the student make-up. This information may prove useful is comparing play program design and outcomes in accordance with student body profiles. Following this section, the questionnaire moves into the specific element breakdowns in the play curriculum. These ratings and measures provided the framework in which all other gathered data was integrated, compartmentalized, and correlated. Finally, the last part of the questionnaire provides space for personal reflection and response in open-ended answer format. The researcher has to use judgment in the identification and evidencing of the significance of these similarities; coded interview process was utilized, but the researcher is paramount in this stage of evaluation given the heavy reliance on personal perception and data interpretation. This questionnaire is a hand-written response format. Therefore, checking for accuracy is necessary part of the data review process. Major concerns are: legibility, complete response, and answer quality. Scale totals and categories will then be established to quantify survey results. In analyzing the data inputs, the researcher uses both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics are employed to directly describe what the data shows whereas inferential statistics aim to intelligently reach conclusions existing outside of this base reading of the data. Univariate analysis is central as single variables will be compared across the section using: distribution and central tendency; dispersion and standard variation will not be used for this study. Simple distribution lists each variable value and the respondent number or percentage. Central tendency includes the three major types of estimates of: mean, median, and mode. Using inferential statistics, the researcher will simply compare different group segments performance outcomes and offer conclusions and recommendations based on these measurements. This discussion will incorporate the administrator and educator responses, in hopes of determining how play programs designs, outcomes, and perspectives can be maximized according to class, teacher, and institution profiles. Results The survey results were successfully collected from 27 respondents in 4 school groups (Table 1). The private school groups are divided into Group A and Group B while the public schools are denoted as Group C and Group D. Group A consists of a total of 6 participants – four educators and two administrators. Group B consists of 9 participants – 6 educators and 3 administrators. In total, the Private School Group (PRSG) is comprised of 10 educators and 5 administrators. Group C consists of 8 participants – 5 educators and 3 administrators while Group D consists of 4 respondents, all of which are educators. In total, the Public School Group (PUSG) is comprised of 12 participants – 9 educators and 3 administrators. Logically, the educator class had greater representation due to the fact that this group is simply larger and responsible for implementing the programs within the schools; however, little information is derived concerning the degree of authority and influence yielded by these different sects. It seems practical that the administration would have a larger affect on bureaucratic measures such as funding while the educator sect is of greater impact on actual student outcomes. It is necessary for future research to examine the weight of these different groups to generate more accurate analysis of the results. Approximately 78% of all survey respondents were female; the 22% (6) male group all fell into the administrative categorization, 50% of which (3) were employed within the public school sector. However, this gender representation does not reflect the entire school faculty community but speaks only of the play program participants. As such, we conclude that play program implementation in this population is female driven. The demographic profile of the groups did not reveal any significant correlations to the data in terms of race in relation to the play program outcomes; however, it is interesting to note that the PRSG was predominantly Caucasian. In Group A, 83% (5) identified as White and one member identified as Hispanic. In Group B, 78% (7) were Caucasian and two respondents were African-American. The PRSG is therefore 80% White. In the PUSG, the racial profile was more diversified. In Group C, 3 (37%) were Caucasian, 3 (37%) were African-American, and 2 (25%) were Hispanic. In Group D, 2 (50%) were Caucasian, 1 (25%) was African-American and 1 (25%) was Asian-American. In total, PUSG is racially divided as: 5 (42%) were Caucasian, 4 (33%) were African-American, 2 (17%) were Hispanic, and 1 (8%) were Asian-American. The total survey race demographic is summarized in Table 2. Analysis did not reveal any significance difference in program outcome report and demographics. Again, the most relevant information is the lack of male representation and the lack of racial differentiation within the play programs, especially within the private school sector. However, further inquiry into each school’s total demographic makeup shows that there is no need for concern regarding play program disparity as the numbers are within range in reference to race. This point is not true when investigating gender. For example, in Groups A, B, and D, the total institutional presence of male educators and administrators was higher than the presence of male participation in the play program; for Group C, the gender split was relatively similar in total. All of the play program respondents taught between the 1st and 3rd grade range. Group B reported the greatest number of years in both the school system and the particular school of study, ranking them as the first in regards to experience and play program delivery duration. Group A’s program has been active for 2 school years. Group B’s program is 5 years old. Group C has 3 years and Group D estimates 4 years, however, the respondents do not have a clearly articulated program and have instead been trying to apply the theories to their lesson plans. The results demonstrate that each school was significantly different than the others in play program approach. The study is limited in that the particular differences are not clearly defined. Therefore, each school will be examined separately prior to making conclusive remarks about the play programs. Group A The play program has been active for two years. The program has a total of 4 educator participants with students ranging between 1st and 3rd grades. The 6 respondents indicated an average program satisfaction score of 6. The educators reported significantly lower ratings regarding the organization’s prioritization of the program and a low (4) average rating of the program’s improvement since inception. The administrators, however, were more highly satisfied, reporting an average rating of 8 for overall program satisfaction and a score of 7 for program prioritization. The educators and administrators were largely in agreement with the clarity of the program’s expectations. The following factors were rated as poor to fair by the educators, suggesting the source causes of this disconnect in program perception: 1) Administrator Involvement, 2) Student Learning, 3) Student Feedback, 4) Student Outcomes, and 5) Curriculum Depth. Therefore, the educator consensus was that the program was of fair benefit to the students but the effectiveness was rated as poor amongst the team. There was some differentiation of opinion amongst the two administrator respondents with one reporting that Program Achievements were excellent and the other rating these as satisfactory; however, the more useful data came from the educators who mirrored each others’ discontent. The three primary obstacle identified by the participants were: 1) funding, 2) time for planning, and 3) administration support. The short answer component revealed that the educator team was dissatisfied by the time and resources allotted to the program, stating that they were unable to successfully integrate their ideas and knowledge due to the lack of administrator support and access to needed resources. The observation period demonstrated that the program was not strongly structured. Instead, the educators loosely integrated periods of play throughout their instruction. The largest observed block of consistent time was 15 minutes and the educator did not have a curriculum guiding the process. Students were allowed to free play under the theme of letters. Some students (2nd grade) took turns acting out letters while others colored pictures and seemed to wander throughout the room. However, after this period was finished, the students did appear better able to focus on their studies. The interviews portion further outlined a division between the administration and the staff. It was evident that clear sides had been drawn although the administration was not aware of the degree of teacher dissatisfaction. Both of the administrators were male. In speaking of the play program, the language used centered on the connecting the program to the school’s overall superiority to the public school system. The educators were more interested specifically in the outcomes of the play program and required assistance with design and delivery of the program. The loosely appointed director of the program had only 3 years experience, most of which was in play program theory; her reported comfort level was a 6. In interview, she stated, â€Å"I don’t really know how to connect play to our curriculum. It is hard to balance my daily duties and research†¦. I really could use some more help. † Group B Group B had the longest running program at 5 years. Survey participants’ responses to the likert scale ratings were consistently close, depicting cohesion in performance, vision, and perception. This group reported the highest years of experience as well as the highest levels of comfort, affect, prioritization, and satisfaction. The program specifically focused on 3rd grade students. In observation, the team was highly structured in their intention and structuring of play activities. For example, one class spent an entire hour and a half period engaged in dramatic theater as part of their study of significant Americans. The teacher had devised a game where each of the students was given a role to play and allowed time to research their role/character as well as to dress in costume. The students were then invited to a party where they acted their parts as they interacted with each other. After this period, the class guessed what each student was acting. On every category, the program was rated in the Good to Excellent range by all participants. The survey showed that 7 of the team members had been involved since the program’s launch and the other 2 had at least one year’s background of active play theory experience in their prior employment institutions. The survey concluded a unanimous report of â€Å"Excellent† across the organizational team on the categories of: 1) Integration with Core Curriculum, 2) Administrator, Teacher, and Student Involvement, 3) Student Engagement, 4) Benefit to Students, 5) Program Outcomes, 6) Usefulness, and 7) Effectiveness. Additionally, the program was rated above an 8 by all participants on the topics of: 1) improvement since program launch, 2) personal involvement with the program, 3) confidence in implementation, and 4) overall experience with the program. The only significant point of dissatisfaction relates to Parent Involvement with 78% of respondents rating this item as poor to satisfactory. This factor was similarly reported as a means of improving the program’s effectiveness. The top three enhancement strategies were (in order of importance): 1) Increased Parent Involvement/Funding, 2) Access to Experts, and 3) Professional Development Courses. The core components of the program were collaboration, innovation, and accountability. Furthermore, seven of the nine participants state that the most significant point for integrating a successful play program is â€Å"Collaboration between the administration and educator team. † This finding is significant especially in comparison to Group A results and observation where this disconnect is having impact on the program’s performance and perceptions. Group C This group was the most diverse in opinion. The average rating for overall experience with the program was a 6; however, the mean rating was a 7. Approximately 60% stated they had clear expectations of the program’s expectations and initiatives; but the remaining three participants had barely any knowledge whatsoever (1 to 3). Similarly, these respondents reported significantly low confidence scores and personal involvement. On the remaining items of the test, the rater spread was such that little data could be meaningfully connected to the scores; instead, there was a wide variety of experience and opinion expressed. When analyzing the minority survey results, a few arguable consistencies were traced. The first was a general agreement that funding was the primary hurdle to the play program; additionally, these teachers tended to remark that the administration was disconnected from the student’s needs and more concerned with test scores and other performance outcome measures. The Caucasian teachers had a different perspective on the underlying problems facing program improvement; all 3 stated that a lack of parent involvement was a major disruption to program progress. The most interesting aspect of this group’s outcome was the prevalence of general agreement on the total benefit to students that held both an average and mean rating of Excellent. The three participants who reported a lack of confidence did not fail to see the benefit provided to the students. During observation, it became clear that the program participants took relaxed approach and the students were moderately to highly engaged in the activities. The student’s appeared to be â€Å"having fun;† the issue of consideration is the degree to which learning is measurably promoted in this relaxed environment. The average overall rating of 6 was connected to ratings of poor to fair in the categories of Program Design, Play Time Allotment, and Curriculum Depth. During interview, one administrator stated, â€Å"The play program allows the opportunity for the students to interact with one another and build learning relationships. † The phrase â€Å"learning relationships† was echoed in both the observation and the survey. When asked to define this concept, one educator summarized, â€Å"The learning relationship creates a social bonding