MGT A3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MGT A3 - Essay Example This is because while money may motivate some individuals according to their preferences, it may leave others out especially if they are motivated by other factors such as power and autonomy. As such, managers must understand the different personality types of the employees (George & Jones, 4). Since personality is more permanent and hence difficult to change, they should embrace the different employee personalities and develop them by considering the most important motivational factors to each employee. There are five personality traits that may dictate what an individual considers as the best motivational factors. These traits include extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, consciousness and openness. These traits result in individual differences that make individuals unique, making money an insufficient motivational factor for all individuals in an organization. Other personality traits related to organization behavior include locus of control, self-monitoring and need for achievement. Individuals with a personality trait of locus of control may be motivated better by increasing his span of control and supervision (George &Jones, 8). The person with a need for achievement will be motivated by availing a challenging work environment where they can solve problems successfully. Yet the person with a need for affiliation is motivated when he interacts and networks more, and maintains healthy relationships. Therefore, focusing solely on money as a motivation factor leaves out people who are motivated by other factors other than money. Most employees in an organization despite their individual differences work hard to acquire higher status. Organizations assume that promotion is the only way to elevate a person’s status. However, there are other no-monetary methods to achieve the same objectives such as recognition of a person’s daily achievement and developing an employee’s personality. For example,

Explore the ways Essay Example for Free

Explore the ways Essay In this playing I will be exploring how Priestley makes this moment in the play so dramatic and significant. The Inspector has just left the Birling’s all thunderstruck and traumatized, each of them handling it in different ways. As Gerald walks in it has come clear to us that the older generation are set in their ways and do not hesitate to even think about what the Inspector has told them, yet are stuck with their selfish ways. It is evident that Mr and Mrs Birling are embarrassed of Gerald finding out of what the Inspector has unearthed about what they have all done. ‘He put us all through it –‘ then Mr Birling cutting in ‘Sheila! Cutting Sheila off mid-sentence shows how Mr Birling is extremely humiliated and does not want Gerald to know what has just happened. He is too busy in caring about his reputation and getting his knighthood than even consider a word of what the Inspector has just said. ‘ (hastily) now – now we needn’t bother him with all that stuff’ The pauses through the hyphens intimates Birling’s loss of power. Also the change in tone symbolises Mr Birling weakening making this a significant moment in the paly. Using the lexis ‘stuff’ proves to us that Mr Birling thinks very little of the situation and is  quick to try and hide what happened. Priestley uses revelation to make this part in the play more dramatic. Gerald slowly getting to the point and surprising the Birling’s that Inspector Goole wasn’t a real police Inspector; in fact he is ‘A fake! ’ Mr and Mrs Birling attitudes swiftly change from ‘(hastily)’ and ‘(warningly)’ to ‘(triumphantly)’ and ‘(excitedly)’ where as for Sheila and Eric their attitudes do not change for they still have the pejorative and shameful thoughts from the Inspector’s words. This creates conflict between the younger generation (Sheila and Erica) and the older generation (Mr and  Mrs Birling). The younger generation still seeing what they have done as immoral but the older generation thinking their off the hook and that ‘it makes all the difference’. The inspector has obviously left his remark on Sheila and Eric â€Å"(bitterly) I suppose we’re all nice people now,† Through the speech and stage directions it is clear Sheila and Eric feel guilt and responsibility, however this guilt and sense of responsibility is abruptly ignored by their parents ‘if you’ve nothing more sensible than that to say, Sheila, you’d better keep quite’ Mr and Mrs Birling are delighted to  discover that â€Å"that fellow was a fraud† and has not come to think about and claim the responsibility of what has happened. Mrs Birling was shocked by the way the Inspector was speaking to her and the rest of the family ‘the rude way he spoke to Mr Birling and me – it was quite extraordinary’ It is evident that their reaction to the Inspector and his interrogation is left Mrs Birling bewildered, as though she could not possibly expect a police Inspector to have any cause to speak with one of their status. This creating a more dramatic scene because Mrs Birling quite clearly hated the way Inspector Goole spoke to Mrs Birling, and she hated it.

Exploring Morality in Measure for Measure Essay -- Measure for Measure

Exploring Morality in Measure for Measure   Ã‚   In Measure for Measure, Shakespeare is able to examine the concept of right and wrong through the characters of Mistress Overdone and Mariana. Throughout the play, by using characters that most people would find morally reprehensible, Shakespeare is able to give the audience a different view of these people and, hopefully, show his audience that people aren't always what they appear to be. Through the character of Mistress Overdone, Shakespeare is able to bring a jovial side to the oldest job known to man -- prostitution. Through the character of Mariana, Shakespeare allows the audience to decide if two wrongs do, in fact, make a right. While the concepts of right and wrong are given a twist in this play, Shakespeare, in the end, allows his audience to decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. At the beginning of act one, scene two, Shakespeare uses the bawd, Mistress Overdone, to convey to the audience that Angelo is enforcing the fornication laws of Vienna. While this seems like the more moral, and more right, action to take, Shakespeare puts a twist on what the audience would normally view as a clear cut case. In lines 79 - 81, Mistress Overdone explains to the audience the effects of these new policies. So, while it seems right to shut these businesses down, the audience now is shown that prostitution is this lady's livelihood and her way for making money. However, who is to decide if the "moral benefits" of eliminating the public display of prostitution is in the best interest of the city? By posing this question, Shakespeare forces the audience to consider both sides of the issue to, in the end, make some decision.    In England, during that time... ... While, of course, this play does not say that Shakespeare was in favor of prostitution, it does force his audience to see these people as individuals and not objects. Likewise, by introducing the description of Mariana, Shakespeare challenges the idea of something always being right or wrong. Through the two characters, Shakespeare is able to have his audience challenge their ideas of right and wrong and force them into justifying these decisions. Sources Cited and Consulted Knight, G. Wilson. Shakespeare and Morality. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1967. Leech, Clifford. "The 'Meaning' of Measure for Measure." Shakespeare Survey 3 (1950): 69-71. Shakespeare, William. Measure for Measure. The Arden Shakespeare. Ed. J.W. Lever. London: Routledge, 1995. Thomas, Vivian.   The Moral Universe of Shakespeare's Problem Plays.   London: Croom Helm, 1987.

Chicano Studies Paper

The United States, a place associated with hope, equal opportunity and freedom also faces many underlying issues. The idea of this â€Å"perfect† country has been corrupted with problems such as immigration, growing class division and most prominently the 2007 recession. These burdens have prevented people from living the â€Å"American Dream†, a concept that our country has over glorified. The root of these ongoing problems has not been properly addressed, preventing our nation from making any progress.Looking closely at the continuous problems that the Unites States has and still faces, it is viable to say that these issues revolve around capitalism. The novel, The Barbarian Nurseries by Hector Tobar illustrates how immigrants like Araceli are victimized due to unresolved issues with money and the recession. When Araceli is prosecuted for abusing and kidnapping the Torres-Thompson children, the case eventually transitions into an issue with immigration. As the case ga ins media attention people like Ian Goller and Janet Bryson express resentment toward Araceli.Within Araceli, Goller and Bryson saw a representation of immigrants, who in their mind were to blame for the issues that had erupted in â€Å"their† country, such as the everlasting recession. Janet Bryson exemplifies this anger and bitterness when she boldly states: â€Å"To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants [†¦] contribute to their society [.. ] Look at our full prisons, our higher insurance rates, our lowering education standards†(325). Bryson and Goller’s actions symbolize the result of capitalism, the true villain within the novel.Capitalism has never been fully recognized as the true cause for many of the problems the U. S has faced causing immigrants like Araceli to be used as scapegoats for issues they had little influence in causing. As a result, capitalism can be seen as the barbarian in the novel, which in turn leads to barba ric actions on behalf of people like Goller and Bryson, against immigrants like Araceli who are innocently trying to secure a better life for themselves in the United States.I personally found it appalling that even after Araceli was found innocent for harming and kidnapping of the Thompson kids, Goller had the audacity to try and prosecute and deport Araceli: â€Å"Your honor before you adjourn, [.. ] there is also the matter of the defendant’s immigration status† (408). These never ending accusations that immigrants have to carry, prevent them from reaching that better life that they work so hard to one day achieve in the Unites States. In the end Araceli is unjustly forced to escape and essentially start a new life from scratch due to the negative associations that an immigrant label carriers.In the film A Better Life, capitalism is also a hidden factor to many of the conflicts that are portrayed throughout the film. The film depicts Carlos, a hardworking immigrant worker striving to do all he possibly can to create a better life for him and his son. This proves to be easier said than done as Carlos’ continuous efforts backfire and he ends up getting deported. The driving force behind his inability to reach the better life he so desperately desires is capitalism.Passion and motivation can be seen within Carlos’ optimism and spirit when he says: â€Å"This country is a land of dreams, it can be a hard place, a cruel place, but it’s where I work and I dream for a better place for my son†. Unfortunately his drive is not enough to move up economically which is the key to sustaining a better living. Even when hope is created through the purchase of a truck, his gateway to living the American dream is quickly shattered when his truck is stolen by Santiago, another immigrant worker.The injustice that he had faced when getting his truck stolen led me to resent Santiago, but I later realized that he was going through his own hardships in trying to live out his own American Dream. The darkness of capitalism had led him to a desperate barbaric action, emphasizing the want for a better life as a universal battle. Capitalism further acts as a catalyst in the film as seen through Carlos unstable living in a run down neighborhood, preventing his son Luis from getting getting the proper education he deserves and needs to accomplish a better future.The probability of his son ending up in the same oppressive situation as him becomes very probable, causing doubts of the possibility of ever reaching success. This never ending cycle of constant input with no output leads to the devastating realization that this idea of a better life may be unattainable. This understanding is described by Celo who chose to face the reality of his limited opportunities by joining a gang: â€Å"They either lock us out or lock us up†. This makes me stop and realize that there is a reason behind all of the â€Å"bad† deci sions that people make, sometimes it’s becomes their only option.At the end of the film, a better life is not achieved by Carlos, instead he is seen in the desert trying to cross the border, back to the same place that he had started, making one wonder if a better life is even reachable. The 2007 recession, a result of capitalism has also had a personal impact on my family’s lives. Before the recession, my family lived a pretty stable life in a beautiful home that my parents had worked so hard to provide for us. When the recession struck its effects took a toll on my family for several years to come. Around 2009 my mom was laid off from her teaching position, leaving her jobless for over a year.During this time all of the financial responsibilities for the house were left to my dad who did not gain much income as a truck driver. Without any financial help from my mom, money became a huge issue for my family. Letting go of certain luxuries, such as going out to eat freq uently and shopping for new gadgets whenever we pleased became difficult. As payments for the house became more complicated to pay, my parents also started drifting apart. Eventually my dad was unable to make the payments for the house causing us to lose our home as well as deal with the eventual separation of my parents.All of these events led back to the recession which has definitely taken us off the path from living the better life that my parents worked so hard to achieve. Looking back at the successes that my parents have achieved only to be beaten down by the devious recession, I strive to rebuild that â€Å"better life† that we once had, full of unity, happiness, and achievement. Due to these burdens, several years later my family is still dealing with the consequences of an issue that has yet to be dealt with efficiently by the United States.Reaching a better life has become more difficult due to the Unites States’ inability to address a problem that has been plaguing our nation over and over again. This capitalist issue has shattered many hopes and dreams that many hoped to achieve. Life should not be based on lost aspirations but on anticipation for a successful future. Through the text, the novel and my personal experience our nation’s issue with capitalism can be seen as an unchanging factor in our society in both the past and present.Due to our nation’s failure in providing a solution for the problems that capitalism has ensued, its negative effects have come up time and time again. During the 1930’s the Unites States faced an economic depression resulting in a very high unemployment rate. In order to deflect the nation away from the issues the nation was facing, immigrants were targeted for the country’s falling out. The justification for these unjust actions is portrayed in the reader stating that â€Å"The deportation of more Mexicans meant more jobs for real Americans† (147).These unreasonable initiatives that the nation took in order to draw attention away from United State’s real issues, appear to be very similar to the actions taken by the nation in today’s recession. It is due to these continued patterns that reaching for a more stable, successful life has become difficult not only for immigrants but for everyone in the United States trying to make something of themselves. As Sunny Patterson states in her poem, â€Å"Money and power and greed, the game. They suck and devour the souls of the slain†.Patterson highlights how our societies corrupted desire for money and control has selfishly left the rest of the population thirsting for the day they will be able to rebuild the path toward their desired life. It is for these reasons that I believe that our nation is still in the â€Å"dessert† as Patterson suggests, facing the same unresolved problems that have progressively lead to high unemployment, rising tuition for educations, higher costs of living and so on. A positive initiative needs to be taken in order to prevent our nations from getting even worse than it already is.Martin Luther King proposes a solution to this problem when he states: â€Å"We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing oriented society to a person oriented society† (A Time to Break Silence). He suggests that a shift needs to be made from individualistic selfish needs to a population coming together and conquering the nation’s issues in unison. This idea is also suggested by Patterson after addressing all of the abominations that the Unites States has yet to address when she states: â€Å"But come, come children, rally around and maybe together we can make a sound that will shake the trees or rattle the ground†.This simple change of coming together to change a cause is an effortless act that can bring just the right push to in bringing a positive change to our nation. This small yet useful act can be used as a way to express common concerns within a population to bring about the urgently needed change that we need in our nation. It is only through this radical change as King speaks out about that our nation will finally get out of the all too familiar desert that we have revisited over and over again.

