Friday, December 27, 2019

Songs of Innocence and of Experience by William Blake

William Blake writes his poems in â€Å"Songs of Innocence and of Experience† in a manner of retrospective self-analysis. Blake writes, attempting to understand the differences and paradoxes that he has observed. In his poem â€Å"The Tyger†, Blake’s artful questioning of the paradoxes in creation is exemplified. Blake poses questions that he does not answer, however his purpose is almost certainly to come to terms with creation’s idiosyncrasies, and to come to a better understanding of existence. Although it is impossible for the selected stanzas to convey the entire meaning of the poem when isolated, they are emblematic of Blake’s use of literary devices. The poem makes strong use of imagery, literary allusion, and rhetorical questioning to explore the topic. By coordinating these literary devices, Blake is able to approach creation and the paradox of good and evil with unparalleled finesse and brevity. Imagery, although central to just about any work of literature, is used to truly remarkable effect in â€Å"The Tyger†. Through the use of language that evokes images of industry, Hell, and Heaven, Blake is able to make comparisons and create a dialogue that conveys profound meaning. Within the selected stanzas imagery is used in a fashion that is absolutely synecdochic. When Blake asks â€Å"What the hammer? What the chain?† he paints a very different image of creation, opposite to the more â€Å"romantic† image that many might have had in mind. This portrayal of creation as being moreShow MoreRelatedWilliam Blake Songs of Innocence Experience1256 Words   |  6 PagesSweeper† Songs of Innocence amp; Experience analysis with, William Blake In 1794 William Blake’s work was known and published as a collection of poems that were put together as one book called Songs of innocence amp; Songs of Experience. In the collection Blake titles a poem, â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper†, and this one is viewed in two ways: Innocence and experience. In the book of innocence Blake shows how poor innocent children are being abused and mistreated during this time era. In Songs of innocenceRead MoreWilliam Blake in Contrast of Songs of Innocence and of Experience1452 Words   |  6 PagesEN 222-Intro to British Lit. II April 21, 2012 William Blake in contrast of Songs of Innocence and of Experience William Blake, an engraver, exemplified his passion for children through his many poems. Blake lived in London most of his life and many fellow literati viewed him as eccentric. He claimed to have interactions with angels and prophets, which had a great influence on his outlook of life. Blake believed all prominent entities, those being church, state, and government had become sick withRead MoreWilliam Blake s Songs Of Innocence And Experience1268 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, printed in 1794, â€Å"represents the world as it is envisioned by what he calls ‘two contrary states of the human soul’† (Greenblatt, 1452). This collection of poetry is accompanied by pictures, which create a mutually reliant relationship that allows for complete understanding of Blake’s works. â€Å"To read a Blake poem without the pictures is to miss something important: that relationship is an aspect of the poem’s argumen t† (1452). Overall, Blake’s worksRead MoreSongs Of Innocence And Of Experience By William Blake Analysis868 Words   |  4 PagesSongs of Innocence and of Experience is the foundation of the work of one of the greatest. English poets and artists. The two sets of poems reveal what William Blake calls â€Å"the two contrary states of the human soul.† In both series, he offers clues to deeper meanings and suggests ways out of the apparent trap of selfhood, so that each reading provides greater insight and understanding, not only to the poems but also to human life. Throughout this poem, the logic of this poem favors experience ratherRead MoreAnalysis Of The Songs Of Innocence And Experience By William Blake1208 Words   |  5 Pagespoet William Blake. It was a city with no hope for poor people, and the government and church did little to help this. Among the poor were children working in slave-like conditions to feed their families and going to charity schools. Bl ake puts these children at the center of his piece to show the hypocritical nature of the church and how innocent people are suffering from it. He takes on two angles from the same topic: the event of Holy Thursday. By examining it from the lens of innocence, thenRead MoreThe Songs Of Innocence And Experience William Blake Analysis1751 Words   |  8 Pagesreligions have different gods, traditions, and ceremonies, but they all have one thing in common; people take different viewpoints of a religion to fit into their mindset. William Blake uses this idea to express how he believes people see Christianity and God. In his series named â€Å"The Songs of Innocence and Experience,† Blake creates the image of opposing views of similar situations. The poems show the views of the innocent and the experienced. The innocent takes on the roles to show how naivetyRead MoreSongs of Innocence and Songs of Experience by William Blake Essay example1126 Words   |  5 PagesUpon reading Wil liam Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, a certain parallel is easily discerned between them and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Blake, considered a radical thinker in his time, is today thought to be an important and seminal figure in the literature of the Romantic period. Being such a figure he has no doubt helped to influence many great thinkers throughout history, one of whom I believe is Carroll. There are many instances throughout Carroll’sRead MoreSongs of Good and Evil1545 Words   |  7 Pagesall describe William Blake’s life (Greenblatt, Abrams, Lynch, Stillinger). Blake was born November 28, 1757 in London, England and his artistic ability became evident in his early years. Blake had a very simple upbringing and had little education. His formal education was in art and at the age of fourteen he entered an apprenticeship with a well-known engraver who taught Blake his skills in engraving. In Blakeâ€℠¢s free time, he began reading writing poetry. At the age of twenty-one, Blake completed hisRead MoreWilliam Blake s The Tyger1132 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Blake’s â€Å"The Tyger† and Tragedies William Blake wrote a set of poems in his collection Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. Some of the poems in each collection were meant to be read together to show the difference between innocence and experience. Many people question why Blake wrote a two part series to his poems and what they could actually mean. Two specific poems, â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger,† were meant to be read together. â€Å"The Lamb† is a part of Blake’s Songs of Innocence andRead MoreEssay on Biography of William Blake1631 Words   |  7 Pagesinspire your work and success. William Blake was a famous artist, engraver and poet. However, it was not until 1863 that he became famous when Alexander Gilchrist published his biography(Blake, William, and Geoffrey Keynes).Blake and his poetry have been compared to Shakespeare (Kathleen Raine). As an artist Blake was equated to Michelangelo. Being born during the time of both the American and French Revolution, Willia m Blake was against both the Church and the State. Blake was a Dualist, believing the

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Matching a Painting and a Musical Composition Essay

Essays on Matching a Painting and a Musical Composition Essay The paper "Matching a Painting and a Musical Composition" is an outstanding example of a music essay. The Primal Moves presents a collaboration of diversely significant classical compositions of famous musicians and composers depicting the role of music in expressing various emotions (anger, sorrow, happiness, and wonder). It aimed to discover the role of primal moves (roles, rituals, and recreation) in providing the needed inspiration to design and create a â€Å"multidimensional sound world†. The emotional roots provided listeners with the opportunity to enjoy and reflect on the music that matches a particular emotion. The choices composed by composers such as Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov, Adams, Strauss, Ravel, and Brahms, among others were distinctly exemplary and fitted to the colors and emotions. Michael Thomas, the musical director of the San Francisco Symphony emphasized classical music’s ability to interpret and manifest all facets of life through its mu sical expression.It uses primal moves as the framework and basis for all its creations and compositions weaving together the raw emotions and pure expression of feelings of joy, anger, hope, fear, and a lot more.The experience of matching a painting and a musical composition to come up with a slideshow presentation is most enlivening and challenging as one would like to give appropriate justification to these works of art. The use of music, after all, is to assist in building emotions, tensions, and suspense. Music also provides a multitude of facets in one’s life which people can relate to and experience on a personal level. The ability of music to satisfy and pacify an individual’s mood makes it an indispensable part of each person’s life.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Construction Innovation and Process Improvement Cost and Time of Prod

