Cell Bio Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Cell Bio Lab Report Essay The purpose of this lab was to test the biological activity of ConA by performing a hemagglutination assay. If ConA is active then agglutination will occur due to ConA’s free receptors being able to bind to the glucose residues on the sheep’s red blood cells. If ConA is not active then no agglutination will occur. To test the hemagglutination reaction, two types of ConA solutions were compared, a purchased control ConA solution in buffer as the positive control, and a purified solution of ConA in buffer previously purified in lab. Each solution was at a 2mg/ml concentration of ConA in ConA buffer, which is necessary for ConAs biological activity. Two variables were added, Galactose and Mannose, to the ConA solution to compare the effects each had on the hemagglutination reaction. I hypothesize for ConA to be able to agglutinate the red blood cells if in the adequate concentration and if in the presence of Galactose, not Mannose. Mannose will inhibit the ConA from binding to the red blood cell’s membrane, preventing agglutination. RESULTS The reaction plate containing the ConA dilutions was incubated over the weekend and resulted in all wells being pink, appearing as if every well had agglutinated. There was a vague outline of the non-agglutinated cells in various wells. The last agglutination was observed at titer 0.0625 (1/16). Agglutination was seen in rows A, B D, and E (row A contained the control ConA, row B contained the control ConA + Galactose, row D contained the sample ConA, and row E contained the sample ConA + Galactose). In the well rows C and F which contained control ConA + Mannose and sample ConA + Mannose, agglutination did not occur at any concentration of ConA. Row G, the negative control appeared to have agglutinated as well as Row H, which contained only ConA buffer. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION The results did not support my hypothesis for the biological activity of ConA. There are some sources of error that could explain the results obtained. It’s possible there was a problem with either the ConA buffer or the sheep red blood cells to allow for all wells to turn pink and appear agglutinated. Another explanation of the irregular results was there might have been cross contamination from not changing tips when transferring to different ConA concentrations, or if bubbles were introduced while diluting the ConA, making the results difficult to interpret. For wells A, B D, and E as ConA became more diluted or decreased in concentration, it became more difficult for it to effectively crosslink and agglutinate the red blood cells. Well D, the positive control that contained the purchased ConA resulted in agglutination of the first couple wells, then no agglutination as the ConA concentration decreased, similar to Row A. Wells B and E that had the Galacatose additive obtained the same titer of the control ConA because ConA does not bind Galactose. Galactose doesn’t interfere with ConA from binding to the sugar residues on the red blood cells. Mannose on the other hand, is an inhibitor to ConA’s binding sites. The Mannose in solution competed with the ConA and did not allow to bind to the sugar residues on the red blood cells as seen in rows C and F. Row G, the negative control, should have resulted in non-agglutination, similar to the rows containing the Mannose additive. The results observed showed agglutination formed in this row. Lastly, Row H should have shown non-agglutination through out because the well contained only ConA buffer, not ConA protein. In conclusion, the results did not clearly explain the biological activity of ConA with the hemagglutination assay. The experiment contained too many anomalies to get a clear determination of ConA’s functionality post purification. The results did show that a change in the concentration of ConA would alter the strength of the reaction. Also, ConA’s ability to bind to sugar residues can be affected if ConA has to compete or is inhibited to bind to a cells membrane. LITERATURE CITED Cell Biology 3822 Lab Manual, Cell Surface Glycoprotein Receptor Analysis Using Concanavalin A Lab 7. Pearson Learning Solutions. 2012: 147-154. Madeleine Zaechringer. Cell Biology 3822 Analysis of purified ConA via Hemagglutinatino Assay Lab 7: Powerpoint. 2014.

