Importance Of Internet In E Commerce

Importance Of Internet In E Commerce Chapter 1 It is difficult to define tourism. Tourism is not an industry that is grouped into a single heading within the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) (Bardgett, 2000). The definition of tourism mostly come from the purchaser, tourist, not the product itself (Bargett, 2000). Thereupon, World Tourism Organization (WTO) (1993) had defined tourism consists of activities of persons travelling to and staying places outside their usual environment for not more than one continually one year for leisure, or business purposes. In Malaysia, tourism industry has been recognizes as second largest foreign exchange earning sector (Mohd Hanafiah Mohd Harun, 2010). According to United Nations World Trade Organization (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer (2009), in 2008, tourist arrivals in Malaysia are substantially higher than its neighbors. The table below (Table 1.1) provides a good picture on comparison of number of visitors among Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. On the other hand, as the society has driven into Internet Era, tourism is extensively transformed by the by e-commerce phenomenon (Lee Letho, 2012). Hensdill (1998) described the web as a perfect medium for selling travel. While, with the popularization of computers through the Internet, travel product suppliers such as airlines, car rental companies, and hotels have grasped the opportunity to change their traditional distribution methods by launching their products directly on the Internet (Kasavana, 1997; Montgomery, 1999; Morrison, Taylor, Morrison Morrison 1999). Similarly, travel information is also available on the Internet from regional and national tourism boards in a large amount (Weeks Crouch, 1999). Nowadays, Internet has now become a promotional and advertising tool (Countryman, 1999). According to Martin (2004), the Internet suits the marketing principles for travel and tourism because it: (a) allows travel suppliers to set up a direct link with customers; (b) gets rid of the unfair barriers for customers and suppliers; (c) relieve equal competition; and (d) decreases price discrimination opportunities. Consequently, the Internet not only serves to deliver information (Walle, 1996) but also act as a public relations tool (Connolly, Sigala, 2001). Hence, it is important for travel agents to know which factors can affect travelers intention to use travel website. By knowing this, travel agents not only can formulate the marketing strategies but also can design a website which the features are different from the competitors in order to gain competitive advantages. Problem Statement Due to the rapid growing of tourism industry in Malaysia and the importance of internet in e-commerce, many of the travel agencies have created their own website. The rivalry among the travel website itself has increase rapidly. Hence, to be an outstanding website among the others, and to gain the competitive advantage, the travel agency need to know which factor has the most significant influence the user to use travel website. The result is not necessary only for strategic marketing formulation, but also for the design of the web site features that are superior from competitors (Aziz et al., 2010). The main problem that influences the users to adopt the websites will be the multi stage process for the travel decision making process (Aziz et al., 2010). The consumers need to look careful each step before until final steps to successful purchases the travel packages. For instance, users may need to login the membership before to process to purchase the package. This continue with the double confirm before the purchased package is correct. Until the payment step, users also need to check the all information is correct and submit to pay. Besides that, the security, privacy and trust concerns are other minor problems that influence the users to adopt the websites. The informations quality, security, privacy, trust and the companys reputation have strongly influence on online consumers trust in the websites (Kim, Ferrin, Raghav Rao, 2007) According to the past study of Aziz et al. (2010), social influence is the superiority in encouraging people to use travel websites. While, in the study of Ahmad and Juhdi (2008), they found out that internet self-efficacy had affected Malaysian travelers to use travel website. In the study of Chen (2006), trustworthy has a significant influence in an online travel websites. There have been various studies conducted in different country such as, a study on web site quality for online travel agency in United States (Park, Gretzel, Sirakaya-Turk, 2007); the factor affecting consumers attitude towards online reservation by Vathianathan and Roy (2009) in India; and examine e-travel site, an empirical study in Taiwan (Lin, 2010). Yet, only a few studies have been carried out in Malaysia. In the study of Aziz et al. (2010), the influence of predictors on travel website, the study is only conducted in Klang Valley, which is just a portion of Malaysia. The result cannot represent as a whole. While, in the study of Ahmad and Juhdi (2008), the number of respondents is small and mainly specific in e-group subscribers who were basically active users of internet. Thus, the generalization of the findings is questionable. Research Questions and Objectives Research Questions General Objectives To identify and examine factors that affect Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website. General Question What are the factors that affect Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website? Specific Objectives To examine the relationship between Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website. To examine the relationship between perceived usefulness (PU) and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website. To examine the relationship between social influences and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website. To examine the relationship between self efficacy and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website. To examine the relationship between travel motivation and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website. Specific Questions Is there any relationship between Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website? Is there any relationship between perceived usefulness (PU) and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website? Is there any relationship between social influences and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website? Is