Questions: The UK Government Construction strategy 2025 sets out an ambition to see the construction sector reduce cost of project delivery, half the time for delivery and substantially reduce environmental impact. Make a business case for a major public sector client on how they can achieve cost and time reduction targets through accelerated project and programme delivery. Drawing upon the best practice case studies, provide a critique on the following topics:Critically evaluate how construction should be approached as a repetitive production task, instead of as one-off project. Clearly discuss role of off-site construction in achieving production thinking. Cite practical examples and document best practice in use of production thinking for Transportation Infrastructure clients; Critically discuss how construction programmes can be accelerated. Evaluate various planning tools/techniques and how they could help achieve faster construction delivery. Discuss practical examples where some aspect o f project/programme was accelerated to achieve project completion on a shorter schedule; Review key challenges (e.g. Project Risks, Environmental impact, Quality Management, Health and Safety) in achieving accelerated construction delivery. How can these challenges be addressed? What are key lessons learned from past Lean deployments in this context?Key issues of consideration in the hand-over of the project to the client, bearing in mind the clients needs and expectations as captured in the project brief; Evaluate how creating smooth flow of data could help maximise asset performance across the asset life-cycle; andCritical analysis of any good or bad project management practices and recommendations for improvements in technological, organisational or process oriented areas in light of recent developments in the area of Building Information Modelling, off-site construction and Lean Design and Construction. Answers: Introduction The UK Government Construction strategy 2025 sets out an ambition to see the construction sector reduce cost of project delivery, half the time for delivery and substantially reduce environmental impact. Regarding this fact, a critical analysis will be presented in this section considering the possible ways of time and cost reduction for construction case of major public sector client. One of the best ways of reducing the cost of construction phase is by introducing repetitive production task. The number of labor and time required for completion will be very less by such method. Traditional method includes one-off project or job production, which includes one task at a time and hence both time and cost related resources are consumed in huge amount (Eadie et al. 2013). Off-site construction creates the project mapping and according to that separate modules of buildings are produced in different locations for fluid construction of building. The latest tools and techniques that construction sector has to use for faster construction are precast flat panel system, 3D volumetric construction, tunnel form, flat slabs, hybrid concrete construction, thin joint masonry, insulating concrete formwork and precast foundations (McGeorge and Zou 2012). Most of the tools are produced off-site to form robust structures. External and internal volumetric structures are done off-site and are then transferred to onsite location for reducing time of construction. Key challenges of construction projects are related to project risks, environmental impact, health and safety and quality management. With rapid repetitive construction, the heavy machineries are running 24 hours, which creates impact on the environment such as with the emission of carbon and noise (Robson, Boyd and Thurairajah 2014). The labors that are under direct impact are the most affected. As critical path method is followed for managing best time, hence with the change of productions constraints affect the time of project completion. Lessons learnt from lean deployments will be presented further in the discussion. With repetitive construction process, some critical areas are not properly focused and monitored as the time is too much limited (Ness and Green 2013). As different site engineers are allocated, hence expectation and monitoring differs. As the client does not interfere in monthly project construction, hence at the end it is often found that the clients expectation is not met. The core asset for construction is found to be underperforming, as the data is not smoothly flowed. Irregular flow of data makes the functioning of core asset to be limited, which is projected in the asset life cycle. The two most widely used project management practices are job manufacturing and repetitive manufacturing. Though repetitive manufacturing is considered to be beneficial for limiting resource consumption, still there are issues related to the quality of project (Potts and Ankrah 2014). With rapid and continuous construction, quality factors may not be focused as both the time and cost is less and any increase will affect the budget. As projects are done in contractual basis, hence the contractor tries to limit the resource to such extent that more profits are earned. Such constraints are reflected after the project completion, which may affect in the expectation of client. Further related discussions will be presented critically as the assignment continues. Approach for construction There are two main approaches for construction specialized by the government of UK. These are repetitive production task and one-off project. Repetitive Production Task and One-off project Top construction projects require a huge amount of cost, labor and raw materials. On the other hand, raw material supplies are kept in different location other than the project site. Thus, the construction is followed in different period for smooth functioning of core machines. In repetitive production, the project related tasks are never kept in held. The contractor is always engaged in disintegrating tasks to the workers in shifts. The construction is carried on throughout the day and thus, the core machines are under more pressure. According to Harris and McCaffer (2013), in repetitive production, the main advantage is that the time consumption is very less than one-off production. On the other hand, Vernikos et al. (2013) has pointed out that in repetitive production, the quality of project is reduced. It is sure that if more time is given to a construction then the quality of output will be enhanced. Thus, the main problem in repetitive construction is that the quality of production is reduced. In one-off production or Job Production, the projects are disintegrated into parts. Only after completion of one sector of the project, the new sector is started. Thus, it can be identified that one-off construction requires more time than repetitive production. On the other hand, McGeorge and Zou (2012) pointed out that in job production, the amount of labor is also required in more amount as each group of contractor is associated with one particular construction. On the other hand, Jang, Lee and Lee (2013) pointed out that job production is the best method of production as the quality of project is highly restored. Serial number Factor One-off production Repetitive production 1 Capital Higher capital requirement due to disintegrated tasks Lower capital requirement due to centralized production 2 Labor More labor for each segments Less labor is required as same labor does multiple tasks 3 Time More time is required as after completion of one segment, new segment is processed Much less time, as each of the project segments are processed simultaneously 24 hours 4 Quality High quality of production as each segment of project is investigated before completion Lower quality, as supervision and inspection is done rapidly 5 Innovation Highest scope of construction related innovation as there is more time Negligible innovation as construction is done in the method instructed by the contractor Table 1: Comparison of Repetitive Construction and One-off construction (Source: Mihara et al. 2014) From the above critical analysis, it can be addressed that for UK government, repetitive production is beneficial as the