Research Method in Biological Level of Analysis Psychology Essay Example for Free

Research Method in Biological Level of Analysis Psychology Essay Examine the use of one research method used in the biological level of analysis, including an evaluation of the ethical considerations related to them. The case studies method consists in taking a patient personal history in order to take a diagnosis. It is usually applied in persons that have abnormal characteristics in behaviour, at biological or at cognitive level; it can also be applied to a group of people that are under the same situation. Case study is a long-term research where the patient or the group of people are studied to get into a conclusion. This type of study investigates and recollects qualitative data, such as feelings and experiences. At the same time it also includes quantitative data of measurements such as blood testing, IQ scores and other survey data. An example of case-study method is the Phineas Gage research. Phineas was the man who had an accident and a metal pole entered through its skull. It entered through his left cheek and exited through its frontal lobe. There were many factors that made of this situation really abnormal. Just after the accident Phineas was awake. He lost the vision in his left eye, but in his right eye the vision was perfect. Besides he didn’t suffer any paralysis and had no difficulty with speech or language. However, the doctor noted that his intellectual abilities and his emotional control had been destroyed. Gage had become impatient, indulgent and though he made plans for hi future he could never follow them. He could be described as a child. According to the long-term case study, his frontal lobe provided evidence that the brain affects personality and social behaviour. This is a really important research because it presents one of the biological level of analysis, the one that refers there are biological correlates of behaviour. Here we can see how damaged physiological factor can affect behaviour. Besides it shows us how case studies are really useful, because not all changes in behaviour happen from one day to another. As this study evidenced the process in which the behaviour starts to see affected is a long-term process. Case studies of the brain-damaged patients have led to important findings about the brain. According to the ethics in this type of research, probably there are more negative facts tan positive facts. Case studies researches are not ethical because the patient is treated, observed and examined like it is a completely different person compared to the others. Besides it can invade your personal spaces and take you away some privacy. The researcher gets to know deeply personal information fro the patient, which is not usually shared with other people. Besides, some of this information may be published or at least written up as a research report, in order to be used in a future as valid information in researches, etc. That’s why the identity of the person should be always protected; the researcher needs to cover all the details that could lead others to work out the individual’s identity. In the case of Phineas Gage most of this ethical considerations weren’t taked into count. They didn’t covered up his identity, beside they go into details of his personal life. In conclusion the case studies are really important because are the ones that lead us to conclusions about real life issues and particular problems. The researches done by this method are really accurate and play a really important role in psychology biological level of analysis.

