Journey to Success

Ryan N. Fischer ID 117 Art of Being Human Education Plan Reflection After completing and filling out my educational plan I have thoroughly organized the classes that I must take in order to receive my degree in Media Studies Bachelor of Arts. The educational plan helped me organize my schedule for future semesters, which makes selecting classes a whole lot easier. God forbid if I missed an appointment for creating my future schedule with my advisor, I can now have a general platform and idea of what requirements I need to take without getting extra assistance.Creating a schedule can be very stressful for me personally and knowing what I need to take makes my future a little bit more understanding and clear. Last, it showed exactly when I can receive my degree in the future, which is very helpful for formulating future goals for myself. I personally love to strive for goals and motivate myself to complete my future goals. Knowing when I can receive my degree just helps me plan better for the future and create long-term goals.The educational plan was a great way to organize my future classes and study requirements. I feel more understanding of what steps I need to take next in order to receive my degree. As well as feeling secure with my future requirements and goals, I feel very confident and excited to start my journey in order to receive the one thing that I want. The one thing that I want of course is my degree in Media Studies and I am motivated to start the next courses starting next semester in the fall of 2013.

LEE Kathryn IndivAssignment

Woven Fang came from an average family and was studying in one of the top independent girls' schools in Singapore. She seemed like an average 1 6-year- old girl going through normal teenage girl problems, or so everyone thought. This essay describes the experiences and problems faced by Woven in her final year of secondary school. To understand Hoovers case better, theoretical background and research will be applied to explain her experiences and problems. Finally, some strategies and solutions will be proposed as resolutions to the issues presented.Background – Woven's Story Woven's parents migrated from Taiwan to Singapore and raised their four children in Singapore. Her brother and two sisters were 12, 10 and 7 years Older than her respectively. Her father, Mr.. Fang, was a businessman and traveled for long periods of time due to work. When he was in Singapore, he did not meddle in the affairs of his children, leaving his wife to take care of all their needs. As the younges t of four children and also because of the age gap between Woven and her older siblings, she was given extra care and attention by her mother.She also turned out to be the brightest, making it onto top primary and secondary schools in Singapore. Compared to Woven, her older siblings were a letdown to Mrs.. Fang, as they did poorly in school. Faced with problems from her other children, Mrs.. Fang placed extremely high hopes on Woven, dictating most of Woven's life and making most of the decisions. In Sec 4, Woven started losing weight drastically. Despite the drastic weight loss, Mrs.. Fang refused to admit that there was anything wrong with her daughter. Finally, Woven was so thin that Mrs.. Fang had to bring her to a doctor for fear that her life was in jeopardy.She was admitted into the capital and diagnosed with anorexia nervous. Only during the numerous counseling sessions did Woven's problems surface. Woven admitted that she face problems in school. First, although Woven had b een consistently doing well in school, she felt pressurized by the competitive environment she was in, where good grades were emphasized. On top of that was the pressure she felt from her mother to do well in school, especially as her mother often lamented to her about her siblings' failures and cautioned her not to turn out like them. Second, her schoolmates were all particularly concerned about weight and size.Although she was of an average height of 1. Mm and an average weight of keg, her classmates teased her about being chubby looking. As a result, Woven began to doubt her intelligence as well as her appearance and eventually, she stopped eating. As her weight started to drop and she became thinner, Woven finally felt in control Of something in her life – her actions actually produced results and this egged her on to lose more weight until she ended up in hospital. With a better understanding of her problems, the doctors treated her for anorexia and sent her for counseli ng at the same time.After a couple of months in the hospital, she was allowed to go home when her weight increased slightly. However, this was not the end of her problems. Woven was forced to return to school where she would face her classmates again. She was worried about her appearance, grades and studies. Although the counselor suggested taking the rest of the year off from school and repeating Sec 4 again the next year, Mrs.. Fang refused as she felt it was very embarrassing. At that point in time, Mrs.. Fang still refused to admit that her daughter was going through a very serious problem in terms of mental and physical health.Back in school, Woven tried to catch up with her peers in her school work. However, she felt as if they were constantly staring at her. Although they did not say anything, she knew that they knew about her hospitalizing and about her eating disorder, making her feel all the more conscious about herself and her appearance. Unable to take the demands of sch ool work and the ogling of her school mates, Woven returned to her old ways of not eating or vomiting what she ate. Although Woven is currently going through counseling her problems are far from being over.Analysis – Applying Theoretical Background / Empirical