Portfolio Analysis Essay Example for Free

Portfolio Analysis Essay ABSTRACT This paper discusses the portfolio analysis. The paper includes a brief discussion on the meaning of the portfolio and why it is important for an investor to consider portfolio. It   also explains how an investor would select a particular asset to be a part of his portfolio. The limitations and disadvantages of having a portfolio analysis is also discussed in the last paragraphs of the paper. An investor or entrepreneur must study where he or she must invest in. These assets are combined in order to maximize the return of investment of the investor and entrepreneur. The combination of these assets, according to Weston and Copeland (1992) can be called a portfolio. The aim of an investor is to maximize their investments. Weston and Copeland (1992) believe in applying the portfolio theory to optimize the selection of assets. Each portfolio has a certain degree of risk and advantages. The weighted average of the returns of the individual assets is done in order to compute for the rate of return of the portfolio. A risk of a portfolio is the combination of all assets. The risk of the portfolio is different from the asset if it is held in isolation. A particular asset can be considered as very risky if it is held in isolation. However, this may not be so if it is combined with the other assets. Rather, these assets may contribute largely to an optimal portfolio of the investor. The risk of a particular portfolio depends on the risk factors of the assets. Litterman and Winkemann (1996) had noted that investors select their portfolio depending on the benchmark or the standard that they had set. The benchmark depends on the selection of the investors. These can be a liability stream, performance index or cash return. Experts are trying to understand the risk of assets and portfolio. Littermann and Winkelmann (1996) had recommended the use of risk factors. One of the most important risk factors that the investors must looked out for is the market exposure of the portfolio. This makes the risk of portfolio very unpredictable that is why investors are expected to risk their assets when they are managing their portfolio and are deciding on where to put their money. The analysis of one’s portfolio is important in its management. Through the analysis of the portfolio an investor can estimate the return or the loss that a particular asset may contribute. Having been able to study the portfolio does not mean a total success because as stated above, investing is a risk and an investor decides based on uncertainty. There may be cases that an investor had chosen the wrong combination of assets that may result to losses. Every businesses are exposed to risk and the percentage of failing is not fixed. An investor may estimate that the percentage of success is 75% and the percentage of failure is 25%. However, this may not be the case. It could be the other way around. Failure percentage can be higher than that of the success depending on the events that may happen. Even though the investors have uncovered all the risk factors that is connected with the success of the investment, there could be other complications that can occur once the investment had already been decided.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Investing in stocks and bonds are also a part of the portfolio. There is no fixed amount of return concerning stocks. A particular company stock may be high now but because of matters in the economy or problems in the company it could go very low. The limitations of having the portfolio analysis is that the computation of the portfolio may now approach the benchmark of the investor however, there could be times that the portfolio of an investor changes because of the â€Å"risk factors†Ã‚   in the market. REFERENCES: Littermann R. and Winkelmann K. 1996.   Managing Market Exposure. Retrieved last February 20, 2008 from Goldman Sachs. Website: http://faculty.fuqua.duke.edu/~charvey/Teaching/IntesaBci_2001/GS_Managing_market_exposure.pdf Weston, J. and Copeland, T. 1992. Managerial Finance 9th edition. Dryden Press. United States ofAmerica.