Multicultural education Essay

From its early beginnings in the 1960s, multicultural education has since been in a constant state of evolution both in theory and in practice (Gorski & Covert 1996). In the last four decades, it has undergone repeated transformation, focusing and conceptualization as challenges emerge one after the other from a rapidly changing population demographics and a significant growth in diverse multicultural groups. The result is a multitude of conceptualizations reflecting different foci but which basically share the same ideals rooted upon the need for transformation or change. Gorski (2000) defines multicultural education as a â€Å"progressive approach for transforming education that holistically critiques and addresses current shortcomings, failings, and discriminatory practices in education†. These shared ideals that include social justice, equity in educational opportunities, and the dedication to help students reach their full potential as learners and as socially conscious and active individuals provide the basis for understanding multicultural education. It is a process of action, through which adults achieve clarity about their condition in this society and ways to change it (Phillips, 1988). Multicultural education acknowledges that schools, among all other institutions, play a pivotal role in building the foundation and acting as major influencing factor for the transformation of society and the elimination of oppression and injustice. The realities of the times clearly speak for the growing importance and relevance of multicultural education. Cultural diversity in schools is indeed one considerable challenge but like any other, it can be a most welcome opportunity. History has shown us that nations are enriched by the ethnic, cultural, and language diversity among its citizens (Banks, 2001). Schools play a significant part in finding ways to harness and redirect cultural diversity into creating unity and progress in schools and ultimately to society in general. References: Banks, J. A. (April 2001). Diversity within unity: Essential principles for teaching and learning in a multicultural society. New Horizons for Learning. Retrieved on May 28, 2009 from http://www. newhorizons. org/strategies/multicultural/banks. htm Gorski, P. & Covert, B. (1996; 2000). Defining multicultural education. Retrieved on May 28, 2009 from http://www. edchange. org/multicultural/define_old. html Phillips, C. B. (1988). Nurturing diversity for today’s children and tomorrow’s leaders. Young Children: 43(2).

Race and Gender Bias and Discrimination in Higher Edu

Race and Gender Bias and Discrimination in Higher Edu Many believe that once a student has made it to college or university, the barriers of sexism and racism that may have stood in the way of their education have been overcome. But, for decades, anecdotal evidence from women and people of color has suggested that institutions of higher learning are not free from racial and gender bias. In 2014, researchers conclusively documented these problems in a study of how perceptions of race and gender  among faculty impact who they choose to mentor, showing that women and racial minorities  were far less likely than white men to receive responses from university professors after emailing to express interest in working with them as graduate students. Studying Race and Gender Bias among University Faculty The study,  conducted by professors  Katherine L. Milkman, Modupe Akinola, and Dolly Chugh, and published on the Social Science Research Network, measured email responses of 6,500 professors across over 250 of the U.S.’s top universities. The messages were sent by â€Å"students† who were interested in graduate school (in actuality, the â€Å"students† were impersonated by the researchers). The messages expressed admiration for the professor’s research and requested a meeting. All messages sent by the researchers had the same content and were well-written, but varied in that the researchers used a variety of names typically associated with specific racial categories.  For example, names like Brad Anderson and Meredith Roberts would typically be assumed to belong to white people, whereas names like Lamar Washington and LaToya Brown would be assumed to belong to black students. Other names included those associated with Latino/a, Indian, and Chinese students. Faculty Are Biased in Favor of White Men Milkman and her team found that  Asian students experienced the most bias, that gender and racial diversity among faculty does not reduce the presence of discrimination, and that there are big differences in the commonality of bias between academic departments and types of schools. The highest rates of  discrimination against women and people of color were found to occur at private schools and among the natural sciences  and business schools. The study also found that the frequency of racial and gender discrimination increases along with average faculty salary. At business schools, women and racial minorities were ignored by professors  more than twice as frequently as were  white males. Within the humanities they were ignored 1.3 times more often- a lower rate than in business schools but still quite significant and troubling. Research findings like these reveal that discrimination exists even within the academic elite, despite the fact that academics are typically thought to be more liberal and progressive than the general population. How Race and Gender Bias Impacts Students Because the emails were thought by the professors studied to be from prospective students interested in working with the professor in a graduate program, this means that women and racial minorities are discriminated against before they even begin the application process to graduate school. This extends existing research that has found this kind of discrimination within graduate programs to the â€Å"pathway† level of the student experience, disturbingly present in all academic disciplines. Discrimination at this stage of a students pursuit of postgraduate education can have a discouraging effect, and can even harm that students chances of gaining admission and funding for postgraduate work. These findings also build on previous research that has found gender bias within STEM fields to include racial bias too, thus debunking the common  assumption of Asian privilege in higher education and STEM fields. Bias in Higher Education is Part of Systemic Racism Now, some might find it puzzling that even women and racial minorities exhibit bias against prospective students on these bases. While at first glance it might seem strange, sociology helps make sense of this phenomenon. Joe Feagin’s theory of systemic racism illuminates how racism pervades the entire social system  and manifests at the level of policy, law, institutions like media and education, in interactions between people, and individually in the beliefs and assumptions of people. Feagin goes so far as to call the U.S. a â€Å"total racist society.† What this means, then, is that all people born in the U.S. grow up in a racist society  and are socialized by racist institutions, as well as  by family members, teachers, peers, members of law enforcement, and even clergy, who either consciously or unconsciously instill racist beliefs into the minds of Americans. Leading contemporary sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, a Black feminist scholar, has revealed in her research and theoretical work that even people of color are socialized to maintain racist beliefs, which she refers to as the internalization of the oppressor.In the context of the study by Milkman and her colleagues, existing social theories  of race and gender would suggest that even well-intentioned professors who might not otherwise be seen as racist or gender-biased, and who do not act in  overtly discriminatory ways, have internalized beliefs that women and students of color are perhaps  not as well prepared for graduate school as their white male counterpar ts, or that they may not make reliable or adequate research assistants. In fact, this phenomenon is documented in the book  Presumed Incompetent, a compilation of research and essays from women and people of color who work in academia. Social Implications of Bias in Higher Education Discrimination at the point of entry into graduate programs and discrimination once admitted have striking implications. While the racial makeup of students enrolled in colleges in 2011 fairly closely mirrored the racial makeup of the total U.S. population, statistics released by the Chronicle of Higher Education show that as the level of degree increases, from Associate, to Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate, the percentage of degrees held by racial minorities, with the exception of Asians, drops considerably. Consequently, whites and Asians are overrepresented as holders of doctorate degrees, while Blacks, Hispanics and Latinos, and Native Americans are vastly underrepresented. In turn, this means that people of color are far less present among university faculty, a profession dominated by white people (especially men). And so the cycle of bias and discrimination continues.Taken with the above information, the findings from Milkmans study point to a systemic crisis of white and male s upremacy in American higher education today. Academia cant help but exist within a racist and patriarchal social system, but it has a responsibility to recognize this context, and to proactively combat these forms of discrimination in every way it can.