Research to Woven's Case According to Frontbenchers bacteriological theory of development, Woven's Microsystems would have very powerful environmental influences on her development. In Woven's case, it can even be said that her mother would perhaps have the greatest influence on Woven's personal development, as her mother would have spent the most amount of time with her since she was born (Gene and Chukka, 2010). Mr.. Fang's absence as a father figure in Woven's life was an uninvolved parenting style, thus making Mrs..Fang the most influential person in Woven's life. She had an authoritarian parenting Tyler as she often stressed for Woven to do well and often made decisions on her behalf in both school and home domains . As a result, Woven ended up worrying about pleasing her mother and felt like she had a lack of control over her own life (Gene and Chukka, 2010). Naught and Chicest (2002) believe that authoritarian parents are â€Å"rigid and unresponsive† and â€Å"in extreme cases their children have low self-esteem and use aggressive coping behaviors†. This was true in Woven's case. Mrs..Fang's parenting style also affected Woven's identity development, as suggested by Banding (1991). Parents are important figures in adolescents' identity development and poor communication between parents and adolescents lead to less positive identity development (Contracts, 2007). Marcia (1980) postulated a theory of identity formation, in which an individual can take on one of four identity commitments. Applying Marcia's concept of identity commitment to Woven, it is likely that Woven is a foreclosed individual, who has clear commitments which are internalized by her mother.Her commitments were not self-chosen and it is believed that no other alternatives were seriously considered (Mishmash, 2005). According to Kroger (1993), it was observed that identity-foreclosed adolescents â€Å"evidenced the highest levels of authoritarianism and socially stereotyped thinking, obedience to authority, external locus of control, and dependent relationships with significant others†. In line with this, Cote (2009) believes that adolescents are led to being identity-foreclosed by autocratic parents who control behavior without giving the adolescent a chance to express opinions. Therefore, it is likely that Mrs..Fangs authoritarian parenting style resulted in her being an identity-foreclosed individual. Erosion's theory of personality development proposed eight developmental Stages (Erikson, 1968, 1980). In his theory, an adolescent approaches identity formation (the fifth stage) ‘With a sense of self as an autonomous, active and competent agent in a relatively secure worldâ € , only if the earlier four stages have developed well (Mishmash, 2005). Woven may not have developed a sense of self as an autonomous agent as a child and thus was hindered by feelings of shame, self-doubt and inferiority in her adolescent years (Mishmash, 2005).Identity formation is such a challenging process that any robbers encountered in earlier development are likely to increase the chances of negative outcomes. Woven's parents are not the only ones to have a huge impact on her development. The people she meets every day in school are also part Of her Microsystems. As her peers and her teachers are involved in Woven's immediate settings, they have enormous influence over her development as an individual as well (Gene and Chukka, 2010).The influence of Woven's peers on her would come in three forms – attitudes and values, social development and emotional support (Ginsberg, Babes, & Spaniard, 2006; Rubin, Bouzoukis, & Parker, 2006). This explains why Woven was especia lly affected by her peers about both studies and weight issues. The standards maintained by her peers about these issues would become very important to her and thus Woven was likely to conform to her peer standards of achieving good grades and being thin.Through the influences of her peer group, her self-concept and self-esteem would be affected as well. There are many factors that can influence an adolescent female's self-esteem. The decline in self-esteem during adolescence may be due to physical hangers due to puberty, an increase in academic expectations and demands, and insufficient support by the school and parents (Contracts, 2009). These were all likely factors that influenced the decline in Woven's self-esteem over her secondary school years.A vicious cycle in which declining self-esteem affected her academic performance which then affected her academic self- concept which again influenced her self-esteem is likely to have occurred. As a result of her declining self-esteem, her grades took a downturn and she lost her self-worth as an individual, wanting to conform to norms set by her peers instead. It is probable that Woven's academic, social and physical self- concept interacted with her sense of identity, which then influenced her self- esteem negatively (Gene and Chukka, 2010).More support for this is provided by Harder (2006) who found that persistent low self-esteem usually leads to other more serious problems including low academic achievement, depression and eating disorders. It is evident from Woven's actions and behavior that she was going through a period of emotional turmoil. Some researchers might consider this normal because adolescence is often described as a time of emotional turmoil (Hall, 904). However, at the end Of the day, most adolescents do make it through these difficult and moody times to develop into competent adults.In spite of this, Woven has exhibited signs of emotional stress, through her anorexic behavior, falling grades, failing self-esteem and consciousness with how her peers view her as a person. As the onset of Woven's problems occurred in late adolescence, it can be inferred that