Social Network - Facebook Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Network - Facebook - Research Proposal Example It represents the realization of the concept known as citizen journalism which allows anybody to become a mass communicator. In doing this, there are a number of ethical issues on its implementation, more often than not people lie a lot about themselves and the posts they make on Facebook, which is a feature that is of great concern on the information that people consume on such social platforms. Furthermore, these platforms provide the perfect infrastructure for impersonation and other forms of social vices. Besides the numerous ethical concerns about the use of the social media, this platform has also enhanced the forms of cybercrimes. Cybercrime is also a new term in security, which infers to the use of the internet to commit crimes. Facebook provides a perfect platform for intensified interaction, which enables criminals to observe the activities of their victims. It further forms a perfect platform for blackmail and a means of extortion from the unsuspecting public. Impersonatio n is a trending feature on Facebook, one in which people run fake accounts for public figures such as politicians and other celebrities. Some of such users are unscrupulous enough to extort money from their users in the disguise for favors associated with the real names of celebrities. The ability to maintain a high level of anonymity allows these users the privilege of staying unidentified. The internet introduced a number of online payment mechanisms which therefore make possible the cyber crimes and the numerous extortion schemes. The research further investigates the forms of cybercrime on this social platform and the possible targets of such criminal acts. The literature review is a mandatory segment in researches. In this part, the researcher analyzes preexisting knowledge on the topic. Facebook and social network are two new terminologies following the advent of the internet. The growth of social media has been significant over the years (Aggarwal, 2011). However, the two hav e attracted a substantial attention from researchers resulting in adequate literature addressing their usage and the ethical concerns they present. Cyber crimes have been in existence since the 1980s following the invention of the internet. This implies that the topic has adequate literature material describing its uniqueness and the mode of societal infiltration. An effective analysis of the literature develops a background on which the research runs (Goddard & Melville, 2001). This research seeks to analyse the ethical concerns that arise on the use of this global social platform. Vices such as cybersex are common (Stenzel and Melissa, 2011). In doing this, the research uses a unique structure of data collection and analysis. Facebook, just as any other social network, is availed on any internet network. This implies that it enjoys the features of the internet such as unlimited access, interactivity, and multimodality among others. With the employment of these features, it becomes very convenient carrying out the research. The research employs a unique data collection strategy referred to as content analysis. This is used in conjunction with the other traditional data collection strategies such as the use of interviews, observations, and using questionnaires. Content analysis is a data collection method in which the researcher simply analyses the Facebook accounts and profiles of friends and other available users (Goddard & Melville, 2001). Facebook allows anybody to view any page provided the owners make the pages public. This thus gives the research methodology the convenience of conducting the research from the confines of one’

A modern online university Vision E University Essay Example for Free

A modern online university Vision E University Essay Vision E University is a modern online university established in 2017. The name was inspired by visualizing the future of University Education, where there is higher use of technology which eases the education for all students from all around the world. This idea is based on the approach of the technology is leaning towards online services, like online shopping, online banking, etc. therefore Vision E University wanted to provide quality online education. Vision E University provides bachelors and master’s degree for all majors in the business sector, engineering sector, IT sector, Law sector, and Arts sector. Where the university provides an environment that all students can register online through the university website, the students can also attend their classes online, added to that examine and provide the reports online. These aspects ease the transportation for the students; therefore students from all around the world can gain their university degree online. 1. What makes vision E-university unique? †¢ What makes Vision E-University unique is that it is very flexible; there is no limit to the number of students the University can hold therefore everyone in the world can get a chance to gain their university degree. The University is also very flexible with the timings for the students, as they can register and enter the university at any month, every semester will be three months long. Added to that they can make their schedule based on the timings that suits them as students might be from different countries with different timings, plus they can include as many subjects as they can with a maximum of 8 subjects and a minimum of 1 per course, this will help the students with their funding as they might not be able to afford all subjects at once, and there are no limited years for a student to graduate. This is because Vision E-University aims to provide a chance for quality education for all of the students from all ages and positions, including undergraduates, house wifeâ⠂¬â„¢s, employees and etc. †¢ As some people might be embarrassed to study in a campus with young students, and might not be able to attend all of the classes on the campus because of other duties. Vision E university provides the solution, as these students will attend online, and they will be where they feel comfortable, and they can take the online courses at the time that suits them. 2. Features and characteristics o The three-month course will include online books, and a website was the online courses videos will be uploaded to the student directly based on the subjects they chose. Added to that a schedule will be included containing all deadlines for the projects homework and tests. The University will provide every student with a memory of 1 terabyte in the Google-powered cloud called One Drive, as they can save their work and research in it, without getting and they can access their data on any device. All the assignments and homework’s and tests will be submitted online. o There will be doctors and professors from all around the world to correct and answer the students online. The University’s website will include a smart search engine that is connected to all of the courses in the university, where students can ask any question that is included in the books or lectures and the search engine will provide them with all of the data they need. As well as a social link where the students from many cultures can share their experiences and help each other with questions and connect together. o The mission of Vision E University is to create excellent learning and online research environment, through delivering flexible and effective education for international students. And the vision of the university is to be the leading Online University of providing the best online system and education.

Knowledge Management and Instructional Technology Essay -- Knowledge M

Knowledge Management and Instructional Technology The new "buzz word" in many corporate circles currently is the term "Knowledge Management or K.M." KM is considered mostly a role for the Information Technologist because of its storage of the company's information on databases. Because of the "info-glut" that is occurring in many corporations, K.M. is strongly becoming the role for the Instructional Technologist to group that information into training modules for the corporate Intranet, so that the corporation's employees can retrieve the "knowledge" in a real-time, need-to-know basis. In this white paper, I will define Knowledge Management from a business and an educational perspective. I will also discuss two basic strategies for Knowledge Management and the role the Instructional Technologist will have in the process. What is Knowledge Management? From the business perspective, the definition of Knowledge Management from the Business College of the University of Texas is The systematic process of finding, selecting, organizing, distilling, and presenting information in a way that improves an employee's comprehension in a specific area of interest. Knowledge management helps the organization to gain insight and understanding from its own experience. Specific Knowledge Management activities help focus the organization on acquiring, storing and utilizing knowledge for such things as problem-solving, dynamic learning, strategic planning and decision making (1998). In the article "Intellectual Capital and You" in Training Magazine, Knowledge Management is defined as " An effort to capture or tap an organization's collective experience and wisdom- including the tacit know-how that exists in people's head... ...eved September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search on the Galileo: http://www.galileo.gsu.edu. Gordon, J. (1999). The whole enchilada: intellectual capital and you. Training Magazine Retrieved on September 13, 1999 from Training Supersite: http: //www.trainingsupersite.com/publications/magazines/training/909cover.htm Hansen, M., Nohria, N. & Tierney, T. ( 1999, March-April). What's your strategy for managing knowledge? Harvard Business Review, reprint 990206 Mudge, A. (1999, April-May). Knowledge Management: Do we know that we know? Communication World, (16)5, Retrieved on September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search: http://mariner.galileo.gsu.edu Van Buren, M. (1999, May). A yardstick for knowledge management, Training & Development, (53)5 pp. 71+ Retrieved on September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search on Galileo: http://mariner.galileo.gsu.edu

The Analysis of the Main Character †the Grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” Essay

In the story â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find† written by Flannery O’Connor, the grandmother is the central character who grows and changes with the story develops, she is a round and dynamic character. At first, she seems to be an unpleasant, contemptible and selfish old lady who is skeptical about her religion. But in the end, when â€Å"her head cleared for an instant,† the grandmother becomes a real believer of God. And she is heading straight to heaven for her final Christ-like act of love the moment before she dies. That is, she moves from spiritual blindness to grace. And that is the method that the author uses to relate her to the theme of the story. Grandmother before the moment of grace First of all, she is selfish and unpleasant. When her family prepares to go on vacation in Florida, she persuades them to go to east Tennessee, where she has relatives. Unable to convince them, she uses the news that a psychopathic killer who calls himself The Misfit is heading toward Florida as an excuse to change her son Bailey’s mind. The grandmother is so self-centered that she just imposes her wish on those people around her. Also, her vanity and old belief make her an unpleasant character. She always claims to be a lady and thinks much of wealth and social status. When they set out to Florida, she dresses in her best clothes and an ostentatious hat lest no one can recognize her as a refined lady if she dies in an accident along the road. â€Å"The grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs were white organdy trimmed with lace and at her necklin e she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet.† From her perspective of identity, I can see that she defines people externally, by clothing. And she tells her grandchildren, John Wesley and June Star, that â€Å"she would have done well to marry Mr. Teagarden because he was a gentle man and had bought Coca-Cola stock when it first came out and that he had died only a few years ago, a very wealthy man.† At this point, the grandmother appears to be the woman of old South who holds the outdated idea of hierarchy. She thinks only a gentleman who is rich can march with a lady, which is a stereotypically southern aristocratic prejudice. What’s more, she is a racist and opinionated. â€Å"Oh, look at the  cute little pickaninny!† she said†¦ â€Å"Wouldn’t he make a picture now?† â€Å"He didn’t have any britches on,† June Star said. â€Å"He probably didn’t have any,† the grandmother explained. â€Å"Little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do.â €  Her affection for the South and the days of slavery are still influencing her. According to her understanding, black people, especially kids are supposed to be poor. They belong to the lower class of the society so that they are inferior to her, who is a lady from the upper class. She considers herself morally superior to others by the virtue of her being a â€Å"lady†, and she freely and frequently makes judgment on others. At lunchtime, they stop at Red Sammy’s, a barbecue eatery, where the grandmother laments that â€Å"people are certainly not nice like they used to be†. During the conversation with Red Sammy, the grandmother, narrow-minded and opinionated, repeatedly assures herself that she is a lady, a good Christian, and a good judge of character. She maintains that Red Sammy, a bossy loudmouth, is a â€Å"good man† and that Europe â€Å"was entirely to blame for the way things were now.† The part that grandmother is selfish, vain, arrogant and judgmental only makes her unpleasant for me, but when she gets her family h urt, she turns out to be contemptible. After they leave the roadhouse, her obstinacy about going to Tennessee blinds her sense of direction, she manipulates her son into making a detour to see an old plantation she once visited as a girl. First, she arouses the kids’ interest to find a house with secret panel, and then she depicts the tour to the plantation â€Å"would be very educational for them†. She is well aware that any father would not reject something labeled â€Å"educational†, so she manipulates them to get what she wants. And this leads them to a very dangerous tour, which they have an accident later because the cat Pitty Sing she selfishly sneaks out leaps onto Bailey and he loses control of the car on the dirt road. In such awful situation, all that she cares about is to avoid the responsibility, so she pretends to be injured. Although she is an old lady, this behavior is really out of line. No one should put their family at risk and find themselves an excuse to escape from the responsibi lity. Her selfishness is more evident when the whole family are confronting with the Misfit, a serial killer. Technically, it is the grandmother recognizing the identity of the Misfit that gets all her family killed. However, she never beg the Misfit to spare her family, she just pleads for her own life. In her  conversation with the Misfit, she tells him, â€Å"If you would pray†¦Jesus would help you.† She calls on â€Å"Jesus† a number of times, but I am not sure if she means â€Å"Jesus will help you† or â€Å"she might be cursing† as she begs the Misfit â€Å"not to shoot a lady.† Plus, for one moment just before she dies, the old lady doubts Jesus, or at least feels abandoned: â€Å"Maybe he didn’t raise the dead†. It is an understandable reaction, after the colossal shock she has undergone: she knows that her family has been massacred. Here, her faith has been tested here. Therefore, I can only assume that the grandmother is a superficial Christian who scepticizes her belief sometimes. Grandmother’s change However, in the end, when â€Å"her head cleared for an instant,† the grandmother has a moment of insight. The moment she reaches out to the Misfit and declares â€Å"You’re one of my own children†, she reveals and offers to the Misfit her compassionate love, she experiences what O’Connor refers to as her â€Å"moment of grace,† a time when she recognizes that she shares some trait with the Misfit despite their obvious differences. She knows she is far from a good person, she is flawed just as the Misfit. She abandons the moral high ground she had held and accepts the common humanity. Here is her religious epiphany. By embracing the moment of grace, she turns into a devout Christian, she believing in Jesus and is ready to â€Å"thow away everything and follow Him†. The link between the grandmother and the theme The link between the grandmother and the theme lies in the moment she embraces the moment of grace. The grandmother travels from the recognition only of her own selfish desires to self-recognition of herself in other through suffering. That is, she moves from spiritual blindness to grace. O’Connor suggests that the grandmother has received grace since Jesus â€Å"thrown everything off balance† by dying on a cross Himself. Thus, suffering is an essential part of receiving grace, and with the help of the Misfit, the grandmother has made this journey of suffering, a journey from spiritual blindness and selfishness to suffering, and finally grace. This passage witnesses the change of a selfish, arrogant old woman. Even though she has all these weaknesses at the beginning, she becomes the â€Å"good man† when she embracing the moment of grace. Violence and suffering are the necessary  ingredients to help her change. In fact, both the experience of the grandmother re veals that good â€Å"is hard to find†. References: 1 A Good Man Is Hard to Find (short story), from Wikipedia 2 SparkNotes: A good man is hard to find, Analysis of Major Characters 3 é «ËœÃ¦  ©Ã¦â„¢ ®Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¦â€" ¥Ã¥ ¿â€"ï ¼Å'è ¯ »Ã¤ ¹ ¦Ã§ ¬â€Ã¨ ® °-A good man is hard to findï ¼Å'æ  ¥Ã¨â€¡ ªÃ¤ º ºÃ¤ º ºÃ§ ½â€˜ 4 è“ Ã¨â€° ²Ã¨ ½ »Ã©â€º ¨Ã¦ ° ´Ã¥  °Ã¯ ¼Å'PPT – A good man is hard to findï ¼Å'æ  ¥Ã¨â€¡ ªÃ§â„¢ ¾Ã¥ º ¦Ã¦â€"‡å ºâ€œ