Paul Robeson Essay -- The Civil Rights Movement

Paul Robeson Paul Robeson as a scholar and athlete was a two-time All-American in football and baseball, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and valedictorian of his high school and college class. As an entertainer he starred in eleven movies, five Broadway musicals, and sang in sold out concerts throughout the world in twenty-five different languages. As a statesman he became known as the "citizen of the world," who spoke out whenever he saw social or racial injustices in any country, and spent his last years working with Albert Einstein to bring world peace. This magnificent African-American was able to do all these things during a time in America when most African-Americans were denied service at a local restaurant. "He was Michael Jordan before there was a Michael Jordan, Michael Jackson before Michael Jackson. He was also Muhammad Ali. He was the most famous, talented, and outspoken black person in the world, but today many don't really know him at all." (1999, Kane) After excelling in high school, Paul Robeson went to Rutgers College on a four-year academic scholarship. While attending Rutgers he played football, baseball, basketball, and participated in track earning himself fifteen varsity letters. Robeson was a two-time All-American in football and baseball in 1917 and 1918. During his four years at Rutgers he also was elected to all the school's honor societies, which included being one of only four classmates selected to the Phi Beta Kappa his junior year. In 1919, his senior year at Rutgers, Robeson's hard work earned him the honor of being the valedictorian of his class. The speech he gave was full of wisdom beyond his years and time. He titled his speech "The New Idealism," in which he advocated to a majority white... ...eople died to build this country, and I am going to stay right here and have a part in it just like you. And no fascist-minded people will drive me from it. Is that clear?" With those words Robeson made a decision that would determine his fate. He chose his principles and morals over his fame and fortune. After his trial, people were afraid to agree with him because they could be labeled a communist. Undaunted Robeson would continue to sing and speak out for all oppressed people, but sadly lost all real support in the U.S. Paul Robeson was a genuine renaissance man. He was a brilliant scholar, accomplished athlete, dazzling singer, gifted actor, and an outspoken statesman. "Living life to its fullest" does not come close to describing the achievements that Robeson accomplished in his lifetime. There are few men that can compare to him and few men that ever will.

Studying The Journey Of Mango Season English Literature Essay

Mango season is an indefinable chef-d'oeuvre of Amulya Malladi. I am really impressed and proud to be a Telugu myself. This whole journey of Mango Season had been truly fantastic. I have ne'er thought that there would be a book on Telugu civilizations and we would be analysing the narrative for our literature surveies. But at the other terminal of the twine, even though I am an Indian, I had ne'er known all the civilizations and traditions of my really ain civilization and this is an eye-opener for me to turn over a new foliage and get down cognizing all the civilizations, and why do we pattern such civilizations in our Telugu community. Coming back to Mangifera indica season, I had identified 3 chief issues which are truly closed to my bosom. One of the chief issues I would wish to foreground in this novel is arranged matrimony versus love matrimony. This had ever been an issue debated in every Indian household when it comes to marriage. The daughter/ boy love person else but were asked to get married the individual chosen by their parents. This issue can clearly been seen in this novel as this whole narrative reflects on Priya who is confronting a struggle in taking an arranged or love matrimony. Arrange and love matrimonies have their ain advantages and disadvantages. Arranged matrimony shows a sense of regard and trust of the younger coevalss towards their seniors by obeying them in make up one's minding our future life spouse. While, on the other manus, love matrimony portrays our bravery and finding in contending for our love and to be with the individual we love. Priya, the chief character in this novel is a Telugu miss who comes from the highest caste which is from a Brahmin household. So, it is a must for her to g et married a Telugu Brahmin. The struggle begins when Priya is in love and is already engaged with a black American, Nick. When she tells her parents and her grandparents about this issue they wholly disagree and would ne'er desire an American cat to be Priya ‘s hubby. Here, she has a struggle with the household where none of them are to back up her except Nate and Sowmya. When, Priya decided to get married Nick, no affair what happens, Thatha replied that if you marry this adult male, so you are non my household. This shows how rigorous older coevalss are in prohibiting a love matrimony. In my sentiment, I would instead hold an arranged matrimony. The chief ground is because, parents know what is the best for their kids and have the wisdom and wherewithal to choose the best campaigner, the matrimony will profit from the support and encouragement of their seniors and hence will be lasting and lasting. There are significantly fewer divorces or separations between people of ordered matrimonies. Based on Noreen, who wrote in Indiamarks web site, he stated that Indians look at get marrieding a individual they do n't cognize, gives one â€Å" a life-time to larn to love them † . He besides included that an Indian adult female described it as â€Å" Here, we get married without holding feelings for the individual. We base our matrimony on committedness, non on