amount of time requirement is lower. Moreover, as amount of time requirement for batch or repetitive production is lower, hence, the cost of resources handling is quite lower than job production. Only one thing has to be kept in mind is that the quality of production has to be increased in repetitive production. Increase in quality can be best addressed by off-site construction and there will be several innovative tools that will enhance the construction process. Role of Off-site Construction Off-site Construction is the designing, planning, assembling and fabricating building of elements at one particular location, which is other than the final installation location that supports efficient and rapid construction of a permanent structure. Through Off-site construction, separate project designs and building elements are processed in different location other than final installation location. According to Eadie et al. (2013), the Off-site construction location is far from urban area, where the main construction is done there that required huge supplies and labor. The real manufacturing is done in the area in accordance to the building requirement. On the other hand, Robson, Boyd and Thurairajah (2014) pointed out that the finished designs and structures from Off-site construction are transferred to the on-site final construction location, where those are fitted and combined to form the final structure. This kind of construction is best for repetitive projects, so that time r equirement is quite lower than Job Production. According to Sarhan and Fox (2013), Off-site construction is the most suitable for multi-story wood construction, health care facilities, and steel framed structures and for large-scale military projects. The benefits of offsite production are: Serial Number Benefits Explanation 1 Efficiency and predictability The construction process is the same every time and hence if there is any alteration in outcome then necessary measures will be taken instantly, thereby ensuring Efficiency and predictability. 2 Safety The variables such as weather and visibility do not affect the primary construction of designs and structures. Therefore, as the factors are constant, hence any changes in outcome are instantly ascertained. 3 Sustainability This type of construction requires very less energy and machinery. Transportation of finished products to the final site utilizes minimum vehicles and thus wastage is minimized. Material requirements are easily calculated which allows the organization to save more by buying in bulk. 4 Less labor In the type of factory setting, less amount of labors are required. The Steel Construction Institute (SCI) has declared that labor requirement can be reduced by 75 % for the four-storey residential building, which is a huge amount of saving. 5 Less training Offsite construction is much lengthy process, where the deep insight of the construction is seen. The basics and hurdles of construction is found and thus, giving training to employees is very much easy. 6 No disruption to residents Most of the offsite constructions are done is lonely and separated areas where there are very less livelihood. Thus, the residents are not hampered and their existence is maintained. Table 2: Benefits of Off-site Construction (Source: Loosemore 2016) Transportation Infrastructure clients With the help of off-site construction, the designs are transferred to the onsite locations in every day basis. With the increasing demand of prefabrication of elements with affordable quality, corporate sector constructions are best suitable by off-site construction. For example, in UK, the residential buildings projects are covering 31% of total construction projects and the rest is covering corporate sector projects. The utilization of off-site project construction covers more than 62% of other types of project management. Thus, it can be understood that with the help of off-site construction, the configured and structured elements are carried to the onsite location. This reduces the cost of inventory and safety of fabricated designs prior to the transportation. The clients are able to inspect the materials and designs and finally those are transported, which reduces the cost of production and construction. Acceleration of construction programmes Construction programmes can be accelerated by innovation. The latest method of production includes modern method of construction, which helps in offering concrete solutions by reducing construction times and by promoting sustainable development. According to Potter (2015), precast flat panel system helps in producing wall and floor units off-site in a factory and even erected on-site to figure out robust structure formation, which is ideal for all cellular projects that are repetitive. Panels include windows, doors, finishes and services. Envelop panels are created with factory fitted insulation that offers accuracy and quality together with speed of erection on-site. On the other hand, Ness and Green (2013) pointed out that 3D volumetric construction helps in producing three dimensional unites that are controlled by factory conditions before transporting those to sites. Thus, this procedure is flexible enough as variety of basic structure formations are brought to the site in a form of assembly. Service intensive units with high repetition degree make the on-site construction highly reliable. According to Walker (2015), formwork system with tunnel form allows the contractor to build monolithic walls in the daily operational cycle. Accuracy, quality and speed is combined together to produce ready-mix concrete with economically flexible cast in-situ construction. Such constructions are helpful in apartments, hotels, blocks and accommodations. On the other hand, Kelly, Male and Graham (2014) pointed that hybrid concrete construction is the best suitable form of construction as it includes cast in-situ construction that combines hybrid frames for better construction speed, economy and quality. HCC method helps in solving client demands for higher quality and lower costs by providing simple, competitive and buildable structures offering consistent quality and performance. Evaluation of planning tools and techniques The planning tools and techniques for faster construction will be discussed critically in the following section. According to Shah, Walsh and Ross (2013), project manager must consider several activities and tasks for accomplishing project deliverables. Any risk related factor that differ actual outcome from expected outcome is ascertained in risk management tool. The PEST and SLEPT model analysis is required for analyzing technological and social risks, which helps in identifying controllable and uncontrollable risks at each stage of construction. On the other hand, Bassi et al. 2012) pointed out that regular risk related audits help in identifying and estimating consequences and likelihood. They also believe that risk register helps in identifying risks that are ranked and prioritized and the significance of each risk is documented, that helps in quantifying construction. According to Berardi (2012), quantified plan of action such as budgeting itemizes project expenditure and income that lists all expenses and income. Rezazadeh et al. (2014) added that budget control helps in comparison of actual results to quantify deviations and variances from project plan. Thus, it can be understood that budget committee helps in consolidating production of different budgets in departmental manner, which acts as the tool for project regulation. According to Rostami et al. (2015), Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) helps in disintegrating a whole project into different stages with different timeframe and budget. This helps in improving budgeting and efficiency in planning. WBS helps in precise conjecture of plan conscription to save cost. On the other hand, Potts and Ankrah (2014) pointed out that Gantt Charts help in accomplishing best project outcomes as it shows estimation of project requirement. Through Gantt Charts, the most proficient progression of realizing actions can be understood. WBS helps in exceptional reporting that forecast more accurately in saving costs. Following is the simplified picture of Gantt chart. Figure 1: Gantt Chart during off-site construction (Source: Ness and Green 2013) According to Tutt et al. (2013), Gantt Charts methods are poor time management tools, as those cannot work at the time of complex and lengthy projects. They even believe that large projects are having high interdependency between various tasks such as some activities cannot start with the completion of previous activities. Thus, the Critical Path Method (CPM) displays more logical and sequential timing of reach activity. CPM method communicates interdependency of activities leading to effective time management for large