it was environmental experiences that contributed to her emotional turmoil. Research suggests that emotional fluctuations in early adolescence are related to hormonal changes at that time, whereas in late adolescence, teenagers are more emotionally settled by then, displaying fewer worries and less moodiness (Hooper, 1980).As such, it is likely that the people around her affected Woven's emotional development. Emotional stress is usually the result of conflicts that adolescents have with their parents and these conflicts often happen because adolescents want to make independent choices which are usually not in line with what their parents have in mind for them (Child Development Reference). Interventions – Resolutions to Woven's Case The following strategies and interventions are believed to help Woven irately.A lthough there are many factors that contributed and led to Woven's current problems, the main cause of her problems seems to be her mother. This is because her mother would have had the most influence over Woven's development from a child and into her adolescent years. Therefore, tackling Mrs.. Fangs parenting style and the mother-daughter relationship is the foremost important issue. A successful intervention on this relationship will also affect Woven's formation of her own identity and self-esteem positively.With this as a base to build on, it will be easier to tackle the issues about Woven's peers and how she views herself as a result of her relationship with them. It is suggested that competent adolescent development is most likely to occur when adolescents have parents who carry out the following actions (Contracts, 2007). For Woven's case, Mrs.. Fang should avoid the tendency to be too controlling and allow Woven to make her own decisions about school and what she wants to do . Instead of trying to control Woven's life, Mrs..Fang should monitor her development and try to understand Woven's cognitive and constitutional development. She should also show more constructive says of dealing with problems and conflict because studies have shown that reprimanding only serves to increase the parent-child gap. In addition, both parent and child should come together to discuss ways to help Woven (Contracts, 2007). Woven's parents are also advised to take on a democratic instead of autocratic role. They would encourage Woven to participate in family decision making, thus fostering identity-achievement in her.This would be the most desirable outcome for Woven's self-identity as Kroger (1993) observed that â€Å"identity-achievement individuals showed the highest levels of go development, moral reasoning, internal locus of control, self-certainty and self-esteem, performance under stress on a concept attainment task, and intimacy in interpersonal relationships† (Mishmash, 2005). In line with the study conducted by Campbell, Adams, & Dobson (1 984), healthy identity formation of an individual is developed by family relationships that are both individuated and connected.A family atmosphere which promotes individuality and connectedness is lacking in Woven's life. She needs to have her own individuality, where she can have her own point of IEEE and develop her own communication pattern to express herself. At the same time, her family environment should promote connectedness, where emotional affection among family members is promoted. This suggests that Woven should be allowed to develop her own point of view, while her parents work on building the relationships within the family.A combination of connectedness and individuality in the parent-adolescent relationship forms the base from which Woven can explore her widening social world (Campbell, Adams, & Dobson, 1984). To further support the reasons why Woven's parents have to change their ren ting style, it is believed that the â€Å"fit† between â€Å"parents' style Of interaction and the interactive style and needs of the child† forms the foundation to a healthy emotional development of the child (Child Development Reference). Therefore, it is apparent that parents do play a vital role in their children's emotional development.To salvage the relationship they have with their daughter and to prevent Woven from sinking further in her own problems, it is highly recommended that both Mr.. And Mrs.. Fang undergo counseling to understand how their actions as parents have a great impact on their daughter. Both parents and Woven should also attend parent and child counseling sessions where the counselor is able to take on a mediator role and help to bridge the gap between them. Although Woven's parents are accountable for the bulk of her problems, the school environment she was in was very unhealthy as well.School-wide programmer which focus on self-image and sel f-esteem ought to be implemented to educate Woven and her peers on such issues. It is also necessary to educate them on the perils of eating disorders which could have damaging and dangerous consequences on their lives, as it affects their hysterical and mental health. In conclusion, Woven went through a difficult and trying period growing up, which led to some impairment in her development as an adolescent, especially in the identity and emotional development aspects.This was largely caused by the context of her development, which includes her immediate family members, in particular, her mother, as well as her peers and school environment. However, appropriate interventions and strategies could assist Woven in fixing some of these problems. The proposed interventions and strategies would not solve Woven's problems overnight but it is imperative hat they are implemented to kick-start Woven's road to recovery. (2495 words) References Banding, D. (1 991 The influence of parenting styl e on adolescent competence and substance use.

