Evaluation of my Body Image Health Campaign

My health campaign had a positive impact on my target audience because they were able to learn about factors that can influence their views on body shape and how to value themselves. At the start of my health campaign, my target audience were insecure and unaware of the impact it can have on their development. I used the results of the planning questionnaire to get an indication of what my target audience had thought about themselves before I carried out my health campaign in order to compare and contrast the results of my feedback questionnaire. The graph above shows that the health campaign was useful because there were less insecurity than I discovered in the planning questionnaire. There were 81 pupils that were insecure in the planning questionnaire. The number reduced in the feedback questionnaire to 12. This is a massive improvement because it showed that my health campaign had a positive impact on my target audience. My teachers and head of sixth form had praised me on the success of the campaign. I had also changed their views on body image issues. Majority of them didn’t see it as a major problem due to students not being open orally. Read also Six Dimensions of Health Worksheet This is the reason why I had chosen to do a questionnaire rather than an interview. It is easier for pupils to be open and express their concerns in a written form because interviews can make them withdraw or restrain, which would result on my health campaign not being effective due to denial. Before carrying out my health campaign on body image issues, I had to draft up a planning questionnaire to find out what my target audience, which is year seven pupils that attend my school, find problematic with their body and what factors influence them in drafting up a perfect body. From the planning questionnaire I was able to discover that girls were 2% more insecure about their body image than boys. This might be because girls have drafted up an image of a perfect body; tall, skinny and athletic in their heads. If they don’t fit into the categories, they see themselves as a ‘worthless’ or ‘ugly’. I had asked in my planning questionnaire; â€Å"How important to you is your appearance? † The question was a closed-ended. Majority of the questions I had asked in my questionnaire was closed-ended because it would provide a quantity data that can be used as statistic. All the girls and 82% of boys had ticked yes. This made me be aware that boys and girls see their appearance to be important, it is something they value. This implies that boys and girls in year seven are insecure about their body image. I had asked the pupils that had ticked yes to elaborate the reason why they think it is important. Majority of the girls saw it as a necessity and the boys viewed it as a goal. This was an indication that I should educate these pupils about valuing their body. I did find out that 65% of boys are more likely to compare their body type to their peers, famous athletes and family members. The questions I asked â€Å"How often do you compare yourself to other girls or boys? † there was a handful of boys that ticked yes than girls, and further on I asked them to elaborate their answer. Majority of the boys wrote that peer pressure and the mass media had an impact on how they viewed themselves. They would often be exposed to well-built athletes and pressured to getting the ‘perfect body’ to impress girls. If they don’t fit into a certain category they would often get verbal abuse from their male peers. From the secondary research I had done for my health campaign, I had learned that boys would judge each other more than girls. Debbie Epstein (1998) and Francis (2001) had examined the way masculinity is constructed within schools. They found that boys are likely than girls to be harassed, labelled as ‘sissies’ and subjected to homophobic (anti-gay) verbal abuse if they appear to be ‘swots,’ which is a term to describe someone that studies or behaves similar to a girl. A feminine boy would be subjected to verbal abuse from other boys because he does not look and behave the same. From a young age boys establish a certain norms and value and if it is broken, then the boy would be socially excluded. One critical issue that arose in the planning questionnaire is that there was a handful of boys that perceive their body shape as unrealistic. I had asked another closed-ended question; â€Å"Do you perceive your shape in an unrealistic way? † There were a large proportion of boys that had ticked yes, 15% more than girls. This links to what I mentioned about boys being exposed to well-built and muscled men from mass media in the previous paragraph. Year seven boys don’t usually have toned muscles because they have not yet fully developed their body since boys tend to go through puberty when they are teenagers. It had worried me that boys and girls in year seven had ticked yes in that particular question because for them to see their body type as unrealistic. We associate the word ‘unrealistic’ to impractical and unworkable. This meaning that the pupils saw their body shape as a problem that they could not change. Another critical issue that had surfaced in the planning questionnaire is that there was a large amount of girls that had saw their body size to be a sign as a personal failure. There were a less than half of boys that had the same view. I had asked another closed-ended question that was; â€Å"Do you think that your body size or shape is a sign of personal failure? † To view your body shape or size as a personal failure is distressing because it can lead to eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, which is life-threatening because it can affect a person’s emotional, physical, social and intellectual. This is problematic since pupils in year seven are still developing. A personal failure is usually something we regret constantly and has more of an emotional affect because we often feel distressed due to viewing ourselves as worthless. This is another reason why I had decided to carry on my research with both genders because the year seven pupils are insecure about their body. The last critical issue that ascended on the planning questionnaire is that both girls and boys felt embarrassed, mortified and ashamed of their body. The questions I had asked was; â€Å"Do you feel ashamed, self-conscious, and anxious about your body? † There was an equal amount of boys and girls had ticked yes, which had highlighted the fact that both genders are equally distressed about their body. This can be linked to what I had mentioned about the emotions leading to eating disorders that can affect their development. I had viewed this as a critical question because of the affect it has on the pupils. This further encourage me to pursue my health campaign on educating year seven pupils about valuing their body image. The feedback questionnaire had shown the effectiveness of the workshops, which I had organised. I had discovered that the Building Self-Esteem workshop had an average of 7. I had asked the pupils; â€Å"How did you find the Building Self-Esteem workshop? † and gave them the option of scoring the effectiveness of each workshops from 1-10 (1 being bad and 10 being good). For the Building Self-Esteem workshop to have an average of 7 is viewed as a success because it shows that the pupils were able to learn something important and build up their confidents, which would build their self-esteem. The purpose of the workshop is was to encourage pupils to get involved and lead the activity with little help from teachers and the Youth Club leaders. I was expecting a handful of the pupils to not get involved in the performance and was surprised to see that a lot of them were joining in the activities and leading it. The building self-esteem workshop was a success because the pupils contributed to the workshop. The Mass Media workshop had been more of a success than the building self-esteem workshop because it had achieved an average score of 9 in the feedback questionnaires. I had asked the pupils; â€Å"How did you find the Mass Media workshop? † I gave them a scale from 1 to 10 again. This is because if I wanted to calculate the average number rather than getting a simple yes or no. The reason why the pupils had favoured the Mass Media workshop over the Building Self-Esteem might be because the Mass Media workshop had highlighted to the students that celebrities, such as Taylor Swift have body image issues. The pupils had learned that body image insecurity can affect everybody, even those that they admire. An average score of 9 had shown that the Mass Media workshop was effective because it indicates that the pupils had learned something from the workshop. The critical question I had asked in my feedback questionnaire was; â€Å"Did you learn anything from the campaign? This was a closed and opened question because I had given the option of ticking yes or no and a space for those that ticked yes to state what they had learned from my health campaign. I am proud to say that all the pupils had ticked yes and majority of them wrote that they had learned to value their body shape and size. Some wrote detailed answered on specific activities and the impact it had on them. For example a student wrote that they had found the Building Self-Esteem workshop helpful because they had been successful in interacting with other pupils and had become more confidence. I was really pleased with the results of this question because it shows that my health campaign. Overall, the questionnaires were helpful in creating my campaign and the impact it had. The planning questionnaire had helped me to get a generalised idea of why and how my target audience are insecure