there any relationship between self efficacy and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website? Is there any relationship between travel motivation and Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website? Source: Developed for the research Significance of the Study Generally, the acceptance of the internet among users is normally examined with technology acceptance model (TAM) (Aziz et al. 2010). However, the two variable of TAM (Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness) are still insufficient to test on the factors affecting Malaysian travelers intention to use travel website. Therefore, the proposed model of this study is an extension of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as theoretical foundation. The model will be adding other variables such as, social influence, self efficacy and travel motivation to test on the dependent variable. Travel agency would be among the first to benefit from the study. The finding of this study may help the travel agency to understand several affected factors that influence Malaysian travelers to use travel website. It is important to understand the consumers acceptance of the online concept and the product and services provided are more suitable to be selling online. Hence, travel agency will have more relevant information or idea when creating the website. Besides, its also helping those agencies that have an intention to invest in online store, so, they have a better idea of the trends in the market and thus they can increase their portion of the market place. Last but not least, travel agency can save more cost and time. For instance, small tourism enterprises wont be facing any risk in spending on costly web-based solutions and time with the help of this study by providing them useful information about the preference of the internet users. 1.5 Chapter Layout 1.5.1 Chapter One: Research Overview This research report comprises a total of five chapters. In chapter one, researcher furnish an overview of the study and describing the research situation. It has covered background of this study, a brief introduction of our research, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, hypothesis of the study and significance of the study. 1.5.2 Chapter Two: Literature Review In chapter two, it includes the review of the literature, review of relevant theoretical models. Furthermore, it also consists of proposed theoretical framework and the hypotheses development. 1.5.3 Chapter Three: Methodology For chapter three, it is an overview of the studys research methodology. This chapter includes our research design, data collection methods, sampling design, research instrument, measurement construction, data processing, as well as data analysis. 1.5.4 Chapter Four: Data Analysis In chapter four, it presents the research results and the analysis of the results which are relevant to the research questions and hypotheses. This chapter includes descriptive analysis, scale measurement and inferential analyses. 1.5.5 Chapter Five: Discussion, Conclusion and Implications In chapter five, it is the summarizing chapter that discusses the overall findings followed by the conclusion. Thus, this chapter finds out the implication and limitation of the study. Finally, this chapter outlines the recommendations for future researches.

Price and Rubbermaid

Abdul Javeed Sociology 300 February 14, 2010 Wal-Mart analysis Wal-Mart can be analyzed using both Structural Function and Social Conflict theory. Structural function theory believes that society is a complex system of interconnected and interrelated social structures each having a function and working together to promote social stability. There is an inherent tendency to balance and equilibrium. The following three points define why Wal-Mart can be analyzed using Structural function theory: They keep their prices low but make profits on high volume and fast turnover. Wal-Mart is most admired for its reputation in cost cutting and low prices. Wal-Mart is known to have very low and cheap prices for their products. It stops the need to go look for a bargain at other stores because we know that we won’t find a better deal elsewhere. This way we not only save money but time and gas too. Driving around to different stores to buy all the products is time and gas consuming. Low cost imports from Asia were vital components for Wal-Mart’s low opening price point strategy. Social Conflict theory believes that society is not integrated but actually full of unequal divisions. It has scarce and limited social resources PWP. It is in constant competition for them and conflict Is the result. Thus the emerging social structures benefit some in obtaining or retaining PWP at the expense of others. The following three points define why Wal-Mart can also be analyzed using Social Conflict theory: America’s best known brand Rubbermaid, maker of plastic containers, garbage bins was virtually in every home in one way or another. Rubbermaid supplied to big chains like Wal-Mart. Rubbermaid was struggling to maintain its ambitious growth targets. Then suddenly the material cost for Rubbermaid increased and hence they had to increase the price of their products. Some retailers agreed with the price increase but Wal-Mart did not. So it was the first signs of declines for Rubbermaid. Wal-Mart pullback was a blow to Rubbermaid and later its plant closed. Close to 1000 jobs were lost at Rubbermaid. Rubbermaid with its reputation of quality was most admired. Wal-Mart with its reputation for cost cutting was most admired. Hence Wal-Mart used its PWP to control Rubbermaid and indirectly let it shutdown. It had power over Rubbermaid and forced it to lower its costs. Rubbermaid couldn’t do it and so Wal-Mart stopped doing business with them, and so Rubbermaid shutdown. Wal-Mart used its PWP and by this a proud American Company was shutdown and many lost jobs. Impact of Chinese export boom has been felt all over USA. Wal-Mart used it PWP to indirectly shutdown a company called Thomson Consumer Electronics which was an American Television Manufacturer. Thomson stated to see a sharp foreign competition; they saw Chinese products being sold at a price that most American manufacturers couldn’t manufacture at. Five electronics sued the Chinese TV manufacturer but was stunned to see that Wal-Marttook the side of Chinese manufacturer. But Thomson plant shutdown and lot of people lost their jobs due to Chinese competition. Wal-Mart used its PWP and was bringing in cheap Chinese imports and so caused American manufacturer hard to keep in competition.