feelings. As our matrimony progresses, the feelings develop. And yes! I genuinely agree with it. At the same clip I would wish to emphasize that, when people think of ordered matrimonies, they frequently pictu re a male child or miss forced into a relationship in which they have perfectly no pick. However, in world, this is merely non the instance ; before the matrimony becomes official the bride and groom have the chance to run into each other. It ‘s non like the twosome see each other on the nuptials twenty-four hours for the first clip or merely one time before the nuptials. There is normally a period of months after the twosome is engaged, where the twosome gets to cognize each other, run into, talk and discourse the hereafter. This clip after the battle to the nuptials twenty-four hours is kind of the dating period for the twosome. The 2nd issue I would wish to foreground from this novel is the version of western civilization. In the context of Priya we can clearly see tonss of alterations in her in footings of life style and how she perceives things in her mundane life when she is back in India after 7 old ages populating in The United States. At the same clip, we can see that she has a different mentality now as she is much liberalized and modernized. She thinks traveling through Pelli- chupulu is merely a waste of clip. This is really common in most of the people. Change is lasting, and you can non state no to alter. When we are in the land of the westerners, earlier or later we will certainly acquire adapt to the life style at that place. For illustration, populating together before matrimony is wholly prohibited in India but non in the western civilization. Here, we can see that Priya ‘s life style had changed when she went to The States. She lived together with Nick in the same roof even though they are non married yet and on top of that she had besides made love with Nick. Besides that, the westerners call people by their names even though the individual is much older than them. In this novel we can see that Priya calls Nick ‘s Dendranthema grandifloruom by her name, Frances, even though she is much older than Priya. So, based all this facts from the narrative I can infer that we will acquire adapted to the civilization where we are, like how the phrase goes, when in Rome do as the Romans do. Priya was in The States for 7 old ages. This is a long phase for her to truly acquire to cognize all the civilizations of the westerners and thereby acquire assimilated with the civilization at that place. In one of the article by The Associated Press stated that when you are in America being Indian and being here, you shy off from it or conceal from it because you want to be like everyone else. It is really difficult to keep our ain civilization and belief when all around us are Americans. That ‘s what Priya went through, Indians in America were non every bit many as in India and she found it really hard to pattern her ain civilization and traditions at that place. Priya told that when she foremost saw Nick she ne'er expected to prosecute a relationship with him, subsequently on dating him and worst of all life together and started doing love. Here we can deduce that Priya ne'er wanted to confront all this in America but she did, and why? The chief thing is because she got adapted to the civilization at that place.My 3rd issue in on inter-caste matrimonies. Inter-caste matrimony means girl and male childs are from different castes where one member belongs to take down caste. In this novel, inter-caste matrimony can be seen in the matrimony of Anand and Neelima. Anand is a Telugu Brahmin while Neelima is a Maharashtrian Brahmin. Even though we can see that both are Brahmans but they are from different caste. Neelima is a Maharashtrian which is a lower caste from Telugu. Priya one time stated that being Telugu was really indispensable. Telugu was the official linguistic communication of Andhra Pradesh. Being of the same caste was non plenty to consecrate a matrimony. To get married person, that person had to besides be from the same province. So, Maharashtrians are from the lower caste because they are non Telugu. At the same clip, we can see that thatha was besides is a love matrimony, he was really arranged to Ammamma ‘s cousin, Ratna. But after thatha saw Ammamma, he wanted to get married ammamma alternatively of Ratna. So here we can see that thatha himself pattern love matrimony but with the lone different that he married in the same caste. Their matrimony was successful because they are from the same caste. If ammamma was from a different caste, so certain thatha was forbidden from get marrieding ammamma.Inter-caste matrimonies have the pro and con ‘s based on which century our position is. As written in Brahmans Within the Caste System byA Andrea Pintane, he stated that Inter-caste matrimonies was really critical in those yearss because different caste pattern different civilization. For case, Harmonizing to the ancientA Hindu scriptures, there are four different caste. TheA Bhagavad Gita ( Hindu sacred book ) A says caste is decided based onA Karma. The four caste ‘s are the BrahminsA ( instructors, bookmans and priests ) , theA KshatriyasA ( male monarchs and warriors ) , theA VaishyasA ( agriculturalists and bargainers ) , andA ShudrasA ( craftsmans, service suppliers, labourers ) .Brahmins which is the highest caste are forbidden from devouring onions, Allium sativum, tomato and should be vegetarians while the other caste such as the Kshtriyas and Vaishyas are non-vege. So, if they marry a individual from different caste, so they have to confront jobs based on the nutrient they consume. Besides that, the 4 caste are from different businesss. Parents those yearss find it easier to be in the same businesss so that they wo n't hold any jobs in their jobs. But now it ‘s different. With more