Academic Journal Article Critique - Literature review Example

ACADEMIC JOURNAL ARTICLE CRITIQUE Research is an important activity in the day to day lives of people, institutions and organizations. All these important parties exist in order to make life worth living. The art of living is improving from the past and present systems from which human beings derive direction and motivation. Right from cradle to grave lies a series of experiences through which people encounter. During this encounter, people create inventions and innovations to make life better. The aspect of research is the framework upon which people find solutions to problems; they establish necessary changes relevant to make life meaningful. Research is a series of activities that are creatively undertaken in a proper systematic manner with the aim of adding stocks of knowledge to come up with new systems of life. Research serves the most important aspect of affirming facts, ascertaining past results of work, giving solutions to current challenges, supporting theories and developing new ones. Similarly, research can also be carried out with an aim of carrying on previously started works or other human activities. Any kind of basic research aims at documenting evidence, discovering and giving interpretations to the research in question with a specific motivation of increasing the knowledge of people. It can therefore be seen that the process of research is a sequence of steps applied in collection and analysis of information so as to expand the comprehension of an issue. This process comprises of three main procedures; creating and pausing a question, data collection for purposes of answering the question and lastly offering a solution to the question previously established. This paper explores this issues as portrayed in the research by Fenich (1992) in his research on development of convention centers. Discussion A research; “Convention center development: pros, cons and unanswered questions” was carried out by Fenich (1992). This research aimed at showing the validity and need for conventional centres in the community. This research had the main purpose of showing whether there was any need of creating these centers. His article provides arguments for and against establishment of these centres. The research stemmed from the point that there had been a steady increase in conventional-centre businesses in different states (Sanders, 2002, p, 1). This had seen a rapid growth in the number of these centres by 1980 (Fenich 1992). Fenich therefore sought to establish the relevance of having the centres while there were still other opportunities for the economic growth of people. There are many researches that had been carried out earlier to establish the reason for the rising number of centres. While some people gave different arguments for the establishment of these centres, many failed to consider the fact that there are other side effects that came alongside the centres. This issues had been given least consideration, something the led to the rapid growth in the number of conventional-centre businesses and hence the growth of the centres. Fenich (1992) has given an in-depth analysis of these issues and their reasons for not considering them, while giving priority to conventional centres. Fenich has tried to apply the steps suitable for a research activity and uses the same design to approach this issue and his article. Considering the value of other contributors to this topic, this paper also explores their value and how they have been used to underpin the central point of discussion in the case of Fenich. This article addresses several questions about conventional centres. The questions have been put forward to strengthen the central point of focus in the article which is; the validity of conventional centres in the community. Some of the questions that the article has used to boost the primary question are; who are the true beneficiaries of convention center development? Are the economic gains derived from the centers outweighing the costs? What is the performance of the centres in bigger and smaller cities?How does it compare? With respect to the performance of the cities, what is the part played by the management towards their excellence? What is the extent of attractions that city attractions have vis a vis conventional centres? This article clearly brings out the main point of discussion. By stating the facts that underlie the rapid growth of centres in many cities of the United States, the article gives the main problem in its real context (Fenich 1992). He points out that almost every municipality has taken the mandate for establishing a centre. The many centers that have been established seem to have been motivated by a mere pride of having them, this is according to previous researches that had been done with the aim of finding out why they were being established. This researches claim that many states consider having things like stadiums an important issue which tell whether the city is developed, a city without such a facility is considered largely to be underdeveloped (Fenich 1992). This is perhaps the reason why this article wants to establish whether conventional centers are of any benefit to the people or the municipalities in charge. If actually they have, how does it compare with other attractions that can be established at the expense of conventional centres? From this article, it seems that establishment of these centres by states was not influenced by financial arguments about their expected their returns. This makes it unclear to determine the actual beneficiaries of the centres. At this point the critical issues are; do the municipalities collect any taxes from them? How much are they? Are the people deriving any maximum utility from the centres? What would the effects of constructing other city attractions at the expense of