MA Students
Q1
Pay transparency is becoming more of a central focus. Local municipalities and states have passed legislation in support of pay transparency.
As manager, do you support pay transparency, why or why not? Now taking on the role of the employee, do you support pay transparency – do the roles conflict? Why is there a difference? Are there other ways organizations can ensure pay equity and integrity besides pay transparency?
Q2
Imagine you are a forensic psychologist conducting an evaluation of an individual’s competency to stand trial. In your testing battery, you are considering the following tests: California Psychological Inventory, 16 Personality Factors (16PF), Minnesota Multiphasic Inventory- II (MMPI-II), Rorschach Inkblot Test, and the Thematic Apperception Test. Of the tests listed, which would you include? Integrating examples and ideas from your readings and research this week, explain your position. Please provide a rationale as to why you did not select the other three measures.
Q3
Title: Protein Drinks
This week you are learning about the macronutrients, protein, carbohydrate, and fat. These are essential macronutrients that many athletes focus on.
For this discussion, I want you to find a protein supplement, for example, CytoSport Muscle Milk Chocolate Protein Supplement Powder sold by Walgreens. You may have a protein supplement at home, or you can find one on the web, by going to a store, or a friend or colleague; the source of the supplement is not important. Pick one you want to learn about but do not use a supplement someone else has used.
Locate the list of ingredients and nutrition label on the package. You will need this for your discussion post.
In the Discussion:
List the ingredients and tell the class the functional/physical property of each ingredient. In other words, what that ingredient contributes to the product. You can ask yourself, why did the manufacturer add this ingredient? What does it contribute to the product (functional property)? Don’t confuse functional property with nutritional/health property. For example, one of the ingredients in CytoSport Muscle Milk Chocolate Protein Supplement Powder is fructooligosaccharides. This contributes sweetness to the product. There are several resources you can use to find the function of the ingredients.
Natural Medicines Database which you can find in the library under databases (a fantastic resource!)
Again, be very careful that you tell us the functional properties, not the health properties, of the ingredient.
Include a bibliography of your information sources.
Tell the class about the nutrition information, for example:
How many calories per serving?
How many calories are from protein, fat, and carbohydrate?
Does it contain any other vitamins or minerals?
Evaluate the product. Would you use it? Why or why not?
Q4
Title: What is the science behind protein supplements?
This week, you are learning about protein. Many athletes consume protein supplements. In Forum 2a, you found a particular protein supplement and presented information on it. Now, let’s find out about the science behind these. How safe are these supplements? Are they appropriate for exercise? For this discussion, find one peer-reviewed research article (as you did in Forum 1) and present it.
To find your article, go to the APUS online library or PubMed. You are looking for a research article that is published in a peer-reviewed journal; not an article published in a magazine like Muscle Magazine or on the website BodyBuilding. These are for the general public and are not peer-reviewed. The journal article you select should be a research study related to protein supplements and sports performance. Our research question is: Do protein supplements improve sports performance?
Again, a research article is not a review article but reports the results of a research study. You can tell the difference between a research article and a review article because a review article summarizes several research studies.
If you cannot find a research article in the APUS online library, go to the following website: Pubmed. In the search bar at the top (cursor most likely will be blinking in this box), enter “protein supplement exercise.” More than 1800 articles should be referenced. You can select one from this list. DO NOT SELECT AN ARTICLE ANOTHER STUDENT HAS SELECTED. Once you have decided which article you would like to summarize, get that article from the library. We talked about strategies for finding articles in Forum 1.
In your Forum post:
- list your selected article,
- provide the reference for your chosen article
- describe the study and the results,
- state what the study concluded,
- evaluate the article. Do you think the study made appropriate conclusions from its data? Was the study designed correctly to address the hypothesis?
- Does the study support the hypothesis that protein supplements are safe? If yes, tell us how. If no, again tell us how.
Before you post your initial discussion, you must submit it in the assignment area in a Word file so its originality can be checked by turnitin.com. Points will be deducted if you do not do this. Your score will appear in the same place you submit your file. It can take up to 24 hours for a score to return, but usually, it is less than 30 minutes.
Assignments containing more than 50% unoriginal content may not earn any points. Posts containing more than 20%-25% but less then 50% will incur a substantial point deduction for unoriginal content. Again, please note that we are concerned about unoriginal sentences and paragraphs, not words here and there, the reference page, or title page.
Q5
There are many types of research methods depending on your industry, position, and research goals. One area of focus is loyalty and collecting research to understand loyalty best and increase it.
In a competitive industry, it is essential to understand who you are marketing to, and then you can best create a loyalty program that speaks to this market.
Research
Research loyalty as it applies to your final paper topic in this course. Brainstorm how you will create loyalty for this new offering.
Discuss
- Who is in the target market for your final marketing plan? Make sure to provide the rationale.
- What type of research methods will help you to understand this market best?
- How will you obtain loyalty from this market?
- Briefly describe the competition in this industry and any loyalty efforts that the major competitors are using.
Q6
The basis for this discussion is the U.S. Supreme Court case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
This case is about a business’ leadership making real business decisions about employer-provided employee health care benefits. This decision violated a government mandate that private for-profit businesses provide certain types of birth control benefits. The company, Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., took a stand against the government’s position, based on the business ownership’s religious beliefs, raising a Constitutional question under the First Amendment.
In addition to the Hobby Lobby case itself, please consider, in particular, the Horwitz article listed in this week’s eReserve Required Readings, as well as other research on the subject, to inform your own thoughts on the following and discuss in a narrative post.
DISCUSSION PROMPT:
Please do not simply list “questions and answers.” Address the questions within an essay format.
- Which part of the 1st Amendment was at issue in this case?
- Discuss how the government violated Hobby Lobby’s 1st Amendment right, according to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Hobby Lobby Stores. Inc. is a family owned business, described as “closely held.” What does this mean, i.e., what is a closely held corporation? How did the fact Hobby Lobby is closely held make a difference in the court’s consideration of Hobby Lobby’s 1st Amendment religious freedom argument? Would the same argument work for a large publicly held corporation like IBM? Should it? Why or why not?
- Should a business operating as a nonreligious commercial entity be able to invoke this 1st Amendment protection at all on the basis of the business owner(s)’ personal beliefs as human beings? Why or why not? If the business is a separate person, as the Court has held in finding that the business has an independent Constitutional right, how can this “corporate person,” as an entity, manifest an independent religious belief? Isn’t it separate from its owners? (For this question you might want to also take a look at the Supreme Court’s opinion in theCitizens United case.)
- Share any additional thoughts you have.
Please clearly and thoroughly discuss these points in a well organized post. Your text and other required readings and research should form a foundation for your discussion. At a minimum your thoughts should be informed by the court’s opinion in Hobby Lobby, the Horwitz article, and your textbook readings. You may have other ideas — research further to support them. We invite and expect respectful debate in the discussions. Enjoy the challenge!