Characteristics of the Clothing Industry

Characteristics of the Clothing Industry The high quality fashion market is based on modern technology which has a relatively well paid labour force and designers with various degrees of flexibility. Many firms within this industry try to capture the market through various designs which is targeted at meeting the taste and preference of consumers. Most of the firms under the high quality fashion markets are in the developed and industrialized countries. The mass production low-quality/standard products markets are found in the developing countries. These categories are basically involved in the production of uniforms, under wears, t-shirts and many more. They are found in exporting zones working with major importers if the industrialized countries. Outsourcing in this market is basically to household productions, (Nordas, 2004). The Clothing industries operate under free import quotas. This means that both clothing and textile industries do not have to pay import tariffs when importing raw materials connected to clothing and textiles. These tariffs are made possible by the World Trade Organisation, to improve the importation of varied clothing among producing countries. As a result of the protectionism, many developing countries producing clothing were able to survive the industry. This however did not go well with the developed countries since there were great competition between the developing countries like China and the developed countries. On the part of employment, the industry has engaged the services of millions of people worldwide and also with other individuals who are not registered but work in their homes and factories. The industry was the first to trade on a global dimension, simply because of the low barriers in entering the production of clothing. The industry is governed by the international labour laws, employing the most sensitive part of the labour force with females and ethnic minority as the leading employees. Most of the employees are immigrants. The European community, and the US and UK also have blacks as the major employees of the industry. Most of the producing countries in the developing world have females as the majority of employees in the industry. As indicated above, the total labour force of the clothing industry is made up of 80% of women. This is largely due to the fact that women are immobile and therefore are able to take care of domestic chores. A greater number of the female workforce is also unskilled or semi-skilled. In the developing countries, many of the workers spend up to 12-14 hours per day and are paid with very low wages, THE PRODUCTION CIRCUIT The clothing industry is part of a large circuit which involves the production of textiles. The industry is more fragmented organisationally and less technological in nature. The industry outsource most of it components and products. The garment industry therefore produces to unpredicted consumer markets. The industry serves as a distribution point for all garments. Through retailer efforts, the organisationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s geography has been shaped accordingly. The industry is also known as a buyer driven industry, in the sense that they purchase most of the raw materials from producing countries worldwide. There are six stages that individual producing countries have passed through, that is from the embryonic stage to the maturity and decline stage of the development process of the clothing industry. This can be seen in (Figure 1 below). The stages indicate how raw materials flow within the industry, from the fabric production stage, design, preparation, production, distribution and consumption stage. In the reverse state is the information flow from customer orders down to the fabric production stage. There is no much technological change since inception of the clothing industry. The majority still uses the manual operations due to the complex nature of the production process. The clothing industry can be related to a supply chain function, where activities flow from raw materials to textile designs, apparel plants through distribution centers and other retail stores to consumers. The chain is seen as an integrated network of marketing from production stage to the finish product to consumers. The various activities are located where each can be able to make a contribution to the value of the finished product. The various variables considered in the industry include quality, cost, reliability, access to quality inputs and transportation cost. From the figure 2 above, the black lines represents the flow of goods whereas the white lines represent the flow of information. The arrows indicate Demand-Pull System, where the design of a product is made from customer orders, (Nordas, 2004). The supply chain indicates the interplay of several companies, where logistics and other services are coordinated. In the industrialized countries, most companies engage the ser vices of consultants or independent service providers in the provision of logistics. PRODUCTION COST AND TECHNOLOGY The clothing industry is characterized by low intensity of capital and high intensity of labour. The plant size is very small with simple technology. Figure 4 represent percentage of leading exporters of Clothing worldwide. The figure compares percentage of 2000 and 2011. Asia dominates the clothing industry in-terms of exports with over 50% of world market. China has doubled their share within 11years of operation, with approx. 