conventional centres? This article has largely employed survey as its method of research. Survey research applies quantitative techniques in finding out facts about the problem in question. This type of research can easily be quantified, this means that raw data which is collected from the field is analyzed and turned into useful information which is used by interested parties. When data is collected data analysis uses mathematical manipulations which make it possible to generate future predictions about the expected results and outcomes. Fenich has largely observed this technique in coming up with this research article. Quantitative survey technique works well with sampling while in the process of research. Usually researchers will come up with samples which are representative of the entire population. It is expected that results from the sample are exactly the same as what the entire population would have produced (Jansen, 2010). In order to have successful research with this technique, the researcher comes up with a set of questions that are systematically arranged so as to capture the needed data from the field. The size of the sample varies on the population being covered; however, it should be carefully selected so that it is able to provide the exact information which is useful and representative of the population, which is referred to as the universe. Survey method used in this research looks to have been very effective. It was able to provide information from various quarters which have a direct relationship in the community or the state. The research was able to get useful data from the hotel industry, the municipal and county authorities as well as the general populace. The choice of the sample was motivated by the fact that conventional centres are used by the entire community. There are different sectors of the community that interact with conventional centres directly and indirectly. Sampling was therefore appropriate in capturing the feeling of these different sectors without being biased. The findings were analyzed to come up with the overall impression that conventional centres have in the community. The sample that was used included some conventional centres from few states. For instance conventional centres in Ohio Columbus were useful in giving estimates of the job opportunities that were arising from their establishment. Conventional centres in New York were a good example of how waste land can be put into active use by using the land to establish such centres. Conventional centres in Seattle, Illinois and other cities like Massachusetts were also critical in analysis tax benefits that states get from the centres. This sample was large enough to provide data which is representative of the entire population. When choosing a sample size for a survey research, emphasis is usually given on the amount of data that can be generated to justify the results as it would actually be from the entire population. Small samples are not encouraged because they may leave out important information which may be characteristic of the population. On the other hand very large samples are not also suitable since they are associated with repetitions which can be avoided in carefully chosen samples. As for this case, the samples chosen were suitable enough to provide information for the different parameters that were needed in the process. This sample also comprised of municipalities that provided useful information concerning the kinds of utilities that conventional centre offer. It was important to know such information since municipalities are tine ones that mostly oversee the planning and administration of the daily activities of conventional centres. From all the departments that were associated in the development of this article, it can be seen that its findings can be said to be representative of the entire population. Selection of this sample was largely influenced by the effect that conventional centres have on them, directly or indirectly. After careful analysis of information from the variables, the author has brought out an analysis of results from the research. He has been able to bring out the analysis of the issue showing both the pros and cons associated with development of conventional centers. His conclusions and arguments are directly linked to the research purpose. This piece of research has a consistent and logical flow of ideas that are easy to follow and understandable. The author has brought out the direct benefits that associated to the establishment of these centres which seems to have had a greater influence to county and municipal planners as they established the centres. Data from the sample has effectively been used in showing the relevant of these centres to both the states and the entire populace. The relevance of any piece of research is in its ability to interpret results from numerical data which is collected directly from the field. This makes it possible for this research to be useful and relevant to various industries that are directly associated with it; for instance, the hotel and tourism industry. The tax department has also been portrayed as a beneficiary of these centres with statistic showing that they generate a lot of tax compared to other sectors of the states (Fenich 1992). A good journal article will always draw its content from other journals and works of research. This article has a borrowed a lot from other types of research that had been done before. This is because, many people will always have different or related views about a subject and therefore to make a reliable research it’s important to put their contributions into focus. Similarly, the research article should always be available for other scholars to use. In this research, Fenich has given an opportunity for other researches to be carried out on the same. The article has openly given some questions that