Personal Narrative - Mother Ireland :: Example Personal Narratives

Mother Ireland   My family is proud to boast a long and bass history mothered by the Emerald isle of Erin, which is Gaelic for Ireland. My familys clan was first called the ONeills, and we inhabited the outskirts of a small village which now goes by the name of County Cork. We were minstrels, actors and musicians in the courts of our familys home for many generations. An interesting component of recent history about my family is that we are closely related to the Kennedys on my fathers side. My grandmother was one of the Davises, who in some way were related intimately to the Fitzgeralds, who were magic trick F. Kennedys mothers close family. And not too many people know this, but one of the young Kennedy ladies had the good fortune of marrying the famous Mr. Arnold Schwartzenagger.   I wish to go even farther back, though, to the era of the Medieval Renaissance on the Isle, when my family owned their own lands and estate, and the head of our family was known as one of the first rulers of Ireland. Our familys castle and lands persist standing to this day, but are inhabited by no one for failure to pay twenty million dollars in back taxes over the bygone three hundred years. So now our familys castle sits as a tourist attraction on the coast of Erin, as a reminder of the rich and time-honored beauty it has brought and will always bring to the Island.   Our family owes its debt of gratitude to one young man. The rule who was living in our familys castle at the time had two sons. At the time, having two sons meant that the ruler would have to entrust his lands and properties to one of them when he died. Since the ruler could not decide whom to entrust the castle to, he told them to have boat hasten around the shores of Roan Innish (Isle of the Seals, a small island off the coast of Ireland). So it was determined that whoever was first to touch the shoreline on the other side of the island would acquire all of his father s wealth. Well, the race was long and hard, and the younger son grew so tired that he could not row one second longer even though he was so close to the shoreline.

IQ test Essay -- Argumentative

According to the web localise, I have an IQ of 113. I aspect as though a place like www.iqtest.com could produce a g score because they make you pay too see an analysis of your results, which indicates to me that they put some effort into producing fairly close scores. General intelligence, also known as g, describes an individuals specific mental ability, which is measured by tasks on an IQ test (Myers p. 405). The site breaks down your overall IQ results into different categories of intelligence and gives you an IQ score for how well you tested in a given athletic field. For example, there is a socio-economic class for spatial intelligence which is ones ability to predict what actions will happen based on varied conditions (Website). By looking at the broken down results you shadow compare areas you have strengths in, versus the areas you might struggle in. This is in accordance to what Charles Sherman found when he discovered that people who score high in one area tend to sc ore high in similar categories (Myers p. 405). For a person to see what their g score would be they would simply have to look at which category they scored highest in and from that they would see in which area they have the highest intelligence in. I do not think this on-line IQ test is a good predictor of a persons future achievements. However, I do feel like they can be used in a positive way because they can help identify a persons strengths and weakness. Using the results of an IQ a teacher can help build on a childs strengths or help a child be brought up to a certain level by using various principle methods that the test helps identify (Myers p. 471). Therefore because of this an IQ test is a poor indictor of future achievement because a child can work to improve what... ...t I am doing is correct. Also, when I was first starting out in school I was taught with a lot visual objects, because of this I had a hard magazine on this test because I had to do everything in my head. My parents growing instilled in me that if I work hard enough I can do anything I wanted, it would not matter how smart you are. Thus I have always thought that IQ tests cannot predict success, but can help act as a guide and a place to build from. I feel as though this test might be a fairly straight portray of my IQ. However, the test was heavily math involved, which I tend to struggle in. Also the test made me do everything in my head. Since I consider myself a visual person I tend to have to see the work I am doing in order to be successful. Thus I feel as though if this test allowed me to do the work how I do my own I feel as though I would have through better.

Financial Services Essay -- Industry Body Finances Essays

Financial functionIntroduction to Financial Services1.0Financial Services is a growing industry, which provides for the financial needs of individual consumers and businesses. This unitexplores the needs of and products available for both the consumersand businesses. The term financial service covers a wide present ofproducts including accounts for depositing money, loans, savings andinvestments, pension and financial advice.Financial Services for individual consumers are available from banks,building societies and also from organizations such as supermarketsand insurance companies, over the counter, by telephone or over theInternet.Businesses have financial needs when they start up, expand and carryon day-to-day business activities. These needs include financing,insurance, bookkeeping, defrayment services, investment and generalfinancial advice. A variety of financial institutions can providethese services banks, insurance and investment companies and firms ofaccountants.In this a ssignment I provide produce a report which analyses thefinancial needs of three different types of customers and investigatethe ways in which these needs can be satisfied by a range of financialservice providers. Two of the customers are personal customers ofcontrasting types. In this case I will be talking intimately a graduatefrom university and parents of two children. I will estimate theirlikely expenditure and income in the form of a personal budget.In the 2nd childbed I will recommend how those needs can be met and fromwhich type of financial institution (an assessment of the cost,returns, risks and benefits of the products).To Business Studies Department of S.G.M Ref 1122From Demet Gocer Date 02/11/04Title Analysis of financial needs of a graduate from university and amarried couple both employed with children.1.0 Terms of ReferenceOn Monday seventh September 2004 , I was asked to write a report onfinancial services by the business studies department. This report iswritte n by Demet Gocer, and is based on an analysis of two customers,and an estimate of their likely income and expenditure, in a form of acash-flow forecast, and an assessment of their financial needs, I alsoneed to identify the financial service needs of a business, andexplaining how the size of an organization can be a signi... ...eeds to be changed or withdrawn.Supply of goods and services actThis act involves the bring out of services, including those for thesupply of financial services. The following are included in thecontract- The services will be performed with reasonable care- The work will be done within a reasonable time- A reasonable charge will be madeReasons for formulas In general terms legislation in this area isintended to- Protect those with weaker bargaining power, e.g. employees in a large firm or small firms negotiating with a large powerful change over union- Ensure that all UK firms meet the needs of customers in a cost effective way which will lead to inter national competitiveness there are plenty of regulations and laws that aim to protect thepublic when they are buying or using financial products or services,they are mostly formulated by particular industry bodies, an industrybody is not a government regulator, but a group which representssimilar kinds of business (e.g banks, or mortgage lenders) thuslycustomers know that if they deal with a business that is a member ofthat body, they will be treated in a particular way.

Sterilizing the World of ‘Dumb’ People . . . Why It Won’t Work :: Argumentative Persuasive Intelligence Essays

Sterilizing the World of Dumb People . . . Why It Wont Work If we could just keep dumb people from having children, eventually there would be nothing but smart people and this would be a better place. After reading this statement once and not genuinely fully considering it, a lot of people may agree. At some point in their lives, many people may look at certain p arents and their children and say, those people really should not be allowed to have children. Usually these thoughts are just thoughts, for who are we to say who can and cannot have children. However, what if a government official proposed to sterilize everyone with less(prenominal) than an average IQ of 100. Would preventing dumb people from reproducing really make this world a better place? Is the status of our society based on the scholarship of its people alone? The answer to solving the worlds problems and making this a better place to live are not that simple. There are many complex issues around defining an d measuring learning. Even if we knew for sure that only smart people make this place better, would sterilizing the dumb work? How grave is it to take into account other things that may affect a persons development? Intelligence is influenced by the interaction of genetics, environment, and culture therefore, sterilizing people would likely not keep the world free of people with an IQ of less than 100. If the world were cleansed of dumb people, it would not guarantee a perfect world. Having a last IQ does not mean that a person will necessarily make this world a better place. Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, had the IQ of a genius. He fatigued years of his life terrorizing, injuring, and killing people. On the other hand, just because a person has a low IQ does not mean they cannot make this a better place. Take, for example, the Forest Gumps of the world or the mentally challenged. They may not be very smart on what our society subjectively calls intelligence, but they may bring joy and purpose to someone elses life. Making this world a better place is not something left strictly up to the intelligence of the people in it. Anyone supporting the government officials proposal is assuming that peoples intelligence alone causes the condition of the world, and there is no proof of this.

Sir John Hawkwood :: Essays Papers

Sir John HawkwoodEnglish Mercenary1320-1394 Sir John Hawkwood (1320-1394), similarly cognize as Giovanni Acuto, was an English mercenary fighting in Italy during the 1300s. He is considered the jump military leader of the modern times. He was a member of the lily-white friendship of Englishmen, which was famous for its white armor, and loud harsh war cries. These men were infamous for their night raids. Hawkwood and his men never remained loyal to one side but were eternally changing sides of the war depending on who paid the most money. Money is what Hawkwood desired. He learned to fight during the Hundred Years War in France, where he fought first under Edward III and then(prenominal) at the command of his own company, which sacked Provence. When he came to Italy in 1360, he was first employed by the city of Pisa, then by the Viscontis of Milan, by Pope Gregory XI and lastly by Florence. In 1364 Hawkwood with his Pisan troops was the enemy of the Florentines an d had raided their city but they forgave him and established such a satisfactory relationship with him that he was honored on his death with the equestrian monument frescoed by Paolo Uccello in Santa Maria del Fiore (1436). This monument is in the Florence Cathedral. In August of 1372, Hawkwoods White Company under the pay of the Viscontti fought Enguerrand de Coucy. Hawkwoods men were served with at least two pages. These pages made sure the armor was as bright as a mirror, and they also held the horses during the battles. Hawkwood desired the armor to look like a mirror in order to make them look more fierce. The men fought on foot in a tight circle that no enemy could break. Coucy claims that the war cries of the White Company were fierce and instilled fear in the enemy. After this battle, Hawkwood teams up with Coucy to take the city of Mantua. In 1375, at the age of 55, John Hawkwood fathered two sons without getting married. In this same year, he led raids into Tuscany to get spoils since the Pope was late on his payments. Hawkwood was not a religious man and did not deal with authority very well.

Sir John Hawkwood :: Essays Papers

Sir John HawkwoodEnglish Mercenary1320-1394 Sir John Hawkwood (1320-1394), withal cognize as Giovanni Acuto, was an English mercenary fighting in Italy during the 1300s. He is considered the eldest military leader of the modern times. He was a member of the dust coat phoner of Englishmen, which was famous for its white armor, and loud harsh war cries. These men were infamous for their night raids. Hawkwood and his men never remained loyal to one side but were ever changing sides of the war depending on who paid the most money. Money is what Hawkwood desired. He learned to fight during the Hundred Years War in France, where he fought first under Edward III and and so at the command of his own company, which sacked Provence. When he came to Italy in 1360, he was first employed by the urban center of Pisa, then by the Viscontis of Milan, by Pope Gregory XI and lastly by Florence. In 1364 Hawkwood with his Pisan troops was the enemy of the Florentines and had raided their city but they forgave him and established such a equitable relationship with him that he was honored on his death with the equestrian monument frescoed by Paolo Uccello in Santa Maria del Fiore (1436). This monument is in the Florence Cathedral. In August of 1372, Hawkwoods White Company under the pay of the Viscontti fought Enguerrand de Coucy. Hawkwoods men were served with at least two pages. These pages made sure the armor was as bright as a mirror, and they also held the horses during the battles. Hawkwood desired the armor to look like a mirror in order to make them look more fierce. The men fought on foot in a tight circle that no enemy could break. Coucy claims that the war cries of the White Company were fierce and instilled fear in the enemy. After this battle, Hawkwood teams up with Coucy to take the city of Mantua. In 1375, at the age of 55, John Hawkwood fathered two sons without getting married. In this same year, he led raids into Tuscany to get spoils since the Pope was late on his payments. Hawkwood was not a religious man and did not deal with authority very well.