37% of the total exports worldwide. Closely followed is the European Union and Euro extra with a combined total of 35% of world export share, which I a combination of intra regional exports. Figure 5 represents share in value for exporters for 2011. China leads with 38% representing 154 billion Dollars in 2011, (www.wto.org) European union closely follows with 36% of Share in value representing 144billion US Dollars including intra regional trade. Bangladesh also did better in 2011 with a share in value of 5%, representing an amount of 20billion US Dollars, www.wto.org). LEADING IMPORTERS ( SHARE IN VALUE AND PERCENTAGE) The EU is the leading importer of clothing worldwide, with combined percentage of 67.2% of total imports. The EU imports much of its clothing from China. Available records indicates that EU imports about 39% if Clothing from China, 14% from Turkey, 7.7% from India, 6.3% from Bangladesh and 3.6% from Tunisia, ( www.ec.europa.eu). It is also evidenced that China exports clothing more than imports. Whereas China leads in exporting clothing, in-terms of imports, they only imports about 0.90% of world clothing. The US is the second largest importer of clothing as evidenced on figure 4 above. The US imports about 20.5% of clothing in the country, followed by Japan with 7.6%. The remaining countries imports less than 3% worldwide respectively, (WTO 2011 chart II.69) The share in value for the leading importer of clothing (EU) is 60%, representing an amount of 290Billion Dollars. The EU is therefore the largest importer of clothing worldwide. The US is the second largest importer of clothing with about 18% share in value, representing 89 Billion US Dollars TOP TEN SUPPLIERS The clothing industry has about ten major suppliers. China plays a leading role with about 29.45million Euros in 2011 as compared to 2007 where it made a supply of approximately 21.9million Euros. Bangladesh also improved in their supply in 2011 with 7.5million Euros as compared with 2007 with a supply of 4.4million Euros. India also had a slight increase in supply for 2011 with approximately 4.5million Euros as compared to 2007 where the supply was approx. 3.8million Euros. However, Turkey had a decline in supply in 2011 with an amount of 8.2million Euros as compared with 2007 with approx. 8.9million Euros. Other countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Vietnam had their supply below 2million Euros as evidenced on figure 2. Top 10 suppliers in clothing (million Euros) Basic characteristics of the industry (share in value added and employment, structure and  characteristics of the production process) The role of trade policy (multilateral tariffs and quotas, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“grey area protectionism, trade conflicts, preferential trade, etc.) Trade policies are rules and regulations governing the operations of international trade among countries worldwide. Trade policies play a major role in the industrialization of the clothing and textiles market. Regarding market access, trade policies TEXTILES AND CLOTHING AGREEMENT The textiles and clothing industry has long history in-terms of agreement for protection in trade across the US and Europe. Voluntary export restraints were agreed upon by China, Japan, Hong Kong, and India to enable them export cotton products to the US in the 1950s. The General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs were incorporated in the agreement with the Long Term Agreement (LTA) on Cotton. This agreement was later replaced by the Multi-Fibre Agreement in 1974, (Nordas, 2004). The main purpose of the MFA was to open up the restricted markets so to limit the disruptions of markets. The MFA was also extended to cover all man-made fibres in-terms of restrictions. However, according to Nordas 2004, the MFA violated the multilateral system principles as follows: The most favoured principle was not adhered to Instead applying tariffs, it rather applied quantitative restrictions Developing countries were discriminated against It was not also very transparent for easy understanding By 1st January, 2005, the Textiles and Clothing were fully integrated in GATT which also gave way for quotas to be fully integrated making it easy for member countries to trade without trade barriers. In the views of Nordas, the eliminating quotas lead to welfare economic gains of about 42% of the Uruguay round liberation, and about 65% for dynamic models. In her view, Nordas indicated that much of the Welfare gains went to the importing countries where as the exporting countries made welfare loss through the static version of the model and welfare gain through the dynamic model. A tripartite committee report on promoting fair globalization in textiles and clothing indicates that phasing out quotas will benefit China, being the leader in exporting of clothing in the industry, where as the importing countries will lose market share, (www.ilo.org) . The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) ended in 2004, which led to an increase in competition in the clothing market. Some countries were affected as a result of the new entrants of the Asian countries like Vietnam and Cambodia, and other competitors like India and Bangladesh which are traditional exporters. This led to a decline in the importation of clothing from the affected countries by the US at an annual rate of 13.4%. With the implementation of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) which were imposed by the US and EU on the importation of textiles and clothing from China, inroads were created for some developing countries to experience marginal growth in their exports. The PTAs also made it possible for small countries like Madagascar and Haiti to increase their exports by 26% and 15% respectively, (www.ito.org). THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT The US Free Trade Agreements has given the textiles and apparel industry the opportunity to enter in the world market and compete freely. The agreement enables the reduction of tariffs rates and improves the intellectual property rules and regulations, (Web.ita.doc.gov). The US has therefore signed agreements with the following countries and Institutions on textile and clothing industry. Notable among them are; Australia, Bahrain, CAFTA-DR, Chile, Colombia, Israel, Korea, Morocco, NAFTA, Oman, Panama, Peru and Singapore, (www.otexa.ita.doc). These agreements assist foreign governments to ensure that non-discriminating laws and regulations are enforced to streamline trade relations between the US and member countries, (www.otexa.ita.doc). The FTA provides that transparent measures be put in place for effective rules to be enforced. The FTA also ensures that all non-tariff barriers are removed completely, which opens the markets of the member countries to the US products. Under this ag reement, all goods that qualify are said to be duty free the US markets.

