The Handbook for Focus Group Research

Book Description

As one of the most popular tools for gathering information in today’s marketplace, focus groups require understanding of purpose and good grounding in the technique to be effective. In The Handbook for Focus Group Research, Second Edition, Thomas L. Greenbaum provides the latest information on conducting effective focus groups. New chapters in this 1997 edition discuss the technology revolution, globalization of focus groups, physician focus groups, and the effective management of field services and recruiting. With more than 20 years of experience in focus group research, Tom Greenbaum shows the reader in this essential guide how to maximize the effectiveness of focus groups in thorough discussions of moderators and their techniques, escalating costs, facilities, and careers. This book is essential for professionals and scholars interested in marketing and marketing research.

Customer Reviews:

Shallow and Redundant.......2002-09-23

This book is absolutely useless unless it is your very initial introduction to the concept of a focus group. It is tremendously shallow, sophomoric and uninformative for professional marketers. Redundancies abound in this book, and much time is spent bemoaning focus group facilities' incompetence and other extraneous factors that only tangentially related to the real subject. Mr. Greenbaum offers no actual case studies to illuminate the utility of focus groups. His examples are vague and barely scratch the surface. It is unfortunate that the field of qualitative research is tainted by pseudo-experts of his ilk.

Detailed & comprehensive Focus Group guideline.......2002-02-22

Most of the Marketing Research text books have only mentioned the Purpose, Process and Management of Focus Group in a superficial manner. It is difficult to get to know the examples of Focus Group. This book can presents information on conducting market research with focus groups, discuss how to select and evaluate moderators and facilities and using the latest technology and innovative techniques to obtain more useful information.
It's a clear, logical and easy-to-read book that is highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Where's the beef?
Great as a refresher or for a first time moderator
Not bad, BUT I HOPE MORE!

Focus Group Research Handbook
Holly Edmunds
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Focus Groups as Qualitative Research (Qualitative Research Methods)
Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, Third Edition
Analyzing and Reporting Focus Group Results (Focus Group Kit)
The Focus Group: A Strategic Guide to Organizing, Conducting and Analyzing the Focus Group Interview
Beyond Listening: Learning the Secret Language of Focus Groups

ASIN: 0658002481

Book Description

The Focus Group Research Handbook is a comprehensive guide to contracting with a market research vendor to create a customized focus group study for your business or organization. Author Holly Edmunds thoroughly explains and simplifies the methodology of focus group studies, and comprehensively outlines the steps you'll need to follow to implement and then analyze focus group research. From designing research vendor questionnaires, to selecting an effective moderator, from analyzing results to turning those results into workplace gains, this book will provide you with all the tools and tips you'll need to simplify the focus group process.

Download Description

The Focus Group Research Handbook is a comprehensive guide to contracting with a market research vendor to create a customized focus group study for your business or organization.

Customer Reviews:

Where's the beef?.......2005-07-18

I purchased this book in the digital version, being too impatient to wait for delivery. I soon found that supreme patience was required to ferret out the information I was looking for.

First the good news: the (e)book is thorough and structured. A lot of valuable details are brought to focus. If you are seeking information on the mechanics of organizing and running a focus group, I think this would be a good start.

However, I also want to know how to collect data from a Focus Group, and how to interpret the data. This it turns out is a research project in and of itself, since this information is scattered in various chapters, and the formal discussion only begins on page 87.

I eventually found the information I was looking for, although the level of detail was a bit thin. I just find it fascinating that a book intended to serve the advertising industry has it's punchline on page 87.

Great as a refresher or for a first time moderator.......2000-03-06

I purchased this book to refresh my skills when organizing a series of focus groups with very diverse demographics. Edmunds allowed me to brush up on key techniques, but also painted a great visual for the those on my team that were focus group virgins.

Not bad, BUT I HOPE MORE!.......1999-11-26

NOT BAD,BUT I HOPE THEY COULD TELL ME MORE SOMETHING NEW!