Budgeting Practices and Performance in Small Healthcare Businesses

attention Accounting investigate 21 (2010) 4055 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Management Accounting Research journal homepage www. elsevier. com/ go under/mar Budgeting make outs and military operation in down(p)(a) intumesceness take handicraftes Robyn baron a , Peter M. Clarkson a,b,? , Sandra Wallace c a b c UQ line of work School, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia Faculty of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada V5A 1S6 Department of Accounting and BIS, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c tWe correspond ca sub program linking primal healthc atomic number 18 trading characteristics, cyphering dedicates, and rail line mathematical process. Based on a sample of 144 responses from a survey of members of the Australian Association of Practice Managers (AAPM), we ? nd that featureors identi? ed by accident-based enquiry argon holdful for predicting a courses budgeting confides. Speci? cally, we ? nd the come afterion of compose budgets to be related to surface and structure, and for businesses using written budgets, the extent of use is related to business structure, strategy and sensed environmental un certainty.Finally, we ? nd enjoin of a affinity amid budgeting practice and execution. Here, we initially ? nd a businesss effect to be positively associated with the use of written budgets. More re? ned tests of the ? t amongst business accident performers and extent of operating budget use harmonisely provide evidence of a positive association between the extent of ? t and performance. Crown Copyright 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords Budgeting SME wellnessc are businesses . Introduction This study investigates the relationship between contextual pointors identi? ed from contingency-based search, the adoption and extent of use of budgets, and business performance within the Austr alian base healthcare riding horse. 1 We center on budgets because they are considered to be whizz of the main management control systems This study is based life- coatdly on Robyn Kings Honours thesis finished in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland.The authors would like to thank the editor and the two anonymous referees, as well as workshop participants at Monash and Swinburne Universities, the 2007 AFAANZ yearly Conference, and especially Aldonio Ferreira, Axel Schultz, Shannon Anderson and Julie Walker for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. ? Corresponding author at UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia. Tel. +61 7 3346 8015 fax +61 7 3365 6788. netmail address P. emailprotected uq. edu. au (P. M. Clarkson). Primary healthcare is the initial care of a patient as an outpatient excluding diagnostic testing tertiary healthcare is that provided in a hospital gravelting. (MCS) in disposals, wee-wee bee n found to be the earliest MCS that a business adopts, and continue to receive signi? argot attention in the research lit and in t each(prenominal)ing material (e. g. , Davila and Foster, 2005, 2007 Sandino, 2007). We select the Australian primary healthcare sector as our experimental setting two because of its importance socially and economically, and because it is credibly to be comprised of businesses that vary broadly in their budgeting practices.Contingency-based research proposes that there is no single MCS suitable for all businesses. Instead, the suitability of a particular MCS is argued to be contingent upon(p) upon characteristics of a business including its size, strategy, structure, and as well as managements perceptions of the uncertainty of the environment within which the business operates. We begin by examining the relationship between a businesss budgeting practices and these four contextual instruments. In so doing, we imagine the development of a budgeting practice as consisting of two stages, the initial conclusiveness regarding adoption and the posterior decision regarding extent of use.Here, the term adoption re? ects the decision by a business to use a starchy process to project its incoming 1044-5005/$ see front matter. Crown Copyright 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi10. 1016/j. mar. 2009. 11. 002 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 41 ?nancial performance (Davila and Foster, 2005). Alternatively, the term extent of use refers to both the emergence of different examples of budgets the business uses and the frequency of their use. In our analysis, we develop arguments for, and investigate, these two stages separately.We past release to consider the relationship between a businesss budgeting practice and its performance. The relative ? t of the businesss MCS with its contingency factors is argued to stir on performance, with performance increasing with the degree of ? t (Chenhall, 2003). Thus, ceterus paribus, businesses using a practice which does non ? t, whether by over-budgeting or under-budgeting, are expected to experience weaker performance. We argue that non all of our sample businesses are believably to exhibit best budgeting practice because of the dif? ulties associated with identifying and implementing best practice, and the discontinuous nature of upgrades (Luft, 1997). We examine the relation between ? t and performance using the method proposed by Ittner and Larcker (2001) and classi? ed as a Cartesian/Contingency approach (Gerdin and Greve, 2004). Degree of ? t is flierd as the difference between the extent of budget use and that predicted by the businesss contingency factors. This approach assumes that at any point, not all businesses entrust in fact arrive at implemented their optimal practice.To conduct our investigation, a written survey of 988 members of the Australian Association of Practice Managers (AAPM) was underta ken. In brief, we ? nd that braggyr, more de channel healthcare businesses are more potential to adopt written budgets. Further, for the subset of businesses that use written budgets, we ? nd that the extent of budget use is positively associated with structure (decentralisation) and strategy ( personify leadership), and negatively associated with perceived environmental uncertainty ( muscularity). Finally, we document a relationship between choice of budgeting practice and performance.Here, we initially ? nd performance to be positively associated with the use of written budgets. More re? ned tests wherefore provide evidence of a positive association between the degree of ? t and performance. Our study makes several contributions. First, we present evidence that contingency factors do indeed provide insights into both the adoption of budgets and the extent of their use for our sample of small Australian primary healthcare businesses. Interestingly, the results propose that siz e and structure capture the businesss initial decision to adopt a formal budgeting practice.However, at one time a business has pick out a formal practice, strategy, structure, and perceived environmental uncertainty appear to be the primary determinants underlying the incidental decision regarding the extent of budget use. We likewise present evidence that the ? t of our sample businesss budgeting practices is associated with performance. To our k directledge, there has been relatively little empirical evidence on this relationship documented in the literature to date. Second, contingency-based research has predominantly been conducted in the outsized business sector.We extend this work by examining a small business setting. We argue that our setting has the advantage of allowing for an examination not provided of the extent of budget use but also of the initial decision to adopt a budgeting practice. In con- junction, it also provides an opportunity to examine more closely t he different underlying theoretical constructs of size that the two some comm precisely employ proxies, gross fees and full-time equivalent employees, may be capturing. Finally, from a practical perspective the healthcare sector is under continuing pressure to increase its ef? iency. This study contributes by examining the contexts in which the use of budgets is associated with enhanced performance in primary healthcare. The results should be of bene? t to both practitioners and those who advise practitioners on MCS design. The remainder of this paper is structured as views discussion section 2 presents background material Section 3 describes our experimental setting Section 4 presents the hypotheses, Section 5 the method and Section 6 the results and Section 7 provides a summary and conclusions. 2. punctuate MCS have been de? ed as all devices and systems that businesses use to ensure that the behaviours and decisions of their employees are invariable with the organisations clinicals and strategies (Malmi and Brown, 2008). We focus on a businesss decision regarding its budgeting practices. Budgets are considered an MCS because they tooshie in? uence the behaviours and decisions of employees by translating a businesss objectives into plans for action, communicating the objectives, and providing a benchmark against which to assess performance.We think budgets as both an important and appropriate focus given that they are considered to be one of the main MCS in organisations, have been found to be the earliest system adopted in startup businesses, and continue to receive signi? cant attention in the research literature and in teaching material (Davila and Foster, 2005, 2007 Sandino, 2007). Within the MCS literature, the term budgeting is used to refer to a broad range of topics (see Chapman et al. (2007) for a review). In this study, we de? e a budget as a forward looking set of poetry which projects the future ? nancial performance of a business, and which is useful for evaluating the ? nancial viability of the businesss chosen strategy or deciding whether changes to the boilersuit plan are use upd (Davila and Foster, 2005). Budgets have been identi? ed as playing a number of personas which include making goals explicit, coding learning, facilitating co-ordination, promoting accountability, facilitating control, and contracting with external parties (Davila et al. 2009). Bene? ts of budgeting include increasing ef? ciency finished readiness and co-ordination, back up both control and learning with the comparison of actual results with plans, and more globally the ability to weave together all the disparate threads of an organisation into a comprehensive plan that serves many purposes (Hansen and Otley, 2003). Given these various roles and potential bene? ts, one might expect all businesses to adopt a formal budgeting practice.In fact, this view appears to underlie much of the empirical MCS research predominantly conducted in a large business setting, as it is much assumed that large businesses will already have formal MCS that can be readily examined (Chenhall, 2003). Here, the focus has typically 42 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 been on the adoption and performance implications of speci? c MCS innovations like activity based costing (ABC) (Ittner et al. , 2002). However, it is argued in the MCS literature that a rational adoption decision should require an evaluation of the associated cost as well as the bene? s (Davila and Foster, 2005). Costs of a formal MCS include the easily measuring stickd out of pocket costs associated with implementing and operating the system (Hansen and Otley, 2003 Hansen and Van der Stede, 2004). Other costs that are not so easily measured are the possibility that budgets create rigidity thereby limiting co-operation and creative response, over-emphasise short-term cost control and top down authority, encourage gaming, and de-motivate e mployees (Hansen and Otley, 2003 Hansen and Van der Stede, 2004). Further, arguably the bene? s and costs associated with adopting a formal budgeting practice will not be the same for ein truth business but will depend on business-speci? c contextual factors. Thus, ex ante, it is not illumine that adoption of a formal budgeting practice is necessarily a rational outcome for all businesses. Our study distinguishes itself from the majority of the MCS literature by focusing on the small business setting, speci? cally the primary healthcare business sector. Within this sector, we argue that it is likely that for some businesses, the costs of budgeting will outweigh the perceived bene? s whereas the talk about will likely be true for others. Thus, we argue that this setting provides the opportunity to gain insights into both the decision regarding the adoption of budgets as well as the subsequent decision regarding the extent of their use. We investigate the contextual factors that del ineate the costs and bene? ts associated with budgeting from a contingency framework perspective. Our initial focus is on the contextual factors that differentiate adopters from non-adopters.We then consider those factors that drive the decision regarding the extent of budget use and conclude with an investigation into the relationship between the ? t of a businesss budgeting practice with its contextual factors and its performance. In adopting a contingency framework perspective, we acknowledge that research referring to contingency theory has been subject to the criticism that contingency is a general mind instead than a theory as there is no a priori intuition of its own as to what the pertinent factors are and as to their likely consequences (Spekle, 2001).In this study, we do not consider contingency as a theory but rather as a framework for investigating identi? ed factors for which we have a priori intuition based on other organisational, economic and sociological theories. A further criticism of the contingency-based literature is its simplistic nature of investigating one contextual factor or MCS at a time (Fisher, 1995). In the face of this criticism, some studies have begun investigating multiple contextual proteans simultaneously (Hansen and Van der Stede, 2004 Cadez and Guilding, 2008). We also consider multiple contextual factors, speci? cally those identi? ed in Chenhalls (2003) review of the MCS literature since 1980. This review con? rms environment, technology,3 structure and size as the descriptors of the fundamental generic wine elements of context. Strategy is also included as it emerged in the 1980s as an important factor that in? uences the design of MCS (Lang? eld-Smith, 1997). Finally, contingency-based research has its roots in sociology. The underlying premise of sociology is that humans are boundedly rational and satis? cing (March and Simon, 1958).Bounded rationality can impede decision-making as not all possible alternatives a re known with certainty at a given point in time. One identi? ed role of MCS is to assist managers in decision-making (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967). However, the decision on the optimal MCS is itself restricted by bounded rationality, as well as the personal incentives of the manager. Thus, while conceptually organisations may be expected to use the optimal MCS, this is not always possible. Businesses go about the same contextual factors may therefore choose different MCS, with the differences re? cted in their performance. In our study, we investigate the effect of a mismatch between the contextual variables and the extent of use of budgets on performance. 