Importance of Patient-Nurse Communication Essay example -- Nursing, He

The primary focus in health care is to improve patients’ health status and quality of life. Many times nurses assist in treating or managing all the apparent medical conditions of the patients, but they fail to tackle the underlying causes of the disease due to inadequate patient-nurse communication. Continuing with this idea, Patak et al. (2009) proposed a call to action for nursing administrators to position patient-provider communication as a patient safety-care quality priority within the healthcare organization and incorporate bedside practices that achieve effective patient communication, especially with those most vulnerable to impair communication. Effective patient-provider communication is an essential component of patient care, and for communication to be effective the information must be completed, accurate, timely, unambiguous, and understood by the patient (Patak et al., 2009). Effective communication between nurses and patients require some very important skills from nurses. Nurses need to make sure that patients truly understand what using simple, common words and avoiding medical terminologies are saying. â€Å"Nurses need to recognize and acknowledge the emotional burden and individual concerns of the patients. Contributing factors that perpetuate ineffective patient-provider communication include the lack of a systematic method for nursing assessment, evaluation, and monitoring of patient-provider communication needs and interventions and a lack of standardized training of healthcare providers† (Patak, 2009, p. 372). The authors have thoroughly reviewed research conducted on effectiveness of nurse communication with their colleagues with complex communication needs. Another study conducted by Case, & W... ...(2007) Respite: Cultural Values in North American and Caribbean Caregiving. Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol 32 401-415 Jansen, J., van Weert, J., de Groot, J., van Dulmen, S., Heeren, T. J., & Bensing, J. M. (2010). Emotional and informational patient cues: the impact of nurses’ responses on recall. Patient education and counseling, 79(2), 218-224. McCaffrey, R.G., Hayes, R., Stuart, W., Cassell, A., Farrell, C. & Miller-Reyes C. 2010. A Program to Improve Communication and Collaboration Between Nurses and Medical Residents. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing  · Vol 41, No 4. Retrieve from: http://content2.learntoday.info/ Patak, L., Wilson-Stronks, A., Costello, J., Keleinpell, R. M., Henneman, E. A., Pearson, C. & Happ, M. B. (2009). Improving Patient-Provider Communication. A Call to Action. Volume 39, Number 9, pp 372-376.

Female Mosquito Digestive Enzymes Essay -- Biology Aedes Aegypti

Introduction Mosquitoes are remembered by most as being the bane of the outdoor barbecue; the reason that bug zappers were invented. However, mosquitoes are not really as bad as some people think. To begin with, mosquitoes are equal opportunity pests. They will go after anything with blood, not just human flesh. In fact, it is only the female mosquito who bites; the male mosquitoes don't drink blood and are relatively innocent. Finally, mosquitoes are extremely well adapted to what they do. When a female mosquito bites an animal, certain chemicals in the animal's blood tell her when she has hit a blood vessel. Then, the mosquito's specialized saliva kicks in to keep the wound from clotting. In this manner, a typical 2 mg. mosquito can take in two to three times its own weight in blood. Experiment One When a mosquito takes in blood, it needs to be able to break the proteins in that blood down into their component amino acids in order to get any nutrition from the meal. The gut of the mosquito employs a class of enzymes called proteolytic enzymes to accomplish this. Trypsin, the enzyme being studied in this project, is one such enzyme. It is separated into two categories: early trypsin, which appears shortly after a blood-meal, and late trypsin, which appears later in digestion, and which does most of the work of digestion. The project found evidence that early trypsin activity (that is, the presence of early trypsin in the gut following a meal) was essential to the production of late trypsin later in the experiment. The early trypsin is present in small amounts about two hours after a meal, and the amounts fade out after about eight hours. At about twelve hours after the meal, the late trypsin begins to form. The early try... ...vel of late trypsin translated in relation to the amount of protein in the meal. Regulation at both the transcriptional and translational levels allows the mosquito to adjust the levels of late trypsin with remarkable flexibility in response to a particular meal. In other words, the mosquito has the ability to assess the quality of its meals and then appropriately synthesize the late trypsin gene. This tight regulation might be important in reserving the synthesis of late trypsin when it isn't needed. By studying trypsin (early and late) activity in the midgut of the mosquito it is possible that a "mosquito contraceptive" might be developed. A block of trypsin equates to no eggs and no offspring. Therefore, if we find a way to block trypsin production we can stop mosquitoes from reproducing; greatly decreasing or even diminishing these disease carrying insects.