Rhetorical Analysis of a Modest Proposal Essay

Swift’s â€Å"A Modest Proposal† written in 1729 was his proposal â€Å"for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to he publick† (Swift, Title). This proposal included the selling, skinning and buying of babies at the age of one. This proposal that he has come up with is a very inhuman and controversial one when it comes to being socially acceptable. Swift begins his essay by describing walking down a street in Ireland. He describes how you would see, â€Å"beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms† (Swift, Para. 1). This gives the reader a mental picture of how bad things are for the women he is trying to help. Swift then talks about how there are very many of these poor people in Ireland and how they are not able to be part of the middle or working class. Look more:  how to write satire essay He then proposes his idea that the children could, â€Å"contribute to the feeding, and partly to the cloathing of many thousands† (Swift, Para. 4). In no way, shape, or form is the eating of or the using of children in this manner acceptable. No society would ever find it suitable to eat or make babies into clothes. Dr. Swift has made a proposal that he should know would not work because of the inhumanity that it is asking people in which to participate. Jonathan Swift later tells the reader of how he has, â€Å"computed the charge of nursing a beggar’s child (in which list I reckon all cottagers, labourers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no gentleman would repine to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good fat child,† (Swift, Para. 14). This is a good thing that Swift does telling how the mother would stand to make money on selling her child to a man for dinner. Except, I do not believe you couldn’t find a willing mother to sell her child knowing that it would be eaten by a human for a meal. Dr. Swift has made a plan for people with no remorse or thought of their children. The only place this plan could be carried out and continue working is a place with robots that have no feeling or conscious. Swift then makes the statement, â€Å"Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess the times require) may flea the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen,† (Swift, Para. 15). He thinks that someone would be able to treat a baby’s skin as an animal’s and make it into a glove or boot without objection to what it is. This is another flaw in his plan. There are people who are against making animals into clothing. Therefore, I am sure that there would be people against the making of clothes from baby. Next, Dr. Swift gives 6 reasons of why he thinks the plan is a good one. His second reason states, â€Å"Secondly, The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, which by law may be made liable to a distress, and help to pay their landlord’s rent, their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a thing unknown,† (Swift, Para. 22). He thinks that poor tenants with children will be able to give their landlords something valuable by giving them their child. No landlord would take a child as a means of money because it just costs more money to them to have the child then without it. In his fourth reason Swift says, â€Å"Fourthly, The constant breeders, besides the gain of eight shillings sterling per annum by the sale of their children, will be rid of the charge of maintaining them after the first year,† (Swift, Para. 24) If the people who like to â€Å"breed† hear of this then they will just think that they will be able to keep having children and selling them instead of having a job. This would cause more jobless people and after so long the supply of the babies would surpass the demand. There then would be poor children hanging on their mothers again in the street defeating the purpose of the plan in the beginning. Fifthly Dr. Swift says, â€Å"This food would likewise bring great custom to taverns, where the vintners will certainly be so prudent as to procure the best receipts for dressing it to perfection; and consequently have their houses frequented by all the fine gentlemen, who justly value themselves upon their knowledge in good eating; and a skilful cook, who understands how to oblige his guests, will contrive to make it as expensive as they please,† (Swift, Para. 5). Again, I refer back to how people would not be able to eat the carcass of an one year old child, but also I think that if you were to find a cook to make this and a person to eat it that it would be at such an outrageous price that the people could not afford to try the meal of the baby. Finally, the last reason I do not think that this plan would work is what is in the final paragraph of the essay-â€Å"I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the publick good of my country, by advancing our trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure to the rich. † (Swift, Para. 33). If the person that is proposing the idea at the end of the idea tells you that he has no interest in promoting his own proposal, I believe that it means he thinks that it also will not work and could not be enacted on a society. I am not the only one that is outraged or appalled with the works of Dr. Swift. Patrick Delany also states â€Å"As I have marked the passages that seemed to me most faulty, and gave me most offence, I beg leave to point them out, as they come in my way: without any further preface, or apology. The picture he draws of the Yahoos, is too offensive to be copied, even in the slightest sketch. † (Kathleen, Pg. 132). Delany and I are both offended and disagree with Swift’s works, but as a satire writer this just shows how effective his writing is on his audience. He tries to use outrageous and controversial subjects in order to grab the attention of his readers and keep them reading his papers. This style works very well and is a great way to get your point across. This style has grabbed the attention of all the readers and will continue to grab the attention of all the future readers of his essay.