about their body shape and size. The planning questionnaire had also helped me design activities and workshop. I came up with the Mass Media workshop when the pupils had written that they were highly influenced by what they saw on the mass media, which consist of newspapers, magazines, televisions, mobile phones, internet and etc. I wanted to show the pupils that it is perfectly alright to be insecure because it is in human nature to be worried about how we look. This sparked the idea of using celebrities, who are the people that most young children look up to. If a celebrity, like Taylor Swift or Adele is insecure then it is perfectly fine to accept help from professionals, like the celebrities have done. The feedback questionnaire was useful in giving me an indication how useful my health campaign about body image issues. It had helped me know which of my workshops and assembly was more effective. This was the first assembly and the Mass Media workshop. If I ever decided to do another body image issues campaign for another year group; I can use the results of both questionnaires to help construct the campaign. There was no unexpected outcome that was challenging. I had predicted that there would be less insecurity in the end of the campaign compared to before. This is because I had high hopes for the success of the health campaign. The pupils had cooperated efficiently in both workshops and assemblies. In the Building Self-Esteem workshop, the pupils had all taken their roles seriously and had performed extremely well. The outcome for most of people was really good because everyone was ecstatic and participating efficiently. I remembered watching the pupils performing in the Building Self-Esteem workshop with their goofy grins and joyful laughter. I was very pleased and shocked at the cheers and the cooperation from pupils and surprisingly teachers. Some teachers did volunteer in the second assembly to share their experience with accepting themselves. In general, I was glad of how well the campaign had impacted my target audience and some of the teachers and staff at my school, such as the dinner-ladies. The Head of Sixth Form at my school had personally asked me; if I was considering doing my campaign again for other year groups. I had considered doing my campaign for students in year eight and ten because when I was in those year groups I was insecure about my body and I had heard that other students are worried about the way they look as well. The teachers that were involved in the campaign had asked some specific questions regarding the campaign and the local youth club I attend because I had people from the youth club helping me organise the campaign. I had given them the information about the campaign and the youth club. Evaluation of the Health Campaign The first assembly was the introductory period where I introduced myself and I informed the children about what would be happening for the rest of the day. I had also explained the importance of body image insecurity and the impact it can have on a person. The student had listened effectively and I had not run out of time. The assembly was insightful to many pupils because it had informed them of what would be the problems of accepting yourself. The second assembly was also a success. However, it was more time consuming because some of the teachers had volunteered willingly to discuss the issues they had experienced with valuing their body shape and size. I did appreciate it and thought it had been a valuable and beneficial for the campaign. The Building Self-Esteem workshop was effective because the pupils had cooperated effectively. They had performed the short play as a group and no one was excluded. The workshop did take longer than expected. This might have been because the pupils had performed the activity a little slower than anticipated. It wasn’t problematic because the groups had performed their play the period before break. This meant that I could take a bit of their break time to make up for the few minutes that was necessary to finish the workshop. The students were not disappointed and were actually having fun performing and watching their peers. The cheering of pupils did get out of control. I had to ask them to clap after the play is finished because it was hard to hear the pupils performing. The pupils did follow instructions. The Mass Media workshop had gone to plan because the pupils had absorbed the information. I was not surprised at the success of the Mass Media workshop because I had predicted it to be a realisation. The pupils were clueless about the fact that insecurities of body shape and size can affect anyone. The workshop was quicker than the Building Self-Esteem workshop because it had finished on time; all group had been successful in completing the task without any problems. There were a lot of praises from pupils and teachers for the Mass Media workshop. I think this was because the workshop had included people that they I idolise and watch on television. The resources I used to promote my campaign were leaflets and posters. I had handed the pupils and the teachers the leaflets at the end of the second assembly. The leaflets had included the presentation from both assembly in order to remind the students of what they had learned on the day. I would want for the pupils to remember what had happened in the campaign and therefore, I would use the leaflets and the badge as a way for them to remember. I had placed the posters around my school; in the canteen, toilets, corridors and classrooms. I had decided to put the poster up three weeks before the actual campaign. This way the children would be informed of what was happening in a couple of week. The Head of Sixth Form in my school I had provided me a budget of ?50 to spend on my health campaign. I decided to spend the money that was provided by my school on a personalised badge from Camaloon. This is because the personalised badge can be a small reminder to my target audience in valuing their body. The badge had said â€Å"There is No Wrong Way to Have a Body. † This quote had helped increase the pupils’ self-esteem because it would show the children that there is nothing wrong with their body type. The personalised badge had cost ?39. 5 and the quantity is 100, which is helpful because there is 90 students in year seven. The badge had cost ?28. 09, and there was a VAT increase of ?6. 88 and the delivery charge was ?4. 67, altogether it had cost ?39. 65. I really liked the design because it had attracted both genders and they didn’t exclude anybody due to the colours being red and black, which are mutual colours. Boys and girls won’t be ashamed to wear the badge. I was given permission from the school to use their account in Camaloon to create and purchase the badge. I did have to order the badge in advance, just in case of delivery delays. The badges had arrived a week before my health campaign event and I was successful in not spending over the budget. The approach I used for the campaign was educational and behavioural. This is because I wanted to teach children in their first year of secondary education to value themselves as a person. I had used the activities to change the pupils’ behaviours because their self-esteem would increase. This had made the pupils more confident and outspoken. The Building Self-Esteem was an activity that I created to make the children feel valued. Identify that beauty, well-being and strength come in all sizes. Carol Johnson, author of Self-Esteem Comes in all Sizes says that â€Å"actual beauty includes what’s inside, your passion for life, your playful spirit, a smile that illuminates up your face, your sympathy for others. † This is a good quote to show that all sizes are beautiful. I want to set an example of admiration for size diversity. Children naturally come in different sizes and builds and that is fine. I feel that I have met my aims and objectives because the pupils in year seven have cooperated well in the workshop and had told me personally that the campaign was very useful. My aim was to educate young females and males that have just started secondary education into valuing their body. This was because girls and boys in year seven tend to be more insecure about their body compared to other year groups in secondary education. This may be due to puberty or a new environment. Primary schools had a smaller classroom size than high schools. This can make girls and boys that were already cautious about their body changing, more insecure because of a larger peer group subculture. Early or late bloomers may feel like they are developing differently to their peer groups. My objective was to tackle low self-esteem in preteens in the first year of secondary education by organising a focus group in the school I attend. I had put the focus group for pupils in year seven only. I had found out if I had accomplished my aim and objective from the feedback questionnaire. The students had given the workshops a high average score (I’ve mentioned this on the impact of audience) and had found the campaign to be useful. If I was doing this task again I would like to expand the campaign for pupils in year 8 and so on. This is because low self-esteem and body image issues can occur in other year groups. I would very much like to educate the other years. Unfortunately, my main focus on the campaign was on year seven because that is the starting point for most children. There are some pupils that have not been taught why it is important to value your body. I might use a different approach because they would be older than my target audience. This might be done by adding another workshop about self-harming and the affect it has a person’s health. That might be interesting for pupils.