Adam Smith's (positive economic) view of slavery Essay

Adam Smith's (positive economic) view of slavery - Essay Example He supports this conclusion by observing that the "late resolution of the Quakers in Pennsylvania to set at liberty all their Negro slaves, may satisfy us that their number cannot be very great. Had they made any considerable part of their property, such a resolution could never have been agreeing to." This quotation reveals the weight which Adam Smith assigns to benevolence. Freeing the slaves was certainly a benevolent action but hardly one likely to be undertaken if the price was personal ruin.If the western European succession argued in support of the dominance of wage labor, the overturn seemed to have been the case transversely the ocean. In the plantations, slavery had outdated earlier forms of labor from Brazil to Carolina. Above a decade before writing Wealth of Nations, Smith had himself concluded that repression was the established form of labor in the world, and he estimated that slavery was improbable to disappear for ages to come. Smith did not recur this prophecy in th e end of eighteenth century. In its place he offered motives for the apparently general ubiquitous partiality for slaves, regardless of their relative inadequacy while compared with freemen. The first was a common psychological human trait, the contentment resultant from dictating another person. This steady, certainly, could not alone elucidate the changeable modes of labor in the Atlantic world. Even as a feature of Europeans in particular, it was not very practical in showing why the same western European employers of labor had gone in contradictory directions, choosing one form of labor in Europe and another in the lowlands of the Americas. Smith also integrated the dread of general insurrection and the trepidation of a great loss of property as motives for not freeing slaves. In political terms, manumissions might deprive a chieftain of some of his subjects and his substance (Soderlund, Jean R. 1985). Indeed, on neither side of the Atlantic did Smith assume that the contentment of power had taken priority over the avid impulse. He explicated the planters' preference of labor in the Caribbean in terms of profit, does not pride or prejudice. Sugar was so precious a product in Europe that the planter could pay for the service of slaves. Certainly, sugar's profitability, slavery integrated, was assumed to be better than that presented by any other agricultural business in the Atlantic world. In Wealth of Nations never directly recommended that West Indian planters would in fact raises their higher profit margins still more by liberating their labor force. Smith had a number of prospects to make this proclamation in discussing both profits and methods in the sugar colonies and took benefit of none of them (Wealth of Nations, 173, 389, 586). He simply noted that in all European colonies cane was refined by slaves. There were opportunities for technological and managerial development when slaves could "approach the condition of a free servant" within the condition of slavery (p. 587). Company's of bound labor did disburse a price for their preference. Smiths assert, proprietors who used servile labor were subject to considerable incompetence on the administrative side of their operations. With their standing encouraged habits of noticeable consumption and their fulsome

Hospital Birth vs. Home Birth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hospital Birth vs. Home Birth - Essay Example Discussion NCT (2008) states that, â€Å"In the 1950’s the majority of pregnant women in United Kingdom delivered their babies at home† (p.2). The ratio of midwives and women who were knowledgeable in midwifery to the general population was higher compared to the past decade. Most middle aged women had experience in midwifery having assisted in child delivery of a family member of a friend. At the time, home birth was considered reasonably safe and without concerns of overcrowding and fatigue. NCT (2008) continues to state that, â€Å"Trends gradually changed in the 1970’s towards the 80’s as hospital births increased in frequency and numbers. By the 1990’s home births had reduced significantly to about 1% (p.2).† In recent times this percentage has increased to 2.68% as popularity and campaigns for home births have increased. ACOG (2011) notes that â€Å"Most governments require that recommendations be made to pregnant women to have a choic e of their desired place of birthing.† A medical professional can evaluate and examine a pregnant woman and suggest a place of birth for the woman explaining his or her recommendation based on medical grounds to her. The key factors to be considered when choosing between home birth and hospital birth are the safety of the procedure, the sense of security of the mother and the level or sense of control. According to ACOG (2011), â€Å"Women who inquire on planned home births at medical facilities should be adequately informed of its benefits and possible risks.† This information should be based on current and documented evidence. The advising party should clearly note to the mother that although the possible risks associated with home birth may be minimal, home birth is closely associated with increased risk of neo natal death. The risk of neo natal death is two to three fold that of hospital birth. To achieve a successful and reduced-risk planned home birth, the woman r equires selecting suitable candidates for the home birth. â€Å"A nurse certified in midwifery, physician or midwife who is qualified and aptly practices within regulations set by the local medical body should be available† (ACOG, 2011). The intended candidate should also be available for consultations. Safe, easy and timely access to a hospital or medical facility should be possible at the slightest chance of complications occurring. An easy access to hospital should provide contingency in case complications develops and the mother and or infant require emergency medical attention. ACOG (2011) states, â€Å"At present, the United States records an approximate figure of 25,000 home births annually.† From this figure, a quarter of the births is not attended to and is unplanned due to the spontaneity or unexpected labor. On average, the fraction of women who initially plan and intend to deliver at a hospital, those women who fail to make provisions for the attendance of a certified medical professional in midwifery, and unplanned homebirths record high rates and instances of neo natal and pre natal deaths. Women should plan for any eventuality and sudden changes in original or intended plans. The lack of transport to the designated/ planned hospital may warrant a home birth. In case no provisions were made to equip the home or vicinity/ surrounding with equipment and tools of delivery, the woman runs the risk of infection to