Sociological Concept Womens Social Standing

Sociological Concept Womens Social Standing Introduction Sociological concepts are specific ways in sociology of approaching any given phenomenon. They assist us to get insight picture of the social world that goes beyond justifications that rely on individual characters and idiosyncrasies.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sociological Concept: Women’s Social Standing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They also assist us to view the general social pattern of an individual’s behavior, and they usually presume that official justifications are self-serving and partial. Social perspective involves a conscious endeavor to go past what is obvious and question what is believed to be a common sense or what is believed to be true. It entails upholding objectivity by critically examining ideas, and accepting what may appear to be awkward or astonishing based on the substantiation. They study everything from actual elucidation to extensive generalization (Cha dwick, 2001). However, the early sociologists also presented a broad perception of the essentials of society. Their perceptions form the basis for the current theoretical paradigms or points of views, which offers them an orienting outline and an idealistic position for asking particular questions regarding social perspective. Paying closer attention to the concept of women’s social standing, gender aspects are now perceived as attributes of social structures influencing women’s roles and status in culturally and economically predetermined society. In addition, women’s status is also largely dependent on personal experience forming women’s outlook on their position in relation to men. Social Concept: Women’s Social Standing Due to the fact that members of society depend on social structures they live in, they strive to frame everyday situations in accordance with the rules dictated by a particular community. Currently, women are rigidly distinguish ed from men’ perception of social rules and concepts while being involved in social interaction. This is because they rely on different experiences creating specific frames and blocks of sociological concepts (Macionis and Gerber, 2009, p. 127). While considering women’s statuses in society, it is necessary to make reference to several aspects influencing their position and affiliation to a particular group. Aside from stereotypes ascribed to women, there are many other settings and conditions influencing their behavioral patterns. Depending on the status a women holds in society, she performs various roles, but when there is more than one social position assigned to a women, it can create a set of multiple roles. All these roles are closely associated with cultural and economic aspects providing shifts in social positions and roles. For instance, when it comes to developing countries, women are less bound to educational background, but are more affiliated to their fam ily roles being an important component of social identity.Advertising Looking for essay on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In contrast, high-income economies provide more opportunities for people to spend more years as students and exercise family roles less frequently (Macionis and Gerber, 2009, p. 129). These disparities influence women’s perception in various settings and when people strive to break those stereotypes they encounter a number of challenges. Understanding women’s social position in the contemporary society is especially vital because the social reality itself dictates what roles and statuses should be performed by female representatives in our world community. The concept of social reality shape women’s perceptions, beliefs, and outlooks affecting the nature and character of social interaction. In particular, women’s marital and familial roles can be dictat ed by culture, stereotypes, identities and economic situation in a certain environment. The situation concerns the aspect of equality aspect that differs from society to society whose impact is far from positive. According to the research provided by Das and Gupta (1995), the family structures and role set can have a huge impact on resource distribution between two sexes in the family (p. 92). Specifically â€Å"high maternal mortality†¦is associated with the patriarchal family structure which reduces women’s autonomy and their share of material and social resources† (Das and Gupta, 1995, p. 92). In this regard, inequality in social positions generates much more serious problems than it can be viewed at a glance. Despite the presence of fixed stereotypes apropos of the concept of women’s social standing, women’s roles and statuses are gradually changing with the emergence of certain movements and trends among which the globalization process is the mo st powerful one. In this perspective, Hooks (2000) recognizes that the possibility that feminism defined as social equality with men might easily become a movement that would primarily affect the social standing of white women in middle- and upper-class groups while affecting only in a very marginal way that social status of working-class and poor women (p. 19). While evaluating this statement, most of female issues are closely related to the firmly established cultural overlays that prevent women from building new behavioral patterns and performing new, more acceptable roles in the globalized society. At the same time, there are specific social positions that women are reluctant to drop because it can negatively influence their social and cultural identities.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sociological Concept: Women’s Social Standing specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Women’s social position is largel y dependent on class, age, gender and ethnicity backgrounds. The construction of a particular identity is often based on personal experience, acceptance, and outlooks on the above-presented issues. With regard to this, Chrisler and McCreary (2010) have highlight male-female disparities concerning gender aspects and have stated that â€Å"women were viewed as appropriately marrying relatively early (between ages 19 and 24), as past their period of maximal responsibility at 40, and as having accomplished most of what they would accomplish by 45† (p. 570). The presented disposition reveals the differences in roles that women perform as compared to males who are more likely to take similar responsibilities at later stages. The influence of gender difference on social roles is also associated with behavior patterns that align with the demands and functions of the role. Within the established framework, it is worth stating that gender is not merely an indicator of biological featur es; rather, gender identifies the constantly re-created changes to individual socialization and social interaction. In this regard, gender is an important attribute of social structures. According to Brinkerhorf et al. (2007), biological differences can be reinforced by social stereotypes because men and women are often imposed by conceptions concerning how males and females should look like. Indeed, physical and biological characteristics can be considered the core aspects in assessing women in certain social practices, like sport, medicine, fashion, etc. Furthermore, â€Å"[g]ender is built into social structure when workplaces don’t provide day care; women don’t receive equal pay, fathers, don’t receive paternity leave, basket balls, executive chairs, and power drills are sized to fit the average man†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Brinkerhorff et al., 2007, p. 203). Interpreting this, producing changes to gender attitudes and roles can lead to social changes in case there a re simultaneous changes in social structures and gender issues. At the same time, as soon social structures undergo changes, gender roles are also influenced by shifts in perception. Discussing the Concept of Women’s Social Standing with Regard to Existing Theoretical Approaches Currently, sociologists employ three main perspectives or theories, namely: conflict, interactionist, and functionalist perspective. All these approaches can be disclosed through the concept of women’s social standing and its role in society. In order to understand this social perspective, it is necessary to consider the above-proposed theories in more detail with regard to the role of women in social interaction.Advertising Looking for essay on gender studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Conflict theory Many sociologists refer to role conflict as a result of confrontation of two or more statuses hold by people. Women can experience role conflict when they are forced to take various directions while trying to respond to the statuses they currently take (Macionis and Gerber, 2009, p. 129). In this regard, conflict theory emphasizes material, social or political differences of a social group which analyzes the extensive socio-political structure, or which undermines ideological conservatism and structural functionalism (Thompson, 2005). This theory emanated from the sociology of crisis and social change. It is most commonly connected to Marxism as a response to functionalism. This theory focuses on conflict in the society; its discourse is on the occurrence of conflict and what causes conflict in the society. There are various modes of conflicts, one of them being that of revolution and warfare. These occur in phases because of rocky collations among different social c lasses. Domination is another mode of conflict in the conflict sociological perspective. Various social divisions tend to form different principles based on promotion of the welfare of their own class. Ideas of lower classes reveal the desire in their own lives while that of higher classes have more conceptual perspectives. Strikes in the current society have become a major social partition between the management and the employees in every organization (Macionis and Gerber, 2009, p. 131). Even if a woman takes a single social role, which is quite rare, it can also create tensions because of imposing various demands by other members of society. Role strain, hence, is a confrontation of roles attached to a single status. For instance, a woman can work as a teacher evaluating students’ achievements objectively and fairly. At the same time, she can behave more subjectively when treating her children. These two roles should not be confused; alternatively, it can lead to a role con flict. Fulfilling various roles connected to one status serves as a kind of balancing act. One approach to eliminating role conflict is separating dimensions of our life so that one can perform particular roles attached to one status and carry out other roles associated with another status in a completely different environment (Chrisler and McCleary, 2010, p. 571). The problem of role separations is specifically connected with separating family life from job and vice versa. Symbolic interactionist perspective Symbolic interactionist perspective is also referred to as symbolic interactionism. This kind of sociological perspective allows sociologists to consider the details and symbols of daily life, the meaning of these symbols and the way people interact with one another. It offers a serious thought on the manners in which people act, and seeks out to establish the meanings which people attach to their own deeds and symbols, also to those of others. There have been claims from criti cs that symbolic interactionist perspective does not take into account the macro levels of social understanding; in other terms, this perspective may neglect crucial issues in the society by directing more interest on the tree rather than the forest. For instance, it focuses more on the size of the ring rather than the quality of the marriage (Reynolds and Herman-Kinney, 2003, p. 173). There are also claims that symbolic interactionism also put less consideration on the influence of social institutions and forces on individual relations. When it comes to social interaction and women social position, symbolic interactionists refer to such concepts as ethno methodology and conversation analysis. These threefold relations are unveiled through consideration of meaning, language and social interaction, but in different ways. Hence, meaning implies the study of gestures, responses to those gestures and consequences of those interactions. Meaning can be presented beyond awareness of object ive existence of particular notions. Its objectiveness lies within a response scheme. Hence, there are certain gestures and acts that are predetermined by gender only making reference to cultural disposition, values and attitudes (Reynolds and Herman-Kinney, 2003, p. 174). Women’s social status imposes a number of such behavioral patterns and gestures indicating their roles and positions, which depend on cultural and social identities establish in a particular community. George Mead, an American philosopher introduced symbolic interactionism to American sociology in 1925 (Chadwick, 2001). Consider application of symbolic interactionist perspective to the institution of marriage; symbols may include a wedding cake, music, flowers, church ceremony and a bridal dress (Pacific Sociological Association, 2008). For instance, one partner may view the wedding ring as a mere expenditure while the other partner may view it as a sign of enduring love. Oral conversations, in which spoken words function as major symbols, make this personal understanding particularly apparent. The words bear some meaning for the sender, and they optimistically bear the same meaning for the recipient (Reynolds and Herman-Kinney, 2003, p. 180). In fact, anything can act as a symbol provided it refers to something beyond itself. Therefore, symbolic interactionism offers a serious thought on the manners in which people act, and seeks out to establish the meanings which people attach to their own deeds and symbols, also to those of others. Functionalist perspective Functionalist perspective has its center of attention on the input and output relationships and mental actions. It is based on the ideology that mental conditions are understood by effects of behavior, sensory stimulation and other inner acts. According to functionalism, the mental condition of a human being is not restricted to the biological systems of human organism; instead, computer and other non-biological systems, displa y functional relations that are similar to human biological systems and are believed to have similar mental condition. Specifically, structural functionalism is a broad theory which addresses social structure in terms of function of its basic elements including traditions, norms, institutions and customs. Additionally, it studies society as a structure with interconnected divisions (Pacific Sociological Association, 2008). This perspective has chronological resemblance with the application of scientific techniques in research and social theory. The structural-functionalist approach considers family as a social institution that carries out specific functions in society, like producing young generation, socializing, and providing emotional and physical care for family members. Accordingly, conventional gender roles also contribute to successful family functioning where women perform the role of managing houses and providing nurturing and emotional care to family members. However, rapi d social change and breakdown of a traditional social institution of family and marriage has led high rates of divorce, which is seen as the main social problem (Mooney, Knox, and Schacht, 2010, p. 157). In its turn, shifts in women’s roles and status within a family can also contribute to the problems of poverty, crimes, and substance abuse. Structural functionalism became very popular among the American sociologists between 1940 and 1954; it focused on ascertaining the functions of human behavior (Thompson, 2005). Robert Merton is one the American sociologist who divided human function into two kinds, namely latent functions and manifest functions. Latent functions are not apparent neither are they intentional, but, manifest functions are apparent and intentional (Ferrante, 2010, p. 29). Considering those functions, woman’s position in society can also be dependent on a latent and manifest functions perspective. For example, manifest function that each woman performs is that of a mother, a wife, or a daughter. These roles can be explicitly revealed in certain settings and they contribute to balance and stability in society. At the same time, performing a particular role, a woman can feel stressful due to excessive imposition of responsibility. Caring for children requires great responsibility and skills, which often lack because of experience gap and other issues. In general, women should strike the balance between the functions they perform to avoid dysfunctions and social changes these functions undergo. Apparently, feminism is the result of latent functions coming to the forth. With regard to the sociological concepts studied, functionalisms can disclose distinctive features of women’s perceptions, reactions that contribute to building behavioral patterns in various social frameworks (Macionis and Gerber, 2009, p. 127). Owing to the fact that mental states are not limited to a particular behavior models, they can be realized in numero us ways. For instance, a silicon-based machine could, in principle, have the same sort of mental life like that of a human being. However, this would only be when its cognitive system realizes proper functional roles. Hence, women’s role in a particular setting is largely predetermined by earlier established patterns that have been formed on at a mental level of perception. Conclusion The concept of women’s social standing is predetermined by women’s particular roles they perform in culturally and economically predetermined societies. Aside from traditions and stereotypical images attached to women and their place in social structures, they are often affected by gender, race, and age factors being the attributes of social structures as well. Furthermore, women’s social position considerably depends on educational background and personal experience that forms women’s values, outlooks, and beliefs in certain settings. Therefore, the presence of certa in sociological concepts assists people in understanding the social world going beyond judgments and justifications and relying on particular characters and idiosyncrasies. Additionally, understanding social roles of women contributes to better analysis of behavioral patterns existing in society that influence the overall appraisal of social constructions. Owing to the fact that all members of society depend on those social structures, they strive to frame life situations within the rules and clichà ©s dictated by a particular community. This issue considerably affects women because global shifts in perceptions influence specific social and cultural frames women got accustomed to. Reference List Brinkerhoff, D. B., White, L. K., and Ortega, S. T. (2007). Essentials of Sociology. US: Cengage Learning. Chadwick, R. (2001). Native Americans today: sociological concepts. Chicago: Harper Collins. Chrisler, J. C., and McCreary, D. R. (2010). Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology. US : Springer. Das, M. S., and Gupta, V. K. (1995). Social Status of Women in Developing Countries. New Delhi: M D Publications PVT LTD. Ferrante, J. (2010). Sociology: A Global Perspective. US: Cengage Learning. Hooks, B. (2000). Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. US: Pluto Press. Macionis, J., Gerber, L. (2009). Sociology. Canada: Pearson Education Mooney, L. A. Knox, D., and Schacht, C. (2010). Understanding Social Problems. US: Cengage Learning. Pacific Sociological Association, (2008). Sociological concepts: SP: official publication of perspectives. New York: Routledge press. Reynolds, L. T., and Herman-Kinney, N. J. (2003). Handbook of symbolic interactionism. UK: Rowman Altamira. Thompson, K. (2005). Sociological concepts. New York: Penguin Group