What is the Impact of Drug Abuse on the Health of Teenagers Aged 13-19 in London - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3607 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Medicine Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Literature Review 1.0 Introduction This chapter provides a comprehensive critical literature review of a small number of sources that are considered to be particularly useful in exploring the two key themes of this dissertation. The first of these themes is the impact of drug abuse on the health of the teenagers aged 13-19 in London, while the second is the impact of governmental strategies in tackling drug abuse amongst teenagers aged 13-19 in London. These themes are discussed using the resources selected, and the quality, methodological approach, relevance and ethical and anti-oppressive practices are all part of the critical review. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "What is the Impact of Drug Abuse on the Health of Teenagers Aged 13-19 in London?" essay for you Create order The chapter finishes with a short summary bringing these key ideas together. 1.1 The Impact of Drug Abuse on the Health of Teenagers Aged 13 – 19 in London The first theme investigates the impact of drug abuse on specific aspects of health on teenagers in London. There are two key sources that form the core of this critical review for this theme. Even so, neither of these relate solely to the target population, and in each case some extrapolation of findings is made in order to describe the likely characteristics of 13 – 19 years’ olds in London. The first is source is the case-controlled study carried out by Di Forti et al (2015:1), and briefly discussed in Chapter Two above. Looking more closely at this study, and reviewing it critically, it still remains a useful article, as it focuses on the mental health impacts of cannabis and shows a clear association between the use of the drug in its high potency form (skunk) and psychosis. It might not at first appear that the study is relevant given that it started in 2005. However, it continued recruiting for over 6 years, and amassed a wealth of data on those individuals abusing drugs – specifically high potency and easily available cannabis. The research study used a primary research methodology. For the recruitment of cases, the authors approached all patients (18 – 65 years) with first episode psychosis presenting at the inpatient units of the South London and Maudsley Hospital. They invited people to participate in the study only if they met the International Classification of Diseases 10 criteria for a diagnosis of non-affective (F20–F29) or affective (F30–F33) psychosis, which they validated by administering the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) (Di Forti et al, 2015:2). For the controls, the authors used internet and newspaper adverts and also distributed leaflets on public transport and in shops and job centres. The controls were given the Psychosis Screening Questionnaire and were excluded if they met the criteria for a psychotic disorder. While the two groups only included the last t wo years of the target population group for this study i.e. 18 and 19 year olds, it was a study located in London, and on analysis appeared to indicate a number of characteristics that were felt to be useful for providing information that would also be useful for younger teenagers. All participants (cases and controls) included in the study gave written informed consent under the ethical approval obtained from the Institute of Psychiatry Local Research Ethics Committee. There did not appear to be any unethical practices, but the study had the potential to be oppressive as by the nature of the patients presenting at the clinics, and by the nature of their access to skunk, being more likely to be of certain ethnic groups – especially of black West Indian origin – it could be argued that the study to some extent misrepresented the populations of south west London, and more specifically, the West Indian communities found there. In other words, the inclusion of participa nts from these origins might be likely to give observers an unjust view of the ethnic group or of the population of that area of London as a whole. The method used with the participants was quantitative and involved questionnaire assessments, specifically socioeconomic data and the Cannabis Experience Questionnaire modified version (CEQmv) which included data on history of use of alcohol. tobacco, alcohol, any other use of recreational drugs, and detailed information on cannabis use (i.e. first use age, use duration, frequency of use, type of cannabis used) (Di Forti et al, 2015:2). Between 2005 and 2011, the researchers approached 606 patients of which 145 (24%) refused to participate, therefore 461 patients with first-episode psychosis were recruited. Using a range of statistical tests, and adjusting for a number of variables including the variables for frequency of cannabis use and the type of cannabis used, and in combining these the authors found that controls were more like ly to be occasional users of hash, whilst the frequent users were more likely to be using skunk. They also found, using logistic regression, that those people who had started using cannabis at a younger age had a greater risk of developing psychotic episodes (Di Forti et al, 2015:5). The second resource to be analysed was the study by McCardle (2004). This was a literature review focusing on the impacts of substance abuse by children and young people. Although this did not use primary research, it provided a useful analysis of a number of other studies.   