globalisation and addition in educational installations, there is great alteration in the positions of people. As modernisation has affected every subdivision of society, inter-caste matrimonies have besides received credence from the people in urban and modern societies. There has been broad alteration in the societal scenario. Parents and relations of the lovers have been coming up with more unfastened heads with broad credence of matrimonies outside their ain castes. So, based on this narrative, we can deduce that Priya comes from a household who still have the older coevalss mindset on the in ter caste matrimonies.As a decision, I would wish to state that America and India are manner apart. America is a developed state while India is still a underdeveloped state. It ‘s really difficult to compare a state which has so different in every individual thing. India faced so much agony during those times that they find it so hard to come up. Personally, I enjoyed reading this book. This had given me a opportunity to research the unknown and at the same clip increasing my cognition on my ain civilizations.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH DESIGN - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3353 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? This chapter presents the theoretical framework used to evaluate the financial performance of BRALIRWA and the influence of corporate governance on the firm performance; and the research methodology followed throughout the research basing on the different aspects discussed in literature review. 3.1 INTRODUCTION As discussed in chapter one, the main focus for many companies is to create the best possible value for their owners and to secure excellent financial performance. The sound financial health of a company is one of its major goals and to maintain it, companies at one point of time have to look at the past and current performance to plan for future prospect. The most objective way to evaluate the financial performance of a company is through financial statement analysis. Financial analysis involves the assessment of a firms liquidity, its operating performance, its risk profile and its growth potential using financial ratios. Ratio analysis is an important and powerful analytical tool used for measuring the performance of a business entity (Van et Al., 2003). It helps stakeholders (shareholders, investors, creditors, managers, government etc) to make an evaluation about the profitability and financial soundness of the business entity (Bardia, 2008). Different types of investors ex pect different types of returns, if you are a stockholder, you expect an increase in the value of the stock you hold; if you have invested in a company with a history of paying dividends, you also expect a dividend; if you have loaned the firm money, you expect to receive interest and the return of loan principal. Although the types of returns they expect are different, equity investors and creditors both risk not receiving those returns. Therefore, both stockholders and creditors use financial statement analysis to predict their expected returns and assess the risks associated with those returns (Hongren, Sundem, Elliot and Philbrick, 2003). Analysis of financial performance allows comparison of practice performance from one year to the next, benchmarking of a practice against industry standards, and preparation of financial information for lending institutions or directors (Stallwood, 1996). The financial performance of a company can be influenced by many different aspects or f actors and for the purpose of this study, corporate governance was taken into consideration and specifically the aspect of board characteristics. The board of directors is an important entity in a company creating a link between shareholders and managers and therefore playing an important role in the governance of the firm (Dehaene et al., 2007). Therefore, boards of directors are charged with the task of monitoring the performance and activities of top management to ensure that the latter acts in the best interests of the owners (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; quoted by OConnell and Cramer, 2010) Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH DESIGN" essay for you Create order 3.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION After the 1994 genocide many companies in Rwanda were destroyed and some of them have not recovered up to today. Among the companies affected by the genocide include manufacturing companies out of which some tried to recover and restart their activities progressively and the country is providing a good environment for business but this does not guarantee good performance on behalf of companies. Standard financial reports provide basic information on the current profit level of investment in assets but do not give information on whether profit is adequate, how efficiently the assets are being used to generate sales, how efficient the overall operation is, and whether there are short-term financial problems facing the business. Ratio analysis provides some answers to these questions by calculating the relationships between various figures on the balance sheet and the income statement and comparing the movements in these ratios over time and against industry averages can provide ad ditional information about whether the organization is performing well or whether remedial action is needed (Stallwood, 1996). Ratio analysis is an important and powerful analytical tool for measuring the performance of a business entity. It helps stakeholders to make an evaluation about the profitability and financial soundness of the business entity (Van et al., 2003). Some key companies in the manufacturing sector do not have thorough financial analysis which makes it difficult for stakeholders to know how these companies are performing; BRALIRWA will be used as representative case study to exemplify the financial performance of companies in the sector and the way this performance is influenced by corporate governance. The way companies are directed and controlled can influence their performance (Berle Means, 1932), in some companies there is lack of consistency in reporting operating and financial activities as well as governance activities to shareholders in a fair, accurat e, timely, reliable, relevant, complete and verifiable manner. Manufacturing companies in Rwanda contribute to the economic development of the country and hence a need to evaluate their performance in other to detect their likely future and take appropriate measures accordingly, as well as the influence of corporate governance on their performance. 