Paramagnetism Definition and Examples

Paramagnetism Definition and Examples Paramagnetism refers to a property of certain materials that are weakly attracted to magnetic fields. When exposed to an external magnetic field, internal induced magnetic fields form in these materials that are ordered in the same direction as the applied field. Once the applied field is removed, the materials lose their magnetism as thermal motion randomizes the electron spin orientations. Materials that display paramagnetism are called paramagnetic. Some compounds and most chemical elements are paramagnetic under certain circumstances. However, true paramagnets display magnetic susceptibility according to the Curie or Curies of paramagnets include the coordination complex myoglobin, transition metal complexes, iron oxide (FeO), and oxygen (O2). Titanium and aluminum are metallic elements that are paramagnetic. Superparamagnets are materials that show a net paramagnetic response, yet display ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic ordering at the microscopic level. These materials adhere to the Curie law, yet have very large Curie constants. Ferrofluids are an example of superparamagnets. Solid superparamagnets are also known as mictomagnets. The alloy AuFe (gold-iron) is an example of a mictomagnet. The ferromagnetically coupled clusters in the alloy freeze below a certain temperature. How Paramagnetism Works Paramagnetism results from the presence of least one unpaired electron spin in a materials atoms or molecules. In other words, any material that possesses atoms with incompletely filled atomic orbitals is paramagnetic. The spin of the unpaired electrons gives them a magnetic dipole moment. Basically, each unpaired electron acts as a tiny magnet within the material. When an external magnetic field is applied, the spin of the electrons aligns with the field. Because all the unpaired electrons align the same way, the material is attracted to the field. When the external field is removed, the spins return to their randomized orientations. The magnetization approximately follows Curies law, which states that the magnetic susceptibility χ is inversely proportional to temperature: M χH CH/T where M is magnetization, χ is magnetic susceptibility, H is the auxiliary magnetic field, T is the absolute (Kelvin) temperature, and C is the material-specific Curie constant. Types of Magnetism Magnetic materials may be identified as belonging to one of four categories: ferromagnetism, paramagnetism, diamagnetism, and antiferromagnetism. The strongest form of magnetism is ferromagnetism. Ferromagnetic materials exhibit a magnetic attraction that is strong enough to be felt. Ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials may remain magnetized over time. Common iron-based magnets and rare earth magnets display ferromagnetism. In contrast to ferromagnetism, the forces of paramagnetism, diamagnetism, and antiferromagnetism are weak. In antiferromagnetism, the magnetic moments of molecules or atoms align in a pattern in which neighbor electron spins point in opposite directions, but the magnetic ordering vanishes above a certain temperature. Paramagnetic materials are weakly attracted to a magnetic field. Antiferromagnetic materials become paramagnetic above a certain temperature. Diamagnetic materials are weakly repelled by magnetic fields. All materials are diamagnetic, but a substance isnt usually labeled diamagnetic unless the other forms of magnetism are absent. Bismuth and antimony are examples of diamagnets.

Competitive GSM companies in Kazakhstan Case Study

Competitive GSM companies in Kazakhstan - Case Study Example The path of technological development cannot be bended and today's human interactions predominantly rely on advanced networking options applied greatly in every corner of the globe. This culture and society research project analyzes the competition between GSM companies in Kazakhstan, particularly 'K'cell' and 'K-mobile'. The emphasis is placed on social problems, including poor quality of service, prices, and customer attitudes. The research question is whether there is true competition between GSM companies in Kazakhstan, especially between 'K'cell' and 'K-mobile'. The spotlight of the research is how competition affects people living in Kazakhstan. One of the most significant innovations in mobile communications and cell telephony is associated with the approval of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard in 1984 by the European Commission. As of 2006, GSM was actively applied by more than two billion people in over 212 countries.1 In actual fact, GSM standard assumes cellular network that connects mobile phones by searching nearby cells. In turn, mobile phones operators apply GSM to provide international roaming worldwide. Customers apparently benefit from GSM application since it enables them to receive high digital voice quality at relatively low cost for calls and text messages. Another attribute of GSM popularity is the SIM card. Subscriber Identity Module, which is a detachable smart card that stores user data. Mobile operators are changed at users' discretion by simple replacement of SIM cards (GSM Association, 2007). Kazakhstan's Telecom Market Kazakhstan's telecom market is booming. According to the new legislation adopted in 2004, the telecom sector was liberalized and that stop 'Kazakh telecom' monopoly. Rapid development of the mobile market led to the increase of mobile subscribers (from 260,000 in 2000 to more than 5 million in early 2006) (Totel, 2006). At present, two leading GSM providers operating in the Kazakh domestic market are "K'cell" (60%) and "K-mobile" (30%) with the remaining 5% covered by other mobile operators. 'K'cell' was founded on 30 September, 1998 and since then it is symbolized by 'K'cell' and "Active" trade mark. The company involves such shareholders as 'GSM Kazakhstan', "Kazakh telecom" JSC and the joint company representing three countries, Finland, Turkey and Sweden, "Fin Tur Holdings B.V." Furthermore, 'K'cell' is a national leader, consider the scope of provided services, to number of subscribers (approx. 3.3 m.), and actual amount of investments. To prove this, during 2002-2005 the company was awarded the status of a lead cellular operator in Kazakhstan (K'Cell, 2006). In addition, the company was warded the prize called "Choice of the Year in Kazakhstan" and therefore became lead cellular

Eddie Mabo, the Indigenous Land Father Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Eddie Mabo, the Indigenous Land Father - Essay Example For almost a decade, this man fought for the rights of his people by taking a case to court with the intention of having it overturn the terra nullius land system in Australia, which alienated the indigenous people from their land. The sheer determination of this man, against all odds, ensured that he had one of the greatest wins in Australian history for an indigenous person, because the ruling made, overturning the terra nullius system, ensured that over three hundred years of injustice had almost come to an end (Pannell and Vachon 2001, p.238). The overturning of this system further granted the indigenous people the confidence of identifying themselves with the land of their ancestors and ensured that their right to it was recognized beyond doubt. Eddie Mabo was a man who rose from humble origins as a gardener to becoming one of the national icons of Australia because of the fact that he was deeply involved in fighting for the rights of his people. While he was born in the Torres Strait Islands, Mabo spent most of his life in Queensland, and was in fact not a well-known figure in his home island until after he took his case on indigenous land rights to court. It was only after his death from cancer as well as the court victory over the land issue five months later that his fellow indigenous people on the island welcomed his as one of their own. His victory did not only affect the people of his home island but also all the indigenous people of Australia and this is the reason why Mabo has become one of the most respected men among them (Burke 2007, p.240). The idea that an indigenous person could almost singlehandedly challenge the Australian status quo and gain a great victory from it was one of those instances which were unheard of in the history of this country. The indigenous people had long been suppressed by the colonial government, and later by the white settlers who dominated and continue to dominate almost every aspect of life in Australia (Furniss 2001, p.279). Mabo’s posthumous court victory ensured that the indigenous people were recognized as a legitimate part of the Australian population with the same rights as those who dominated the society (Thorner 2009, p.391). Furthermore, it may have played a role in the recognition of indigenous people as reasoning human beings who had, throughout the history of the colonization of Australia had been treated unfairly; the court case was therefore the first step in correcting the injustice done to them (Reilly 2000, p.23). The overturning of the terra nullius policy can be said to be, in reality, a policy of inclusion whose purpose is to ensure that all the Australian people have an equal chance to compete in making their dreams and aspirations come true. Previously, indigenous groups were completely excluded from the majority of economic activities in Australia except for those which were considered to be labour intensive (Nettheim 2008 p.167). Moreover, these groups were rarely ever accepted in the mainstream Australian life, therefore, Mabo’s court victory can be said to have been a step towards the inclusion of the indigenous people into the centre of Australian society. From the very beginning of the Mabo’s case in court, there has been opposition towards it with those against it stating that it is giving an unfair advantage to minority