Coronation Street Essay

Coronation Street Discuss how ‘Coronation Street' has contributed to the representation of Brutishness and how Brutish people deal with universal Issues and themes. Coronation Street or ‘Coerce' is an award winning, prime time soap opera, set and produced in Manchester, created by Tony Warren. The show was first broadcast in December of 1960 on TV and is now the longest running and most watched soap opera of British television.Coronation Street introduced Britain to the society of Northwest England; It Is arguable as to how accurate the representation of Brutishness Is within the show In how society deals with universal Issues and themes. The late asses and early asses witnessed the rise of British New Wave, a trend in flimflamming which took up serious social issues and were placed within the contemporary cultural context. Coronation Street follows this pattern portraying the lives and struggles of the working class to its audience whilst offering an escapist break from It.Though ‘Coronation Street' avoids the grittier aspects of social reality In Its early years, It focuses on relatable Issues for Its audience demographic. The Issues of the show are mainly familial in nature presenting challenges, fights and tensions thin the home. Sometimes called kitchen-sink dramas, these storyline offer validity to viewers experiencing the same situations in their own lives. Not everyone can relate to drug abuse, domestic violence, hate crimes and teenage pregnancy however many viewers can relate to family arguments, financial stress, and parental expectations.Tony Warren said that he wanted to write something that â€Å"resembled closely the places where he grew up. † The accents. Clothing and representation of society are reflective of this as they are typical of British life. In ‘Coronation Street' life evolves around the pub or the cafe © and everybody in this close-knit community wishes to know each other's business. The show has been criticized for its inaccurate representation of British life as it does not portray a variety of people from ethnic minorities and the level of crime and tragedy would be far lower in real life.Soaps contain multiple narratives based around a diverse range of characters and their complex Inter-relationships. These narratives are the pleasure which serve to attract audiences; the melodramatic narratives may hinder levels of cultural verisimilitude f the soap however they serve as a form of escapism for the audience. Coronation Street has been chronicling its characters' lives since 1 960, with a mix of social realism, melodrama and humors that has won it millions of regular viewers globally.Over 10 million people watched the soap as Halley Cropper, sick with Incurable pancreatic cancer, took an overdose of drugs and died peacefully In the arms of her husband Roy. Whilst some critics praised the storyline for its sensitive handling of terminal illness and death, others said it risked encouraging suicides as anti- euthanasia group ‘Care Not Killing' said the program was â€Å"in great danger of normalizing an occurrence that is actually very rare indeed. LTV said in a statement that â€Å"Coronation Street regularly features storyline that concern sensitive medical and social Issues and It was recognized that Halley becoming terminally Ill would provided a relevant telephone helpline for its audience, calls for the suicide helpline tripled after the broadcast of Halley death suggestive of the fact that soap opera presents a realistic representation of British life whilst also providing emotional relief and support for its audience.Audiences expect what they see on soap operas to have some connection with their own lives and experiences, or for them to be based on some sort of recognizable reality. This helps the audience to identify and understand the text and its meaning. Coronation Street is noted for its depiction of a down-to-earth working class comm unity combined with light-hearted humor and strong characters. The show is imbued with a definite feeling of community; through its account of everyday British life the soap opera shows a high degree of social realism making it the second most award-winning British soap opera in the I-J.

The Advantages of Biotechnology essays

The Advantages of Biotechnology essays Biotechnology is a powerful, controversial and critical topic dealing with disease, genetics, and the use of microorganisms or other biological substances to make industrial or manufacturing processes. Biotechnology has spawned many new ideas and discoveries to benefit society. It plays a part in healing the sick with antibiotics and vaccines, hybridization in plants to produce bigger and more desirable food crops, sterilization of food goods and equipment, and understanding genetics and reproduction. Although biotechnology offers humankind many great opportunities, it can also be very destructive and deadly. Since the beginning of man, many biological means have been used to fight wars. The Romans fouled their enemies' water; the Tartars used bubonic plague to infect their war opponents and the British spread smallpox to the Indians in North America. These diseases are just a few of the highly toxic microorganisms involved in one of the negative sides of this complex! technology. Other objectionable uses of biotechnology include unethical genetic alterations and the overuse and malpractice of antibiotics which can induce a bacterial resistance to many diseases making them difficult to cure. Biological technology has introduced many possibilities and some potentially hideous ones but guided by ethically sound judgment and reasoning this technology will advance humanity into the new millennium and improve the quality of life. The earliest recorded use of biotechnology was the making of beer with yeast organisms by the Sumerians and Babylonians in 6000 BC. Two thousand years later, the Egyptians found they could make leavened bread and yogurt using yeast and certain cheeses with molds. Using the process of fermentation, they also made vinegar and wine. In 400 BC, Hippocrates hypothesized that male's hereditary information was carried and transported in the semen. Later in 1668 AD, Francesco Redi used a controlled experiment ( f...

Blockbusting essays

Blockbusting essays One of the most silent and unspoken truths about society today is the issue of prejudice and all of its faces. Prejudice take on many different shapes, sizes and colors and is found to be one of the hardest topics to talk about. Because weather we want to admit it or not, we all are prejudice to some degree. The one thing that makes the human race unique is that we are all different, and it is these differences that cause people to act in negative ways against other people. After watching a special Dateline NBC production about block-busting, I soon realized that hidden prejudice is happen right here in my own community, La Crosse, WI. Now La Crosse seems to be a small town place but after thinking about how the city is divided up the answer was right in front of me. Most of the lower income housing is on the North and South side of Lacrosse. Now not all of the North or South of La Crosse is block-busted but areas like Jackson St. or upper south side residence is mostly lower income housing. To be more specific, a lot of Hmong families live right off of Mormon Coulee Rd. and Caledonia St. You dont see to many White families living in that area, most are either around the Main through Market St. sections stretching back all the way to the bluffs around 40th or 43rd street. And just like the issues that are in Matteson Illinois, you can find right here in La Crosse, WI. Another source of block-busting entitled Mixing it up in the Burbs is about a White family who moves to a Black suburban neighborhood and tells a story of pride and friendship. The Holsmans family finally finds the house of their dreams in Woodmore Highlands. Many of their friends and close acquaints warn them not to move to that area of the city, but the couple couldnt resist. You see, this family was not blinded by the stereotypes that plague our country. And because of it, they have with them apa ...

Ursinus College Admissions Data for Potential Students

Ursinus College Admissions Data for Potential Students Are you interested in attending Ursinus College? They accept more than three-quarters of all applicants. See more about their admissions requirements. Located about 25 miles from Philadelphia in the small town of Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Ursinus College has been finding itself moving up in the rankings recently. In fact, in the 2009 issue, U.S. News and World Report ranked Ursinus College #2 for up-and-coming liberal arts colleges. The colleges 170-acre campus boasts an excellent art museum, observatory, and new performing arts facility. Ursinuss academic excellence has earned it membership in Phi Beta Kappa. With a 12 to 1 student/faculty ratio and student-centered curriculum, students at Ursinus can expect a lot of quality interaction with the faculty. In athletics, the Ursinus Bears compete in the NCAA Division III Centennial Conference. The college fields eleven mens and thirteen womens intercollegiate sports. Will you get in? Calculate your chances of getting in with this free tool from Cappex. Admissions Data (2016) Ursinus College Acceptance Rate: 82Â  percentGPA, SAT and ACT graph for UrsinusUrsinus has test-optional admissionsTop PA colleges ACT score comparison Enrollment (2016) Total Enrollment: 1,556Â  (all undergraduate)Gender Breakdown: 47 percent Male / 53 percent Female99 percent Full-time Costs (2016-17) Tuition and Fees: $49,370Books: $1,000 (why so much?)Room and Board: $12,320Other Expenses: $2,322Total Cost: $65,012 Ursinus College Financial Aid (2015-16) Percentage of New Students Receiving Aid: 100Â  percentPercentage of New Students Receiving Types of AidGrants: 100 percentLoans: 68 percentAverage Amount of AidGrants: $31,156Loans: $8,160 Academic Programs Most Popular Majors: Biology, Business Administration, Economics, English, Health and Physical Education, International Relations, Media Studies, Psychology What major is right for you? Sign up to take the free My Careers and Majors Quiz at Cappex. Graduation and Retention Rates First Year Student Retention (full-time students): 84Â  percent4-Year Graduation Rate: 73 percent6-Year Graduation Rate: 78 percent Intercollegiate Athletic Programs Mens Sports: Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, Baseball, Swimming, Tennis, Wrestling, Basketball, Track and FieldWomens Sports: Gymnastics, Soccer, Lacrosse, Volleyball, Swimming, Tennis, Basketball, Field Hockey If You Like Ursinus College, You May Also Like These Schools Swarthmore College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphVillanova University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphLehigh University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphJuniata College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphUniversity of Pennsylvania: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphIthaca College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphAmerican University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphAlbright College: ProfilePennsylvania State University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphLafayette College: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphTemple University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT GraphDrexel University: Profile | GPA-SAT-ACT Graph Ursinus College Mission Statement mission statement from https://www.ursinus.edu/about/basic-facts/mission-statement/ The mission of the College is to enable students to become independent, responsible, and thoughtful individuals through a program of liberal education. That education prepares them to live creatively and usefully, and to provide leadership for their society in an interdependent world. Liberal education is provided through an academic program that empowers the intellect, awakens moral sensitivity, and challenges students to improve society. Students gain intellectual curiosity, the capacity to think analytically, critically, and creatively, and the skill to express thoughts with logic, clarity, and grace. Further, they develop a deepened sense of human history and an understanding of who they are as persons, what they ought to do as citizens, and how they best can appreciate the diversity and ambiguity of contemporary experience. Data Source: National Center for Educational Statistics