3.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES This study has one general objective and five specific objectives. 3.3.1 General objective The general objective of this study is to assess the financial performance of BRALIRWA s.a (2005-2008) and the influence of its corporate governance on the performance 3.3.2 Specific objectives To analyze the operating efficiency and profitability of BRALIRWA to know its level of operating performance. To analyze the sales and earnings variability in order to measure the risk that BRALIRWA may be exposed to. To analyze the internal liquidity of BRALIRWA in order to measure its ability to meet financial obligations in the short-term. To assess the impact if any of BRALIRWA governance on its performance. To analyze the sustainable growth potential of BRALIRWA. 3.4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The theoretical framework adopted in this study was developed based on different literature on the analysis and evaluation of financial performance and literature on corporate governance and firm performance. 3.4.1 Dependent variable According to Jones, Wahba and Heijden (2007), the dependent variable is the one main research issue you are studying, on which other variables in theoretical framework are assumed to have an impact. Creswell (2002), defines dependent variables as the outcomes or results of the influence of the independent variables. For this study, financial performance stands for the dependent variable. Financial performance is usually measured by ROE and ROA, for this study financial analysis is used to analyze the financial performance of BRALIRWA and the analysis is conducted in three categories; the analysis of internal liquidity, operating performance and risk. When analyzing internal liquidity, the intention is to indicate the firms ability to meet its future short-term financial obligations, this may be an indication over a certain period of the likely performance of a company because if a firm is not able to meet its short-term financial obligations for a long period, definitely this wi ll affect its performance but the analysis of this may help the organization take necessary actions. The analysis here is based on current ratio, quick ratio, cash ratio, receivables turnover and inventory turnover. The analysis of operating performance, examines how management uses its assets and capital by measuring the sales generated by various categories of assets or capital and analyzes the profits as a percentage of sales and as a percentage of the assets and capital employed (Brown and Reilly, 2009). The ratios used are the asset turnover, equity turnover, profit margins, return on equity and return on assets. Concerning the risk analysis, both business and financial risks are measured and analyzed, here the emphasis is on the sales variability, operating leverage which consists of the variability of a firms operating earnings and then the debt-equity ratio to measure the financial risk. 3.4.2 Independent variables Independent variables are the variables impacting on your main research problem. They are called independent in a sense that those variables are affecting the amount of dependent variables and do not affect each other, so they are independent of each other (Jones, Wahba and Heijden, 2007). Corporate governance stands for the independent variable for this study. Corporate governance is the mechanism by which a corporation is managed and monitored. It determines a power-sharing relationship between corporation executives and investors by providing structure through which the objectives are defined; policies and procedures are established to ensure achievement of these objectives; and activities, affairs, and performance are monitored (Rezaee, 2004). Based on this definition and other definitions of corporate governance, it can positively or negatively influence the performance of a company and for the purpose of this study, the influence will be analyzed based on board characteristic s which are treated as the moderating variables in this study and considered as one of the aspects of corporate governance. 3.4.3 Moderating variables Moderating variables are included in the theoretical model to modify the way that the independent variables will affect the dependent variable. They might act as a catalyst of these relationships and strengthen them or perhaps they just inhibit the relationship and weaken it (Jones, Wahba and Heijden, 2007). For this study the moderating variables are the board characteristics, and the following characteristics were taken into consideration the board size, board composition, CEO duality, board diversity and frequency of board meetings. The board size is the number of members on the board and as boards are considered to be large decision-making groups, size can affect the decision-making process and effectiveness of the board (Dwivedi and Jain, 2005). Talking about the board composition, the board may be composed of directors who may be executive meaning that they are employees of the firm, or