Cost and Management Accounting Study of D

Question: Discuss about the Calculation of exact cost of collecting and disposing of rubbish from a residential address for one year. Answer: Calculation of exact cost of collecting and disposing of rubbish from a residential address, depend majorly on two factors i.e. volume and content of the trash. Study of D'Onza (2016) shows that generally costs are determined on the basis of free market competition by considering services provided by competing for waste removal businesses (D'Onza, Greco Allegrini, 2016). Further, there are areas where the cap is enforced by local government on profit margins for these services so that consumers are not required to pay unreasonable costs for these services. By considering this description, it can be said that service charge of junk removal will be based first on type and size of the junk and second on a number of truckloads otherwise the total time consumed to haul the junk. This cost will be increased by supplementary charges which will comprise fees for transporting waste to the appropriate place. This cost is added as delivery needs of trash requires some chemical and proper arrangements that cannot be left in landfills. The cost of trash removal will also be inclusive of labour charges particularly in a situation where this job consumes time more than one hour or more. Homeowners in the residential area required to pay for this service will: Get a team that will remove their all of the rubbishes Items of the collected trash will be sorted and delivered to a landfill or other proper delivery area. Have their home and other related spaces properly cleaned following the removal Table 1: Statement showing cost of collecting trash in Australia in residential area Particular Amount Labour charges $7,200.00 Rental cost of vehicle $10,800.00 Amount paid for disposal of waste $5,000.00 Fuel charges $9,000.00 Chemical charges $2,500.00 Landfills $5,000.00 Other related costs $1,000.00 Total cost $40,500.00 Number of houses 100 Average annual cost $405.00 The assumption of cost has been made by considering annual parameters of expenses in the medium city of Australia. By this cost structure, residents will not be in doubt that payment taken by them is for unfair aspects. Further, this cost will be charged by adding 10% margin in order to kept surplus for unseen circumstances related to waste management. For fair pricing, ABC City Council should not charge the same rate from all residential as it is totally unfair. Charges can be imposed in residential areas on the basis of following measures: Table 2: Statement showing measures on which charges can be imposed for trash collection and disposal Charges On the basis of load factor On the basis of area $70-$100 for a minimum load ( $90-$130 for ? load (10 sq. ft.) $130-$180 for ? load (13.3 sq. ft.) $240-$280 for - ? load (20 - 26.6 sq. ft.) $330-$360 for ? - load (30 - 40 sq. ft.) $410-$450 for ? - load (50 - 60 sq. ft.) $490-$520 for ? - ? load (66.6 - 70 sq. ft.) $550-$570 for a maximum load (80 sq. ft.) Difficulties encountered in making calculations Various difficulties were encountered for calculation of the cost of collecting trash in Australia in a residential area in actual practice with regard to process cost accounting procedures. Description of these problems is enumerated as below: Determining production quantity At the time of computation of cost there were significant issues in determining production quantities as well as their completion stages. These figures influence all other calculations. As the figures are usually received by the cost department from operation employees who work under conditions which make an accurate count challenging, a specific quantity of duplication, inaccurate estimates and double counts are likely to exist (Weygandt, Kimmel Kieso, 2015). However, the data submitted by the council still forms the basis for determining inventory costs. The council also faced problem in solid waste management cost computation because of the distinction between what residents were paying for the services and what it really cost. The distinction between the actual cost and price represented the quantum the service was subsidised. For this survey has been taken by considering past figures to determine production quantity of waste in residential area. Estimating cost of labour and material charges The calculations of labour and material cost usually demand meticulous scrutiny in the present case. Labour costs are normally regarded as the cost of the first department. In fact, in some sectors, this cost is not even included in production reports. When the prices of labour are impacted by dynamic market conditions, the cost of labour could be recorded separately in a report specifically designed to support management decisions pertaining to material and labour markets (Hiller, Mahlendorf Weber, 2014).To resolve this issue, I had asked the labour charges from the workers and make increment in this cost by considering market factors. Considering feasible assumptions: The discussion of units lost due to evaporation, shrinkage or spoilage shows that the time during which the loss happens impacts the final computing of cost. Several assumptions are pertaining the loss of units resulted in departmental unit costs, which in turn affected the inventory costs, the completed unit cost and the cost of transferred units. Other consideration entails the likelihood of the treatment of cost attributable to the loss which could have been avoided as an expense of the existing period (Ho et al., 2014). Cost principles for different product types: The Council used process cost methods due to the multiple types of products. Joint processing cost was apportioned to the products resultant from the process (Weygandt, Kimmel Kieso, 2015). Weighted unit average cost and other methods were used for prorating the joint cost to the different products. Additional clerical expenses are imperative when units produced were used as the base for cost apportionment, and also because the machine hour and labour hour basis was used to charge overhead in Work-in-Process (D'Onza, Greco Allegrini, 2016). The Council had to decide whether low operational cost and economy were compatible with greater information based on extra cost calculations and methods. Evaluation of proposal Yes, I had absolutely agreed on the proposal of charging annual rubbish and collection fee determined by considering the cost of providing this service. It is because; this approach enhances transparency through which public will be satisfied they are paying for the services actually consumed by