3. Experimental setting We adopt the Australian primary healthcare sector as our experimental setting for two reasons. First, we view it as an inherently interesting research setting in its own right, given its importance both socially and economically. Second, we believe it to be an ideal setting within which to conduct an invest igation into budgeting because as argued below, it is a sector within which there are likely both signi? ant incentives and disincentives to budget. Thus, this setting provides the advantages of the controls that arise from works within a single industry while at the same time, one within which variation in budget use can passably be expected. 4 In detail, the Australian primary healthcare sector plays a uniquely important role in terms of both the operate it provides and its place in the economy. In terms of services, it represents the gateway through which patients most typically enter the health system. Initial contact with For a sample of 57 organisational units, all with budgeting practices in place, Hansen and Van der Stede (2004) undertook an exploratory study focusing on four contextual factors (strategy, structure, environment, and size) as possible antecedents to identi? ed reasons to budget. Alternatively, for a sample of large businesses, mostly manufacturing from Slov enia, Cadez and Guilding (2008) ? nd that superior performance results from an appropriate match between the contingent factors strategy, size, and market orientation, and strategic management method of account applications. We initially considered technology as an additional contextual variable but decided against its inclusion given our choice of experimental setting. Recent advances in medical technology have squeeze on diagnostic specialties such as pathology and radiology (specialties not included in our study) to a much greater degree than primary healthcare. With the exception of three opthalmologists, the only specializers included in the survey were those that provide outpatient services from private rooms and like GPs, still largely rely on their aptitude and basic instruments such as the stethoscope.From an administrative and medical records perspective, the use of technology is widespread, with computers being used in 89. 8% of all GP practices and 94. 5% of all spe cialist practices in 2002 (ABS, 2002). 4 In this regard, Merchant (1981) declareed that a desirable extension of budgeting studies guided by contingency frameworks would be to collect data from samples chosen to magnify the variation on the dimensions of interest while controlling for the many possible interacting factors which obscure or distort the ? ndings. R. King et al. Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 43 the health system is through a general medical practitioner (GP). For specialised care, patients are then referred to specialist medical practitioners. GPs and specialists provide this primary care from private consulting rooms and refer on to other providers for diagnostic tests. 5 Economically, the sector contributed 1. 71% of GDP in 2007 (AIHW, 2008). 6 Faced with rising costs, doctor shortages and increasing waiting times, primary healthcare businesses are increasingly under pressure to become more ef? ient (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). Here, budge ting has been identi? ed as a management accounting tool that enhances ? nancial performance and mends ef? ciency (Davila and Foster, 2007). Further, the majority of the inhabiting management accounting research has been focussed on in-hospital care so little is known about MCS in the outpatient setting (Abernethy et al. , 2007), with the exception of a recent U. S. -based study of the relation between performance-based compensation and ownership of primary healthcare businesses (Ittner et al. 2007). Taken together, these facts reinforce our view that the primary healthcare sector within Australia is an important and potentially fruitful setting for the conduct of MCS research generally, and research into budgeting practices more narrowly. More directly to the authentic investigation, we seek an experimental setting with variation in budget use, including the presence of both adopters and non-adopters. We believe that a number of factors conspire to make the primary healthcare se ctor a reasonable choice, ex ante.First, the small business sector has been argued to have lower take aims of formal planning and control (Chenhall and Lang? eld-Smith, 1998). As such, it might also be expected to include non-adopters. 7 In Australia, primary healthcare is largely provided by private businesses possess by the doctors working in the business as sole traders, in partnership, or through a company. Management of these businesses has traditionally been by the owner, although there now appears to be a trend towards the delegation of management to practice managers. 8These primary healthcare businesses typically have fewer than 50 employees and would thereby most often be classi? ed as small businesses according to the OECD de? nition (Holmes and Kelly, 1989). 9 Second, prior research also ? nds that rapid growth small-to-medium enterprises (SME) provide more extensive future-oriented ? nancial inform than matched non-growth concerns (McMahon, 2001). Arguably, small pri mary healthcare businesses are less likely to be rapidly growing as there is currently an undersupply of primary healthcare workers callable to an ageing workforce and restrictions on training places. 0 These limited organic growth prospects further our expectations of ? nding non-adopters. Third, ? rms within the service sector typically do not gather up to account for stock, thereby eliminating one driving force behind the use of sophisticated MCS. Finally, research on small and family business supports the view that requirement management skills are required before planning can be initiated (Gibb and Scott, 1985). Since there is a lower likelihood that primary healthcare owners, the majority of whom are doctors, have formal training in MCS, non-adoption is even more likely relative to other service sectors.Conversely, there are also economic incentives to adopt budgets. As noted, primary healthcare businesses are under increasing pressure to become more ef? cient. The National Health Performance Committee has adopted a framework speci? cally designed for measuring healthcare system performance, with one of the identi? ed components being ef? ciency. In response, a number of institutions and private management consultants now cristal reading on managing primary healthcare practices that includes training on budgeting. 1 In conjunction, there is the added incentive to undertake these education programs in that continuing education is a requirement of the accreditation process for GP practices. Further, only certify practices can access Practice Incentive Payments (PIP) from the Federal Government which can represent signi? cant additional revenue. 12 5 There is currently no Medicare funding for diagnostic services provided within the primary healthcare setting and so, these businesses do not invest in the associated technology. The specialist practices included in the study were the private rooms of orthopaedic surgeons, opthalmologists, ermatologists, gynaecologists, and gastroenterologists. These specialists conduct initial consultation and post operative follow up from their private rooms but perform procedures in hospitals or day surgeries for which they have visitation rights, using equipment supplied by the hospital/day surgical procedure where a fee is charged directly to the patient for its use. 6 Overall, the healthcare industry contributed 8. 98% of GDP in 20062007, with 19% of recurrent health white plague on medical services provided by GPs and specialists. In 20062007, Medicare paid $4029. million for GP services, representing an intermediate 4. 93 items per capita (AIHW, 2008). 7 In contrast, international studies of formal budget use have focused on large businesses, ? nding the vast majority use yearly ? xed budgets (Horngren et al. , 2006). Australian evidence is consistent, with 97% of large businesses found to use budgets (Chenhall and Lang? eld-Smith, 1998). 8 The exact extent to which management is being d elegated to practice managers is uncertain given a lack of studies into the prevalence or role of practice managers (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). There were 9600 private GP practices operating in Australia at the end of June 2002. Of these, 68. 5% were single practitioner practices employing 2. 9 persons on average, and only 100 employed more than 10 practitioners. At the same time, there were 9864 private specialist practices, 89. 7% of which were solo specialist practices employing an average 3. 2 persons and only 19. 2% had greater than 10 practitioners (ABS, 2002). 10 There has been a recognised unfavourable long-term trend since 1999 towards an increasing percentage of primary care practitioners healed 55 years or over.In conjunction, the World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts a global workforce shortage of 4. 25 million health workers over the beside decade (Cresswell, 2007). 11 The 20082009 Federal Government Budget proposal includes administered Program 5. 3Pr imary Care Policy, Innovation and Research which among other things, funds initiatives to improve service delivery and help GPs access current best business practice. As a part of their response, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the AAPM have make available speci? cally tailored business education programs for healthcare managers. 2 The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) standards for general practice include Our administrative staff can describe (and there is evidence of) training undertaken in the past 3 years that is germane(predicate) to their role in our practice. The practice manager is speci? cally mentioned in the standard, as is the term practice management training. In order to access Practice Incentive Payments, GP practices must have complied with the RACGP standards. In 2007, 80% of GP practices were accredited (AIHW, 2008).By way of context, an accredited practice with 44 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 40 55 However, notwithstanding, for some businesses, given their lack of size and sophistication, these incentives are unlikely to outweigh the costs of budgeting which include the initial investment in software, skills, and the added labour hours. 4. Hypothesis development 4. 1. Overview This study investigates the relationship between factors identi? ed from contingency-based research, the adoption and extent of use of budgets, and business performance. The speci? contextual factors we consider are size, structure, strategy, and perceived environmental uncertainty (Chenhall, 2003). We argue, based on how each identi? ed factor is expected to impact both a businesss packs for and thereby the bene? ts it derives from budgeting, and also its ability to suffer the costs of a budgeting practice, that the four contingency factors play different roles relative to the two stages of the budgeting decision. Speci? cally, we predict that a businesss adoption decision primarily related to its size and to a lesser extent, its structure (decentralisation).For businesses that make the room access adoption decision, we predict that those that are more decentralised, employ a cost leadership strategy, and for which management perceives a lower level of environmental uncertainty will use budgets to a greater extent. Quite clearly, however, the roles played by the various factors ultimately remain an empirical question and as such, we give consideration to each when we empirically model the two stages of the budgeting decision. Finally, we predict that the match between the contextual factors and extent of budget use will be re? ected in business performance. These predictions are formalised below. . 2. Determinants of budgeting practice 4. 2. 1. Size The construct of size has frequently been viewed as re? ecting two dimensions, complexity and availableness of imaginations, with both argued to be increasing with size (Fredrickson and Mitchell, 1984 mintzberg, 1994). piece of music small, single-business organisations can often be controlled with largely informal mechanisms such as direct supervision and spontaneous conferences, larger organisations require more formal controls as the increased complexity associated with a larger number of employees creates problems in social control, communication, and co-ordination (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967).Here, Davila (2005) argues, following Levitt and March (1988), that to encounter ef? ciency in managing the organisation, co-ordination and control mechanisms are formalised with the objective of coding and documenting organisational learning and reducing the demand that routine activities impose on the management teams time. Further, in terms of a businesss ability to invest in a formal budgeting practice, it is widely accepted that larger businesses are cleanse positioned given their greater resources, ? nancial and otherwise.Larger businesses not only have the resources required to acquire software and ski lls but they can also more ef? ciently achieve these administrative tasks through economies of scale and the greater technical specialisation of their employees (Merchant, 1981). Chenhall (2003) ? nds that size has been considered as a contextual variable in only a few MCS studies as most examine relatively large businesses. Such a ? nding ? ts well with Banbury and Nahapiets (1979) argument that there should only be a relationship between resource availability and the introduction of formal systems in organisations of relatively small size.Consistent with these types of arguments, small business studies exhibit size as in? uencing the acquisition and preparation of accounting instruction including budgets (Holmes and Nicholls, 1989 McMahon, 2001). Further, evidence from longitudinal studies of startup businesses suggests that size in? uences the decision to adopt operating budgets, with larger ? rms adopting the budgets sooner (Davila and Foster, 2005, 2007). They ? nd that when the business is small, control and co-ordination happens through frequent informal interactions but that the ef? iency of an informal system requiring direct contact with employees rapidly decreases with increasing size, thereby making it more ef? cient to use a formal control system. In the primary healthcare setting, we view the ? xed costs associated with the adoption of a budgeting practice to be signi? cant and thus, following the arguments of Davila and Foster (2005), propose size as a determining contingency factor underlying the adoption decision. In this sector, businesses are required to comply with substantive red tape that places burdensome demands on their resources (Productivity Commission, 2003).As such, it is likely that only larger businesses have both the need for and the resources to devote to budgeting. Smaller practices are unlikely to be able divert resources extraneous from their primary revenue generating clinical activities. Thus, we predict a positive rel ationship between business size and use of budgets. However, we also argue consistent with Banbury and Nahapiet (1979) that once a business has reached a critical size and uses a budget, size is unlikely to play a signi? cant further role in the inclination of budgeting practice. Thus, our ? st hypothesis, expressed in the alternative, is H1 . The adoption of written budgets by primary healthcare businesses is positively associated with business size. 4. 2. 