Technology in Our Life Essay Example for Free

Technology in Our Life EssayWay too dependent on engineering science Most kids these days dont even know how to use a dictionary because Google has it all so they dont see it as a necessary skill. Look near at how many people are engrossed in their phones walking down the street, or while driving. Most accidents are caused by people victimisation their phones while driving, whether it be for GPS, to get on Facebook or anything else. Its insane for some people to fathom how anyone ever lived without texting, GPS, and Google. Technology is a big help and a big problem. So how do we know when too much is too much when it comes to using all the technology we have today?

Since vocabulary development Essay Example for Free

Since lexicon development EssaySince vocabulary development is an active, ongoing process for children during these years, helping them increase the size of their vocabulary should be an integral, ongoing part of any school curriculum. As suggested by the research cited above, curricula for vocabulary development should concentrate on introducing new speech communication into the classroom and using a variety of learn methods to ensure that students can grasp the meaning of the words and remember them. Often, this does not mean that teachers need to drastically win over their curriculum rather they just need to make sure that whatever their lesson is, it includes a focus on vocabulary. Ive incorporated ideas suggested from the research on vocabulary acquisition, and the teaching recommendations of Baumann Kameenui (1991), and come up with a list of strategies that is key for 3 5 year olds.1. All curriculum areas should be structured with an eye towards introducing unfamil iar words within that subject area. Teachers should provide definitions or place settingual clues to help children figure out the meaning of words, and they should use them often. Students should have the opportunity to use them in the context of the work they are doing. For example, if the teacher is doing a unit on animals and teaching the children the names of polar animals, the children might have to pick an animal they like vanquish and draw it. The children could then dictate stories to the teacher that could get written on the picture, or they could make a picture book with pictures of a numerate of different animals and then tell the teacher the names of all the animals.2. The teacher should plan to read stories that contain unfamiliar words and then plan a number of activities that give the children the opportunity to use the words. This would include having a discussion of the unfamiliar words, having an uninflected discussion of the score, providing opportunities fo r the students to use the words again by retelling the story in their own words, having students draw pictures that illustrate the word or the story, or having the students act out the story or do a puppet show.3, The teacher should deform to expose students to a variety of oral language, such as songs, poems, stories, non-fiction, etc.4. A rich conversation/discussion life should be developed in the classroom so that children have the opportunity to hear unfamiliar words and use them in discussions. The children should be given plenty of opportunities to express themselves in normal and to use new words. This can include telling stories, acting stories out, singing, reciting poems, playing games, etc. The children should be involved in analytical discussions and the teacher should have minor group discussions with the children when possible.5. The children should be taught strategies for using contextual or visual clues to try to figure out what a word means.6. Since the home is just as all-important(prenominal) as school for vocabulary development in these early years (Snow, 1993), ways should be found to involve families in the learning process as a good deal as possible. Studies have shown ( Segel, 1994 Toomey and Sloane 1994) that most parents are interested and willing to learn techniques to help their children learn.At the beginning of the school year, there should be a meeting and information sent to parents to explain the effort to increase the vocabulary of the children. Parents should be informed of the important role they can play and how they can go in throughout the year. The meetings should explain the rationale of this teaching strategy and show parents how to read with their children and highlight new vocabulary and engage them in analytical discussions.Depending on how much time the parents have, the children would draw home their work or a book every night ( or as often as agreed upon amongst parents and the teacher) and read with th eir parents or tell their parents a story that they drew or maybe sing a song that they learned, or parents and children could create a story together that the child could bring into school. Parents could be invited to school on a regular basis to see how the teacher works with the children, so that they have a better idea of how to do that at home. Parents could besides be invited to read with their children in the classroom at the beginning or end of school for 15 minutes or so.The role of technology in instrucationMedia is ideally suited to support this kind of instruction. Since, for the most part, children cannot read at this age, they must rely on the adults around them for the rich oral environment that will help build their vocabulary. This is not the same for older children, who can read independently and look up the definitions of words. The extent to which young children are involved in a rich oral environment, then, depends on the time the adults around them can spend w ith them, talking and exercise to them.The introduction of media allows the child to spend significantly larger amounts of time hearing stories (which can be repeated over and over), hearing rare words, and creating their own stories, some(prenominal) in the classroom and at home. The role of the media, in this case, is to act as a supplement, not take the place of the adults. It is to extend and reinforce the teaching and analytic discussions in the classroom. Children cant have analytic discussions with computers, but they can use the computers and other media to hear stories and words again, and draw or dictate their own stories.The media is also a key element in introducing and maintaining active vocabulary acquistion in the home. The media can be a real help for parents. If the child can bring the media home, parents and children can, for example, watch something together and the parent can discuss it with the child. If the parent is busy, the child can still watch and get th e benefits of the additional exposure without having to wait for a parent to be free. Additionally, if a parent does not have strong reading skills and/or is not a native English speaker, they may experience it too hard to read to their children. They might find it a lot easier to listen to an audio tape or watch a video of a story with their child.

Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance

detections Towards Moslem Banking and Insurance establishwork forcetIn the startle chapter of this research guide, an introduction on amends policy entrust be presented. split up, on the distinct hand, in that location leave alone be a highlight on the differences in the midst of effected and Moslem redress. Following this, leave be the job discussion and the objectives of this sphere. Fin every last(predicate)(prenominal)y, in that respect depart be the justification and signifi tince, following by organization of the study.What Exactly Is Insurance MeansBuying restitution has become a trend in this twentieth century. According to The Star daily(2007), in the start-off half of division 2007, the combined premium income for amends patience outgrowth 9.8 per centum compargond to the same period for year 2006. The persistence is further expanded in course with the favorable economics per homunculusance. peck bought the redress for their car, family, a nd business. People spend a lot of m 1y on remunerateing the amends premium annually. go, do they actually clear on what kind of linguistic rule they had bought and what had they see to it for their life, be coherentings and so on? Do they really distinct on the fancy of the amends that they had disbursed so much?According to Bank Negara Malaysia, indemnity is the channelize of fortune by an one-on-one, such as yourself or an organization, such as your business to an amends association. You or your organization bequeath then be known as maligns policy holder or insured while the damages troupe is the insurer. The policy company receives the payment in the form of premium. Then the insurance company apply the premium collect from their policy holder to make some coronation for their company. They will compensate their policy holder in the event of passagees or damages which is sustained by the premium paid.In early(a) word, insurance is a form of risk manage ment primarily function to hedge against the risk of a contingent passing by paying an amount of premium. It is an in effect(p) risk transfer mechanism for insured to exchange their uncertainty financial passage with the certain amount of premium (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). This kind of insurance we titled as stuffy insurance which is the ordinary character reference of insurance that accepted by the companionship in general. opus, other than the stodgy insurance which we normally come alonged to, there argon a nonher type of insurance which we called as Muslim insurance. The Moslem insurance was step into Malaysia insurance securities industry since November of year 1984 (Renat Bekkin, 2008). The basic Islamic insurance company established in Malaysia was Takaful Malaysia Berhad. Early than that, Islamic insurance has stepping into the market of Sudan and Arab.What is Islamic insuranceIslamic insurance is a mode of financial management which complaisance to shariah eq uity law. Islamic insurance is provided down the stairs a principle called Takaful. According to Islamic Banking, the term Takaful is derived from the Arabic word Kafaala meaning secureing. Takaful means guaranteeing each other and refer to the concept of allowable Islamic insurance or Halal insurance. temporary hookup by referring to Takaful Act 1984, Article 2, Takaful means a scheme base on brotherhood, solidarity and mutual assistance which provides for mutual financial aid and assistance to the get downicipants in case of penury whereby the officeicipants inversely agree to contribute for that pur countersink. Literally, Takaful specifys responsibility, shargond guarantee, corporal assurance and mutual undertakings. (Ma gist Billah, 2007)Some Moslems believe insurance is unnecessary, as society should helps its victims. Muslims can no longer ignore the fact that they live, they trade and communicate with rotate global systems, and they can no longer ignore the need for banking and insurance (Dr Aly Khorshid, 2004). In the eyes of Muslims, the concepts apply by pompous insurance atomic play 18 against the law of Shariah. This is because stodgy insurance is based on a make break of exchange (sale) between the insurance company and the covered person. This contract is void because it has the fragments which be not permissible from Shariahs perspective.The elements atomic number 18 Gharar which means uncertainty. Conventional insurance has an element of Gharar due(p) to the secure to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of unsuspected events. The other elements atomic number 18 Maysir which refer to gambling. Existence of Gharar (uncertainties) leads to Maysir (gambling) in stodgy insurance. The insured whitethorn two lose the entire premium he has paid or be compensated for the losings he incurs for the insured event. Riba was