them. Furthermore, if I had any objection from this charge, then I can co consider the cost statement to clarify my doubt instead of blaming city council without having appropriate proof of discrepancy in cost. Management accountants have a responsibility to several groups and managing these responsibilities is not always easy, and it can lead to ethical conflicts. The management accountant is an individual responsible for cost accounting functions of an organisation. The management accountant is also called controller and considered being part of the managerial authorities as he is accountable for the collection of important information by considering both internal and external sources of the company. He plays the main role in the process of analysing operating activity and making decisions of an organisation. However, their accountability varies in business concern depending upon the blueprint of the management system (Hiller, Mahlendorf Weber, 2014). The management accountant engages a key position in the organisation as they work as an executive and a member of the board of directors. In the large concern of the company, the management accountant is accountable for the setting up, efficient implementation and development of the systems of management accounting. The accountant is engaged in designing the framework of the financial as well as cost control reports that provides with the valuable information in a timely manner (Weygandt, Kimmel Kieso, 2015). The management accountant are also considered as chief intelligence officer because except top management, no one in the organisation possibly is aware about various functions and strategies of the organisation. The crucial duty of the management accountant is to assist managerial authorities in selection of correct policy and decision in order to make improvement in the efficiency of the business. The management accountant should point out the facts and concerned with the management of course, with discretion, patience, inflexibility and politeness. The accountant must remain impartial with the company where he works. However, the burden for public companies to succeed at a high level may place undue stress and the pressure on an accountant for the formation of financial statements (DesJardins McCall, 2014). The ethical issues for these accountants ascend while maintenance of true reports by considering assets, liabilities and profits of the company without getting affected by the undue influence placed on them by corporate officers of organisation. In such situation, unscrupulous accountants will make alterations in financial records and contrive numbers of the company in order to showcas e false pictures of success of corporate entity. This may provide them benefit for short-term prosperities, but this unethical acts will eventually spell the downfall of the companies at the time when this fraud is traced by the Securities and Exchange Commission. An accountant frequently comes upon the ethical issues regardless of the industry. On the other hand, in situation where decision was taken by the accountant that happens to be the misleading or not viable on the account of erroneousness, biasness or due to fabricated data furnished then they will be personally accountable on the behalf of management controllers (Weiss, 2014). The organisation must remain continually vigilant to reduce the chance of outside forces and to manipulate the financial records though could lead to both ethical and criminal violence. For example; companies frequently need to replace the assets at some points when they have to produce more product in less time for finishing the order they have to change the equipment and other assets also for the better production (Chawla and et.al., 2015). Ethical issues arise since new assets will cover the higher cost, however it will make reduction in the ROI. Management accountant who does not make a recommendation based on ROI will significantly affect the profitability of business. As per the above-described responsibilities the management accountant have a compulsion to abide by ethical conduct towards the organisation, their profession, the public and themselves to preserve the highest standards of right conduct. They are required to be competent to serve best of their belief. For this, they are required to maintain an appropriate level of specialised knowledge by continually increasing the knowledge and skills. They should perform professional duties in agreement with related laws, regulations, and technical standards. They are required to provide decision support information and recommendations which are perfect, obvious, concise, and timely (Hiller, Mahlendorf Weber, 2014). They are responsible for recognising and communicating professional limitations or other restriction that would prevent the responsible judgment or do well presentation of the activity. However, management accountant may face the ethical dilemma of reporting discovered accounting viola tions to the financial accounting standards board. While it is a duty of an accountant to report such violations, in ramifications of the reporting the dilemma arises. The executives and another corporate officer could also face the criminal prosecution, leading to heavy fines and prison time. Management accountants should keep information confidential except when is authorised or legally required. Further, they should inform the all applicable parties regarding the appropriate use of confidential information and monitor secondary activities to ensure compliance. They must refrain from using the classified in sequence for the unethical and illegal advantages (Chawla and et.al., 2015). Although, pressure from top management makes them whistleblower in the effect of greed. The financial world leads to shaving ethical boundaries. For example, an accountant can never let the desire to earn a better living and acquire more possession get in the way of ensuring that they follow ethical guidelines for financial reporting. They are responsible for integrity by ensuring moderate actual disagreement of concentration regularly communicated with the business associates for prevention of apparent conflicts of interest repeatedly and advice all the parties of any prospective disagreement. Further, they should refrain from engaging in any of the performance that would discrimination caring out duties morally (Weygandt, Kimmel Kieso, 2015). They should disclose delays or deficiencies in sequence, appropriateness, dispensation, or internal controls in conformance with association policy and applicable law. However, in various cases when accountant prepares the balance