The Practical Handbook and Guide to Focus Group Research

Average customer rating:

The Practical Handbook and Guide to Focus Group Research
Thomas L. Greenbaum
Manufacturer: Lexington Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0669248223

The power of focus groups: A training manual for social and policy research

Average customer rating:

Fantastic resource manual for conducting your own focus groups.

The power of focus groups: A training manual for social and policy research
Janet Mancini Billson
Manufacturer: Skywood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0970007507

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic resource manual for conducting your own focus groups........2007-06-01

Full of examples, appendices with sample recruitment screeners and moderator's guides, this manual will get the neophyte focus group researcher up and running.

Average customer rating:

The Practical Handbook and Guide to Focus Group Research
Thomas L. Greenbaum
Manufacturer: Lexington Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KZY8NK

International Focus Group Research: A Handbook for the Health and Social Sciences

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International Focus Group Research: A Handbook for the Health and Social Sciences
Monique M. Hennink
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Methodology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Research | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Globalization | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0521845610

Book Description

A practical and authoritative guide to conducting focus group discussions in health and social science research, with particular emphasis on using focus groups in developing country settings. Monique M. Hennink describes the procedures and challenges of each stage of international focus group research. This book demonstrates how to balance scientific rigour with the challenges of the research context, and guides readers to make informed research decisions. It includes unique field perspectives and case study examples of research in practice. Topics covered include: planning international field research; developing a fieldwork timetable and budget; seeking research permissions; translating research instruments; training a field team; developing a culturally appropriate discussion guide; participant recruitment strategies; conducting focus groups in another language; managing discussions in outdoor locations; group size and composition issues; transcription and translation of the group discussions; data analysis and reporting focus group research.

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The Handbook for Focus Group Research
Thomas L. Greenbaum
Manufacturer: Sage Pubns 1/1/1998
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MBT88W

The Handbook for Focus Group Research - Improve the Effectiveness of Your Focus Group and Your Marketing Skills (Revised and Expanded Edition)

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The Handbook for Focus Group Research - Improve the Effectiveness of Your Focus Group and Your Marketing Skills (Revised and Expanded Edition)
Thomas L. Greenbaum
Manufacturer: Lexington Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P7KGX4

Product Description

In 1992, over 100,000 focus groups were conducted in the United States. In an era when business survival depends on finding a market niche and pleasing the customer, focus groups are a vital method of testing new products, services, advertising, and packaging and an indispensable way to elicit attitudes, preferences, habits, and suggestions directly from the customer. Thomas L. Greenbaum has been a leader in focus group research for more than twenty years. Addressing organizations that hire focus group professionals, Greenbaum explains how to select and evaluate moderators and facilities, and how to control the costs of research. For marketers who conduct their own focus groups, he reviews the latest technology, including computer images and satellite videotransmissions, and explains how and when to use expressive drawing, conceptual mapping, laddering, and other innovative techniques to yield more and better information. Greenbaum predicts the number of focus groups will continue to surge, to perhaps 200,000 a year by the late 1990s. Current users of focus groups will rely more on qualitative research, he asserts, and many new users, including service firms, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies, will discover the value of focus groups. In addition to new clients and new techniques, the industry also faces new threats, including recruitment scams and lowered professional standards, that could undermine the credibility of all focus groups. Greenbaum guides clients and practitioners in meeting these challenges.