2. Structure The structure of a business relates to the formal speci? cation of roles for organisational members or tasks for groups to ensure that the activities of the organisation are carried out (Chenhall, 2003). While two components, differentiation and integration, have been identi? ed in the literature, we focus only on differentiation because of the small size of our sample businesses. Differentiation is de? ed as the extent to which managers act as quasi-owners and is achieved through decentralisation of authority (Lawr ence and Lorsch, 1967). A centralised busi- 4 FTE urban GPs would receive $60,000 per annum from PIP (Medicare, 2009). R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 45 ness structure is characterised by decision-making that is restricted to owners and focal ratio management whereas a decentralised business delegates decision-making to lower levels of management and operational staff. Given the closer links between the ownership and control of the business, ecision-making in centralised businesses should require relatively fewer MCS. Herein, existing evidence reveals centralised businesses as having relatively few administrative controls and less sophisticated budgets while decentralised businesses have more formal controls (B fall outs and Waterhouse, 1975 Merchant, 1981). We thus argue that structure has the potential to play a role in a businesss initial decision to adopt a budgeting practice, although we view its role as secondary to size since it is unlikely th at the businesss ability to meet the ? ed costs associated with a budget practice will be directly related to its structure. Further, we argue that for small healthcare businesses that have reached the threshold size and use budgets, structure also has the potential to play a role in its subsequent decision as to the extent of use. As the business becomes more differentiated, decentralisation increases and thereby so does the need for formal MCS (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967 Merchant, 1981). Our second hypothesis, expressed in two parts and in the alternative, is then13 H2a .The adoption of written budget by primary healthcare businesses is positively associated with business structure (decentralisation). H2b . The extent of written budget use by primary healthcare businesses which opt to use written budgets is positively associated with business structure (decentralisation). 4. 2. 3. Strategy Business strategy, de? ned as how a business chooses to compete within its particular industr y (Lang? eld-Smith, 1997), has been the focus of much of the research on MCS as opposed to corporate or operational strategy (Chenhall, 2003).While there are a number of different typologies of business strategy, we use Porters typology which focuses on cost leadership and harvest-feast differentiation strategies. Porters cost leaders are characterised by competitive prices, consistent quality, ease of purchase, and a relatively restricted product selection. In contrast, differentiators offer the market something perceived as unique. Different types of MCS will be suited to different strategies due to their differing information and feedback requirements. Cost leadership strategies are argued to require speci? operating goals and budgets to facilitate cost containment at an operational level (Chenhall and Morris, 1995). Alternatively, product differentiator strategies would require more outbound focussed, broadscope, MCS to collect infor- mation on competitors for planning purpose s (Simons, 1987). Since primary healthcare businesses have constraints on the total number of services they can provide such as start hours and the number of medical practitioners, a cost leadership strategy should require that tighter cost controls be in place in order to maintain overall pro? ability. In contrast, a product differentiator strategy operating with higher margins under the same constraints should require fewer controls. While we do not expect strategy to be determinative of the threshold decision to use budgets as it is unlikely to either affect the businesss ability to meet the initial ? xed costs or contribute suf? ciently to the businesss primary need for a budgeting practice, based on the arguments above we do expect it to impact on the desire to invest in marginal costs associated with a greater extent of budget use.Thus, formally, our third hypothesis, expressed in the alternative, is H3 . For small healthcare businesses, which opt to use written budgets, thos e following a cost leadership strategy will use budgets to a greater extent than those following a product differentiation strategy. 4. 2. 4. Perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) PEU is de? ned as a situation where managers perceive elements of the environment to be uncertain, with uncertainty distinguished from risk as uncertainty de? nes situations in which probabilities are not attached (Chenhall, 2003).In a general sense, PEU is seen to be an important contextual factor in the design of MCS because increased PEU makes managerial planning and control more dif? cult (Lawrence and Lorsch, 1967). PEU is, however, a general term and a number of researchers have provided more speci? c classi? cations of the environment (Waterhouse and Tiessen, 1978 Ouchi, 1979). In this study, we focus on the two most commonly researched elements of PEU, the propellant nature of the environment (dynamism) and the level of competition ( opposition).Contingency-based research in large business has found that greater dynamism is associated with a need for more externally focussed, broad scope and timely information (Chenhall and Morris, 1995). Planning becomes more dif? cult in more dynamic conditions as probabilities cannot as easily be attached to future events and controls such as quiet budgets may quickly become outdated. Thus, greater informal communication is required for effective decision-making and formal controls are less bene? cial or desirable (Chapman, 1997). Alternatively, large business research focussed n hostility has found that businesses set about greater competition rely on more formal controls and emphasise budgets (Khandwalla, 1972). Thus, in addition to con? rming PEU as an important contextual factor, these ? ndings also reveal the importance of specifying the dimension of interest (Chenhall, 2003). Consistent with the research on dynamism in large business but in contrast with that on hostility, Matthews and Scott (1995) ? nd for small businesses, t he sophistication of planning decreases with both increased dynamism and increased hostility.They argue from an economic perspective that for small businesses, the more uncertain 13 While it could be argued that it would be impractical for a small business consisting of a single medical practitioner and few administrative staff to have a decentralised structure, given the heavy demands of clinical work on the medical practitioners time, decentralisation is possible to the extent that operational and ? nancial decision-making is delegated to employees. This was con? rmed in discussions in the pilot study. 46 R. King et al. Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 the environment the less likely the manager is to utilise scarce resources on budgets with an unproven effect on performance. The rational manager trying to meet the fundamental goal of making a pro? t will weigh up the bene? ts against the costs associated with budgeting. Based on these arguments and ? ndings, we prop ose that as with strategy, neither dimension of PEU is likely to impact the managers threshold decision to adopt a budget as it does not directly impact on the ability to meet the costs.However, for businesses that have already identi? ed the need and ability to budget, both dynamism and hostility will impact on the decision to incur the added marginal costs of increased budget use. Consistent with Matthews and Scott (1995) and the large organisation literature, given the relatively small nature of our sample businesses and the likely resource constraints that they face, we predict a negative association between the PEU dimension of dynamism and the extent of use. 14 However, contrary to the large rganisation literature but consistent with Matthews and Scott (1995), we also predict a negative association between the PEU dimension of hostility and the extent of use. Our fourth hypothesis, expressed in the alternative, is then H4 . The extent of written budget use by primary healthcar e businesses which opt to use written budgets is negatively associated with the PEU elements of dynamism and hostility. 4. 3. Performance and budgets Budgets have been recommended for planning, monitoring, and controlling business activities, with each thought to assist businesses to achieve pro? ability (Horngren et al. , 2006). However, the effect of budgets on pro? tability has not as yet been clearly demonstrated in the literature (McMahon, 2001). There is evidence of a positive association between the use of budgets and performance as proxied by growth in small and medium enterprises (Gorton, 1999). Even without extensive empirical evidence, planning and the use of appropriate budgets are promoted by academics, educators and accounting practitioners as a esteems of enhancing ? ancial performance (Hansen and Otley, 2003 Gorton, 1999). Thus, we might expect that primary healthcare businesses using budgets experience better performance than those that do not. More carefully, acco rding to contingency-based research, a state of equilibrium in the relationship between the contingency factors and the type of MCS is best described by ? t (Covaleski et al. , 2003). Fit occurs when the organisation designs its practices in such a way that it has a positive impact on performance relative to alternative practices.Thus, there will be no universally effective extent of budget use, as each combination of contingency factors will ? t with different practices. The positive impact on performance of attaining ? t is due to the ef? ciencies that result from using the most suitable MCS. When there is a lesser ? t between the extent of budget use and the contingency factors, performance will be impaired. Further, mis? t will be associated with lower performance irrespective of whether it arises from over-budgeting or under-budgeting. Thus, our ? th hypothesis, stated in the successor form, is H5 . A businesss performance is positively associated with the degree of ? t betwee n the extent of budget use and its contingency factors. The inef? ciencies arise because the need for a budgeting practice is incongruent with the adopted practice. If the business over-commits to budgeting, it is likely to have expended scarce human and ? nancial resources without enjoying commensurate bene? ts. Conversely, if it under-commits, its performance will likely suffer because of control and/or co-ordination problems.To illustrate, consider the various contextual factors identi? ed above. First, regarding size, a relatively small business that uses an extensive budgeting practice will have unnecessarily expended resources implementing and operating the practice when in fact informal communication is practical and likely preferred. Conversely, a relatively large business without a formal budgeting practice will likely ? nd both communication and co-ordination problematic given the complexity associated with a larger number of employees.In a similar fashion, a relatively ce ntralised business with an extensive budgeting practice has likely expended resources on a level of control that is greater than required to encourage employees to make decisions that are in keeping with the organisational objectives. In terms of strategy, a cost leadership strategy requires more speci? c controls than a differentiation strategy. Thus, the adopted business strategy will likely be less effective if an incompatible budgeting practice is implemented to support the strategy. Finally, high levels of PEU make it much more dif? ult to plan with certainty, thereby reducing the need for and advantages of budgeting. Finally, notwithstanding equilibrium-type arguments, we believe that there will be variation in the degree of ? t in our setting given the dif? culties that primary healthcare businesses likely face in identifying and implementing their best budgeting practices. Given their size and medical focus, it is likely that many of our sample businesses approach budgeting from a relatively unsophisticated perspective and/or view it as a lower priority. This makes the process of identifying a practice that ? s relatively slow and involves trial and error type of learning. Here, Luft (1997) argues that while static equilibrium theories can predict the techniques the ? rm should end up with they cannot predict how long it will take to pick up the process or what the path to the solution will be. Thus, it is likely that there will be a lag between the need for and the use of a particular budgeting practice. Milgrom and Roberts (1992) also argue that organisations are dynamically learning and moving towards an optimal level of management accounting practice. The problem of implementing a budget practice that ? s is further complicated by the fact that implementation of new budget practices is likely to 14 The variation in PEU of managers from different industries has typically been the focus of previous research. In this study, industry is a unvaried b ut arguably PEU is still of interest, as it has also been found to vary among the managers of businesses within the same industry (Boyd et al. , 1993). R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 47 occur in a lumpy fashion because when increasing the extent to which they use budgets, businesses are forced to do so in larger rather than smaller increments.As Luft (1997) argues, changes in information systems are often sharply discontinuous. 5. Method 5. 1. Sample frame and description For this study, a cross-sectional research design is used and the quantitative measurement tool is a mail questionnaire. Recognised problems associated with the implementation of survey-based studies include the initial dif? culty of identifying and accessing appropriate respondents, and then of achieving acceptable response rates (Dillman, 2000). In light of this, since budgets are considered to be a traditional management tool and there is an identi? d trend towards designate man agement responsibilities to practice managers, practice managers were chosen as the target subjects for the survey (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). The further problems of contacting practice managers via a cost effective means and support participation were addressed by approaching the Australian Association of Practice Managers (AAPM) for support. The AAPM is the only recognised professional body for practice managers in Australia and consists of managers of dental, medical, and allied health businesses.Currently, there are 1200 members of the AAPM from medical practices, representing approximately 6% of the small private medical businesses operating in Australia. Membership in the AAPM is voluntary subject to an annual subscription fee. There are a number of bene? ts associated with membership including discounts for management education courses and national conferences. Thus, it is likely that members of the AAPM are interested in staying informed about current manageme nt trends, wish to become part of a professional network, and have the means to pay the membership fee.While no demographic data currently exist for practice managers who join the AAPM and those who do not, member businesses appear slightly skewed towards larger practices relative to the population of GP businesses. For 20052006, 83% of GP businesses had between one and ? ve GPs, with the remaining 17% having sestet or more (PHCRIS, 2008). In comparison, for our sample practices, 66. 4% had between one and ? ve GPs and the remaining 33. 