and complex projects. On the other hand, Khosrowshahi and Arayici (2012) pointed out that number of resources required for project overtime is viewed by Resource Histogram procedure. These are normally presented by bar charts that act as the most effective tool for coordinating project staff and resource planning. According to Thakore, Goulding and Toogood (2013), the most simplified yet effective tool of project management is Project Initiation Document (PID). The contents of the project consisting of terms of references, scope and goals of project, organizational team structure, time and cost estimates and the overview of related risks in the project is presented by the PID. Further, Fewings (2013) pointed out that project planning document (PPD) acts as the reference tool at the beginning of the project that is related with quality control procedures and policies. Furthermore, Costin, Pradhananga and Teizer (2012) pointed out that Project Management Software (PMS) helps in project scheduling, budgeting and controlling cost, coordination and communication, work breakdown structure and risk management, which covers all the tools for effective project completion. Earned Value Management (EVM) is the system that combines cost performance and scheduling of each of the project activities so that the best outcome is generated (Herbane 2013). This is the systematic project management decision-making and controlling process that helps in early warning of performance problems. For example, if the construction of a building is considered, by the off-site production method, then it can be said that WBS method is one of the most impactful process that helps in identifying the types of costs and activities that are required for project completion Radosavljevic and Bennett 2012). The available resources are compared with the amount of time required for project processing and thereby reducing the labor and cost requirement of the project. The above described project management tools are very much necessary for a contractor so that all the resources can be allocated under one unit and then can be disintegrated into several activities for off-site production in project management. Review of key challenges There are several key challenges against completion of projects related to project risks, Environmental impact and health and safety of workers. Risks In repetitive construction, Tight project schedule is maintained so that time consumption is maintained. According to Grefen, Pernici and Sanchez (2012), formulating appropriate schedule in the feasibility phase is less constructive in project delivery. Thus, the calculation of resources is never accurate in repetitive construction method, which ensures a certain amount of risk, and the calculation of such risks delays the delivery time. On the other hand, Thirkell and Ashman (2014) contradicted that risks related to contractors such as Unsuitable construction program planning results in inadequate scheduling of program. As a result, the scheduling of construction is delayed and the clients are not able to relate the work breakdown structure. Environmental Impact According to Vernikos et al. (2014), reparative construction process involves high amount air pollution in the off-sire location. Most of the off-site location falls under the rural areas in the UK. Thus, with increasing amount of off-site location constructions, more amount of toxicity covers fresh air, which is degrading the society. On the other hand, Wright (2015) contradicted that with increased amount of off-site construction, huge amount of supplies are required, and as a result, a lot of vehicles run the highway raising noise pollution in the rural areas, degrading the environment of the location. Furthermore, Grefen, Pernici and Snchez, (2012) pointed out that the most impactful environmental degradation is due to the wastes from off-site factories. At the time of welding and burning at blast furnace, huge amount of carbon is emitted those impacts in environmental degradation. Finally, Holt Goulding and Akintoye (2014) pointed out that with increasing amount of offsite facto ries, the amount of bare land is consumed leading to deforestation and finally environmental degradation. Thus, it can be said that with increasing amount of repetitive construction, the environment is greatly degraded resulting in noise pollution, air pollution and rising level of toxicity. Quality Management According to Chi, Kang and Wang (2013), with increasing level of repetitive construction, the quality of projects are decreasing. This is because the supervisors are failing to check the designs that are coming in lot from the off-site location. The time of construction is very less, hence the supervisors are not able inspect the fitting and quality of supplies and has to depend on suppliers trust. On the other hand, Meng (2012) pointed out that quality management has raised its level from the past as huge number of automated machinery and 3D technology has been introduced in construction. With laser technology, factories are able to find out the different quality related issues that help in concrete project management. Heal and Safety According to Giesekam et al. (2014), with decreased time consumption for repetitive projects, there is more pressure on the employees. The amount of training time is reduced for the workers and thus they are involved with more accidental issues such as hurting from falling objects, cutting and bleeding of arms and even lung contamination due to inhalation of carbon. On the other hand, Day (2013) pointed out that most of the workers, who are related with welding and blast furnace, are directly under heat radiation, that impacts in their health. Addressing Challenges According to Backebjrk and Johansson (2013), faster delivery of projects can be only achieved by repetitive construction and for that, off-site factories need to develop qualified design. Often it is found that contractors are only able to find the mistakes in prefabrication after the elements are transferred in onsite location. Thus, any further rectification takes longer time in project delivery, which increases delivery time. On the other hand, Killip (2013) pointed out that environmental factors could be mitigated if waste management is properly taken care of by disposing those in covered areas. It has been also pointed out that carbon emission is the most impactful, which can only be addressed by blast furnace filtering and combustion departments regulation within the factories, so that emission of smoke is reduced. Due to such reasons, job manufacturing is considered that will reduce the environmental degradation and even reduce health and safety of workers. According to Lee et al. (2012), health and safety of workers can be only reduced by limiting the working hours and allowing protective outfits from heat emission. It is also the fact that in off-site factories, the inventory and warehousing is too much populated and often accidents occurs resulting health and safety issues. In such cases, cranes and robotic arms has to be included for lifting and carrying heavy iron and wood bars. On the other hand, Maguire and Hardy (2013) pointed out that health and safety related issues in construction could be much reduced if the workers are properly trained and even if the working hours are made limited, then surely the amount of accidents can be reduced. Lean Management According to Fadiya et al. (2013), the times spend on capability and working often turns negatively in project improvements. The lean deployment method has been found to be highly time consuming as it takes huge time to find out the problem in project and even the more time in finding out the real causes of such problem. On the other hand, Toth and Vigo (2014) pointed out that, even if the problems and causes are identified then also the necessary improvements are not done in required time frame, as the management is not able to take any step. According to Berardi (2012), in lean management, workers are given the capability to do experiments to find out the best solution of smart working by saving time. This results in delaying the activities, as some of the experiments fail to succeed. On the other hand, according to Nieto-Morote and Ruz-Vila (2012), the benefits of time invested and resource requirement is achieved after a huge time, thus to find out whether complete usage of waste is done, takes a huge period of time. Thus, the concept of lean deployment is not taken into account by much of the construction departments. The concept of lean management is both time consuming and cost effective, where the outcome is achieved after a long time period. These are the key lessons learned from past lean management. Handing over project to client According to Tutt et al. (2013), the contractor of the project needs to have a detailed project