Methodological Review a Handbook for Excellence in Focus Group Research: Handbook for Excellence in Focus Group Research

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Methodological Review a Handbook for Excellence in Focus Group Research: Handbook for Excellence in Focus Group Research

Manufacturer: Academy for Educational
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9994865897

Methodological review: A handbook for excellence in focus group research

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Methodological review: A handbook for excellence in focus group research
Mary Debus
Manufacturer: Academy for Educational Development
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00072BRJE

Book Description

Risks, Reputations, and Rewards looks at a variety of interrelated questions about contingency fee legal practice: What is the nature of the contingency fees that lawyers charge? How do lawyers get and screen potential cases? How do contingency fee lawyers interact with their clients and opponents? What is involved in settling these cases? What types of returns do contingency fee cases produce? And what role does reputation play in contingency fee practice? The author argues that to be successful, contingency fee lawyers must generate a portfolio of cases, similar to an investment portfolio with its associated risk. This has a significant impact on how contingency fee lawyers obtain and select cases, manage their work, and deal with the pressures that arise in settling cases. More important, understanding the work of contingency fee lawyers in terms of an ongoing practice rather than in terms of individual cases mitigates some of the significant conflicts that may exist between lawyers and clients.

Customer Reviews:

Negotiation headstart or refesher.......2002-03-12

Although negotiation skills are nurtured overtime and solidified with practice, this book quickly and simply communicates the main corner stones and phases of effective negotiation. The font and layout assist fast reading and the subject is covered concisely to enable a satisfactory grasp of the concept in a few hours - without oversimplifying the message and compromising the value to the reader.

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Vegetables (Cook's Encyclopedias)
Average customer rating:

The definitive vegetable cookbook

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Vegetables (Cook's Encyclopedias)
Christine Ingram
Manufacturer: Lorenz Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Reference | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Vegetables | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Cooking | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Fruit (Cook's Encyclopedias)

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Chicken (Cook's Encyclopedia)

Spices: A Cook's Manual & 100 Recipes: A Definitive Identifier And User's Guide To Spices, Spice Blends And Aromatic Ingredients A Classic Collection Of ... Than 1200 Stunning Step-By-Step Photographs

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Baking (Mini-matt)

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Soup

ASIN: 0754803694

Book Description

The ultimate illustrated guide to over 180 different vegetables, featuring more then 100 step-by-step recipes.This is the only reference book on identifying, preparing, using and cooking vegetables that you will need!

Customer Reviews:

The definitive vegetable cookbook.......2002-12-30

Excellent informational section detailing the history, nutrition, varieties, buying and storage, preparation, and cooking and serving of a wide range of vegetables, complete with color photos to aid in identification (a real help as Europeans call some veggies by different names than in the U.S., such as "aubergines," which we call "eggplant").

The recipes section is great. Every recipe I've tried has been a winner! The photo illustrations throughout the recipe section clearly depict the steps to creating each dish. If you have non-vegetable-lovers in your family, you may be able to convert them with these recipes.

The Cook's Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking
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The Cook's Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking

Manufacturer: Hermes House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Cooking | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1843093839

The Complete Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking: The Practical Cook's Guide to Every Type of Vegetable with Over 300 Delicious Recipes
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The Complete Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking: The Practical Cook's Guide to Every Type of Vegetable with Over 300 Delicious Recipes
Roz Denny , and Christine Ingram
Manufacturer: Anness Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Cooking | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1859678602

Book Description

Money and How to Make More of it is a beginner's guide to investing. Lorraine Chase and Adam Shaw cut through the jargon to provide beginners with a no-nonsense guide to investments and savings.

Book Description

Ethical failures are rooted in leadership failure, the lack of a corporate culture in which ethical concerns have been integrated, and unresponsiveness to key organizational stakeholders. This book seeks to enhance our understanding of the causes of ethical debacles in an era when ethical missteps can often lead to corporate bankruptcies or worse. Sims offers practical solutions for mitigating damage and preventing such problems from happening in the first place. He also explains how to institutionalize ethics throughout an organization. Sims asserts that organizations wishing to behave ethically must do more than harbor good intentions. Such companies must implement policies that inculcate the corporate culture with ethical values. They must also commit to ethical behavior in all interactions with internal and external stakeholders, including investors, customers, employees, and the community.

Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Why Giants Fall

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Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Why Giants Fall
Ronald R. Sims
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORUA68

Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, NoBenefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back
Average customer rating:

Trivial and full of banals

An Unfortunately Terrible Book

Must-read for parents

The elite impersonating the oppressed

Suitable at best for preteens but doubtful

Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, NoBenefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back
Anya Kamenetz
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Guides | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Economic Conditions | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | College & University | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Policy | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
College | By Level | Education | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Strapped: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead

Generation Debt: Take Control of Your Money--A How-to Guide

Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before

Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders

Credit Card Nation: The Consequences of America's Addiction to Credit

ASIN: 1594482349

Book Description

Generation Debt offers a truly gripping account of how young Americans are being ground down by low wages, high taxes, huge student loans, sky-high housing prices, not to mention the impending retirement of their baby boomer parents. Twenty-four-year-old Anya Kamenetz examines this issue from every angle and provides a riveting, rousing manifesto that will inspire everyone to take care of their financial future.

Customer Reviews:

Trivial and full of banals.......2007-09-27

The book is partly obvious and mostly poorly researched. Nota bene, what really interesting and insightful about the financial side of life can someone write just two years after graduating from college? What's more, Miss Kamenetz writing style is stiff, repetitive and the final procuct boring. So, save yourself $14 and few hours of time possibly wasted on reading this opus.

An Unfortunately Terrible Book.......2007-09-16

The arguments set forth in this book are often poorly reasoned, the research is inadequate, the people interviewed by the author are far too similar ... but worst of all, the book is horribly unbalanced in terms of the (liberal) political bias of the author. And speaking of the author, readers will rarely have encountered such a self-absorbed promoter of ideas she clearly has not taken the time fully to understand. I don't know how many times she interjects that she went to Yale. Who cares? She suffers the delusion that affects many (young/second-rate) journalists, which is that anybody cares about the personal opinions of journalists. This is a great topic for a book, and Kamenetz accidentally blunders upon a few good points, but it is unfortunate that the subject matter is done such a disservice ... the only redeeming quality is that she quotes a few other authors who actually have something to say.

Must-read for parents.......2007-08-26

Anya Kamenetz' book is a must-read for parents. If you set aside the polemical aspects of the book (such as what policies or societal influences are to blame for the pressures the current generation faces, a topic where the author treads lightly) you will find an excellent primer on how to prepare your children for their future.

Ms. Kamenetz crystallizes the following points:
College students are responsible for a larger share of their educational costs than ever before
Federal grants have given way to student loans
A college degree is no longer a guarantor of higher income
The workforce is no longer a guarantor of benefits, pensions or long-term security
If we don't inculcate our children with a value system and personal responsibility, they will fall prey to the temptations of easy credit and debt

I don't agree with Ms. Kamenetz' solutions, which rely too heavily on redistribution of wealth. I was taught in Economics that whenever you subsidize something, the costs go up. I did enjoy reading the refreshing suggestion of "De-Schooling" in the chapter on "Waking Up and Taking Charge". Our system of higher education has become too costly, probably due to all the subsidies we throw at it, and does not provide skilled, trained workers to face the shifting demands of the workplace. I like the notion of breaking the monopoly on education.

To ask the question, "who is to blame," for these challenges facing the current generation, is to completely miss the point. The book would be worth twice its price if Ms. Kamenetz asked one of her contemporaries who was commiserating on their excessive credit card debt why they didn't tear up their credit cards, get a second or third job, then save up enough money to get out of debt and pay cash for night school. Our society has many freedoms, but also has many trap for the unwary. If you are savvy and make astute financial decisions, no one may write a book about you, but at least you can sleep at night.

It is difficult to write a book with the subject "Woe is we" without sounding querulous; however, for the most part, Ms. Kamenetz adroitly avoids the finger-wagging that would otherwise dilute her message - it's time to turn off the TV and the XBox, sit down with your kids, look them in the eye, and have a serious talk on how they can survive and thrive in the brave new world.