besides one of the not permissible elements in the law of Shariah. Riba means interest. The investmen t of insurance funds in interest bearing securities such bonds and stocks, which do not comply with the Shariah principles, pose a major Muslims who barter for the stodgy insurance (Alburn Mountain, 2008).In conventional insurance, vendors, the insurance company, sells their insurance plans to their clients, which we called as policy holder in the other bearing and invest the premium paid for the profit of its sh areholder. Then, the policy holders do whoop it up the risk transference that they are receiving the compensation if they face the financial loss on the events they insured. According to Islamic Banking, Takaful was grant as Islamic insurance because of the bare similarity between the contract of kafaala and insurance.Takaful is an Islamic concept which grounded in Islamic Mualamat which define as banking transaction (SP Media, 2009). This concept already practices in diverse form over 1400 years long (Salam, 2008). Generally, Takaful is an insurance plan which based o n Shariah principles. The members are to contribute a certain amount of money to a common pool which is Takaful fund in the form of participative parting that besides called as Tabarru. Tabarru means a donation, charity or gift which cannot be interpreted back (Dr Qaradawi, 2002). In general Takaful, a percentage of the participants contribution is considered as Tabarru, thence it cannot be taken back by the participants as it is the sound out guarantee principle to help other participants. A portion of a participants contribution will be allocate through Tabarru principle to help participants from a choppy but delimit risks. After contributing the money into Takaful mutual fund, they will get a contract which called as Aqad in Islam, to become one of the participants by agreeing to mutually help each other, should any of the participants suffer a defined loss (Arshad Shaikh, 2007).In Islamic insurance, participants (policyholders) are co-operating among themselves for their c ommon trustys. Every participants are to pay a part of the contribution (premium) as a donation to help those need assistance. separate than that, in Takaful system, losses are divided and liabilities spread check to the community pooling system. In regulate to eliminate the element of uncertainty in Takaful contract, the concept of Tabarru is incorporated. This is to enable the participant to fulfill his obligation of mutual help and joint guarantee should any of his fellow participants suffer a defined loss.In conventional insurance, policy holder can buy more than one policy or plan to hedge the particular risk in the event of loss or damage. By this, the policy holders are lessening the claims of the insurance company because the same amount of compensation has now burden by two companies. This is called reinsurance which an insurance company can transfer to another insurer, the reinsurer all or part of its liabilities in respect of claims arising under the contracts of in surance. This is to protect itself against the risk that its total claims costs in any year whitethorn wiping out of its profits and cause it to insolvent. As same in Islamic insurance, participants can buy more than one plan from other licensed Takaful operator. This is called as Retakaful in Islamic insurance (Bahrain, 2005). wherefore Takaful Insurance instead of Conventional InsuranceIn Islamic view, the concept used in conventional insurance is in conflict with the injunction of Islam (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). The conflicts were not against the concepts used by conventional insurance that trades and contracts were appeared in the concept. While the struggling are the weaknesses and the imperfect enunciate which existed in the insurance contract.The objections are actually against the phrase of Gharar which means uncertainty, Maisir refers to gambling and the word Riba which point to the interest. The criticism was the word of Gharar is happened in the contract of insurance. di fferent than that, the phrase of gambling is presenting in its extreme form. Whats more is the element of interest is existed in the contract. These three phrases were the points appeared in the contract of conventional insurance that veto in Islamic view. Thus, they lead to the contradiction between conventional insurance and Islamic view (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003).While, there are the person who does not agree the preceding(prenominal) matters. According to Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi (2002), he does not think that the concept used in conventional insurance is conflict with Islamic law, but he agrees that the conventional insurance is in need of some improvement to move in pedigree with Islamic teachings.Problem StatementPeople are following the track of buying insurance nowadays. People buy insurance when there is a brisk born baby. They buy insurance during their travelling. Insurance withal bought when people purchase a residential property. People also buy insurance for the sake of retiring. People buy insurance whenever they think there was an unseen risk hidden, but do they really know what is about insurance and what type of insurance is visible(prenominal) in the market?Throughout a number of searching by using the Google search engine and the library in campus, which was represent that there are the surveys doing on Islamic Banking which may mentioned in various perspectives for instances the ripening of Islamic banking in the world. Like what mentioning by Radio Australia, Islamic banking was one of the fastest outdevelopment areas in the pay world which reveals by the value of the industry which worth of USD 1 Trillion in the year 2008. An addition, according to the bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution survey, assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 roseate by 28.6 percent to 822 billion vaulting horse from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in th e earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009).Other than that, what was found is there are quite a number of researches which study on the topic cerebrate to insurance. at that place are talked about the insurance expansion in the industry, growth of the insurance industry, the rate of market penetration. According to KCLAU (2007), the market penetration of life insurance as measured in terms of the total number of policies in force to total population, grew to 39.3 percent as at end of June 2007.While, besides the conventional which is generally accepted by the society, there are another type of risk transfer mechanism which is Islamic insurance was emerged in the other part of the globe. Islamic insurance was first widely spread over the Islamic expanse interchangeable Sudan, Arabic, India, South East Asia, and some other place in the world. The Islamic insurance also practiced in the region which is non Islamic state of matter uniform European farming and United of State.Since the growing of Islamic insurance throughout the world is in such a fast track, while, the uncertainness appeared was, it was sullen to find the study on Islamic insurance rather than the conventional insurance. Another doubt was appeared that what is the reason to separate insurance into Islamic and conventional? What is the divers(prenominal) perspective between Islamic insurance and conventional insurance? While, the closely is, do people aware of the existence of Islamic insurance in the insurance industry which they approached ordinarily? Following by this, is the discussion on conventional and Islamic insurance.Research ObjectivesThe general objective of this study is to clarify the different perspectives between conventional and Islamic insurance. While the other specific objectives as express below which I am to study in this research.The specific objectivesTo examine the different perception of Muslim and Non Muslim towards conventional and Islamic insuranceTo check the determinants of subscribe to for insurance in MalaysiansTo determine the take aim of awareness on Islamic insurance in the region of MalaysiaSignificance of StudyThis study may help the Malaysian Islamic Finance market to move a step up due to the hike up of the take aim of awareness on the conventional and Islamic insurance. Other than that, the study also provides the Muslim and Non Muslim within Malaysia to walk out of the religious teachings and some other factor ins in instal to know more about the issues of insurance. Therefrom, Malaysias Islamic finance market may improve follow by the fast track in other country like what happened to the Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution, that assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009).Other than impacts on the country incom e and economic condition, this study also mogul helpful to the family or person who thinks of purchase insurance. By gone through this study, they are able to transgress analyze the product available in the market whether from the conventional insurance company or the Takaful operator which offer the Shariah conformation products and helpers. Then they are able to subscribe the best product which agree to them in terms of their needs, budget and also the religious teachings.Other than this, the study also may help the insurance company or the operators to determine the consumers case of buying on their product. They may use the useful information to improve their products in stray to enhance or even develop a develop market position for their company.The growing in the insurance market plays an important percentage in the economic growth of the country. The growing may bring the country to a higher(prenominal) position in the world financial sector. Thus, Malaysia will d omiciliate still on the top of the world in the financial sector which playing the role of developing the conventional and Islamic insurance to the various country on the globe.Organization of StudyThis research report comprises of five chapters. The first chapter serves the introduction on insurance. It consists of the detail for conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. Problem contestation and research objective is also discussed. Following the significance of study is presented. Lastly, the chapter one will end by the organization of study which show the flow out of the whole research project.Basically, chapter two will present the literature reassessment which forms the foundation of this study. It consists of the related empirical study which done by other researchers previously. There are few factors which impact on the demand of insurance and prestigious to nodes perception are included in this chapter.In chapter three, the research methodology of the study will be di scussed. The research framework will be shown together with the hypothesis developed link together the variables in the study. Other than that, the sample planning, sources of entropy and entropy collection will also be carried out. Questionnaire design will also be laid out in this chapter following by the data analysis method which is the last part of this chapter.Following by this is chapter intravenous feeding which signalize the results and discussion. Hence, the graph and table will be widely used to better interpret the findings and result of the study.Finally, chapter five will be the conclusion and the tribute of this research. The level of awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will finally be presented and end this study.Chapter TwoLiterature ReviewINTRODUCTIONContinue with the first chapter presented previously, this study is to observe the perception of Malaysia towards conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. For the sake of gaining a clearer vi ew on this, exploring to the