6%, six or more. However, notwithstanding this potential bias, the advantages of accessing the AAPM practice manager mailing list and having the AAPM recommend participation are considered to dominate.The questionnaire was initially developed from the existing literature and then pilot tested on a sample of 20 members of the AAPM and ? ve academic researchers. Based on this testing, a number of changes were made to wording and layout to enhance und erstandability in this setting. The ? nal questionnaire consisted of 35 questions presented in 10 sections and was estimated to require between 20 and 30 min to complete. Questions relating to each of the relevant constructs discussed in Section 4 were presented in dedicated and clearly labelled sections.The ? nal questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 1000 of the medical practice members of the AAPM. Of the 1000 surveys distributed, 12 were returned unopened. From the remaining 988 questionnaires, 144 complete and usable responses were received, representing a 14. 6% response rate which is comparable with those achieved in other studies of small businesses (Dennis, 2003). 15 Requested demographic data reveal 112 of the practices to be GP practices and 32 to be specialist practices, and that they employed between 2 and 42 full-time equivalents (FTE).Further, 98. 6% indicate that they use computers in some capacity. The average age of the practices is 23. 94 years, and for the 114 organisations that responded to the question, their average gross fees were $1,553,919, ranging from $206,816 to $11,000,000. 5. 2. Budgeting practice 5. 2. 1. Empirical model The ? rst stage of this study seeks insights both into the factors underlying a businesss decision to adopt a budgeting practice and into its subsequent decision as to the extent of budget use.To do so, it appeals to contingencybased research to identify four contextual factors (size (SIZE), structure (STRUC), strategy (STRAT), and perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU)) argued to drive the decisions, although in different combinations. Given this framework, we employ the following common empirical model to formally examine each of these two decisions BUDGi = + 1 lnSIZEi 0 + 2 STRUCi + 3 STRATi + 4 PEUi + 5 TYPEi +? (1) where the various measures are described below. For the decision to adopt, based on H1 and H2a , 1 and 2 are predicted to be positive.For the decision as to the extent of use, based on H 2b , H3 , and H4 , 2 and 3 are predicted to be positive and 4 negative. Practice type (TYPE) has been included in the model to control for potential structural differences (Hair et al. , 2006). Speci? cally, identi? ed differences in the pricing (higher) and supply (lower) of services by specialist versus general practices suggest that the market for specialist services may be relatively more heterogeneous (Department of Health and Ageing, 2005). We measure TYPE as a dichotomous variable, set equal to 1 for general practices and 0 for specialist practices. . 2. 2. Dependent variable measurement To examine the decision to adopt, we measure BUDG as a dichotomous variable set equal to 1 if the business indicates, in response to an explicit yes/no question, that it 15 The mailing was restricted to 1000 questionnaires due to ? nancial constraints. touchstone techniques to caution non-response were employed including a personalised cover letter from the AAPM, seed con? dentiality, brev ity of questions, the inclusion of a reply-paid envelope, a follow-up e-mail reminder, and a promise to make results available to participants (Dillman, 2000).Testing for non-response bias, undertaken by comparing 15 responses received in the ? rst month to the ? nal 15 responses received, revealed no statistically signi? cant differences. 48 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 uses a written budget and 0 otherwise. We base this analysis on all 144 respondents and run Eq. (1) as a logistic regression. For this and all subsequent analysis, reported p-values are one-tailed since we have predictions relating to each of the contingency factors. To examine the extent of budget use, we restrict our tests to the 65 respondents using written budgets.Here, the survey questionnaire asked respondents to indicate on a 5-point Likert scale how systematically their business used operating budgets of various durations (annual, halfyearly, quarterly, monthly, and/or weekl y), as well as cash ? ow, ? exible, rolling, long-term, or other budgets. These questions capture both the types of budgets used and the extent of their use, and are an adaptation of the alternative measurement approaches used in Chenhall and Lang? eldSmith (1998) and Jankala (2005). 16 The Cronbachs alpha is 93. 8%. plug-in A of tabularise 1 presents descriptive statistics for the responses relating to the usage of each type f budget. To construct the extent of budget use measure, we apply exploratory common factor analysis with orthogonal rotation to the responses. Two uncorrelated factors with eigenvalues of 3. 845 and 1. 234 are extracted, explaining 64. 14% of the total variance. The factor loadings are presented in the ? nal two columns of Panel A of Table 1. The ? rst factor aligns with operating budgets and the second with other types of budgets. As such, we consider two sub-categories (operating budgets and other budgets) and measure BUDG for each as the average summated budget usage score across the relevant budgets in the subcategory. 7 Here, Eq. (1) is run using OLS. Given a consistent lack of signi? cance, we do not report or discuss results based on our analyses of the other budgets measure. 5. 2. 3. Contingency factor measurement Following the majority of contingency-based MCS studies, we measure size (SIZE) as the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees (Chenhall, 2003). Respondents were asked to identify the number of FTE employees as administrative/reception staff, practice manager, nursing/allied health, medical, and other. Table 2 reveals that the mean (median) number of FTE employees for our sample businesses is 11. 31 (10. 500). For sensitivity purposes, we alternatively consider gross fees as a measure of size. Data on gross fees were provided by 114 of the businesses, with a mean (median) value of $1,553,919 ($1,322,359). For the remaining three contingency factors, the measures are based on responses across 7-point Likert scal es to dedicated questions in the questionnaire survey. Panel B of Table 1 presents the questions and descriptive statistics for the responses. For STRUC and PEU which involve multiple questions, exploratory common factor analysis is then applied o develop the empirical measures. The factor loadings are presented in the ? nal two columns of Panel B. 18 In detail, the measure of structure (STRUC) is based on responses to six questionnaire items asking the extent to which decision-making authority has been delegated within the business and at which level operating decisions are made. The six items, originally developed by Gordon and Narayanan (1984), have been subjected to considerable scrutiny and empirical testing for reliability and validness in previous research (Chenhall, 2003). The Cronbach alpha is 82. 7%.Application of exploratory common factor analysis to the response scores leads to the declination of only one factor with an eigenvalue of 3. 261, explaining 53. 81% of the v ariance. Thus, STRUC is measured as the average summated scores across the six items. Organisational strategy (STRAT) is based on Porters classi? cation scheme (Porter, 1980) and measured by the response to a single question drawn from Govindarajan (1988). This question asks the respondents to indicate their belief as to the best description of the businesss strategic emphasis, ranging from product differentiation to cost leadership.This was found in the pilot testing to be the only question from previous research applicable to our setting, Finally, we initially measure perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) based on the responses to nine questions developed by Gordon and Narayanan (1984) to capture the intensity of competition, the dynamic and unpredictable nature of the external environment, and the potential elements of change in the environment. Based on the correlations among the responses, only ? ve items were eventually used with a Cronbach alpha of 64. %, as the responses to four items had correlations of less than the 30% level recommended for inclusion in factor analysis (Hair et al. , 2006). 19 Consistent with previous research (Gordon and Narayanan, 1984), application of exploratory common factor analysis with orthogonal rotation led to the extraction of two factors with eigenvalues of 2. 327 and 1. 122 explaining 67. 70% of the total variance. Following the literature, we label these factors as PEU hostility (PEUhost ) and PEU dynamism (PEUdyn ).PEUhost gobs on the two questions relating to the competitiveness of the business environment whereas PEUdyn loads on the three questions relating to the predictability of the external environment. We include both in our empirical model, measuring each as the average summated response scores across the relevant questions. 16 Jankala (2005) prefers this measure of systematic use as a more reliable and precise measure of a businesss commitment to the use of budgets, rather than the more subjective scales used by, for example, Chenhall and Lang? eld-Smith (1998) that measure bene? t derived. 7 The yearly operating budgets did not load on either factor as a large majority of the businesses indicated that they used yearly operating budgets on a systematic basis. 18 The reported factor loadings, eigenvalues, and percentage variation explained are based on the full sample of 144 respondents. When the exploratory common factor analysis is repeated based only on the 65 respondent businesses using budgets, all measures are qualitatively identical. 19 The four items removed were competition for manpower, new services marketed, ability to predict preferences for customers, and change in legal, political, and economic environment.Their removal is perhaps not surprising that as there was little variation in the responses received with the sample small businesses drawn from the same industry. R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 Table 1 Descriptive statistics and facto r loadings for survey questionnaire responses. Question Descriptive statistics Mean Panel A Budgeting BUDG 1 Which of the following budgets are prepared and how consistently? (5-point scale 1 = not used, 2 = seldom, 3 = at times, 4 = often, 5 = systematically) a. direct budget, yearly b. Operating budget, half-yearly c.Operating budget, quarterly d. Operating budget, monthly e. Operating budget, weekly f. Cash ? ow budget g. Flexible budget h. Rolling budget i. long-term budget Med SD Factor loadings 1 2 49 2. 690 2. 064 2. 064 2. 092 1. 578 2. 079 1. 701 1. 704 1. 795 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1. 899 1. 663 1. 659 1. 662 1. 315 1. 626 1. 317 1. cd 1. 473 0. 746 0. 614 0. 533 0. 668 0. 472 0. 149 0. 317 0. 168 0. 255 0. 322 0. 034 0. 346 0. 508 0. 823 0. 606 0. 715 Panel B Contingency factors Structure (STRUC) STRUC 1 To what extent has authority been delegated to the manager or employee for each of the following decisions? Please indicate actual rather than stated authority) (7-point sc ale 1 = no delegation, 7 = total delegation) a. Initiate ideas for new services b. Hiring and ? ring of personnel c. Selection of large investments d. Budget allocations e. set decisions STRUC 2 Most operation decisions are made at what level? (7-point scale 1 = owner level, 7 = manager level) 4. 999 5. 250 3. 173 3. 980 4. 311 4. 349 5 6 3 5 5 4 1. 517 1. 923 1. 963 2. 123 1. 900 1. 870 0. 531 0. 610 0. 732 0. 803 0. 761 0. 581 How would you best describe your practices strategic emphasis? 7-point scale 1 = product differentiation 7 = cost leadership) Perceived environmental uncertainty (PEU) PEU 1 How stable/dynamic is the external environment (economic and technological) facing your practice? (7-point scale 1 = very stable, 7 = very dynamic) a. Economic environment b. Technological environment PEU 2 How would you classify the market activities of your competitors (i. e. , other healthcare practices) in the past 3 years? (7-point scale 1 = becoming more predictable, 7 = bec oming less predictable) How intense is each of the following in your industry, the healthcare profession? 7-point scale 1 = negligible, 7 = intense) a. process for purchases b. Price competition Strategy (STRAT) STRAT 1 2. 983 3 1. 127 n/a n/a 4. 134 4. 761 3. 691 4 5 4 1. 603 1. 596 1. 122 0. 968 0. 755 0. 369 0. 176 0. 185 0. 118 PEU 3 2. 446 3. 553 2 4 1. 352 1. 502 0. 147 0. 168 0. 676 0. 625 Panel C Performance (PERF) PERF 1 Which best describes your response to the following statements over the past 3-year period? Compared to key competitors, my practice (7-point scale 1 = potently disagree, 7 = strongly agree) a. Is more competitive b. Has more patients c. Is growing faster d. Is more pro? table e.Is more innovative f. Has more doctors 5. 082 5. 353 5. 105 5. 210 5. 320 4. 094 5 6 5 5 6 4 1. 607 1. 619 1. 644 1. 593 1. 643 2. 204 0. 660 0. 711 0. 849 0. 667 0. 592 0. 502 For Panel A, the exploratory factor analysis was conducted based on the 65 businesses that produce written budgets. For Panels B and C, the exploratory common factor analysis was based on the full sample of 144 respondents. Items deemed to load on the identi? ed factor appear in bold. 50 R. King et al. / Management Accounting Research 21 (2010) 4055 Table 2 Descriptive statistics for contingency-based model variables.Measure Operating budgets Mean normal Standard deviation Min max Size (SIZE) Mean Median Standard deviation Min max Structure (STRUCT) Mean Median Standard deviation Min max Strategy (STRAT) Mean Median Standard deviation Min max PEUhost Mean Median Standard deviation Min max PEUdyn Mean Median Standard deviation Min max Performance (PERF) Mean Median Standard deviation Min max all-encompassing sample (n = 144) 1. 948 1. 000 1. 376 15 11. 531 10. 500 6. 583 2 42 4. 344 4. 333 1. 381 17 1. 990 2. 000 1. 122 17 2. 987 3. 000 1. 199 16 4. 201 4. 333 1. 179 1 6. 6 4. 027 4. 083 1. 248 17 Written budget (n = 65) 3. 085 3. 000 1. 50 15 12. 893 12. 000 6. 367 3. 5 31 4. 862 5. 000 1. 212 1. 67 6. 83 1. 860 2. 000 1. 014 16 3. 231 3. 000 1. 183 16 4. 241 4. 333 1. 129 1 6. 67 4. 228 4. 333 1. 302 17 No written budget (n = 79) n/a p-Value 10. 410 9. 250 6. 586 2 42 3. 918 3. 833 1. 372 17 2. 090 2. 000 1. 200 17 2. 785 2. 500 1. 181 1 5. 5 4. 169 4. 333 1. 224 1 6. 67 3. 861 3. 833 1. 184 1 6. 5 0. 024 0) or under-budgets (? 0), the impact of lack of ? t on ? nancial performance should be the same. Formally, the model we employ, illustrated using ? , has the following form PERFi = 0 we also requested objective measures of pro? ability from our sample businesses (Govindarajan and Gupta, 1985). Unfortunately, less than one-third of our sample provided the data. Thus, the use of objective measures for robustness purposes is also impractical. 6. Results and analysis 6. 1. Preliminaries Descriptive statistics for measures used in tests of our hypotheses are presented in Table 2, both for the overall sample of 144 respondents and for the s ample partitioned on the basis of whether a written budget is adopted, along with tests for differences in mean values between partitions. As revealed, there is considerable cross-sectional variation in each measure.Further, there appear to be several signi? cant differences between respondents adopting written budgets and those not. Speci? cally, businesses using budgets have more FTE employees (SIZE, p = 0. 024), are more decentralised (STRUC, p 0. 001), face a more hostile enviro