How Information Technology has Improved Management Process Research Paper

How Information Technology has Improved Management Process - Research Paper Example Following are some definitions. As described by Nirav S., management processes are defined as those processes which are performed by managers. Managers are commonly involved in planning, organizing, directing, motivating, controlling and decision-making. (Nirav, 2012) Management processes can be of many types and have many aspects attached to them. Information Technology: As per the free dictionary, Information Technology is defined as the development, installation, and implementation of computer systems and applications. (â€Å"Information Technology†, 2009) Information technology has affected organization and organization processes in many ways. It has changed the basic management approach by enabling them to access data from multiple sources at one time and then use this data in their basic functions of planning, controlling, decision making, leadership etc. As laid down by Eatock, Paul and Serrano in their research paper IT is considered one of the most important enablers of process change. (Eatock, Paul & Serrano, 2000) As described by Garvin there are three approaches to organization processes explained in the table below. EXHIBIT 1 An Organizational Processes Framework Work Processes Behavioral Processes Change Processes Definition Sequences of activities that transform inputs into outputs. Widely shared patterns of behavior and ways of acting / interacting. Sequences of events over time. Role Accomplish the work of the organization. Infuse and shape the way work is conducted by influencing how individuals and groups behave. Alter the scale, character, and identity of the organization. Major Categories Operational and administrative. Individual and personal. Autonomous and induced, incremental and revolutionary. Examples New product development, order fulfillment, strategic planning. Decision making, communication, organizational learning. Creation, growth, transformation, and decline. (Garvin, 1998) Management Processes In this part the managemen t processes are discussed in detail and a step by step approach to management processes before and after the implementation of Information Technology is discussed and compared so as to arrive at the advantages Information Technology has brought for the managers in carrying out the main management processes and decisions. There can be many types of management process like work processes, behavioral processes, and change process. However, all the said management processes are undertaken in the same step by step approach. As highlighted by Garvin, common examples of processes include new-product development, order fulfillment, and customer service; less obvious but equally legitimate candidates are resource allocation and decision making. (Garvin, 1998)

Nursing Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nursing Ethics - Essay Example Initially, I felt my skills of dealing with all levels of people, right attitude, patience, showing empathy, being a good listener directed me to help others, which further strengthened me mentally. Every new case I dealt with, I observed that the patient had to recover from a serious injury, illness or a surgery that had moved the client emotionally. So, I had to create an emotional or a psychological environment to facilitate the adjustment for the client to cope with the changes. It is a real challenge to get the customer cope with, adapt and adjust to the new environment. Also, I had to establish trusted and supportive relations with the customers and his/her family to enable them to deal with the situation. My moving to the nursing profession was neither a consequence of this previous experience nor a chance, but only triggered by my utmost urge to serve others and give them the care they deserved. Post my high school, I pursued Bachelor’s degree in nursing and acquired j ob as a nurse in the hospital associated with the college from where I graduated. When I started working as a nurse, I never realized that I had entered a new profession or doing something new, may be, because of my previous experience as human service worker. I did not feel there is much difference between a human service worker and a nurse from a psychological/mental perspective. However, nursing profession requires advanced education and knowledge; most importantly, governed by strong ethical principles. In my earlier days of working with social service organization, I always believed that human beings have to care for fellow human beings who are underprivileged in some way or the other. Although I knew that not all people believe in this, I still expected that people should consciously follow this as a principle of life. However, today I have a better concept of caring for people which makes me

Lean Principles and Applications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Lean Principles and Applications - Essay Example Principles of lean evolved in the above context. â€Å"LEAN IS†¦ A mindset, or way of thinking, with a commitment to achieve a totally waste-free operation that’s focused on your customer’s success†¦.† (Principles of Lean Thinking, 2004, p.2). Lean principles can be illustrated as follows: (Principles Of Lean, 2009) Wrap-it Company manufactures and distributes plastic wrapping machines for industrial use, selling them within the UK and the near continent. Automatic stretch wrappers, shrink wrap tunnels and straddle wrappers are some of the wrapping materials produced by Wrap-it Company. Value identification is the first step of implementing lean principles in an organization. Value identification process should â€Å"Specify value from the standpoint to the end customer by product family† (Principles Of Lean, 2009). There is no point in packing certain materials in good condition at the packing units if the packing fails during transit or while r eaching the customer. The risks involved during transit should be reduced as much as possible which is the duty of an effective plastic wrapping system. If stretch wrapping fails to contain a load during transit, sustainability gains in primary packaging are instantly wiped out. Loads get to their destination with less risk – looking better than ever – with less tweaking and hassle – with up to 30% less film – and at an overall lower net cost (lantech.com, 2012 ) It should be noted that accumulation of plastic is causing huge problems to the environment. Under such circumstances, it is the duty of Wrap-it Company to produce only environmental friendly or biodegradable plastic wrapping materials as part of value creation in the market. Current consumers are giving more importance to socially committed companies and hence environmental friendly plastic wrapping material production may definitely increase the reputation of the company in the market. In short wrap it management should think in terms of restructuring the whole operations inside the company to increase the value of the company in domestic and international market. Mapping of the value stream is the second step in implementing lean principles. Plenty of unnecessary processes and operations are going on in most of the organizations like Wrap-it Company. Processes which brought enormous value in the past would be useless at present because of the advancements in technology and changes in the business world. For example, the entry of computers brought huge changes in the organizational world. There are plenty of organizations which keep typewriters even now. Same way, many organizations have the habit of relying on less efficient manual work when more efficient machineries are available for certain jobs. It is necessary for Warp it Company to â€Å"Identify all the steps in the value stream for each product family, eliminating whenever possible those steps that do not create value† (Principles Of Lean, 2009). Creating flow is the third step in implementing lean principles. Value creation should be done in all departments simultaneously so that the end product will flow smoothly towards the customer or destination. It should be noted that plenty of departments were involved in the production and delivery of certain goods. If any of the departments involved in the production and delivery system fails to operate properly, value created at the top level may not flow properly towards the bottom level. Imagine a company is producing high quality goods. If these products

Nursing Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nursing Ethics - Essay Example Initially, I felt my skills of dealing with all levels of people, right attitude, patience, showing empathy, being a good listener directed me to help others, which further strengthened me mentally. Every new case I dealt with, I observed that the patient had to recover from a serious injury, illness or a surgery that had moved the client emotionally. So, I had to create an emotional or a psychological environment to facilitate the adjustment for the client to cope with the changes. It is a real challenge to get the customer cope with, adapt and adjust to the new environment. Also, I had to establish trusted and supportive relations with the customers and his/her family to enable them to deal with the situation. My moving to the nursing profession was neither a consequence of this previous experience nor a chance, but only triggered by my utmost urge to serve others and give them the care they deserved. Post my high school, I pursued Bachelor’s degree in nursing and acquired j ob as a nurse in the hospital associated with the college from where I graduated. When I started working as a nurse, I never realized that I had entered a new profession or doing something new, may be, because of my previous experience as human service worker. I did not feel there is much difference between a human service worker and a nurse from a psychological/mental perspective. However, nursing profession requires advanced education and knowledge; most importantly, governed by strong ethical principles. In my earlier days of working with social service organization, I always believed that human beings have to care for fellow human beings who are underprivileged in some way or the other. Although I knew that not all people believe in this, I still expected that people should consciously follow this as a principle of life. However, today I have a better concept of caring for people which makes me

Class and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Essay

Class and Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Essay Example Gordon Ramsay’s Ramsay’s Kitchen has already transcended beyond cooking and good taste. Gordon Ramsay’s success became a gauge and to a certain extent a barometer of the desirable values that society should emulate. Ramsay’s values for example such as hard work and neoliberal individualism was idealized that even his less than ideal characteristics became part of the acceptable culinary identity. As a show, Ramsay’s Kitchen has to provide entertainment value to its audience for the show to remain relevant but the manner it provides entertainment triggers extreme reactions due to Ramsay’s unorthodox and outrageous approach to entertain its audience. The jokes employed by the show may have served its purpose to elicit emotional response from its audience but it also creates class distinction as those who are not able to contend with the swagger of the jokes of Ramsay are often relegated to as low class. Even the structure of the show where apprentices are supposed to be students became a symbol of class distinction as they became subservient to the chef and therefore are subjected to classist derision affirming the power and superiority of Ramsay in culinary world not only in terms of culinary competence but also in employing power in the totem pole of chefs. This extends to language where power seems to provide license to the Ramsay show where swear words did not only become an expression of disgust but also an expression of superiority and power. Class differences also extended to gender as Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares represents the value of male dominated society as the show embodies the middle-class male dominated masculinity. But this may be necessary as most of its audience are composed of middle class where it derives not only its ratings but also its significance as its values are reflective of the middle