Financial crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial crisis - Essay Example The global north was after this period walking on a financial tight rope. With the resource utilization reaching the maximum limits compounded further by a relatively high wage rate, most enterprises were feeling the pinch in the reduction of their rates of return. There are also indications that the credit crisis began in the developing nations that had began to experience financial turbulence in the early years before it eventually impacted the giant economies like the United States. With respect to these revelations and more, this paper therefore examines the causes of the credit crisis that affected the world and which its effects are yet to be fully mitigated. This essay will closely look at the major influencing factors in the global economy and that of the United States that led to the credit crisis that was experienced in the year 2004. As a precursor, the two major reasons for this crisis were internal policy framework and external influence as discussed below. Deregulation: Shadow Banking and Mortgage Securitization The main internal factor was that of the policy instruments by the government that led to further instability in the financial sector of the economy that was already unhealthy. The period before the crisis was characterized by a highly capitalist tendency that favored lack of regulation in the financial sector. Blundell-Wignall, Atkinson and Lee (3), state that by the year 2004 there were four key crisis-causing factors that came into perspective. First, the then president’s policy of making mortgages cheaper to low-income household. Secondly, the increased restriction of the sole mortgaging authority that made banks venture more into the sector and thereby increasing low value lending. Third was the publication of the Basel II accord that encouraged banks to get involved in other non-trading activities. Finally, the investment banks were given more freedom through ‘consolidated entities program’. In effect, this led to instability of economies mostly in the northern parts of the globe that depended highly on export surpluses. This created some sort of instability as Kapadia and Jayadev (35) indicate. They further state that the creation of a benchmark of currency and the isolation of the United States’ consumption sector as the last in consideration when exporting resulted into instability in the world economy. The effects of deregulation were mostly felt in the banking sector. First, the impact of disallowing the regulations that stated that demand deposits accrued interests. Secondly, the mortgage interests with relation to residential properties were lowered creating a boom in the housing sector through increased mortgage lending. Lastly, the deposit taking institutions were allowed access to the Federal Reserve through a credit window that in turn allowed non-banking institutions into the financial market that was already unstable. It was therefore inevitable that deregulation was boun d to create ‘indiscipline’ in the financial sector and that was the case. For instance, lack of proper monitoring of the banking institutions was creating an environment prone to unscrupulous deals that amounted to lose invested funds that created a recipe for future collapse of the whole lending system. Moreover, the mortgage sector was also affected

Introduction to Managerial Accounting Research Paper

Introduction to Managerial Accounting - Research Paper Example In addition, what price should be charged to the product to replace the production costs and earn a profit that is optimal? In addition, they have to plan how to finance the operations and how to manage the available cash. That is important in keeping the activities of the business to work smoothly. Â · Decision making. Managers need managerial accounting information when they decide whether or not to commence a certain project. Managerial accounting will help them compare the benefits of various opportunities and help them decide which ones to choose. Â · Performance measurement. Managers have to compare the budgeted figures to evaluate the performance of the business to actual results of the operation. They will have to use certain techniques of managerial accounting such as standard costing to assess the performance of various departments (Weygandt, Kieso, & Kimmel, 2010). Managerial accountants keep record financial information for their firms that are used by the management team of the company to aid in the process of decision-making. Managerial accountants do develop budgets, perform asset, cost management, and create necessary reports to be used by the Directorate team. In every company managers to significantly depend on the data provided by managerial accountants to develop business strategies that are effective. Owners of small business make most of the decisions within their company. The data offered by managerial accountants can affect the liability of the owner to make business decisions that are sound (Weygandt, Kieso, & Kimmel, 2010). The main purpose of managerial accounting in business is to support decision making by collecting, processing, and communicating helpful information that would assist the managers. The information would help the managers to plan, control, and evaluate the processes of the business and strategy of the company (Albrecht, 2007).

The Effects of Digital Technologies on Cinema Assignment - 1

The Effects of Digital Technologies on Cinema - Assignment Example Development of color component allowed the color to be photographically recorded directly from nature instead of artificial/manual addition of black and white colors to prints (Ceram, 1965). Digital cinema is defined as the use of digital technology to project and distribute motion pictures.   The process of doing this is called digital cinematography. Therefore cinematography is defined as the use of digital technologies to capture motion pictures in the form of digital images instead of capturing them on a film. The images are captured on hard disks, tapes, flash memory and other media capable of recording digital data. Examples of such digital film-making technologies are Phantom HD High-Speed camera, Thomson Viper, Red Digital camera, Genesis, Aeroflex D-20 and now 2K d-cinema and digital projectors. The introduction of such technologies has ushered in yet another new era of digital cinematography (Barda, 2002).   Digital imagery existed as from the 1980s as evidenced by Disney’s Tron produced in 1982. This was the first movie to contain high-resolution. However, the first film in digital format was marketed in 1997. From that time henceforth, cinema has experienced technical and social changes as a result of digital technology. The visual components of digital cinema are an important source of its worldwide attraction.   Some of the effects of digital technologies on cinema are positive while others are negative. For example, the new technology has diluted the real meaning of cinema by creating increasing levels of artificialism. Even as we consider the effects of digital technology on cinema, we cannot ignore the persistent relevance that pre-digital filming methods and practices still hold for the current digital cinema (Kotian, 2005). The arrival of the digital technologies brought a sharp division between the old and new media.  