Wine Analysis of Fining Agents Chemistry

CHEMISTRY-WINE MAKING Investigating the effectiveness of common fining performers on home-brewed fruit drink with respect to Turbidity, flummoxary usurp, Ph and inebriant content. Year 12 Chemistry Ext eat uped Experimental InvestigationA comparison of chemical flocculation agents Mario Mitov Mrs Cullen 2011 Contents 1. 0- abbreviation 2. 0- Introduction/Background 3. 0- Aim 4. 0- Hypothesis 5. 0- Safety analysis 6. 0- Equipment and Materials 7. 0- Procedures/Methods . 1- Initial wine-colored-colored-coloured make procedure 8. 2- Addition of solveing agents including ratio conversion 8. 3- PH examen 8. 4- Vino clip testing 8. 5- Hydro criterion testing 8. 6- Turbidity testing (tube) 8. 7- Sediment direct measurement 8. 8- Electric conductivity (EC) testing 8. 9- EC conversion to TDS 8. 10- alcoholic drinkic beverage titration method 8. 11- Alcohol titration calculations (refer to journal) 8. 0- Results/ Data Analysis 9. 12- Graph1. PH oer time 9. 13- Graph2. Alcoh ol %v/v over time 9. 14- Graph3. Sediment level over time 9. 15- Graph4. Difference in sedimentation level over time 9. 6- Graph5. Turbidity over time 9. 17- Graph6. Electrical conductivity over time 9. 0- raillery 10. 0- Conclusion 11. 0- Appendices 12. 0- References 13. 0- Special Acknowledgments 1. 0-Abstract The construction of this EEI was conducted in accordance to the term 2 context (wine-colored an artful act upon). This report is intended to present the try outal and analytical reflexions of wine chemistry with focus on fining agents. By testing these fining agents on wine samples, their over altogether(a) effectiveness forget be detect and discussed with respect to pH, Turbidity, Sediment level etc.This will help draw a valid conclusion as to the fining agent that has the sterling(prenominal) illuminance effects on the tried and true wines and to what extent. 2. 0- Introduction The ancient process of wine making has captivated the human civilisation for thousand s of years. Archaeological developings ca-ca bear witnessn that the earliest production of wine fuck be traced bandaging to 8000BC in the comp one(a)nt part of modern day Georgia, Iran and Armenia (Merveonur, M. 2011). Since then the art of vinification has been continually evident through push through history with its significance full(prenominal)lighted in many of the worlds greatest cultures.Take for exercise the ancient Egyptians of third millennia BC that used wine for sacred ceremonies or the ancient Greeks that traditionally conducted symposiums (social parties) by drinking wine in large assemblages (Biers, W. 1980). throughout the ages wine has undoubtabley been valued for its significance in society, culture and even religion, with its importance still prevalent in the modern world. In Australia, the exportation of wine presently contri stilles an astounding $6 billion dollars to the nations economy (Adams, P. 2005).In event, Australia is recognised as the fourth largest exporter of wine in the world. The countrys eight organic states all commercially produce wine of high quality with vineyards occupying well-nigh 160,000 hectares throughout Australia (Wine Australia, 2010). States such(prenominal)(prenominal) as Victoria and South Australia are internationally noneworthy for producing highly exquisite wines that undergo the finest vinification. The process of producing wine is one that involves multitudinous techniques and requires a thorough scientific understanding referred to as Oenology.Oenology is the modern study of winemaking encompassing eachthing from the initial fruit growth to the all-inclusive chemistry behind the entire process (Boulton, R. 1996). Vinification ultimately consists of many biochemical processes that moldiness be guardedly monitored and go overled to ensure success. The primary chemical process involved in any wine is the initial fermentation which is responsible for the brass of ethanol. During this stag e, common fruit carbohyd regularises such as glucose and fructose are converted to alcohol through anaerobic yeast respiration (Fugelsang, C. 1997).Ultimately, the yeast which are facultative fungal organisms provide enzymes that cracking down come insicle molecules while releasing Ethanol and Carbon Dioxide as by-products through the exothermic reaction C6H1206 2CH3CH2OH + 2CO2 + 115kj/mol. Winemakers will usually stop the fermentation process once a desired alcohol level is achieved however the fermentation can naturally stop after r apieceing a certain level of alcohol that subsequently becomes toxic to the yeast thus killing them (Smith, D. 2009). in one case fermentation is over, many wines whitethorn display signs of turbidity or cloudiness.This is delinquent to hang up particulates such as proteins, tannins, phenols or dead yeast cells that cause haziness in wine when not removed. These blood cells can precipitate out of the wine naturally under the influence of gravi ty however this is a lengthy process and those that want fast provides rely on chemical clarification. Chemicals for the purpose of wine clarification are known as fining or flocculation agents and are widely used in the wine industry. These agents are comm only when derived from Earths, Proteins, Carbons, Synthetic polymers, Polysaccharides and other substances (Zoecklein, B. 988). It is extremely classic that a commercial wine be cleared of any suspend impurities so that it appeals to the consumer. Fining agents generally clarify the wine in one-third divergent methods including inactive attraction, absorption or enzymatic break down (Main, M. 1995). The most common method however is through still attraction as this is displayed by the mass of fining agents. Theoretically the suspended particles in wine all carry a alike electrical level off therefore by dding a fining agent of the opposer charge the particles adsorb to the coat of the fining molecule forming heavy clum ps (refer to appendix figure 1). The clumps rapidly sink to the bottom due to their high density relative to that of the wine (Guerra, B. 2008). Ultimately, three fining agents were selected as test subjects for the experiment that was to be conducted. These agents include Bentonite which is aluminium phyllosilicate clay with a prejudicious charge, mica a collagen derived from fish that carries a commanding charge and Kieselsol/gelatine which is a fining agent utilizing both a positive and negative charge. 3. 0- AimThe general aim of this scientific investigation is to assess the energy and clarification capabilities of three difference fining agents including Bentonite, Isinglass and Kieselsol/Gelatine. The results obtained from the wines treated with fining agents will be contrasted to those obtained from the wine without the presence of a fining agent. This will indicate any elans in the entropy as to which fining agent is most efficient and if there is a great difference b etween the pass judgment of clarification of the wines subject to chemical fining as contrasted to the wine subject to natural clarification under the influence of gravity alone.By testing parameters such as Ph, Turbidity, Sediment level, Alcohol content and Electrical conductivity some relationships between the results obtained and variables will be analysed to justify the force of the flocculation agents. 4. 0- Hypothesis It can be surmiseed that all three fining agents will spend a penny noticeably different effects on the wine clarity. The Kwik Clear agent is predicted to exhibit the greatest impact on clarification as it comprises of both Kieselsol and Gelatine which are agents of turnabout charges.This will hypothetically create more(prenominal) lees as the negative and positive charges together will in turn attract more suspended particulates of all(prenominal) electrostatic charge. On the other hand, the negatively charged Bentonite agent is in like manner expected to demonstrate immense fining capacity due to its great molecular surface area that will prompt the adsorption of high amounts of positively charged particles. The Isinglass agent is ultimately expected to perform less desirably as it is by nature a delicate, positively charged agent with weak fining abilities due to it fragile molecular structure.Finally, the wine without the presence of fining agents (the control), will undoubtabley show the least acceptable results in terms of clarification. Some sedimentation may occur due to the natural impact of gravity however this will be limited and easily less in comparison to the wine treated with fining agents. 5. 0- Safety Analysis Due to the topic of this assessment (wine making), the laboratory has been used extensively for come nearly all aspects of this assignment including the creation of wine and testing. Safety precautions moldiness therefore be exercised together with strict lab etiquette to prevent dangers arising.Students m ust remember at all times to abide by the rules which include 1. Conducting ones self sensibly and responsibly at all time especially when discussion chemicals of secure nature. 2. No food or drinks to be brought into the laboratory to prevent the possibility of pollution with harmful substances. 3. Long hair must be firmly tied back to reduce the risk of exposure to corrosive chemicals (or the risk of contaminating the wine). 4. Safety goggles, aprons, lab coats and gloves should be worn at all times to downplay the risk of body exposure to chemicals especially the eyes. . All experimental instructions must be read and understood precisely before conducting the experiment. 6. Sitting on top of the laboratory benches is prohibited. 7. Sitting on chairs while performing chemical experiments is forbidden. 8. The labels of chemicals utilized must always be read so that one is mindful of the risks and nature of the particular chemical. 9. Extreme caution must be taken when handlin g glass apparatus to ensure no breakage. 10. Any breakage or chemical spills must be immediately reported to the teacher so that the risk may be quickly contained. 11.Carrying chemicals or glass across the inhabit is not advisable and carries a great degree of risk. 12. Running whilst in the premises is strictly forbidden 13. All students must wear closed in shoes to protect feet from spills that may run down the benches. 14. All individuals must be aware of the nearest gouge exits and stupefy an understanding of how to use the fire blanket in case of emergency. 15. Any skin contact with chemicals must be quickly reported to the teacher and subsequently washed under ladder water for 20 minutes or the eye bath when contact has occurred with the eyes. 16.Any instructions given by the teacher must be followed without hesitation. Note During the phone line of the wine making, student are required to perform titrations which require the handling of some extremely noxious chemicals i ncluding carcinogens, potent acids and allergens that must by all message be handled with immense care. Many chemicals also have the tendency to cause problems with the respiratory system when inhaled thus any chemical must be distanced from the meander or mouth. 6. 0- Equipment and Materials. Initial wine making Supplied by school 1. 5L Demijohn with stopper (fermenter) 2.Air-Lock 3. charge card bucket 4. Wine making yeast 5. Tartaric acid 0. 5tsp 6. food for thought (Diammonium Sulfate, Ammonium Sulfate or Ammonia Phosphate) 7. Sodium Metabisulphite wash solution (0. 5tsp in 0. 5L of water) 8. Campden tablets 9. Pectinase 10. Funnel 11. Sleeve 12. Plastic champagne cork 13. Plastic underground 14. Balloon 15. Cottonwool 16. Hydrometer 17. Vinometer 18. 100mg Vitamin C tablets as preservatives Initial wine making Supplied by student 1. Tea towel 2. 6-8 truly veracious bananas 3. 150g Sultanas 4. 8kg very ripe fruit (oranges for this group) 5. 3 tea bags 6. 7x 750mL Wine bot tlesAdding/preparing the fining agents 1. Bentonite (Brewcraft) (solid form) 2. Isinglass (Brewcraft) (liquid form) 3. Kieselsol/Gelatine (Kwik Clear) (liquid form) 4. 2x olive-sized beakers 5. 1x 0. 1mL increment glass pipette and 1x medium 1mL increment glass pipette. 6. Electronic crustal plates 7. Plastic milk shingle cup (to blend Bentonite) 8. Electric blender 9. Distilled water Testing the wine for all parameters 1. PH meter 2. Hydrometer 3. Vinometer 4. Turbidity tube 5. EC meter 6. Ruler or tape measure (for sediment measurement) 7. Wine samples 8. 4x beakers 250mL 9. 1x large measuring cylinder 10.Distilled water 11. Disinfectant solution (Sodium percarbonate) 12. Funnel 13. Gloves playing the titration for alcohol concentration 1. 10mL wine sample 2. 60mL of honey oil Dichromate 3. 100mL Standard sodium thiosulphate solution (0. 1M) 4. 30mL of 40% sulphuric acid 5. 6 g Potassium Iodide 6. 250mL distilled water 7. starch indicator (starch solution, freshly made) 8. 10m L pipette 9. 2 ? 20mL pipettes 10. pipette filter 11. 250mL volumetric ? ask 12. 3 ? 250mL conical ? asks with stoppers 13. 10mL measuring cylinder 14. teensy move shape 15. burette and stand 16. white tile 17. hot water bath 8. thermometer 19. spatula 20. electronic balance 21. safety glasses 7. 0- Procedures/Methods 7. 1- Initial wine making procedure 1. Pour sachets of yeast into a 750mL bottle with the addition of 2 tbsp sugar, 0. 5 tbsp acid and half- gather the bottle with water placing a balloon over the cope when finished. 2. Fill the bottle with water when the balloon has popped up. Replace the balloon afterwards. 3. once the balloon pops up a second time, put the bottle in the fridge. 4. scrub bucket, knife, working surface and all fruit with sodium metabisulphite solution. Avoid rinsing fruit 5.Remove any really bad parts off the fruit. (its not a problem if the fruits are mildly squashed or discoloured). 6. Chop the fruit into approximately six pieces each and plac e into bucket. 7. Add/mix the adjacent into the fruit 0. 75 tbsp acid, 0. 75 tbsp nutrients, 0. 75 tbsp Pectinase or 7. 5 drops Pectinol, 7. 5mL Sodium metabisulphite, 150g sultanas, 6-8 bananas, 3 tea bags and 7. 5L water. 8. Leave to rest for 24 hours. 9. Once 24 hours have passed, ass half of the bottle of yeast from step 3 and 750g sugar to the bucket. Stir well, then put a plate on top of the fruit. This will keep it in the liquid.The tout ensemble thing should be covered with a damp towel. 10. Add an additional 1. 5 tbsp of sugar to the yeast bottle and fill with water. Replace the balloon in the process. 11. mystify stirring the bucket with fruit once a day for 3-4 days consecutively. 12. The funnel, strainer and fermenter must be washed with sodium metabisulphite solution for adequate disinfection. 13. Transfer the liquid contents of the bucket into the fermenter using the funnel and discard any solids in the process. 14. Any remaining liquid must be placed in bottles, s toppered with cottonwool in the neck and placed in the fridge. 5. Use sodium metabisulphite to fill the airlock to half of each chamber. 16. later a week has passed, use PVC tubing to transfer the liquid at the top into the bucket, ensuring the lees (sediment) is left at the bottom during siphoning. 17. Discard the lees, rinse out the fermenter and then replace the liquid back into the fermenter. Use bottles from step 14 to top up the fermenter as needed. Taste and add 150 g of sugar if it is too dry. Also add 5mg of Campden tablets. (Warning Campden sulphur allergies) 18.Repeat step 16-17 (which is a process called racking) about once a week for 3-4 weeks. If sugar added, a record must be unbroken of the exact quantity. 19. When clearing from the top of the wine has initiated, the airlock chambers are evening out and the hydrometer reading is between 1005 and 995, copy step 16. 20. Taste the samples. If a sweet wine is desired, put 100-150g of sugar in a saucepan and cover with wine fermenter. Heats until the sugar has dissolved and then step by step add this to the wine until the desired balance of sweetness is obtained. 21.Add 10ml of Sodium metabisulphite and 1000mg of orange flavoured vitamin C (as a preservative). 22. washables bottles and cork in the solution of sodium metabisulphite and shake out but dont rinse. 23. Put wine into bottles and cork storing it in a cool dark place. **(refer to journal for information about the bring out ingredients of the wine making process) 7. 