Although the age of this study meant that it might have had limited relevance to teenagers in 2017, in fact the study related directly to the findings of the later Di Forti et al study. This was because McCardle (2004:1) found that cannabis was becoming stronger than it had been in the past – just as Di Forti et al found that skunk use was increasing and that it was of a much higher potency than previously. McCardle (20 04:2) also found that there was a range of mental health issues resulting from the use of cannabis, including an increased risk of suicide, and an increase in aggressive, disassociated behaviours, anxiety, depression and other similar problems (McCardle, 2004:2). Another useful aspect of this research was that it identified the problems of terminology relating to the gathering and analysis of data – so many different terms are used that it is often difficult to ascertain accurate trends and outcomes (McCardle, 2004:3). While it would have been preferred to have used a London based source or one that engaged participants of the target age group though a primary method, the lack of sources of academic literature meant that this study was valuable in that it analysed other studies, and also existing datasets from the UK government. The article also focused on the social impacts of cannabis, for example, looking at the developmental impacts, and the negative effects on education, both of which could lead to poor outcomes in terms of quality of life and attainment in later life. The findings from these two articles provided valid evidence of the relationship between the use of cannabis and mental, emotional, social and physical health of teenagers and young people. Although there was limited focus on the population age target group for the dissertation specifically, both articles provided relevant points of interest, and it is possible to extrapolate from them to state that teenagers in London engaged in cannabis abuse are very likely to be at risk of experiencing the various health effects identified above. 3.2 The Impact of Government Strategies in Tackling Drug Abuse Amongst Teenagers Aged 13-19 in London Finding academic research sources that focused on recent government strategies aimed at the target group based in London was very challenging. For the most recent strategy – the Troubled Families Programme, Lambert and Crossley (2017:1) get to the very heart of the ethical and oppressive practices issue, as they argue that this government strategy is one of a wider spectrum of policies that locates problems within the family itself, and which emphasises behaviour as the target for action irrespective of the socio-economic influences that exist. This is a review study – critically reviewing a strategy – and is very current, as the TFP has recently been revisited by the Government, who are considering an extension, despite evidence that it has not met its targets or expected outcomes. While this article is not based on a piece of primary data, the authors have conducted primary data about this issue through interviews in the very recent past, and the article refe rs to these. They have found that TFP has continued the view of target families as an ‘underclass’, as ‘neighbours from hell’ and as expensive and very difficult to ‘treat’. While the TFP took a holistic approach, using one individual or team to work with families on all of their problems, Lambert and Crossley (2017:4), and others (Bonell et al, 2016) argue that the underlying attitude of the Government and of the strategy meant that its approach was unlikely to succeed. 3.3 Summary This chapter showed that there were clearly associated health impacts with the use of cannabis; some of these impacts were severe, and often included mental illness and behavioural change, especially where high potency cannabis was used. It also showed that despite many years of government strategies and policies, there still does not appear to be a solution that can reduce the use or impacts of cannabis and other drugs. The final chapter provides a reflection on the research undertaken for this dissertation, and provides some brief conclusions and recommendations. CHAPTER FOUR – REFLECTIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.0 Introduction In this final chapter, three tasks are completed. First, a reflective account of the research is undertaken. In research and practice, reflection on a task and outcome is very important because it provides the author with the opportunity to look back and learn from their actions. There are in fact two types of reflection, both of which might be applicable to this work. The first definition is that of ‘reflection’ which is considered to be a ‘process or activity’ that involves thinking and is judged to