experience for the earner and the educator; the students and the staff become more comfortable sharing through learning. † Another educator exampled this concept, stating that â€Å"her kids†¦openly discuss their challenges and interest† which leads to â€Å"group problem-solving† and â€Å"strong social support in the classroom. † Group D Group D is characterized by the small size of the play program team. The fo ur members, all educators, estimated four years total program implementation and generally remarked that the had been working together to integrate the theories and suggestions into their lesson plans. The lack of administrator involvement, according to the team, did not hinder their performance outcomes. Instead, the participants were strongly aligned in their survey responses. This cohesion advantaged the team. The members worked collaboratively to select and design play activities. These were then modified to fit instructor needs. The teacher’s kept journals tracking their personal observations of the effectiveness of specific activities, even using student feedback (voting) to rate the most enjoyed activities. The teachers also employed learning outcome quizzes to determine the degree of learning retention. Over the four-year period, the teachers concluded that their learning outcomes had improved by 70%, suggesting that these improvements were due to increased experience and understanding in how to effectively use play as a consistent component of a learning environment. The three key point for play program success were noted as: 1) Group Cohesion, 2) Preparation, and 3) Educator Autonomy. The teachers also supplied previous grades and reports as evidence that student performance and involvement had improved since the program’s launch. The observation period revealed that the consistency of the group was integral to determining how to best evolve the program. The teachers also reported experimenting with teacher switch and student led activities as means for spurring interest. The team also used activity split tactics to determine the best approach. In doing so, the group would decide on an activity and possible delivery methods and engagement techniques, selecting the believed best means of teaching from this pool. Two of the educators would represent the first approach and the remaining two would follow the second; there experience and data would then be shared. This team was highly organized. The administration had little input regarding the program design or operation; instead, the school’s principal commented during interview that the teachers were of the highest caliber and that both parents and students where in complete agreement. The teacher’s largest statement of need was funding. They all stated that they could enhance the program and outcomes with revenue backing and expressed a desire to bring it to a school-wide and even district-wide level after they had conclusive evidence of an effective standard program that could work with their curriculum. Discussion: Use and Limitations The survey and observation results help guide play program participants in establishing and monitoring their programs. Each of the four groups studied showed promising educational outcomes; the majority of the discrepancy in reporting is due to individual perceptions regarding how to best oversee the program’s facilitation. The survey results did not yield any conclusive data regarding play program or theory as a whole. Instead, the study in totality exposed some of the trials of program implementations and sustainability. The most significant factors in program success are cohesion, preparation, administrative support, and planned activities. This level of integration is supported in survey consensus and observation reporting. Additionally, each of the studied institutions found their program specific results to be helpful and plan on utilizing the data to drive program changes and generate support. The study is limited in its scope and validity. Likert scaling is built on a bipolar scaling method, based on a range of positive and negative responses. In using this method, the respondents must characterize the variable in question as the questionnaire does not allow for neutral responses. Additionally, the use of a ratings model creates a more broad range of clarification. However, the inherent problems of both methods are in their reliance on the respondents’ perceptions that may be affected by bias, mood, and other external factors that are inappropriate indicators of the play programs’ actual performance. Unfortunately, this ordinal data ystem combines intensity scaled questions, ranking systems, and open-ended questions. Survey reliability is difficult to measure given the sample size and the individual involvement in the development and implementation of the play program. Survey validity is arguably strong given the internal validity achieved in measuring both the educator and administrator participants in each programs’ team. However, external validity is limited. Instead, the results can be used to illu minate play program design challenges and potentialities. The results should also be evaluated from the perspective of construct validity, criterion validity, and predictive validity if the desire is to expand the survey beyond this initial pilot play program measurement approach. This is impractical at this stage of research. Achieving a higher response rate can strengthen reliability. The advantages of the survey include versatility and simplicity. Standard survey challenges of disbursement and collection are overridden by the scale and size of the sample population as well as by the predetermined commitment. As previously stated, the size and specificity of the sample population renders the results not generalizable to the greater population; however, this does not negate the importance of the survey as a contribution to the field of education. The data analysis reveals the following within the sample population: core components of successful play programs, potential diversity impacts on play programs and outcomes, avenues for program improvement, and overall play program satisfaction. Causation remains a hurdle; however, the study does reveal useful data to help guide schools in play program implementation. None of programs surveyed integrated technology into their programs. This may be a necessary direction to pursue considering the changing climate of the educational landscape. There is a strong need for more comprehensive research on this topic to better support future generations of educators in addressing student body learning needs. References: Annetta, L. , Mangrum, J. , Holmes, S. , Collazo, K. , & Cheng, M. (2009). Bridging Realty to Virtual Reality: Investigating gender effect and student engagement on learning through video game play in an elementary school classroom. International Journal of Science Education, 31(8), 1091-1113. doi:10. 1080/09500690801968656 Bergen, D. (1987). Play as a medium for learning and development: A handbook of theory and practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Fox, J. (n. d. ). Back-to-basics: Play in early childhood. In Early Childhood News. Retrieved from http://www. earlychildhoodnews. com/ Galvez-Martin, M. E. (1997, November 20). How to teach social studies with toys. In The Ohio State University. Hymes, J. L. (1981). Teaching children under six. Columbus, OH: Merrill. Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and psychology. New York, NY: Norton. Piaget, J. (1962). Play, dreams, and imitation in childhood. New York, NY: Norton. Rivera, M. (2009). The Powerful Effect of Play in a Child's Education. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, 75(2), 50-52. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Smith, K. , & McKnight, K. S. (2009). Remembering to Laugh and Explore: Improvisational Activities for Literacy Teaching in Urban Classrooms. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 10(12), Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Stokes-Guinan, K. (2009, October). Child's play: Why increasing opportunities to play and be active may improve students' academic and physical outcomes. In Gardner Center. Retrieved from gardnercenter. stanford. edu/docs/Lit-Review_PlayWorks_091027. pdf Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher educational processes (14thth ed. ). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Zygmunt-Fillwalk, E. , & Bilello, T. E. (2005). Parents' victory in reclaiming recess for their children. Childhood Education (Fall), 19-23. Appendices: Table 1. Total Respondents Breakdown |GROUP |Educator # |Administrator # |Total | |A |4 (67%) |2 (33%) |6 | |B |6 (67%) |3 (33%) |9 | |Private |10 (67%) |5 (33%) |15 | C |5 (63%) |3 (37%) |8 | |D |4 (100%) |0 |4 | |Public |9 (75%) |3 (25%) |12 | |TOTAL |19 (70%) |8 (30%) |27 | Table 2. Survey Race and Gender Demographic Breakdown |Group |White |Black |Hispanic |Asian |Male |Female | |PUSG |5 |4 |2 |1 |3 |9 | |Total |17 (63%) |6 (22%) |3 (11%) |1 (4%) |6 (22%) |21 (78%) | Table 3. Top Suggested Improvements for Play Program Effectiveness Top 5 Suggested Improvements for Play Program Effectiveness | |Reported Item: |Reported PRSG Percentage: |Reported PSUG Percentage: | |â€Å"Cohesion/Collaboration† |87% |58% | |â€Å"Administrative Support† |73% |58% | |â€Å"Preparation† |53% |75% | |â€Å"Activities Planning† |47% |66% | |â€Å"Parent Involvement† |47% |50% | Appendix 1. The Play Curriculum Teacher Questionnaire About the Questionnaire The purpose of this questionnaire is to examine the theoretical and practical importance of play in the education environment and curriculum. You have been selected to participate due to your employment in an educational organizational that currently promotes and integrates play integration. Your feedback and observations are essential to determining the present efficacy of play in a primary educational atmosphere. Thank you in advance for your honest contribution. We ask that you answer each question to the best of your ability. Any additional comments, perceptions, or information can be sent back along with the completed questionnaire; however, please refrain form attaching these resources to the actual questionnaire. We assure you that all data and input will be reviewed. Anonymity For the purpose of these results, all administrator and educator names will be protected to safeguard students, school programs, and respondents. School and Professional Background: 1. Name of School: 2. Position at School: 3. Age:years old 4. Educational Background: Last level of Education Completed: Degree Received: 5. Sex: Male or Female (circle one) 6. Languages Spoken (list primary first): 7. Race/Ethnicity: 8. How long have you been working at this particular school? ______ days/months/years Within the education system? _______days/months/years 9. If you are an educator, what subjects do you teach? 10. What grade levels do you teach? 11. If you are an administrator, what are your primary functions within the school? Classroom Profile 1. Number of students total: 2. Gender ratio (Male:Female): ____:____ 3. Age range of students: _____years old to _____years old 4. Number of special education students: Classroom Diversity Assessment: DIVERSITY ITEM Very Somewhat Neutral Little None Racial |( |( |( |( |( | |Gender |( |( |( |( |( | |Learning Abilities |( |( |( |( |( | |Learning Styles |( |( |( |( |( | |Socioeconomic Backgrounds |( |( |( |( |( | Play Curriculum Assessment 1. How long has your institution been formally integrating play into the curriculum? ______days/months/years 2. How much experience do you personally have with implementing and evaluating play program outcomes? ______days/months/years 3. Please rate your Play Theory knowledge on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 minimal, 10 great): 4. Please rate your Play comfort (1 to 10): 5. Rate your satisfaction with your organization’s play program as is (1 to 10): 6. Rate your satisfaction with your organization’s play program progress since inception (1 to 10): 7. How much time per day is devoted to the play program? 8. Time per week? 9. What are the number of staff involved in the Play Program: 10. Rate the organization’s prioritization of the program (1 to 10): 11. Rate your performance in relation to the program (1 to 10): 12. Rate your improvement since the program launched (1 to 10): 13. Rate your ability to comprehend program expectations and initiatives (1 to 10): 14. Rate your personal involvement with the program (1 to 10): 15. Rate your confidence in implementing the program within your class (1 to 10): 16. Rate your overall experience with the program (1 being poor and 10 being excellent): Please rate the following items within the context of your organization’s play program. Insert Heading if Required |Poor |Fair |Satisfactory |Good |Excellent | |1. Program Design |( |( |( |( |( | |2. Play Time Allotment |( |( |( |( |( | |3. Integration w/ Core Curriculum |( |( |( |( |( | |4. Aministrator Involvement |( |( |( |( |( | |5. Administrator Feedback |( |( |( |( |( | |Teacher Involvement |( |( |( |( |( | |Teacher Feedback |( |( |( |( |( | |Program Monitoring |( |( |( |( |( | |Student Learning |( |( |( |( |( | Student Improvement |( |( |( |( |( | |Student Engagement |( |( |( |( |( | |Student Feedback |( |( |( |( |( | |Student Outcomes |( |( |( |( |( | |Parent Involvement |( |( |( |( |( | |Parent Feedback ( |( |( |( |( | |Curriculum Engagement |( |( |( |( |( | |Curriculum Depth |( |( |( |( |( | |Participants Cohesion |( |( |( |( |( | | | | | | | | OVERALL PROGRAM ASSESSMENT: |1. Benefit to Students |( |( |( |( |( | |2. Program Implementation |( |( |( |( |( | |3. Play Time |( |( |( |( |( | |4. Program Achievements |( |( |( |( |( | |5. Program Outcomes |( |( |( |( |( | |Usefulness |( |( |( |( |( | |Effectiveness |( |( |( |( |( | Please briefly delineate the core components of your program: Please briefly identify major obstacles (i. e. administrative support, funding, etc. ): Please briefly comment on your observations regarding student participation and benefit: Please briefly explain your conclusions regarding the effectiveness of your organization’s play program: Offer 5 suggested improvements or changes that would make the play program more effective: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. List three key points for successfully integrating a play program: 1. 2. 3. Please use the below space to include any additional comments you feel necessary to provide a comprehensive and accurate understanding of play programs integration and implementation:

Parts of Speech Essay

When the idea of the traditional eight parts of speech comes to mind, flashbacks to sitting in the back row of my middle school English language class flourish through my brain. I don’t remember too much about them today, however I do know that it was drilled into my brain until we could fully understand and use them all. The eight parts of speech: such a key component of language, yet such a complicated piece of my learning career. Out of all eight of the parts of speech, the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection, the ones that I remember the most are the verb and the noun. I am not quite sure how such basic ideas of language can be so complicated to actually explain. My previous days of schooling were definitely not the most challenging or puzzling. So how is it that I use these in depth concepts in daily conversations? I honestly think that in my earlier school days, we simply discussed all of these eight parts of our language and never actually were shown how they are all connected. As I look back now, the approach to teaching the basic patterns of the English language, such as these key parts of speech, have never been too effective. These parts of speech constantly keep being brought up in my daily life yet somewhere along the lines, we get caught up in simply knowing the parts of speech rather than being able to use them effectively on our pieces of written work. All of these great facts have no purpose if we are unable to use them in our daily lives. Reminiscing back to this seemingly simple concept really does stress how important proper grammar and knowing how to make the eight parts of speech useful truly is. As a student entering the world of learning again, the importance of being a good writer and being well-spoken increasingly influences my life. To be a good writer is one thing, to honestly know what you’re trying to portray through your work is a completely different idea on it’s own. Being knowledgeable about the parts of speech and how they can be used in many facets of language is fantastic. Naming the parts of speech in isolation does not bring focus to how important these words can be, but knowing how to effectively use them in writing is what truly is important. These eight  concepts of writing came up all throughout the early years of my educational career and they’re importance is brewing back up once again in my life. Concepts in language never go away, making them one of the most important and best things you can ever learn, just hopefully this time they can stick!

Business planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business planning - Essay Example This paper presents a brief feasibility study about the ‘logistics’ business based in London to channelize the distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables to retail outlets around UK. The business idea The ‘Fresher Pvt Ltd’ will be a unique logistic and supply chain company and an exciting experience of ‘freshness’ designed to fulfill the responsibility of providing the target market with ‘fresh’ and premium quality natural products. The business idea is about logistics based in London to collect freshest and supreme quality natural fruits and vegetables directly from farms in different countries and supply them to retail outlets such as supercentres and hypermarkets. The very basic functional principle of the company will be based on the ‘six rights’ that a normal logistic company is required to fulfill. Therefore, the ‘Fresher’ is highly concerned about distributing the right and fresh fruits and vegetabl es to right customers at the right time in the right condition at the right place and at the right price (Voortman, 2004, p. 3). The ‘Fresher’ is not just a new opening of a logistic business, but, it is the output of a new idea to uncover a hidden market opportunity for meeting the demand for ‘fresh’ fruits and vegetables available in large-scale retail outlets in lowest price possible. Fruits and vegetable goods presently available in supermarkets, hypermarkets and other retail outlets often lack the quality and values of freshness that customers expect them to be. The Fresher Pvt. Ltd proposes to replace these goods with ‘freshest and most genuine natural fruits and vegetables’ supplied directly from farms around UK and from abroad. For this purpose, the company plans to enter in to strategic alliance with large-scale farmers in both UK and foreign countries including India and Sri Lanka to collect the most freshest goods directly from the f arms and to transport them as quickly as possible with latest cold-storage facilities to make them available in large retail outlets. Going directly to farms in other countries and collect fresh fruits and vegetables from the farmers seems an idealistic social movement. Thousands of farmers in countries like India are deprived of better facilities and opportunities to market their products. They neither get advanced facilities to transport or quickly supply them to markets nor get right prices for the goods they supply to markets. The ‘Fresher’ is going to influence the media to gain wider reputation for a social movement to extend the helps to poor farmers in other countries. The company proposes to utilize the resources, mainly the excess agricultural products that have been of no proper marketing use for that the farmers in India and other developing as well as under developed countries did not effectively market their products due to fewer facilities or decreased de mand or reduced prices for their goods. The ‘Fresher’ would satisfy these farmers by providing financial assistance for post-harvesting preservation and for advanced transportation facilities. The Fresher will increase the demand for their goods and value their products to return fair prices for their vegetables and fruits. The company helps them by creating a market for these premium and fresh