Seven Ancient Wonders Of The World

Seven Ancient Wonders Of The World The seven ancient wonders of the world are one of the most extraordinary lists of artifacts in history. Even today there are several different branches of this list that include different categories of wonders in the world. Some of the other popular lists include wonders of the modern, medieval, natural world, and several others. Among the latest seven wonders is the Wilder beast migration scenario visible Maasai Mara game reserve in East Africa, which is being claimed to, seen from outer space great distances in the atmosphere. The great walls of china are also visible from outer space, built in 200 years B.C and stretches over eight thousand kilometers have also been featured in this list. Listing of the seven wonders can be traced back to the ancient Greek historians who developed a trend of documenting the most amazing sceneries and features in their land together with the surrounding regions that they had knowledge about during their time. The very first list of seven wonders wa s documented around first or second century before Christ (B.C) by Greek historians and consisted of constructions or natural sceneries around the modern day Mediterranean region together with some parts of Asia (Roberts, 16). This list came to be known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The list is credited to historians like Antipater of Sidon, Diodoros and Herodotus although Antipater is given much of the credit. In this regard, this paper aims at discussing which of the ancient wonders should not have been included in the list. The first seven wonders to have been documented in human history included the great pyramid of Giza, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Hanging gardens of Babylon, Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, Colossus of Rhodes and Lighthouse of Alexandria. During that time, the above named were classified as the most spectacular and remarkable manmade structures but some people have argued that this would not have been the case had the Greek historians and travelers had more knowledge about other regions of the world. Different people point out that certain wonders In the list should not have been included but according to my own point of view, the hanging gardens of Babylon should not have been included in that list for a number of reasons. For a long time now, there has been a raging debate on the actual existence of the gardens in question (Optic 6). Up to date, there has never been concrete proof that the gardens of Babylon actually existed in the areas documented during the first account. In Babylonian history both now and in the past, there is no such documentation of its existence, which casts doubt about whether the Greek historians were right or wrong (Price Clayton, 22). Compared to the other wonders of the time, there has been sufficient proof of existence and has been presented with ruins of some being seen even as of date. In fact, the Great pyramid of Giza is still physically visible even today. People living in regions where other members in the list had documented the existence of the respective structures in the writings, drawings and other types but Babylonians had not. This is a strong reason as to why the hanging gardens should not have been included considering prove of existence of the other six. Secondly, it cannot be said as to who really was responsible for building the gardens if they indeed existed. The Greek historians who developed the list attributed the building to Nebuchadnezzar II, a powerful king who reigned around 600 B.C but other documentation shows otherwise. It is now a well-known fact that no artifacts, ruins, and walls of Nebuchadnezzars kingdom have ever shown that he was responsible for building the gardens (Price Clayton, 32). Other historians of the ancient times recorded that a man named Sennacherib was the one who built the hanging gardens after he took over the kingdom of Assyria in the year 705 B.C. Other historians of both modern and ancient times argue that the Gardens were a creation of the mind and artistry build upon stories that were taken to Greece by visitors who came from Babylonia. Being a land that had great architecture, tower of Babel, fertile soils, Palm tree plantations, beautiful gardens and great prosperity, merchants and soldiers who went back to Greece gave exaggerated stories about the region ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. On hearing this, artists and historians created mental pictures of the place and eventually came up with drawings. For this reason, I think hanging garden should have been excluded from the list. Largely, the intention of constructing a building determines whether it will have great value or not. Some buildings are constructed for use as residential areas, places of worship, food stores, recreational and libraries among other reasons. In ancient times, buildings were built for various reasons some of which are explained above. With respect to the seven manmade structures that were listed as wonder of the world, all of them had a distinct purpose for their creation but according to my own personal view, the main intention for constructing the gardens was relatively less valuable or meaningless compared to the other six. The great Pyramid of Giza was built to act as a tomb for pharaohs, temple of Artemis at Ephesus as a place of worship, Lighthouse of Alexandria as a guide to seafarers or sailors. Similarly, Statue of Zeus at Olympia as a depiction of matured artistry, and Colossus of Rhodes a symbol of one of many gods worshipped by Greeks called Helios. On the other hand, the hanging gardens had been built to make Nebuchadnezzars wife feel more as if she was at her ancestral home (Woods Michael, 69). In short, it was built to satisfy the ego of only one person resulting to wastage of massive financial resources, human labor, and time. All the other structures had been for a noble course of either helping humanity, understanding life aspects more or helping create a better link between humans and their God but the gardens had been built to impact just one person who happened to be the wife of a king. The actual location of the gardens is a matter of speculation and not factual like is the case with the other constructions (Clayton Prince 58). Given that, ruins the other six structures have precise locations that are known to historians and ordinary persons, documentation of the gardens in relation to different historian of the time confirm that the precise location of the place is not known. There is a possibility that the gardens, if they ever existed may have been built elsewhere and not in the place recorded by historians as Babylonia (Woods Michael, 97). Studies conducted by modern day archeologists strongly show that the place believed to be the zone where hanging gardens were situated based off ancient Greek historical accounts is actually Nineveh gardens, modern day Tigris which used to be in the kingdom of Assyria. This is strong evidence that Greek historians must have confused the two places making it odd to be included in the list of seven wonders of the ancient worl d. There also exists a major difference between type of architecture used in construction of hanging gardens and others in the record. The gardens had been built using a mixture of clay and straw, which underwent a hardening process to make construction bricks. All the others were constructed using tough or special stones that had the capability of withstanding all types of unfavorable weather conditions for a long period. According to ancient records, walls of the hanging gardens could be fully destructed by exposure to water only that it was it a desert region that experienced region. It is said that the gardens were easily destroyed by an earthquake to an extent where not even ruins remained, an indication that they were less superior to the other wonders. In relation to height, the hanging gardens of Babylon are documented to have been about eighty feet. Others like the Lighthouse of Alexandria were approximately one hundred and twenty meters high and could be seen from long distances. Sailors of the time could see the tower from as far as twenty-six miles and the great pyramid remained to be the tallest manmade structure on earth for over three thousand years. This means that the other six structures were appealing to the human eye compared to the hanging gardens. Having trees and other plants together with a river around it, the gardens could never have been appealing when the desert sun dried up the waters and made vegetation turn brown. From all the above arguments, it would be right to conclude that the hanging gardens should not have been included in that list of ancient wonders given the many weaknesses it had compared to the others.