The elite impersonating the oppressed.......2007-08-10

I am the demographic this book was written for. I am of the generation she is talking about. I come from humble people; I'm the first person in my family to go to college, yet I managed to get a Ph.D. -in physics even (meaning, unlike some of the nincompoops interviewed in this book who got degrees in imaginary subjects, I had to do real work in school). When I got out, I was in debt up to my ears, and I had to take a job which didn't allow me to express my unique genius. Yet, I remain unmoved by, contemptuous even of her screed. Perhaps this is because I studied addition and subtraction in my long and sordid eduction, and fully realized that, if I took out loans, I'd have to pay them back. I also never needed the money to survive: it was all play money. Like Miz Kamenetz and the people she interviews, I spent my loan money on exotic vacations and baubles to make my life more comfortable. You can in fact, survive on very little money in america: even in expensive places like Berkeley or New York City. Yes, credit card companies are evil. Don't do business with them. Yes, higher education has become much more expensive. Make sure you get your money's worth. Take courses that can get you work.

Miz Kamenetz of course comes from a privileged background. Her parents were professors, well connected in the publishing industry, and she went to Yale (!). On her website, she describes not making her credit card payments for 3 months, while on a trip to Europe. Making a few guesses about her age and the exchange rates in the last few years, I'd say that was a pretty unwise decision, even if it did net her a marriage proposal from a google employee, and an eventual position giving finance advice for Yahoo. It is also symptomatic of a privileged generation, whining, essentially about its good fortune. 30 years ago, only people like Kamenetz would have been able to go to Yale, get credit to buy very nice things they can't afford, and take ill considered trips to europe. I don't know which generation she's talking about which had it better than ours: any such generation I can think of had considerably less access to both college education, credit (which is, frankly, nice to have: beats taking out loans from the local fingerbreaker) and easy living. A book by a Marie Antoinette who is unacquainted with anything remotely resembling financial hardship adds absolutely nothing to the discussion.

Suitable at best for preteens but doubtful .......2007-07-11

The only reason why this book might add some value teens is due to the fact that America's school system gives no mandatory education on consumer finance. However, the premise of the book is flawed and very little practical education would be provided to even preteens by reading this book.

As a resource for adults, it is quite myopic. Many of the reviewers I have read appear to be not only more knowledgable than the author, but they seem to be capable of writing a much more comprehensive book. When you run across this situation (which is rare) you know the book stinks (no offense to the reviewers).

At only 26, and with no experience or training in finance or investments, the author has shown that she is not capable of delivering relevant content on this subject. In fact, the real Debt Generation would be the baby boomers, as anyone with reasonable knowledge of consumer finance would agree.

The fact is that much of the debt our nation's youth has today is primarily due to their greed and lack of work ethic. We cannot blame them however. These disturbing trends of a supra-sense of entitlement by this generation is mainly due to the media and pop culture, which values easy money and luxury items at a time when America's standard of living is in decline.

I find it ironic that the author is now working as a "financial expert" for Yahoo Finance. That not only provides a good indicator of the lack of value of the other "financial experts" working with Yahoo, but it paints what I feel to be an accurate explanation why Yahoo is a company in decline.

United States Tax Reform in the 21st Century

Average customer rating:

loved it
loved it

United States Tax Reform in the 21st Century

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Finance | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0521803837

Book Description

Tax reform debates in the United States have for some time been dominated by the question of whether the existing corporate and individual income tax system should be replaced with some form of a national consumption tax. This book contains essays by a group of internationally recognized tax experts who describe the current state of the art in economic thinking on the issue of whether fundamental tax reform is preferable to continued incremental reform of the existing income tax. The collection covers a wide range of tax policy issues related to consumption tax reforms, including their economic effects, distributional consequences, effects on administrative and compliance costs, transitional issues and the political aspects of fundamental tax reform, and international comparisons.