this article has not answered satisfactorily and that future empirical studies should consider them. The research findings from this journal article appear very practical. The research provides pros and cons arising from creation of conventional centres. The arguments for and against are very practical as brought out in this research. The research explains that the county planners seem to have been motivated by the advantages associated with creation of these centres while ignoring some of the important arguments against their creation. Following this argument, the author argues whether planners were just fascinated by the centres and carrying own with their development at the expense of vital other areas of the society (Hazinski, 2010). From this research it can be seen that the pros and cons seem to be exhaustive in the extent to which they apply. For instance, while creation of conventional centres comes with plenty of employment opportunities to the people, there are many other consequences with their creation. They have huge running and development expenses. This gives the developers an opportunity to weigh which one outweighs the other. Similarly, conventional centres are associated with growth and development of the once regarded blight areas, leading to modern facilities available for use by residents of the city (Boo, 2010; Mcldoe, 2013). On the other hand, the centres are known to have huge infrastructural costs, establishing the modern facilities means heavy investment in tools, equipment and human capital, all of which are expensive to finance (Goldberger, 1983). Simultaneously, opportunity costs have to be done; alternatives are foregone in order to create these centres. All this pros and cons can only be well taken off if analysis is done and the factors that have greater weight automatically influence the decisions to be taken. From this research it seems that various states considered more of the pros than the cons in establishing the centres. This is the reason that has influenced the intensification of these centres. All this issues have been brought out in this research article. Despite of the fact that conventional centres have economic and social advantages to the country as a whole; the research should have had some details about views from ministries related to development and infrastructure. The national government is both a direct and indirect beneficiary of these centres and therefore this research should have put the views of these institutions into focus. Most of the states have world class centres which have national importance both social and economically. The tourism ministry out to give its data on the importance of these centres, this will add impetus into the arguments for and provide some of the answers to the critical questions that remain unanswered according to this research (Media & Smith, nd). In addition, the research has not put into perspective the legal provision regarding the establishment of centres in the various centres. The issue of costs features prominently in this research, there should be a legal; provision that governs that costs to be incurred in their expenditure, the revenue allocation issues among others. These are critical issues which need to have missed in the making of this research. In any state, revenue allocation is a critical matter that concerns financial management. Government or county expenditures are usually protected by special legal requirements that help to weigh the financial pros and cons of their establishment. This is something that has not featured in this research. Conclusion The critique of this research has been very vital in broadening my scope of thinking with reference to research analysis. People conduct different kinds of research for various intentions. Critiquing a research helps consider whether important procedures in typical research exercises are considered. In this research, the author has been very extensive in providing the pros and cons of conventional centres with regard to their rapid growth and development in various states in the United States. The purpose of any critique is not to devalue or disregard a piece of research but rather to provide opportunities for further developmental research of the issue. As pointed out earlier, this research has given enough room for further research into the reasons for the growth of conventional centres at the expense of other city attractions. This is the basis upon which future research will lie until the issue is given satisfactory information. References Boo S., (2010). The Influence of Convention Center Performance on Hotel Room Nights. Journal of travel research. 49(3), p. 297-309. Fenich, G, G., (1992). Convention center development: pros, cons and unanswered Goldberger, P., (1983). Convention Center Problems Partly Resolved. The New York Times. Retrieved from; < http://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/01/nyregion/convention-center-problems-partly-resolved.html> Hazinski, T. A. (Jan 29, 2010). How Convention Centers Influence Hotel Markets. Retrieved from http://www.hvs.com/article/4405/how-convention-centers-influence-hotel-markets/ Jansen, H., (2010). The Logic of Qualitative Survey Research and its Position in the Field of Social Research Methods. Jansen. 11(2), p.1 Mcldoe C. (May 13, 2013). Six Technology Trends Revolutionising The Hospitality Industry. Retrieved from http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4060662.html Media, D. & Smith E. (nd). Technology Used in Hospitality & Tourism. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/technology-used-hospitality-tourism-31033.html Questions. Hospitality Management. 11(3), p. 183-196. Sanders, H, T., (2002). Convention Myths and Markets: A Critical Review of Convention Center Feasibility Studies. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. 16(3), p. 195-210. Read More