Saddam Husseins Execution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Saddam Husseins Execution - Essay Example President of the United States, George Bush applied his doctrine of pre-emption and US forces entered Afghanistan. In pursuance of this policy, the Bush administration went a bit further and made an effort to win hearts and minds of the Muslims. Once again the old rivals of first Gulf war were confronting each other. But this time the objective was even bigger. The allied forces led by US troops, made a plan and showed determination to get rid of Saddam Hussain once and for all. This would have given two clear benefits namely support from the long suppressed Iraqi nation, who would welcome any positive change and secondly the permanent footings in the region of middle east that has enormous value because of its precious mineral resources (Mike Shuster 2006). The Arab world wanted freedom from the fearful and despotic rule of Saddam Hussein and US promised exactly that (Hasan Abu Nimah 2007). Although some of the analysts claim that the war was unjustified on the grounds that it did not have the backing of United Nations. Still others say that this was the only way to relieve the Iraqi nation of its miseries. This is the way that would pave well for the conducive environment for democracy. A democratic government in Iraq would be a basis for stability of the country and the region. But the incidents like the Abu Gharaib added to American problems, need to send more troops than pulling out and the rising death toll on daily basis aggravated the situation and changed the whole scenario. The Bush administration started losing its support of allied forces and among the American public. The insurgencies against the forces started rising tremendously and the Arab world lost confidence in the United States. The whole world began to doubt and started criticizing the policies and strategies of the American leadership. Thus, President Bush had to think of some way out to recover the messed up state of affairs. He therefore, decided to bring Saddam under trial and the Iraqi court sentenced him to death. Soon after his death the air is heavy with accusation as the implication of grotesquely botched lynching sink in. What should have been an act of justice following due process had the baying malice of an execution. A legal execution intended to show at last that the period of Saddam is over-threatened to have the conflicting effects. Whilst a tyrant of exceptional violence is publicized dying with pride and no slight valor at the hands of covered thugs. No doubt American officials are cleansing their hands of this whole shocking concern, and Tony Blair is saying no to make any remark from his Miami poolside. There is some fairness in American statements that it is the Iraqi PM, Nouri al-Maliki, who has to take the burden of blame for this fiasco. He outshined religious and legal reactions to rush the death sentence. The Iraqi constitution wants President Jalal Talabani and his two colleagues to sign a verdict of authorization for 'the death sentence'. Mr Maliki efficiently disregarded this obligation. Even more rabble-rousing to the extent that Iraq's Sunni minority is concerned was his breach of the Iraqi decree that executions should not occur during the Eid al-Adha, the Muslim's celebration day. For Sunnis, that

Research methods for business and management Case Study

Research methods for business and management - Case Study Example This can be done most effectively by examining the literature on the research topic and assessing how the data was collected for that body of research as well as the way in which the data was analyzed. Based on an examination of the literature, the researcher then determines the nature of the data to be collected as well as the most appropriate method for its analysis. Additionally, the researcher should be aware that quantitative methods prove to offer the highest level of scientific evidence in that depending on the research design it can determine causation, correlation and make inferences. These qualities are absent in quantitative research. Other considerations include the fact that unlike quantitative research methods qualitative methods are inductive in nature, extremely subjective, process oriented and explanatory. These qualities prove to be more anthropological than scientific (orientated toward natural science) in nature. In business and management, however, qualitative me thods may prove to be very effective in that it can arrive at an understanding of the way in which individuals behave through a description. Essentially, the utility of qualitative or quantitative methods are highly dependent on the research question/hypothesis as well the data being collected (Holden & Lynch, 2004). 2. What are the ethical issues that you believe to be most prominent in consideration of this piece of research Discuss the issues involved in the data collection, and the need for confidentiality and sensitivity. The investigation into the perception of the managers in Mauritius with regards to dividends is no different than any other body of research utilizing human subjects. In conducting this body of research as well as any other research involving human subjects, there are precautionary measures that may be undertaken. These measures take the current ethical framework for protecting subjects and are delineated in the principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice. First, the principle of autonomy speaks directly to the requirement of research subjects to be treated as independent individuals. In so doing, they are free to decide whether or not they wish to participate in the research study and are free to drop out of the study at any point in time. Secondly, the principle of beneficence speaks directly to the notion that the researcher is obligated to maximize the benefits of the research while minimizing the potential of harm to the research subjects. If the benefits outweigh the risks , it is ethical to proceed with the body of research. If the risks to the subjects outweigh the benefits then it would be unethical to proceed with the body of research. Finally the principle of justice involves the equitable distribution of the burdens and benefits associated with conducting the body of research whereby certain individuals or group of individuals do not bear disproportionate risks while others bear disproportionate benefits. 3. Critically evaluate the relevance of the following research designs for this study and from this evaluation draw conclusions on

