Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Baghdad Battery

"Baghdad Battery merupakan salah satu artifak kuno yang paling memeningkan para cendekiawan dan pakar arkeologi.

Pada tahun 1930, pada makam kuno di luar Baghdad (Khujut Rabula), beberapa arkeologi yang melakukan penggalian disana menemui sebuah artifak yang dikatakan merupakan satu set bateri kimia yang usianya telah mencapai 2000 tahun lebih.

Artifak aneh tersebut terdiri atas sebuah silinder tembaga, batang besi serta karbon yang disusun dalam sebuah jambangan kecil (tinggi 14 cm, diameter 8 cm) yang terbuat dari tanah liat. Setelah para pakar membuat kajian didapati bahawa artifak tersebut merupakan sebuah bateri elektrik kuno.

Isu hangat

Para pengkaji berjaya memperolehi 1.5 volt dari artifak batu bateri elektrik tersebut , yang bekerja nonstop selama 18 hari dengan cara memasukkan cairan asam kedalam jambangannya, misalnya: air jeruk (sunkist & lemon lebih bagus), h2so4, semua larutan golongan elektrolit….Komponen bateri terdiri dari batang karbon sebagai anod (kutub positif), zink (Zn) sebagai katod (kutub negatif).

Usia artifak bateri kuno ini dianggarkan 2,000 – 5,000 tahun, lama sebelum Alessandro Volta (Itali) membuat bateri pertama kali pada tahun 1800 serta Michael Faraday (Inggeris) menemukan induksi elektromagnetik dan hukum elektrolit pada 1831 yang jarak penemuannya hingga kini mencapai sekitar 200 tahun lebih.

penemuannya hingga kini mencapai sekitar 200 tahun lebih.
Penemuan ini tentunya dapat mengubah pandangan manusia masa kini akan kemajuan teknologi yang telah dicapai oleh peradaban manusia masa lalu. Nampaknya, aktifitak elektrik telah dikenali oleh manusia pada masa itu.

Tidak hanya Baghdad Battery saja yang menarik perhatian para ilmuan maupun arkeolog di seluruh dunia, namun terdapat beberapa artifak serupa yang diduga juga sebagai peralatan elektrik masa silam, seperti Dendeera Lamps, Assyrian Seal dan The coffin of Henettawy.

Sebenarnya lampu Dendeera ini merupakan ukiran disebuah kuil di Mesir yang menggambarkan seorang Pharaoh sedang menggenggam sebuah benda yang seakan bola lampu lengkap dengan penggambaran kabel beserta plugnya!

Friday, July 20, 2012

Rentung


PELABUHAN HARCOURT, Nigeria - Lebih 100 orang yang cuba mengambil minyak petrol daripada sebuah lori tangki yang terbalik, maut apabila kenderaan itu disambar api.

Wanita dan kanak-kanak merupakan antara mangsa yang rentung. Sementara berpuluh-puluh yang lain mengalami kecederaan serius. Sebelum itu, pasukan tentera memberi amaran bahawa kebakaran boleh berlaku bila-bila masa sahaja.

Lebih 85 orang mangsa kemudian dikebumikan dalam satu kubur.

"Lori tangki itu terbalik kerana cuba mengelak tiga buah kenderaan dari arah bertentangan," jelas Ketua Suruhanjaya Keselamatan Jalan Raya Persekutuan, Kayode Olagunju.

Tidak lama kemudian, beratus-ratus penduduk tempatan di Ahoada memenuhi lokasi kejadian untuk mencedok minyak yang tumpah. Kebanyakan mangsa yang mati ialah pemandu teksi motor, dikenali sebagai Okada.

Beberapa buah jengkaut dibawa untuk menggali kubur besar untuk mengebumikan mangsa yang mayat mereka rosak teruk dan sukar untuk dikenal pasti atau diangkat ke tempat lain. Menilai kepada tahap kecederaan mangsa yang dirawat di hospital, jumlah kematian mungkin akan terus meningkat.

Kebocoran minyak dan kemalangan lori tangki sering berlaku di negara Afrika yang kaya dengan hasil minyak itu. Pada Oktober 1998, lebih 1,000 orang maut di Jesse, negeri Delta apabila sebuah paip saluran minyak meletup ketika orang ramai sibuk hendak mencuri minyak - AFP

Monday, July 9, 2012

Research design:- career success


No
Authors
Methodology:

1)
Hay, A and Hodgkinson, M. (2006)., Exploring MBA career success. Career Development International, 11, 2, 108-124
·         A total of 36 in-depth interviews were undertaken with MBA alumni which sought to capture the individual's own account of their career success in relation to their MBA.
·         The study utilised an inductive data analysis approach.
·         study conducted at top 15 business schools in the UK
·         interpretive approach
·         qualitative methods
·         purposive sampling
·         semi-structured interviews
·         inductive approach to data analysis (grounded theory)
2)
De Vos, A., De Hauw, S., and Van der Heijden, B. (2011). Competency development and career success: The mediating role of employability. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79, 438–447
·         on-line survey, in a large financial institution located in Belgium, which employed about 16,000 white-collar workers at the time of our study
·         Simple random sampling, a total of 1050 employees to participate in an on-line survey.
·         final sample comprised 561 employees
·         five-point Likert scale
·         exploratory factor analysis
·         Chi-square test
6)
Akrivos, C., Ladkin, A., and Reklitis, P. (2007). Hotel managers’ career strategies for success. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 19(2), 107-119.
·         case study approach
·         sample of 65 Greek deluxe hotel’s general managers
·         postal questionnaire
·         sample represented
8)
Hennequin, E. (2007). What “career success” means to blue-collar workers. Career Development International 12(6), 565-581.
·         French blue-collar workers, 25 interviews
·         qualitative approach,
·         Semi-structured interviews

11)
Ballout, H. I. (2008). Work-family conflict and career success: the effects of domain-specific determinant. Journal of Management Development, 27(5), 437-466.
·         Qualitative research
·         Drawing on existing theoretical and empirical evidence the paper develops and presents a conceptual framework of the relationships between domain-specific variables, work-family conflict, and career success.
·         The paper also presents propositions based on the relationships suggested by the framework
12)
Winchester, H. Lorenzo, S., Browning, L., and Chesterman, C. (2006). Academic women's promotions in Australian universities. Employee Relations, 28(6), 505 – 522.
·         examined promotions policies and procedures of 34 of 38 Australian Universities
·         qualitative content Analysis
·         interviews 17 universities
·         interviews were undertaken by two of the co-authors of this paper (both female).
·         interviewees were predominantly senior University staff, both male and female
·         Content analysis of Australian university promotion policies
14)
Rippon, J.H. (2005). Re-defining careers in education. Career Development International, 10(4), 275-292
·         qualitative
·         method: interview
·         Twelve participants
·         theoretical sampling
·         Grounded theory

18)
Gainor, K. A. (2006). Twenty-Five Years of Self-Efficacy in Career Assessment and Practice. Journal of Career Assessment 14(1), 161-178.
·         experimental and quasi-experimental studies
·         program evaluations studies
·         analog studies
·         program descriptions
·         concerning self-efficacy in career assessment and practice published in refereed professional journals during the past 25 years.
·         reviewed the literature review sections
·         31 articles

20)
Gubbins, M.C., and Garavan, T. N. (2005). Studying HRD Practitioners: A Social Capital Model. Human Resource Development Review, 4(2), 189-218.
·         Concept paper
·         Theoretical development
21)
Ismail, M.,  Mohd Rasdi, R., and Abdul Wahat, N. W. (2005). High-flyer women academicians: factors contributing to success. Women in Management Review 20(2), 117-132.
·         career-history method
·         in-depth interviews, combined with personal documents
·         study sample consists of women professors
·         31 women professors
·         were interviewed
·         recorder-cum-transcriber was used
·         Constant comparative analysis of data (Glaser and Strauss, 1967)
22)
Coleman, M. (2010). Women-only (homophilous) networks supporting women leaders in education. Journal of Educational Administration, 48, 6, 769-781.
·         two case studies of networks A and B
·         Qualitative research: semi-structured interviews
·         Network A had 20 members
·         Network B had 50 members.
23)
Enache, M., Sallan, J.M., Simo, P., Fernandez, V. (2011). Career attitudes and subjective career success: tackling gender differences. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 26(3), 234 – 250.
·         web-based survey
·         434 Spanish graduate and post-graduate distance-learning students of the psychology, business administration, humanities, communication, and law degrees
·         167 surveys were submitted by the respondents
·         eight-item scale and six-item scale
·         Cognitive interviews
·         Cronbach’s a coefficient
·         reliability analysis
·         Correlation analyses

24)
Bozionelos, N., Bozionelos, G., Kostopoulos, K., Polychroniou, P. (2011). How providing mentoring relates to career success and organizational commitment: A study in the general managerial population. Career Development International 16(5), 446-468
·         two cohorts of first year executive Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) students in a Business School
·         Questionnaires were handed in the class
·         365 completed questionnaires, 194 were included in the analysis
·         Descriptive statistics
·         Subjective career success measured with seven items from Gattiker and Larwood (1986) in a five-point response format
·         Mentoring received assessed with seven items on a five-point response
·         Format
·         Mentoring provided measured with a scale that contained eight items on a five-point response format
·         principal components analysis
·         varimax rotation
·         Pearson correlation coefficients