Basic Device and Security Configuration Essay Example for Free

Basic Device and Security Configuration Essay When designing a network there are basic network and security configurations that one needs to consider. Choosing a hostname for each device is very important, this allows the user to know what device they are working on. Configuring interfaces with a proper IP, subnet, and descriptions are part of the basic configuration of a network device. One needs to consider the security setting for the network devices. There are some basic configurations that one can choose to use in their configuration. Passwords and a username should be used for consoling and remote access to any network device. Enable passwords and encrypting those password are best practice’s for any engineer. Configuration of a username and password for virtual lines, will help in keeping unwanted persons out of your network device along with, a banner upon logging into a device. Banners are messages that will display a warning to any unauthorized person looking to access the device. Shutting down unused ports in a switch, will keep unwanted clients of the network and people from just plugging a laptop into the port for access. Remote access is something to think about when configuring a device. SSH (Secure Shell) and telnet are two network protocol used to remote access to a device. SSH is a more secure application that uses higher encryptions of data then telnet does. To generate the SSH key the use of crypto key generate rsa is used with a 1024 bit key, creates the most secure key. Remote access is a concern to any engineer and should be taken with the highest priority. Commands Used in Basic Device Configurations CLI commands that are used in a switch and in a router are the same. Most CLIÂ  commands are configured in the global configuration mode. It’s always good practice to start with the command erase startup-config, which resulted in the saved NVRAM configuration to be erased. Setting the appropriate hostname for the device is the command hostname {name}. By naming ones device, this will let the user know what device they are working in. Passwords helped secure the device for the enable mode, consoling into the device, and remote access. To set a password to access the enable mode, one need to use the command enable secret {password}. The configuration of a password for consoling into a device, one needs to be in the line con 0 mode and use the command password, the same command is used for remote access but in the line vty 0-15 mode. When using the enable secrete command, the passwords are displayed in clear text. For more security, service password-encryption is used encrypt the password when a show run command is used to display the running configuration. Enabling SSH version 2 is a better choice than version 1. SSH version 2 has stronger cryptographic integrity check and supports password changing. If one configurators their device to support SSH, then there are several commands that need to be configured. A username {name} password {password} command needs to be assigned. The ip domain name domain {mycompany.com} command is used, followed by crypto key generated rsa command. When the engineer types that command the IOS will prompt one for the number of bits. 512 is the default, however, one can choose a larger number and 1024 bits is recommended. The RSA encryption key is used for authentication and encryption of the SSH data. The transport input telnet ssh command allows telnet and ssh on the virtual lines by being configured in the line vty 0 -15 mode. The interface range {interface}-{interface} command is used to make changes in the interface range. One can use this command to shut down all unused ports in a switch. Lastly, the copy run start command was used to copy the recent running configuration to the startup configuration.

Effect of Surface Area on Reaction Rate

Effect of Surface Area on Reaction Rate Surface Area vs. Reaction Rate How does the surface area of pure cane sugar cubes affect the rate of dissolution in water? Chandler Hultine Abstract The purpose of this lab was to investigate how surface area affects the reaction rate of a substance in a solution. This lab was put together to find out how differentiating surface areas of pure cane sugar cubes would affect the rate of dissolution in water. The investigation was undertaken by using five different groups of sugar cubes, each group having a different surface area than the others. The cubes were submerged and stirred in a solution of water until they completely dissolved, and the time it that it took them each to dissolve was recorded. The longer the time it took for the cubes to dissolve, the slower the reaction rate, and vice versa. The initial hypothesis, if the surface area of the cube increases, then the reaction rate of the dissolution of the cube in water will also increase because more of the cube will be exposed to the water which will allow for more collisions of particles to occur at a time, was accepted due to a positive correlation between dissolution times and surface area of cubes. The more broken up a cube was, the faster it tended to dissolve in water and vice versa, because the more broken up cubes had more surface area. (Abstract Words: 212) Introduction The overall aim of this lab is to investigate how surface area is related to reaction rate in terms of the dissolution rate of a substance in a solution. This lab will be experimenting with sugar cubes of the same volume, but different surface areas to see how exactly surface area affects the rate of dissolution. How does the surface area of pure cane sugar cubes affect the rate of dissolution in water? If the surface area of the cube increases, then the reaction rate of the dissolution of the cube in water will also increase because more of the cube will be exposed to the water which will allow for more collisions of particles to occur at a time.3,6 With most things in life, size is a very important factor that people consider in many choices they make, whether it be deciding between the newest smartphones or burning wood chips versus entire logs in a fire.1 Seeing how size affects something is key when taking an item/idea and making it more effective. The purpose of this experiment is to see how the amount of surface area of a substance is related to the reaction rate when said substance is placed into a solution.5 This investigation is to see how the reaction rate of a substance can be either increased or decreased when placed into a solution. Investigation For the investigation, a variety of sources that related to how surface and dissolution/reaction rates are related. The [main] sources include but are not limited to: Research on the topic done by NASA, An excerpt from Ansel’s Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems, And experiment research from sciencebuddies.org titled Big Pieces or Small Pieces: Which React Faster?. These sources have provided a great amount of background information, especially the article by NASA involving an explanation on the correlation between surface areas and reaction rates. Materials In order to complete this experiment, the following materials were required: 25 Sugar cubes (any brand, just make sure all the same) 1 Timer 5 Beakers (250mL) 1 Pipet 1 Thermometer 1 Knife 1 Paper towel or piece of paper (cut sugar cubes on) 1 Hammer or weighted object (to crush one of the sugar cubes into a powder like state) 1 Pencil and paper (to record observations) 1 Stirring device of any kind (like a chopstick) Constants Water source, brand of beakers, size of beakers, amount of water, stirring device, type of sugar cube, temperature of water, temperature of surroundings, temperature of beakers, cuts in sugar cubes, pipets, timer, thermometer Procedure Divide the 25 sugar cubes into groups of five so that each group has five sugar cubes. Leave the first group untouched. This will be the group that has the smallest surface area. Take the second group of five sugar cubes and, using the knife, cut each cube in half. Take the third group of sugar cubes and cut each cube into quarters (cut each one in half then cut the halves in half). The fourth group will be cut into eighths. The last group of sugar cubes will be completely ground up into a powder. This will be the group with the greatest surface area. Once all the cubes are cut up and put into groups, fill up each of the 5 beakers with water to the 200mL mark. Use a pipet to make the measurement precise. Wait 30 minutes after filling the beakers with water to ensure they are all room temperature. Begin with the uncut sugar cube. With the timer and stirring device at hand, place the uncut cube into the water-filled beaker and begin the timer and stirring as soon as the sugar cube is placed in the water. Stir the sugar cube in the water until it completely dissolves/disappears in the water. Stop the timer as soon as the sugar cube completely dissolves. Record the results on a pre-made data table. Repeat steps 6 to 9 for all variants of the sugar cube for one group. Repeat the entire experiment for all 5 groups of sugar cubes, making sure that one group is finished before moving onto another group. DO NOT finish dissolving all of the sugar cubes of one specific surface area size and then moving onto another set of the same surface area sized cubes; make sure the experiment is carried out group by group. Treat each group with the five different surface area sized sugar cubes as an individual experiment. This way a total of 5 experiments will be carried out. Data Trial 1 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 412 Half 217 Quarter 123 Eighth 82 Powder 51 Trial 2 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 401 Half 202 Quarter 150 Eighth 77 Powder 58 Trial 3 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 426 Half 236 Quarter 120 Eighth 68 Powder 47 Trial 4 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 455 Half 241 Quarter 117 Eighth 81 Powder 55 Trial 5 Size of Sugar Cube Time (seconds) for dissolution Full 423 Half 221 Quarter 136 Eighth 71 Powder 52 Mean time for full sugar cube: 423.4 Mean time for half sugar cube: 223.4 Mean time for quarter sugar cube: 129.2 Mean time for eighth sugar cube: 75.8 Mean time for powder sugar cube: 52.6 Results and Discussion The results of this experiment show that a more broken up sugar cube resulted in a faster dissolution rate of the cube in water, and vice versa when there were longer rates of dissolution for sugar cubes that were less broken up. Since the purpose of this experiment was to find the relationship between surface area and reaction rate, this experiment was successful. Trial 1 data shows the times nearly being cut in half as the sugar cube becomes more crushed up, except for the transition between the powder and sugar cube broken up into eighths. Trial 2 data also shows the time between each tier of sugar cubes being split in half as the surface area increases. However, this is not true for the half-broken up and quarter-broken up sugar cubes. The time in seconds for dissolution rate for those two sugar cubes only had a difference of ~50 seconds, which is not even close to half. This makes me wonder what happened during that part of the lab, because the data does not follow the conventional trend like the rest of my experiment results. A possible source of error for this trial was that I did not collect all of the sugar from the sugar cube after it was cut. When all of the sugar is not completely collected, the data can become skewed because not all of the sugar cube is actually being dissolved in the solution. Trials 3, 4, and 5 all show around the similar results. The times are very close to each other for each size sugar cube that was dissolved. Trials 3, 4, and 5 are also relatively close to the data shown in trial 1. This shows that there was a little less precision that went into trial 2. What does all of this data mean? Well for starters, the data and experiment are relevant for any other experiment out there that tries to determine the relation between surface area and reaction rate. The reason for this is because whenever different rates of reaction are being tested for, a change in the surface area of a reactant/variable will have an effect on the rate of reaction, because the alteration of surface area means that the frequency of particle collisions is altered as well.1,3,7 For example, if the surface area (of an object that is about to be placed in a solution) is doubled, that means there will be twice as much area for particles to potentially interact with on the object as compared to the original object that has the original surface area.3 This is true for all aspects of reaction rate; surface area plays a substantial role whenever reaction rate is tested for.1,3 Conclusion Initial Hypothesis: If the surface area of the cube increases, then the reaction rate of the dissolution of the cube in water will also increase because more of the cube will be exposed to the water which will allow for more reaction between water and sugar cube to occur at one time.3,6 There was a strong, positive correlation between the data that was collected and the initial hypothesis. From looking at the data, it is apparent that the cubes that were more broken up that had more surface area dissolved much faster than a cube that was less broken up and did not have as much surface area. The data shows that more surface area does mean faster reaction rate, and vice versa.3 The powder/completely crushed up sugar cube had the quickest time for dissolution in water which was on average 52.6 seconds, whereas the full sugar cube that was untouched and had the smallest amount of surface area had the slowest time for dissolution which was on average 423.4 seconds. Therefore, the hypothesis is accepted with the support of the data. The larger cubes that were not cut up took the longest to completely dissolve, whereas the finely crushed up cubes dissolved quickest.5 The accuracy of this experiment could be slightly improved in the future by adapting a more consistent and reliable method of stirring the sugar cubes around when they are placed in water. This would improve the accuracy of the time that each cube takes to completely dissolve in the solution of water. Bibliography Reaction Rates. Publication. NASA, n.d. Web. 1 Allen, Loyd V., Nicholas G. Popovich, Howard C. Ansel, and Howard C. Ansel.Ansels Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams Wilkins, 2005. Print. 2 Clark, Jim. The Effect of Surface Area on Rates of Reaction.The Effect of Surface Area on Rates of Reaction. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. 3 Bayer HealthCare, 2005. Temperature and Rate of Reaction, Bayer HealthCare, LLC [accessed May 8, 2007]http://www.alka-seltzer.com/as/experiment/student_experiment1.htm. 4 Olson, Andrew. Big Pieces or Small Pieces: Which React Faster?Big Pieces or Small Pieces: Which React Faster?Science Buddies, n.d. Web. 06 May 2013. 5 Kenneth Connors, Chemical Kinetics, 1990, VCH Publishers, pg. 14 6 Isaacs, N.S., Physical Organic Chemistry, 2nd edition, Section 2.8.3, Adison Wesley Longman, Harlow UK, 1995. 7 (Bibliography Words: 126)