Claude McKays Harlem Shadows Essay -- Harlem Shadows Claude McKay Ess

Claude McKay's "Harlem Shadows" During the Harlem Renaissance, the black body was considered exotic and the "flavor" of the week. Society had an obsession towards black women, in general, blackness. However, the white race wanted to listen to their music, mingle with the women, and enjoy the other finer luxuries that the black society could afford. Even the art was captured by this idea of the exotic and contentment in being "black." The masquerade began as members of the white race tried to pass as black and during that experience gain some satisfaction from their own lost and confused existence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Claude McKay was unique in style and tone, yet still followed the other artists by topic. The exotic in Claude McKay's "Harlem Shadows" is apparent. McKay is developing the exotic throughout the text and saying that black exoticism is the only way that Africans can survive in America. McKay wants the African American to embrace their bodies, but there is an element of pity to the work. He feels that embracing the exotic in your own body is the way that the black person can become African American. Ignoring the culture fails to guide black Americans to discovering his or her identity. As a Harlem Renaissance writer, Claude McKay tried to guide African Americans to accept the African culture along with the exotic characteristics involved in it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In "Harlem Shadows", McKay tries to express how a black woman survives everyday life in America. He writes, "I see the shapes of girls who pass/ to bend and barter at desires call." McKay identifies with the black desires that these women can not avoid. It is in their nature to turn and exchange their bodies. However, the most important reference McKay makes is the use of the word barter. The dictionary meaning of bartering is to exchange services without the exchange of money. These girls are not receiving money for each desire they fulfill. For the girls to continue satisfying desires without receiving anything in return, McKay implies they are enjoying the act. Also, that these woman need to complete these desires to survive. Another prominent aspect of the line is that McKay uses the term girls instead of women. Thus proving that even from an immature age, black females are not able to suppress their exotic nature and desires. Therefore, McKay is encouraging w omen to embrace their own African roots, n... ...ng, "Follow my example." That is how the girls can save the culture and realize their identity. He wants the girls to find a better way to exhibit their sexual tendencies and embrace the culture. The girls nightly behavior is shameful and not the way to living the culture.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout "Harlem Shadows," McKay is telling the young girls to express their natural sexuality, but to find a different way. The behavior that they are displaying is more disgraceful and should not be considered Black culture. McKay shows how the girls have lost their innocence and spread the black culture to the white race, yet McKay implies that their idea of the culture is tainted as the girls themselves are. Claude McKay makes reference to his example being the girl's saving grace to the true black culture and each girl's true identity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  However, in his message McKay has to make the girls exoticized and objectified before he can explain the way to change and the ultimate survival. By objectifying the girl's McKay attaches his poem along with the rest of the writers at the time. He is writing the same topic of exoticism, black culture, and resuscitation from a lost and confused existence.