2- Addition of fining agents including ratio calculation Isinglass Note The wine used for each fining agent was racked moments before adding the agents. This ensured that any sediment formation with the fining agents would be easily noticeable and recordable. . determine the instructions on the back of the Brewcraft Isinglass bottle. These instructions stipulate that 10mL are mixed in 25L of wine with the 10mL foremost mixed in a 250mL aliquot before being added to the bulk . 2. The wine bottles used in this experiment contained 750mL of wine therefore calculations were performed to find how more than Isinglass must be added to 750mL. 3. Firstly divide 10mL by 25,000mLwhich equal 410-4. 4. Secondly, multiply 410-4 by 750mL which equals 0. 3mL (this is the amount of Isinglass to be used for 750mL of wine). 5.To find how much of the 750mL of wine must be used to initially pre mix the isinglass before adding it to the bulk, the following was calculated 25,000mL carve up by 250mL equals 100 750mL divided by 100 is equal to 7. 5. Therefore 7. 5mL of wine must be mixed with 0. 3mL of Isinglass before adding it to the 750mL bulk. 6. Extract 7. 5mL of wine using a small disinfected pipette placing this aliquot in a small beaker. 7. Extract 0. 3mL of isinglass with a small disinfected pipette and place it in the beaker with the 7. 5mL aliquot. 8. Mix the fining agent in the aliquot of wine for a few minutes making sure to swirl it as well. . Using a funnel, r eplace the mixed aliquot back into the 750mL bulk. 10. Label the bottle, indicating the fining agent used and the dosage. 11. Place cottonwool in the neck and return bottle to the fridge. **(refer to journal for information regarding Isinglass) 7. 2- Addition of fining agents including ratio calculation Kieselsol/Gelatine (Kwik Clear) 1. Read the instructions on the side of the Kwik Clear box. These instructions specify that 2mL of Bottle A (containing Kieselsol) must be added per gallon of wine. 2mL of Bottle B (containing Gelatine) must also be added per gallon. . Simple calculations were conducted to find how much of Bottle A and B is to be use for the 750mL bottles. Firstly 1 Galloon equals 4. 5 litres therefore 4500mL divided by 750mL equals 6. 3. 2mL divided by 6 equals 0. 33mL hence, 0. 33mL of both Bottle A and B is to be mixed into 750mL of wine. 4. Premix is not required for Kwik Clear therefore the fining agents can be directly added to the 750mL bulk. 5. Using a small di sinfected pipette, take 0. 33mL of Bottle A and place it directly into the 750mL wine. 6. Stir well, then wait approximately 30 minutes before adding Bottle B. . Using a small disinfected pipette, extract 0. 33mL of Bottle B and place it into the bulk. 8. Mix well then label the bottle to include the name of the fining agent in use and the dosage. 9. Stopper the bottle with cottonwool and return it to the fridge until ready for testing. **(refer to journal for basal information about Kwik clear (Kieselsol/ Gelatine fining) 7. 3- pH testing 1. Put on gloves and gather all necessary equipment. 2. Thoroughly disinfect the four beakers, the tip of the pH meter and the funnel with sodium percarbonate solution. 3.Run distilled water over the tip of the pH meter until a neutral ph of between 6. 5-7. 5 is reached (this will ensure that the pH meter is configured properly). 4. Carefully pour an adequate sample of wine in a beaker. 5. Slowly dip the tip of the pH meter and leave it in the wi ne until the pH value on the monitor becomes constant. 6. Record the value and return the sample of wine to its corresponding bottle using a funnel (make sure the sample is returned from the bottle it was taken from as it would be very undesirable to accidently mix the agents. This would corrupt the whole experiment). 7.Repeat steps 2-6 for all the wines. **(refer to journal for basic information regarding Ph-(power of hydrogen) 7. 4- Vinometer testing 1. Put on gloves and gather all necessary equipment. 2. Make sure to disinfect the four beakers, the vinometer and the funnel with sodium percarbonate solution. 3. The vinometer testing requires handling of the wine with hands therefore the hands must be disinfected prior to testing or if gloves are worn, make sure the gloves are disinfected as well especially if used in prior tests. 4. While holding the vinometer over a beaker, pour wine into it so that the wine covers the entire vinometer. . Apply gouge using the thumb on the vinom eter opening as though pushing the wine in (this will ensure any bubble formations are removed). 6. Once confident that no bubbles are evident flip the vinometer upside down haveing the wine to fall into the beaker. 7. Bring the vinometer up to eye level and read the scale after the fluid has settled (the level is sometimes hard to see as it is very thin). 8. Record the value this is usually in %v/v alcohol. 9. Repeat steps 2-8 for all the wines. **(refer to journal for basic information regarding Vinometer (% alcohol concentration). . 5- Hydrometer testing 1- Put on gloves and gather all necessary equipment. 2. drizzle all four beakers, the hydrometer, the measuring cylinder and the funnel with sodium percarbonate solution. 3. Carefully fill the cylinder to about 80% with a sample of wine. 4. Gently demean the hydrometer into the wine making sure it does not touch the bottom or the side of the cylinder. 5. Record where the surface of the wine contacts the hydrometer. 6. Repeat s tep 2-5 for each wine ***(Note The Hydrometer testing was done incorrectly thus giving inaccurate results throughout each streamlet.This mistake was only noticed after testing was concluded therefore there was no way of repeating the results. All results obtained a hydrometer reading of 1. 030 which indicates there has been a general mistake with the procedure. The group decided not to use the Hydrometer due to this flaw)*** 7. 6- Turbidity testing (with tube) 1. Place gloves on both hands and gather all necessary equipment. 2. Wash the turbidity tube and funnel in the disinfectant sodium percarbonate solution. 3. Carefully pour wine into the turbidity tube by small increments at a time. 4.Look for when the black lines at the bottom of the tube become sparingly visible just enough to see the lines. 5. Record the value at which the lines are slightly visible (this is the turbidity in NTU). 6. Repeat steps 2-5 for each wine. **(refer to journal for information about Turbidity) 7. 7 Sediment level (with ruler) 1. Carefully hold the wine bottle against and angle of strong light until the lees is visible (making sure not to disturb the sediment greatly). 2. Use a ruler to measure the sediment level from the bottom of the bottle to the point at which it finishes. . Record the results to the nearest mm. 4. Repeat step 1-3 for each wine (Note Sediment measurement should be tested send-off before anything else so that the lees is not disturbed from movement 7. 8 Electric Conductivity (EC meter) 1. Put on gloves and gather all necessary equipment. 2. Thoroughly disinfect the four beakers, the tip of the EC meter and the funnel with sodium percarbonate solution. 3. Run distilled water over the tip of the EC meter until a reading of 0 is obtained (this will ensure that the EC meter is configured properly). 4.Carefully pour an adequate sample of wine in a beaker. 5. Slowly dip the tip of the EC meter and leave it in the wine until the Electrical conductivity value on th e monitor becomes constant. 6. Record the value and return the sample of wine to its corresponding bottle using a funnel (make sure the sample is returned from the bottle it was taken from as it would be very undesirable to accidently mix the agents. This would corrupt the whole experiment). 7. Repeat steps 2-6 for all the wines. **(refer to journal for information about EC (Electric Conductivity) 7. EC Conversion to TDS using mathematical formula 1. The formula stipulates that TDS (ppm or mg/L) = F x EC where F is a factor of 0. 6 and EC is the electrical conductivity in Microsiemens per centimetre. 2. The results taken by the EC meter in class are given in millisiemens therefore to covert to microsiemens simply multiply by 1000. 3. Take the number in microsiemens and multiply it by a factor of 0. 6 as stated by the formula. 4. This is the measurement in TDS (ppm). 7. 10 Alcohol Titration method 1. Place a 10mL aliquot of wine in a 250mL volumetric flask ( using a small pipette). 2.Distilled water is then used to fill the volume up to the 250mL mark. 3. Take a 20mLaliquot from the 250mL solution and place it in a conical flask. 4. Step 3 must be repeated twice so that there are three flasks to use in 3 separate trials. 5. To any flask a 20mL aliquot of 0. 04 Molar Potassium Dichromate is added. 6. 10mL of 40% sulphuric acid is added to every flask with the aid of a measuring cylinder and the teacher (the teacher will have to do this step due to the potency of the acid). 7. Each flask should be stoppered loosely and heated in a water bath at 45-50*c. (water bath must not exceed 50*c). . Once 10 minutes have passed, remove the flasks and add 2 g of Potassium Iodine to all flasks. 9. Fill the burette with Thiosulphate solution (0. 1 Molar). 10. Begin the titration, titrating the contents of the flask with the 0. 1M Thiosulphate solution. When the brown colour of the titrated solution becomes green add 1-2mL Starch. The equivalence point is noticed when the sol ution turns from blue to light green. 11. Record the result of the titres. 7. 11 Alcohol titration calculations **(Refer to journal for titration calculations) 8. 0- Results and Data Analysis 8. 1- graph 1 PH over timeThe above graph displays the pH obtained for each wine over the 5 trials conducted. Initially before adding the clearing agents, the wine was tested to be at pH 4 as indicated at trial 0. After the clearing agents were added the pH remained at 4 however the Isinglass fined wine increased to pH 4. 3. Standard wine must be kept at a pH range between 3. 2 and 4. 1 therefore anything over 4. 1 raises alarms and action must be taken to debase the pH using acidic substances. Ultimately 1g of Tartaric acid was added to all wines during trial 1 and subsequently resulted in the decrease in pH observed from trial 1-3.Trial 3 was the point at which the pH of all four wines was preserve at a constant 3. 2 indicating that the Tartaric acid was prosperous at lowering the pH by almost 1 for all four wines. From trial 3-5 the pH of all the wines is seen to fluctuate once again this is due to the fact that the effects of the tartaric acid have ceased therefore the pH system increases and decreases accordingly as it tries to find a new state of equilibrium. This trend can be related to Le Chateliers principle which states that If a system at equilibrium is disturbed, then the system adjusts itself so as to minimise the disturbance.At the end of trial 5 all four wines fell between a stable pH range however following the low pH of trial 3, Isinglass fluctuated to pH 3. 7 as seen in trial 5. This raises the possibility that the pH of Isinglass may have continued to raise. 8. 2- Graph 2 Alcohol %v/v over time The above is the comparison of alcohol content for all the wines over the 5 trials conducted. All wines clearly tend to show a percentage of alcohol between 4-6% throughout the trials with the overall average being 4. 2%. At the end of trial 5, all four win es put down a stable 4%v/v alcohol however this is unusual considering that wines are typically 7-14%v/v.The 11%v/v recorded for the control at trial 3 is believed to be due to error as there is no justifiable reason for such an instantaneously high fluctuation. It is seen that all wines containing fining agents recorded an alcohol level that was similar to each other this was ultimately expected as fining agents do not typically affect alcohol level. These readings from the vinometer can ultimately be relied upon as alternative alcohol testing through the more accurate titration method showed that the alcohol level was at approximately 5% which is the most common value presented throughout the vinometer testing. . 3- Graph 3- Sediment level over time Displayed above is the graphical analysis of the sediment level recorded over time for each wine. There is a clear indication that the wine finned with Bentonite produced the most lees followed by the Gelatine/Kieselsol and then the I singlass which pile up the least amount of lees out of the three clearing agents. Overall however, the control (wine without fining agent) showed a very limited accumulation of sediment therefore indicating that sedimentation rate is slower without a presence of a clearing agent.Interestingly the Bentonite also recorded instant sedimentation of 1. 5cm for the basic trial which is more than twice as much as that of the Gelatine/Kieselsol and three times more than the Isinglass and control. The control also displayed the slowest rate of accumulation of lees with a 0. 1cm increase occurring once every 2 trials. Some results show a drop in sediment level this should ultimately be ignored as the measurement of sediment encompasses an question of (+- 0. 5cm) therefore the recorded drop in sediment may just be an indication of no change. . 4 Graph 4- Difference in sediment level over time The above graph has been constructed to aid in the interpretation of the previous (Graph 3). This displays the difference in sediment level for each wine from trial to trial. Ultimately the come up increase of sediment for Bentonite over the 5 trials was +1. 9cm (assuming that the 0. 1 is treated as a no increase rather than a decrease). The Kieselsol/Gelatine recorded a total increase of +1. 6cm. Isinglass obtained a total of +0. 8 and the Control showed a +0. 7 total increase over the 5 trial periods. 8. Graph 5- Turbidity (NTU) over time The above turbidity over time graph ultimately displays the extent at which the wines were cleared. The results obtained for turbidity show the same trend that is seen in the sediment accumulation graph in terms of the fining agent slaying. Bentonite was most effective at clearing the wine, speech the turbidity down from 600 to 250NTU followed by Kieselsol/Gelatine which was successful in a turbidity reducing from 600 to 300 NTU. Isinglass again presents itself as the weakest clearing agent only clearing the wine from 600 to approximately 450NTU.The Control indicated only a slight decrease in turbidity of 50NTU in total. Notice that major(ip) decrement in turbidity for all four wines ceases from trial 3 onwards, this trend was also recorded in the sediment graph. Another trend that is seen in this graph and the sediment accumulation graph alike is that Bentonite again appears to have the greatest initial impact out of all the fining agents. *The lack in results for trial 1 is due to not having the turbidity tube available at that time. 8. 6- Graph 6- Electric Conductivity over timeElectrical conductivity was tested stringently because it can give an indication of TDS through a conversion factor. Again what is immediately noticed is that on the 5th trials, Bentonite had the greatest overall drop in EC/TDS. Followed by Kieselsol/Gelatine then Isinglass. The control showed the least overall reduction of EC/TDS and this is a trend seen in the previous Turbidity and Sediment graphs. (Refer to Journal for raw data tables and the conversion from EC to TDS) 9. 0- Discussion Through the analysis of the results obtained, many justifications can be drawn as to the fining agent that had the greatest effect on clarification.By graphing the primary trends in turbidity and sediment level, the initial hypothesis was ultimately rendered incorrect to some extent. It was hypothesised that the Kieselsol/Gelatine would have the greatest fining might due to the agent being composed of both positive and negative charges. This however was not the case when the results were analysed. Ultimately the Bentonite was recorded to have the greatest fining business leader followed by the Kieselsol/Gelatine and then the Isinglass which as predicted, presented itself as the weakest of the three fining agents.The Bentonite agent visibly resulted in the most sediment accumulation, recording a total of 1. 8cm of lees and a turbidity reduction of 350NTU in total. Interestingly, Bentonite also exhibited a very fast rate of effici ency with an accumulation of 1. 