sheet, and at that time they are forced by the corporate officer or executive to omit or leave out the certain financial figures which lead the commercial entity in a bad light to the public and investors. In most of the organisation the management accountants have the most hectic schedule, and also they dont have enough time to interact with their subordinate. It is not possible to implement performance management system into the association if there are no recurrent meetings of the employee with their managers (Crane Matten, 2016). Therefore, the consistent feedbacks are given by managers to their junior, and that does not improve the presentation, but it is good for all in the organisation. In this aspect, overproduction is a major factor of ethical issues. It occurs when management accountant is working profligate with operational managers. Another major aspect in this is an issue of conflicting interest. It is because; accountant normally works for the unsurpassed attention for the corporate entity not being at a position of individual manager or supervisor. An inconsistency of interest rises at a point of time where a management accountant can take benefit at his individual position by making violation of ethical norms (DesJardins McCall, 2014). For example, the cost-plus contract is common areas where these individuals are entailed to shift overhead costs from the profit and loss account to customer contract. Due to this factor, clients are forced to pay higher prices for the same product. This inappropriate allocation of cost can lead to distortion in the accounting statement of the company and potential damages client relationships due to reducing ethics. By considering the above description, it can be concluded that management accountant is crucial part of corporate entity. Thus they are required to comply with the ethical code of conduct while working in the business environment. Though they have to face various ethical dilemmas in a commercial environment, but they can be prevented by operating giving priority to an ethical code of conduct. References Books and Journals Chawla, S. K., Khan, Z. U., Jackson, R. E., Gray, A. W. (2015). Evaluating Ethics Education for Accounting Students. Management Accounting Quarterly, 16(2), 16. Crane, A., Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalisation. Oxford University Press. DesJardins, J. R., McCall, J. J. (2014). Contemporary issues in business ethics. Cengage Learning. D'Onza, G., Greco, G., Allegrini, M. (2016). Full cost accounting in the analysis of separated waste collection efficiency: A methodological proposal. Journal of environmental management, 167, 59-65. Hiller, K., Mahlendorf, M. D., Weber, J. (2014). Management accountants occupational prestige within the company: A social identity theory perspective.European Accounting Review,23(4), 671-691. Ho, W., Koseoglu, A., Lu, D., Yu, K. (2014). An investigation into solid waste accounting. Weiss, J. W. (2014). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Weygandt, J. J., Kimmel, P. D., Kieso, D. E. (2015). Financial Managerial Accounting. John Wiley Sons. Weygandt, J.J., Kimmel, P.D., Kieso, D.E. (2015). Managerial accounting: Tools for business decision making (7th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley Sons.

Big Bad Caravans Involvement in Forged Advertisement Free Sample

Question: You are Required to Identify Legal Issues, Relevant legal Authority and Describe how you Intend to use this Legal Authority in relation to the Research Hypothetical Questions. Answer: Issue George and Mildred, a married retired couple, had been planning to travel in and around Australia in a huge caravan. They had saved a huge amount to do so as they wanted to travel after they retire from their respective jobs. They made their respective research on the internet regarding the caravan, in order to get the best possible result, as their own caravan. After conducting all their respective researches, the couple approached Frank Snood, who works for Big Bad Caravans, as the sales executive. After making all the research and other respective aspects, the couple decided that they need a 20feet long caravan, with all the modern day perks, such as TV, toilet, shower and a pop out BBQ. After respecting all their requirements, Frank recommended them to buy "victory 2000" which met all their requirements and was within their respective Pallas weight. Frank had told them that the total payload was 300kg as stated by the manufacturer of the caravan. It was mentioned that the total extra weight, which they can carry is as per this weight scale. Other than this, there was an advertisement which stated that the caravan is available at a discount of $20,000. This tempted the couple and they bought the caravan as soon as they saw the advertisement. Not only this, they had even bought an extended warranty for an amount of $1,000, which stated that all the major repairs and other aspects of the caravan will be maintained by the company for the next 5 years. A contract was signed between both the parties and the couple did not read the contract as they thought all the information was provided by Frank. But this was not the case. Later they get to know that the payload weight of the company includes all the availabilities in the caravan already. And they were just left with 5kgs for their clothes. After about 11 months of the caravan, or precisely, after travelling for 11 months, the tires had blown and the vehicle was about to crash severely. The insurance company had refused to pass the claim as it was significantly due to excess payload. And when the couple approached the company to avail the feature of extended warranty, they were told that damage caused by mishandling or improper use is not covered. Not only this, they even realized that the company had just forged the actual rate of $100,000, to show the discounted prices of $80,000, to attract the customers.(Monash University, 2015) Rule The Contract Act, 1984, section 23 states for a fact that any person or persons, who states an information to another person or persons, to ambiguously effect its own interest, or leads to situation of letting a person buy or do things after giving any misinformation is considered to be against the law and breach of contract.