Customer Reviews:

loved it.......2004-07-05

this is an amazing book!!! it has very good points!! you have to read it!!! you wont regret it!!

loved it.......2004-07-05

I thought this was the best tax reform book i have ever read. it had amazing points. it is the best book ever. you have to read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unleashing America's Potential: A Pro-Growth Pro-Family Tax System for the 21st Century

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Unleashing America's Potential: A Pro-Growth Pro-Family Tax System for the 21st Century
National Commission of Economic Growth & Tax Reform
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Public Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312146183

Compliance: a 21st century approach.(Fundamental Tax Reform: Possibilities and Problems): An article from: National Tax Journal

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Compliance: a 21st century approach.(Fundamental Tax Reform: Possibilities and Problems): An article from: National Tax Journal
Phil Brand
Manufacturer: National Tax Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from National Tax Journal, published by National Tax Association on September 1, 1996. The length of the article is 3417 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: This paper highlights past trends in federal tax compliance and discusses elements that the author believes help increase compliance with tax laws. In the paper, I advocate the consideration of these elements as vital in any future redesign of the Internal Revenue Service and our federal tax system.

Citation Details
Title: Compliance: a 21st century approach.(Fundamental Tax Reform: Possibilities and Problems)
Author: Phil Brand
Publication: National Tax Journal (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1996
Publisher: National Tax Association
Volume: 49 Issue: n3 Page: 413-419

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Retooling Social Security for the 21st Century: Right and Wrong Approaches to Reform. (book reviews): An article from: National Tax Journal

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Retooling Social Security for the 21st Century: Right and Wrong Approaches to Reform. (book reviews): An article from: National Tax Journal
Jonathan Gruber
Manufacturer: National Tax Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from National Tax Journal, published by National Tax Association on March 1, 1995. The length of the article is 2574 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Retooling Social Security for the 21st Century: Right and Wrong Approaches to Reform. (book reviews)
Author: Jonathan Gruber
Publication: National Tax Journal (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 1995
Publisher: National Tax Association
Volume: 48 Issue: n1 Page: 159-163

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Amazon.com

The eponymous muses were young men, many of them dancers, who inspired choreographer Frederick Ashton (1904-88) to create Symphonic Variations, La fille mal gardee, and the other works that brought English ballet to a new level of artistry. His biographer Julie Kavanagh, a British ballet critic, appreciates but does not overemphasize their importance, respecting the mysteries of the creative process in her perceptive evaluations of Ashton's work. She is equally good on his famed wit and giddy social life, providing enough party scenes and famous names to keep even non-balletomanes reading.

Book Description

The founding choreographer of English ballet saw his influence extend far beyond that world. For more than 50 years he worked with the most famous dancers of his day and many celebrated figures came to know this dazzling and witty personality. Given complete access to Ashton's papers, Kavanagh has written a compelling and definitive account of one of the most important cultural figures of the 20th century. photos.

Customer Reviews:

A Panorama of 20th Century Dance........2000-10-19

Julie Kavanagh's biography of Frederick Ashton has been splendidly reviewed below, but there are one or two things I should like to add.

This biography of Sir Frederick Ashton is a panorama of 20th century dance in Britain and, in some aspects, America also. It is, and will remain so for future generations, a marvellous "Who's Who" of the British ballet establishment.

I confess I started to skip the love letters to and from the boys. A little love letter goes a long [long] way. Was Ashton really so creatively tied to such people as Martyn Thomas? His choreographic talent was such that I am left wondering how very much greater Ashton's work might have been without the sturm and drang of those relationships. Was Ashton 'passionately lazy' or did he, I wonder, suffer from undiagnosed depression from most of his life because he could not be the great dancer he longed to be? His attempts to 'keep the slate clean' as far as having a good war record and not get caught out in his homosexuality at a time when it was illegal in the UK are commendable, but how stultifying for him artistically! He could never let go and have a really life-enhancing grand passion. I have the feeling that secretly Ashton longed to be a voluptuously beautiful courtesan with the world at his feet. He had his world at his feet most of the time, and his palace was the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, so there were compensations of course. The whole hypocritcal business of the illegality of homosexuality in the UK affected not only Ashton but Noel Coward, Cecil Beaton, Terence Rattigan and above all, Benjamin Britten. How much greater might their artistic output have been otherwise?