non-executive meaning they are not employees of the company; and this may have an effect on firm performance. CEO duality consists of having the same person holding both the board chairman and CEO positions or having the CEO and board chair positions separate, this also may have an impact on firm performance. When it comes to board diversity, the consideration is that there may be some diversification in the board members which may or may not have an influence on firm performance; diversity for this study is seen as gender diversity, racial diversity and experience/background diversity. Board meeting frequency consists of how frequently the board meetings are scheduled and the board activity is measured by the frequency of board meeting, this frequency may impact on the performance of the firm. Figure 3.1: Theoretical Framework Source: Research, 2010 3.4.4 Research assumptions Based on the various corporate scandals due to the manipulation of financial statements, the researcher made an assumption that the information provided in the audited financial statements of BRALIRWA for the period 2005-2008 are true and accurate. It was assumed that the respondents would be willing to fill the questionnaires and that the staff in the finance department of BRALIRWA would cooperate in providing any necessary information regarding the financial statements. 3.4.5 Research limitations The study uses BRALIRWA as a case study, which may provide little basis for generalization on the performance of other manufacturing companies The study only use a time-series analysis because there are no competitors in the industry to compare with The financial statements analyzed were the balance sheet and income statement because the company does not prepare cash flow statement The study only used board characteristics as the aspects of corporate governance due to time and logistics constraints the researcher could not use other aspects. The study was limited to a period of four years from 2005 to 2008 3.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONs To achieve the research objectives of this study; the study has to answer the following major and minor research questions. 3.5.1 Major research questions How is BRALIRWA financially performing for the period under study and what is the implication for future performance? How is BRALIRWA governance influencing its performance? 3.5.2 Minor research questions How well is the management of BRALIRWA doing to generate operating profits on companys assets? How well is BRALIRWA management using the capital invested? How is BRALIRWA financing its assets and how variable its earnings are? How well is BRALIRWA doing to meet its maturing financial obligations? The above mentioned research questions will help in analyzing the financial performance of BRALIRWA and the influence of its corporate governance on performance. 3.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.6.1 Research type This study is basically quantitative with a small portion of qualitative and descriptive in nature and is using a case study method. The study is using the computation of different ratios to analyze the financial performance of BRALIRWA and statistical measure like mean, standard deviation and correlation are also used; and it is also qualitative in the sense that it is looking at the perceptions of staff on the influence of corporate governance on the performance. The purpose of quantitative research is to determine the quantity or extent of some phenomenon in the form of numbers (Zikmund, 1994). 3.6.1.1 Case study methodology This study is using BRALIRWA as a case study representing other manufacturing companies in Rwanda. BRALIRWA was chosen as a case study because of its long stay in the business and as being one of the manufacturing companies that were operating before the 1994 Rwandan genocide and which has continued operating and the major motivation for the researcher to take it as a representative case study is that the manufacturing sector in Rwanda is mostly made of food and beverages companies where BRALIRWA is dominating. According to Robson (2002:178) cited by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2007), a case study is a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence. Yin (2009) defines a case study as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident. According to Yin (2009), the case study inquiry copes with the technically distinctive situation in which there will be many more variables of interest than data points, and one result; relies on multiple source of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion, and as another result; and benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis. 3.6.1.2 Descriptive research This study is descriptive as it is describing and evaluating systematically how BRALIRWA has been performing for the period under study. According to Kumar (2005), a descriptive research attempts to describe systematically a situation, problem, phenomenon, service or program, or provides information about something or describes attitudes towards an issue. 3.6.1.3 Quantitative and qualitative research As discussed early, this study is a mix of quantitative and qualitative, it is evaluating the performance of BRALIRWA by quantifying it through different ratios to analyze the internal liquidity, operating performance and risk and most of the information is gathered using quantitative variables (through financial statements). On the other hand, the study is qualitative in the way that it has some variables which were analyzed without being quantified. The study is qualified as quantitative if one wants to quantify the variation in a phenomenon, situation, problem, or issue; if information gathered using predominantly quantitative variables; and if the analysis is geared to ascertain the magnitude of the variation. On the other hand, a study is qualified as qualitative if the purpose of the study is primary to describe a situation, phenomenon, problem or event; the information is gathered through the use of variables measured on nominal or ordinal scales; and if analysis is done to establish the variation in the situation, phenomenon or problem without quantifying it (Kumar, 2005). 