Keystone XL Pipeline Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Keystone XL Pipeline Analysis - Research Paper Example The fourth and final phase of the Keystone Pipeline system is referred to as the Keystone XL Pipeline. This is by far the most ambitious expansion of the existing pipeline system. The Keystone XL Pipeline calls for the installation of over 1000 miles of 36† steel pipe beginning in Hardisty, Canada and ending in Steele City, Nebraska. This additional piping will increase the carrying capacity of the entire Keystone Pipeline system to over one million barrels of crude petroleum products per day. While the first three phases of the Keystone Pipeline have has supporters at all levels of government and in the business sector, the Keystone XL segment has been met with protest and controversy almost from the first moment is was proposed. Many different groups have taken their turn criticizing the pipeline project. The controversy has caused the Obama administration to suspend the permitting process that is necessary for the project to get started. Through regulatory control, the Obama administration has halted planned construction since March of 2013. The depth and breadth of the protests has caused this regulatory action. The first set of protests against the Keystone XL segment centers on environmental concerns. ... The aquifer is massive but relatively shallow. The importance of keeping this aquifer clean and safe from petrochemical pollution cannot be overstated. The primary use for the Ogallala Aquifer is irrigation of crops. The invention of center-pivot irrigation in the 1940’s and broad implementation of the technology in the 1950’s allowed farmers in the Great Plains to dependably raise crops such as corn, soybeans and peanuts that traditionally needed to be grown in more humid climates. This shift in land use forced out less water intensive forms of agriculture such as dry land ranching and created an agricultural economy heavily dependent on irrigation for success. Before the advent of the Keystone pipeline system, the greatest threat to the Ogallala Aquifer was over pumping. Some regions of northern Texas and Oklahoma discontinued or diminished water extraction from the aquifer because the water table was dropping at and increasing rate. Withdraw from the aquifer greatly exceeded the rate of recharge, threatening all agricultural activity in the region. Farmers were forced to adjust their methods of cropping and pasturing. The water table has since bounced back and is at near normal levels because of these changes made in the 1980’s. This example of cooperation between environmentalists and farmers is offered to show that the population of the Great Plains region recognizes that protecting the Ogallala Aquifer is in the best interest of everyone in the entire region. This explains the widespread opposition to the Keystone XL portion of the pipeline. In addition to providing water for irrigation, over 80% of the drinking water for residences is extracted from the aquifer. The Keystone XL phase cuts

The Rape of the Lock Essay Example for Free

The Rape of the Lock Essay The Rape of the Lock is an outstanding mock- epic in the English Literature written by Alexander Pope. It is considered a humorous poem, as well as a combination of the classical models of epic and satire. Since the poem is based on an actual incident among Pope’s acquaintances, he is persuaded to write the story to mock his friends so they do not take the situation too seriously. Besides, the author focuses on the upper class in London, which seems to have lost the value of important matters. First of all, it can be said that the upper-class characters portrayed in The Rape of the Lock, especially Belinda, are mocked because it seems that they are narrow-minded as regards their ideas about the society where they live and they do not take into consideration important subjects. In the poem, Belinda is so concerned about her beauty that when the Baron cuts a lock of her hair she gets furious: â€Å"Then flashed the living lightnings from her eyes, / And screams of horror rend the affrighted skies.†(canto 3, lines 155-156). Belinda feels frustrated not only because she is humiliated in public, but also because being beautiful in that society means power. Her anger can be related to the fact that ladies used to devote much time to their beauty, spending hours at the dressing table; the â€Å"altar’s site,†(1.127). Apart from that, dancing and playing cards were major events to win the heart of a gentleman. Similarly, men had no concern with significant matters either as they were interested in being powerful, getting more money and flirting with ladies. The Baron, for example, the male character in the poem, feels victorious when he cuts Belinda’s lock: â€Å"`Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine, ´ / (The victor cried); `the glorious prize is mine!†(3.161-162). As the characters focus on trivial matters as if they are truly meaningful, their flaws and weaknesses are exposed in the poem. By means of exaggeration, the author pretends to make the readers laugh at their own defects to moralize some ideas in society. The pair of scissors given to The Baron by Clarissa is referred as â€Å"A two-edged weapon†(3.128) to make fun of the situation. In addition, the fact that Belinda’s hair is cut is not a serious incident but she is in despair since it is her valuable possession. In the poem, Clarissa states that although â€Å"frail beauty must decay, / Curled or uncurled, since locks will turn to gray,† (5. 25-26), it is important to keep a sense of humor. Similarly, The Baron is quite extravagant and exhibits a childlike behavior when taking revenge that he clearly proclaims: â€Å"So long my honor, name, and praise shall live!† (3.170). It is possible to observe that he is not able to accept the fact that he has been defeated in a game by a girl. Apart from that, the card game between Belinda and The Baron is perceived as a real battle between two armies, with â€Å"halberds in their hand† (3.42). As a conclusion, it is clearly shown in the poem how society has lost the ability to value what is really important in life. It seems that the characters cannot decipher between serious events and insignificant ones. The rape of Belinda’s lock of hair, for instance, is an unimportant incident since she could have experienced a worse situation. Moreover, it is worth analyzing this poem as it reflects how ridiculous any society can be when it takes into account events, which do not really matter in life. Individuals should open their eyes to be able to value simple things that happen in our daily lives.