Reflective Practice Professional Development Planning Essay

Reflective Practice Professional Development Planning - Essay Example 9) not only at a school-wide but district-wide levels, as well. The availability of materials online allows easy access to support schools and teacher in dealing with the students’ learning needs. Killion and Williams (2004) stresses the importance of embedding professional development in the regular school day. The role therefore, of instructional leaders in creating a culture of continuous learning among the teaching staff is important. Coaching, encouraging collaborative work and providing resources and support are among the essential responsibilities of those in the leadership or administrative position. Perhaps one of the major obstacles of an instructional leader is dealing with individuals who resist collaborative professional learning. De Lay (2009) in the article â€Å"Behold! The Power of Teacher Collaboration† however, clearly emphasizes the need to encourage and sustain education practitioners’ collaboration. De Lay (2009) outlines a number of ways to create connections and engage oneself in collaborative professional development. Engaging in reflection is the starting point where one can make a clear sense of one’s professional goals and needs. Finding other professionals with common needs and goals can enrich one’s insight in achieving these goals. Active participation in professional development meetings and in professional associations perpetuates the spirit of mutual learning where one can build on solutions and opportunities. Social networking resources, such as Facebook and Twitter, are good ways of building relationships beyond the confine s of the classroom or the school. The internet has opened limitless possibilities ready for constructive exploitation. The article highlights Google Docs as way for individuals to work together on the same document regardless of where they are.

Competitors analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Competitors analysis - Research Paper Example Lanvin: It is a product and serviced offering company that specializes in beauty products, perfumes, body lotions, hair dressing, body makeup, and skincare products. Also, it offers services such as body art, plastic surgery, and hair envy. Other products offered by the company include cosmetics, toiletries, weight and health products, and vitamins. GiambattistaValli: It deals in fashion and beauty products such as men and women clothing, handbags, shoes, plus size, accessories, and jewelry. On the other hand, the company sells fragrance, skincare, and makeup products (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). Given these companies deal along the same line of products, they tend to compete for market dominance. The five companies command sizable market shares in France and globally. In particular, their commands can be tabulated as below: Notably the five companies tend to apply common and similar competitive strategies. Some of these strategies include product differentiation, as well as practicing the first, second, and third degrees of price differentiation. This would be fundamental in ensuring diverse and ever changing customer demands get satisfied accordingly. Given the variations of income among consumers, these players saw it wise to charge different prices for their commodities and services depending on consumers’ wealth endowments (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). The five companies share a number of elements in common. This can be evidenced by the type of marketing media they apply. In order to reach out to a larger population of their potential clients, they heavily rely on online marketing platforms. In particular, these companies use social media and other online models to promote, advertise, and popularize their products and services. They use their websites and online advertising options such as Google search engines in reaching out to their customers. Also, they apply different forms of print media such as magazines and newsletters,

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

Refilction - Essay Example Integrity – Integrity means being above reproach in matters pertaining to leadership. In matters pertaining to ethical leadership, integrity forms an important pillar on which other attributes rest upon. It is impossible to practice ethical leadership when one’s integrity is questionable. Knowledge – This refers to understanding that is accrued with time from either studying or experience. In ethical leadership, knowledge is very important because knowledge is power and therefore only those leaders that have knowledge are able to wield power and lead others properly. Cooperation – This means closely working together with other people in order to accomplish tasks. It follows then that the success of ethical leadership is largely dependent on close working of leaders with the people that they lead. Integration of these Values into Leadership Style Integration of these values into ethical leadership is not an easy task that can be undertaken overnight but it is a process. In this process, the first thing is be aware of these values and then embody them within ourselves. Embodying these values simply means living them and letting them become part of our daily lives. In this regards, it becomes easy to lead a lifestyle that is emanating from what we believe in. After embracing these values as our inner core values, the next step is developing visions that are important avenues of expressing the core values within us. It then becomes very easy to integrate these values into ethical leadership via the values that we have developed. Supporting Core Values in Ethical Decision Making Supporting of core values in professional life especially in times when we have to make ethical decisions is very challenging. The first thing is to stand firm with our decisions and not allow us to reverse them. This is important because when we allow to be moved from the decisions that we make, it shows that we are not sure of ourselves and therefore we cannot b e trusted with challenges of leadership. In addition, it is not good to allow personal emotions to interfere with our decision making processes. This is because emotions usually temper with our ability to think clearly and objectively. When emotions are involved in our decision making, it is more likely that the wrong decisions will be made. My Five Greatest Strengths One of my greatest strengths is mental strength. Mental strength is the ability to clearly think through issues and make the correct choices. I came to learn about this strength sometimes back when I was chosen to head a task force in my work place. This task force was supposed to come up with recommendations on how to recruit new staff. Another strength that I have is multitasking whereby I can undertake different tasks at the same time. This strength is not very easy to master and I came to discover it during the time when I was heading that task force. At that time, I was supposed to handle different issues and matt ers besides delivering on my job. A third strength that I know I have is good interaction with other people around me. I have known of this strength since I was a small child when growing with my siblings. Even after I joined elementary school and my later school life, I was never without friends and people have always considered me a very social and likable person. The fourth strength that I h

Not sure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Not sure - Essay Example In this activity, students were required to write about themselves on the pieces of paper and throw them to one another. This helped the students understand one another’s background and lifestyle in general. I also introduced myself to others and asked them what I wanted to know about them. This activity filled confidence in me so that I could communicate better. I learnt almost all conversation with my team members after this class rather than learning the professional words from the lecture. I learnt how important it was to be good at communication and to be able to engage with teams to get a better understanding of a new field. Since I had not done any prior readings, I did not completely understand this unit’s structure despite the fact that my unit coordinator had clearly explained everything. Besides, I was busy in few advanced professional expressions. I was eager about making a time management plan so that I was clear about the assignment submission due dates, h omework requirements and the prior reading required. It would help improve my efficiency and time management skills. Week 2 In week 2, I liked the searching activity in which I had to use the library resources together with my team members. We discovered a lot of information about our studies by accessing the online data available at the ECU website. I found out that this online library tool enabled us to locate a variety of sources. We could easily locate references of a specific year by looking at the sources for its year range. Our team did a referencing exercise including both end-text and in-text referencing following the referencing guide of ECU. We also reviewed our first pieces of reflection and exchanged views upon that with one another. For example, my team members liked my management plan’s format whereas I liked the terminology abbreviation memorizing process proposed by my mate. This activity helped improve our formatting and research skills, and also improved my ability to cooperate with my team. There was also an activity that our team did which was least interesting. It comprised two scenarios with the same set of questions about the ACE theory of Kathleen Reardon. Understanding it with real examples would have been easier than the case study in the book. Since I had done the pre-reading of the chapter â€Å"Persuasion†, I knew its importance and features already, along with the strategies needed to make effective persuasions. This part went smoothly. However, I needed to develop competence in the theoretical part of the persuasion along with their relevant terms. The learning I have gained from the online library searching activity will help me in the studies in the future and will also improve my cooperation and communication skills. I have also learnt the strategies of persuasion that I will use in my professional career in the future. Most importantly, I have developed good interpersonal skills. Week 3 Week 3 was about managem ent of stress and time. In this week, we did an activity i.e. Exercise 4B that attracted me because it was very much real; we gave a life stress test that helped us identify our stress conditions by answering different questions about our life events. I calculated my scope by ticking off many boxes of life events that were related to me and that might cause stress. I thought I would score the highest since I thought of myself as a highly stressed person, but I was surprised to learn that I had scored the lowest. I learnt that everybody experiences stress, and that

Nursing Evoluations Health Care Policy Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nursing Evoluations Health Care Policy - Article Example The survey was in 2014. The Commonwealth Fund statistics and analysis ranks the U.S. last among seven nations they did their statistics in health care. Debate the possible consequences of the health care delivery system of adding millions of new enrollees. How would this policy impact schools, medical practices, clinics, hospitals and outpatient diagnostic centers? What role would advance practice play in accommodation of new enrollees? The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have led to millions of new enrollees to the healthcare and insurance systems. The act has implications for Public Health Policy and Practice. New enrollees on the systems, however, might slow down operations (PPACA, 2010). The new law would, however, strengthen the already existing forms of health insurance coverage. It would also build a new and affordable health insurance market for families as well as individuals (Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). The policies would cover people who do not have affordable employer coverage. The impact of value-based performance has an echo across many professions especially nursing practice. The impact is that it has made people have evidence-based quality improvement on their services. There has also been an increase in healthcare transformation. Another impact is in the need for redesigning the care that we give to the patients. We ensure that is safe, effective, and efficient. Nurses have a response of launching initiatives that give to the maximum valuable contributions that nurses can make, have made, and will make, to fully deliver on the patients. I had a visit to the hospital policy committee meeting at my Hospital. The issues on the discussion at the meeting were how to improve the services at the hospital to be fast and efficient for our clients. Our hospital also considered