An Independent Teenager

As an independent teenager, I would say that I can do anything I want. I can precede living ordinarily without any disturbance and obstacle. But there are certain things that I can’t live without it. In the other word, my day will be ruined and fidget if I lost or missed the thing. One example of the thing I can’t live without is my Nikon D90. It is a Digital SLR camera. The camera brings me a lot of memories and sentimental value. I bought it by myself using my very own money and effort. It cost me around RM8,000 excluding the other accessories. The lens only cost me around RM5,000. What make this camera to be part of my life not just because it is very expensive, but I used the camera to gain extra profit every weekend. I am a part time photographer, so the camera was my primary gadgets to shoot pictures. Usually every weekend I was paid to become a wedding photographer. If there is no wedding on the weekend, I’ll go for an outing with my camera. Anywhere I go, I will bring along my camera including to the toilet and in the examination hall. . I rather walk alone with my camera than my own girlfriend. But that doesn’t disturb our relationship because she really understands my interest & hobby. What makes the camera very special for me because I felt that I have a talent on capturing pictures. It suits me very well. The other thing that I can’t live without is my laptop. This laptop was given to me by my father as a present of my 19th birthday. This is my first laptop, and I’m still using it until now. This laptop helps me a lot. One of the purpose of this laptop is for doing my assignment given by lecturers. Before my dad gives me the laptop, I was forced to go to the cybercafà © spending some money to do my assignment. Now, I can do my assignment in my house. Other than doing assignments, I use the laptop for editing. The wedding pictures that I took on the weekend will be edited using my laptop before go for printing. This can be the prove that my laptop was fully used for important purpose, not for streaming and chatting via facebook. Both things were my precious life. I can’t live without my Digital SLR camera & my laptop. If one of them were missing, my life can be ruined and I might be crazy or dead!

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Literary Analysis - Research Paper Example His sophisticated, quick-witted appeal was but a Trojan horse for collective criticism. But don’t bother — there are the anecdotes, as well. Lev Grossman was one of many others who admired Diaz's hilarity, describing that Oscar Wao would be unhappy if it were not for its instants of cheerfulness. In other words, His story about the lack of real affection has so much vitality and life. (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 2007) But now what? Most recent short fiction by Junot Diaz, â€Å"This Is How You Lose Her†, is a makeshift between novels. It includes stories that have been printed nearly entirely in The New Yorker, either as advance promotional campaign for its inauguration announcement or as morsels from the Drown era, and all relate to now-familiar Diaz situations, in now-familiar shots of viewpoint. When you look out on the snowy and infertile New Jersey, on lavish and quit hot Santo Domingo; one hunts and locates the street after a disdained lover who is shouting load at you in Spanish; you make love in cellars, among images of relatives. Mothers appear as shadowy form and condemn. Fathers go away and misjudged. By concentrating on only his expertise of these now familiar epitomes, his calling of "diverse creations† to one’s mind, his strikes of "high-low" references, one is not actually talking about the basics of Diaz’s work. One is not able to just describe Diaz's literature without describing rape and the affection that sufferers consequently pursue. The 2 main subjects of Diaz’s work are agreement and control, which are indescribable ideas, he possibly can contend, without any word regarding sexuality and intimate desecration. When someone considers this writing "erotic" and â€Å"diamond sharp,† he\she is not mistaken, but it is not everything. There is much more about it. (Diaz, 2012) Diaz read in his narrative voice in a latest discussion with The Boston Review: â€Å"What’s the r eason behind Yunior being such a dog? Just due to? Or is there something deeper? Dwell on it: isn’t indulging in promiscuous (casual and indiscriminate) sexual relations another archetypal reaction to sexual abuse? Obsessive and continuous promiscuity is surely Yunior’s issue. An obsessive and regular promiscuity that is a countrywide manly epitome in some ways and whose origins I find in the suffering of our sexually abused antiquities. As I described: it’s perhaps not there whatsoever — too understated. However, the reality of Yunior’s rape surely assisted me create the topical economy of the book.† The disclosure of the fact that his reputed tenacious speech originates from a past of sexual abuse is surprising. This fact-based aspect is not even partially exposed in Oscar Wao, a book that encourages to rape, yet it is the key subject of the fiction â€Å"Miss Lora,† the last but one chapter in â€Å"This Is How You Lose Her†. The story of a rape permitted or enacted by statute described from the viewpoint of the slight, â€Å"Miss Lora† represents the relation in question as a seduction. But the question here needed to be asked and answered is that whose seduction is it? The emotional states of Yunior for his neighbour, a sinewy middle-aged woman, are already prevalent when she first dallies with him straightly. There is some strange stuff written by Diaz and that hurts the

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Economic principle - Essay Example ers by % Â  China 18.2% United States 11.6% Japan 7.8% Singapore 5.9% Germany 4.6% Thailand 4.2% South Korea 4.0% Â  China 19% Canada 14% Mexico 12% Japan 6.4% Germany 4.7% Â   US 14.2 % UAE 11% Saudi Arabia 8.3% UK 6.4% Japan 6 % China 4.8% Source: Unicef, 2013 Answer 1 The percentage of population who are in the labour force has been calculated by taking the total population and the number of people in the workforce. While both in US as well as in Australia the rates of participation in the labour force are 49% for each of the countries with the rate at Australia little higher than that of the United States for Quarter the figure is much higher at 64% (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). Answer 2 In case of all the three countries it has been noticed that the percentage of population in the agriculture is extremely low. This is a special characteristic of all the developed nations. As the countries move from the different stages of development the sectoral contributions of t hese countries would vary at each stage. This means that an underdeveloped country would have the majority of the population engaged in the agriculture. On the other hand the developing countries which have crossed the initial stage of development would have industry as the main contributor to the GDP and the maximum participation of the labour force would be in that sector. Finally the most developed countries of the world would have the maximum percentage of people working in the services sector. Thus the high percentage of people engaged in the services sector of USA and Australia, which are 79% and 75% respectively, would prove that these countries are more developed. On the other hand in case of Qatar the percentage of people in the services sector is only 45% while the industrial sector constitutes the major part of the population. Therefore Qatar can be claimed as comparatively less developed than the countries like Australia and the USA. Answer 3 The list of exports of Austr alia compared to that of Qatar is much longer. This is because the country does not have any agricultural produce and therefore it cannot export any agricultural goods to any other country. Petroleum and related products are the main sources of income of the economy of Qatar and the main sources of government revenue and accounts for more than 60% of the GDP of the country. Thus the resources that the Qatar Economy is endowed with are restricted to the industry and the services sector only. Even the contribution of the services sector is limited to 20% only. On the other hand, the Australian economy exports products and services that comprise of all the sectors of the economy.