Symbolism in Lord of the Flies, by William Golding Essay -- essays res

Symbolism in Lord of the Flies, by William Golding In his classic novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding uses many elements of symbolism to help the readers gain a greater understanding of his message. Symbolism can be anything, a person, place, or thing, used to portray something beyond its self. It is used to represent or foreshadow the conclusion of the story. As one reads this novel, he or she will begin to recognize the way basic civilization is slowly stripped away from the boys as conflict between civilization and savagery arises. The conch shell represents power and authority. Whoever has the shell has the power to talk. The conch shows how people use objects to give power, like a crown. "Conch?" "That's what this shell's called. I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking (pg.33)." This shows that whoever holds the conch during meetings gets to speak At these meetings a sense of order is instilled because the boys have to wait until they hold the conch to speak. The conch becomes a powerful symbol of civilization. "By the time Ralph had finished blowing the conch the platform was crowded." (Golding, 32) Ralph shows his leadership abilities as he recognizes the use of the conch. Ralph begins to take leadership over the boys by setting rules as using the conch to let everyone have a turn to speak. Another symbol of strength and command is the fire. As long as the fire is well maintained, the b...

Jack Londons To Build a Fire Essay -- London Jack Build Fire Essays

Jack London's To Build a Fire Nature is always pushing man to his limits. When man heeds the warning signs that nature has to offer and those warnings of other men, he is most likely to conquer nature. When he ignores these warnings, nature is sure to defeat man. To build a fire is a prime example of this scenario. In the short story, â€Å"To Build a Fire† by Jack London, an inexperienced traveler in the Yukon travels alone with his dog, even though it is ill advised to do so. The man is strong and smart but nature humbled him during his quest to reach his friends. The man’s inexperience with traveling in the cold subzero temperatures doomed him from the beginning, but his strong focus under extreme pressure and his keen sense of observation are what allows him to survive as long as he did. The ignorance of the old-timer’s words of wisdom slowly haunts him and catches up with him in the end. The man’s disregard for nature’s power is his demise during his journey. Although the man’s inexperience is his demise, he has very keen observing skills and strong focusing abilities. London writes, â€Å"he was keenly observant, and he noticed the changes in the creek, the curves and bends and timber-jams, and always he sharply noted where he placed his feet.† (London, 527) These skills allow him to make his way through the Yukon. He lacks imagination of what could happen to him in the tundra of the Yukon. â€Å"The trouble with him was that he was without imagination,† (London, 525) Lo...