Audience Perception of the Stereotypical Black Image on Television Essa

Audience Perception of the Stereotypical Black Image on Television In the introduction to the section on understanding social control in Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, Paula Rothenberg states â€Å"The most effective forms of social control are always invisible†(507). One of the most prevalent forms of invisible social control the creation and perpetuation of stereotypes. Studies have shown that stereotypes can become so ingrained in the minds of those exposed to them that the target of the stereotype might not only believe the mythological image, but also inadvertently act out the image they are expected to play (Snyder). In addition, those who subscribe to the stereotypical images of others will â€Å"notice and remember the ways in which that person seems to fit the stereotype, while resisting evidence that contradicts the stereotype†(Snyder 514). Stereotypes control by creating false images that work to maintain the status quo and keep those who hold power in their positions of power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For stereotypes to be an effective method of social control, they must be created, dispersed and perpetuated. Though the process of using stereotypes as social control is invisible, as Rothenberg declares, the distribution of those images is anything but invisible. The average American watches between 30-31 hours of television per week (World Book). That constitutes the number of hours for a full-time job. This statistic illustrates that television is an incredibly powerful medium for dispersing information, entertainment, and misinformation: â€Å"negative images of African-Americans propagandize misinformation about African-Americans†(Cosby 137). Misinformation about disadvantaged groups in America has historically found plenty of airtime on television: â€Å"television brings to an otherwise heterogeneous audience a single set of values and social descriptions produced to the specifications of the owners of the broadcast industry and their advertising sponsors†(Matabane 21). These images have been shown to affect the way these groups are perceived and acted towards by the white mainstream (Ford 1997). The combination of the prevalence of negative images of minorities and the scientific proof of the effect these images on the behavior of the majority group lead to an invisible form of social control perpetuated through a most visible medium. Th... ...African-Americans on Person Perception.† Social Psychology Quarterly. 60. 1997 (266-278). Frye, Marilyn. â€Å"Oppression.† Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. Ed. Paula Rothenberg. New York: Worth, 2001 (139-143). Gray, Herman. Watching Race. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota, 1995. Lewis, J. and S. Jhally. Enlightened Racism. Boulder: Westview, 1992. Malik, Sarita. Representing Black Britain: Black and Asian Images on Television. London: Sage, 2002. Matabane, Paula. â€Å"Television and the Black Audience: Cultivating Moderate Perspectives on Racial Integration.† Journal of Communication 38(4). 1998 (21-31). Ross, Karen. â€Å"In Whose Image? TV Criticism and Black Minority Viewers.† Ethnic Minorities and the Media. Ed. Simon Cottle. Buckingham: Open University, 2000 (133-147). Rothenberg, Paula. Ed. Race, Class and Gender in the United States. New York: Worth, 2001. Snyder, Mark. â€Å"Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes.† Race, Class and Gender in the United States. Ed. Paula Rothenberg. New York: Worth, 2001, (511-517) World Almanac & Book of Facts 2003, p282, â€Å"Statistics on the average number of hours Americans spend watching television per week as of October 2001.†

Diary of A Baby by Daniel Stern

Diary of a Baby by Daniel N. Stern focuses on 3 key points in Child Development. What your child sees, what they feels and what are the experiences during infantry. The author tries to relate from a baby’s point of view from one chapter to another. Reading this book is really an enjoyable experience where you ought to learn and tries to bring you back to the time where you are still young. The main character Joey gives us a clearer picture of what we were during this period. It clearly narrates how a young’s consciousness was penetrated by the environment and the people that they deal with everyday.Newborns can see clearly approximately 10 to 12 inches away, about the distance between a nursing infant and his mother’s face. Fortunately, infants tend to be more interested in the human face than everything else. This is where parents tends to take advantage of it and must spend time gazing into the baby’s eyes. As per the term what they see is more important because from total darkness in their mother’s womb, they were enlightened to the world and what they see gives them a clearer view and understanding of what the real world is all about.What a baby feels is like a human weatherscape where there is a unique moment of feelings in motion. Unlike photographs which are static, it has duration and changes depending on a child’s point of view. Dependability is one great word to describe what a child feels where it can last from a split second to many seconds. In the book, Joey’s feeling and perceptions change together. Each moment has its sequence and continuously adds up to the characters experiences in life. Interaction from the people around him is what drives his sights, feelings and experiences.What links the book to child development is that it gives guidance for parents in raising a child base on the scenario of everyday interaction. From coping up with the environment and dealing with the surroundings to the ex pectations in guidance and caring process to each Joey in a parent’s life. The optimal development of children is vital in our society. Therefore the social, cognitive, emotional and educational development of children is important to understand. Joey’s milestone mirrors child development in the book Diary of a Baby.Because it specifies physical and mental abilities like walking, seeing and understanding language according to a child’s age. Milestones can be described as what a child accomplishes throughout the different stages in their life. Increased knowledge of age specific areas in child development allows parents and other caring adults to keep track of appropriate child development which includes patience, problem solving, social skills and creativity in child rearing. What could possibly conflict the book and Child development is that not all that can be read may be applied.It varies depending on the knowledge and understanding of the reader and at the s ame time the stereotypical notion for them in racing their own child based on how they were raised by their parents. One strength of the book is that the reader sees a clearer view on a baby’s phase. It makes the reader feel as if they were young just like Joey once again. From the first six weeks where feelings are really great factors in child care. Why a warm hug and a sweet lullaby expresses deep love and care in every baby.World of feelings in this stage is extremely induced to the readers knowledge for them to be able to comply and have a better understanding how feelings is important during this stage. When a baby is hungry and wants to be fed up immediately it is like shots in a movie one maybe continuous with the next, or fade into it, or cut abruptly against it. Or be separated by a blank pause. It is not clear to babies how they move from one moment to the next or what. If anything happens between those experiences, the one who takes care of them are the mere respo nsible ones in the scenario.Because for Joey all his senses are focused on each one activity that he sees, feels and is experiencing at that very moment. And he lives and deals with each one intensely. Many are the prototypes of the moment that will or may recur over and over throughout his life. What could weaken the scenario is the conflicting ideas between the reader and the author’s concept for not all people may understand that all that is written in the book is the same in a parent-child scenario. One good example is unexpected pregnancy which may greatly affect the reader’s point of view on child development.It could provide both positive and negative impact once it was read. Positive in a way that a mother may become more excited into being a mother to her child or it could possibly frighten her in dealing with her baby because she is not really prepared to have one. Surprising Discoveries that was learned in the book is that I was fascinated how the author ent husiastically explained in details what a baby sees, feels and experiences during his childhood days where the only person they depend upon and look up to is their parents.This book can be utilized in the truest sense of the word parenting and child development process. It is a great instrument for mothers, expecting mothers and parents who desperately wants to know what the infant’s experience is really like Stern draws on his readers different findings and cutes on experiences of a baby in order to re-create the baby’s world and make it more fun, exciting and enjoyable

Private Peaceful Essay

Have you ever felt like a character in the book that you are reading? Some authors write in such a way that makes the reader feel as if he or she were actually in the book. Michael Morpurgo is one of those authors. In Private Peaceful, he uses characterization, imagery, and setting to really help the reader understand and relate to the plot. Characterization plays a key role in making the reader relate to the plot. For example, in the beginning of the book, Tommy feels as if he does not belong in society. He is also dependent on Charlie and looks up to him to protect him and guide him through life. But, towards the end of the story, Tommy becomes completely independent and matures into a young, confident soldier. The situation shows the reader how war changes people not only on the outside but also on the inside. Another example is the friendship between Molly, Charlie, and Tommy. They had a deep friendship all through their early years and into their teens. Morpurgo then developed that friendship into a relationship between Molly and Charlie. This eventually excludes Tommy from the group and adds to the fact that he does not belong. The reader can relate to this if they have ever been excluded from a group or ever had a girl that they loved stolen form them. Another literary element that makes the reader connect to the book is setting. The setting is very detailed. The Peacefuls’ live in Hatherleigh, England which is near the southern part the United Kingdom. When Morpurgo describes where they live, the reader gains a picture of the setup of the town. He describes the house as an old cottage home which is next to a large hill. On top of that hill, the Colonel, the man that Tommy and Charlie’s mother works for and the man that owns their house, lives in his mansion. This provides an image that the reader can use throughout the story. Another example of where they live is the creek that lies just at the bottom of the hill where Molly, Charlie, and Tommy fished for trout when they were younger. This helps the reader connect situations to the picture that they already have of the layout of Hatherleigh. The setting then moves to France where Charlie and Tommy get thrown into the war. Morpurgo paints a mental picture of the setting as their bunker is right in front of no-man’s land and the enemy right on the other side of no-man’s land. He does this so the  reader has an understanding of how close the enemy is to Tommy. The final literary element used in this book is imagery. Morpurgo uses visual, auditory, and olfactory imagery in the book. He uses auditory when Charlie, Tommy, Hanley, and the rest of the squad are sitting in the bunker and Hanley is ordering them to make a break for it but Charlie ignores the order and the rest of the squad moves with Hanley. Morpurgo depicts the rattling of the machine guns and the screams of the soldiers that were cut short. The visual imagery is used when the wall of Germans are coming over no-man’s land. He describes the German’s as an invincible wall that cannot be penetrated until he sees the Germans’ falling to their knees and falling over. This helps the reader see the wall and the Germans’ falling to their knees. Olfactory imagery is used when he is in the bunkers in France. Tommy smells men that have not taken showers in weeks and the stench of death. The reader now has an understanding of what war and death smells like. This makes the reader feel as if he or she were in Paris. The literary elements in the story bring the whole story together. The characterization, imagery, and setting makes the reader connect to the book and not just understand it. This book really explains the cost of war on cities as well as the people in it.