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Analyze a poem - Assignment Example 3. First lines of the poem depict the image of stereotypical Mexican bandit riding up on horse and establishing their rights. Then Baca presents the picture of Mexicans who â€Å"sneak into a town at night† (Baca, 530) and deprive jobs from Native Americans. The author suggests the strict and ridiculous stereotypes that are created about Mexican people. Last stanza discloses all reality of the existed situation. 4. The poem is written in the period of racial discrimination in America. Africans and Mexicans have been oppressed in the society and active revolt has been occurred due to such situation. Historical context is straightforwardly connected with the poem as the work introduces social problem relevant in that period. 5. The poem is based on a sort of sarcasm saying â€Å"Ese gringo, gimmee your job?†(Baca, 529). The symbol of TV used by the author to underlie obsessive consumerism power, and refer readers to the digital information means to which people believe. The metaphor â€Å"a tongue paddles through flashing waves of lightbulbs, of cameramen, rasping â€Å"Theyre taking our jobs away† (Baca, 530) emphasizes the stereotypical thinking of Americans. The symbol of â€Å"fighters† (Baca, 530), that author cannot find represent the poor Mexican’s who have to survive in hard conditions. The metaphor of â€Å"cool green sea of money† below which â€Å"millions of people fight to live† (Baca. 3530). â€Å"Dead children† (Baca, 530) is the ones who have no chance for the normal future. 6. The author denounces the defamatory American’s thinking that Mexican people take away their jobs. Still, the real situation is that Mexican’s people are searching for any possible kind of job to have money for livelihood. 7. Nowadays people live in democratic society with the equal rights and possibilities. Nevertheless, this period of discrimination has occurred a few decades ago, that is why

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ISOO 9001 - Research Paper Example This tool is viewed to be high above a standard measure. It touches on the daily practices of an organization therefore, affecting the quality of services (Steyn, 2012). Charts, diagrams and tables are used to illustrate the planning, implementation, control, and documentation of this quality management structure. Below is a sample of a flow chart There are various tools in this system as discussed below; Customer focus In the application of this tool, the organization focuses on the needs and preferences of the customers. The organization puts up a system that ensures there is effective communication between the organization and the customers (Steyn, 2012). The customers are free to make enquiries and recommendations. The organization is able to get feedback from customers. When producing, the organization ensures products are in accordance to consumer expectations. General processes in an organization affect the final product that is released to consumer. Given that the organizatio n focus on the needs of the customers, all the activities are geared towards ensuring that the final products are according the needs in the market. There is good relationship between the customers and the organization, the customers are satisfied by the quality and quantity of the products and they can access these products at fair prices. Organizations that use the customer focus tool; have embraced it because they have been compelled by the customers. Additionally, realizing competitors have embraced this system; these organizations have been left with no alternative (Drori, 2013). The companies have however found this tool to be significant in their performance. 1. Leadership This tool is applicable in the top management level of an organization. The management body, in implementation of this tool, should focus on the communication, planning, provision of adequate resources, and reviews of the performance. It is through good leadership in an organization that the staff is motiva ted and the organizations’ goals are met without compromise. The leadership provides good working environment hence increase in the output (Steyn, 2012). The organization’s reputation and image is improved. It is not possible to underestimate the senior management’s role in an organization. Therefore, the leaders of organization should understand and articulate the organizations goals clearly.   Ã‚   2. Involvement of people In order to realize the objectives of the organization, the top management should work with other people both within and outside the organization. There should be effective communication to ensure smooth operations within the organization (Watson, & Howarth, 2011). Powers and responsibilities of individuals in the organization should be clearly stated. This important because each person is ware is his duties and the ranks are clear. This motivates the employees and reduces conflicts and time wastage. Senior manager should be given the resp onsibility of ensuring overall smooth running of the organization. 3. Process approach The operation processes in an organization should be kept in check. This entails checking performance scope. There should be effective means to control the processes in the organization. This tool can be implemented through developing list of steps to follow in the organization. Additionally, there should be tracking system that enables one to evaluate the production processes (Watson, & Howart

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MC-revise work - Essay Example Now marketing is quite a broad area, which embraces various aspects like price, place, promotion and product. These four aspects form a marketing mix of a firm. As far as the issue of marketing communications is concerned, it actually refers to the area of ‘promotion’ in a marketing mix. In most of the business organizations, marketing communication strategies are found to be in integrated form in the sense that it combines several aspects together. Just like has the broad area of marketing itself, marketing communication also has a mix. Under a marketing communications mix, different elements of communications are incorporated in different quantities to form a campaign. A marketing communications mix comprises of elements like sales promotion, publicity, advertising, direct marketing, e-marketing, branding, and sponsorships and so on. All these elements are generally referred to as marketing communications tools. With time, marketing communications is getting more interrelated, and hence it would be quite interesting to conduct a comprehensive study of different marketing communications strategy applied by the firms in today’s internationalized world where intensity of competition has increased significantly and hence to survive in the market excellent communication strategies are needed to be undertaken. This paper attempts to conduct a case study of a well known firm in the international fashion world, Zara, to analyze its current communication marketing strategies and to provide a marketing communications plan that would help the firm in enhancing its promotional capabilities and help attracting more customers to its stores across the world. However, before moving into the case study analysis, it would be beneficial to provide a brief discussion on different communication theories and various marketing communications tools to enhance the understanding of this marketing issue. The term ‘communication’ refers to exchange of information. An

Proteins Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Proteins - Lab Report Example However, this method is somewhat expensive and a time consuming. There are various methods of protein quantification such as the Ultra violet Absorbance, Lowry Assay and BCA assay (Mathews, 2000). This experiment employed the Bradford protein assay method in determining of protein. The experiments entail a spectroscopic, analytical procedure used in measuring the concentration of proteins in any solution. The procedure in this method relies on the binding of the dye Coomassie BrilliantBlue G-250 to protein in the sample, in which the dye is proportional to the protein concentration. The bradford dye-binding assay is a colorimetric assay method for measuring protein concentration in solution samples. Much of it involves the binding of Coomassie Brilliant blue to protein. In this case, there is no interference from carbohydrates such as sucrose or from cat ions. However, some of the detergents like sodium dodecyl sulfate, as well as triton x-100 are capable of interfering with the assa y, and the alkaline solutions. In this particular experiment, blank alongside six other test tubes were provided with a certain volume of Bovine albumin standard and the volume of some distilled water. The 1.5 mL of the unknown protein was constituted in the fourth test tube. The absorbance was then found through measuring it with the use of the Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. The protein concentration was the computed with the help of the dilution equation. The determination of the unknown protein concentration was achieved through the use of two methods. These were linear regression method and the graphical methods. Quantitative determinations of proteins is the most accurate yet more rapid method for estimating of protein concentration in the field of protein study. The Quantitative determinations of proteins can be titrimetric-elemental, gravimetric or spectroscopic (Stoscheck, 1990). An assay originally described by Bradford has