5cm of sediment in the very first trial (Graph 3). This was more than double the sediment level of Kieselsol/Gelatine and triple the amount recorded for Isinglass. Similar trends in rapid efficiency are seen in (Graph 5) where Bentonite is noticed to reduce turbidity by half in the very first trial.These superior clearing abilities stem from the complex molecular composition of the substance. Bentonite is comprised of a multitude of small silicate platelets that are separated by a layer of water molecules (Zoecklein, B. 1988). During the initial Bentonite hydration performed before adding it to the wine, these platelets repel each other and subsequently pop apart. As this occurs, the platelets rearrange and immense swelling takes place which results in an enormous surface area (refer to appendix figure 2).It is this enlarged surface area that grants Bentonite the ability to absorb a greater amount of suspended matter. Further evidence shows that ther e are more molecular properties that can justify the dominant fining capabilities of the Bentonite agent. Foremost, Bentonite is famed for its high cation exchange capacity (binding ability) (Catarino, S. 2007). Typically there is a tremendously fast reaction time between positively charged protein particulates and the negatively charge Bentonite.It is common for three-quarters of proteins to react with Bentonite within the first minute of contact (Zoecklein, B. 1988). Protein contents from an initial 50-100mg/L can be cleared to less than 10mg/L in most circumstances therefore this high clearing capacity is another reason why such elevated amounts of sediment deposits were recorded during testing. Another aspect to consider is the relationship between ethanol concentration and Bentonite. Scientific research has suggested that there is a proportional relationship between ethanol concentration and the efficiency of the Bentonite fining.This is due primarily to the fact that ethanol separates the silicate layers within the structure therefore allowing larger particles to adsorb to the surface (Harberton, J. 2009). Basically out of the three fining agents, Bentonite is the only one that exhibits this relationship with alcohol thus its flocculation ability is advantaged when placed in an ethanol rich solution such as the wine. What can further be associated with the Bentonites vast flocculation ability is that the agent is not exclusively of a negative charge.Interestingly, the molecular platelet edges are comprised of a slight positive charge (AMCOL, 2005) (refer to vermiform process figure 4). This gives the Bentonite an additional aptitude to bind to some negatively charged particles therefore providing a wider range of clearing potential. When looking back on the results obtained, the hypothesis was validated to the extent that the wine without a fining agent (the control) showed least efficiency in clarification. As seen in Graph 3 (sediment level over time ), the control not only accumulated very small amounts of sediment but also did this at a very slow rate.An increase of 0. 1cm is noticed only once every two trials whereas the fining agents show a substantial increase nearly every single trial. The same goes for the turbidity reduction (Graph 5) where the control is seen to take approximately three trial periods to attain a decrease of a mere 50NTU. Although the control showed signs of clearing due to gravity, it is substantially slower than that of the fining agents. A scientific principle set out by physicist George Stokes in 1851, aids in the conceptualisation of why the fining agents are more efficient in sedimentation.Stokes law states that the rate of sedimentation of a spherical particle is directly proportional to the difference in density of the particle and the liquid, the acceleration due to gravity and the radius of the particle (Stoyanov, P. 1980). By the application of this law, it stands to reason that a fining agent causes swifter sedimentation as it increases the radius of the particles through electrostatic binding and this in turn causes the particles to have a greater density ultimately increasing the rate of clarification It was also initially hypothesised that Isinglass would perform least efficiently out of the three fining agent.This was sustain through the data analysis which showed that Isinglass produced three time less sediment than Bentonite and only cut turbidity by 150NTU unlike Kieselsol/Gelatine which reduced turbidity by 300NTU and Bentonite which resulted in a 350NTU reduction. Isinglass was ultimately not anticipated to have great fining abilities due to its gentle nature which renders it more equal for wine polishing rather than heavy clearing (Chorniak, J. 2007). According to external scientific sources, the overall fining rate of Isinglass stands at a low 0. 2 0. 1g/L-1 therefore adding justification as to the low sediment yields recorded for Isinglass in this chemis try experiment. There is however another biochemical issue that may have attributed to the underperformance of the Isinglass agent. Collagens such as isinglass are typically dependant on temperature for chemical stability. At high temperature most collagens begin to decompose on a molecular scale. Isinglass starts to denature at a relatively low temperature of approximately 10C.This denaturing process results in a reduction of molecular weight which consequently weakens the fining ability (Hornsey, I. 2007). Throughout the course of this experiment, the wines tested were exposed to temperature of over 18C hence leading to the presumption that this may have contributed to isinglass lack in performance. When analysing the data to a greater extent, there was a very crucial trend that was established which may have affected the performance of all the clearing agents. pH is ultimately seen to have an inversely proportion relationship with the binding ability of the fining agents.As pH i ncreases, the strength of the electrostatic attract between the fining agent and particles is subsequently decreased. This principle is extensively evident for all three fining agents tested in this experiment. Notice that after trial 3 (graph 5) the turbidity no longer shows improvements for both Bentonite and Isinglass and only exhibits a minimal improvement for Kieselsol/Gelatine. This is also notice for the sediment level (graph 3) which shows only very slight increases in sediment accumulation after trial 3.This reduced performance after trial 3 may be due to the fact that the pH of all wines began to fluctuate from trial 3 onwards (refer to graph 1). Overall it is seen that the clearing agents performed best when the pH was reducing during trial 1 and 2 and started to perform poorly when the pH began to fluctuate from trial 3. To comprehend this phenomenon it is important to understand the concept of the Isoelectric point (pl). Basically all proteins or other suspended particl es have a certain pH at which the particles carry no net charge.If the pH of a solution is too high or near the isoelectric point, the particulates will not be sufficient in electrostatic attraction because at a high pH, the molecules carry an equal number of positive and negative charges resulting in neutralisation (Zoecklein, B. 1988). This is also true for the fining agents which lose electrostatic charge when there is even a slight increase in pH. Recent studies that tested the net charge of isinglass in different pH medium show that even a small increase of 0. 5 pH resulted in the reduction of approximately half the net charge of the isinglass agent (Ward, I. 000) (refer to appendix figure 3). This evidence adds credibility to the justification that the rise in pH may have indeed contributed to the trend noticed in all the fining agents. Alternatively however there is the possibility that the fining agents simply reached their capacity and began decreasing in efficiency after t rial 3 indicating that more fining must be added. Overall through the in-depth interpretation of the data the performance of the fining agents can be justify and links can be draws as to the agent that performed the best and worst (the Bentonite and Isinglass respectively).However although this experiment was successful in giving reasonably good results it is undoubtabley encompassed by multitudinous amounts of human error and uncertainty that may render it flawed to some extent. The major flaw to this experiment is that sediment was not siphoned after every trial. The group initially chose not to siphon the lees so that results could be easily recorded. However what was not realised is that every time the wine was poured out for testing, the deposit of sediment was resuspended into the wine therefore may have resulted in highly inaccurate results especially for turbidity.Another associated human error is that members from the group at some stages affected the wine with bare hands t hat were not disinfected especially during Vinometer testing. This holds a great risk that the wine may have become contaminated thus dispose to bacterial manifestation which would render the experiment invalid. Gloves were only used after the 2nd trial period once the group noticed the risk of contamination. another(prenominal) possible sources of contamination include the fact that some equipment were not washed with sodium metabisulphite before making contact with the wine, this again posses high risk of bacterial growth.At one stage there was speculation whether the wine had indeed contracted a bacterial strain. This is due to the hazy/cloudy appearance of the wine despite the extensive fining that was performed. Although turbidity was slightly reduced by the fining agent, the wine still seemed awfully turbid. This could be a sign of a bacterial colony which causes a liquid to appear murky and is ultimately untreatable by the fining process. When expert opinion was consulted about the wine, it was concluded that the turbid appearance was not due to bacteria.If the wine had been infected, it would have had a very off taste which was not indicated during the weekly wine tasting. What must be noted is that because the wine in this group was created with oranges, it will never have a very clear appearance due to the thickness and dark colouration of the orange contents. Common wines made from grapes are naturally very clear due to the transparency of the grape juice by nature. It was therefore presumed that the turbid look of the wine was due to the natural composition of the oranges it was made from.If this experiment was to be performed again, many improvements must be made to ensure more accurate and valid results. It is recommended that more emphasis must be placed into contamination control and management during the winemaking and wine testing period. This will ensure no foreign material spoil the validity of the experiment. Also there was major uncert ainty in the equipment used. Firstly the ruler used to measure sediment carries a +/- 0. 5cm uncertainty which is major especially when measuring something so small such as sedimentation deposit.Maybe a more accurate measuring tool with a smaller scale can be used in the futurity for the lees measurement. Furthermore all testing including pH, Turbidity, Vinometer etc were only done once every trial period whereas it is advisable to always test a sample 3 times in a row to ensure consistency in the results. This was not done in this experiment as time restraints did not allow for repeated testing. If these simple improvements can be implemented for future testing, the results will be more accurate which will in turn provide more credibility to the findings. 10- ConclusionThe process of wine making and testing was a long and arduous task that involved many procedures. Although there were some meek flaws involved with the testing, the experiment was considered an overall success. The aim from the start was to see which flocculation agent would have the greatest effect on wine clarification and through extensive testing the results clearly indicated the superior fining agent. The Bentonite was undoubtabley the most powerful flocculation chemical and resulted in the greatest reduction in turbidity and also the greatest increase in sedimentation.The trends and patterns in the data were evaluated and scientific justifications were made as to why each fining agent performed to the extent that was witnessed. Ultimately relationships between variables were established as explanations that coincide with the performance of the fining agents. Wine pH, alcohol level and temperature are concluded to have a drastic effect on the flocculation abilities of the fining agents. These variables must be monitored and adjusted accordingly as the efficiency of the clearing agents are found to be very dependent upon their values.For future reference, pH is seen to affect the electros tatic bonding abilities of the substances, alcohol levels have a proportional relationship to the fining abilities of Bentonite and temperature (either to low or to high) affects the efficiency of the chemical fining process especially that of the Isinglass. With this in mind it can be concluded that the fining agents did help in the clarification of the wine however were affected by many variables that must be taken into account if this experiment was to be performed in future. By Mario Mitov 11- accessory FIGURE 1.Below Diagram of the electrostatic flocculation process exhibited by most fining agents. FIGURE 2, Below A depiction of the Bentonite surface area refinement that is initiated during the hydration stage. This is one of the main reasons why Bentonite is such a powerful flocculation agent. From left to right Water molecules between the silicate layers, Layers then pop apart during hydration, the platelets rearrange and swelling takes place, once rearrangement has occurre d the surface area is greater than before hydration. Diagram sourced from (Zoecklein, B. 1988) FIGURE 3 Below Scientific studies conducted for isinglass that shows an increase in pH results in electric charge depletion thus weakening the fining agent. FIGURE 4, Below A depiction of the Bentonite molecular structure, Notice that the edges are +ve (positively charged) and the inner area is predominantly of a negative charge (-ve). Because Bentonite has slightly positive charged edges it is advantaged in its fining ability. Image sourced from http//www. amcoldetergents. com/Resources/How%20Bentonite%20Softens%20Through%20the%20Wash. pdf 12- References Books (alphabetical order) Biers,W.The Archaeology Of Greece. New York. Cornell University Press 1980. Retrieved June 8th 2011 Boulton, R. (1996). Principles and Practises Of Winemaking. New York. Chapman & Hall 1996. Retrieved June 9th 2011. Fugelsang, C. (1997). Wine Microbiology. New York. Chapman & Hall 1997. Retrieved June 9th 2011. Smith, D. (2009). Chemistry In Use. Australia. McGraw Hill Australia. Retrieved on multiple dates throughout research. Stoyanov, P. (1980). Medical Chemistry and Biophysics Concepts. Bulgaria. CIELA publishers. Retrieved June 14th 2011 from home (published in Bulgarian but translated).Internet (alphabetical order) Adams, P. (2005). Grape glut sours wine industry. Retrieved 8th of June 2011 from http//www. abc. net. au/landline/content/2005/s1349757. htm AMCOL,(2005). Bentonite A technical overview. Retrieved June 14th 2011 from http//www. amcoldetergents. com/Resources/How%20Bentonite%20Softens%20Through%20the%20Wash. pdf Catarino, S. (2007). Effects Of Bentonite Characteristics On The Elemental Composition Of Wine. Retrieved June thirteenth 2011 from http//pubs. acs. org/doi/abs/10. 1021/jf0720180 (downloaded scientific article) Chorniak, J. 2007). A Clearer Understanding Of Fining Agents. Retrieved June 15th 2011 from http//www. winemakermag. com/stories/techniques/article/indice s/12-clarityfiltration/26-a-clearer-understanding-of-fining-agents Guerra, B. (2008). Choosing A Fining Agent. Retrieved June 11th 2011 from http//www. newworldwinemaker. com/articles/view? id=342 Harbertson, J. (2009). A Guide To The Fining Of Wine. Retrieved June 13th 2011 from http//cru. cahe. wsu. edu/CEPublications/em016/em016. pdf Hornsey, I. (2007). The Chemistry and Biology of Winemaking. majestic Society Of Chemistry.