related literature is a essential. Following, the overview of insurance and takaful will be presented. In 2.2, the discussion about the determinants impact on demand for insurance will be presented. Then, the study will indicate the perception of consumers towards conventional and Islamic methods of finance in few factors like the advantage quality, entreibility, convenience and location of the organizations. Lastly in 2.4, the awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will be discussed.Overview of Insurance and Islamic InsuranceInsurance is a form of risk-management which transfer the possible risks like accident, theft, natural disaster and illness of ones or a radical to the more financially sound entity, insurers in exchange with a blue amount of payment which we called as premium. The meaning of insurance is essentially to image for everybody who is considering of purchase an insurance policy or to understand the basics of what if fi nance. This instrument is used in hedging risk precautionary against the future contingent losses (Stanley St Labs, n.d).While, according to Insurance Info, insurance is being categorized two main categories which are life insurance and general insurance. The risks that covered by life insurance including premature death, income during retirement and illness. While the main products in life insurance are Whole life, Endowment, Term, Investment-linked, Life annuity plan, medical exam and health.For general insurance, it is basically a policy that protects you from losses and damages which other than those covered by life insurance, for instance, property loss like stolen car and burnt house. Other than that, liability arising from damage caused by oneself to a third party, accidental death or injury also covered by the general insurance. The products offered under general insurance are Motor insurance, Fire/House owner/Householder insurance, Personal accident insurance, Medical an d health insurance and Travel insurance.While for Islamic insurance, takaful, is a protection plan based on Shariah principles compliance. By contributing a sum of money to a common takaful fund in the form of participative contribution (tabarru), the person is undertaking a contract (aqad) to become one of the participants which agree to mutually help each other if any of the participants suffer a defined loss.Both takaul and insurance name similar basic principles where the insured must arouse a legitimate financial interest in the risk you are insuring, which means the insured must suffer a financial loss when the insured event occurred. In takaful, the life insurance is granted as family takaful. The products offered under family takaful are Family Takaful, Investment linked takaful, Child commandment takaful, Medical and health takaful. While for general takaful, there are Home takaful, Motor takaful and Personal accidents takaful.Perception towards Conventional and Islamic InsurancePerception, as defined by Stephen P. Robbins (2005) is a routine by which undivideds organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to fracture meaning to their environment. Perception is important in decision making process. An someone must fully understand the decision must make along with all of the facts and information involved. If an individual has a bad perception of the situation and do not consider all of the facts that are involved like the external factors which anyone else have no control over the individual may lead to a persecute decision. In turn, this will cause negative consequences for the organization and the individual. In order to have a good perception on any given situation, an individual must analyze all of the significant information involved in a timely manner, without making a hasty decision (Wally Sparks, 2007).Service typeAccording to Shahril Bin Shafie (2003), quality is sought by all organizations, in particular in the servic e sector. Service quality is commonly noted as a critical prerequisite for establishing and sustaining satisfying relationships between organization and the customers (Lassar et al., 2000). According to Yap, S.F., and Kew, M.L., there are many researchers who have defined service quality in different ways. Among them, Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) define service quality as the consumers overall impression of the proportional inferiority or superiority of the organization and its service. While, other researchers like Cronin and Taylor (1994), view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long run overall evaluation. Service quality has determining the repeated purchase and customer loyalty to an organization. When a customer choose a provider that provides service quality that meets or exceeds his or her expectations, then the customer is more likely to choose the same provider again.According to Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahm ad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the reanimate and efficiency of serve near their top withdrawion measurement on finance service provider. By referring to a study accept by Erdener Kaynak and Talha D. Harcar (2005) is found that, the service quality provide by conventional banking system is excellent than the others. The study indicated that the customer maintain a higher level of confidence in conventional bank rather than Islamic bank. In this study, the service being tried and true including the swiftness in correcting errors, fast and efficient service, and consumer complains handling and the courtesy personnel.While according to Hendrik, L., Hirun, A., Razli, C.R., Halim, M.L., Khairul, A. A., and Darwina, A.A. (n.d), indicate that customer satisfaction on Islamic banking products and services is different across the cities. The service quality is satisfied within Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang because these cities are large which a lso contains more populations, and are more economically developed. Due to these reasons, the service provided is more satisfactory because of the customers characteristics which different from income level, gender and also educational level.Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider.The emergence of the Internet provides an opportunity for organizations to conduct business in cyberspace. Steven et al (2002), Soliman (2003), Wirtz (2001), Coltman (2001) had studied that Internet adoption and factors influencing the propensity and pattern of adoption among different sectors and sizes of organizations worldwide and in Malaysia, empirical data on online insurance has been limited (Fatimah et al, 2000 Yusserie at el, 2002). One of the reasons may be because the insurance industry has been slow to respond to the usage of Internet for business,, as compared to the other financial service (Esters, 1997). In 1999, recognizing the potential of the Internet, Bank Negara Malaysia allowed a group of insurers to establish the industry first interactive insurance website, which enabled policy owners to transact on the line for renewal of policy and also premium payment(BNM 2000).Internet via individual companys website allows customers to gain more information about the product and services offered by the companies (Ruquet, 2001). While, not all the business organizations are adopting Internet in their business due to various reasons like customer readiness, cost and the risks involved. Zinkewicz (2000) said that business do not use the Internet for business because customers do not trust the process involved, instead, they prefer humanity interactions (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003).AccessibilityAccessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product or service i s accessible by as many people as possible. It also viewed as the ability to access the functionality and possible benefits of some system or entity like information of the particular products and services (Wikipedia, 2009).In Malaysia, there are total up 1,752 numbers of registered insurance agencies distributed throughout the thirteen states and two federal territories. Among of all, there are agencies which offer both life insurance and also general insurance business like American International Assurance Bhd, Etiqa Insurance Berhad, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad and so on (BNM, 2008).Other than that, there are only eight licensed Takaful operator in Malaysia which are CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Etiqa Takaful Berhad, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Berhad, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad,Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad and also Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (BNM, 2008).ConvenienceConvenience is represent of number factors includi ng the availability of park space, location of branches, long operation hours. (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda indigene Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Customers will always prefer the products and services are available near to their on the job(p) place or house area for the convenience of visiting. The sufficient parking space and long operation hours is for the convenience when visiting to the branch.Internet adoption is a type of convenience which offered by the insurance companies to their consumers, where consumers can get the products and services information through the website (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Other than that, interior comfort and external design also included affect the consumers perception on the convenience of selecting financial products. postStatus of an organization show measured through the strength of financial position, temper and also the risk. As Islamic finance continue to expand. Islamic principles beefed-up emphasis on the economic, ethical, moral and social dimensions, to enhance equality and fairness for the good of society as a whole should also have petition for the ethnically minded (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also revealed that banks name and reputation is a strong effect on selecting a bank.In order to penetrate the youth market, Takaful Malaysia announced on 11th November, that RM 15 million has been pump into the companys rebranding exercise. After twenty-five years of leading in Islamic insurance company in the country, Takaful Malaysia is setting on conquering the insurance industry by transforming itself into a more youthful outfit. Reflective of its tagline of modern, young and energetic, the company will unveils its new fresh-looking logo, a color fusion of apple green and olive green, depict by Takaful Malaysia group director Datuk Hassan Kamil as vibrant and energetic. Takaful Malaysia believes that i ts latest approach will enhance its image and make it more appealing to the younger age-group which Hassan deems as a highly potential market segment (Joseph Kaos JR, 2009).OthersOther than the preceding(prenominal) criteria, according to a study conducted in Jordan indicated that profit motivated criteria was an important factor to choose a bank service. However, other findings are that peer group influence plays an important role in selecting Islamic banks as depository institution. Other than that, politeness and friendliness of the personnel will also impact on the customers perception towards the financial institutions (Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki, 2009).Determinants of demand for insuranceInsurance has become an important part of a financial sector over the past forty years. It provides a range of investments product for consumers. It also becomes the major source of investment in the big(p) market. Yet, the reasons for consumption of insurance are various acr oss the countries. Demographic factors were amongst (Thorsten Beck, 2003 Ian Webb, 2003, Yvette Reisinger, 