It doesn't matter that many of Ashton's ballets have not stood the test of time. Some of them certainly have, Les Patineurs and Les Rendezvous are great works for, beside, and because of, their choreographic content, they are wonderful for improving and strenghtening any corps-de-ballet - and how many ballets of the 20th century can one say that of? Symphonic Variations and Scenes de Ballet are masterpieces of their genre. Daphnis & Chloe was a marvellous realisation of the score, as was La Valse. I use the past tense deliberately.

Julie Kavanagh has captured the essence of the life Ashton led, and brings him to life with more sympathy than perhaps he deserves. Objectively, then, one should seperate the man from his choreography, and it's up to each reader to do so. One aspect of his art that Ms Kavanagh has captured is the man's 'theatrical theatricality.' Ashton was theatrical in the best sense of the word. It pervades his ballets and certain effects, such as the billowing curtain in Marguerite & Armand stay in the mind's eye, [well, it has in mine anyway], long after the image of the choreography has faded. That a man of Ashton's years could produce A Month in the Country is a testament to his genius, his theatricality and his self-revitalising humanity. As Ms Bonifaccio points out below in her review, should one judge a ballet for it's revivability? No. Ballets are here and now. I am reminded by this by a friend of mine who knew Mme Karsavina in old age. He once said to her: "I'd love to see Le Pavillon d'Armide revived." Mme Karsavina laughed, and replied, "Believe me, you wouldn't."

Julie Kavanagh's book is here and now, but I do see great 'researcher trouble' ahead. Some of the prose is misleading because she assumes, rightly, that we KNOW what she is writing about. I can just see a post graduate student doing their thesis in say, Kansas in 2050, and writing about Dame Ninette de Valois longing to jitterbug with a handsome negro at the Caribbean Club. [Page 305]. This is because Barbara Ker-Seymer tells Billy Chappell that 'Madame was in charge... She longed to be whirled into a jutterbug.. but nobody asked her to dance. Maybe it was her WAAF's uniform that put them off.' 'Madame', 'she' and 'WAAF' all in one sentence are going to be read by the uninitiated as though Dame Ninette de Valois was present in uniform when she was, clearly, no-where near the place. [And how I do agree with Sir John Drummond that calling Dame Ninette de Valois 'Madam' was a fearful practise.] That irritating habit [bad theatricality this time] of referring to men as 'she' pervades this book. [Jocelyn Bowlan, a dancer in the English National Opera Movement Group in the 1980'S once complained to the ENO's Head of Dance, Nicky Bowie; "DO the boys have to always call each other SHE?" Ms Bowie replied: "Jocelyn, I joined London Festival Ballet when I was 18 years old and since then everyone's been SHE."] On page 435 'Debo' is mentioned. She is, of course, the Duchess of Devonshire, but you won't find this in the index. Little things, they may seem quibbles, like this are a minefield for future generations who will be hard put to understand where Ashton and The Royal Ballet establishment stood in relationship to the British upper classes. In fact, Ms Kavanagh captures the glorius postwar collision between the Brideshead generation and the Establishment. The whole situation, outlining Ashton's artistic predicament, is wonderfully and accurately summed up by Lincoln Kirsten to Cecil Beaton on page 438. This alone is worth the price of the book.

A wonderful wonderful book!!

A valuable and interesting book........2000-10-14

The most amazing thing about Ms Kavanagh's book is that it NOT a hatchet job on what seems to be a rather unpleasant man. Underneath the many layers of Ashton's exhibitionism, egocentricity, tightfistedness and manipulative scheming Kavanagh reveals a rather sad, but talented, figure, whom one feels a certainy sympathy for.