(Government, 2015) Section 27A also states for a fact that, if most of the information as known by any of the party is not disclosed to the concerned parties or misrepresented in the form, where their own interest is being satisfied should be considered as an illegal aspect for the government to take strict action against the party. (ACU, 2012) Section 69 of the Contract Act, also states for a fact that the parties involved in these aspects should be notifying clearly about the life insured of the person or any commodity. These are the three most important sections of the Contract Act, which are applied in this case of the couple, George and Mildred and the Frank and the Big Bad Caravan[1]. (Commonwealth Consolidated Acts, 2016) Application In the current scenario, George and Mildred can file a suit against Frank and the Big Bad Caravans as they have misled him with the product big time. Not only this, they showed them a fake price of the product and a forged discounted rate. This is one of the major reasons for the company to be in the court under the section 27A. As per the court of law, section 69 also states for a fact that any sort of misreprestantion will not be spared. For example, in the current scenario, the warranty for which the couple has paid $1,000 was not entertained effectively. Not only this were they not even informed regarding the fact that many of the claims regarding the tyre bursting aspect is not being acknowledged only. For this reason, the company can then be taken to the court leading them to have a beneficial aspect as it will help the couple in attaining some amount of the claim.(ACL, 2012) Other than this they can even take the whole scenario to the court under the above mentioned sections as it would ultimately lead them to make sure that they get the claim for the amount of money that they are suppose to get. And also for the forged advertisement and aspects which are being adopted by the company to succumb the customers and the normal people.(Miller, 2014) Conclusion In order to conclude, it should be said that in the current case, Big Bad Caravans will be convicted by the court as they are being involved in forged advertisement, of their respective products. This will ultimately get the whole case in front of the court and Frank would be convicted then. It is, according to this scenario, George and Mildred will be able to have their claim from the company and the insurance people too. Their total amount of insurance is being avoided as well, because of which, it is very much necessary for them to make sure that the whole scenario is exposed under the law. The advertisement, which showed the discounted price of the product, is one of the reasons for the company to be under the radar, and George, being the plaintiff, should bring this under the court of law. According to the sections of the Contract Act, Frank and Big Bad Company would be convicted under the law and appropriate action would be conducted by the court. (J, 2012) (Australian Governme nt, 2016) Bibliography ACL. (2012). Overview of Australian contract law. Retrieved March 28, 2017, from www.australiancontractlaw.com: https://www.australiancontractlaw.com/law.html ACU. (2012). Contract Law. Retrieved March 28, 2017, from libguides.acu.edu.au: https://libguides.acu.edu.au/c.php?g=234001p=1553409 Australian Government. (2016). Insurance Contracts Act 1984. Retrieved March 28, 2017, from www.legislation.gov.au: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00820 Commonwealth Consolidated Acts. (2016). INSURANCE CONTRACTS ACT 1984. Retrieved March 28, 2017, from www.austlii.edu.au: https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ica1984220/ Government. (2015). Australian Contract and Consumer Law. Retrieved March 28, 2017, from https://www.australiancontractlaw.com/: https://www.australiancontractlaw.com/ J, C. (2012). Contract Law in Australia, 6th Edition (Paperback). Retrieved March 28, 2017, from store.lexisnexis.com.au: https://store.lexisnexis.com.au/product?product=contract-law-in-australia-6th-edition-paperbackmeta_F_and=9780409330199 Miller, J. (2014). Doing Business in Australia: Contract law. Retrieved March 28, 2017, from www.claytonutz.com: https://www.claytonutz.com/knowledge/2014/june/doing-business-in-australia-contract-law Monash University. (2015). Commercial law: Contract law. Retrieved March 28, 2017, from guides.lib.monash.edu: https://guides.lib.monash.edu/commercial-law/contract-law Similar case has happened in the Masters Vs Cameron 91 CLR353

I Want Your Ugly free essay sample

A pigeon once nested in the front courtyard of my house. It moved grotesquely and could not fly, its physicality a result of birth defects. Neither my family nor I felt a necessity to relocate the unfortunate creature, though a sadness crept through me every time I was reminded of its existence. One day, I noticed a second, heftier pigeon in the courtyard, pecking at our resident bird’s mangled body every time it drew near. My poor pigeon tried desperately to befriend his visitor, but was met only with aggression. I understand that in natural world untouched by human will the defected are typically abandoned or ignored, but the sight of this incident broke my heart. I did not try to scare away the hostile bird for fear of simultaneously spooking my pigeon. Instead, I instinctively located my camera and snapped shots of this interaction for several minutes. If I could not help my friend, I could at least be a witness to his struggle. We will write a custom essay sample on I Want Your Ugly or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page My thoughts drifted to Lenny in Of Mice and Men, Leper Lepellier in A Separate Peace, and Ben in Ben X: lost souls that long so dearly for companionship and acceptance, but who are rejected for their inadequacies by the standards of society, leaving behind haunting, unsavory auras. I thought of my volunteer work at ARCH, the Arizona Recreation Center for the Handicapped, and my constant pursuit to show love and to listen to those whose minds and bodies prevent them from functioning normally. My stewing mind remembered a quote it once read and processed by Elie Wiesel that said â€Å"the opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.† As a journalist, I aspire to be a witness to those whose problems—be them physical, mental, environmental, or political—are avoided, or simply ignored, because they are too uncomfortable or disgusting to confront. In the eloquent words of the great Lady Gaga, â€Å"I want your ugly (†¦) I want your everything†; I want my life and its work to demonstrate that no living component of this beautiful world is undeserving of love and respect. My pigeon has since disappeared, his fate unknown, but not the stirring compassion he evoked in me. Taking photographs and writing fill me with the joy of expression, but remembering my pigeon and all that he symbolizes awakens in me more than satisfaction with myself, but purpose in using my talents to help others.