25)
Tharmaseelan, N., Inkson, K., and Carr, S.C. (2010). Migration and career success: testing a time-sequenced model. Career Development International 15(3), 218-238.
·         participants were Sri Lankans
·         Eight hundred questionnaires were distributed, of which 210 of the 221 returned questionnaires were usable, all from Sri Lankans 25 years or over
·         five-item scale incorporating the major themes of success indicated by Hall (1996)
·         Reliability tests (Cronbach’s a)
·         Regression analysis
·         Correlation analysis
·         Wash scale
·         Post-hoc analysis
26)
Thanacoody, P.R., Bartram, T., Barker, M., and Jacobs, K., (2006). Career progression among female Academics: A comparative study of Australia and Mauritius. Women in Management Review 21(7), 536-553.
·         case-study approach
·         Thirty in-depth interviews from two universities
·         data consisted of open-ended questions
·         Half of the interviews were tape-recorded and notes were also taken during all of the Interviews
·         Comparative analysis of data (Glaser and Strauss, 1967)
27)
Heslin, P.A. (2003). Self- and Other-Referent Criteria of Career Success. Journal of Career Assessment, 11(3), 262–286.
·         Part-time MBA students (N = 71) at a leading Canadian business school
·         Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (not too successful) to 7 (very successful).
·         test-retest reliability
·         open ended Question for H1
·         Hypotheses 2, 3a, and 4 were assessed with a slightly modified version of the widely used career satisfaction scale developed by Greenhaus et al. (1990)
·         convergent and discriminant validity

28)
Lent, R.W., and Brown, S.D. (1996). The career development quarterly, Social cognitive approach to career development: an overview, 44, 4, 310-321
·         Concept paper
·         SCCT adopts Bandura’s (1986) triadic reciprocal model of causality
29)
Yeo, R.K., and Li, J. (2011). Working out the quality of work life: A career development perspective with insights for human resource management. Human Resource Management International Digest 19(3), 39-45.
·         US study of data collected between 2007-2009 from 140 working people who had decided to improve their career prospects and, thereby, their quality of work life, through professional education
·         data analysis
30)
Mohd Rasdi, R., Ismail, M., Uli, J., Mohd Noah, S. (2009). Career Aspirations and Career Success Among Managers in the Malaysian Public Sector. Research Journal of International Studies, 9, 21-35.
·         large cross-sectional career success study conducted on managers of Malaysian public sector organizations
·         quantitative survey
·         seven-point Likert-like scale
·         Cronbach’s Alpha
·         open-ended questions
31)
Sullivan, S.E., Baruch, Y., and Schepmyer, H. (2010). The Why, What, and How of Reviewer Education: A Human Capital Approach. Journal of Management Education,34(3), 393–429.
·         Concept paper
32)
Stumpf, S.A. (2010). Stakeholder competency assessments as predictors of career success. Career Development International, 15, 5, 459-478
·         342 people participated, 330 sample, participating in a MBA degree program (94 percent) or a corporate executive development program
·         Factor analyses
·         five-point response scales (Likert scale)
·         Principal Component Analysis with Varimax Rotation and Kaiser Normalization
·         simple correlations of the eight competency dimensions for each rater group

33)
Ahmad Tipu, S.A., and Manzoor Arain, F. (2011). Managing success factors in entrepreneurial ventures: a behavioral approach, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, 17(5), 534-560.
·         case-study approach
·         Three ventures from Pakistan’s food industry were selected
·         interviews
·         comparative analyses
·         semi-structured questionnaire
·         Thematic analysis of interview transcripts


35)
Ng, T.W.H., Eby, L.T., Sorensen, K.L., Feldman, D.C. (2005). Predictors of objective and subjective career success: A meta-analysis, Personnel Psychology, 58, 367-408.
·         Meta-analysis,
·         140 relevant articles.
·         Random sample of 30 studies.
·         correlation coefficient analysis.
·         average correlation
·         moderator analyses, used 15 studies and Q statistic
·         weighted least-squares multiple regression 
36)
Mayrhofer, W., Meyer, M., Schiffinger, M., and Schmidt, A. (2008). The influence of family responsibilities, career fields and gender on career success: An empirical study. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(3), 292-323.
·         Questionnaire during the 2004 and 2005 follow-up surveys of a panel study started in 2000. The sample consists of 305 business school graduates
·         partial least squares (PLS) procedure
·         significance of the path coefficients was determined using a bootstrap procedure (e.g. Chin, 1998) with 500 subsamples
·         instability of work content (11-point scale ranging from “very stable” to
·         “ever-changing”
·         correlation matrix
·         Harman one-factor test as a preliminary analysis
37)
Omar, Z., Krauss, S.E., Sail, R.M., and Ismail, I.F. (2011)., Exploring career success of late bloomers from the TVET background. Education & Training, 53(7), 603-624
·         both quantitative and qualitative approaches
·         Survey data: 86 TVET graduate late bloomers
·         seven-point scale format (likert scale)
·         semi-structured interview protocol
·         Data analysis using SPSS
·         Descriptive analysis
·         one-way ANOVA
·         Spearman’s rank-order correlation test
·         Qualitative data analysis using a basic thematic analysis approach.