Public Administration and Management Essay Example for Free

Public Administration and Management Essay Introduction Public administration in Britain takes place through a variety of state agencies with varying histories, functions, as well as patterns of political control and accountability. These comprise the civil service; a large number of local bureaucracies serving an elective system of local government; another massive organization administering the National Health Service (NHS) and, under the acronym quango, a diverse range of organizations responsible for a assortment of administrative, consultative, advisory in addition to regulatory roles. In addition there is a compound of tribunals, inquiries, an ombudsman system and the judiciary, which together dispense administrative justice. The architecture of the modern state was drawn mainly in the nineteenth century, when the rising industrial bourgeoisie required a means of supporting the emerging capitalist economy. A number of major reports and Acts of Parliament offered blueprints for a competent and meritocratic modern civil service and the system of carefully managed municipalities. Reconstruction following the Second World War added a new layer to the modern state with the making of a inclusive welfare state, including the NHS, and the nationalization of a number of chief industries in the form of public corporations. From the 1980s an additional chapter was opened, as the post-war Keynesian beliefs were challenged in the rise of neo-liberalism under the government of Margaret Thatcher. The bureaucratic terrain was re-landscaped, part of a procedure distinguished as a hollowing out of the state (Rhodes 1994; 1997). Even though talk of reform had long featured on the political program, the public bureaucracies had established a renowned capacity to resist change. However, this time the thoughts were backed by resolute political will. A significant intellectual dynamic came from interpretation based on rational individuality under the name of public choice theory (Niskanen 1973). This was usually suspicious of public bureaucracies, which were seen as principally self serving. Much of the practical reform in structure and management was stirred by the model of the private sector, where it was reasoned that the restraint of the profit motive secured greater efficiency, effectiveness as well as economy. The oratory spoke of reinventing government (Osborne and Gaebler 1992); though to critics it emerged as abandoning government in an anti-statist crusade. A program of privatization cut sheathe through the state industrial sector while giving rise to a new generation of regulatory agencies. Much of the civil service was recast into a compound of agencies with a greater level of autonomy from the centre, and the collection of quangos began to grow as responsibilities for a variety of functions were transferred from the realm of elected local government. Indeed, processes of market testing as well as compulsory competitive tendering saw the stipulation of certain services passing from the state altogether and into the hands of the private sector. The arrival of a Labour Government in 1997 did little to stem the tide of change. Furthermore, this new government occasioned further seismic shifts through devolution to Scotland and Wales. Great Britain includes the nations of England, Wales and Scotland, while the United Kingdom extends the embrace to Northern Ireland. These cultural forms were recognized in an outline of administrative regionalism. For long this motivated little political feeling; only in Northern Ireland were separatist tensions felt. Nonetheless, during the 1980s, nationalist movements gathered speed in both Wales and Scotland; this sequentially generated some pressure towards English regionalism. Thus the state has been forced to concern itself with issues of territorial management and make some chief allowances to diversity (Thompson, 1997). Rooted in a history dating from the take-over of Ireland by the Tudors and re-conquest first by Cromwell and later by the Protestant William of Orange, Northern Ireland dwarfs all other territorial problems of UK Government. Coming to office in the year 1997, Tony Blairs first official journey was to Ulster and Sinn Fein was invited into new peace talks. After indirect negotiations, which included some mediation from US President Bill Clinton, an agreement was reached which included: A Northern Ireland assembly of 108 elected by PR with legislative powers under an all-party executive A North-South Ministerial Council to reflect on issues for instance cross-border co-operation The Irish Government to give up constitutional claims to Northern Ireland and Westminster to reinstate the Government of Ireland Act A Council of the Isles comprising members from the north and south of Ireland and the Scottish and Welsh assemblies There were also to be releases of prisoners in addition to a decommissioning of arms. The agreement was effectively put to referendums in Northern Ireland and the Republic in May 1998. Elections were held, but advancement began to slow down. Scotland and Wales In the UK mainland, Wales and Scotland had been governed as provinces from London, with Secretaries of State in the Cabinet and Grand Committees in Parliament. Public administration in the provinces came under Whitehall outposts, the Welsh and Scottish Offices. Nonetheless, from 1979 an extremely centralizing government heightened a mood of separatism, placing strains on the veracity of the state which were to go off in tectonic constitutional shifts in 1998. The configuration of the two new assemblies was intended to release a safety valve on the separatist pressure. On the other hand, opinion polls began to show rising support for the SNP and its objective of complete Scottish independence in the background of the EU. Comparable murmurings were heard in Wales, a country that had done very fine from its European involvement (Jones 1997). Labor’s central machine showed an enthusiastic concern to have its chosen men as the leaders of the provincial parties (and hence first ministers in the assemblies) representing a keen aspiration to keep the provinces under the Westminster wing. Nonetheless, when the elections by the additional member system (dHondt version) to the new assemblies were held on 6 May 1999, the Labour Party, with 28 of the 60 seats in the Welsh Senedd, and 59 of Scotlands 129-seat assembly, failed to win unconditional majorities in either province. A future of alliance government loomed. furthermore, with 17 seats in Wales and 35 in Scotland, the nationalists were second placed in both cases, possibly presaging further separatist pressure (Drewry, Butcher, 1991). England Devolution debate reverberated into England with requirements for regional independence. A political split was opening as from the early 1980s voting patterns gradually more revealed the Conservatives as a party of the southeast. past the ballot box an economic split yawned as huge deindustrialization and the collapse of mining confounded communities in the north. The economic forecasting organization, the Henley Centre, found per capita income in the south-east to be 20 per cent higher than in the rest of Britain (Wagstyl 1996). A European Commission report of November 1996 established that, while post-war economic revival had closed the poverty gaps between Western Europes states, wide dissimilarities remained between regions, the greatest being within the UK.   