Alone Together by Sherry Turkle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Alone Together by Sherry Turkle - Essay Example Now and again they will heed social validation otherwise left on their own (Jacob, 2). Moreover, one will have an impeded way of thinking. This means that contrary to the natural process of cognition, the person will be reduced to a merely mechanical object. A sense or rationality will be lost; the main cause of this is the conflicting environment that is provided by the social media. Ideally the human mind languishes when they fully rely on the social media (Jacob, 3). More to the aforementioned, the individual looses their natural abilities to think as they become over dependent on the wide range materials provide by the media. In relation to this, the person also doesn’t achieve the maximum concentration required under normal and natural learning conditions. This is the same case that is extended to the people in their environment. The person also suffers from that condition which makes them physically present but mentally absent since they are focused to performing many tasks at the same time. Moreover, they suffer from decaffeination which basically means never being in a position to enjoy the same overall effects that can be provided by the human environment. They are basically shifting their attention to the machine world and constantly switching from the humanity domain (Jacob

Value of Pop Culture Essay Example for Free

Value of Pop Culture Essay Jim and Pam got married, Ke$ha brushes her teeth with whiskey, and Lady Gaga ponders if we are actually born predisposed to be weird. No matter where you look, we are surrounded by pop culture. Popular culture is a sub-culture that is often mocked and scrutinized as not being meaningful or significant, pop culture is seen as what is considered â€Å"cool† at the moment in time, and carries no long-term effects on society or culture as a whole. Emile Durkheim once said â€Å"For Sociology really to be a science of things, the generality of phenomena must be taken as the criterion of their normality. In the same book, He argues for the functions of crime in society, I believe that these functions are the same functions that popular culture has in society. In brief, these functions are to produce social norms, establish social boundaries, create rituals that generate social solidarity, generate innovation, and pave the way for social change. It is important to identify what â€Å"pop culture† is identified as, seeing as how it can be used in several different ways. When I refer to pop culture, I mean so in the commercial culture sense. Commercial culture produces a product in order to generate a profit. Allow us first to examine the way popular culture produces social norms. In the book The Dominant Ideology Thesis, the authors argue that mass media is the key by which ideas of the dominant class is spread to the rest of society. I believe this view is crucial to understanding how popular culture produces social norms. For example, let’s use what we wear as a way to show how social norms are produce. The fashion industry tells us what to wear in magazines and advertisements, these norms are reinforced over and over again by television, actors, film, musicians, and celebrities who embrace the fashion trends. Stores begin to only sell a certain type of clothing, and it becomes increasingly more difficult to not conform to the fashion norm. Popular culture is not limited only to the fashion world in terms of the norms it produces, it is impossible to go through a checkout at the store and not be bombarded by magazines that share what type of sexual practices are not acceptable, what type of music is on the rise, and even what type of foods we should eat. Even children are being conditioned to behave a certain way thanks to programming such as Sesame Street and Barney. In addition to producing social norms, popular culture also helps us establish social boundaries. The music we listen to, along with the clothes we wear and the television we watch not only helps to shape our identities but also helps us find those people more like ourselves. It is because of the rise in popular culture that we are able to embrace certain musical tastes and reject others, allowing us to find others who share the same likes and dislikes as ourselves. People who listen to Metallica probably don’t have much in common with those people who listen to Miley Cyrus. Pop culture offers us a unique system to identify those who are like us, this is seen more obviously in the pornography business. The internet has normalized amateur pornography to the point where there is an unjustifiable amount of naked people on the internet, most of whom clearly (and I mean clearly! ) do so for non-profit. Perhaps the easiest aspect of popular culture to observe is the rituals that it creates. Teenagers are brought together through dance clubs, college students come together to view television events, comic book fans wait in line hours to see a new movie. All these rituals produce feelings of belonging, bonding with members of society over a common interest. The super bowl for example is a multibillion dollar affair because of the fact that millions of people from all demographics will sit down and watch the game for three hours. Going to a concert gives you a since of social solidarity, singing along to a song in unison with fifteen-thousand other people creates close social bonds†¦ even if you hardly know anyone else at the concert. They share a sense of meaning in their identity; this shared meaning is the basis of group solidarity. According to Durkheim, it is solidarity that is the basic building block of social cohesion. Popular Culture has also helped to generate innovations that have no only progressed itself, but all of culture. Obviously the most important area that popular culture has helped progress is clearly the internet. The World Wide Web has progressed and is driven by what could be considered the largest are of pop culture, pornography. I suspect that pornography hasn’t exactly helped the advancement of civilization, but it has helped the advancement of technology greatly. The development of broadband internet, streaming videos online, high definition quality pictures, all came to be as a result of the pornography business. Of course innovation isn’t held strictly by the adult entertainment business; another huge industry spurred by pop culture is the music industry, specifically the way we listen and buy music. Before 1999, and the invention of Napster, the internet was not a medium that many in the music industry embraced†¦ and it wasn’t until Napster exploited the lack of regulation over the internet that big music corporations saw the advantages of using the internet as a means to spread their product to a whole new audience. Before, the customer had to venture to a record store and sort through hundreds of albums in order to find a new type of music or band to listen too, now it can be accomplished with a quick Google search. The film industry has also been touched by the advancement that pop culture has allowed. With companies such as Netflix set up to combine movies with the internet, and the invention of the DVD, thousands of films are at our disposal and all with crystal clear clarity. Arguably the most important function that popular culture serves in our society is that it paves the road to social change, numerous times it is actually the driving force behind social change. This can be seen all the way back to 1906 when Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle helped lead to a revolution of the food industry in America. We can see this clearly most recently with the sudden involvement of celebrities who got involved in the 2008 presidential election, primarily in Barack Obama’s campaign. Robert DeNiro, Oprah Winfrey, Usher, Chris Rock, Scarlett Johansson, Ron Howard, Magic Johnson, and John Mayer are just a few of the actors/athletes/comedians/musicians that are linked with Obama. It is no surprise that Obama won the 2008 presidential election in a landslide. Companies have long known the effect that celebrities have on America and have used them to push products. We are seeing this again with the involvement of such celebrities as Lady Gaga in the Gay Rights movement. Rap music is a great example of a group inside of pop culture which constantly challenges the social norms and the power structure of the white majority. It is clear that popular culture serves many functions in society, many of which are shared by crime. These functions include producing social norms, establishing social boundaries, creating rituals that generate social solidarity, generating innovation, and paving the way for social change. We cannot simply push pop culture off to the side as low-brow culture and has no significance.