include cognitive processes of problem finding and problem solving (Leitch and Day, 2000:180). The second type of reflection is that of ‘reflective practice’. This is the use of reflection and reflective skills to transfer learnt knowledge i.e. theories to the application of those theories to the everyday practices of an individual. It has been shown to be very important for individual practitioners as it aids their ability to learn from their ac tions and associated outcomes, and enables them to develop improvements based on experience and theoretical knowledge (White et al, 2016:9). There are two main models of reflection that can be used to support the reflective researcher or the reflective practitioner. These are Kolb’s model of experiential learning (Kolb, 1984) and Gibbs’ reflective cycle (Gibbs, 1988). Gibbs developed his model as a refinement of the earlier Kolb model, and it is Gibbs’ model that is used in this dissertation. Figure 1: Gibbs Model of Reflection (Park and Son, 2011:2) The Gibbs Model provides a researcher with the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of what they have learned (Park and Kastanis, 2009:11) and the strengths and weaknesses of their work, their underlying values, the insufficiency of their approach, and areas of improvement (Park and Son, 2012:3). For these reasons the Gibbs Model will be applied below. 4.1 Reflection on the Process of the Research 4.1.1 The Experience The process of writing the dissertation was both challenging and enjoyable. It was enjoyable because any research activity is one of problem solving and of searching for information, and these two activities can be very satisfying when they result in finding out something new. While primary research is often seen as the most valid form of activity, in fact secondary research, based as it is on the gathering of existing data, and the synthesis of that data to suggest new outcomes or findings, can be just as valid, and just as difficult as carrying out processes that collect new or primary data. 4.1.2 The Challenges and the Achievements As alluded to a number of times throughout this dissertation there were a number of difficulties or challenges. The choice of the topic was in retrospect a good one because it focussed on a population group in a particular location, London, that had clearly received little research focus previously. While there has been substantial data gathered on drug use and abuse more generally in the UK and more generally across age ranges, very little has been done in relation to the 13 – 19 year old age group. In fact, it was this aspect that caused the greatest difficulty in completing the dissertation – the lack of resources and data available that were relevant to this age group, in London, for any kind of drug abuse other than newspaper articles that often used the issue of drug abuse in relation to crime, ethnic minorities or deprivation, meant that the data that was available had to be used carefully. For example, it was possible to obtain academic resources such as that of Di Forti et al, that looked at drug abuse, specifically, cannabis, in London, but only two years of respondents in that study (18 and 19 year olds) fit into this dissertation, whilst the study by McCardle (2004) provided relevance to the wider age group (15 – 24) but was not based in London, so could point to so me useful outcomes but did not have specific locational knowledge. In relation to the strategies developed to address the issue, again the resources of an academic nature were very limited, made even more challenging because the most recent strategies, i.e. those that had occurred in the past five years, have yet to undergo much academic analysis, but as they are a very different approach from those used a decade or so ago, there is little point in trying to evaluate those older approaches. Despite the difficulties outlined above, it was felt that there were a number of positives obtained from the research. As there was such a dearth of resources available, this dissertation appears to provide new research and new analysis of data for this group of the population in this location. As a result, the author felt that the validity of their choice of topic and their research approach was justified to some extent. In terms of time management, it was felt that the research was planned w ell, and even though the search for data and resources took longer than expected, it was still possible to incorporate the timing required into the overall research schedule. The research also challenged the overall beliefs and judgements held by the author at the start of the process. Whilst it was felt that some degree of knowledge was held about these issues, there were some preconceptions held about the type of teenagers that participated in drug abuse. The gathering of the data enabled the author to begin to challenge those preconceptions especially in relation to the factors that cause people of this age to start abusing drugs. This new understanding allowed the author to start to view the issues differently. 