Chaucers Use of Courtly Love Essay -- essays papers

Chaucers Use of Courtly Love Chaucer's Use of "Courtly Love" Chaucer admired and made use of the medieval "courtly love" romance tradition, although he did not fully "buy into it." The "courtly love" code is based on the woman as the center of attention. The medieval knight suffers greatly for his love, who is often someone else's wife. He will do anything to protect and honor her, remaining faithful at all costs. Adultery and secrecy characterize these relationships. The knight views a woman and experiences true love. The knight fears that he will never be accepted by his love; therefore, she is worshiped at a distance. Elements of courtly love can be seen in both "The Book of the Duchess" and "The Knight's Tale." In "The Book of the Duchess" the Black Knight represents the courtly love character, who falls hopelessly in love with Lady White. Following the courtly love tradition, Lady White becomes the most important thing in the Black Knight's life. He describes her as the one true love that struck his eye with utter beauty. "Among these ladies fair and bright, Truly one there struck my sight, Unlike the others, I declare, Because for certain I can swear That, as the sun of summer bright Is fairer, clearer, has more light Than any other planet in heaven, More than the Moon, or the starry seven, Just so for all the world did she Surpass those others utterly In beauty, courtesy and grace, In radiant modesty of face, Fine bearing, virtue every way- What more, thus briefly, can I say?" (lines 816-830) The courtly love tradition brings a powerful romance to "The Book of the Duchess." The Black Knight has found his true love; however, she has died. Her death is his deepes... ...urns disguised so that he can remain in contact with Emelye. Arcite has suffered and has expressed regret for his suffering. "Allas, the wo! allas, the peynes stronge, That I for yow have suffered, and so longe" (lines 1913,14). This too is untypical of the courtly love romance. The self-centered passion of Palamon and Arcite distracts the reader from any true feelings of love. The knights' view love in a barbaric way. Chaucer strays from the courtly love pattern to show the reader how selfish love and lovers can be. The courtly love romance tradition was widely used by Chaucer. However, Chaucer did not fully embrace this code. In "The Book of the Duchess" and "The Knight's Tale," Chaucer uses aspect of the courtly ideal. His absence of certain characteristics and elements of the code leaves the reader thinking, and interpreting on his/her own.

Examine the ways in which the relationship between the public and the police is presented in this extract and elsewhere in the play