Efficient market hypothesis

Efficient market hypothesis Introduction: From the last several decades the efficiency of stock market has been the sole purpose of research studies. As a result, several theories have been introduced and implemented in relation to principally how the competition in the stock market will force the known information into the prices of securities. The knowledge of information on a variety of securities that are traded in the market is one of the major factors in influencing the movements of stock market. In the stock market, a securities price tends to move rise and fall depending mainly on the availability of the information. The stock prices in the efficient market correspond to available information and therefore register any rise or fall mainly when recent and unpredictable information is available. The up and down in the security prices largely depends upon the advantages and disadvantages associated with the available information and to what extent it will affect the companys performance which is represented by the secur ity. As it is very difficult to tell whether the information available is useful or not, in the same way it is quite impossible to make predictions about the trend of the stock market, such that whether there will be an upward or downward trend in the near future by using the available information. In the financial market it is not mandatory that all professionals related to market always possess the information about the securities and have skills to evaluate this information for their gain. The only thing the efficient market requires is that few individuals must have the information about securities and as a result of the information supplied by them, the whole market must be well informed and benefitted. Hence the available information plays an important role in determining the efficiency of the stock market. By focussing on the above idea, the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis has been developed and became one of the most concentrated and debatable topic among professionals and people related to finance and stock market studies. RESEARCH AIM: The main aim of my research is to analyse the efficiency of stock market supported by the concept of Efficient Market Hypothesis. It also aims to depict the impact of the Efficient Market Hypothesis on security trading by reviewing the available literature. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: My research aims to answer the following questions: To what extent the available information, according to the concept of Efficient Market Theory, affects the security trading in stock market. What is insider trading and its impact on the efficiency of stock market. What are the various types of anomalies associated with the stock market and their effect on the stock market efficiency. LITERATURE REVIEW: In this part of my research paper I will re-examine the existing literature on the anomalies and the efficiency of the stock market. An efficient market is defined as a market where there are large numbers of rational, profit-maximizers actively competing, with each trying to predict future market values of individual securities, and where important current information is almost freely available to all participants. In an efficient market, competition among the many intelligent participants leads to a situation where, at any point in time, actual prices of individual securities already reflect the effects of information based both on events that have already occurred and on events which, as of now, the market expects to take place in the future. In other words, in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a individual securities already reflect the effects of information based both on events that have already occurred and on events which, as of now, the market expects to take place in the future. In other words, in an efficient market at any point in time the actual price of a security will be a good estimate of its intrinsic value.(Eugene F. Fama 1965) According to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, given by Fama, the ups and downs in the prices of securities in the financial market totally reflect known information at a specified period of time. In other words, Efficient Market Hypothesis states that the trading of securities by the individuals is always carried out purely based on the assumption that securities worth are always more or less than the price offer by market. Whereas, trading of securities trying to outperform the stock market will be luck instead of professional skills if current prices fully reflect all available information as well as stock markets are efficient. According to this hypothesis if new information is revealed about a firm it will be incorporated into the share price rapidly and rationally, with respect to the direction of the share price movement and the size of that movement. (Elearn -NetTel) . Efficiency is an unclear word in itself so for more clarification, in my dissertation, I will describe all ty pes of efficiencies: operational, allocation and pricing. I will also give full detail on levels of market efficiency : weak-form efficiency, semi-strong form efficiency and strong-form efficiency. According Random walk theory , there are no trends and format that are being followed by the prices of securities in stock market. There is another fact given by this theory which says that the prices of securities in the past can not be useful for future predictions and fluctuation in prices. The Efficient Market Hypothesis and anomalies related to the stock market developed by the researchers always contrasts with each other. The search for anomalies is effectively the search for systems or patterns that can be used to outperform passive and/or buy-and-hold strategies. (Invest Home). With the invention of any anomaly, there is always a kind of exploitation by the investors of the anomalies discovered in order to increase their profit. This practice make the anomaly disappear with the passage of time. There are so many internal and external factors of the entities that affects the operations of stock market and those factors are often known as Anomalies which plays an important role in over performing or under performing the operations of the stock market by taking into consideration the fact that these anomalies have good or bad effect on the prices of stocks and entities. There are different types of anomalies and some of the anomalies are discussed. Fundamental Anomalies: First type of anomaly is fundamental anomaly which basically depends upon the price of the stock and on the past performance of the entity due to which stock prices rises or fall. Several anomalies of these kinds exist related to the growth, present value and profitability of the companies concerned. Under fundamental anomaly, there exist a most historical and famous anomaly named Value investing and is regarded as the most appropriate strategy for investment purposes. These anomalies depend on the stock value and companys performance based on which the stock prices go up or down. A technique used is to divide the given index into high price and low price to book value stocks. The low price to book concept was developed by Eugene Fama and Keneth French favouring the hypothesis that lower risk is attached to value stocks whereas the stocks with growth are attached with higher risk. According to another anomaly named as low price to sales, stocks with low price to sales ratio perform b etter then high price to sales ratio. According to James P. O Shaughnesey, prices are the only strongest determinant of excessive return. There are several studies which advocates that stocks having low P/E ratio always perform better in the market as compared to stocks with high P/E ratios. In the same manner, the stocks with high dividend yield are better performers than stocks with low dividend yields. There are some other stocks named as neglected stock and are chosen by those with the contrarian strategy. A study was conducted by F.M DeBondtand Richard Thaler on 35 best and worst performer stocks between 1932 and 1977 in New York Stock Exchange and came out with the result that the performance of best performer stocks in the stock exchange falls whereas the stocks with bad performance in the past showed better results when compared to the results of the same stock in the past. Technical Anomalies: Another types of anomalies in which past prices and statistics are used to predict the prices of securities are known as technical anomalies. The techniques used in these types of anomalies include strategies related to support and resistance, moving averages and strength. Some researchers are against the method of technical analysis and say that the investors are hardly benefitted from these technical analysis techniques where as some researchers argue that there is enough evidence and facts that are sufficient to say that the technical analysis method is favourable for the investors. According to technical analysts, the selling of stocks is influenced by the resistance level whereas the buying is influenced at the support level. A signal to sell the stock is developed in case the support level is penetrated by the price whereas a signal to buy the stock is produced in case price penetrated the resistance level. According to the conclusion made by William Brock, Josef Lakonishok, an d Blake LeBaron, the outcomes are reliable with technical rules having forecasting power. But at the same time the cost related to transaction must be taken into account before implementing such concepts and strategies. Another conclusion given by them says that the stock returns generating is more complicated and different process as compared to the results obtained by conducting different studies and researches using various linear models. Calendar Anomalies: Calendar anomaly is another type of anomaly in which various effects are included. In January effect, general and small stocks perform abnormally better in the month of January. Philippe Jorion and Robert Haugen say that, the January effect is, perhaps the best-known example of anomalous behaviour in security markets throughout the world. An interesting fact about January effect is that it lasted for nearly two decades whereas any anomaly hardly survive as traders start taking advantage of the anomalies which results in vanishing of anomaly. Another effect named Turn of the Month was founded by Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba, according to which, in between period 1928 to 1993, the returns for the turn of the month performed well and considerably greater than normal performance. According to study, those investors who make regular purchases may be benefitted if they make schedule to do the purchasing at the end and prior to the starting of next month. In addition to these effec ts another effect is known as Monday effect and is considered to be the worst day in stock market if investments are made on this day. According to study conducted by Lawrence Harris, the week end effect occurs during first 45 minutes of buying and selling whereas prices shows upward trend during the first 45 minutes of trading on all other days. This kind of anomaly may occur due to moods and behaviour of people after weekend holidays. Other Anomalies There are certain other facts that are responsible for affecting the operations of stock market. The size effect, announcement based effect, IPOs, Stock buybacks, insider transactions and S and P game. According to Fama and French (1992), the book to market ratio as well as the size capture the cross-sectional variation of average stock returns in NYSE, and Nsdaq securities. A complete investigation of book to market was provided by Tim Loughran in relation to dimensions of firm size, exchange listings etc and experimental findings of French and Fama are basically forwarded by two features of the data which includes relatively low returns on small, new and growing stocks. Srinivas Nippani, Augustine C. Arize study three main US corporate bond market indices by taking into account calendar based anomalies between the years 1982-2002. In the analysis, the whole bond market as well as two broad classes of industries namely industrials and utilities were taken into account. The study find the mixed response for the weekend effect in the overall bond index and industrial index whereas very less response to utilities index. The findings showed definite proof of January effect on the bond market. RESEARCH METHOD AND DATA: Data Collection Methods: The general idea of business research is that it is concerned with collection of data, making questionnaires and then analysing and evaluating the collected data. In addition to this, the identification of problem and the approach needed to solve the problem is also important. (Ghauri et al., 1995). Data sources are often referred to as the carriers of data information. Basically data sources are divided into two categories namely primary data and secondary data. Primary data is concerned with the interviews and observations collected while