2009). While according to the study conducted by Truett et al. (1990), the consumption of insurance is depend on the monetary value of insurance, income level of individual, and also the demographic factors such as age of individual insured and also the educational level.GenderThe majority women of American have health insurance through either employer or through a customary course. There are 66.67 percents of all women aged from 18 to 64 owned insurance through their employer, while another 16 percents through public program in year 2007. In contrast, there is 7 percents of nonelderly women in year 2007 purchase health coverage directly from insurance companies which we known as the individual market. Yet, the National Womens Law Centre (NWLC) investigated two phenomena, the gender gap which refers to the difference in premium charged to female and male applicants of the sam e age and health status. Another phenomenon is the availability and affordability of coverage for maternity care across the country.Based on the research, NWLC (2008) found that the individual market is a place which is very hard for women to purchase the health coverage. This is because insurance companies can refuse to sell women coverage due to the historic data that women have a higher percentage compared to men in suffering from a chronic condition which requiring ongoing treatment for instances bronchial asthma or arthritis. In addition, if the insurers discovered that an applicant underwent a Caesarean discussion section (C-Section) during the medical underwriting process, the company may charge a higher premium, or get an exclusionary period which it refuses to cover another C-Section or pregnancy. New reports also revealed that women are more likely than men in taking prescription medicament on a regular basis. In these conditions, the insurance company may reject the a pplications.On the other hand, it is difficult and costly for women to find health insurance that cover maternity care. A limited number of insurers offered this in distributively for an additional fees which known as rider. Yet, this supplemental coverage is often far higher than ordinary plan. So typically, women have no other choice to select more or less comprehensive rider policy (NWLC, 2008).Educational takeAccording to Tienyu Hwang (2003) and Simon Gao (2003), the level of education plays a very important role in affecting the demand of insurance. It has been shown that the increasing of the educated population in a country, the recognition of the availability of insurance products will also be increased. Thus, the demand for insurance will also be growing in the country. Despite the education level in China is relatively low (Truett and monitor, 1996 World Bank, 1998), the increase in the education level will lead to a large number of people being realizing and able to rec ognize the essentiality of insurance. Therefore, it is likely to arrive at a demand to purchase insurance.On the other hand, although the level of education in China remains low, china has made a great give in improving the education system since the economic reform. This has increase the education level which leads to a greater awareness and understanding on the role of insurance. Hence, the level of education and demand for insurance is positively correlated. However, Szpiro and Outreville (198) proved that higher education leads to lower risk aversion, and that, in turn, leads to more risk taking by expert and well educated people. While accorPerceptions Towards Islamic Banking and InsurancePerceptions Towards Islamic Banking and InsuranceIntroductionIn the first chapter of this research study, an introduction on insurance will be presented. While, on the other hand, there will be a highlight on the differences between conventional and Islamic insurance. Following this, will b e the problem discussion and the objectives of this study. Finally, there will be the justification and significance, following by organization of the study.What Exactly Is Insurance MeansBuying insurance has become a trend in this twentieth century. According to The Star daily(2007), in the first half of year 2007, the combined premium income for insurance industry increase 9.8 percent compared to the same period for year 2006. The industry is further expanded in line with the favorable economics performance. People bought the insurance for their car, family, and business. People spend a lot of money on paying the insurance premium annually. While, do they actually clear on what kind of plan they had bought and what had they insured for their life, property and so on? Do they really distinct on the concept of the insurance that they had disbursed so much?According to Bank Negara Malaysia, insurance is the transfer of risk by an individual, such as yourself or an organization, such as your business to an insurance company. You or your organization will then be known as policy holder or insured while the insurance company is the insurer. The insurance company receives the payment in the form of premium. Then the insurance company utilized the premium collect from their policy holder to make some investment for their company. They will compensate their policy holder in the event of losses or damages which is sustained by the premium paid.In other word, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss by paying an amount of premium. It is an effective risk transfer mechanism for insured to exchange their uncertainty financial loss with the certain amount of premium (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). This kind of insurance we titled as conventional insurance which is the ordinary type of insurance that accepted by the society in general.While, other than the conventional insurance which we normally approached to, there are another type of insurance which we called as Islamic insurance. The Islamic insurance was step into Malaysia insurance market since November of year 1984 (Renat Bekkin, 2008). The first Islamic insurance company established in Malaysia was Takaful Malaysia Berhad. Early than that, Islamic insurance has stepping into the market of Sudan and Arab.What is Islamic insuranceIslamic insurance is a mode of financial management which compliance to Shariah law. Islamic insurance is provided under a principle called Takaful. According to Islamic Banking, the term Takaful is derived from the Arabic word Kafaala meaning guaranteeing. Takaful means guaranteeing each other and refer to the concept of permissible Islamic insurance or Halal insurance. While by referring to Takaful Act 1984, Article 2, Takaful means a scheme based on brotherhood, solidarity and mutual assistance which provides for mutual financial aid and assistance to the participants in case of need whereby the participants mutual ly agree to contribute for that purpose. Literally, Takaful defines responsibility, shared guarantee, collective assurance and mutual undertakings. (Masum Billah, 2007)Some Muslims believe insurance is unnecessary, as society should helps its victims. Muslims can no longer ignore the fact that they live, they trade and communicate with open global systems, and they can no longer ignore the need for banking and insurance (Dr Aly Khorshid, 2004). In the eyes of Muslims, the concepts used by conventional insurance are against the law of Shariah. This is because conventional insurance is based on a contract of exchange (sale) between the insurance company and the covered person. This contract is void because it has the elements which are not permissible from Shariahs perspective.The elements are Gharar which means uncertainty. Conventional insurance has an element of Gharar due to the promise to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of unsuspected events. The other elements are Maysir which refer to gambling. Existence of Gharar (uncertainties) leads to Maysir (gambling) in conventional insurance. The insured may either lose the entire premium he has paid or be compensated for the losses he incurs for the insured event. Riba was also one of the not permissible elements in the law of Shariah. Riba means interest. The investment of insurance funds in interest bearing securities such bonds and stocks, which do not comply with the Shariah principles, pose a major Muslims who purchase the conventional insurance (Alburn Mountain, 2008).In conventional insurance, vendors, the insurance company, sells their insurance plans to their clients, which we called as policy holder in the other way and invest the premium paid for the profit of its shareholder. Then, the policy holders do enjoy the risk transference that they are receiving the compensation if they face the financial loss on the events they insured. According to Islamic Banking, Takaful was grant as Islamic insuran ce because of the apparent similarity between the contract of kafaala and insurance.Takaful is an Islamic concept which grounded in Islamic Mualamat which define as banking transaction (SP Media, 2009). This concept already practices in diverse form over 1400 years long (Salam, 2008). Generally, Takaful is an insurance plan which based on Shariah principles. The members are to contribute a certain amount of money to a common pool which is Takaful fund in the form of participative contribution that also called as Tabarru. Tabarru means a donation, charity or gift which cannot be taken back (Dr Qaradawi, 2002). In general Takaful, a percentage of the participants contribution is considered as Tabarru, thus it cannot be taken back by the participants as it is the joint guarantee principle to help other participants. A portion of a participants contribution will be allocate through Tabarru principle to help participants from a sudden but defined risks. After contributing the money into Takaful mutual fund, they will undertake a contract which called as Aqad in Islam, to become one of the participants by agreeing to mutually help each other, should any of the participants suffer a defined loss (Arshad Shaikh, 2007).In Islamic insurance, participants (policyholders) are co-operating among themselves for their common goods. Every participants are to pay a part of the contribution (premium) as a donation to help those need assistance. Other than that, in Takaful system, losses are divided and liabilities spread according to the community pooling system. In order to eliminate the element of uncertainty in Takaful contract, the concept of Tabarru is incorporated. This is to enable the participant to fulfill his obligation of mutual help and joint guarantee should any of his fellow participants suffer a defined loss.In conventional insurance, policy holder can buy more than one policy or plan to hedge the particular risk in the event of loss or damage. By this, the polic y holders are lessening the claims of the insurance company because the same amount of compensation has now burden by two companies. This is called reinsurance which an insurance company can transfer to another insurer, the reinsurer all or part of its liabilities in respect of claims arising under the contracts of insurance. This is to protect itself against the risk that its total claims costs in any year may wiping out of its profits and cause it to insolvent. As same in Islamic insurance, participants can buy more than one plan from other licensed Takaful operator. This is called as Retakaful in Islamic insurance (Bahrain, 2005).Why Takaful Insurance instead of Conventional InsuranceIn Islamic view, the concept used in conventional insurance is in conflict with the injunction of Islam (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). The conflicts were not against the concepts used by conventional insurance that trades and contracts were appeared in the concept. While the struggling are the weaknesses an d the imperfect phrase which existed in the insurance contract.The objections are actually