In Murmuring Judges, the second play in Hare’s trilogy which examines institutions, Hare presents the relationship between the police and the public as one of mutual dislike. Interestingly, Hare never openly shows the public to dislike the lawyers, who act as the antagonist throughout the play due to their uncaring attitude towards client, but it is omnipresent towards the police, who are shown to be more in touch with people. Here, Hare is perhaps consciously suggesting that the people dislike the police as they are the ‘face of justice’ and thus perceived by the public to be the ‘enemy’. Although Hare does present the police to hold some racist and prejudiced views, showing they clearly aren’t perfect, he does largely present the police in both Murmuring Judges and his research book Asking Around as trying to do a hard job in difficult times. From our first introduction to the police, we see they are instantly disliked by the public. In Act 1 Scene 3, the first to involve the police, Keith states â€Å"you’re all bloody bastards† which immediately creates sympathy from the audience for the police. This sympathy is increased throughout the novel, where Hare generally presents the police as good people, an example of which is Sandra, who is shown as trying to enforce justice fairly in a corrupt system. The public dislike for the police is shown to be mutual though, â€Å"I’m not sure I care for the public that much†, which highlights the police frustration at the difficulty of their job, which is shown to be exacerbated by non-cooperative suspects, as shown through Keith’s repetition of â€Å"I’m not saying anything†. This furthers sympathy towards the police, as the public perception and the audience’s perception seem to be very different, as at this point in the play the police are presented as entirely honest. Dislike for the police is also shown later in the play, â€Å"I bloody hate the sodding police†, but here the police are shown to have grown more tired of the public and are more irritated, â€Å"do you have any idea, you stupid arsehole, how bloody boring it is for us? However, the public only further underlying frustration, as the Criminal Evidence Act of 1981 made policing more about paperwork, which created frustration amongst the police as for them it lowered their ability to do their jobs. In Asking Around, Hare states â€Å"[the police] are used to doing a great deal of good for the community and they’re used to having it thrown back in their face†. This could explain the police’s frustration at the public and also their seeming lack of interest in their jobs, as they no longer have the incentive to help those who hate them. Read also Intro to Public Relations Notes The police are shown to become more frustrated as the play progress, although the time period is unknown, could suggest that more and more acts were continually introduced. However, Hare continues to present the police as ‘the good guys’, as he shows Lester to be â€Å"only interested in protecting the public†, which reinforces the idea that police frustration largely stems from the public. Despite the public perception of the police as â€Å"tossers†, the police are wholly presented as the most in touch with people and the most realistic, â€Å"what we’re talking about here is reality†. This is best shown in the juxtaposition of the lawyers and the police’s view of public interest. Whereas Sir Peter believes â€Å"everyone listens to Desert Island Disks†, which the is obviously untrue, as this is a largely middle class radio station and shows the lawyers to be completely out of touch with the public, Lester states â€Å"I’d rather be in bed with Michelle Pfeiffer. † This is a much more relatable statement for the public, as it is likely that there is a larger proportion of people who would rather be in bed with Michelle than there is who listen to Desert Island Disks. Through this direct contrast, Hare shows the lawyers to be dated whereas the police are presented as realistic, and with the same manner and feelings as the public, which can be exemplified by the sarcastic tone from Lester towards the clients, â€Å"go and stand up there next to him, it makes no difference to me†. The extent of the police’s involvement with the public is shown starkly when Barry confronts Irina and asks â€Å"when was the last time anyone was sick on your wig? The mocking tone suggests is frustration at the public and the image of the public vomiting on the police shows them to be obviously more in touch with the public than the lawyers. Contextually, however, the public distrust of the police is understandable, as cases like the Guilford four and the Birmingham Six highlighted police corruption and showed the police to be immoral, as Barry is shown to be here. Perhaps the worst relationships presented between the police and the public are those which highlight the racist and generally prejudiced attitudes of the police at the time. Barry suggests that Gerard is more likely to be guilty as â€Å"he was kind of Irish†, which shows an innate prejudice, as he assumes that his nationality makes him more likely to commit crime. Significantly, Hare presents the public as aware of this racism through Jason, who is black, as he states â€Å"if you go through with this†¦I’m going to get a bobble hat and grow bloody dreadlocks. † Here, it is suggested that the police are inherently racist, as Jason implies that he was arrested simply because he was black, showing he too believes the police are racist. Although here it is a matter of justice, rather than racism, in the focus scene Hare does present the police as prejudiced. Through Lester’s statement, â€Å"I hate immigration†¦and bloody women†, Hare presents the police as prejudiced, which could arguably suggest why they are so disliked by the public as this shows them to be unjust. Just as the public are shown to be aware of racism within the police, sexism is also obvious as Sandra says â€Å"just ask the boys, all women are naggers†. However, I believe this may have been inherent and gone unnoticed by the police, as perfectly summed up in the line â€Å"they don’t know they’re prejudiced†, as the play was written in 1991, when racism and sexism were seen as everyday occurrences. Hare describes the police as â€Å"the people trying to keep their sense of humour in the face of massive contradictions†. This is evident in the relationship between the police and the public, as the police generally use a light tone and humorous phrases, which suggests the police would like to get along with the public, but they make this impossible. This is strengthened by Hare’s presentation of the public, as they are shown to be non-cooperative or â€Å"grovelling†. In contrast, Hare occasionally presents the police as prejudiced and disinterested in their jobs, which undermines the police-public relationship, but it is largely obvious that Hare blames the public for the poor public relations as the police are largely just attempting to do their job in difficult circumstances, which is only worsened by the public perception of them as unjust and prejudiced.

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Practices and the Performance of a Nigerian Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME).