All [Woman and] Men Are Created Equal essays

All [Woman and] Men Are Created Equal essays It is disturbing to see that in society today I see as many unjust women as men. Most women have declared that women and men should have equal rights and I, as a woman, have to agree. However, many women today are abusing their rights for their benefit. What happened to equal rights? We may have equality in rights but we are not created equal, yet in some situations, e.g., in the workplace, many women lash out their anger and blame men. We are put on earth to do different things. We are built differently and we think differently. Naturally, women and men will have disagreements now and then. However, women must recognize that misusing their rights to take revenge for what men did in the past will not solve anything. Many women still believe that most men today view women as inferior, but when the fight for equality becomes distorted, women can be as sexist, prejudice and biased as men. Many men have subtly degraded women for many years. Its either that many women do not notice it or choose to look the other way. In the essay, Invisible Women, Yun Yung Choi explains how one man, Confucius, changed the lives of women for the worse in Korea. Choi states, Throughout the first half of Koryo period, which lasted from 918 to 1392, and throughout the Yi dynasty, women were important and contributing members of their society and not marginal and dependent as they later became. Women were, in large extent, in command of their own lives. She also states, With the introduction of Confucianism, however, the rights and privileges that women enjoyed were confiscated (187). In her essay, Choi quotes from Confucian proverbs such as Men are honored, but women are abased and A daughter is a robber women who carries household wealth away when she marries (187). Still today, many men have the same thoughts that Confucius had. I have worked with battered and ab...

Criminal Justice Research Methodology Term Paper

Criminal Justice Research Methodology - Term Paper Example It is also practical in the sense that it covers a long process over determining what a research needs in particular as it can be modified and take the form of interviews, questionnaires, or a combination of both. In a survey-interview, for example, it allows a researcher to observe the subject and modify questions if the subject seems confused by them. Survey is a good method to consider specially if there is a long range of respondents involved and the researcher needs to collate more uniformed answers in a given period of time (example, respondent-reactions due to the changes brought about by a recent ordinance created). Unlike plain interview that answers brought about by open-ended or close ended questions may vary and sometimes complex in their meaning, survey-questionnaires can eliminate the possibility that the researcher can influence the subject by is or her facial expressions, e.g., unconsciously frowning at an answer making unnecessary body language. Of course, there is a lways a danger that subjects may give misleading answers in order to make themselves â€Å"look good† but the researcher can always modify the questions in several different ways to detect this as well. Surveys are also ideal to use when concerns for safety is involved. It has been tested and experience through time that when safety is concerned, it is highly difficult to get willing respondents that will be open for research. There are two ways to ham ­per successful data gathering through face-to-face interviews. First, potential re ­spondents may refuse to be interviewed because they fear the stranger-interviewer specially if the subject for the research is a sensitive one. Second, the interviewers themselves may be in danger given that in some studies to be conducted, a need to expose researchers in a dangerous situation is inevitable (Maxfield, and Babbie, 2008). Social desirability is known to be one of the common problems that plague self-report crime questions in

A comparison of wine cultures between United Kingdom and Hong Kong Literature review

A comparison of wine cultures between United Kingdom and Hong Kong citizens - Literature review Example They further stated that the production of food and wine is a global phenomenon. Varriano (2011) added that wine had manifested its uniqueness in the culture and history of food and drink that first started in the ancient Greece and Rome civilizations. It is further essential to almost all forms of religion as they use this in their worship (Deutsch and Saks 2008). Today, the wine industry is rapidly growing along with the rise of the globalization (Anderson & Nelgen 2008). Indeed, wine has played a significant role in the lives of wine consumer’s way back in the past and up to the present. According to the work of Estreicher (2004), wine has played an essential role in the foundation of Western civilization. He further added that wine is a magical special ancient alcoholic beverage due to its associations with gods and religious and spiritual traditions. Sanchez (2008) further added that wine is considered by the ancient people such