Analysis Essay over the article of Ipods Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis over the article of Ipods - Essay Example He compares this isolation to living in a bubble created by this portable music. Sullivan develops this argument by creating vivid pictures with apt choice of words, sentences, examples, metaphors and similes. The picture he creates attracts attention and the readers are also able to relate to the scenario he is discussing. The description of the scene in a subway in New York makes us feel that we too like him are in a subway in the middle of New York watching people around us. Sullivan describes the scene thus: â€Å"There were little white wires hanging down from their ears, or tucked into pockets, purses or jackets. Each was in his or her own musical world †¦ almost oblivious to the world around them. These are the iPod people† (Sullivan, 2005). This indeed paints a perfect picture. The sentence patterns Sullivan uses allows him to stay focused on the subject. The sentences used are short and to the point. For instances sentences such as this: When others say â€Å"Excuse me† there’s no response. â€Å"Hi†, ditto† (Sullivan, 2005) convey that the people listening to the iPod are in a world of their own and do not react to people around them. This is the subject of his article. Again sentences like this: â€Å"Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t overhear, don’t observe. Just tune in and tune out† convey the point that people today are as he says, â€Å"anaesthetised by technology†. (Sullivan, 2005) The author uses many metaphors and similes to put forth his views. The metaphors used are very apt and give the readers a sense of what he trying to convey. For instance, in one place he compares an Apple store to a Church. Here he says, â€Å"Every now and again I go to church — those huge, luminous Apple stores, pews in the rear, the clerics in their monastic uniforms all bustling around or sitting behind the â€Å"Genius Bars†, like priests waiting to hear confession.† (Sullivan, 2005). By this metaphor he wants to show

Managerial control case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managerial control case study - Essay Example The specific sector of the PC industry analyzed relates to the product lines offered by Apple Inc. in this industry, and thus includes Desktops and Notebooks together with allied peripherals and Software services. A schematic diagram of the framework used is shown in Appendix-A. One of the most important forces that govern the strategy adopted by a firm within any industry relates to the threat of new entrants. The PC industry is a high-technology industry characterized by constant innovation and technology obsolescence. Hence the most significant threat from the point of view of entry barriers figures in the form of high capital requirements, primarily for investment in research and development for coming up with innovative products in line with the dynamically changing requirements of the marketplace. This is therefore a major deterrent for new entrants. Secondly, since the industry has been growing very rapidly with large demand volumes in the global market, the economies of scale enjoyed by the established players cannot be matched by the new entrants and thus, this is another significant deterrent to new entrants. All other factors under Entry barriers are favorable to new entrants desirous of entering this industry. The level of product differentiation in this industry is not very high, with only a few innovative features offered by different competitors making for some minimal differentiation. Similarly the switching cost to buyers is not very high in the industry as a whole, considering substantial standardization. Although Apple Computers has been known for closely guarding the secrets of its proprietary technology so far, now with the alliance with Microsoft and availability of Windows 98 for Mac users since 1998, the switching cost for Mac users trying to switch to Wintel platforms has also been low. The distribution channels again, are no longer brand channels. Thus on the whole most of these

Best Treatment Approach For Persons Diagnosed With Schizophrenia Research Paper

Best Treatment Approach For Persons Diagnosed With Schizophrenia - Research Paper Example They also were incapable of winning people over or keeping their jobs because of their odd behavior, poor memory and inattention. Every day of their lives, they were on therapy. This writer will be investigating various researches to find a possible solution to the plight of the schizophrenics. The aim is to improve the quality of life of the schizophrenic patients. The best treatment approach for improving the quality of life of persons diagnosed with Schizophrenia Introduction Schizophrenia was a mental health disorder with several symptoms: positive and negative (Draper et al, 2009). Diagnosis was made by the DSM-IV criteria. Hallucinations represented the positive symptoms. The negative symptoms were the emotional problems of flat affect (Arif et al, 2011). Cognitive deficits included attention problems. This writer will investigate the efficacy of the types of therapy that had been used for management of schizophrenics and the advantages of using cognitive behavior therapy and r ehabilitation in addition assuming that the combination of procedures would elevate the quality of life of schizophrenics. CATIE The CATIE (Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness) was performed in US with 1460 patients to unearth evidence to indicate how clinical management could improve the efficiency of management (Bick et al, 2007). Different atypical antipsychotic drugs were investigated in clinical practice for an 18 month period (Bick et al, 2007). A 3-phase design was used. The results were depressing in that the drawbacks of the clinical practice were found. Antipsychotic treatment alterations The second generation drugs of olanzapine and clozapine which were the usual first-line- of- treatment drugs and widely used had the problems of metabolic dysfunction. Responding to the need for improvement of treatment of schizophrenia, newer drugs had been studied recently. This paper will highlight a few recent studies out of the many. The goal of antipsychotic treatment was to eliminate symptoms rapidly, prevent the relapses, decrease the severity of the illness and help to improve social relationships (Chwieduk and Keating, 2010). The use of Iloperidone, Paliperidone and Lurasidone were investigated (Arif and Mitchell, 2011; (Chwieduk and Keating, 2010; Ehret et al, 2010). Cognitive behavior therapy Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) had been recognized by many researchers as appropriate for treating schizophrenic patients as a complement to their pharmacotherapy (Kuller et al, 2010). The collaborative efforts of the clinician and the patient in evaluation of delusional beliefs in order to understand the underlying beliefs constituted one approach. The success of the therapy depended on the extent of therapeutic relationship between the clinician and the patient. Almost 20 trials had compared the treatment of patients who had the usual therapy of drugs and case management as against another group which had CBT in addition. The outcomes wer e based on patient characteristics, acute against chronic illness, short against long-term results and the type of symptoms. Psychosocial rehabilitation Valencia et al investigated the possibility of implementing a rehabilitation program in Mexico on the lines of similar programs in the US and the UK (2010). Social skills training and family psycho-education both established rapport between them (Valencia, 2010). The patients became less anxious and the program was a

Effect of Psychosocial Data on Health Research Paper

Effect of Psychosocial Data on Health - Research Paper Example This essay explores the key aspect in the determination of health as the socioeconomic status of the community. When the majority of the population, 126,011, is employed, they are able to afford good healthcare, which translates to better health. Furthermore, the number of people living below the poverty line also determines the health of the community. In the Jersey case, few people, 15.5%, live below the poverty line implying better health. The types of jobs that people do also determine their health. Some jobs involve more wear and tear as compared to others. This implies that the health of non-manual workers is better as compared to that of the manual workers. The manual industries include the less populated jobs in Jersey City; therefore, the health of the population is good. Education is also a key determinant of health and bearing in mind that majority of the people, 84.8%, have high school education and above, the health of the community is good since these people know how to lead healthy lifestyles. A good social support means that the community has better health care services. Therefore, the social support at Jersey City contributes to good health.

Human Resource Management - Management Approach to HRM Essay

Human Resource Management - Management Approach to HRM - Essay Example (Baird & Meshoulam, 1988). Historically there is a shift in the concepts and development of the field of human resource management over the period of time. What started as personnel management has now gradually transformed itself into the new realm of human resource management. The ideas of personnel management mainly seems to be contrasting with those of human resource management. The traditional view about the personnel management was of the view that the humans are only responsible for production and profits and personnel management largely envisioned the use of machines as manpower. Historically what is now considered as human resource management was something else. Over the period of time, related concepts and theories were known with different names and gradually transformed into HRM. HRM initially started with the name of Industrial Welfare. (Kaizelong, 2006). This was the first form of human resource management which was basically started with the advent of the labor unions. The initial focus was on the welfare of the factory labors. However it gradually evolved and culminated into the bigger concept of Personnel Management. The real focus on the personnel management started with the advent of industrial revolution where the need for qualified staff was badly felt especially due to the factor of division of labor. There exists a very subtle and minute element of distinction between human resources and personnel management. Both are considered as â€Å"process of getting things done through people†. (ACCEL TEAM, 2007). HRM now is considered as an inte grative approach in which a two-way linkage is assumed between the organizational strategy and individual needs of the employees on the other hand. The essence of HRM now is that the separate personnel actions are now consistently linked and integrated with the overall

Does Receiving a College Education while Incarcerated Influence Research Paper

Does Receiving a College Education while Incarcerated Influence Convicted Felons Ability to Find a Job - Research Paper Example This project stresses that the overall education attainment of inmates and the formerly incarcerated is considerably below that of the general population in every world’s country-this is especially in regard to A and O-levels. In the United States, for example, about half of the nation’s adults had at least some level of college education. This was inconsequentially the opposite indication because less than 2o per cent of state and federal prisoners had some college education. College education for individual convicts while incarcerated ultimately affects their ability to find jobs. College going for the college students is therefore meant to aid the rehabilitation process and not utterly give the convicts employment. Education is one of the best rehabilitation weapons as some of the felons may have done offense due to the lack of appropriate hunger management skills. Through college education, this would be the beginning of learning basics of life for the felons. This paper makes a conclusion that college education plays a critical role for the felons that are incarcerated particularly with regard to their ability to find a job. The views of the researchers point towards using the educational platform as a tool for rehabilitating the inmates. The starting figures of the prison population foster the need of more effective solutions of making the lives of the prisoners better, for their sake and the sake of society in general. Through education, the lives of the offenders can be significantly improved.