conducting research project where as, secondary data is collected by others and academic and non academic sources are included in this type of data. In my topic of research which is to study the efficiency of stock market, I want to use the Desk method that is secondary data collection method. This includes the gathering of information from sources like books, journals related to my topic of research, and from electronic media like internet which is one of the major sources of information. These all sources of information will be helpful for the accomplishment of my research. DATA SOURCES: As I have already describe that I will use secondary method in my dissertation so I have to search a lot for this topic and for this search my main resource is FBES (Faculty of Business, Environment and Society) which provides the best online business information services which is also including the digital management library. Some of the main sources (journal databases) for my research area are given below: EBSCO Business Source. Business Source Premiere. Emerald. Science Direct. NetLibrary. Overall these cover hundreds of journals, and give access to up to a million journal articles. EXPECTED OUTCOMES: While reviewing all the information from available literature on efficient market hypothesis, operations of stock market, price fluctuations and the anomalies of stock market, I have come to the conclusion that the following outcomes could be possible and predictable from my research, If the stock market is efficient then no information can play any role in making any change towards the performance of stock market. The efficient market hypothesis is expected to take any of the following forms which are weak, semi-strong and strong which purely depends upon the availability, and trueness of the past and present information about the stock concerned in the stock market. The anomalies like technical anomalies could be of great help to the researchers and analysts to predict the changing trend in the prices of stocks in the stock market but the transaction cost is the cause of concern while using such technical method. There are some other stock market anomalies which purely depend upon the internal and external factors of the entity and may result in fluctuations in the stock market. The anomalies related to stock market exist for short period of time but function against the concept of efficient market hypothesis and in my research I will find out the facts relating to the vibrations in the stock market as a result of these anomalies. LIMITATIONS AND EXPECTED DIFFICULTIES: While conducting my research I have to face certain difficulties and limitations which may occur during the course of my research. As my research involves the collection of secondary data, I have to be quite aware of the limitations that may arise due to the nature of data. Some of the limitations that are possible are as follows It could be possible that the theory and data we collected for our research is unclear and is not helpful for the companies in their decision making. It is important to check the source of the information as it could be wrong and misleading. It is possible that the theory is quite old for studies and research purposes in todays rapidly developing world. The theory may not be fit for application due to development of new and technological methods and techniques used for the analysis. REFERENCES: Chris R. Hensel and William T. Ziemba (1996)Investment Results from Exploiting Turn-of-the-Month Effects, Journal of Portfolio Management 22, 17-23 Elearn NetTel Financial Analysis Revised: Session 1: Market Efficiency [Online] Available From: http://cbdd.wsu.edu/kewlcontent/cdoutput/TR505r/page4.htm Eugene Fama and Kenneth R. French (1992)The Cross-section of Expected Stock Returns, The Journal of Finance 47, 427-465. Eugene F. Fama (1995) Random Walks in Stock Market Prices, Financial Analysts Journal 21, 55-59. Ghauri, P., Gronhaug K and Kristianslund I., (1995) Research methods in business studies a practical guide Hempstead: Prentice Hall Investor Home Historical Stock Market Anomolies [Online] Available From: James P. OShaughnessy (1998) 2nd edn. What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time. New York: McGraw Hills Lawrence Harris (1986) A Transaction Data Study of Weekly and Intradaily Patterns in Stock Returns, Journal of Financial Economics 16, 99-117 Loughran Tim (1997)Book-to-Market across firm Size, Exchange, and seasonality: Is There an Effect? Journal of Finance Quantitative Analysis 32, 249-268 Marc R. Reinganum (1997) The Size Effect: Evidence and Potential Explanations, Investing in Small-Cap and Microcap Securities, Association for Investment Management and Research, 1997. Robert Haugen and Philippe Jorion, (1996)The January Effect: Still There after All These Years, Financial Analysts Journal, January-February 1996. Srinivas Nippani and Anita K. Pennathur (2004) Day-of-the-week effects in commercial paper yield rates. Quaterly Review of economics Finance 44, 508-520 Werner F.M. DeBondtand Richard Thaler (1985)Does the Stock Market Overreact? The Journal of Finance 40, 793-805. Efficient Market Hypothesis Efficient Market Hypothesis Literature Review 2.0 Introduction In order to better understand the origin and the idea behind the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), the first section deals with an overview of the EMH. Section 2 deals with the Random Walk Model which is a close counterpart of the EMH. We then have examine the different degrees of information efficiency that exist, namely the weak form efficiency, semi-strong form efficiency and the strong form efficiency. In section 4, we have a brief overview of the different types of statistical tests that have been used in the literature to examine the weak form efficiency. Section 5 explains the implications of efficient markets for investors. 2.1 Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) The concept of efficiency is one of the essential concepts in finance. Market efficiency is a term used in many different contexts with many different meanings. Market efficiency involves three related concepts- allocation efficiency, operational efficiency and informational efficiency. Allocation efficiency: A characteristic of an efficient market in which capital is allocated in a way that benefits all participants. It occurs when organizations in the public and private sectors can obtain funding for the projects that will be the most profitable, thereby promoting economic growth Operational efficiency: A marketcondition that exists when participants can execute transactions and receive services at a price that fairly equates to the actual costs required to provide them.Economists use this term to describe the way resources are employed to facilitate the operation of the market. It is usually desirable that markets carry out their operations at as low a cost as possible. Information efficiency: The actual market price of a share should reflect its intrinsic value. Information efficiency implies that the observed market price of a security reflect all information relevant to the pricing of the security. The investor can manage to earn merely a risk-adjusted return from his investment, as prices move instantaneously and in an unbiased manner to any news. The efficiency in the market for financial assets and assets returns refers here to the information efficiency and should not be confused with the other types of efficiency. As explained by Rahman and Hossain (2006): For a stock market to be efficient, stock prices must always fully reflect all relevant and available information. This definition can be expressed as Æ’(Ri,t, Rj,t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ | à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1) = Æ’( Ri,t, Rj,t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ | à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1, à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1), where Æ’(.) = a probability distribution function, Ri,t = the return on security i in period t, à Ã¢â‚¬  M t-1 = the information set used by the market at t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1, à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1 = the specific information item placed in the public domain at t à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" 1. This equation has two important implications. 1. Specific information item at t-1 (à Ã¢â‚¬  a t-1) cannot be used to earn non zero abnormal return. 2. When a new information item is added to the information set à Ã¢â‚¬  M, it is instantaneously reflected on market prices. The concept of market efficiency was first introduced by Bachelier (1900). Since then, there has been many studies like Working (1934), Cowles and Jones (1937), Kendall (1953), Cootner (1964). However it was Fama (1965) who first used termed it as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“efficient marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Fama (1970) later stated the sufficient but not necessary conditions for efficiency: i. there are no transaction costs in trading securities; ii. all available information is costlessly available to all market participants, and iii. all agree on the implications of current information for the current price and distributions of future prices of each security He also identified three degrees of informational efficiency namely the weak form, the semi-strong form and the strong form. 2.2 Random Walk Model (RWM) The Random Walk Model is a close counterpart of the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The model was originally examined by Kendall (1953). It states that stock price fluctuations are independent of each other and have the same probability distribution. Thus the Random Walk theory suggests that stock price change randomly, making it impossible to predict stock prices. The Random Walk Model is linked to the belief that markets are efficient and that investors cannot beat or predict the market because stock prices reflect all available information and the new information arises randomly. As mentioned in Fama (1970) the two hypotheses constituting the Random Walk Model , that is (i) successive price changes are independent and (ii) successive changes are identically distributed, are implicitly assumed in the Efficient Market Hypothesis. The Random Walk Model is in direct opposition to technical analysis, which suggests that a stocks future price can be forecasted based on historical information through observing chart patterns and technical indicators. 2.3 Forms of Market Efficiency 2.3.1 Weak-Form Efficiency Fama (1970) stipulates that no investor can earn excess returns by formulating trading strategies based on historical price or return information in a weak-form efficient market. The weak-form efficiency thus assumes that the price of a stock fully reflects all information contained in past prices, that is the historical sequence of prices, rate of returns and other historical market information. A weak-form efficient market implies that it is of no use to engage in technical analysis that use past prices alone to find undervalued stocks. In order to test whether past share prices can be used to predict future share prices( that is, weak-form efficiency), statistical or econometric tests can be used. These studies seek to study the evolution of share prices from one period to the next period and try to detect correlation between the successive price changes. Technical analysts study the evolution of past share prices, with the aim of predicting share prices to make gains. 2.3.2 Semi-Strong Form Efficiency Fama (1970) described the semi-strong form efficiency as one where share price fully reflect all information contained not only in past prices but all public information. All public information includes capital market information as used in the weak form Efficient Market Hypothesis(EMH) as well as non-market information such as earnings, dividend announcements, price earnings ratio, information about the economy and political news (Reilly1997). New public information is almost instantaneously integrated in share price and the share price is adjusted so as to reflect the true value of the share. This means that an investor cannot use public information to generate gains on the stock market. In order to test for semi-strong form efficiency, event studies are often used. These event studies are performed by analyzing the effect of the release of new public information on the share price. If the market is semi-strong form efficient, the new public information ( for example annual reports, earning announcement or dividend announcement) is instantaneously integrated in the share price, so as to reflect the intrinsic value of the share. New information can be both good or bad. Thus they can cause increases or decreases at their release. 2.3.3 Strong Form Efficiency Under strong form efficiency, the current price reflects all information, public as well as private. Private information, in this context, means information not yet published. On the stock market, there are professionals (for example security analysts, fund managers) who have private as well as public information. Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) assumes that no investor has monopolistic access to any information. This means that as new public and private information is released, it is incorporated in share price to reflect its true value. An investor will not be able to consistently find undervalued or overvalued shares and make gains on the strong form efficient market. Fama (1970) perceives a strong form efficient market as one where investors are not expected to earn excess returns by relying on inside information. To test whether past share prices, public and private information can used to predict future share prices, the investment records and gains generated by professional investors are often studied. Investors should not be consistently able to make gains by using public and private information. At all moments, the share prices incorporate all public and private information to reflect the true value of the shares. 2.4 Statistical Tests to examine validity of Weak-Form EMH In order to examine the validity of the weak form efficiency, a number of statistical tests have been used in the literature. These tests can be categorized into two groups: i. Using mechanical trading rules also known as filter rules. These rules test for the possibility of non-linear dependence existing in the price data. Filter rules were first used by S.A Alexander (1961) and later Fama and Blume (1966) added to the literature. Professor Alexanders filter techniques attempts to apply a sophisticated criteria to identify movements in stock prices. An x percent filter is defined as follows: If the daily closing price of a particular security moves up at least x percent, buy and hold the security until its price moves down at least x percent from a subsequent high, then sell and go short (Fama and Blume, 1966). The short position is then maintained until the daily closing price rises at least x percent above a subsequent low when one is going to cover and buy. Moves less than x percent in either direction are ignored. ii. Statistical tests of independence between successive price changes. Serial autocorrelation tests and run tests are among the most popular tests. Some of the researches in this field use Spectral Analysis which decomposes a time series into a spectrum of cycles of different length. This spectral decomposition of a time series yield a spectral density function that measures the contribution of each of the frequency bands to the overall variance of the times series. There is also a relatively new test introduced by Lo and Mackinlay (1988), it is called the Variance Ratio which is based on the heteroscedasticity problem. The basic idea behind the Lo and Mackinlay (1988) variance-ratios test is that if a natural logarithm of a time series is a pure random walk, then, the variance of its k-differences in a finite sample grows linearly with the difference, Let (pt) denote a time series consisting of T observations p1,p2,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦,pT of asset returns. Then, the variance-ratio of the k-th difference, VR(k), is defined as: VR(k)= à Ã†â€™2(k)/à Ã†â€™2(1) where, VR(k) is the variance-ratio of the shares returns k-th differences; à Ã†â€™2(k) is the unbiased estimator of 1/k of the variance of the shares returns k-th differences, under the null hypothesis; à Ã†â€™2(1) is the variance of the first-differenced share returns series, and k is the number of days of base observations interval or lag (Ntim et al. ,2007). 2.5 Implications of EMH Market efficiency has important implications for both investors and authorities. If a market is inefficient, investors should doubt the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“hold the marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  strategy and should try to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“beat the marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . While the authorities on their part should restructure the stock market by enacting effective law and enhancing financial media. The graph below shows the effect of EMH on stock prices. The straight line shows the reaction under EMH while the dotted lines show the over-reaction and under-reaction that occur with the existence of market imperfections. If a market is efficient, investors: 1. should not worry about investment analysis. They should rather concentrate on holding a well diversified portfolio. Investors holding an inefficient diversified portfolio will be exposed to risk which could be avoided and for which they will not be rewarded. In other words, the market only provides return for systematic risk, while specific risks have to be diversified away. 2. Should adopt a buy and hold policy once they have established their portfolios. This is because there is no advantage in changing from one group of securities to another. By doing this, there would be transaction costs which they would have to incur and as a result, the risk-adjusted return would be affected. Altering the composition of a portfolio can only be justified a) if the risk exposure has changed due to relative changes in the market value of the constituent securities. b) if tax payments can be minimized. Other implications of EMH are: Price changes are random and unpredictable Investors are not easily fooled by the glossy financial reports or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"creative accounting techniques Timing of new issues of securities are not important since prices represent the intrinsic and will reflect the degree of risk in the share. Thus under EMH neither fundamental nor technical analysis can be used to achieve superior gains. Investors should concentrate on constructing and holding efficiently diversified portfolios. 2.6 Empirical Evidences Based on the literature, it can be seen that there are two competing schools of thoughts about market efficiency. The first school argues that markets are efficient and as a result, returns cannot be predicted. For example early studies (Working, 1934; Kendall, 1943, 1953; Cootner, 1962; Osborne, 1962; Fama, 1965) on developed markets support the weak form efficiency of the market with a low degree of serial correlation and transaction cost. The studies in this school of thought, support the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) and show that price changes could not be used to forecast future price changes, especially after transaction costs were taken into account. The second school, on the other hand, provides empirical evidence of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"anomalies that contradict the theory of efficient markets. Some of these studies are Summers (1986), Keim (1988), Fama and French (1988), Lo and MacKinlay (1988) and Poterba and Summers (1988). They found some à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"anomalies, which could not be explained by the theory of Fama (1965). Some of the market anomalies that they found are: January Effect/Turn of The Year Effect Stock returns are usually abnormally high during the first few days of January. The January effect occurs because many investors choose to sell some of their stock right before the end of the year in order to claim a capital loss for tax purposes. Then they quickly reinvest their money after the new year, causing stock prices to rise. Rozeff and Kinney (1976) was among the first to prove this market anomaly. Rozeff and Kinney (1976) methodology gives smaller companies greater relative influence than would be true in value-weighted indices where large firms dominate. Subsequent researches (Reinganum, 1983; Roll, 1983, among others) later confirm that the January effect is a small cap phenomenon. Size Effect/Small Firm Effect The Size Effect is the tendency for firms with a small market capitalization to outperform larger companies over the long term. For example Banz (1981) and Reinganum (1981) showed that small-capitalization firms on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) earned a return in excess of what would be predicted by the Sharpe (1964) Linter (1965) capital asset-pricing model (CAPM) from 1936-1975. However as mentioned by G.W. Schwert (2003, p.943), it seems that the small-firm anomaly has disappeared since the initial publication of the papers that discovered it. Alternatively, the differential risk premium for small-capitalization stocks has decreased over the years. Weekend Effect/Day of The Week Effect This is a phenomenon in which stock returns on Mondays are often significantly lower than those of the immediately preceding Friday. French (1890) observed this anomaly. He noted that the average return to the Standard and Poors (SP) Composite Portfolio was reliably negative over weekends in the periods 1953-1977. Again, like the size effect, the weekend effect seems to have disappeared, or at least substantially attenuated, since it was first documented in 1980. Value Effect/Price Earnings Ratio Effect The value effect refers to the tendency for stocks with low price earnings ratio to outperform portfolios consisting of stocks with a high price earnings ratio. Basu (1977) shows that investors holding low price earnings ratio portfolio earned higher returns. The existence of market anomalies have important implications. If stock returns do not follow a random process, then it is possible to design profitable trading strategies based on historical information 2.6.1 Empirical Evidences from Developing Countries Despite the large number of empirical studies that have been conducted to test the validity of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) in developed countries with booming financial markets, studies to support or dispute the efficiency or inefficiency of the African stock markets are quite limited. There is a small number of empirical studies analyzing emerging African equity markets with regards to weak form of market efficiency test. While some of these studies have analysed single markets ( e.g. Samuels and Yacout 1981; Parkinson 1984; Ayadi 1984; Dickinson and Muragu 1994; Osei 1998; Olowe 1999; Mecagni and Sourial 1999; Asal 2000; Adelegan, 2004; Dewotor and Gborglah, 2004; Ntim et al., 2007), others have analysed groups of countries (e.g. Claessens et al., 1995; Magnusson and Wydick, 2002; Smith et al., 2002; Appiah-Kusi and Menya, 2003; Simons and Laryea, 2004; Jefferis and Smith, 2005). However, while there are only a few empirical studies, their conclusions as to the efficiency and predictability of future stock returns have been mixed. For example Dickinson and Muragu (1994) shows that the Kenyan stock market is weak form efficient, in contrast to the results of Parkinson (1984). Also, most of the existing studies made use of conventional weak form testing techniques such as serial correlation tests. Samuels and Yacout (1981) and Parkinson (1984) were among the first to use serial correlation tests to examine the weak form efficiency on the African continent. Samuels and Yacout analysed the weak form market efficiency in weekly price series of 21 listed Nigerian firms from 1977 to 1979 and provided empirical evidence that the market was efficient. Parkinson on his part, analysed monthly price series of 30 listed Kenyan firms from 1974 to 1978 and rejected the weak form efficiency. Dickinson and Muragu (1994) reinvestigated the Kenyan market by applying run and serial correlation tests to weekly stock price series of 30 listed companies on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and their results were in contrast with Parkinson (1984). They demonstrated that successive price changes are independent of each other for the majority of the companies investigated. Most of the developing countries suffer from the problem of thin trading (Mlambo and Biekpe, 2005). The problems caused by thin trading have been widely acknowledged in financial market researches (e.g., Dimson, 1979; Cohen et al. ,1983; Butler and Simonds, 1987; Lo and Mackinlay, 1990a and b; Bowie, 1994; Muthuswamy and Whaley, 1994) . Fisher (1966) who was the first to identify the bias caused by thin trading in the serial correlation of index returns, explained that recorded prices of securities are not necessarily equal to their underlying theoretical values. This is because when a share does not trade, the price recorded remains the closing price when the share was last traded. However, while most of the African stock markets suffer from thin trading, many existing studies fail to adjust for thin trading. For example recent studies conducted on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (Appiah-Kusi and Menya, 2003 and Simons and Laryes, 2004) made used of conventional techniques and did not adjust for thin trading. Other studies (Kabba, 1998; Roux and Gilberson, 1978 and Poshawale, 1996) which have examined the behavior of stock price and rejected the weak-form efficiency, have explained that the inefficiency might be due to delay in operations and high transaction cost, thinness of trading and illiquidity in the market.