Motivational Factors Toward Pursuing a Career in Special Education Essay

This study investigated factors which motivated individuals to initially pursue careers in special education, factors which contributed toward their plans to remain or leave the field, and their perceptions of school districts’ effective and ineffective recruitment and retention practices. The sample comprised of 15 individuals employed in public schools throughout north Texas who initially pursued careers in special education. Data were collected through the form of audio-recorded semi-structured telephone interviews. Empathy towards students, family, and opportunities to fill job vacancies were factors that participants cited the most for initially pursuing careers in special education. Furthermore, most of the interviewees reported satisfaction within their jobs, but noted excessive demands and lack of administrative support as contributing to job dissatisfaction. Motivational Factors toward Pursuing a Career in Special Education. Chronic shortages in the field of special education continue to pose challenges for public schools across the United States (Billingsley, Carlson, & Klein, 2004; Boe, 2006; Billingsley & McLeskey, 2004; Brownell, Hirsch, Seo, 2004; Singh & Billingsley, 1996; Strunk & Robinson, 2006; Thornton, Peltier, & Medina, 2007). The limited number of individuals entering and/or remaining in the field of special education has resulted in school districts’ inability to fill the necessary teaching positions; such shortages have been linked to difficulties in the recruitment and retention of qualified individuals (Olivarez & Arnold, 2006). Although difficulties with the recruitment of teachers, low retention, and high attrition rates are evident across all teaching professions, it is much more prevalent among special educators. Specifically, teachers of students with emotional/behavioral disorders exhibit the largest shortage, followed by those serving students with severe/profound disabilities, and learning disabilities (McLeskey, Tyler, & Flippin, 2004). Our national school districts are in a crisis. Specifically, districts are scrambling to find qualified special educators to fill the vacant teaching positions. According to Plash and Piotrowski (2006), a projected 611,550 positions in special education will need to be filled by the year 2010. However, the inability to recruit the necessary number of eligible individuals to fill positions continues to be a major problem for school administrators. An infinite number of research studies have been conducted in an attempt to identify barriers which deter people from entering the field (Billingsley, 2004; Gersten, Keating, Yovanoff, & Harniss, 2001; McLeskey et al., 2004; Olivarez & Arnold, 2006; Thornton, Peltier, & Medina, 2007). Studies have identified perceptions of low social status associated with being a special educator, poor working conditions, high rates of stress, excessive paperwork, and low salaries with the decreased number of individuals entering the field of special education (Barmby, 2006; McLeskey et al. , 2004; Rice, Goeling, & Peters, 2005). A vast amount of research also exists regarding factors which have contributed to the decisions of individuals to leave the field of special education (Billingsley, Carlson, & Klein, 2004; Singh & Billingsley, 1996; Thornton, Peltier, & Medina, 2007) and consequently contribute to the shortage of and high attrition rates of special education teachers (Barmby, 2006; Fish & Stephens, in press; McLeskey, Tyler, & Saunders, 2004). According to Plash and Piotrowski (2006), 13. 2% of special education teachers leave their position each year. While six percent of special educators leave the field of education altogether, 7. 2% transfer to general education positions. Prevalent variables identified as contributors to the exodus from the field include occupational stress, burnout (Botwinik, 2007; Greiner & Smith, 2006), weak support by administrators, unreasonable caseloads, large class size, low salaries (Darling-Hammond, 2003), testing and accountability pressures (Tye & O’Brien, 2002), and ineffective in-service programs (Kaufhold, Alverez, & Arnold, 2006; Plash & Piotrowski, 2006). A study conducted by Brownell, Smith, McNellis, and Lenk (1994) investigated the contextual variables related to teacher attrition. Findings indicated that those teachers who decided to stay in the field of special education were more committed to teaching students with disabilities, had a higher sense of efficacy, felt more prepared by their pre-service and initial teaching experiences, and exhibited more effective coping strategies than those who decided to leave the field. Two international studies were identified which focused on the motivating factors of individuals initially pursuing careers as general educators (Barmby, 2006; Watt & Richardson, 2007). Based upon a study conducted in England and Wales, Barmby identified intrinsic (e. g. , the activity of teaching children) and altruistic (e. g. , desire to help children succeed) reasons which contributed to the teachers’ decision to pursue careers within the field of education. Similar findings (e. g., working with children, shape future of children, and make a social contribution) were reported by Watt and Richardson who investigated the motivational factors which influenced Australian individuals to initially pursue a career in general education. In addition to investigating special educators’ job satisfaction and decisions to remain in the field, obtaining an understanding of individuals’ motivations for entering the field of special education have implications which may assist in the increased recruitment and retention of special educators. Such findings would contribute to enhanced teacher educational planning, curriculum design and policy decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to obtain perceptions of special educators with regards to factors that contributed toward their (a) initial pursuit of special education careers, (b) job satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction levels and (c) decisions whether to remain on the special education career path. Participants were further asked to provide recommendations that school districts could take to effectively recruit and retain special educators. Design of Study Qualitative methodology was utilized in this study in the form of audio-recorded semi-structured telephone interviews to obtain the perceptions of special educators. Qualitative research is appropriate in dealing with potentially multiple realities, mutually shaping influences, and value patterns (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Interviews serve the purpose of â€Å"obtaining here-and-now constructions of persons, events, activities, organizations, feelings, motivations, claims, concerns, and other entities† (p. 268). According to Bogdan and Biklen (1998), semi-structured interviews encourage interviewees to expand upon ideas, which provide the researcher opportunities to generate abstract ideas through descriptive material. Participants Respondents participating in this study consisted of 15 educators employed in public school districts throughout the north Texas area. This purposive sample was comprised of 11 special education teachers, three diagnosticians and one former special education teacher currently serving as a high school principal at the time of the interviews. Four of the 11 special education teachers within this study were previously general education teachers. Data Collection and Analysis The interview questions conducted for this study focused on factors which contributed toward special educators initially pursuing careers in special education in addition to conditions that would contribute toward them remaining in or leaving the field. Interviewees were additionally asked to provide feedback pertaining to their school districts’ special educator recruitment and retention efforts. The following open-ended questions were asked to each of the 15 participants.