Human Resource Management - Management Approach to HRM Essay

Human Resource Management - Management Approach to HRM - Essay Example (Baird & Meshoulam, 1988). Historically there is a shift in the concepts and development of the field of human resource management over the period of time. What started as personnel management has now gradually transformed itself into the new realm of human resource management. The ideas of personnel management mainly seems to be contrasting with those of human resource management. The traditional view about the personnel management was of the view that the humans are only responsible for production and profits and personnel management largely envisioned the use of machines as manpower. Historically what is now considered as human resource management was something else. Over the period of time, related concepts and theories were known with different names and gradually transformed into HRM. HRM initially started with the name of Industrial Welfare. (Kaizelong, 2006). This was the first form of human resource management which was basically started with the advent of the labor unions. The initial focus was on the welfare of the factory labors. However it gradually evolved and culminated into the bigger concept of Personnel Management. The real focus on the personnel management started with the advent of industrial revolution where the need for qualified staff was badly felt especially due to the factor of division of labor. There exists a very subtle and minute element of distinction between human resources and personnel management. Both are considered as â€Å"process of getting things done through people†. (ACCEL TEAM, 2007). HRM now is considered as an inte grative approach in which a two-way linkage is assumed between the organizational strategy and individual needs of the employees on the other hand. The essence of HRM now is that the separate personnel actions are now consistently linked and integrated with the overall

Capitalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Capitalism - Essay Example The fourteen century crisis leads to emergence of modern capitalism. Land ownership and agricultural production gave rise to conflicts. The arrangements of manorial hinder the development of capitalism. This was when lords force serfs to produce which hinder them from getting interests through technological innovations. The serfs could only produce what was enough for their families. Expansion of power and wealth by lords led to conspicuous consumption. The crisis in the century was through bad weather, productivity in agriculture and limitations on technology. There was division of classes due to rise of relationships which were contractual between serfs and lords. Feudalism laid foundations necessary for mechanistic development. Exploration also facilitates the development of capitalism. The rise of competition led to creation of the new model. It led to winning and losing. Feudalism which led to mechanistic led to ownership of corporation and private sectors. Decisions of private sectors, prices of different commodities, goods production and distribution characterize investments, which led to free markets (Heilbroner et al, 2011). Roman Empire introduces merchant capitalisms which were advanced. This proceeds to development of Islamic capitalism. Industrial capitalism, revolutions and division of labor are some of the factors that led to creation of new model. There are many similarities between Newton and Adam Smith. For example, Adam Smith identified didactical mode which he termed as Newtonian method. Smith helped in discovering general laws of economics while Newton discovered natural laws of motion. John Millar declared Smith as Newton’s political economy. Both contributed to the project of social cohesion and balance. According to Newton, simplicity pleases nature but focuses on economy which was embarrass by Smith. Ricardo and Malthus are pessimistic about the future of capitalism. Malthus from his theory fail to anticipate production

Integrating health care systems Essay Example for Free

Integrating health care systems Essay Integrating health care systems Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Integrated health systems deem to be component of the resolution to the general glitch of sustaining global healthcare structure. Various methodical literature reviews have been developed to funnel decision-makers and other stakeholders to strategize and execute integrated health schemes. The inefficiencies and inequality in health systems have persisted for long due to economic breakdown. The rationale of advancement of health systems is to improve efficiency and equity in health care provision (Boslaugh, 2013). The rationale of this paper is to compare, contrast and describe two articles related to integration of healthcare systems. â€Å"Integrated health care networks in Latin America: toward a conceptual a framework for analysis† is an article by ML Và ¡zquez, and â€Å"Ten key principles for successful health systems integration† by E Suter (Retrived from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004930/).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Integrated health systems are considered as right step towards the challenge of sustainability (Lorenzi, 2005). The efforts to ensure that the state of health care system across countries include introduction of health care networks. This system is also known as integrated health care delivery system. Other efforts include guiding health professionals and other related stakeholders to strategize and execute integrated health care configuration (Kronenfeld, 2004). Integrated health care systems are generally believed to offer greater performance in terms of safety, quality as a result of standardized protocols and effective communication. However, these results have not been fully realized (Joumard , 2010).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These two articles were published in 2009. There is need to integrate health care systems since they are characterized by overrated expenses, sluggish public disbursement on health as part of gross domestic product, as well as gross inequalities (Mesa-Lago, 2007). In both articles the health care systems are integrated to meet patient needs, to ensure comprehensive services across the health care scheme, consistent care delivery between professional groups, information coordination, performance management, physician integration, organization leadership and culture, financial management, and governance construction (Retrieved from http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?pid=S1020-49892009001000012script=sci_arttext).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Suter descried the condition of health systems in Canada while Và ¡zquez elaborate about the state of health care condition in Latin America (Geyndt, 2001). Health care system in Latin America has been jeopardized by economic breakdown, gross inequalities, and overrated expenditure. On contrary, health care is greatly affected by service demand, gradual cost inflation, as well as staff shortages. In both articles endeavors to integrate health care structure face hindrances. In Canada, efforts for integration are affected by inadequate information related to executing and integration-linked initiatives (Rathwell, 1994). That is the information is isolated and not easily accessed. On the other hand, despite integration in health structure in health systems, the issues of inequalities still prevail in health services. Recent study reveals that health care integration in Canada is not sustainable in the modern form (Morrison, 2013).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In conclusion, calls for superior integration of health care service delivery, as an approach to attend to equity of efficiency and access, have been demonstrated in health reforms by multilateral institutions and national governments across the world. These efforts include proper planning to help the health care professionals to make superior decisions as well as the introduction of integrated health care networks. These efforts will strengthen the capacity of health care systems. The objective of these reforms is to improve overcoming inequalities as well as improving efficiency. The only remaining part is to ensure there are appropriate strategies to analyze the capability of the alterations being put into place to deliver integration plans. References Boslaugh, S. (2013). Health care systems around the world: a comparative guide. New York, NY: SAGE publishers. Geyndt, W. D. (2001). Improving the quality of health care in Latin America. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 13(2), 85-87. Health care comes home the human factors. (2011). Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. Integrating mental health into primary care: a global perspective.. (2008). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization ;. Joumard, I., AndreÃÅ' , C., Nicq, C. (2010). Health Care Systems. Paris: OECD. Kronenfeld, J. J. (2004). Chronic care, health care systems, and services integration. Amsterdam: Elsevier JAI. Lorenzi, N. M. (2005). Transforming health care through information (2nd ed.). New York: Springer. Mesa-Lago, C. (2007). Social Security In Latin America: Pension And Health Care Reforms In The Last Quarter Century. Latin American Research Review, 42(2), 181-201. Morrison, J. (2013). CPhA and other health care professions: Working for a better health care system. Canadian Pharmacists Journal / Revue des Pharmaciens du Canada, 146(3), 171-172. Rathwell, T. (1994). Health Care In Canada: A System In Turmoil. Health Policy, 27(1), 5-17. SciELO Salud Publica. (n.d.). SciELO Salud Publica. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?pid=S1020-49892009001000012script=sci_arttext Suter, E., Oelke, N., Adair, C., Armitage, G. (1930, March 6). Abstract. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004930/ Source document

Halfway There :: essays papers

Halfway There People. Droves of them, hustling off to their appointed gates with seventeen suitcases strapped to themselves like pack mules. All scowling, furrowing their brows. Hoping to get to where they want to go, and with all seventeen suitcases they came with. Me? I only had two bags, but one of them was large enough to be a body bag. Beside me was my cousin, a tall 16-year old, the jock type, with broad shoulders and pimple covered cheeks. He, of course, got stuck carrying my oversized bag. As we made our way past the ticket counter the automatic doors whooshed open, nearly sweeping us away in a blast of icy air. It was December in Vermont, which means one thing: cold. The kind of cold that hurt the skin, just breathing made people cough. As we zigged and zagged our way through the seething maze of bodies, we kept looking down at the flight information in my hands. â€Å"Gate B-17, I’m sure of it† I said, none too convincingly apparently, for he kept reading aloud the gates and their destinations. We reached a fairly quiet section of the airport, and all the sounds became subdued. It had the feel of a library to it: old, peaceful, and undisturbed. â€Å"Is that our gate?† I asked. He looked up at the monitor and said, â€Å"Flight 182 to Pittsburgh, I think that’s us.† We stepped up to the woman behind the counter and handed her our tickets. She looked up at us, crows’ feet at the edges of her eyes, soft blond hair, and slightly delicate hands, a very attractive middle-aged woman. She had a soft voice, meek and unassuming. â€Å"Right this way please,† she said. We followed her down the steep incline to the plane. The closer we got the louder the noise became, threatening to deafen us. I could see the pilots huddled over the glowing panels in the cockpit, pressing a button here, turning a knob there, and making me feel secure just by looking busy. We stepped into the cabin and the sound became suddenly muffled, like someone threw a wool blanket over us. As we sidestepped down the aisle, I kept glancing over my shoulder into the cockpit, maybe out of curiosity as to what all the flashing buttons did, or maybe to continually remind myself that the pilots knew what they were doing.

H.J Heinz Company :: essays research papers

H.J. Heinz Company   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  H.J. Heinz Company, commonly known as Heinz, famous for its â€Å"57 Varieties† slogan, was founded in 1869, by Henry John Heinz, in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1869, the 25 year old Henry went into business with L. Clarence Noble as â€Å"Heinz & Noble.† The first product they launched was none other than horseradish. The sauce was unique in that it was sold in clear glass bottles to display its purity, whereas competitors used colored glass to hide the poor quality of their products. There was a reason that founder Henry John Heinz displayed his product in transparent bottles. He took a stand on quality and proudly displayed all of his products to the people and his competitors by using a clear bottle to show that his products where the real deal and the best. From the beginning of Heinz, the driving idea was quality, and quality is what made Heinz the company it is today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After horseradish came pickles, sauerkraut, and vinegar, delivered by horse-drawn wagons to grocers in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Processing, packing and the headquarters offices shared a two-story farmhouse in Sharpsburg, at the city’s northern edge. But within five years, Heinz and partner L. C. Noble had to relocate to larger quarters because of their massive growth. They were on their way to becoming one of the nation’s leading producers of condiments. Heinz & Noble could count among its assets a hundred acres of garden along the Allegheny River – 30 acres of horseradish – along with 24 horses, a dozen wagons and a vinegar factory in St. Louis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After initial success, the company was forced into bankruptcy in 1875, a year of economic downturn and crop surplus. However, this successful young enterprise was not going to let the banking panic of 1875 stop it from becoming the world’s leading tomato processor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the banking crisis, Heinz started over with brother, John and cousin, Frederick, in 1875. The new partnership with his brother and cousin, â€Å"H. & J. Heinz†, came into being. In the depression brought on by the banking collapse, it was a difficult first year, but one in which a new product was introduced and would become its most well-known product – tomato ketchup. Red and green pepper sauce soon followed, then cider vinegar, apple butter, chili sauce, mincemeat, mustard, tomato soup, olives, pickled onions, pickled cauliflower, baked beans and the first sweet pickles ever brought to market.