Introduction The contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the economic growth and development has been enormous. This contribution is significant for both the developed and developing world. Many governments acknowledge the fact that SMEs play a significant role in the growth and development of their economies. Consequently, a number of government investment projects are geared towards fostering the growth and development of local SMEs. The institution of policies geared towards the facilitation and empowerment of SMEs as well as improving the performance of SMEs remains a major objective of many economic policy makers and governments. In addition, international economic and financial bodies such as the IMF, World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the International Financial Corporation (IFC) have invested heavily in making SMEs robust and vibrant in developing countries. Furthermore, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in developing countries such as Nigeria have employed advocacy and capacity-building campaigns to promote the growth of SMEs. Despite the importance accorded to SMEs as well as their contribution to economic growth, Onugu (2005) argues that the performance of SMEs in Nigeria has been below expectations. Unlike SMEs in other countries, the contribution of Nigerian SMEs to economic growth has not been very impressive (Onogu, 2005). Following from its independence, the Federal government of Nigeria has invested significant sums of money to promote entrepreneurial and small business development projects (Mambula, 1997, 2002). However, results from these projects have not been very impressive. In order words, most of these projects have often been unable to yield their expected returns. Despite the country’s endowment with raw materials and other natural resources, there has been little progress towards the development of the manufacturing sector, which could have increased the production of value added products thereby substituting imports, increasing exports and increasing employment (Mambula, 1997, 2002). Business failure often comes as a result of a number of factors. This could be as a result of poor customer service, poor management and poor human resource management. While the poor performance of SMEs in Nigeria can be attributed to a number of factors, human resource management could be a major factor in determining this poor performance. Human resources are a principal source of economic growth. Like other resources, human resources require effective and efficient utilisation so as to ensure maximum contribution is achieved from them. Approximately 50 per cent of people work in small and medium sized enterprises. Despite this high proportion of human resources in SMEs, most studies that study human resource management have focused on large corporations with very limited attention to SMEs. Moreover, most studies on the practices of human resource management have been carried out in the developed world with very limited attention paid to developing countries like Nigeria. This study is one of the few studies that focus on the management of human resources in SMEs in a developing country. The country that has been chosen for the study is Nigeria. The paper examines the factors that affect the practices of human resource management in an SME in Nigeria and how these practices can affect the performance of the SME in particular and its contribution to the overall growth of the economy as a whole.Objectives of the Study The objective of the study is to examine the SHRM practices of an SME in Nigeria. The study will also examine how those practices affect the performance of the SME and provide polic y implications of the findings for future strategy development.Research QuestionsThe paper will be providing answers to the following questions: What are the Strategic human resource management practices of the SME How do these practices affect the performance of the SME What are the implications for future development of strategic human resource management practices at the SMEResearch OutlineThe paper is going to follow the following areas: Section one will cover the introduction; section 2 will be dealing with the literature review; section 3 will be discussing the methodology and describing the data; section 4 will provide the results and analysis; and section 5 will present conclusions and recommendations. Literature Review Strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices refer to those activities that are specifically developed, executed and implemented on a deliberate alignment to a firm’s strategy (Huselid et al., 1997). The phrase â€Å"strategic human resource management is an indication that people in the firm are regarded as strategic resources (i.e human capital) that must be managed and leveraged when implementing and executing the strategy of the firm. In early years, efforts made to develop a conceptual framework on strategic human resource management were based on the assumption that in order to promote human behaviour that would fulfil the strategic objectives of the firm, the firm had to implement specific human resource management practices (Fisher, 1989; Schuler and Jackson, 1989; Snell, 1992). A strategic approach to human resource management is an approach that links the human resource management policies with the strategic objectives of the firm. There has been significant debate over the term SHRM as has been the case for human resource management (HRM). Many researchers argue that SHRM