3.6.2 Data collection instrument and source For the purpose of this study, both primary and secondary data were collected. To collect primary data questionnaires were distributed to the staff of BRALIRWA to know and analyze their perceptions on the influence of board characteristics on firm performance, the questionnaires were given to different staff but the most targeted were the managers and directors (management team) and heads of department and then some of the officers in different departments; interviews were also used with the staff in the finance department to get some clarifications on the content of the financial statements. And to collect secondary data, different literature on the evaluation of financial performance and those on the relationship between corporate governance (board characteristics) were reviewed through books, journals, articles and websites; and the financial statements of BRALIRWA for a period of 2005-2008 were consulted and analyzed through financial ratios. 3.6.3 Sampling methods Sampling is the process of selecting a few (a sample) from a bigger group (the sampling population) to become the basis for estimating or predicting the prevalence of an unknown piece of information, situation or outcome regarding the bigger group; a sample is a subgroup of the population one is interested in (Kumar, 2005). For the purpose of this study, judgmental sampling technique has been used to select the sample in order to collect primary data. Purposive or judgmental sampling enables you to use your judgment to select cases that will best enable you to answer your research question(s) and to meet your objectives. This form of sample is often used when working with very small samples such as in case study research and when you wish to select cases that are particularly informative (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2007 quoting Neuman, 2000). According to Kumar (2005), the primary consideration in purposive sampling is the judgment of the researcher as to who can provide the best information to achieve the objectives of the study; the researcher only goes to those people who in his/her opinion are likely to have the required information and be willing to share it. For the respondents to fill the questionnaire it required a certain degree of information about the board of directors and the judgmental sampling is the appropriate technique to this study. 3.6.4 Sample size A sample of 25 respondents was selected from the staff of BRALIRWA which is the population of the study; as stated early the sample was selected using judgmental sampling. The respondents were selected from different departments of the company and from top management to senior officers and the sample is the representative of the population. 3.6.4 Data analysis methods The study is based more on the secondary data as the evaluation of financial performance is based on the financial statements of the case company (BRALIRWA) and on primary data which were collected using a questionnaire to analyze the influence of the board characteristics on the financial performance of the company as perceived by the company employees. In the process of data analysis, the information from the financial statement were first presented according to the research objectives and research questions and based on the theoretical framework and literature review; then they were analyzed using appropriate ratios and the analysis was based on time series analysis, some statistics were used such as mean and standard deviation for the researcher to analyze the data and come up with conclusions and recommendations. To analyze the data collected from questionnaires, the following process was followed; first the data were edited, then coded and frequency distribution were used. To analyze, the open-ended questions, content analysis was used whereby different themes were identified from the answers given by the respondents and then verbatim responses were examined and discussed with reference to literature to come up with research findings, conclusion and recommendations. 3.7 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter discussed the research problem by highlighting that in Rwanda some key companies do not have thorough financial analysis and that the performance of companies may be influenced by the way they are managed and monitored where this may depend on the characteristics of the board. The chapter also discussed the theoretical framework that was used for this study and the dependent, independent and moderating variables were identified; financial performance is the dependent variable which is determined through the analysis of internal liquidity, operating performance and risk and the summarizing indicators of financial performance for the purpose of this study were identified as ROE and ROA. The chapter goes on discussing the research objectives, research questions, the assumptions and limitations of study. Then the chapter concludes with the discussion of the research methodology that was used to conduct the research and to achieve the research objectives and to answer the research questions that were put forward; the study is a mix of quantitative and qualitative, both secondary and primary were used and financial statements and other sources were used to collect secondary data and the questionnaire was used to collect primary and the questionnaires were sent to a sample of 25 respondents, the sample was selected using judgmental sampling.