Patronus Charm

â€Å"A Patronus is a kind of positive force, and for the wizard who can conjure one, it works something like a shield, with the Dementor feeding on it, rather than him. In order for it to work, you need to think of a memory. Not just any memory, a very happy memory, a very powerful memory†¦ Allow it to fill you up†¦ lose yourself in it†¦ then speak the incantation â€Å"Expecto Patronum†. † —Remus Lupin teaching Harry Potter the Patronus CharmThe Patronus Charm is a charm that evokes a partially-tangible, positive energy force known as a Patronus (pl. Patronuses Patronuses are also called spirit guardians though this may only refer to corporeal Patronuses. It is primarily designed for defence against otherwise unbeatable Dark creatures like Dementors and Lethifolds, though there are other uses such as messaging. It is apparent from old woodcuts and scrolls that the Patronus Charm has been used since ancient times.To successfully cast the spell one must muster a happy memory (the happier the memory, the more powerful and tangible the Patronus will be) and incant â€Å"Expecto Patronum†. It is unknown if there are any other elements required in casting, such as physical gestures (aside from drawing and pointing the wand forward prior to or during incantation). The happy memory one requires when casting does not necessarily have to be a specific moment in your past. Arguably more important than content, is how the memory or thought makes you feel now.Harry Potter, for instance, is often seen to produce his more powerful patronuses when he his merely thinking of the people he loves. Harry also often thinks of his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger and produces successful Patronuses. One time Harry also used the thought of Dolores Umbridge being sacked to produce a patronus for his Defence Against the Dark Arts O. W. L. Harry uses his love and happiness, evoked from thinking of his friends and family, to produce a patronus, rather than having to remember emotions felt in the past.A non-corporeal Patronus is one which does not resemble any living creature and has few distinguishing features (if any). Non-corporeal Patronuses resemble a burst of vapour or smoke without any clearly defined form shooting from the tip of the wand. While they may be partially effective at halting dementors (but not repelling them), non-corporeal Patronuses are not â€Å"fully-fledged† Patronuses, and are regarded as a more primitive or weaker version of the true Charm.