The British public sector, with numerous of its customs cast in the nineteenth century, has for long been criticized as managerially incompetent. The post-war era saw repeated efforts at reform all through the public sector, though few made any lasting notion before the 1980s. Ever since this time there has been something of a revolution as what was phrased a new public management movement became a familiar international influence (Hood 1991; Lowndes 1997). It was to send shivers to the very foundations of the state, reforming structures as well as practices. The nineteenth-century reforms recognized a custom of elitist generalism and social superiority in which Oxbridge graduates schooled in the classics were to lead the upper reaches of the state bureaucracy. This was to stimulate substantial post-war debate. The onset in office of a Labour Government in 1964 pledged revolution and the 1968 Fulton Committee set up by Harold Wilson criticized the cult of the amateur. It resulted in the formation of a Civil Service Department (CSD) in Whitehall to supervise managerial reforms all through the service, and the establishment of a Civil Service College to offer continuing operating training. One proposal which failed to stimulate was that entrants should hold relevant degrees: the place of the generalist administrator remained unassailed. In the 1990s, Richards (1996) initiated the generalists promotion prospects still significantly brighter than those of the specialist. In the interim, the Civil Service College had fallen well short of the determined position envisaged for it and the CSD had been ignominiously wipe out from the bureaucratic map. Not until Thatcher took the bit between her teeth did a grave breakthrough come. In her first year of office an Efficiency Unit was set up headed by Sir Derek Rayner of the retail giant Marks Spencer. He initiated a system of scrutinies in which competence teams studied recognized practices and suggested reforms, an initiative which achieved more than anything before (Hennessy 1990:619). Even so, the reforms did not go far enough for those of a fundamental bent. An even greater culture shock was to come when Robin Ibbs took over the Efficiency Unit and produced the 1988 report, Improving Management in Government: The Next Steps. This was the report which led to the recasting of the Civil Service as executive agencies. Despite its structural impact the intent in this initiative was essentially managerial (Elcock 1991:236-42). Once established, the new chief executives were given a free rein to introduce a wide range of management practices such as performance-related pay and short-term contracts in the quest for efficiency. A special unit was created in the Cabinet Office to maintain the reforming impetus. The government also assisted developments by abolishing the Northcote-Trevelyan model of centralized recruitment through the independent Civil Service Commission for some 95 per cent of appointments. Responsibility was to lie with the various departments and agencies themselves. A Recruitment and Assessment Service was created to offer central assistance if required although, amidst heated controversy, this itself was privatized in 1991. The result was a variety of terms and conditions of employment throughout the service. There were limits to the revolution. Government radicals had wanted the reforms to reach the senior mandarins, subjecting them to short-term contracts, market-testing and large-scale appointments from the private sector on the revolving-door principle. For most civil servants, anticipating a life insulated from the chill winds of the market economy, much of the managerial reform process was demoralizing. While academics in the right-wing think tanks applauded the changes, many other academic critics saw in the quest for efficiency serious threats to the fundamental public service ethos (Elcock 1991:188; Chapman and OToole 1995). There was some feeling that the reforms reflected governmental antagonism towards civil servants as much as a quest for improved management; the term deprivileging was sometimes heard. The Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee noted that in 1992/3,  £768 million worth of activities out of the  £1.119 billion subjected to market testing were contracted out without civil servants even being allowed to make in-house bids. The traditional management structure in local government entailed separate departments responsible for the provision of various services, each headed by a chief officer and responsible to a particular council committee. A legion of post-war critics saw this as slow, cumbersome and diffuse. A major debate in the 1960s concerned a corporate management model in which a powerful chief executive would displace the traditional town clerk to give strong leadership at the centre. Councilors, faced with a palpable loss of power, proved resistant and traditional practices persisted, although often under the camouflage of some changed nomenclature. New impetus came with the Thatcher regime and was elaborated under John Major (Kingdom 1999). Looking as always to the private sector, much was made of the concept of the enabling authority; the emphasis was not on the direct provision services but on contracting them out to the private and voluntary sectors. Such a practice was by no means new but, from the late 1980s, it became central to government policy, with compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) introduced for an ever-widening range of functions, from refuse collection to professional, legal and accounting responsibilities. A policy of care in the community, coming into force in April 1993, added impetus by requiring local authorities to make use of private and voluntary-sector residential homes for their widening community care responsibilities. In opposition Labour had poured scorn on the policy; in government it maintained the contracting out principle under the term Best Value. The managerial implications in CCT were profound. Although local responses varied with political complexion, few authorities could remain untouched by the culture shift. Even where there was no stomach for contracting out, teams of officials had to endure considerable stress in producing competitive in-house bids in order to keep their jobs. Colleagues found themselves in competitive relationships with each other, some becoming contractors and others providers (Audit Commission 1993). Moreover, the drawing up and monitoring of contracts required the skills of lawyers and accountants rather than elected councilors. Majors Environment Secretary Michael Heseltine produced a consultation document, The Internal Management of Local Authorities, stressing that the control and co-ordination of large workforces would no longer be the central management task. The paper looked for speedy decision-making and strong leadership, advocating local cabinets, appointed council managers or, most radically, directly elected US-style mayors with high public profiles. The latter had held little appeal to Heseltines party but, in a February 1998 consultation paper, Modernizing Local Government: Local Democracy and Community Leadership, the new Labour Government declared itself very attracted to the model of a strong directly elected mayor (para 5.14). The promised Greater London Authority was seen as a suitable flagship for innovation. Here the mayor, served by three or four deputies and a small bureaucracy of around 250, would set policy objectives and an annual budget (of some  £3.3 billion). The role of the councilors in the assembly would be approving rather than determining the budget. Responsibilities of the new mayor would include public transport, the fire brigade, strategic planning, trunk roads, traffic management, the ambulance service and possibly the arts. In addition, responsibility for the Metropolitan Police Force would be taken over from the Home Secretary. The potential power of the new office would be considerable, and both main parties showed alarm as the names of some of their more maverick members were canvassed. For Labour leader Tony Blair, the nightmare candidate appeared to be the left-wing Ken Livingstone, ex-leader of the old GLC and extremely popular with Londoners. The nightmare became reality in May 2000. There was an expectation that this model would be extended to other major cities. All 494 councils were asked to submit plans to central government showing how they would separate the decision-making role from that of representing constituents. Three options were offered: †¢ a leader elected by the council who would appoint a cabinet from the council A directly elected executive mayor who would appoint a cabinet from the council A directly elected mayor working with a full-time manager appointed by the council Conclusion The general election of May 1997 saw the end of an 18-year period of Conservative rule during which the administrative landscape of the state had been radically recast. Few corners of the public sector could be said to have escaped some aspect of the winds of change which included privatization, agencification, CCT, market-testing, public-private partnership ventures, the emergence by stealth of the new magistracy and the general spread of a private-sector managerial ethos. In opposition, the Labour Party had maintained a prolonged crusade against most of the reforms, and many supporters had looked forward to the advance of the political bulldozers to level the ground. In power the party kicked off with a number of significant constitutional moves over devolution, the electoral system, the ECHR, the House of Lords, the Bank of England and the reform of local government. However, the party in power termed itself New Labour and preservation orders appeared over the recently privatized sector; indeed further privatizations were soon mooted in the cases of the Royal Mint and Air Traffic Control, and the remodeled Civil Service and NHS. In local government grant-maintained schools remained under the term foundation schools, and the replacement of CCT with Best Value was, in the eyes of critics, little more than cosmetic (Theakston, Fry, 1998). Moreover, there remained something very much like a capping regime over local government expenditure. In managerial terms, the three Es of effectiveness, economy and efficiency continued as the holy trinity. As the millennium closed it was safe to say that, while the British public sector would remain in the state of flux allowed by its vague and unwritten constitution, the substructure had seen some tectonic shifts from which there would be little reversal.   