Scientific Method Essay

The scientific method has four steps 1. Observation and description of a phenomenon. The observations are made visually or with the aid of scientific equipment. 2. Formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon in the form of a causal mechanism or a mathematical relation. 3. Test the hypothesis by analyzing the results of observations or by predicting and observing the existence of new phenomena that follow from the hypothesis. If experiments do not confirm the hypothesis, the hypothesis must be rejected or modified (Go back to Step 2). 4. Establish a theory based on repeated verification of the results. The subject of a scientific experiment has to be observable and reproducible. Observations may be made with the unaided eye, a microscope, a telescope, a voltmeter, or any other apparatus suitable for detecting the desired phenomenon. The invention of the telescope in 1608 made it possible for Galileo to discover the moons of Jupiter two years later. Other scientists confirmed Galileo’s observations and the course of astronomy was changed. However, some observations that were not able to withstand tests of objectivity were the canals of Mars reported by astronomer Percival Lowell. Lowell claimed to be able to see a network of canals in Mars that he attributed to intelligent life in that planet. Bigger telescopes and satellite missions to Mars failed to confirm the existence of canals. This was a case where the observations could not be independently verified or reproduced, and the hypothesis about intelligent life was unjustified by the observations. To Lowell’s credit, he predicted the existence of the planet Pluto in 1905 based on perturbations in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. This was a good example of deductive logic. The application of the theory of gravitation to the known planets predicted that they should be in a different position from where they were. If the law of gravitation was not wrong, then something else had to account for the variation. Pluto was discovered 25 years later. Limitations of the Scientific Method Science has some well-known limitations. Science works by studying problems in isolation. This is very effective at getting good, approximate solutions. Problems outside these artificial boundaries are generally not addressed. The consistent, formal systems of symbols and mathematics used in science cannot prove all statements, and furthermore, they cannot prove all TRUE statements. Kurt Godel showed this in 1931. The limitations of formal logical systems make it necessary for scientists to discard their old systems of thought and introduce new ones occasionally. Newton’s gravitational model works fairly well for everyday physical descriptions, but it is not able to account for many important observations. For this reason, it has been replaced by Einstein’s general theory of relativity for most celestial phenomena. Instead of talking about gravity, we now are supposed to talk about the curvature of the four-dimensional time-space continuum. Scientific observations are also subject to physical limits that may prevent us from finding the ultimate truth. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that it is impossible to determine simultaneously the position and momentum of an elementary particle. So, if we know the location of a particle we cannot determine its velocity, and if we know its velocity we cannot determine its location. Jacob Bronowski wrote that nature is not a gigantic formalizable system because to formalize it we would have to make some assumptions that cut some of its parts from consideration, and having done that, we cannot have a system that embraces the whole of nature. The application of the scientific method is limited to independently observable, measurable events that can be reproduced. The scientific method is also applicable to random events that have statistical distributions. In atomic chemistry, for example, it is impossible to predict when one specific atom will decay and emit radiation, but it is possible to devise theories and formulas to predict when half of the atoms of a large sample will decay. Irreproducible results cannot be studied by the scientific method. There was one day when many car owners reported that the alarm systems of their cars were set off at about the same time without any apparent cause. Automotive engineers were not able to discover the reason because the problem could not be reproduced. They hypothesized that it could have been radio interference from a passing airplane, but they could not prove it one way or another. Mental conceptual experiences cannot be studied by the scientific method either. At this time there is no instrumentation that enables someone to monitor what anybody else conceives in their mind, although it is possible to determine which part of the brain is active during any given task. It is not possible to define experiments to determine objectively which works of art are â€Å"great†, or whether Picasso was better than Matisse. So-called miracles are also beyond the scientific method. A person has tumors and faces certain death, and then, the tumors start shrinking and the person becomes healthy. What brought about the remission? A change in diet? A change in mental attitude? It is impossible to go back in time to monitor all variables that could have caused the cure, and it would be unethical to plant new tumors into the person to try to reproduce the results for a more careful study. Critical Thinking The scientific method relies on critical thinking, which is the process of questioning common beliefs and explanations to distinguish those beliefs that are reasonable and logical from those which lack adequate evidence or rational foundation. Arguments consists of one or more premises and one conclusion. A premise is a statement that is offered in support of a claim being made. Premises and claims can be either true or false. In deductive arguments the premises provide complete support for the conclusion. If the premises provide the required degree of support for the conclusion then the argument is valid, and if all its premises are true, then the conclusion must be true. In inductive arguments the premises provide some degree of support for the conclusion. When the premises of inductive arguments are true, their conclusion is likely to be true. Arguments that have one or more false premises are unsound. Fallacies Arguments are subject to a variety of fallacies. A fallacy is an error in reasoning in which the premises given for the conclusion do not provide the needed degree of support. A deductive fallacy is a deductive argument where the premises are all true but reach a false conclusion. An inductive fallacy consist of arguments where the premises do not provide enough support for the conclusion. In such cases, even if the premises are true, the conclusion is not likely to be true. Common fallacies are categorized by their type, such as Ad Hominem (personal attack), and appeals to authority, belief, fear, ridicule, tradition, etc. An example of an Ad Hominem fallacy would be to say â€Å"You do not understand this because you are American (or Chinese, etc. â€Å". The national origin of a person (the premise) has nothing to do with the conclusion that a person can understand something or not, therefore the argument is flawed. Appeals to ridicule are of the form: â€Å"You would be stupid to believe that the earth goes around the sun†. Sometimes, a naive or false justification may be added in appeals to ridicule, such as â€Å"we can plainly see the sun go around the earth every day†. Appeals to authority are of the form â€Å"The president of the United States said this, therefore it must be true†. The fact that a famous person, great person, or authority figure said something is not a valid basis for something being true. Truth is independent of who said it. Types of Evidence Evidence is something that provides proof concerning a matter in question. Direct or Experimental evidence. The scientific methods relies on direct evidence, i. e. , evidence that can be directly observed and tested. Scientific experiments are designed to be repeated by other scientists and to demonstrate unequivocably the point that they are trying to prove by controlling all the factors that could influence the results. A scientist conducts an experiment by varying a single factor and observing the results. When appropriate, â€Å"double blind† experiments are conducted to avoid the possibility of bias. If it is necessary to determine the effectiveness of a drug, an independent scientist will prepare the drug and an inert substance (a placebo), identifying them as A and B. A second scientist selects two groups of patients with similar characteristics (age, sex, etc. ), and not knowing which is the real drug, administers substance A to one group of patients and substance B to the second group of patients. By not knowing whether A or B is the real drug, the second scientist focuses on the results of the experiment and can make objective evaluations. At the end of the experiment, the second scientist should be able to tell whether the group receiving substance A showed improvements over those receiving substance B. If no effect can be shown, the drug being tested is ineffective. Neither the second scientist nor the patients can cheat by favoring one substance over another, because they do not know which is the real drug. Anecdotal, Correlational, or Circumstantial Evidence. Where there is smoke, there is fire† is a popular saying. When two things occur together frequently, it is possible to assume that there is a direct or causative relationship between them, but it is also possible that there are other factors. For example, if you get sick every time that you eat fish and drink milk, you could assume that you are allergic to fish. However, you may be allergic to milk, or only to the combination of fish with milk. Correlational evidence is good for developing hypotheses that can then be tested with the proper experiments, e. g. drink milk only, eat fish only, eat fish and milk together. There is nothing wrong with using representative cases to illustrate an inductive conclusion drawn from a fair sample. The problem arises when a single case or a few selected cases are used to draw a conclusion which would not be supported by a properly conducted study. Argumentative Evidence consists of evaluating facts that are known and formulating a hypothesis about what the facts imply. Argumentative evidence is notoriously unreliable because anybody can postulate a hypothesis about anything. This was illustrated above with the example about the â€Å"channels† of Mars implying intelligent life. The statement â€Å"I heard a noise in the attic, it must be a ghost† also falls in this category. Testimonial Evidence. A famous football player appears on television and says that Drug-XYZ provides relief from pain and works better than anything else. You know that the football player gets paid for making the commercial. How much can you trust this evidence? Not very much. Testimonials are often biased in favor of a particular point of view. In court proceedings, something actually experienced by a witness (eyewitness information) has greater weight than what someone told a witness (hearsay information). Nevertheless, experiments have repeatedly demonstrated that eyewitness accounts are highly unreliable when compared with films of the events. The statement â€Å"I saw a ghost last night. † is an example of testimonial evidence that probably cannot be verified and should not be trusted. On the other hand, the statement â€Å"I saw a car crash yesterday. can be objectively verified to determine whether it is true or false by checking for debris from the accident, hospital records, and other physical evidence. Make full use of your senses. Making use of your senses is the subjective part of the Methodology. This is the stage where your special sensory skills can be put to use. If you have extraordinary hearing, use it. If you have a photographic memory make sure that it gets used for most of your problem solving. N obody else has your specific impressions of your environment. Your point of view and your observations are unique. Part of using your senses may involve using instrumentation or interaction with others. Lucky charms, divining rods, and other magical devices that do not have reproducible and verifiable functionality do not count as â€Å"instrumentation†. If you don’t have perfect eyesight and you need to see something clearly, use your glasses. Make observations from several points of view to get good depth perception and to confirm impressions. Take photographs if you need to remember something in great detail. Use a tape recorder or a notepad to record your observations for later review. Make sure that your senses are at their best by avoiding intoxicants that affect your perceptions. â€Å"Interaction with others† may involve using another being (not necessarily human) to make the observations for you. For example, a blind person may use a seeing-eye dog to get around, a truck driver may use directions from someone else when backing up into a tight spot, a hunter may use a dog’s sense of smell for tracking game, or a miner may use a canary to warn him of pockets of unbreathable odorless gases. Whenever you trust someone else’s perception more than your own you may find that the conclusions that you reach are unsatisfactory. How many hunters have been led astray by dogs that followed a rabbit’s trail rather than the fox’s? And how many truck drivers have crashed while backing up because they misinterpreted their helper’s signals? Reliance on your own senses is the only way to avoid such problems, but you don’t always have this choice. The application of logic may be necessary to determine which perceptions you can trust. Let us say that you are not under the influence of any drugs and you see an apparition of a dead person, what should you do? How do you distinguish hallucinations from real perceptions? How do you know if your senses fool you or if your observations are real? One time-honored test is to pinch yourself to make sure that you are not dreaming. If you should tell someone else about your experience and they don’t observe the same things, does this mean that you are crazy or that something is wrong with you? Or does this prove that you have more refined perception that enables you to see things that others do not see? What would it be like to live in a world where only you have color vision and everyone else is colorblind? The difference between real perceptions and hallucinations is that you can repeat and reproduce results from real perceptions but not from hallucinations. In a world where you are the only person with color vision, you would eventually be able to prove to everyone else by objective means that colors, or at least different frequencies of light, do exist.