Was Ashton a great choreographer? Probably he was. Future generations will be hard pushed to know though, as his ballets are massacred by the Royal Ballet in the UK. One should, I feel, never judge a ballet by it's revivability. Those of us present at the first night of "Enigma Variations" or "A Month in the Country" knew we were in the presence of greatness. In many ways Ashton was a choreographic Somerset Maugham, who managed to evoke a lost world in a few steps of a short ballet, very like Somerset Maugham's short stories. Who knows whether they will stand the test of time?

I can't help feeling that Ashton wasn't a very pleasant person, though not as unpleasant as the snarlingly awful Antony Tudor with his chips on his shoulders and his deep seated inverted snobbery. Ashton's sexual politics within the Royal Ballet would be considered highly politically incorrect, [while his treatment of some of the dancers would be considered sexual harassment and, if pursued through the courts would have won huge payouts], in this day and age. The whole set up sounds [and probably was] terribly incestuous. Ms Kavanagh quotes extensively from Ashton's love letters to and from young men, letters which, in most cases, are too foolish and should have been submitted to a strong editorial hand.

It's bizarre to read that Dame Ninette de Valois retired from the Royal Ballet in 1964 for she wielded enormous influence there even 30 years later. In fact there was no real reason for her to retire then at all, as her retirement caused a choreographic block in Ashton. Her shoddy politics in the affair do not show her in a good light at all. It's also bizarre to think that the cradle of British ballet as such was in the hands of these people, who were little more than dilettantes, and who lost in the early post-war period the two great influences on them; Constant Lambert and Sophie Fedorovitch. What was the alternative? Marie Rambert? I think not! Page 476, Ashton to Kavanagh: "There are things I have to say about Ninette....but I'm not going to tell you while she's alive." Did he ever say them? I bet he did!

I do have some small issues with Ms Kavanagh's approach. She talks about the men of the early post-war Royal Ballet as having good techniques. This is nonsense. Believe me, until the advent of Nureyev British male dancing was of a pretty poor standard as there were no outstanding male teachers at the Royal Ballet School in those days. For instance, there was no male variation for the Prince in Sleeping Beauty until just before the Royal Ballet's Russian tour in 1961 and no coda to the pas-de-deux until well into the late sixties. There were one of two plausible dance-actors, Alexander Grant being one of them, but he was miscast in any thing remotely classical, i.e. The Two Pigeons. Michael Somes [and what a fearful baddie he turned out to be, his behaviour bordering on psychotic!] simply could not dance by today's standards. He couldn't even walk properly onstage and was really just a 'porteur' for Margot Fonteyn. I never in my life saw David Blair [page 446] perform eight en dehor turns consecutively onstage, and I saw him often. Nureyev's arrival at the Royal Ballet did not really wipe out a whole generation of British male dancers [page 471n] because there weren't any who could be remotely compared to Nureyev. Certainly not the gormless looking Christopher Gable who, with Lynn Seymour, nightly mistook barnstorming for acting. Which reminds me: There is a myth that is gaining circulation [page 485] that Seymour and Gable were deposed from the first night of Romeo and Juliet. There would never have been any question of them doing the first night whilst Fonteyn and Nureyev were in the offing. When the press announcement of Romeo and Juliet was made [if memory serves] in late December 1964 it's opening two performances, February 9th and 11th 1965, had Fonteyn cast as Juliet with Nureyev as Romeo. Think about this: If Nureyev had been around in 1960, "La fille mal gardee" would have been for Fonteyn and Nureyev, not Nerina and Blair. Nadia Nerina, [page 472], should keep this in mind when criticising "Marguerite and Armand." If one Ashton ballets survives it will be "La fille mal gardee" and Nerina, for all her bitterness at not being Fonteyn's successor, will be remembered as the first Lise in Ashton's production. [Mercifully preserved in a complete black and white kinescope.]

Despite my quibbles Julie Kavanagh has produced a great book. I hope she's planning a companion piece, the life of Dame Ninette de Valois! That will be something to look forward to.

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