Simon Birch

Simon Birch Simon Birch an underdeveloped child has become best friends with a kid named Joe. Simon was sometimes picked on by the other kids because of his condition, but he ignored them and kept to himself. Simon has strong faith in God and wasn’t afraid to show it, if he didn’t think something was right about the church or about someone’s actions towards the Bible, he wasn’t afraid to tell you. Simon kept telling people that he was made the way he was because God has a plan for him and that he would become a hero, but no one believed him.Simon’s best friend Joe had some faith in God but definitely not as much as Simon did. They would go to church but it didn’t look like they were to into it. The two had been friends for a long time and Simon had inspired Joe in his faith and in many other things as well. Simon later found out that God did make him the size he is for a reason, and he was a hero. He had saved all the kids from the bus that h ad crashed into the lake. Many people have doubted Simon and his abilities and he has proved them wrong every time.After Simon had saved the kids from the bus he had unfortunately passed away but he will never be forgotten. Simon has inspired faith in Joe by showing him that no matter what happens to you or how you look God has a plan for everybody and that you should never give up and never stop believing in yourself. Joe has seen God in a new way and now understands Simon’s passion for religion. Faith is not seeing but believing and Simon had all the faith that a little kid could and now thanks to Simon Joe has the same faith in God that his best friend Simon did.Joe is not the only person that Simon has inspired and developed faith in. Simon has greatly developed faith in me and my peers by showing us the true values of life and no matter what people say, think, or do, God has made you the way you are for a reason and in one what or another everyone will become a hero. In the movie Simon clearly demonstrates his knowledge of the bible and inspires hope in many other kids that are small like him who do not have very much self confidence. Simon shows how he can take charge and be a leader.Simon Birch has opened my eyes and taught me that judging people is wrong and that looks can be deceiving. Simon has greatly enriched my opinion on God and I know that he had made a huge impact on other kids and adults across the world. Simon Birch will live in the lives of many for ever and ever, this little boy was a hero and will forever rest knowing that he had completed Gods plan and fulfilling the scripture. Simon Birch 1. Simon Birch was different because he was born with a condition that made him shorter that other kids his age. 2.Simon’s best friend is Joe 3. Simon liked to play baseball 4. Simon’s friend Joe lived with his mother and grandmother in the grandmother’s house because she was wealthy. 5. Ben was a kind, generous and caring pe rson. He had black hair and was tall. 6. In Ben’s bag there was a stuffed Armadillo. 7. Simon had no relationship with his parents because his parents didn’t care about him. 8. Joe wants to know about his real dad. 9. Miss Wentworth made Simon a sweater that was just his size. 10. In church Simon was disruptive to the priest by talking out of turn. 1.I think that Simon and Joe are friends because they both know what it feels like to be outcasts and they both like baseball. 2. Simon’s character is courageous, adventurous, friendly and loyal. He has a strong relationship with God and has lots of faith. 3. Simon thought that his purpose in life was to help other people and that he was going to be a hero and that God made him the way he was for a reason. 4. Joe’s grandmother told him that he would have to start looking after himself because she wasn’t going to be around much longer. 5. Joe felt that he had to find his real dad.

Hung Liu: The Chinese-American Artist Essay

â€Å"The mind changes, the word changes, time doesn’t stay still, history is a verb, it is ongoing, there is no past tense, future tense, history is constant† Hung Liu told interviewer Rachelle Riechart (Riechart). Hung Liu is a Chinese woman who was born in Changchun, China in 1948. She was born during the age which we call the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which heavily impacted her life. She lived in China for 36 years and then left for the United States. She now resides in Oakland, CA, where she teaches art at Mills College (â€Å"A World of Art†). A lot of her artwork is based on photographs and memories she has from China and photographs she’s taken in the United States. She takes photographs of pictures, repaints them, usually oil paint on canvas, and slightly alters them by leaving washes and drips to show how history can’t be remembered fully from a picture. She also does artwork for American history such as a piece she did in South Carolina for Chinese people who owned laundry mats (Riechart). I find most of Hung Liu’s artwork to be very historical and personal, because most of her artwork comes from her own photographs. I’d like to focus on how she addresses the struggles of being an immigrant throughout the country, how Hung Liu maintains her cultural traditions in almost all of her artwork, and how she defines the word â€Å"history†. Hung Liu came to the United States during the 1980s, which was a rough time to be Asian in the United States. During this time we were having a recession and many auto industries were going out of business due to Japanese imports. Aside from that, it was not too long after the Vietnam War had ended. Many factors contributed to the racism targeted against Asian-Americans. Although it was the Japanese making the cars and the Vietnamese during the war, ignorant Americans would rationalize by saying they all look the same and would blame Chinese, Filipinos or any Asian people. There was a man named Vincent Chin in 1983, one year before Hung Liu immigrated to the United States, who was beaten to death with a baseball bat by a white man named Ebens, because Ebens believed Vincent Chin and his people were at fault for the fall of American auto industry. â€Å"One dancer heard Ebens say explicitly ’It’s because of you motherfu*kers that we’re out of work’† was the accusation he made. Vincent was a young man who was about to get married in a few weeks before he was murdered. His father was a Chinese immigrant who worked hard and owned laundry mats, and later served in the military for his citizenship and was later able to bring his wife and adopted son, Vincent, to the free land (Yung). Hung Liu worked hard with extensive research to find that her fellow Chinese people who had been living in America before her had owned many laundry mats and were very involved in the laundry business. When asked by a college in South Carolina to create a piece for them, she designed clothing and had her family create them and this piece later turned into a memorial for the laundry businesses in the South (Riechart). Figure 1: â€Å"Forbidden City† Figure 1: â€Å"Forbidden City† Another struggle that Hung Liu addressed that might have affected her life in California was that in the 1800s, Chinese women were shipped in and used as prostitutes around San Francisco for miners (Tedford). In 1991 Hung Liu painted the â€Å"Forbidden City†, shown in figure 1, which shows exposed women in the Forbidden City of China. I feel like this painting is called Forbidden for multiple reasons, one being the Palace in China was known as the Forbidden City, and also the painting seems â€Å"Forbidden† because of the naked women on the picture. Also I think that because San Francisco is known as â€Å"The City†, the Forbidden City could refer to San Francisco as well. This piece addresses her understanding of the difficulty of being a Chinese-American woman at the time. Hung Liu is very proud of her ethnical background and is not afraid to show it. Almost all of her work has Chinese culture in it, from the scenery such as buildings or flowers to something smaller like calligraphy. A good example is the Forbidden City piece that I previously mentioned. It addresses an issue that originated in California, but it shows the scenery of a Chinese Palace. She could have done this because the issue probably affects some people in China. She also does some installation art called â€Å"Resident Alien†, show in figure 2. This piece has Chinese people doing Tai Chi, and has Chinese pillars with calligraphy on them. Also it has two piles of fortune cookies. It is believed that the fortune cookie represents a â€Å"sexual slang for Chinese women† (Tedford). Overall, these two pieces really incorporate the Chinese culture in Hung Figure 2: â€Å"Resident Alien† Figure 2: â€Å"Resident Alien† Liu’s art and show that she loves to express her culture. Figure 2: â€Å"Resident Alien† Figure 2: â€Å"Resident Alien† Figure 3 : â€Å"Refugee: Woman and Children† Figure 3 : â€Å"Refugee: Woman and Children† The most distinctive characteristic Hung Liu has is the way she defines the word history. The way she sees it is that although you can have a memory from a picture, you can’t remember every detail from that picture, such as the words you spoke that second or what happened exactly 20 seconds before that picture was taken, or even 20 seconds after. There are always missing puzzle pieces with history. She also believes history is a verb, because it is always happening and always going. History never ends and is always being made. The way she depicts her attitude towards history in her artwork is by leaving washes and drips of paint when she repaints a photograph. These washes and drips indicate the incompleteness of the photograph. The drips are the fuzziness of memory (Riechart). Hung Liu uses this technique in the majority of her artwork and is very famous for it. The painting I chose to show her historical artwork is titled, â€Å"Refugee: Woman and Children†, shown in figure 3. I chose this painting because it shows what was probably common for Chinese women who were refugees during times of war and were forced to leave China. You can also see all the drips she made on the painting, which she uses to show the unknowing of what was going on during that photograph. Hung Liu is a great artist. She’s well aware of the struggles of being a Chinese Immigrant in America where violent actions were taken on all Asians. Regardless of the risk it takes to be an Asian-American, she still proudly represents her Chinese culture in her art pieces, and she teaches the Chinese history through her art. She’s created her own style and uses a drip technique to show how she defines history, and to show from her point of view how she sees the world and she uses photographs to show things that actually happened and were caught on camera. Overall, she is a very influential woman to other Asian-Americans and aspiring artists.