lacks conceptual clarity (e.g., Bamberger and Meshoulam, 2000). Three competing frameworks on SHRM have emerged: the contingency, universal and configurational perspectives (Miles and Snow, 1984; Schuler and Jackson, 1987; Delery and Doty, 1996; Pfeffer, 1998; Youndt et al., 1996; Boxall and Purcell, 2000, 2008). According to the universal perspective, all HR practices in all firms have a positive impact on firm performance (Delery and Doty, 1996). The configurational perspective suggests that firm performance depends on unique HR practices while the contingency perspective suggests that a firm’s HR practices are a function of its strategy (Miles and Snow, 1984; Schuler and Jackso n, 1987). A number of studies have tested the different frameworks and found contradictory results. For example, Youndt et al. (1996); and Chang and Huang (2005) argue in favour of the contingency perspective while Tackeuchi et al. (2003) favour the configurational perspective. The frameworks suggested above are mostly relevant for large organisations. Little effort has been devoted towards the development of SHRM in SMEs. For example, Saini and Budhwar (2008) in a study of SHRM practices in SMEs in India argue that bounded rationality tends to constrain the willingness to implement innovative HR practices in SMEs in India because most owners of SMEs tend to believe that they are doing their utmost best. Barber et al (1999) observe that HRM practices that work well in large organisations do not work properly in small firms. As a result, Heneman and Tansky (2002) stresses the need to develop different HRM models for SMEs rather than simply extending existing models that are suitable for large organisations to SMEs. The literature on Human resource management in SMEs suggests that a strategic approach to HRM in SMEs is yet to be developed. Conceptual models that relate human resource management practices in SMEs to the strategic capabilities of these organisa tions need to be developed in order to enable SMEs achieve the full benefits of their human resources. As can be observed, most of the studies of HRM practices in SMEs have been limited to SMEs in Western Europe, U.S.A and India with very limited attention given to Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. In the light of the above limitations, this study aims at contributing to the literature by studying the SHRM practices of SMEs in Nigeria. The study does not intend to test any hypothesis. Rather it intends to focus on providing an in-depth analysis and discussion of the HRM practices of a Nigerian SME. Research Methods and Data Research Methods are the approaches taken to achieve the objectives of a research project (Saunders et al., 2009). There are two main approaches to research including the inductive and deductive approaches. The inductive approach is an approach that aims at developing testable hypotheses while the deductive approach focuses on testing existing hypotheses. The inductive approach can use a single case study to multiple case studies while the deductive approach depends on the use of multiple cases. Moreover, the inductive approach can use either qualitative or quantitative methods whereas the deductive approach relies heavily on the use of large data sets and quantitative research methods. The inductive approach is advantageous over the deductive approach in that it does not generalise its results to all cases. It aims at providing an in-depth analysis of a small number of cases. Therefore, it is the approach that will be used in this study. In other to achieve the objective of this study, this paper will use a case study approach. In order to do this, a Nigerian-based SME will be selected. An in-depth analysis of its SHRM practices will be examined and related to its performance. In order to gain detailed understanding of the approaches, the â€Å"Interpretative phenomenological Analysis (IPA) will be used to gain an in-depth analysis of the HRM practices of the SME. The Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is an experimental qualitative approach to research in psychology and the human, health and social sciences (Smith et al., 2009). The human resource practices that will be investigated include recruitment, selection, training, remuneration, leave of absence, interpersonal communication, sick pay, and promotion. The practices of these variables will be analysed and an evaluation of how they affect the performance of the SME will be conducted. The performance measures that will be used include profitability , liquidity, management efficiency and leverage ratios. The ratios will be analysed in relation to the SHRM practices identified along with the Nigerian economic environment in which the SME is based. Data The research will use both primary and secondary data. Data for the SHRM practices will mainly be primary data. This data will be collected using survey questionnaires issued to the employees of the SME and interviews conducted with key management staff. Performance data will be collected from the financial records of the SME. Data on the performance measures will be gathered from the financial records of the SME. References Boxall, P., & Purcell, J. (2000). Strategic human resource management: Where have we come from and where should we be goingInternational Journal of Management Reviews, 2(2), 183?203. Boxall, P., & Purcell, J. (2008). Strategy and Human Resource Management. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan. Chang,W. J. 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