Reference: Audit Commission (1993) Realising the Benefits of Competition: The Client Role forContracted Services, London: HMSO. Birkinshaw, P. (1997) Freedom of information, Parliamentary Affairs, 50, 1:164-81. Chapman, R.A. and Toole, B.J. (1995) The role of the civil service: a traditional view in a period of change, Public Policy and Administration, 10, 2:3-20. Elcock, H. (1991) Change and Decay: Public Administration in the 1990s, Harlow: Longman. Hennessy, P. (1990) Whitehall, London: Fontana.   Hood, C. (1991) A public management for all seasons, Public Administration, 69, 1: 3-19. Jones, B. (1997) Wales: a developing political economy, in M. Keating and J. Loughlin (eds), The Political Economy of Regionalism, London: Frank Cass. Kingdom, J. (1999) Centralisation and fragmentation: John Major and the reform of Local Government, in P. Dorey (ed.), The Major Premiership, Basingstoke: Macmillan, pp 45-7. Klug, F., Starmer, K. and Weir, S. (1996) Civil liberties and the parliamentary watchdog: the passage of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Parliamentary Affairs, 49, 4:536-49.   Lowndes, V. (1997) Change in public service management: new institutions and new managerial regimes, Local Government Studies, 23, 2:42-66.   Mandelson, P. and Liddle, R. (1996) The Blair Phenomenon: Can New Labour Deliver? London: Faber.    Nicholson, E. (1996) Secret Society, London: Indigo. Osborne, D. and Gaebler, T. (1992) Reinventing Government, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Rhodes, R.A.W. (1994) The hollowing out of the state: the changing nature of the public service in Britain, Political Quarterly, 65:138-51. Rhodes, R.A.W. (1997) Understanding Governance: Policy Networks, Governance,Reflexivity and Accountability, Buckingham: Open University Press.   Richards, D. (1996) Recruitment to the highest grades in the civil service-drawing the curtains Open, Public Administration, 74, 4:657-77. Wagstyl, S. (1996) Nice work if you can get it, The. Financial Times, 18 December, 23. Theakston, K. and Fry, G.K. (1998) Britains administrative elite: permanent secretaries 1900-1986, Public Administration, 67, 2:129-48.   Ã‚   Thompson, B. (1997) Conclusion: judges as trouble-shooters, Parliamentary Affairs, 50, 1:182-9.   Drewry, G. and Butcher, T. (1991) The Civil Service Today (2nd edn), Oxford: Blackwell.

Overview of the Grace-Fo Satellite Mission

Overview of the Grace-Fo Satellite Mission The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On: An Overview An artist depiction of the GRACE satellite configuration (Sharing, 2017) The field of remote sensing is continuously expanding and adapting to yield new information about the earth and its complex systems. Modern satellite technology has expanded to be able to monitor spatial and temporal variations in Earths global gravity field (Schutze, 2016). The ability to monitor the Earths geoid now allows scientists to understand changes in hydrological characteristics on the surface of the planet including ice mass loss due to climate change and sea level rise (NASA JPL, 2017). The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its follow-on mission represent the application of this new technology that is essential for obtaining new data about global mass redistribution. The GRACE-FO mission will offer benefits due its use of active sensors and new technological inputs, but with any satellite system, there will be sources of error and challenges in design and data usage. The first GRACE mission was launched in 2002 as a result of the combined efforts of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) with assistance from partner institutions of both leading agencies (Schutze, 2016). The primary goal of the mission was to provide a new model of Earths gravity field every 30 days (Schlepp et al., 2015). Two identical satellites comprise the system with one trailing behind the other by 220km in a sun-synchronous orbit (Wahr, 2007). The satellites fly in a low polar orbit of 450 km and, the system circles the Earth every 90 minutes (Schutze, 2015). Spatial variations in Earths gravity field lead to different accelerations in the two satellites and therefore, differing inter-satellite separation (Schutze, 2016). Therefore, the GRACE mission is different than many other earth observation satellite missions because it does not make measurements of electromagnetic ener gy reflected back to it from Earths surface. The distance between the two satellites serves as the source of data. Also, uniquely, the satellites are left mostly without intervention to their orbit unless they separate by less than 170 km and more than 250 km (Sheard et al., 2012). Illustration of the positions of the two GRACE satellites in response to variations in Earths gravity field; a)The two satellites pass over the ocean and neither is affected; b)The lead spacecraft encounters a change in gravity over the more dense land mass and pulls away from the trailing spacecraft; c)The lead spacecraft moves back over water but now the trailing spacecraft changes position in response to the greater pull of gravity over the land mass (Ward, 2003) The first GRACE mission was only planned to run for 5 years, but far exceeded this as it is now in its 15th year of operation. The batteries in each satellite are fatiguing and accurate data is increasingly available in more irregular intervals (Gà ¶rth et al., 2016). As a result, NASA and the GFZ created a follow-on mission to prevent data gaps (Schlepp et al., 2015). The follow-on was approved for launch in August 2017 and is known simply as the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission (Schlepp et al., 2015). The primary objective for this mission is the same as the previous; to create monthly global gravity models for five years (Sharing Earth Observation Resources, 2017). The GRACE-FO mission will use some of the key sensor technology and overall design of the first GRACE mission, but will also include unique features. The same two-satellite design will remain but the inter-satellite distance will be reduced from 220 km to 50 km (Zheng and Xu, 2015).   Several very important pieces of equipment will carry over from the first mission to each of the GRACE-FO satellites but will see improvements in design. This includes a microwave instrument (MWI) dependent on Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The MWI system measures the distance between the satellites centers of mass and slight changes in distance represent gravitational changes (Tapley, 2008). A very sensitive accelerometer meant to measure the forces acting on the satellites besides gravity including atmospheric drag will also remain (Tapley, 2008). There were previous accelerometer errors and satellite-to-satellite measurement errors that will be reduced by the lower altitude and up dates in design on the follow-on mission (Loomis, Nerem, and Luthcke, 2012). The microwave ranging system employed can measure the distance between satellites to within one micron or about the diameter of one human blood cell (NASA JPL, 2017). It is known as a KBR system because it utilizes microwaves in the K (26 GHz) and Ka (32 GHz) frequency channels (Jiang et al., 2014). Distance measurements between the two satellites are taken by monitoring the time of flight of microwave signals transmitted and received nearly simultaneously between the two spacecraft (Bao et al., 2005). Previously collected data and models created by scientists based on known gravitational differences linked to mountains and ocean trenches, the location of the sun, and the flow of the tides are compared to new measurements of the satellites to interpret gravitational changes (NASA JPL, 2017).   