Developing the Global Dimension in Schools and in Classrooms Essay

The School The school where I carried out the research for my report is St Augustine of Canterbury Roman Catholic High School in Oldham. The pupils come from a wide variety of backgrounds including English and Irish working class, Pakistani, Indian, Black Caribbean, Black African, Travellers, Polish and pupils who are of mixed race. The religions I encountered included Roman Catholic, other Christian, Muslim and Hindu. Many of the Pupils at St Augustine’s have very limited experience of the outside world due to the poorer backgrounds that they come from. The Lessons This report is based on a series of four lessons I taught to a Year 11 Citizenship class. The topic of the lesson is the continent of Africa, problems within the continent, possible solutions to the problems and their complications. The purpose of the lessons is also to create a sense of empathy in the pupils, improve their research skills, and give them the opportunity to present their findings at the end of the unit. In the first lesson, the pupils are given a map of Africa and a list of countries. They have to use the internet to find out where the countries are situated on the map. This provokes discussion over how countries in Africa were formed and how their borders were affected by Western Colonisation and the World Wars. The second part of the lesson involves a brief discussion over some of the well known problems in Africa such as Civil War, Corruption, HIV, Poverty and Famine after which the pupils will start their own powerpoint presentation describing these. The pupils are assisted in starting this with fact sheets on HIV and AIDS in Africa and on Corruption in Africa. The second lesson focuses on Civil War in Africa. The pupils are given worksheets with the names of four countries that have faced Civil War, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan and Sierra Leone and questions on the impact of war in these countries. The pupils watch a trailer for the film Hotel Rwanda which focuses on the Rwandan Genocide. There is discussion on what they have seen, which expands into related topics such as refugees before they are allowed to go on the internet and research the answers to the questions for two of the countries. The second half of the lesson is spent working on the powerpoint presentations and adding some of the facts they have researched into their own presentation. The third lesson focuses on Fairtrade in Africa. The pupils are given a worksheet asking questions about Fairtrade and shown a short video on the projector promoting and explaining what Fairtrade does for African producers. The pupils are directed to the Fairtrade website in order to answer any remaining questions on their sheet. The second half of the lesson is spent finishing off their powerpoint presentations and adding facts about Fairtrade. In the fourth lesson, the pupils present their findings to the rest of the class and discuss the issues as a class, each having the opportunity to express their opinions on the topic and the different aspects they have covered. The Focus Group What did pupils learn from the lesson and how do they feel school prepares them to be part of an ethnically and religiously diverse society? I chose 4 pupils to take part in my focus group, Jodie who was very opinionated, from a white, working class background; Priya, a Hindu, Indian girl who was more quiet but got caught up in the debate; John who is from a mixed Black Caribbean and White background; and Mlala, a boy from a West African background. Jodie felt very resentful about being â€Å"forced to take Citizenship†. She felt it was a waste of time as there is no qualification or exam to sit in this subject. She felt it was a waste of time and she had very little interest in what happened in Africa, she felt it would be more relevant to study problems occurring in the UK during Citizenship lessons. During the class discussions she was unsympathetic to the plight of refugees and had strong feelings regarding their presence in the UK and on immigration as a whole. John was of a similar opinion, he thought that Africans should â€Å"sort out their own problems†. Priya defended refugees and their need to come to this country pointing out that it is not always possible for refugees to go to the next nearest country as there may be trouble within that country as well and that if there are a lot of refugees coming from countries that are close to each other that one or two countries that are stable enough to accept refugees cannot take all of the refugees. Mlala also pointed out that some of the problems that occur in Africa are a direct result of European colonisation and war. I understand why Priya and Mlala are more reluctant to get involved in the debate. To some extent they may feel that the comments are directed at them or their friends or families. They see the issues of developing countries from a different perspective. Mlala only came to the UK in the last year and has grown up in West Africa. He and his family are immigrants themselves, he dislikes the picture painted in the media but does not want to get into direct confrontation over it. Priya was born here but has strong roots in India; she has friends and family there who she visits and who have come to live in the UK more recently. I also understand where these feelings are coming from in Jodie and John in the sense that they are growing up in working class, white households which are targeted in the media to feel that immigrants and refugees are coming to the UK and making life more difficult for them affecting housing, jobs, schooling the NHS and opinions within their families are being reflected through them. Jodie and John did appear to enjoy having the opportunity to express their opinions about issues that are highlighted in the media and discussed at home. Priya and Mlala, were more reluctant to talk about the issue, I believe they may have felt uncomfortable at times about some of the issues raised and the strength of other peoples opinions, however as the debate went on they were motivated to speak to get across their own different points of view. My Reflections I felt at the end of the lessons and the focus group that something had been achieved in the sense that Jodie and John’s opinions appeared to soften and they had learned some facts that they were previously unaware of. Priya and Mlala, I hope came out of it mor confident for speaking their minds and making their opinions known. I feel that the lessons were a success in the sense that they created a framework for debate and got the pupils thinking about these issues instead of just accepting what they read in the Tabloids and hear from the people around them. When I prepared the lessons I had to stick within the framework of the the topic for problems within Africa but I feel it would be good to have the opportunity to use the topic of Africa to challenge peoples’ preconceptions of the continent and the people, perhaps by focussing on the more positive aspects of Africa in order to give the pupils a more balanced viewpoint.

Environmental Problems in Africa Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Environmental Problems in Africa - Article Example Africa, specifically the Sub- Saharan states are enriched with natural resources of many kinds, yet it cannot overcome the poverty which its residents have been living in for centuries. According to the World Summit on sustainable Development (WSSD) in Africa in 2002 as mentioned in an article posted www.articlebase.com on 27 October, 2006, Africa is currently facing lack of fresh water, barren lands, deforestation, which has led to extinction of different species of birds and animals. The trade of oil through sea has resulted in water-pollution. Similarly the waste from industries is disposed off in water, which has ruined the life of different species of fish and marine-life. Trees cut to light fire for cooking and other purposes have led to deforestation. Poverty generates pollution which in turn generates poverty. This constant cycle has come into being as a result of development of factories and industries all over the world which has opened employment opportunities for those working in rural areas. Because of more and more mobility and networking among the people, there has been an increase in the need of all sorts of vehicles which consume oil to function. Oil is the basic source of income for many countries. But in the course of exploration of oil, much harm is caused to the environment. Though USA has taken some initiatives to eradicate poverty from Africa. It was mentioned in the same article as mentioned before that USA had planned to grant 4.5 billion $ to Africa over the course of next three years to launch an anti-HIV program and improve access to fresh and clean water for the Africans. These days, everybody is worried about the consequences of the destroyed natural environment which has caused a fundamental change in the social environment. Increase in pollution has made human beings take some steps to protect themselves against the evils of pollution. This has resulted in increased use of face-masks, bottled water

Conflict & Intra-professional Relationships at the Workplace Research Paper

Conflict & Intra-professional Relationships at the Workplace - Research Paper Example Workplace conflict has long been viewed as an all negative thing, but the truth is that it is neither all positive nor all negative; it has both positive and negative implications (Masters & Albright, 2002; Duddle & Boughton, 2007). Conflicting intra-professional relations, however, increase the level of job stress among workers. Many studies have verified this (Healy & McKay, 2008 & McVicar, 2003). Different people use different coping strategies to manage workplace conflicts (masters & Albright, 2002). The way a workplace conflict is handled is the actual determinant of whether the effects of the conflict will be positive or negative. Perception of conflict is a subjective behavior and varies from person to person, but this perception is a factor that affects the coping strategy to be used greatly (McVicar, 2003). Like all fields of work, workplace conflict and conflicting intra-professional relations are also present in the field of nursing. In fact, one study by Hutchinson and co lleagues (2006) also confirms the presence of Bullying in a sensitive profession like nursing. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of conflict and intra-professional relationships in the field of nursing by presenting a critique of two prescribed journal articles in the same field. Almost, J. (2006). ‘Conflict within nursing work environments: concept analysis’. Journal of  Advanced Nursing, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 444-453.   This article is by Joan Almost, who is a faculty member of nursing at the University ty of Toronto, Canada. Titled ‘Conflict within nursing work environments: concept analysis’, this article was accepted for publication on the 27th of July, 2005; and was published in the Journal of Athe advanced Nursing in 2006, volume 53, issue 4. The article is based on a theoretical literature review of available academic material on workplace conflict within nursing, aimed at explaining and exploring the process of workplace conflic t. The data was collected by searching for some popular online academic databases for relevant articles submitted in the last 25 years.

Learning Points Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Learning Points - Assignment Example This collectively places the medical practitioner in the best position to note the possible kinds of infections, there causes, and how best to handle it or them. The main purpose for a diagnosis- according to Neal-Boylan (2011) the primary intention for effective diagnosis and treatment of any illness inclusive of the cardio-infections is to decrease the risk factors, which play a part in the progression of the cardiovascular disease as well as heart failure. For this case, the diagnosis is important because it helps the medical professionals and the patients reduce the fear for the reoccurrence of angina, control of diabetes, reduction of blood pressure, and engagement in physical activities among them weight loss. Need for conservation treatment- as per the document by Deming & Riddick-Grisham (2011), conservation treatment is one among the best strategies of disease infection. It includes undertaking all the precautionary medical measures on the verge to ensure a comprehensive treatment of an infection, for this case, angina. Some of the pivotal schemes of conservation treatment for this case include checking of blood sugar four times a day, taking all the medications as prescribed by specialists, and seeking for immediate medical attention in case any reactions occur. Other additional conservation treatment for this case are keeping records of blood sugar, body weight, and blood pressure and presenting them to the concerned practitioners in the consecutive visits of the medical facility. With reference to Bailey & Trybulski (2012), there are a number of prominent features of patient education for clinical case including what they need to avoid and what they ought to embrace in attempts to speed up the healing or treatment process. Some of the main features of patient education for this case include: Embrace the appropriate eating habits, that is as per the

Negative stereotype of Chinese Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Negative stereotype of Chinese Americans - Essay Example Related to this is the notion that the Chinese "somaticize" their emotions. In this view, rather than expressing/experiencing emotions verbally and behaviorally, the Chinese manifest emotions as physical or bodily symptoms related to illness. If true, this "somaticizing" of emotions may provide a culturally condoned outlet for emotional expression (e.g., complaining of a stomach ache when angry) when other forms of expressions may be considered inappropriate (e.g., yelling at your employer). A somewhat different understanding of Chinese emotions, proposed by Potter (1988, 59), is that emotions lack social significance in the collectivistic Chinese culture and thus are less relevant than they are in the individualistic American culture. The underlying assumption here is that emotions are more disruptive to the social harmony than they are helpful. In this view, emotional expression in Chinese culture is not so much discouraged or suppressed, but rather it is ignored. Potter described attitudes toward emotional displays in China as that of indifference, as evidenced by a statement by one of her cultural informants: "How I feel does not matter!" Although the underlying dynamic in Potter's model is quite different from that of Kleinberg, Wu and Tseng, and others, both models may lead to the same result: low levels of emotional experience and sparse emotional displays. Empirical tests of these n... Tsai and Levenson (2000, 37) found support for emotional moderation in Chinese culture in a study comparing Chinese American and European American dating couples who had unrehearsed conversations about their relationship. Chinese American couples reported fewer periods of positive emotion and showed less variability in their reported emotional experience than European American couples. Other studies of emotion in Chinese culture have not directly measured emotional responding, but rather have examined qualities of emotional judgments. Ekman et al. (1987, 97) found that college students from Asian countries (Hong Kong, Japan, Sumatra) attributed less emotional intensity than students from non-Asian countries to photographs of facial expressions posed by Caucasians. Matsumoto (1993, 55) reported a similar pattern of lower intensity ratings for Asian Americans using photographs of facial expressions posed by both Caucasians and Japanese. Consistent with ethnographic views reviewed earli er, Matsumoto also found that Asian participants rated the emotional expressions as being less "appropriate" under various social situations than did Caucasian participants. Health care and social services providers face numerous challenges in meeting the health and wellness needs of Chinese Americans. In designing a strategy of care for this population, providers must understand that poverty, limited English skills, and noncitizenship status all serve as significant barriers to access and use. Providers must also consider the population's unique cultural beliefs and practices as well as address its most pressing social concerns. A strategy to increase accessibility for and use of health care services among Chinese Americans may well

Discuss an economics-, business- ,or finance-related book you have Essay

Discuss an economics-, business- ,or finance-related book you have read all the way through and its influence on your thinking - Essay Example This information is vital as it expands on the investment knowledge that I learnt in class. Apart from sharing the financial information with the three young people, Roy, the main character offers financial advices to his customers at the barber shop. Roy had a plan of becoming a lawyer when he was growing up, but he later changed his mind. He takes over the barber shop that belongs to his father and begins running it well after a visit to Mr. White, who was one of the wealthiest individuals in the town. The financial advice he gets from Mr. White opens up the way for the accumulation of wealth. After reading the book, I realized that I don’t need a lot of money before I can begin investing. Saving and investing ten percent of my monthly income for a long term can enable me to accumulate a lot of money (Chilton, 8). I was able to understand that it is better to pay off non-tax deductible debts rather using the same amount of money in other investments. The best investment begins with paying off loans and other debts. An individual should start paying off loans that have high-interest rates. I have realized that in order to be wealthy, I have to ensure that my money works for me. These is because, my salary is quite smaller compared to less amount of money invested over time. In order to keep track of finances, an individual needs to write down all the expenditure in a month. I was able to understand that the financial assessment can help identify areas of wastage and thus plan for the money effectively in future (Chilton, 10). Additionally, the book offers knowledge on how to save more tax money. Most people require assistance from a tax expert or an accountant so as to able to identify how to save on tax. Even though, the experts can be of help in offering advice, it is important for a people to fill the 1040 long forms by themselves so as to