as the Greeks, Romans, Cretans and Egyptian as their daily commodities dated before Christ. These people are used to conducting grape brewing in their respective households. In the ancient history of the invention of distillation, wine is considered to be the best and most effective antiseptic. Furthermore, it is also considered as one of the most in-demand commodities for trade in the early Western civilization along with vine. Therefore, wine can be cited as a very significant in terms of religion, medicine, and trade (Estreicher 2004). Such notions and claims are further supported by the article of Squicciarini and Swinnen (2010) as the authors had revealed that, even back in the old times, wine has been used by the ancient people in several ways and within different purposes. For instance, in China, Chinese folks are using wines for spiritual purposes. This is also the same with the Indian people in which they used wines for

Application of ANN Model

Application of ANN Model 4.0. Introduction In this chapter, the results of ANN modelling are discussed through performance parameters, time series plotting and presentation through tables. Before the application of ANN model, statistical analysis of data are done. It is discussed earlier that the selection of appropriate input combination from the available data is the crucial step of the model development process. Five different types of input variable selection (IVS) techniques were utilized and twenty six input combinations were prepared based on the IVS techniques which are discussed in section 4.2. Finally, results of four ANN models are discussed one by one. Firstly, the feed forward neural network model were picked to predict dissolved oxygen of Surma River with all twenty six input combinations and compared with one another. Secondly, the sensitivity analysis was done by changing the value of individual input variables in a certain percentage. Thirdly, six best input combinations were selected based on their performan ces and rest of the three ANN models were utilized with those selected six input combinations. Finally, three best models from each ANN model were picked to compare with each other. The results of statistical data analysis, results of IVS, and results of ANN models will be discussed in this chapter chronologically. 4.1. Statistical Analysis of Data: Statistical parameters are very important components to understand the variability of a data set which is prerequisite of any modeling works.This study used some basic statistical parameters i.e. minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variability (CV) as defined below: Where, N is the total number of samples, is the water quality data, is the arithmetic mean of that particular data series. The summary of analysis is represented in Table 4.1. Standard Deviation (SD) shows the variation in data set, where smaller value represents the data is close together, while larger value denotes wide spreading of data set. The SD of dependent variable (BOD) showed relatively small value with respect to other parameters. But sometimes its difficult to understand variability only by SD value. Thus, coefficient of variability (CV) was used in this study for clear understanding of variability. Value of CV for BOD displayed larger variation (75%) that represents huge quantities of untreated wastewater was dumping from various point and nonpoint sources into this river during sample collection. All independent variables (remaining 14 parameters) also showed an enormous variation in CV value (8% to 144%). Such variability might be happened due to geographical variation s in climate and seasonal inà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uences in the study region. pH showed lowest variation and it may happen due to the buffering capacity of the river. Table 4. 1: Basic Statistics i.e. minimum (min), maximum (max), mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) of the measured water quality variables for a period of three years (January, 2010-December, 2012) in Surma River, Sylhet, Bangladesh. Variable Min Max Mean Std. CV (%) Phosphate (mg/l) 0.01 3.79 0.53 0.70 132 Nitrates (mg/l) 0.18 4.0 1.53 1.05 69 CO2 (mg/l) 8.0 127 32.66 20.99 64 Alkalinity (mg/l) 21 195 59.34 30.56 51 TS (mg/l) 55 947 292.2 165.69 57 TDS (mg/l) 10 522 142.3 102.15 72 pH 5.7 8.25 6.92 0.55 8 Hardness (mg/l) 45 262 119 43 36 SO4-3 (mg/l) 2.0 33.10 10.68 6.82 64 BOD (mg/l) 0.6 17.3 3.79 2.86 75 Turbidity (NTU) 4.18 42.62 11.84 7.37 62 K (mg/l) 1.47 35.22 5.45 5.75 106 Zinc (mg/l) 0.1 0.52 0.19 0.09 47 Iron (mg/l) 0.09 6.09 0.48 0.69 144 DO (mg/l) 1.9 17.30 5.40 2.45 45 4.2 Results of input variable selection: It is mentioned earlier that selection of appropriate input variables is one of the most crucial steps in the development of artificial neural network models. The selection of high number of input variables may contain some irrelevant, redundant, and noisy variables might be included in the data set (Noori et al., 2010). However, there could be some meaningful variables which may provide significant information. Therefore, reduction of input variables or selection of appropriate input variables is needed. There are so many IVS techniques available such as genetic algorithm, Akaike information criteria, partial mutual information, Gamma test (GT), factor analysis, principal component analysis, forward selection, backward selection, single variable regression, variance inflation factor, Pearsons correlation and so on. In this research, five IVS techniques such as factor analysis, variance inflation factors, and single variable -ANN, single variable regression, and Pearsons correlation (PC) are utilized to find out appropriate input combinations. The explanation of five selected IVS techniques are explained with the respective input combinations. 