Abstract
This paper is a book review of David H. Clark and Matthew D. H. Clark's "Measuring the Cosmos: How Scientists Discovered the Dimensions of the Universe". It details the main aspects of this history as recorded in the book, and in the process takes the conclusion that the book is a celebration of the human passion for knowledge and the great debates that have accompanied scientific advance.

From the Paper
"Searching the Skies: A Book Review of Measuring the Cosmos: How Scientists Discovered the Dimensions of the Universe by David H. Clark and Matthew D. H. Clark Clark and Clark's book is a historiography of the timeless human debate into the fundamental question of "Why?" Why do we exist? Where do we come from? Ultimately, what is the nature of the universe around us? The book follows the careers of the great minds of astrology from early antiquity to the modern era, following science as it haphazardly pushes forth the limits of human comprehension."

Tags:astronomy, history, debate

Abstract
This paper describes a performance that the writer attended on August 29, 2008 of the musical group known as the "Cosmos Trio." It specifically discusses the four works that they played at the concert: the "Petite Suite" (2007), a work known as "Beautiful, Sweet, Delicate for Flute, Viola, and Harp" (2005), "Trio in Four Movements for Flute, Viola and Harp" (2006), and "A Columbus Triptych" (2006).

From the Paper
"Overall, the reception of the works reflected the soothing rather than urgent quality of the pieces that were played. One problem with Cosmos Trio in performance might be that the viola and the harp do not have a wide audio range, and a flute is too quiet an instrument to provide a truly driving melody. The works, although skillfully played by exceptional musicians ultimately made an argument for the reason that most chamber groupings feature the more tonally rich and vibrant violin, viola, and cello rather than showcase the viola and the harp as the primary instruments over the course of an entire performance."

Tags:concert, orchestra, composition, instrument

Abstract
The paper discusses the traditional approaches to measuring advertising and media effectiveness as opposed to digitally based metrics. The paper demonstrates how digital metrics are revolutionizing the world of advertising and media effectiveness. The paper concludes that the growth of the Internet and the fragmentation of markets is setting the perfect situation for digital metrics to continually grow.

Outline:
Executive Summary
Traditional Approaches to Measuring Advertising and Media Effectiveness
Digital Metrics of Advertising and Media Effectiveness
Summary and Conclusions

From the Paper
"Anchored in a series of methodologies that were originally created for the purpose of evaluating social science, the traditional approaches to measuring advertising and media effectiveness began with a series of research designs that were organized by their ability to either prove or disprove a null and alterative hypothesis of viewer behavior. Methodologies looked to isolate the influence of advertising and media exposures and prolonged approaches from companies looking to educate consumers. This has not changed, in the more digitally oriented approaches to evaluating advertising and media effectiveness, yet the measurement techniques and tools have."

Tags:Internet, techniques, evaluation, technology

Abstract
This paper takes a look at the validity of using standardized tests to evaluate students' academic success. The author defines and gives examples of standardized tests and agrees that though there are advantages utilizing the standardized testing system such as the comparison of students' results for use in analyzing the quality of learning, the standardization of curriculum diminishes the volume and standard of education imparted to students. The paper further explains that standard testing results in students memorizing rather than learning, and in other cases, can lead to inequalities in the society where pupils who get less marks in standardized tests feel singled out. The author suggests other methods to evaluate students' performances such as benchmark testing.

Outline:
Definition and Examples of Standardized Tests.
Factual Benefits of Having Standardized Testing System
Drawbacks of Standardized Testing
Correlation Between Standardized Tests' Scores and Student's Acceptance Rate
Other Methods of Measuring Students' Academic Success
Conclusion
References

From the Paper
"Standardized testing is an examination conducted with a set of clearly drafted questions that are highly researched for quality. The outcome of standardized tests can be relied upon to judge the quality of knowledge acquired by a student. Questions in a standardized test comprises of just the sheet of question and with a set of answers for each question. Students can choose and mark the correct answer from the given set of answers. Other forms of questions include the choice to judge whether a statement is correct or wrong, question to match the correct answer and statements with space to be filled with the most suitable answer."

Tags:education, evaluation methods

Abstract
This essay discusses the reasons why the ability to measure latitude was important to the ancient Greeks both as a practical aid to navigation and as a part of their cultural curiosity to figure out how things work. The writer then discusses an attempt to measure latitude in northern California, an ill-fated adventure that produced only partial results because of the intrusion of a Rent-a-Cop.

From the Paper
"The Greeks. Ah, the Greeks. So much of what we are we owe to these people, misnamed by their eventual Roman conquerors. Living s they did on the warm and rocky shores of the Aegean Sea, these people advance western civilization to such a degree that it can be argued that they gave us what amounts to western culture. As was true of virtually every ancient civilization, the Greeks settled where the climate was conducive to living with relatively little shelter. Unlike peoples in the north of Europe, who needed relatively elaborate ..."