Evas death Essay Example for Free

Evas death Essay Also at the beginning of the play, Mr and Mrs. Birling come across as a well-off couple who are very well educated and in the public eye a lot when Mr Birling says to Gerald, I could be in line for a knighthood, providing nothing goes wrong. This means that if a scandal is linked with his family, then the public will turn against him, and therefore he wont be able to get a knighthood. Because of this, the audience wouldnt expect them to behave in the way they did, and when we find out what they did, and the affect they had on Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton, its quite shocking to see that they were both somehow involved in her death. And when we find out the reasons behind what they did, it changes the impression we get of them, and you see that they are quite selfish and take advantage of the power they have and who they inflict it upon. They are both quite wrapped up in their own lives, and anything that would lose them money or cause them grief, they take no notice of and dismiss the idea. Sheila and Eric are Mr and Mrs. Birlings children. At the beginning of the play Sheila comes across as a bit childish and immature and maybe still relies on her mum and dad a lot when she say, yes, go on, mummy. You must drink our health. We get an impression of Sheila as being naive and shallow, but her comment, last summer, when you never came near me, which refers to Gerald, may suggest to us that she isnt as stupid as she may seem. Eric seems a bit more mischievous and much more naive than Sheila, in the way he talks and how he acts. He seems embarrassed and nervous, as soon as he is mentioned in the play, as it says, Eric suddenly guffaws, and then doesnt tell the other characters why he came out with it, which suggests he is nervous about something, which we later find out that it is the money he recently stole from his father, Mr. Birling. hI think Mr and Mrs. Birling are more ashamed of Eric and careful that he doesnt do anything stupid to embarrass the family, but the family seem to get on with each other quite well, although you get the impression that there is some tension between Eric and Mr. Birling, when Gerald, Mr. Birling and Eric are talking about womens love of clothes before the Inspector arrives. Sheila also has a link with Eva, who was employed at Milwards, because Sheila thought Eva, was laughing at her when she tried on a dress that didnt suit her. Eva was prettier than Sheila and the dress suited her more, which made Sheila irritated and envious of Eva, so she was guilty of a deadly sin, which was envy. Erics link with Eva was that he met her in the palace bar one thing lead to another and he got her pregnant, which made him guilty of lust towards Eva. Although Eric doesnt seem very responsible he shows some initiative, as he was concerned enough to give Eva some money, which shows his priority was Evas future and not necessarily the consequences of stealing from Mr. Birlings office. I dont think the audience are too shocked to find out what Eric and Sheila are capable of, because they are young and quite naive, and they dont seem to have much empathy towards other people, maybe because they havent experienced the things Eva has before. Their actions can be linked to their parents as they have a lot of power, so this may be filtered down to them, which they might exploit and take advantage of. By the end of the play Eric and Sheila have changed more than the other characters. Sheila feels extremely guilty for what she has done to Eva and frequently cries and sobs when the Inspector mentions Eva in the infirmary. Eric also feels guilty for what he did to Eva, he says, the girls dead and we all helped to kill her- and thats what matters. I think they have both changed because they are young and impressionable, whereas Mr and Mrs. Birling refuse to take responsibility for Evas death to save their reputation, and they have never been forced to examine their consciences before and they find that they cant do it now, and are relieved when they find out the Inspector wasnt real and want to forget about it and move on. At the start of the play we find out that Gerald is from a family who are socially better than the Birlings. We know this because after Mr.Birling tells Gerald he has the same port as his father gets, Gerald says, The governor prides himself on being a good judge of port. Gerald is also described as an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred man-about-town. We also know that he is the son of Lord and Lady Croft, and we are given the impression that they are not to keen on the engagement of Gerald and Sheila as they didnt accept the invitation to the dinner. This makes us wander why Gerald would want to marry a woman of a lower status than him. Gerald was involved with Eva when he met her at the palace bar and let her stay in his friends empty flat in Bromley, as she had nowhere to stay, and he felt sorry for her. Eva, or Daisy Renton as Gerald knew her as, was his mistress for a time until she had to move out because Gerald was away on business. His involvement with Eva was different to the rest of the characters, because he actually tried to help her and did something good. In a way his actions are the most shocking because he is better-off than even the Birlings, so you wouldnt expect him to help out someone like Eva who hangs around in places like the palace bar, and you would have thought he would look down on people like her, and have no sympathy for them. I dont think his actions fit in with the Gerald at the beginning of the play because he tells Sheila the reason why he didnt see her much last summer was because he was busy at work, when he was with Eva at the flat, so we find out he was lying to Sheila, which you wouldnt have thought hed do as he says he wants to be part of the family and they seem to have a lot of respect for each other. Although Gerald seems moved by the news of Evas death, he isnt entirely willing to admit his involvement with her, and this could be because of the same reason as Mr. Birling, that he wants to protect his own interests. At the end of the play he tries to come up with as much evidence as possible to prove that the Inspector isnt real, which could potentially get him off the hook, if he could convince the rest of the characters that they had been hoaxed.