meeting to discuss about the project handover process where that the client needs to agree on requirements and outcomes. Zanni, Soetanto and Ruikar (2014) pointed out that project handover meeting must consist of the following that will cover up necessary requirements before four weeks of project delivery: Reason and introduction of meeting CAD information Detail collection of equipment and plant asset Manuals for maintenance Prescribed essential safety and health features and measures (PESHFM) preservation during Defects liability period After hours callout and defect management Commissioning and outcome systems operational training planning Certificates and licenses Guarantees and warranties Information verification for space utilization Systems security The above discussed points will carry out the most necessity factors so that client get satisfied and aware of the type of construction that will be delivered. Any kind of issue is generally clarified at the end of the meeting and thus, and grievances are sorted out. Moreover, if the client is not satisfied with any dimension, then the contractor with necessary upgradations clarifies the factor. On the other hand, Hughes, P. and Ferrett (2015) pointed out that not only clarification with client is required, but also at the same time, stakeholders meeting are to be called so that any clarification is processed out. Smooth Flow of data According to Shiers et al. (2014), smooth flow of data regarding large construction can be only processed by web-based information flow modeling. Information flow will be carried out from the off-site construction to on-site construction and the clients will share any virtual imaging on so that smooth functioning of the structure is carried out. On the other hand, Akintoye (2012) pointed out that, there are several ways, apart from web-based integration, which will help in smooth flow of data in construction system. Such ways are excavation, foundation and super structure, gravel pit, batching plant, and workshop. Smooth flowing of data includes smooth operational process such as tripper trucks excavation, transportation to land filling sites, transport machinery to sites. The superstructure of construction has to be integrated enough that will include hook loaders, flatbed trucks, mobile cranes and several other concrete pumps and compressors. According to Zanni Soetanto and Ruikar (2014), if working flow is integrated enough, then site engineers will be able to share the requirements of each activity from work breakdown structure. The communication will be done by web-based system and thus, real-time information sharing will be ensured. On other hand, Berardi (2012) contradicted that web-based communication will be only served by high tech networking system and thus, approval from sponsors will be required. The technologies will increase the cost of construction but will reduce the wastes. Thus, from the above it can be identified that connected network will surely ensure the smooth flow of data so that communication is ensured. With timely communication, the contractor will be able to justify the working procedure and thus, any derailing will be mitigated. According to Holt, Goulding and Akintoye (2014), if the off-site construction delivers the virtual images to the onsite location, then, the construction quality will be enhanced and thus, the client will be highly satisfied. The clients will be surely satisfied if the project deliverables are shared to them from time to time. Good and Bad Project Management Practices Some of the best project management practices in construction are related to planning, project workplan, project management practices, managing scope and managing risks. According to Shah, Walsh and Ross (2013), planning of project has to be done by utilizing project definition document. Most of the construction development projects are started by directly jumping on to the beginning of the work. On the other hand, Ness and Green (2013) contradicted that with early starting of projects the contractors are able to reduce the time of construction and thereby gain more time of mitigating risk. Robson, Boyd and Thurairajah (2014) contradicted that if risk has to be mitigated then proper early planning of construction base has to be carried out by the contractors. Thus, it can be said that the best project management practices can be only entertained by proper planning of project, which has to be carried out by the following processes. Serial Number Planning Process Explanation 1 Project overview Determination of exchange migration Determination of supplier drivers Determination of repetitive construction benefits 2 Objectives To determine the degree of outcome from repetitive construction 3 Scope Features of technology that is to be implemented Production units that are to be covered Out of scope specifications 4 Assumptions and risks Events that are taken for granted Events that are under concern Implementation of right hardware in the infrastructure Determination of storage and accommodation facility 5 Approach Process of project migration, mitigation, proceeding and unfolding 6 Construction unit Significant roles of project Identification of project manager and sponsor 7 Signature page Requirement of approval from project manager and other stakeholders 8 Effort, cost and duration Determination of cost for each activity and estimated workplan budget Table 3: Project Planning Process (Source: Jang, Lee and Lee 2013) According to Sarhan and Fox (2013), project workplan is related to creation of planning horizon, which sis just after the planning of project. The project workplan is a systematic instruction for construction of project deliverables and project management. The workplan has to be uniquely constructed as each construction is somehow different the other. On the other hand, Kelly, Male and Graham (2014) contradicted that workplan model has to be created in such a way that is similar to past projects. This reduces the possible risks in future. Furthermore, Shah, Walsh and Ross (2013) pointed out that the best procedure is to create the work-breakdown structure and network diagram for a project so that individual activities can be taken care. Thus, it can be understood that for a good construction project, a detailed workplan has to be created that will assign and estimate future workouts for best construction. After the planning horizon, the project has to be laid off to higher level that reflects the increased level of uncertainty. High-level actions that were primarily indistinguishable necessitate to be defined in additional point, as their timeframe gets nearer. According to Grefen, Pernici and Snchez (2012), project management procedures are too much important to outline the resources, which will be required to manage the project. The project team is consisted of contractors, suppliers and other stakeholders. Thus, it is required for the project management team to have the common understanding of the project and each of the project deliverables. On the other hand, Potts and Ankrah (2014) pointed out that project management procedures consist of managing workplan and monitoring of schedule according to the budget. Activities cannot be separated out individually and thus all the stakeholders and managers has to quantify the relation of project deliverables. According to Thakore, Goulding and Toogood (2013), though the project planning identifies the construction project and scheduling, still it becomes a challenge for the team to execute the plan. The planning and procedure and the estimation that was thought off earlier can never execute a project in the most effective way. On the other hand, Holt, Goulding and Akintoye (2014) pointed out that there are several ways by which the project can be progressed effectively, among which the best methods are reviewing work plan in regular basis, and determination of terms of schedule according to budget. The frequency of reviewing must be not be less than thirteen days. On the other hand, Backebjrk and Johansson (2013) pointed out that there is a high possibility that segregated activities will be delayed due to unavoidable circumstances and for that critical activities of project is generally given more time than the others. Thus, certain tasks that were not completed in the previous actives are required to be adjusted in next activity schedule so that the overall delivery of the project is not delayed. Furthermore, Berardi (2012) pointed out that amount of money that needs to be spend in one particular activity has to be quantified with proactive approach so that compensation of one activity is done by the other activity. According to Priven and Sacks (2016), one of the most impactful procedures of deviating the bad project management to good management is done by concentrating on the small variance of schedule. A