against the phrase of Gharar which means uncertainty, Maisir refers to gambling and the word Riba which point to the interest. The criticism was the word of Gharar is happened in the contract of insurance. Other than that, the phrase of gambling is presenting in its extreme form. Whats more is the element of interest is existed in the contract. These three phrases were the points appeared in the contract of conventional insurance that prohibited in Islamic view. Thus, they lead to the contradiction between conventional insurance and Islamic view (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003).While, there are the person who does not agree the above matters. According to Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi (2002), he does not think that the concept used in conventional insurance is conflict with Islamic law, but he agrees that the conventional insurance is in need of some improvement to move in line with Islamic teachings.Problem Sta tementPeople are following the track of buying insurance nowadays. People buy insurance when there is a new born baby. They buy insurance during their travelling. Insurance also bought when people purchase a residential property. People also buy insurance for the sake of retiring. People buy insurance whenever they think there was an unseen risk hidden, but do they really know what is about insurance and what type of insurance is available in the market?Throughout a number of searching by using the Google search engine and the library in campus, which was found that there are the surveys doing on Islamic Banking which may mentioned in various perspectives for instances the growth of Islamic banking in the world. Like what mentioning by Radio Australia, Islamic banking was one of the fastest growing sectors in the finance world which reveals by the value of the industry which worth of USD 1 Trillion in the year 2008. An addition, according to the bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Ins titution survey, assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009).Other than that, what was found is there are quite a number of researches which study on the topic related to insurance. There are talked about the insurance expansion in the industry, growth of the insurance industry, the rate of market penetration. According to KCLAU (2007), the market penetration of life insurance as measured in terms of the total number of policies in force to total population, grew to 39.3 percent as at end of June 2007.While, besides the conventional which is generally accepted by the society, there are another type of risk transfer mechanism which is Islamic insurance was emerged in the other part of the globe. Islamic insurance was first widely spread over the Islamic country like Sudan, Ara bic, India, South East Asia, and some other place in the world. The Islamic insurance also practiced in the region which is non Islamic country like European country and United of State.Since the growing of Islamic insurance throughout the world is in such a fast track, while, the doubt appeared was, it was hard to find the study on Islamic insurance rather than the conventional insurance. Another doubt was appeared that what is the reason to separate insurance into Islamic and conventional? What is the different perspective between Islamic insurance and conventional insurance? While, the most is, do people aware of the existence of Islamic insurance in the insurance industry which they approached ordinarily? Following by this, is the discussion on conventional and Islamic insurance.Research ObjectivesThe general objective of this study is to clarify the different perspectives between conventional and Islamic insurance. While the other specific objectives as stated below which I am to study in this research.The specific objectivesTo investigate the different perception of Muslim and Non Muslim towards conventional and Islamic insuranceTo investigate the determinants of demand for insurance in MalaysiansTo determine the level of awareness on Islamic insurance in the region of MalaysiaSignificance of StudyThis study may help the Malaysian Islamic Finance market to move a step up due to the hike up of the level of awareness on the conventional and Islamic insurance. Other than that, the study also provides the Muslim and Non Muslim within Malaysia to walk out of the religious teachings and some other factors in order to know more about the issues of insurance. Therefrom, Malaysias Islamic finance market may improve follow by the fast track in other country like what happened to the Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution, that assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double -digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009).Other than impacts on the country income and economic condition, this study also might helpful to the family or person who thinks of purchase insurance. By gone through this study, they are able to better analyze the product available in the market whether from the conventional insurance company or the Takaful operator which offer the Shariah compliance products and services. Then they are able to choose the best product which suit to them in terms of their needs, budget and also the religious teachings.Other than this, the study also may help the insurance company or the operators to determine the consumers intention of buying on their product. They may use the useful information to improve their products in order to enhance or even develop a better market position for their company.The growing in the insurance market plays an important role in the economic growth of t he country. The growing may bring the country to a higher position in the world financial sector. Thus, Malaysia will stand still on the top of the world in the financial sector which playing the role of developing the conventional and Islamic insurance to the various country on the globe.Organization of StudyThis research report comprises of five chapters. The first chapter serves the introduction on insurance. It consists of the detail for conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. Problem statement and research objective is also discussed. Following the significance of study is presented. Lastly, the chapter one will end by the organization of study which show the flow out of the whole research project.Basically, chapter two will present the literature review which forms the foundation of this study. It consists of the related empirical study which done by other researchers previously. There are few factors which impact on the demand of insurance and influential to customers p erception are included in this chapter.In chapter three, the research methodology of the study will be discussed. The research framework will be shown together with the hypothesis developed link together the variables in the study. Other than that, the sample planning, sources of data and data collection will also be carried out. Questionnaire design will also be laid out in this chapter following by the data analysis method which is the last part of this chapter.Following by this is chapter four which describe the results and discussion. Hence, the graph and table will be widely used to better interpret the findings and result of the study.Finally, chapter five will be the conclusion and the recommendation of this research. The level of awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will finally be presented and end this study.Chapter TwoLiterature ReviewINTRODUCTIONContinue with the first chapter presented previously, this study is to observe the perception of Malaysia toward s conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. For the sake of gaining a clearer view on this, exploring to the related literature is a must. Following, the overview of insurance and takaful will be presented. In 2.2, the discussion about the determinants impact on demand for insurance will be presented. Then, the study will indicate the perception of consumers towards conventional and Islamic methods of finance in few factors like the service quality, accessibility, convenience and status of the organizations. Lastly in 2.4, the awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will be discussed.Overview of Insurance and Islamic InsuranceInsurance is a form of risk-management which transfer the possible risks like accident, theft, natural disaster and illness of ones or a group to the more financially sound entity, insurers in exchange with a small amount of payment which we called as premium. The meaning of insurance is essentially to understand for everybody who is considering of purchase an insurance policy or to understand the basics of what if finance. This instrument is used in hedging risk precautionary against the future contingent losses (Stanley St Labs, n.d).While, according to Insurance Info, insurance is being categorized two main categories which are life insurance and general insurance. The risks that covered by life insurance including premature death, income during retirement and illness. While the main products in life insurance are Whole life, Endowment, Term, Investment-linked, Life annuity plan, Medical and health.For general insurance, it is basically a policy that protects you from losses and damages which other than those covered by life insurance, for instance, property loss like stolen car and burnt house. Other than that, liability arising from damage caused by oneself to a third party, accidental death or injury also covered by the general insurance. The products offered under general insurance are Motor insurance, Fire/House ow ner/Householder insurance, Personal accident insurance, Medical and health insurance and Travel insurance.While for Islamic insurance, takaful, is a protection plan based on Shariah principles compliance. By contributing a sum of money to a common takaful fund in the form of participative contribution (tabarru), the person is undertaking a contract (aqad) to become one of the participants which agree to mutually help each other if any of the participants suffer a defined loss.Both takaul and insurance have similar basic principles where the insured must have a legitimate financial interest in the risk you are insuring, which means the insured must suffer a financial loss when the insured event occurred. In takaful, the life insurance is granted as family takaful. The products offered under family takaful are Family Takaful, Investment linked takaful, Child education takaful, Medical and health takaful. While for general takaful, there are Home takaful, Motor takaful and Personal acc idents takaful.Perception towards Conventional and IslamicInsurancePerception, as defined by Stephen P. Robbins (2005) is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception is important in decision making process. An individual must fully understand the decision must make along with all of the facts and information involved. If an individual has a bad perception of the situation and do not consider all of the facts that are involved like the external factors which anyone else have no control over the individual may lead to a wrong decision. In turn, this will cause negative consequences for the organization and the individual. In order to have a good perception on any given situation, an individual must analyze all of the significant information involved in a timely manner, without making a hasty decision (Wally Sparks, 2007).Service QualityAccording to Shahril Bin Shafie (2003), quality is sought by all organizations, especially in the service sector. Service quality is commonly noted as a critical prerequisite for establishing and sustaining satisfying relationships between organization and the customers (Lassar et al., 2000). According to Yap, S.F., and Kew, M.L., there are many researchers who have defined service quality in different ways. Among them, Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) define service quality as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organization and its services. While, other researchers like Cronin and Taylor (1994), view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long run overall evaluation. Service quality has determining the repeated purchase and customer loyalty to an organization. When a customer choose a provider that provides service quality that meets or exceeds his or her expectations, then the customer is more likely to choose the same provider again.According to Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. By referring to a study conduct by Erdener Kaynak and Talha D. Harcar (2005) is found that, the service quality provide by conventional banking system is excellent than the others. The study indicated that the customer maintain a higher level of confidence in conventional bank rather than Islamic bank. In this study, the service being tested including the swiftness in correcting errors, fast and efficient service, and consumer complains handling and the courtesy personnel.While according to Hendrik, L., Hirun, A., Razli, C.R., Halim, M.L., Khairul, A. A., and Darwina, A.A. (n.d), indicate that customer satisfaction on Islamic banking products and services is different across the cities. The service quality is satisfied within Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang because these cities are bigger which also contains more populations, and are more economically developed. Due to these reasons, the service provided is more satisfactory because of the customers characteristics which different from income level, gender and also educational level.Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider.The emergence of the Internet provides an opportunity for organizations to conduct business in cyberspace. Steven et al (2002), Soliman (2003), Wirtz (2001), Coltman (2001) had studied that Internet adoption and factors influencing the propensity and pattern of adoption among different sectors and sizes of organizations worldwide and in Malaysia, empirical data on online insurance has been limited (Fatimah et al, 2000 Yusserie at el, 2002). One of the reasons may be because the insuran ce industry has been slow to respond to the usage of Internet for business,, as compared to the other financial service (Esters, 1997). In 1999, recognizing the potential of the Internet, Bank Negara Malaysia allowed a group of insurers to establish the industry first interactive insurance website, which enabled policy owners to transact on the line for renewal of policy and also premium payment(BNM 2000).Internet via individual companys website allows customers to gain more information about the product and services offered by the companies (Ruquet, 2001). While, not all the business organizations are adopting Internet in their business due to various reasons like customer readiness, cost and the risks involved. Zinkewicz (2000) said that business do not use the Internet for business because customers do not trust the process involved, instead, they prefer human interactions (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003).AccessibilityAccessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product or service is accessible by as many people as possible. It also viewed as the ability to access the functionality and possible benefits of some system or entity like information of the particular products and services (Wikipedia, 2009).In Malaysia, there are total up 1,752 numbers of registered insurance agencies distributed throughout the thirteen states and two federal territories. Among of all, there are agencies which offer both life insurance and also general insurance business like American International Assurance Bhd, Etiqa Insurance Berhad, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad and so on (BNM, 2008).Other than that, there are only eight licensed Takaful operator in Malaysia which are CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Etiqa Takaful Berhad, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Berhad, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad,Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad and also Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (BNM, 2008).ConvenienceConvenience is composed of num ber factors including the availability of parking space, location of branches, long operation hours. (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Customers will always prefer the products and services are available near to their working place or house area for the convenience of visiting. The sufficient parking space and long operation hours is for the convenience when visiting to the branch.Internet adoption is a type of convenience which offered by the insurance companies to their consumers, where consumers can get the products and services information through the website (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Other than that, interior comfort and external design also included affect the consumers perception on the convenience of selecting financial products.StatusStatus of an organization show measured through the strength of financial position, reputation and also the risk. As Islamic finance continue to expand. Islamic principles strong emphasis on the economic, ethical, moral and social dimensions, to enhance equality and fairness for the good of society as a whole should also have appeal for the ethnically minded (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also revealed that banks name and reputation is a strong effect on selecting a bank.In order to penetrate the youth market, Takaful Malaysia announced on 11th November, that RM 15 million has been pumped into the companys rebranding exercise. After twenty-five years of leading in Islamic insurance company in the country, Takaful Malaysia is setting on conquering the insurance industry by transforming itself into a more youthful outfit. Reflective of its tagline of modern, young and energetic, the company will unveils its new fresh-looking logo, a color fusion of apple green and olive green, described by Takaful Malaysia group director Datuk Hassan Kamil as vibrant and energetic. Takaful Malaysia believ es that its latest approach will enhance its image and make it more appealing to the younger age-group which Hassan deems as a highly potential market segment (Joseph Kaos JR, 2009).OthersOther than the above criteria, according to a study conducted in Jordan indicated that profit motivated criteria was an important factor to choose a bank service. However, other findings are that peer group influence plays an important role in selecting Islamic banks as depository institution. Other than that, politeness and friendliness of the personnel will also impact on the customers perception towards the financial institutions (Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki, 2009).Determinants of demand for insuranceInsurance has become an important part of a financial sector over the past forty years. It provides a range of investments product for consumers. It also becomes the major source of investment in the capital market. Yet, the reasons for consumption of insurance are various across the countries. Demographic factors were amongst (Thorsten Beck, 2003 Ian Webb, 2003, Yvette Reisinger, 2009). While according to the study conducted by Truett et al. (1990), the consumption of insurance is depend on the price of insurance, income level of individual, and also the demographic factors such as age of individual insured and also the educational level.GenderThe majority women of American have health insurance through either employer or through a public program. There are 66.67 percents of all women aged from 18 to 64 owned insurance through their employer, while another 16 percents through public program in year 2007. In contrast, there is 7 percents of nonelderly women in year 2007 purchase health coverage directly from insurance companies which we known as the individual market. Yet, the National Womens Law Centre (NWLC) investigated two phenomena, the gender gap which refers to the difference in premium charged to female and male applicants of the same age and health stat us. Another phenomenon is the availability and affordability of coverage for maternity care across the country.Based on the research, NWLC (2008) found that the individual market is a place which is very hard for women to purchase the health coverage. This is because insurance companies can refuse to sell women coverage due to the historic data that women have a higher percentage compared to men in suffering from a chronic condition which requiring ongoing treatment for instances asthma or arthritis. In addition, if the insurers discovered that an applicant underwent a Caesarean Section (C-Section) during the medical underwriting process, the company may charge a higher premium, or impose an exclusionary period which it refuses to cover another C-Section or pregnancy. New reports also revealed that women are more likely than men in taking prescription medication on a regular basis. In these conditions, the insurance company may reject the applications.On the other hand, it is diffic ult and costly for women to find health insurance that cover maternity care. A limited number of insurers offered this in separately for an additional fees which known as rider. Yet, this supplemental coverage is often far higher than ordinary plan. So typically, women have no other choice to select more or less comprehensive rider policy (NWLC, 2008).Educational LevelAccording to Tienyu Hwang (2003) and Simon Gao (2003), the level of education plays a very important role in affecting the demand of insurance. It has been shown that the increasing of the educated population in a country, the recognition of the availability of insurance products will also be increased. Thus, the demand for insurance will also be growing in the country. Despite the education level in China is relatively low (Truett and monitor, 1996 World Bank, 1998), the increase in the education level will lead to a large number of people being realizing and able to recognize the essentiality of insurance. Therefore, it is likely to create a demand to purchase insurance.On the other hand, although the level of education in China remains low, china has made a great progress in improving the education system since the economic reform. This has increase the education level which leads to a greater awareness and understanding on the role of insurance. Hence, the level of education and demand for insurance is positively correlated. However, Szpiro and Outreville (198) proved that higher education leads to lower risk aversion, and that, in turn, leads to more risk taking by skilled and well educated people. While accor

Simplified Soft Decision Decoding of LDPC codes