4.2.1. Factor Analysis: Factor analysis is a method used to interpret the variance of a large dataset of inter correlated variables with a smaller set of independent variables. At the initial stage, the feasibility study was carried out for the input variables used in this study was done by KMO index and correlation parameter matrix. The data are suitable for factor analysis if KMO index is greater than 0.5 and correlation coefficient is higher than 0.3. According to Table 4.1, the data are feasible for factor analysis as the KMO index of all data is found as 0.720 (greater than 0.5) and a null hypothesis (p=0.000) indicates a significant correlation between the variables. Moreover, from Table 4.2, many of the correlation coefficient (Pearsons) between water quality parameters are greater than 0.3 which also confirms the feasibility of water quality parameters for factor analysis. Table 4.3 describes the eigenvalues for the factor analysis with percent variance and cumulative variance. To find out the numbe r of effective factor, factors with Eigen values 1.5 are considered for ANN model. The scree plot of Eigenvalues are illustrated in Figure 4.2. As observed in Figure 4.1, the Eigen values are in descending order and a drop after 2nd factor confirms the existence of at least two main factors. Table 4.2 Coefficient of KMO and Bartlett test results Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy 0.720 Bartletts Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 533.3 Df. 78.00 Sig. 0.000 Normally, factors having steeper slope are good for analysis whereas factors with low slope have less impact on the analysis. The first two factors cover 64.607% of total variance (Table 4.4). The results of rotated factor loading using Varimax method are tabulated in Table 4.5. The results indicated that the first factor is CO2, Alkalinity and K+, which are the most influential water quality parameter for Surma River. However, hardness, total solid (TS), Fe and total dissolved solid (TDS) are grouped in the second factor. Figure 4.1 Scree plot of eigenvalues of the Surma River Table 4.4 Individual eigenvalues and the cumulative variance of water quality observations in the Surma River Factors Eigen Values % Variance Cumulative Variance % 1 3.800 29.227 29.227 2 1.839 14.147 43.374 3 1.553 11.947 55.321 4 1.207 9.286 64.607 5 0.997 7.668 72.275 6 0.802 6.172 78.447 7 0.645 4.965 83.412 8 0.639 4.914 88.326 9 0.442 3.400 91.727 10 0.331 2.548 94.275 11 0.304 2.341 96.615 Table 4.5 Rotated factors loading for water quality observations in the Surma River using a Vartimax method 12 0.241 1.855 98.470 13 0.199 1.530 100.000 Factor NO3 pH CO2 Alk. Hard. TS BOD Tur. K+ Fe TDS PO4-3 01 .070 .173 .791 .876 .238 .273 -.178 .443 .859 -.038 .079 .179 02 .133 -.22 -.004 .143 .702 .797 .007 .141 .176 .621 .787 .165 03 .789 -.41 -.050 -.13 .107 -.25 .152 -.526 -.010 .114 -.135 .613 04 .156 .737 -.199 -.057 -.283 .117 .613 .287 -.079 .416 -.162 .170 Phosphate and nitrate are grouped in factor 3 whereas pH, BOD, Fe are grouped in factor 4. In this research, the variables in the first, second, third and fourth factor are named as the M16, M17, M18 and M19 respectively. All the model names along with their respective variables are tabulated in Table 4.6. Table 4.6 results of factor analysis with their respective inputs Model Input Variables FA I CO2+ Alkalinity + K+ FA II Hardness + TS + Fe + TDS FA III NO3+ PO4 -3 FA IV pH +   BOD 4.2.2. Variance Inflation Factor The variance inflation factor (VIF) is a method which measure the multi-collinearity in a regression analysis. In this study, variance inflation factors (VIF) were utilized to find appropriate inputs for the proposed model. The performances of VIF are tabulated in Table 4.7. It is found that, the VIF value is not that much satisfactory for all the variables. However, alkalinity, potassium, total solids and phosphate show quite a good result. To prepare some effective input combination for the ANN model, alkalinity was preferred for the model first and all the variables were added one by one. Moreover, only alkalinity is individually not considered in the model as the SV-ANN shows a weak performance for alkalinity (Table 22222).   