small variance in budget or schedule tends to get bigger especially in the early stage of the project. Zanni, Soetanto and Ruikar (2014) pointed out that if the tendencies are not properly looked up then surely the changes will be unrecoverable. On the other hand, Thakore, Goulding and Toogood (2013) pointed out that the most impactful reason for delaying the project is done by unscheduled overtime for recovering the delayed time of past events. This results in diminishing the morale of the team. Khosrowshahi and Arayici (2012) pointed out that quality control steps, project management time and testing activities starts to be cut back from the primary plan, so that project management practice is ensured effectively. According to Radosavljevic and Bennett (2012), most of the projects fail just because of the reason that project team working on minor and major deliverables that were primarily not on the part of main project scheduling. Most of the big construction projects require more than one sponsor and there are a lot of stakeholders. Thirkell and Ashman (2014) pointed out that the stakeholders have several demands such as online chat services, increase of size limits for mailboxes and many other technological improvements that will uplift the communication style. According to Holt, Goulding and Akintoye (2014), the contractors often try to change the sponsors who frequently demands for changes in technology, but for good construction, the most important factor is to allow the sponsors to have flexibility on communication and coordination. Thus, project manager has to ensure scope-change decisions and teams approval for making changes. On the other hand, approval from the sponsor is required for making changes in project management technology, as they are the only ones who add funding to cover the changes in project. On the other hand, Day (2013) pointed out that scope change management is restored by Scope Creep process, which helps in defining a good project management, as the new deliverables and small scope changes are identified by the project managers. Scope Creep is an expression used to classify a succession of little scope changes, which are made to the plan exclusive of scope-change management actions being used. Backebjrk and Johansson (2013) pointed out that none of the scope changes affects the project individually, but collectively those influence in the project delivery. Thus, for good project management, the project manager has to be diligent in guarding against it. Recommendations for Improvement According to Wright (2015), Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility, this helps in building virtual representation of technical drawings that extends beyond 3D. BIM technology includes the five dimensions, which are width, height and depth along with time and cost. Thirkell and Ashman (2014) pointed out that for virtual representation of the whole project, virtual-design-to-construction manager, VDC project manager will be required, and thus, the project team will construct the multi-disciplinary information models. According to Rostami et al. (2015), off-site construction carries out batch production so that cost of production is reduced. Thus, the project manager of on-site construction requires vision the off-site construction progress so that any changes in fabrication can be addressed in the initial stages, which will lead to reduction in lead-time. On the other hand, Owolabi et al. (2014) pointed out that off-site labors are not adequately trained as it is expected that with course of time, the workers will come to know about the construction. Thus, it is recommended to indulge more time in training the workers. According to Sarhan and Fox (2013), lean management is too much beneficial for manufacturing companies who have the same base of manufacturing and thus they are able to keep the track of wastes. It is recommended that for lean management, bulk supplies are to be ensured, which will reduce the cost of procurement and will adjust the expenses for waste management for large-scale construction. Conclusion From the above critical analysis, it is evident that UK Government will be able to reduce the cost and time of production only if the repetitive production is followed. It has been identified that cost of production is lower in repetitive construction, but the quality is reduced in such process. Thus, from the critical evaluation, it has been identified that web-based technologies need to be incorporated with BIM approach. Automated machinery and virtual communication technologies need to be incorporated in future in between the off-site and on-site locations. In order to enhance the construction programs, several tools and technologies are to be included for project management such as Work Breakdown Structure, Gantt Charts, and Critical Path Methods. It has been also identified that repetitive construction will be supported by off-site construction and as bulk supplies are ensured, hence the cost of procurement will be lower. Finally, the construction process must ensure the complia nce of health and safety laws and environment protection policies so that sustainable construction is ensured. In order to ensure that clients will be satisfied with the project delivery, certain meetings are to be carried out so that project outcomes are shared prior to delivery. On the other hand, it has been identified that asset life cycle can be extended only if the progress of activities are checked from time to time. Reference List Akintoye, A., 2012.Construction innovation and process improvement. John Wiley Sons. Backebjrk, R. and Johansson, I., 2013. Can a Knowledge Sharing Model be built for the Construction Industry-A Case Study of Knowledge Management at Skanska UK.Examensarbeten i Technology Management. Bassi, A., Howard, R., Geneletti, D. and Ferrari, S., 2012. UK and Italian EIA systems: A comparative study on management practice and performance in the construction industry.Environmental Impact Assessment Review,34, pp.1-11. Berardi, U., 2012. Sustainability assessment in the construction sector: rating systems and rated buildings.Sustainable Development,20(6), pp.411-424. Chi, H.L., Kang, S.C. and Wang, X., 2013. Research trends and opportunities of augmented reality applications in architecture, engineering, and construction.Automation in construction,33, pp.116-122. Costin, A., Pradhananga, N. and Teizer, J., 2012. Leveraging passive RFID technology for construction resource field mobility and status monitoring in a high-rise renovation project.Automation in Construction,24, pp.1-15. Day, A.N., 2013. Is risk management just black magic or a vehicle for success?: a comparative study of the approach to risk management between the UK construction and British nuclear industry. Eadie, R., Browne, M., Odeyinka, H., McKeown, C. and McNiff, S., 2013. BIM implementation throughout the UK construction project lifecycle: An analysis.Automation in Construction,36, pp.145-151. Fadiya, O.O., Georgakis, P., Chinyio, E. and Akadiri, P., 2013. Analysing the perceptions of UK building contractors on the contributors to the cost of construction plant theft.Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction,18(2), pp.128-141. Fewings, P., 2013.Construction project management: an integrated approach. Routledge. Giesekam, J., Barrett, J., Taylor, P. and Owen, A., 2014. The greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation options for materials used in UK construction.Energy and Buildings,78, pp.202-214. Grefen, P., Pernici, B. and Snchez, G. eds., 2012.Database support for workflow management: the WIDE project(Vol. 491). Springer Science Business Media. Harris, F. and McCaffer, R., 2013.Modern construction management. John Wiley Sons. Herbane, B., 2013. Exploring Crisis Management in UK Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management,21(2), pp.82-95. Holt, G.D., Goulding, J. and Akintoye, A., 2014. Interrelationships between theory and research impact: Views from a survey of UK academics.Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management,21(6), pp.674-696. Hughes, P. and Ferrett, E., 2015.Introduction to Health and Safety in Construction: For the NEBOSH National Certificate in Construction Health and Safety. Routledge. Jang, W.S., Lee, S.U. and Lee, D.E., 2013. Identifying the perception on the introducing of Construction Management (CM) in the civil infrastructure project delivery system.Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management,14(1), pp.91-100. Kelly, J., Male, S. and Graham, D., 2014.Value management of construction projects. John Wiley Sons. Khosrowshahi, F. and Arayici, Y., 2012. Roadmap for implementation of BIM in the UK construction industry.Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management,19(6), pp.610-635. Killip, G., 2013. Transition management using a market transformation approach: lessons for theory, research, and practice from the case of low-carbon housing refurbishment in the UK.Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy,31(5), pp.876-892. Lee, U.K., Yoo, W.S., Kim, D.I., Kim, T.H., Cha, M.S. and Cho, H.H., 2012. Improvement of estimating method for construction management service fee by case study.Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management,13(4), pp.16-24. Loosemore, M., 2016. Social procurement in UK construction projects.International Journal of Project Management,34(2), pp.133-144. Maguire, S. and Hardy, C., 2013. Organizing processes and the construction of risk: A discursive approach.Academy of Management Journal,56(1), pp.231-255. McGeorge, D. and Zou, P.X., 2012.Construction management: new directions. John Wiley Sons. Meng, X., 2012. The effect of relationship management on project performance in construction.International journal of project management,30(2), pp.188-198. Mihara, H., Kurokawa, M., Hughes, W. and Hojo, T., 2014. The Comparison of Construction Management Curricula in Universities between the UK and Japan. InProceedings of the 30th Annual ARCOM Conference, Portsmouth, UK(Vol. 1, pp. 1441-1450). Ness, K. and Green, S., 2013. 2 Human resource management in the construction context: disappearing workers in the UK.Human Resource Management in Construction: Critical Perspectives, p.18. Nieto-Morote, A. and Ruz-Vila, F., 2012. A fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model for construction contractor prequalification.Automation in Construction,25, pp.8-19. Owolabi, J.D., Amusan, L.M., Oloke, C.O., Olusanya, O., Tunji-Olayeni, P.F., Dele, O., Peter Joy, N. and Omuh, I.O., 2014. Causes and effect of delay on project construction delivery time.International Journal of Education and Research,2(4), pp.197-208. Potts, K. and Ankrah, N., 2014.Construction cost management: learning from case studies. Routledge. Priven, V. and Sacks, R., 2016. Impacts of the Social Subcontract and Last Planner System Interventions on the Trade-Crew Workflows of Multistory Residential Construction Projects.Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, p.04016013. Radosavljevic, M. and Bennett, J., 2012.Construction Management Strategies: A theory of construction management. John Wiley Sons. Rezazadeh, M., Rezazadeh, M., Balador, Z. and Shabahang, S., 2014. 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Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Non-Parametric Tests and Its Application in Management free essay sample

In this case, we use what are called nonparametric tests. These tests do not require any specific form for the distribution of the population. s non-parametric methods make fewer assumptions, their applicability is much wider than the corresponding parametric methods. In particular, they may be applied in situations where less is known about the application in  question. Also, due to the reliance on fewer  assumptions, non-parametric methods are  more robust. Another justification for the use of non-parametric methods is simplicity. In certain cases, even when the use of  parametric methods is justified, non-parametric methods may be easier to use. Due both to this simplicity and  to their greater robustness, non-parametric methods are seen by  some statisticians as leaving less room for  improper use and misunderstanding. The wider applicability and increased robustness of non-parametric tests comes at a cost:  in cases where a parametric test would be appropriate, non-parametric tests have less power. We will write a custom essay sample on Non-Parametric Tests and Its Application in Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In other words, a larger sample size  can be required to draw conclusions with the same degree  of confidence. Non-parametric or distribution-free inferential  statistical methods are mathematical procedures for  statistical hypothesis testing which, unlike parametric statistics, make no assumptions about the probability distributions of the variables being assessed. When our data is normally distributed, the mean isequal to the median and we use the mean as our measure ofcenter. However, if our data is skewed, then the median is a much better measure of center. Therefore, justlike the Z, t and F tests made inferences about the population mean(s),nonparametric tests make inferences about the population median(s). Given below are the various nonparametric tests: * Chi square(? 2) * Kolmogorov  -Smirnov test * median test * Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of  variance by ranks * Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks * Kuipers  test * Mann-Whitney U * Wilcoxon  signed-rank  test * Wilcoxon  matched-pairs  test * Wald-  Wolfowitz  runs  test The details of some of the commonly used nonparametric is given below: The Sign test (for 2 repeated/correlated measures) The sign test is one of the simplest nonparametric tests. It is for use with 2 repeated (or correlated) measures (see the example below), and measurement is assumed to be at least ordinal. For each subject, subtract the 2nd score from the 1st, and write down the sign of the difference. (That is write â€Å"-† if the difference score is negative, and â€Å"+† if it is positive. ) The usual null hypothesis for this test is that there is no difference between the two treatments. If this is so, then the number of + signs (or signs, for that matter) should have a binomial distribution1 with p = . 5, and N = the number of subjects. In other words, the sign test is just a binomial test with + and in place of Head and Tail (or Success and Failure). Large sample sign test The sampling distribution used in carrying out the sign test is a binomial distribution with p =q = . 5. The mean of a binomial distribution is equal to Np, and the variance is equal to Npq. As N increases, the binomial distribution converges on the normal distribution (especially when p = q = . 5). When N is large enough (i. e. , greater than 30 or 50, depending on how conservative one is), it is possible to carry out a z-test version of the sign test as follows: z2 is equal to ? 2 with df = 1. Therefore This formula can be expanded with what Howell (1997) calls â€Å"some not-so-obvious algebra† to yield: Note that X equals the observed number of p-events, and Np equals the expected number of pevents under the null hypothesis. Similarly, N-X equals the observed number of q-events, and Nq = the expected number of q-events under the null hypothesis. Therefore, we can rewrite equation in a more familiar looking format as follows: Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test (for 2 repeated/correlated measures) One obvious problem with the sign test is that it discards a lot of information about the data. It takes into account the direction of the difference, but not the magnitude of the difference between each pair of scores. The Wilcoxon signed-ranks test is another nonparametric test that can be used for 2 repeated (or correlated) measures when measurement is at least ordinal. But unlike the sign test, it does take into account (to some degree, at least) the magnitude of the difference. Let us return to the data used to illustrate the sign test. The 14 difference scores were: -20, -7, -14, -13, -26, +5, -17, -9, -10, -9, -7, +3, +2, -17 If we sort these on the basis of their absolute values (i. e. , disregarding the sign), we get the results shown in Table 3. 2. The statistic T is found by calculating the sum of the positive ranks, and the sum of the negative ranks. T is the smaller of these two sums. In this case, therefore,T = 6. If the null hypothesis is true, the sum of the positive ranks and the sum of the negative ranks are expected to be roughly equal. But if H0 is false, we expect one of the sums to be quite smalland therefore T is expected to be quite small. The most extreme outcome favourable to rejection of H0 is T = 0. Large-sample Wilcoxon signed ranks test The following are known to be true about the sampling distribution of T, the statistic used in the Wilcoxon signed ranks test: If N gt; 50, then the sampling distribution of T is for practical purposes normal. And so, a z-ratio can be computed as follows: Friedman ANOVA This test is sometimes called the Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks. It is for use with k repeated (or correlated) measures where measurement is at least ordinal. The null hypothesis states that all k samples are drawn from the same population, or from populations with equal medians. It may be useful at this point to consider what kinds of outcomes are expected if H0 is true. H0 states that all of the samples (columns) are drawn from the same population, or from populations with the same median. If so, then the sums (or means) of the ranks for each of the columns should all be roughly equal, because the