Simplified Soft Decision Decoding of LDPC codesMARUTHI L NK S GURUMURTHYAbstractLDPC codes gained importance since its re-discovery by Mackay and Neil based on sixpence Graph. This paper presents the implementation of out front error subject soft-input, soft-output decoding process that expeditiously decrypts the sure set of selective in engineeration under low-pitched signal-to-noise ratios collectable to which the errors are reduced and hence transmission time is greatly reduced. The implemented algorithmic programic program is less complex and does not require knowledge of signal-to-noise-ratio of the received data-path. entreError correction coding techniques came into existence after existence of channel capacity theorem by Shannon, the father of information theory in 1948 on authoritative communication over noisy transmission channels. Thereafter, many coding techniques were authentic for efficient coding techniques, like Hamming, Golay and many other techniques were v eritable. Though Gallagher in 1962 developed LDPC codes, the method employed was not optimal. Hence it was not reviewed for last 3 decades, until 1992, when a paper Near Shannon limit error correcting coding and decoding turbo codes presented by Berrou, Glavieux and Thitimajshima changed the trend followed by researchers for the past 5 decades. And now, we are aiming to develop such codes through another strategy. The coding gain provided by this method is much high(prenominal) when compared to other coding systems. The LDPC codes are becoming more popular because of their reduced power for transmission and less complex logic to achieve low BERs which is very essential for reliable transmission over noisy channels.LDPC CODESLow Density space-reflection symmetry Check (LDPC) codes are a powerful class of forward error correction codes developed by Gallagher in 1962, practically implemented by MacKay in 1995. Low Density refers to less number of 1s in the Parity Check Matrix (H) of Block Codes.Block codes are a type of Error Correction Codes which uses a Generator Matrix(G) to produces a Code-word of continuance n for message(D) of length k, where n-k is the redundancy bits added to make a Code-word of length n, higher the redundancy higher the error correction capability and higher the Bandwidth. Hence, there is a trade-off between error correction capability and bandwidth.C=D.GThe size of the Matrix G is (n, n-k) and the size of the Matrix H is (n-k, n).Usually redundancy is defined by the term code rate which is given byR=k/nThis varies from to 1/6.The Encoder produces a Code-word which satisfy the conditionC.HT=0If R is the received data from the Transmitter then the acknowledgement of the correct data received is given by the Syndrome(S).S=R.HTThe value of S obtained by the supra calculation determines whether the received data is free from error or not, i.e. if S=0 then the received data is free from error, otherwise the received data has an error.Sin ce this property is very useful to reduce the calculation time if we receive the data correctly as soon as we receive data. The probability that the received data needs to be retransmitted which in the range of 10-6 to 10-8.Encoding the data as required is an easy process, but decoding the data effectively and efficiently is a very hard process.The proposed algorithm uses the basic concept of block codes, i.e.R=C+EWhere R=noise corrupted vectorC=Code vector transmitted over noisy channelE=Error vector.The receiver does not know C and E its function is to decode C from R, and the message D from C.PROPOSED ALGORITHMThe base for LDPC decoding algorithm proposed is as described by MacKay and Neil in 1997.Following are the steps that curtly describe the algorithmSTEP 1 INITIALIZATIONLet rj be the received vector, i.e. the data received from the Gaussian channelWe calculate the components of the vectors d02( j), and d12( j) asd02( j)= (rj+1)2d12( j)= (rj-1)2 j = 1, 2, . . . , n (1)These first soft estimates of the code symbols are used to initialise the algorithm by setting the following coefficients q0ij and q1ij at each symbol lymph glandq0ij= d02( j)q1ij= d12( j) j = 1, 2, . . . , n,i = 1, 2. . . , . n-k, (2)To eliminate the effect of zero in the calculation the expressions for the calculations can be reduced as shown belowln(em+en) = max(m,n) + ln(1+ e-m-n)log2(2m+2n) = max(m,n) + ln(1+ 2-m-n)(3)The tables required for calculations are computed employ the above formula. The complexity is greatly reduced and the reliability of the transmission of signal is increased.STEP 2 HORIZONTAL STEPaij= f+(q0ij , q1 ij )bij= f(q0ij , q1ij)if (q 0ij ) (q1ij )sij= 0 elsesij= 1cij= ikikif ik is evenr0n,ij= f+(0, cij )r1n,ij= f(0, cij )if ik is oddr0n,ij= f(0, cij )r1n,ij= f+(0, cij )STEP 3 VERTICAL STEPq0ij= d02 (j) + 0n,ijq1ij= d12 (j) + 1n,ijSTEP 4 DECISIONrm0ij=r0n,ij+ q0ijrm1ij=r1n,ij+ q1ijif rm02(j)12(j) thenc(j) = 1elsec(j) = 0The LUT entries used in the proposed algo rithm for equation (3) and the exact value obtained will vary as shown in the figure. equation of BER performance of (8 * 12) LDPC SSD decoder (10 iterations)Comparison of BER performance of (8 * 12) LDPC SSD decoder (50 iterations)As explained above, for higher precision the number of iterations is increased to obtain the same performance of the exact equation.The obtained results approach towards the complex algorithm developed by Gallagher with simple iterative approach and provides a high coding gain compared to uncoded signal. And it provides higher performance at larger iterations. This algorithm provides even higher performance for large length codes.CONCLUSIONIn this paper we have described Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes and decoding of these codes using low complexity algorithms. LDPC codes are used now-a-days in communication systems that take advantage of parallelism, good error correction and high through put. This led to the new algorithm which could decode the e rrors and yet give similar BER performance as the complex algorithms without the knowledge of the channel noise parameters like variance. This new algorithm is based on repeated use of an antilog-sum operation, and has been simulated on the Tanner graph representation of several LDPC codes and this algorithm can be regarded as a generalized form of belief propagation, where the belief propagated is euclidian distance estimate rather than a probability estimate. The advantages of the new algorithm are that the performance is as good as the complex algorithm provided the value of base of the logarithm is used properly that knowledge of noise is not required and that in the simplified form the algorithm needs only additions/subtractions, comparisons and two look-up tables avoiding the use of quotients and products operations that are of high complexity in practical implementations especially using FPGA technology.REFERENCES1 R.G. Gallager, Low Density Parity Check Codes, IRE Trans. Inf ormation Theory, IT-8, 21-28 (1962).2 D.J.C. Mackay and R.M. Neal, Near Shannon limit performance of low density parity check codes, Electronics Letters, vol. 33, pp 457-458 (1997).3 L. Arnone, C. Gayaso, C. Gonzalez and J. Castineira, Sum-Subtract Fixed Point LDPC Decoder, Latin American apply Research, vol. 37, pp 17-20 (2007).4 Castineira Moreira, Farrell P.G. Essentials of error control coding, Wiley (2006).5 Castineira Moreira J., Farrell, P.G. Soft-decision SISO decoding of error-control codes, Proc. 13th Int. Conf. on telecommunications (SENACITEL 08), Valdivia, Chile, 12-15 November 2008.6 L. Arnone, Castineira Moreira, Farrell P.G. FPGA implementation of a Euclidean distance metric SISO decoder, Int. Symposium on communication theory and applications (ISCTA09), Ambleside, UK, July 2009.7 P.G. Farrell, L.Arnone, J. Castineira Moreira Euclidean distance soft-input soft-output decoding algorithm for low density parity check codes, IET comm. Vol.5, Iss. 16, pp. 2364-2370, (201 1).8 J. Castineira Moreira, M. Rabini, C. Gonzalez, C. Gayaso, L. Arnone FPGA implementation of two very low complexity LDPC decoders, IEEE papers, (2011).9 Simon Haykin Digital communications, bath Wiley sons (2006).10 Bernard Sklar, Pabitra K. Ray Digital communications fundamentals and applications, 2nd edn. Pearson education (2009).11 Shu Lin, Daniel J. Costello Jr. Error Control coding, 2nd edn. Pearson education (2004).12 Moon T. K. Error correction coding- mathematical methods and algorithms, Wiley (2005).

The UK Property Market

The UK Property MarketResidential PropertyThe United kingdom enjoyed serious home inflate for over a decade. The station boom slowed down when the economic meltdown commenced in 2008. During the boom eld the value of property in the United Kingdom so ared, and in some cases the value of properties travel by over 200 percent (Cameron, 20055). angiotensin-converting enzyme of the main factors for the boom was that the economy had a coarse period of sustained harvest, furthermore the interest rank were regulated by the government and kept low. Added to these factors was an upsurge in property fit outments fuelled by both local and foreign investors. Finally the government kept a tight regard on the number of new houses built during that period, so that resultant roleively demand outstripped supply (Cameron, 20055).Currently, the bubble in the property market in the United Kingdom has burst and the market is currently undergoing some reforms. Prices are no longer rising as fa st as they were some years ago and there is straight off an oversupply of houses in the property market as home owners are reluctant to sell in this current state. The effect of this is that supply of properties out stripes demand in residential property (Ruddick and Moore, 20101).The economic slowdown bear upon all sectors of the property market, however the price of houses in London are slowly picking up and this is due to the weak pound that has made a lot of foreign investors to come in to the UK and invest in properties (Evening Standard, March 30, 2010).S select holders are arguing that the Carlsberg review of residential properties should be the bench mark for carrying out reforms in the residential sector as well as all the other sectors of the property market. moreover, the reforms currently going on is aimed at producing better and more information to customers, this lead to the introduction of the position Owners Information Package (HIPs).The government plans to regul ate the property market, especially the estate agents so that it leave no longer be an all comers affairs. Finally, there is now a standards board in the property industry, although they have limited powers.On the other hand, the residential property market in Europe is different from the property market in the UK. The residential property market in the UK encourages people to buy their own homes, un homogeneous in Europe, where the emphasis is more on long term renting (Oswald, 199910). Credit is readily available in the UK in order of battle to assist home owners to buy properties, unlike in Europe where it was non easily available (Oswald, 199910). However all this has changed as the residential property market in Europe is undergoing some reforms that has had a great effect on the residential, mercenary and industrial properties all over Europe. It appears that most European nations are copying the UK model and are now encouraging its citizens to be home owners preferably o f renting. Spain is a good example (Oswald, 19997).Furthermore, with the opening up of the EU, Europeans can now move to any EU country and acquire property, this factor has greatly affected the property market in the EU, because capital can now be moved easily and investors in one part of the EU can take advantage of cheap properties in any other part of the EU.Finally, it appears that for eight years starting from 1990, the reforms and gains of the real estate market in the United Kingdom were modelled on the system of the United States however for six years starting from 1998, the property market in the United Kingdom appeared to be harmonized with that of its European neighbours (Lee, 200932).Commercial Property and Industrial PropertyCommercial properties are scarce in the UK and demand exceeds supply. This among other factors led to a boom in the technical property sector. However there appears to be a slump at the moment as Commercial property in UK was also affected by the global economic down turn. However current reports indicate that the commercial-grade property sector in the UK is picking up and investors are starting to snatch up prime commercial properties (Evening Standard, March 30, 2010).The commercial property yield in the UK is quite impressive and high compared to its European neighbours.On the other hand, commercial properties in Europe also appear to be booming. The European economy is recovering and a lot of foreign investors are investing in commercial properties in Europe (Oswald, 19997). The economic meltdown has also affected the growth of commercial property in Europe and the sector is also undergoing reforms just like the market is undergoing in the UK. Most EU countries have put legislation in place in order to allow real estate investment funds trusts (Oswald, 199927). This legislation will make it easier for foreign investors to invest in the commercial property sector and inject the much need funds in order to keep the comm ercial property sector booming. Finally the demand for industrial property is low in the UK. This is due to the fact that a lot of industries are closing down due to high cost of labour and the strong Pound Sterling. Companies are moving their operations to Europe and other areas where it will be cheaper for them to operate. While in Europe the demand for industrial property is booming, due to the stability of the Euro as well as the economic prosperity in the Euro Zone. Furthermore due to some recent EU Directives, setting an industry in some EU countries is now a lot cheaper and easier than it used to be.