Reflection On Formative Assessment Education Essay

Reflection On Formative Assessment Education Essay For my reflection on learning I am going to discuss writing assignment 01. I feel that I did a pretty good job with writing assignment 01, however, theres always room for improvement. The easiest part of the assignment was ofcause the multiple choice questions which I answered using mostly the general knowledge that I have gathered over past few years of studying Business Management; the second part of the assignment was to write a literature review which was a more challenging task to accomplish. Academic writing is not an easy task and often takes years to master fully. So at this stage, I wanted to be well on my way to becoming a better writer and a researcher. I believe that I have improved on both my academic writing and organizational skills. After going through week 4s content, I had set goals for myself to become better at organizing information, such as sourcing literature and writing about the information. I had hoped to have a better understanding of what a literature review is in order to incorporate this knowledge into my paper, as well as improve on my own ideas, and I feel like I have done that. According to Badenhorst (2010, p. 16) Writing is currency in academia. It doesnt matter how many ideas we have. If we cant transform those ideas into something material, we have nothing worth trading. Therefore, I had also wanted to be clearer when coming up with ideas in a concise, logical and integrated manner so that the person reading could easily follow my argument and understand what I am trying to say. And once again, I feel that I have done just that too. The general feedback that I got on my first assignment was positive. Some of suggestions that I had received from you were, Very good review. Evidence that the literature was studied and integrated in to the review. You should review the APA style referencing. As you cited some of the references wrong in the text. Always cite correctly. So I went back to revise the document that was given to us in the beginning of this module, namely, An Abridged Guide to the APA Referencing Style. I have learned that when citing a paraphrase within the text of an assignment, the surname of the author followed by a comma and the year of publication should be given wholly or partly in round brackets. If referencing a direct quote a comma and page number after the year should be added. I am now more comfortable with using the APA style referencing and hopefully wont be repeating the same silly mistakes I made in this assignment. References: Badenhorst, C. (2010). Productive writing becoming a prolific academic writer. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers. Reflection on learning in Assignment 02 I believe assignment 02 was a real chance for me to test my knowledge and ability to reach the outcomes of the module. I say this because of the nature of this assignment. In general I used to perceive multiple choice types of questions as an opportunity to gain easy extra marks. However, few questions in, I soon realized that assignment 02 was one of the most challenging assignments that I had to complete this year. That is why I was relieved and pleasantly surprised upon the release of the final marks. According to the results, I have gotten 42 correct and 8 incorrect answers. Looking back on the assignment 02, I feel as though I was well-equipped in the majority of the questions in the assignment, especially on answering the questions relating to quantitative and qualitative designs, due to thoroughly going through the work in Week 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. I feel like my weak point in the multiple choice assignment was that I may have fallen for the distracters. The reason why I have gotten some of the questions wrong is because I struggled in interpreting the idea of the text and choosing one correct answer. Also, most of the questions that I got incorrect had to do with either sampling or data collection. After this assignment I have learned the importance to have a good understanding of measurement process, like levels of measurement, reliability and validity. Researchers need to understand the values they attach to the information they collect. I believe that the tools I learned in this module have made me develop as a researcher and better prepared me for the future. 2.2 Weekly self-evaluations Include the two qualitative questions as self-reflections here for any three weeks of your choice. In addition to including the content that you provided during the specific weeks, also add a further reflection on how you feel about your answers at this point in time, now that you look back at these reflections: Nr Week Self-reflections 1A 2 Describe how you are finding this section of the module and the way in which it was presented. What did you like and what helped you to understand the material? On the other hand were there things that you did not understand properly in the way they were presented. How do you think we can improve our presentation and activities around this part of the work for this module? 1B 2 2A 4 Based on this weeks chapter, which content did you find easy to understand? What helped you to understand the material? What sections did you not understand properly? How do you think we can improve our presentation and activities around this part of the work for this module? In one or two paragraphs, explain the extent to which you are comfortable with your knowledge and understanding of the content of this introductory chapter 2B 4 3A 7 In one or two paragraphs, tell us how challenging you found the content of this weeks work? Are you coping with the workload each week? What are you doing to help reach the targeted learning goals each week? 3B 7 2.3 Reflection on the value of research As an honours student, an employee or employer in an organization, or a citizen of a country, you must make many decisions every day. Good, informed decisions require knowledge. What are the sources of our knowledge? Some of it is acquired through formal education in honours and masters programs in social work, or from attending on-going education programs. It may come from reading articles in professional journals, textbooks, or through online searches. It may also come from senior level experts who have been successful social workers for many years. Factually, much of the knowledge derived from these sources has one characteristic in common it is all derived from doing good research (Bryman Bell 2007, p.4). Conducting research is the most reliable method of acquiring new knowledge about business and learning. Alternative ways of knowing such as common sense, intuition, authority and tradition, have proven less useful for advancing our understanding of the complex process of learning (Mallick 1999, p.5). In the last 40 to 50 years, the value of research has attained a great deal of respectability amongst educators, politicians, business people, and other who often turn to researchers in the quest for reliable and valid information for making decisions (Mallick 1999, p.3). By teaching students the best ways to conduct research, they will be equipped to acquire the knowledge needed for making good, informed decisions in whatever social system level they may become employees or even potential employers. However, understanding how research should be conducted has a second benefit as it allows social workers or citizens of the country to critically and knowledgeably evaluate the research methods of others (e.g. leaders, politicians) and, thus, assess the credibility of the findings and recommendations that they generate. References: Bryman, A., Bell, E. (2007). Business Research Methods, Oxford University Press, New York Mallick, K. (1999). Researching Education: Perspectives and Techniques, Routledge, London 1.0 Introduction Nowadays, almost all curricula in the social studies contain at least one course in statistics. So given the importance of this discipline as a basic knowledge to understand the modern world, it is necessary to do some form of a research on the students attitude to statistics, as this could be an obstacle or an advantage in their learning process. From school, to home, to the workplace, statistics have become a part of our everyday life. In many circles, computer knowledge and competence in statistics is perceived as essential skills. In the beginning of their studies, many of the students are still not fully aware that they are required to study research methodology and statistics as an entire module in order to complete their degree. The emphasis placed on statistics and research related skills without a doubt virtually always surprise them. Some of the students even develop a phobia or an anxiety towards this academic subject that they tend to feel nervous and uncomfortable when they are required to deal with statistics and research related problems. In order to get a thorough understanding about Unisas students attitude towards research methods and statistics, this research will aim at investigating the factors influencing their attitude, by looking at anxiety, self-efficacy they put into studying statistics as well as their academic achievement. 2.0 Literature review In order to understand the implications of this research, an explanation of the key variables found in the literature review must first be discussed. 2.1 Students attitudes toward statistics The readiness of students to start courses in statistics can, apart from mathematical and intellectual ability, also be viewed in terms of emotional and attitudinal factors (Coetzee 2010, p.1). Attitude toward statistics can be defined as a combination of a students attitude toward the use of statistics in their field of study and the students attitudes towards the statistics course (Coetzee 2010, p.1). Although some students show a positive attitude toward statistics, evidence reveals that unfavourable responses far outweigh any favourable responses (Coetzee 2011, p1). Perepiczka et al. (2011) has reported that students often enter statistics courses with negative views or later develop negative feelings regarding the subject matter of statistics (p.100). According to Perepiczka et al. (2011), statistics courses are regarded by most students as an obstacle to obtaining their degree. These same students often delay taking their statistic courses until they cannot postpone it further. Researchers also found that students negative attitudes toward statistics is an influencing factor in low student performance in statistics courses (Perepiczka et al., 2011, p.101). 2.2 Statistics Anxiety In this study statistics anxiety is one of the three factors that influence students attitude towards statistics. Researchers documented a large amount of information on statistics anxiety over the years. For example, there are multiple definitions of statistics anxiety available in the literature. Elliot and Dweck (2005) defined statistics anxiety as the feeling of anxiety encountered when taking a statistics course or doing statistical analysis (p.243). According to Onwuegbuzie, DaRos, and Ryan (1997) statistics anxiety refers to the apprehension that occurs as a result of encountering statistics in any form at any level (p.28). The existing literature also identifies situation specific nature of statistics anxiety, ranging in intensity from mild to severe. While the mild form of statistics anxiety may induce only minor discomfort, severe forms can result in nervousness, panic and worry (Alauddin Butler, 2004, p.202). According to Onwuegbuzie (2000), majority of graduate students in the social sciences appeared to experience high levels of statistics anxiety, and it was found to be higher among female graduate students in comparison to their male colleagues. Statistics anxiety may be a critical factor in influencing and attaining a students academic and professional goals. Baloglu (2003) identified three categories of variables, situational, dispositional, and environmental, that are related to statistics anxiety (p.856). Situational experiences are factors that surround the student, which includes previous statistics experiences. Dispositional experiences are intrapersonal factors that include psychological and emotional characteristics made up of issues such as perfectionism and perception of abilities at developmental stages in life (Baloglu, 2003, p.856). Environmental experiences are interpersonal factors related to the classroom experience (Onwuegbuzie Daly, 1999), which can include the students experiences with the professor. 2.3 Self-Efficacy to Learn Statistics Perepiczka et al. (2011) defines general self-efficacy as ones judgments of his or her capabilities to organize and carry out courses of action required to attain specific types of performances. In other words self-efficacy to learn statistics is a persons confidence in his or her ability to successfully learn statistical skills necessary in a statistics course. Perepiczka stated that self-efficacy beliefs are manifested from four primary sources, which include the following: personal accomplishments, vicarious learning experiences, verbal persuasion, and emotional arousal. These primary sources lay the foundation for building the concept of self-efficacy to learn statistics. There is a lot of information available on self-ability or self-efficacy related to academic achievement (Balogu, 2003, p.858). However, little is known specifically about self-efficacy to learn statistics. Perepiczka (2011) investigated whether self-efficacy to learn statistics is related to performance in a statistics course and whether self-efficacy to learn statistics increased during a 12-week introductory statistics course. One hundred and three students from a large university partook in the survey. Perepiczka (2011) stated that there was a positive relationship between statistics self-efficacy and academic achievement as well as an increase in self-efficacy to learn statistics over the duration of the course. 2.4 Relationship between Attitude and Academic Achievement There are indeed numerous researches conducted on testing the relationship between attitude and academic achievement. Based on the previous literature, there is a general agreement that attitude could be regarded as a significant determinant of ones academic achievement. Most of these researches illustrated the more positive ones attitude towards an academic subject, the higher the possibility for him/her to perform well academically (Lilian, 2012, p. 156). The same applies vice-versa, students that previously have been performing well in mathematics field, generally have a more positive attitude towards statistics. In a research conducted in the U.S, the academics studied the relationship between students attitudes and academic achievement in college mathematics by inviting 218 freshmen to complete a set of questionnaire. The result indicated that students attitudes were highly correlated with their achievement in college calculus (Lilian, 2012, p. 156). In another longitudinal study also conducted in the U.S., the researchers assessed the relationship between attitude towards mathematics and achievement in mathematics. It was found that attitude had a powerful influence on students academic achievement (Lilian, 2012, p. 156). 3.0 Problem statement Statistics at a tertiary level is often a daunting task facing students undertaking these courses. This attitude amongst students have been shown to directly influence their motivation to study, achievement in statistic modules, and overall enrolment in statistics courses that are not compulsory, especially in the final year of undergraduate degrees and postgraduate years of study. Students attitude towards statistics is essentially either positive or negative, but remains a multifactorial issue. The most common factors that are assessed are preconceptions about statistics, environmental factors (e.g. age, gender, etc.), previous mathematical experience, mathematical aptitude, beliefs, interests, the number of years elapsed since students last statistics course etc. Students with a negative attitude tend to focus only on the method of assessment which only serves to increase their test anxiety. Since students attitudes toward examinations and other non-cognitive factors can affect their performance levels in statistics courses (Onwuegbuzie, 2000), Students also view some forms of assessment as more anxiety inducing than others, thus affecting their performance in the assessments. A programme of assessment also should include means for determining students impressions of the relevance and fairness of the assessment process (Onwuegbuzie, 2000) to determine what can be done to reduce assessment anxiety. Students with positive attitudes towards statistics tend to have a higher performance in statistics courses than students with negative attitudes. With this in mind, it would be an excellent idea for lecturers teaching statistical courses to promote a positive attitude towards statistics, not only as a professional tool, but also a something that can be used every day as a central skill. It might also be plausible that the first goal in teaching statistics should be to reduce the fear of statistics before introducing the course work (Coetzee 2010, p.2). 4.0 Objectives of the research This study primarily has two main objectives. First, the current research intends to test whether attitude is significantly related to anxiety and self-efficacy. Second, the study aims to test whether attitude serves as a mediated factor between anxiety, self-efficacy and academic achievement. From the specified research objectives, the following research questions are derived: What is the graduate student attitude toward statistics? What is the graduate student self-efficacy level? What is the graduate student statistics anxiety? What is the graduate student level of academic achievement? Does attitude play a role in affecting students academic effort? Does self-efficacy play a role in affecting students academic attitude? Does students academic attitude play a role in affecting their academic achievement? Does attitude play a mediating role between anxiety, self-efficacy and academic achievement? What is the extent of the relationship, if any, between graduate students self-efficacy to learn statistics and statistics anxiety and the attitude towards statistics? 5.0 Method of investigation 5.1 Research design In the current research, quantitative research method will be implemented. Concerning the primary data collection method, self-completed questionnaire will be used because it is comparatively timesaving and has the benefit of collecting responses from a large group of subjects with a relatively low cost. 5.2 Sampling Students of both the genders will constitute the population of this study. The study population will consist of all honours students registered for a course in research methodology at a distance education institution in 2012 (N = 2340). The primary reason for targeting students registered for this subject is due to the fact that all of them have almost completed the research methods and statistics course; hence it will be easier for them to answer the survey questions. Concerning the sampling method, convenience sampling and snowball sampling will be used in the process of selecting samples from the target population. Regarding convenience sampling, it is a sampling method in which samples are selected on the basis of easy availability. Since I as the researcher am also an honours student at a distance education institution I can easily approach students studying the same course via online forums, email, etc. After distributing the questionnaires to those students that i personally will come in touch with, I will then invite the respondents to further recruit or encourage the subjects from among their acquaintances to fill out the questionnaire to boost participation, and this is known as the snowball sampling. 5.3 Data collection Ethical considerations An introductory letter explaining the purpose of the study will go with each questionnaire. The participants will also be assured in the letter about the confidentiality and the non-disclosure of information that they will provide. Additionally, respondents will not be required to provide sensitive or detailed personal information, like their full name. Instead, respondents will only need to indicate their gender, race, major and year of study. In order to further guarantee anonymity, and so there is no way for a researcher to identify which questionnaire belongs to which respondent, further measures will be implemented. Participants will not be required to hand in the questionnaire to the researcher directly but to put the completed questionnaires in a collection pile. The questionnaires will be made up of some open and closed questions as well as some multiple choice questions. Also, a meeting with the respondents will be arranged at the selected Unisa venue. At this session the objective of the study will briefly be explained and any questions that the respondents might have will be answered. The respondents will then be encouraged to complete the questionnaire during the meeting. If a participant requests a removal from the study at any time, he or she will be removed immediately. 5.4 Data analysis As one of the main aims of this research is to establish weather a relationship exists between students attitude towards statistics with respect to statistics anxiety, self-efficacy as well as academic performance, correlational analyses will be conducted. Correlational studies are those in which an attempt is made to relate two or more variables to each other. However, there is a caution by researchers that a correlation between variables does not necessarily allow us to claim that the values of one variable cause changes in the values of another variable (Linden, 1982, p.17). A simple linear regression analysis will be computed in order to determine which variables predicted students attitudes towards statistics. In this analysis, a single variable depends on or is influenced by one or more variables (Linden, 1982, p.17). In analysing the relationship between the variables, reliability test will be conducted to estimate the reliability of the scales adopted in the current study. Descriptive statistics will be used to show the demographic characteristics of the respondents. And finally, the multiple regression analyses will be used to estimate the prediction power of statistics anxiety and self-efficacy on attitude; and the prediction power of attitude, self-efficacy, and statistics anxiety on academic achievement. 6.0 Conclusion The present research further supports that there is a direct relationship between attitude, anxiety, and self-efficacy and academic achievement as suggested in past literature. It is detected that attitude has a direct effect on academic achievement while self-efficacy also has a direct effect on academic achievement. Researching predictors of graduate students statistical self-efficacy beliefs is important to identifying possible barriers to professional growth and development. Exploring how statistical self-efficacy beliefs relate to predicting future academic expectations, performance, effort, persistence, and course selection also is important to explore as a means of promoting professional development (Perepiczka et al., 2011, p.106). Teaching graduate students how to reduce their anxiety and improve their attitude will likely enhance their value of statistics and further encourage their professional development in the profession that requires work with statistics.