ranks 1, 2, and 3 would be expected by chance to appear equally often in each column. In this example, the expected _R for each treatment would be 10 if H0 is true. (In general, the expected sum of ranks for each treatment is N(k +1)/2. ) The Friedman ANOVA assesses the degree to which the observed _Rs depart from the expected _Rs. If the departure is too extreme (or not likely due to chance), one concludes by rejecting H0. The Fr statistic is calculated as follows TESTS OF GOODNESS OF FIT The purpose of the test of goodness of fit is the comparison of the distribution form (shape) of two features in one population or of one feature in two populations. The solution of many statistic problems is simpler, if the analysed feature has a normal distribution. Different statistical analyses require fulfilling the assumptions on the distribution normality of the analysed variable (T-Student tests, analysis of variance, analysis of regression, canonical analysis etc. . That is why we must previously carry out the verification of the distribution character every time we want to apply statistical analyses requiring the data of a determined distribution. Then, the circumstances of applying non-parametric tests of goodness of fit can be as follows: * As a start point for applying some specific models of parametric tests (ve rification of the mean value, variances of the variable distribution etc. , * As one of the elements of the verification of a mathematical model structure, correctness, for example in the case of modelling a real estate market (verification of the model remainders normality distribution), * A comparison of distributions in two different populations in order to draw conclusions on their similarity, * other practical issues, like verification of the dice symmetry. Between non-parametric tests of goodness of fit, we distinguish, among the others, the following: * Chi-square Pearson test, Kolomogorow test, * Kolomogorow-Smirnow test, * Kolomogorow-Lillieforse test, * Shapiro-Wilk test, * Wilcoxon test. Chi-square test of goodness of fit Chi-square test of goodness of fit requires a large market database because of its low power. We can apply it, for example, to examine the distribution of prices of a determined real estate type in a time interval, aiming to verify the assumptions of a s elected parametric test, used to verify, for example, the basic distribution parameters of this variable on a given local arket (mean price, its dispersion and the like). The run of this test can be described as follows: †¢ Classification of the values of the feature X: x1, x2, x3, †¦, xn gathered in a random sample (creation of a distributive series), †¢ Formulation of the zero hypothesis H0: cumulative distribution function of the examined feature is the function F0(x); if the hypothesis H0 is true, the probability pi that the variable X would take a value belonging to the i-th class (gi-1, gi) is: pi = F0(gi) – F0(gi-1). Statistics in this test has the form: it is a measure of differences between experimental ni and theoretical npi sizes of individual classes and it has a chi-square distribution, thus, we compare it with the critical values read off from the tables of this distribution. KRUSKAL-WALLIS TEST When we can assumethat our data is normally distributed and that the population standard deviations are equal, we can testfor a difference among several populations by using the One-way ANOVA F test. However,when ourdatais not normal,orwe aren’t sure if it is, we can use the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test to compare more than two populationsas long as our data comefroma continuous distribution. In the One-way ANOVA F test, we are testing to see if our population means are equal. Since our data might not necessarily be symmetric in the nonparametric setting, it is better touse the median as the measure of center, and so in theKruskal-Wallis test weare testing to see ifour population medians are equal. Recall the analysis ofvarianceidea: wewritethetotal observed variation in the responses as the sum of two parts,one measuring variation amongthe groups (sum of squares for groups, SSG) and one measuring variation among individual observations withinthe samegroup (sumof squares for error,SSE). The ANOVA F testrejects the null hypothesis that the mean responses are equal in all groups if SSG is large relative to SSE. The idea of the Kruskal-Wallis ranktest isto rank all theresponses fromall groups togetherandthen apply one-way ANOVA to theranks rather than to the original bservations. Ifthere are N observations in all,the ranks are always the whole numbers from1 to N. The total sumofsquares for the ranks is therefore a fixed number no matter what the data are. So wedo not need to look at both SSG and SSE. Although it isn’t obvious without someunpleasant algebra, the Kruskal-Wallistest statistic is essentially just SSGfor the ranks. When SSGis large, that is evidence that the gro ups differ. Draw independent SRSs of sizes n1,n2, ,nIfrom Ipopulations. There are N observations in all. Rank all N observations and let Ribe the sum of the ranks. When the sample sizesniare large and all Ipopulations have the samecontinuous distribution, H has approximately the chi-square distribution with I-1 degrees of freedom. The Kruskal-Wallis testrejects the null hypothesis thatall populationshave thesame distribution when H is large. So liketheWilcoxon rank sumstatistic,theKruskal-Wallistest statistic is based onthe sumsof the ranks for the groups we are comparing. The more different these sumsare, the stronger is the evidence thatresponses are systematically larger in somegroups than in others. As usual, we again assign average ranks to tied observations Advantages of nonparametric tests Siegel and Castellan (1988, p. 35) list the following advantages of nonparametric tests: 1. If the sample size is very small, there may be no alternative to using a nonparametric statistical test unless the nature of the population distribution is known exactly. 2. Nonparametric tests typically make fewer assumptions about the data and may be more relevant to a particular situation. In addition, the hypothesis tested by the nonparametric test may be more appropriate for the research investigation. . Nonparametric tests are available to analyze data which are inherently in ranks as well as data whose seemingly numerical scores have the strength of ranks. That is, the researcher may only be able to say of his or her subjects that one has more or less of the characteristic than another, without being able to say how much more or less. For example, in studying such a variable as anxiety, we may be able to state that subject A is more anxious than subject B without knowing at all exactly how much more anxious A is. If data are inherently in ranks, or even if they can be categorized only as plus or minus (more or less, better or worse), they can be treated by nonparametric methods, whereas they cannot be treated by parametric methods unless precarious and, perhaps, unrealistic assumptions are made about the underlying distributions. 4. Nonparametric methods are available to treat data which are simply classificatory or categorical, i. e. , are measured in a nominal scale. No parametric technique applies to such data. 5. There are suitable nonparametric statistical tests for treating samples made up of observations from several different populations. Parametric tests often cannot handle such data without requiring us to make seemingly unrealistic assumptions or requiring cumbersome computations. 6. Nonparametric statistical tests are typically much easier to learn and to apply than are parametric tests. In addition, their interpretation often is more direct than the interpretation of parametric tests. Disadvantages of nonparametric tests Nonparametric tests do have at least two major disadvantages in comparison to parametric tests. Nonparametric tests are less powerful Because parametric tests use more of the information available in a set of numbers. Parametric tests make use of information consistent with interval scale measurement, whereas parametric tests typically make use of ordinal information only. As Siegel and Castellan (1988) put it, â€Å"nonparametric statistical tests are wasteful. † Second, parametric tests are much more flexible, and allow you to test a greater range of hypotheses. For example, factorial ANOVA designs allow you to test for interactions between variables in a way that is not possible with nonparametric alternatives. There are nonparametric techniques to test for certain kinds of interactions under certain circumstances, but these are much more limited than the corresponding parametric techniques. Therefore, when the assumptions for a parametric test are met, it is generally (but not necessarily always) preferable to use the parametric test rather than a nonparametric test