(B)The five study skills that I acquired in the university are as follows communion skills, multi-tasking, organizing skills and time care skills, IT skills and inter person-to-person abilities.The main purpose of communication is to convey ones message to recipients. Good communication takes many another(prenominal) forms such as speaking, writing and listening (Heller, 1998 6). I gained my communication skills in the university through course work presentations, seminar discussions, formal learning sessions and salute to face meeting with my course leader. These range of activities helped me to acquire my verbal and communication skills in the university. I improved my verbal and communications skills in the university by devoting time to the collar key elements of effective communication, which are, effective initial preparation, effective structuring of my material and effective delivery of my material (King, 1992 14).Finally, the art of acquiring ones message across effectively is a vital part of being a good manager (Heller, 19981). Communication skill will help me in future because no matter my side within an organization I will be giving instructions to my colleagues, superiors or juniors and these instructions can range from simple instructions or requests to convoluted instructions.I also gained IT skills and interpersonal abilities while studying in the university. We had a specialized IT unit in the university that offered training and support to students. I went for many lectures and training that the IT unit make on campus.We had a large IT laboratory on campus and each student had a password that allowed the student access to any of the personal computers in the IT laboratory and there was always an IT specialist to offer technical support to any student that was experiencing difficulties.Inter personal abilities is basically about getting on well with your colleagues. I was in a university with people from different cultures and backgrounds. I also lived in the hostel and I had three flat duad all from different cultures and backgrounds and we to share the same living room and kitchen. These are the factors that helped me gain inter personal skills while studying in the university.The explosive growth of information technology in recent years highlights the need and importance of IT skills (Pearlson Saunders , 20067).In future if I work in an organisation I could be asked to take on any tasks that require different skills at different times. Finally, most organisations are now a mix of people from different cultures and backgrounds, thusly my interpersonal skills as well as communications will benefit me, if I find myself working in such multinational organisations in the future.One other skill that I gained while studying was multi-tasking and organizing skills. These two skills are essential skill (Crenshaw, 200715). I gained this skill by taking part in different activities in the university. As an undergraduate you are introduced to many different activities and some of them have no relationship with one another. I was introduced to so many different activities that involved different tasks to accomplish. I gained organising skills by been involved in many societies on campus. The effect of this was that I had to organise my time effectively and expeditiously between my course work and my other activities on campus. This skill will help me in future due to the fact that I can have sex in a busy working environment. Furthermore, I can be versatile and engage in different activities that are not related. Finally, I will be able to organize and balance my personal life and my working life.The last key skill that I acquired while in the university was time management skills. Time management is all about determining ones priorities. There is usually a lot to accomplish in the university. When you acquire this skill you can wherefore be able to determine your priorities. I gained this skill my making a daily to do list the day before and I usually organized my list in accordance with three criteria the importance/urgency of the task, the amount of time available and the quality of time available (Morris, 199673). This skill enabled me to be in control of my personal life and academic life. This skill will help me function well under pressure and make me be in cont rol of my work load in any organisation I find myself working for in future.BibliographyCameron, G (2005) The UK Housing Market, Economic Review, University of Oxford Journal, OxfordCrenshaw, D (2007) The Myth of Multi-tasking, cite Organisations System, LondonHeller, R (1998) Communicate Clearly, Dorling Kindersley, LondonKing, A.G (1992) Effective Communication, Blackstone Press, LondonLee, S (2009) Is the UK real estate market converging with the rest of Europe? Journal of European Real Estate Research, Vol.2, Issue 1, 18-32Morris, B (1996) First Steps in Management, Library Association Publishing, LondonOswald, A.J (1999) The Housing market and Europes Unemployment A Non-Technical Paper, Economic Department, University of Warwick, WarwickRuddick, G and Moore, M (2010) UK Housing Market Double Dip Fears, Telegraph on line can be assessed at http//www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/houseprices/7539267/UK-housing-market-double-dip-fears-subside-slightly.html Scott, P (1996) The property Masters a History of the British Commercial Property Sector, Spon E FN, London

Use of the Mock-epic Style in The Rape of the Lock Essay -- Rape Of Th

Use of the Mock-epic Style in The Rape of the Lock The dominate of the Barons rape is in exactly the same high words as it would be if he were Hector. In The Rape of the Lock, Pope uses the mock-epic style to satirise the seriousness with which a trivial misdemeanour (the theft of a a couple of(prenominal) strands of hair) and the ways of gender polarised society can be blown beyond all sense of proportion. Thus the male mentality, through the Baron, is portrayed as miss depth or personality beyond that required to achieve its ends men objectify and devise strategems (4,120) to conquer their female obsessions they are victors (4,162) who self-importantly congratulate themselves as meriting wreaths of triumph (4,161) when they have seized what they desire. The Baron claims that the glorious prize is his in perpetuity, whilst many conditions which will never be fulfilled (while fish in streams, or birds violate in air 4,163) remain unfulfilled. In this satirising of the epic m ould such trivial occurrences are substituted in place of truly fantastic possibilities (mighty cities falling, for instance) for the purpose of move the locks severing into a more realistic perspective this is made even more explicit in the following canto (4,8 no-one ever felt such rage, resentment, and despair / as thou, sad virgin for thy ravished hair meaning that perhaps Belinda over-reacts, in Popes opinion, just ever-so slightly.) He also then reinforces his satire with a broadening of humour, and a stab in the direction of then-popular culture specifically, Atalantis (4,165) was no great enduring writing but a cheap, scandalous work of fiction, notorious for its thinly concealed allusions to coeval scandals, pe... ...rder of life.) Obviously the ultimate aim of the poem is to mitigate the severity of the liberty taken in the theft of the lock (as seen in the minds of those involved in the familial dispute.) Mock epic assists Pope in achieving this without being seen to trivialise the assaulted feelings of the victim the high language and drama of his work accords to the act of the locks severing a grossly inflated significance, which retains enough of its epic origins not to be viewed as derisive sarcasm. As a satirist Pope is therefore presenting for the appraisal of his readership the notion that the red of the lock does not deserve the intensity of ill-feeling which has resulted from it. BIBLIOGRAPHY The Norton Anthology of English Literature 6th Edition, Volume 1, 1993 A Choice Of Popes Verse, edited by Peter Porter, Faber & Faber, 1971

Persuasive Essay on Concealed Weapons Laws -- Papers Gun Laws Weapon E

Persuasive Essay on Concealed Weapons Laws unless deem for a moment if you would. You Just finished a long hard week of work, and you are looking forward to the reward of going out for a night on the town. You go home get cleaned up, put on your sharpest outfit and head everywhere to your dates house to pick her up. Nothing could be much perfect. The evening air is the right temperature with just enough breeze to catch your cologne and waft it through the air. And the evening itself is enough to remember because of the moons reflection gain of the newly harvested fields and ever-flowing creeks. It would seem as though this would be the perfect setting to a wonderful date. And yes it would be, except for the traumatic experience, which encountered one of my closest friends on the ride home, after dropping his date off. He was on his way home and in between towns when my friend saw a truck pulled over to the side of the road. Hood up, doors open, and the truck itself turn ed towards the ditch on the side of the road. Being from the small town he was from he believed in always braggy a helping hand to those in need. Especially when he knew people in his community had been there for him before in his time of crises. He was flagged atomic reactor by an individual that had told him they had a blow out on their vehicle and that the passenger was injured and would greatly appreciate his help. My friend stepped out of the vehicle and slightly the passenger side of the parked truck, and before he knew it he had a gun drawn upon his chest and a man now demanding money sooner of help. My friend complied and gave the man his wallet and money he had just earned to get him through the weeks ahead. The assailant then ordered my friend to turn h... ...d thoughts and ideas. Just as in Florida a few years back when their conceal to carry law was enacted, and results were blatantly obvious when the criminals were no longer attacking local anaesthetic citiz ens. But moving on to the individuals they knew couldnt carry concealed weapons, the tourists. Thats why so many rental car agencies have tried to conceal their cars as non being part of any type of rental agency, for their customers protection.The information in this speech was intended to have got you think a little bit much about society and the preventative measures we can take to deter some of the crimes committed today. I just wanted to clear up any of the misconceptions or preconceived notions you may or may not of had about concealed weapons laws. So next time a bill is proposed in the state make sure you know all of the facts before it gets vetoed. Thank- you