Eleven input combinations were prepared based on the VIF value which is shown in Table 4.8. Table 4.7 Result of variance inflation factor for individual variables Input Combination VIF Alkalinity (mg/l) 3.180 K+ (mg/l) 2.847 TS (mg/l) 2.628 PO43- (mg/l) 2.070 CO2 (mg/l) 2.036 TDS (mg/l) 1.997 pH 1.898 Hardness (mg/l) 1.820 Turbidity (NTU) 1.696 Fe (mg/l) 1.290 BOD (mg/l) 1.177 NO3 (mg/l) 1.175 Table 4.8 Results of variance inflation factor (VIF) with their respective inputs Model Input Combinations VIF-I Alkalinity + K+ VIF-II Alkalinity + K+ TS VIF-III Alkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3 VIF-IV Alkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2 VIF-V Alkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS VIF-VI Alkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS+ pH VIF-VII Alkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS+ pH+ Hard VIF-VIII Alkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS+ pH+ Hard+ Tur. VIF-IX Alkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2+TDS+ pH+ Hard + Tur. + Fe VIF-X Alkalinity + K+ TS+ PO4-3+ CO2 +TDS+ pH+ Hard + Tur. + Fe + BOD VIF-XI Alkalinity +K+TS+PO4-3+CO2+TDS+pH+Hard+Tur. +Fe + BOD + NO3 4.2.3. Pearsons correlation coefficient   It is not always true that all the variables should contribute to simulate the value of other parameters. Some variables can have a very good relationship with other, some may have weak connection. Pearson correlation is an effective option to understand the relationship with one variable to another. While modelling DO value for the Surma River, it is important to select the variables to have positive relationship with one another. For this reason, a Pearson correlation was prepared which is tabulated in Table 4.3. It is found that there are 4 different types of data combinations which have positive and significant relationship with each other as tabulated in Table 4.9. Table 4.9 Input combinations using Pearson correlation Model Input Combinations PC I Alkalinity + TDS+ PO4-3+CO2+K+ PC II pH + Hardness + Turbidity PC III Alkalinity + Hardness+ TS+CO2+K+ PC IV Hardness+ TS+ K+ Turbidity PC V Hardness+ TS+ Fe +TDS PC VI TS + Turbidity + Fe +TDS + K+ 4.2.4. SV-ANN The performance of single variable artificial neural network was also done to find out appropriate input variables for the proposed model. All the individual variables are separately trained, tested and validated. During utilization of SV-ANN, only correlation coefficient (R) is considered to select the appropriate variables. The performances of SV-ANN are tabulated in Table 4.10 for testing, training and validation array. From the analysis, it is found that the individual variables show a weak performance. Only TS and BOD perform better comparing with other variables.   The SV-ANN with TS shows a correlation coefficient of 0.596, 0.600 and 0.700 for testing, training, and validation phases respectively. Moreover, the respective correlation coefficient (R) for SV-ANN model with BOD are found as 0.578, 0.574 and 0.652 for testing, training and validation. However, turbidity, carbon di oxide, phosphate and nitrate have quite good relations with DO. As individual variables did not pro vide significant result, the variables are not considered in the ANN model individually. BOD and TS have quite well Table 4.10 the correlation coefficient (R) for single variable ANN and single variable MLR Variables Phase SV-ANN SV-MLR R R PO43- (mg/l) Testing 0.439 0.115 Training 0.549 Validation 0.440 NO3 (mg/l) Testing 0.211 0.148 Training 0.311 Validation 0.112 pH Testing 0.234 0.087 Training 0.201 Validation 0.432 CO2 (mg/l) Testing 0.391 0.057 Training 0.453 Validation 0.514 Alkalinity (mg/l) Testing 0.222 0.200 Training 0.211 Validation 0.099 Hardness (mg/l) Testing 0.139 0.089 Training 0.649 Validation 0.155 TS (mg/l) Testing 0.596 0.199 Training 0.600 Validation 0.700 BOD (mg/l) Testing 0.578 0.100 Training 0.574 Validation 0.652 Turbidity (NTU) Testing 0.431 0.183 Training 0.583 Validation 0.398 K+ (mg/l) Testing 0.111 0.046 Training 0.543 Validation 0.219 Fe (mg/l) Testing 0.217 0.002 Training 0.210 Validation 0.306 TDS (mg/l) Testing 0.222 0.084 Training 0.345 Validation 0.245 relations with DO so they are grouped in one model (SV-ANN I) and turbidity, carbon di oxide, phosphate and nitrate are grouped in another one (SV-ANN II). The input variables utilizing SV-ANN is tabulated in Table 4.11. 4.3.5. SV-MLR Like the performances of single variable ANN model, SV-MLR with all the input individual variables show weak performance. Moreover, variables like alkalinity, nitrates, total solid and turbidity show good result comparatively. The performances of SV-MLR are tabulated in Table 4.10. It is found that, alkalinity and TS show quite good results comparing with other variables and hence they are grouped together (SV-MLR I). Another model (SV-MLR II) was prepared using all the variables with correlation coefficient more than 0.200. The input variables using SV-MLR model are tabulated in table 4.12. Table 4.11 results of single variable artificial neural network with their respective inputs Model Input Variables SV-ANN-I TS + BOD SV-ANN-II TS + BOD+ PO4-3+ CO2+Turbidity Table 4.12 results of single variable multiple linear regression with their respective inputs Model Input Variables SV- MLR I Alkalinity + TS SV-MLR II Alkalinity + TS + Turbidity + NO3 Model IVS Type Input Variables M1 PC I Alkalinity + TDS+ PO4-3+ CO2 +K+ M2 P