Tags:latitude, measurement, tangent

Abstract
This paper explains that the use of multiple IT performance measurement frameworks are ideal because it provides more information to an organization as to where it went wrong and where it still needs improvement. The author points out that economic value added, one of the most effective performance metrics in use today, assesses how well an organization is achieving its objectives and goals consistent with valuation principles that are important to any investor's analysis of a company. The paper relates that intellectual capital is a performance measurement framework that assesses the intangible assets of a company including the in-depth knowledge and skills of an organization's employees and the strategies and techniques implemented by an organization.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Performance Measurement Frameworks
The Balanced Scoreboard
What is a Balanced Scorecard?
Financial Measures as Evaluated by the Balanced Scorecard
Strategy Implementation as Evaluated by the Balanced Scorecard
Economic Value Added
Intellectual Capital
Use of the Performance Measurement Frameworks in IT
Conclusion

From the Paper
"In using the balanced scorecard in measuring the performance and value of IT in an organization, it is ideal that every scorecard focuses on the corporate goals. Thus, when developing metrics for the Balanced Scorecard, it is significant to have strategic thinking that emphasizes the organization's goal. For instance, Brickman and Fidler, two successful IT executives, suggests the following metrics to determine whether their company's IT meets customer needs and demands. Apparently, these elements are parts of strategy implementation which is one of the focus of the Balanced Scorecard performance measurement."

Tags:frameworks, programs, goals, valuation, implementation

Abstract
This paper carries the primary objective of interviewing guests in a three star rated hotel frequented by business travelers, and aims through primary research to ascertain the star rating guests would attribute to the facility and its service. This research effort concentrates on validating the predictive accuracy of SERVQUAL and LODGSERV as they relate to the Mobil Star system. After a detailed analysis of the study methodology and results, the paper concludes that the specific Marriott hotel profiled in this analysis clearly has done an excellent job of teaching its staff how to be empathetic and full of assurance, yet has not been able to specifically address the areas of responsiveness and tangibles. This supports the research objective of this study showing hotel guests' rankings of SERVQUAL would be an accurate representation of the Mobil Star system score. This paper contains illustrative figures and data tables.

Outline:
Chapter 1 Introduction
Background
Statement of Problem
Aims and Objectives
Chapter 2 Literature Review
Executive Summary
How Expectations Are Formed
Nature and Characteristics of Expectations
Measurement of Customers' Expectations
Customer Expectations in the Hospitality Industry
Measurement of Customer's Expectations in the Hospitality Industry
Summary
Chapter 3 Research Methodology
Introduction
Review of Data Collection Methods
Secondary Research Methods Evaluated and Not Chosen
Primary Research Methods Evaluated And Not Chosen
Choice of Methodology
Subject Population
Validity and Reliability
Field Work Completion
Conclusion
Chapter 4 Findings and Analysis
Introduction
Analysis of Results
Demographics
Summary
Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations
Key Findings
Discussion
Bibliography and Works Cited
Appendix A: Questionnaire

From the Paper
"Assessing how the accumulated experiences of guests correlate to the specific Mobil star ratings as predicted by SERVQUAL and LODGSERV measures is the intent of this study. The Marriott hotel chain's customers are among the most loyal given the success of their loyalty programs, and the company's internal processes and systems to ensure consistency and uniformity of service are quantifiable using the SERVQUAL and LODGSERV measurement instruments. Given the representativeness of the Mobil Star System audit criteria of facility Inspection and service evaluation to SERVQUAL and LODGSERV, it is a reasonable assumption that a guests' rankings of a hotel on these two measures of performance would provide predictive accuracy of a given hotels' Mobil star ranking. To date however there has been no correlative analysis linking the Mobil Star system to the measures of SERVQUAL and LODGSERV. It is the intent of this analysis to address this research gap."

Tags:hospitality, management, Marriott, industry

Abstract
This paper outlines the steps involved in constructing a Likert (1932) scale to evaluate university students' attitude towards vivisection and addresses issues both within the scale itself and in the broader context of all measurements of attitude. Ultimately, it questions the usefulness of attitude scales in light of their unavoidable limitations given the complexity of the hypothetical construct they seek to evaluate.

From the Paper
"Reliability interacts with validity and where reliability is high ("equal to or more than .80" - Oppenheim, B, 1988), as with the Likert scale, validity will tend to be also, but its fundamental shortcoming, which it shares with other attitude scales, is that construct validity of the attitude concept itself is questionable. No external factual criterion exists against which declared attitudes may be defined and calibrated: for example, group membership or voting habits - seemingly objective measures - may be mediated by situational or pragmatic factors (Oppenheim, 1966). Declared attitude, as measured by self-report rating scales, may not wholly - or at all - correspond to the attitude held and thus it follows that predictive validity also tends to be poor."

Tags:vivisection, thurstone

From the Paper
"Their book is a blend of archaeology, anthropology, and astronomy and encompasses both the historical world and the mythical world of the Maya. It spans three thousand years, fro-m the Olmec civilization, through the various periods of the, pre-conquest Maya civilization up to the present day. Not only does their book shed light on the religion and culture of the ancient Maya, it also shows a definite continuance and connection between ancient and modern day practices. "

Tags:america, ancient, astronomy, civilizations, culture, latin, religion

Abstract
This paper explores methods used by astronomers to measure the universe, the dual nature of light, origins of the universe and the solar system and types of stars. It also discusses planets and other celestial bodies.

From the Paper
"Another way to measure the universe is using shadows. Some astronomers observe "dark silhouettes cast by distant clusters of galaxies (Glanz,1999)" against the "cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) (Glanz, 1999)" The glow from this radiation provides a back light that helps measure the size of the shadows. The CMBR was formed back when the cosmos were only 100,000 to 300,000 years old. Because of the CMBRs' age, "everything in the visible universe lies in front (Glanz, 1999)" of it. When the radiation started out, it had hot temperatures due to the universe just being formed. However, as the universe expanded, the temperatures cooled. This gives astronomers additional information to aid them in their measurements."

Tags:solar, system, celestial, space, cosmic, radiation, light, cosmos