“Critical Thinking and Sociological Theories”  Please respond to one (1) of the following:

Review the six (6) rules of critical thinking discussed on pages 8 and 9 in the textbook. Determine the rule that you believe to be the most challenging and provide a rationale for your response.

Examine the three (3) key sociological theories discussed in the chapter—structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Discuss the key ways that these different theories define deviance and punishment in society.

In the first two written assignments, you selected one vulnerable population in need of a new program or service in your community.  In this project, you will finalize the research that allows you to understand elements that go into designing and launching a community service.  The Final Project will be written using a persuasive tone, such that you would be able to present it in order to gain community and organizational support for your program.  The Final Project must demonstrate an understanding of the reading assignments, class discussions, as well as your research and application of new knowledge.  Your project must contain the following elements:

• A description of the vulnerable population and why they need assistance in your community.
• A description of the health service needs of the vulnerable population you have chosen to serve with your program.
• In order to support the need for the service you propose, cite statistical data obtained from your county health department, state health department, and organizations or agencies who serve the vulnerable population.
• A description of your proposed community service or program; include the specific service(s) provided and one continuum of care level (prevention, treatment, or long-term care). Explain how the selected service(s) and the continuum of care will impact the chosen population.
• Discuss the social and cultural norms of your vulnerable population and how these play a role in the need for the services offered by your program. Describe how the vulnerable population experiences the health care system.  Analyze methods your program can use to overcome social and cultural differences.
• Identify two or more community organizations or agencies with which you can partner in order to implement your program. Explain how these organizations can help you implement the services you offer and the continuum of care offered by the potential partnering agencies. Explain which services these organizations will provide to your clientele that are not covered by your program.  
• Analyze at least four potential funding sources for your program, one of which must be from a state funded agency, one of which must be from a federally funded agency and the remaining two can be not-for-profit or for-profit business sources. Explain what factors must be met in order to receive funding from your sources.

Your final project will demonstrate quantitative literacy, which shows your ability to identify and solve problems.  Additionally, you must demonstrate integrative learning, which means you combine your earlier learning from this and other courses, analyze data from multiple perspectives, explore issues to their full extent as is required in the assignment, as well as incorporate your own personal and professional experiences. 

Be detailed and convincing in describing the above elements.  For your presentation, you may choose between the following formats:

• An APA formatted Final Paper
• A PowerPoint Presentation

The Final Paper:

• Must be eight to ten double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
• Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
• Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
• Must use at least six scholarly sources, not including the textbook.
• Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

The PowerPoint Presentation:

• Must be at least 18 slides in length (not including title and reference slides).
• Must include a title slide with the following:
  • Title of presentation
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least six scholarly sources, not including the textbook.
• Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate reference slide, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include detailed speaker notes for each slide.
• Must be creative, using images and charts. Remember to cite all images taken from an online resource. Creative Commons and Flickr are great websites for open source images. 

For tips on creating an excellent presentation, read the following overview.

Write a four-page research paper covering the following topics: 

vDefine project cost terms and tell how each is used in estimating project cost.

vCompare and contrast analogous, parametric, and bottom-up methods of estimating costs.

vDescribe issues in project cost estimating and how to deal with each.

vDescribe the earned value management terms.  

Find at least two sources from an Online Library, and you may also use your textbook to complete this research paper. Be sure to use APA format and cite resources used. Include a title page and a reference page (not included in the number count of pages).

Textbook:

Kloppenborg, T. J. (2015). Contemporary project management (3rd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Two software companies sell competing products. These products are substitutes, so that the number of units that either company sells is a decreasing function of its own price and an increasing function of the other products price. Let p₁ be the price and x₁ the quantity sold of product 1 and let p₂ and x₂ be the price and quantity sold of product 2. then

                     X₁ = 1000(90 – ¹/₂ p₁ +¹/₂ p₂)

                    X₂ = 1000(90 –  ¹/₂ p₂ + ¹/₄p₁)

Each company has incurred a fixed cost for designing their software and writing the programs, but the cost of selling to an extra user is zero. Therefore each company will maximise its profit by choosing the price that maximises its total revenue.

A). write an expression for the total revenue of company 1, as a function of the it’s price p₁ and the other company’s price p₂.

b). company 1’s best response function BR₁(.) is defined so that BR₁(p₂) is the price  for product 1 that maximizes company 1’s revenue given that the price of product 2 is p₂. derive the best response function of company 1

c). similarly, derive company 2’s best response function BR₂(p₁).

d). solve for the Nash equilibrium prices.

e). suppose that company 1 sets its price first. Company 2 knows the price p₁ that company 1 has chosen and it knows that company 1 will not change this price. If company 2 set its price so as to maximise its revenue given that company 1’s price is p₁, then what price will company 2 choose?