4.1.3 Changes Required There are a number of changes that could be implemented to make the research easier and to address the question of limited resources. Firstly, the age range would be extended to include children from the age of 0 years to 24 or 25 years, as th is would enable a greater number of data sources to be used, and they could be more easily analysed and extrapolation made for teenage years. Second, the inclusion of drug abuse by parents impacting on the health of their children would be included, as this issue has consistently emerged as a key problem for children and teenagers throughout the data collection, and can be a major factor in determining whether teenagers participate in drug use and abuse. Finally, although London would still be the locational focus, because a lot of data that is collected for London and the South-East, the locational boundaries would be stretched to incorporate this area within the research.   If these changes were put into place, it would be a positive exercise to undertake the research process again to see if it was possible to obtain data and achieve findings that were even more valuable than those already developed. 4.1.4 Applying the Gibb’s Model of Reflection Figure 2: Biggsâ€℠¢ Reflective Model Applied to This Research Having applied Gibbs’ model of reflection it is helpful to see that the reflection that is carried out in stages can lead to a targeted plan of action, which can form the framework for new research. Gibbs’ model does not necessarily allow for complexity, however, as it is a linear-cyclical model, and used in this way cannot represent the many complexities and variables that characterise the issue of drug abuse amongst teenagers. 4.2 Conclusions The research question that this dissertation set out to examine was: What patterns of drug abuse occur amongst teenagers in London, and what are the causes, health impacts and possible solutions? Despite the difficulties in obtaining specific data for teenagers aged 13 – 19 in London, there was sufficient information available to be able to provide an answer to this research question. From the prevalence perspective, the data showed that while the prevalence of drug abuse was decreasing overall, there were areas of London that had disproportionately higher levels, especially amongst specific ethnic groups. However, amongst all drug abusers, cannabis was the most used drug. The causes of drug abuse amongst teenagers was found to be a complex mixture of environmental, emotional, mental health and peer pressure related factors, meaning that addressing the problem is always going to be challenging for policy makers and healthcare providers. In relation to the health imp acts, the previous chapter has revealed that there is clear evidence that its use can be clearly associated with health outcomes of mental health including psychosis and the development of schizophrenia for drug abusers of any age. Not only that, but it is also quite apparent that teenagers engaging in drug abuse are much more likely to experience other health related problems because of their attitude to risk, and their participation in high-risk behaviours when they are under the influence of the drug. These other problems include contracting STIs, teenage pregnancy, the taking of other drugs and substances that have more severe health impacts, participating in criminal activities that can lead to violence in an attempt to obtain money to buy drugs and so on. Looking at the strategy that has most recently been developed to try and address the problem of teenage drug use in London, it is apparent that it has not succeeded in its aims, objectives or targets. This seems to be the result largely of the oppressive nature of all such strategies held by UK Governments over recent years – an attitude that views those with drug abuse and other problems, as ‘problem families’ that need to be ‘solved’, instead of trying to really understand what it is about society in general that leads to such families existing in the first place. A focus on social, economic and environmental issues rather than on the families themselves might result in a better outcome. 4.3 Recommendations Having carried out a review of the literature surrounding this issue, there are some key recommendations that can immediately be made. The first of these recommendations relates to the data available for this issue – as indicated previously, one of the challenges of completing this dissertation was the paucity of data relating to the specific population being studied. It is, therefore, recommended, that research studies, or government agencies collecting data, should target this age group specifically when data is being collected about drug use or abuse. An alternative to this is for researchers to obtain the raw data from the various data collection agencies and sources, and to extrapolate the data that crosses the boundaries of the targeted populations group, and reprocess that data for the target age group. The second recommendation relates not to the data, but to the issues. It appears that controlling the availability of drugs is difficult, especially as there are so ma ny types, and some, like cannabis, appear to be regularly available. As there seems to be an ongoing reduction in the number of young people using these illegal drugs, it would seem sensible to capitalise on this trend by providing better educational initiatives to inform people of the dangers to their health. It would also be appropriate to try and determine which factors were most likely to cause teenagers to start abusing drugs and to find ways of addressing these factors more effectively than has been the case to date. References Bonell, C., McKee, M., and Fletcher, A. (2016). Troubled Families, Troubled Policy making. BMJ, 355, doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i5879. 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