Also, the GPS unit on board is used in tandem with the MWI to be able to understand the gravity field below and can accurately assign capture time to data (Sheard et al., 2012). The accelerometer can then measure non-gravitational forces affecting the satellite as previously mentioned including atmospheric drag and solar radiation pressure (Schutze, 2016). These additional forces are then subtracted from measurements taken by the MWI. At the low altitude of orbit of GRACE comes changing solar radiation and large thermal disturbances to on-board instruments (Schutze, 2016). As a result, one improvement to the accelerometer on the GRACE-FO satellites will be placing the measurement digitalization unit in a temperature controlled area of the spacecraft to prevent temperature variation that can make data inaccurate (Christophe et al., 2015). The FO mission will include new technology known as a laser interferometer that will make measures that are at least 25 times more precise than the on-board microwave ranging system due to shorter wavelength usage (Sharingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2017). The LRI uses an active transponder principle, which means that the weak incoming received (RX) beam to the trailing satellite is replaced by a strong local oscillator (LO) beam. The LO beam is then reflected back to the lead satellite by a Triple Mirror Assembly (TMA) which directs the beam and influences the amount of light returned (Fledderman et al., 2014). It also serves to effectively route the incoming beam around other important hardware pieces (Fledderman et al., 2014). The use of the new laser interferometer represents the first time an active laser ranging system will be operated between two spacecraft (NASA JPL, 2017). However, the microwave system will remain intact to ensure continuity of data from the first mission and the use of interferometer represents only a technology demonstration (Sharingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2017). While some studies found the LRI technology could greatly increase the accuracy of gravity data, others found that there would be only moderate improvements in the accuracy models (Flechtner et al., 2015). However, seeing the results of the two systems as they operate simultaneously will create meaningful data for the planning of future of gravity field missions. The GRACE-1 mission allowed for new breakthroughs in the fields of hydrology, oceanography, glaciology, geophysics, and geodesy (Sharingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2017). Since gravity is determined by mass, the GRACE systems have the capability to show how mass is distributed around the planet (Sharingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, 2017). However, GRACE has and will continue to have no vertical resolution and can therefore, not distinguish between surface water, soil moisture, and ground water (Bolton and Thomas, 2015). Land surface models therefore allow for the disaggregation of Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) data by separating these data into layers with known points of distinction (Bolton and Thomas, 2015). For example, in a study of the High Plains region of the US, the variability of snow and surface water were found to make insignificant contributions to TWS variability compared to groundwater and soil moisture changes (Ward, 2003). Therefore, removing moisture data known from previous studies of th e region allowed scientists to subtract these figures from the GRACE gravitational measurements to understand changes in groundwater levels over time (Ward, 2003). Over time, improvements in GRACE data processing have allowed for the detection of changes in TWS within 1.5 cm accuracies for a wide range of spatial and seasonal scales (Jiang et al., 2014). (Ward, 2003) Measuring changes in global mass distribution can help scientists across many disciplines. GRACE data has also been used to observe increases and decreases in the ice and snow masses of glaciers and changes to the solid Earth following seismic activity such as the Fukushima earthquake of 2011 in Japan (Flechtner et al., 2016). Ocean water elevation changes caused by the devastating 2004 Sumatra tsunami had an impact of the inter-satellite distance of the GRACE satellites and showed how oceanic mass redistribution can affect Earths gravity field (Bao et al., 2005). Due to the relatively low spatial resolution of GRACE data, it is more useful for monitoring large-scale terrestrial water changes such as in past studies of the entire Amazon Basin or India (Bolton and Thomas, 2015). Other applications include flood and drought monitoring for management projects and interventions (Bolton and Thomas, 2015).   For example, the US National Drought Mitigation Center uses GRACE data mont hly to generate drought indicators and monitor surface water changes (NASA JPL, 2016). GRACE data also allows for the study of changes in deep ocean currents by measuring pressure changes at great depths. Similar pressure changes in the structure of the solid earth can be studied as well (NASA JPL, 2016). Trends in TWS and water mass redistribution made possible from GRACE data from 2002-2013 (Bolton and Thomas, 2015) One of the benefits of an active satellite system such as the GRACE-1 and GRACE-FO compared to passive systems is that it can collect accurate data 24 hours per day because it creates its own source of electromagnetic energy (Schowengerdt, 2006). Also, the use of microwaves in the GRACE missions means that data is not affected by any type of cloud cover which often greatly affects accurate passive sensor data acquisition because the system only considers inter-satellite distance and GPS location for data retrieval. Active sensors dependent on microwave signals like on the GRACE missions are unique in their capabilities. The launch of the first GRACE mission allowed for data on earths geoid that was 100 to 1000 times more accurate than previous models could estimate depending on the region of the global under consideration (Ward, 2003). GRACE data has also allowed scientists to under the impact of global climate change based on mass redistribution of water around the globe in a comprehensive and consistent manner never previously achieved. With more accurate data from the GRACE-FO mission and the security of continued data creation, changes caused by climate change will continue to be monitored and planning for issues such as drought can be improved. However, compared to passive system data, the analysis of data is more complex and costly overall. The data output of the GRACE systems also requires a lot of manipulation and filtering to create meaningful datasets for a variety of disciplines. The microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum is far from the visible region and therefore, the resulting data is also less intuitive for human interpretation (Schowengerdt, 2006). The raw data outputs for GRACE are just inter-satellite distance measurements and GPS data about satellite location (Ward, 2003). Therefore, improvements in satellite technology components alone will not improve the data created by GRACE. Improvements also need to be made to the many geophysical models used in data processing (Loomis, Nerem, and Luthcke, 2012). For example, a complete global depiction of the earths gravity field is only available every 30 days while forces such as tidal shifts can change on a minute-to-minute basis. This difference creates an issue in which short-term differences are lost or their impact is underestimated (Sheard et al., 2012). Therefore, understanding gravitational influences not directly linked to mass balance changes is essential. Models of gravity field anomalies on earths geoid created by comparing GRACE data from two different temporal scales (Ward, 2003) Models based on GRACE data are also limited by the noise present in the system data. This noise is linked to instrument errors, uncertainties in background models, and limitations in processing strategies (Siemes et al., 2013). In order to make meaningful measurements of mass changes on the earth using GRACE data, the noise of resulting models needs to be kept at a minimum, usually accomplished by applying filters (Siemes et al., 2013). However, when one problem is solved, another potentially arises. Filtering suppresses noise and blurs the signal, limiting the spatial resolution so much that part of the leak may affect nearby regions and cause errors in mass redistribution data (Siemes et al, 2013). However, more complex filtering methods have been developed to also minimize the blurring of data. Also, the spatial resolution of GRACE data is ultimately limited (Siemes et al., 2013). The spatial range for very accurate GRACE data application was 400km to 40,000 km for the first mission (Tapley, 2008). The strength of GRACE data therefore lies in an ability to monitor mass changes over time rather than to understand the water storage in one area at a specific time. However, there is potential for the lower altitude of the GRACE-FO mission and the LRI technology utilization of shorter wavelengths to allow for higher spatial resolution. The GRACE mission have shown that the use of active sensor technology on earth system satellite missions that utilizes microwave laser instruments and likely laser interferometers is incredibly efficient at understanding changes in earths geoid. With the launch of the GRACE-FO mission later this year, even more accurate measurements and greater understanding of mass redistribution of water around the planet will be possible. 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