Directional stroop test

Directional stroop test Abstract This study assessed differences in gender performance between males and females for reaction time and error rate on the Directional Stroop Test. To date no study has explored the relationship between gender performance and the Directional Stroop Task, although prior studies have shown that females perform better than males on the Classical Stroop Test. 50 university students (25 males and 25 females) were exposed to 3 stimuli types, in the first they were required to locate the position of the word on the screen by pressing a button to indicate their response, in the second stimuli type participants were required to locate the position of the arrow shown and in the third they were required to select the direction the arrow was pointing in. Findings showed that although females respond faster to the stimuli presented to them and males make fewer errors, overall gender does not have a significant effect on reaction time and error rate. The Effect of Gender, Arrows and Words on Reaction Time and Error Rate The Stroop Effect is widely thought to cause interference because the information of one stimuli interferes when a person is trying to process another stimuli. An example of the Classical Stroop Effect is if the word red was presented to a person in the ink colour blue; the person would automatically try to read the word but the task requires for them to read aloud the ink colour the word has been presented in, this causes interference and results in a slower response. Interference is thought to occur because the process involved in naming words is thought to be automatic, compared to the process involved in naming colours or pictures which is thought to require a voluntary effort (as cited in Macleod, 1991). The famous Classical Stroop effect is named after J. Ridley Stroop who discovered this effect in the 1930s. In Stroops first experiment, he observed that his participants were slightly slower when reading words which were printed in an incongruent ink colour, that is to say that the word did not match the ink colour it was printed in, for example the word blue printed in green ink, compared to reading words which were printed in black ink; this is a demonstration of the effects interference can have on reaction time (as cited in Wuhr, 2007). There have been countless replications in addition to many variations of the Classical Stroop study. In 1977 Wheeler conducted a study in which 36 participants, all of which were college students, were required to first read words aloud and then name the ink colour aloud, they then had to repeat this but indicate their response by pressing buttons. Wheeler found that it took participants twice as long to name ink colours than read the word aloud, however there was no time difference when participants pushed buttons to indicate their responses; interference may occur in the Classical Stroop Test because participants respond verbally (as cited in Wheeler, 1977). There are two theories which attempt to explain the cause of interference which occurs in the Stroop Effect. The first is Speed of Processing Theory which suggests that words are read faster than colours are named and that because of the speed that we read it makes it difficult for us to name the colour the word is printed in, this difficulty causes interference which effectively results in a slower reaction response or incorrect answer. The second theory is Selective Attention Theory which proposes that naming colours requires more attention than reading words, this may be because people are so fluent at reading and therefore this is more of an automatic process, whereas naming the ink colour of a word is not an activity one comes across everyday and therefore this requires more of our attention (as cited in Stroop, 1935). The Selective Attention Theory is consistent with the distinction between two basic types of processing information. Schneider and Shriffin suggested that information can be processed either automatically or in a controlled way. Automatic processing is thought to be involuntary, effortless, fast and requires minimal attention, on the other hand controlled processing is thought to be voluntary, relatively slow and requires more effort and attention (as cited in Schenider and Shriffin, 1977). The Stroop Task has achieved broad recognition as a way to differentiate between controlled and automatic processes. As cited in Cothran and Larsen (2008) processing tasks may become automatic from exposure to repeated experiences, these repeated experiences of particular stimuli strengthens the memory representation a person has which eventually leads to less effort and attention being required. Some psychologists have questioned whether interference can be overcome or reduced by practice; in a s tudy by Shor, Hatch, Hudson, Landrigan and Shaffer (1972) researchers observed that interference was still present even after participants had training and practice of between 30-50 days (as cited in Shor, Hatch, Hudson, Landrigan Shaffer, 1972). However, in another study researchers found that older and younger participants displayed a decrease in interference for the colour-word Stroop test after humdreds of practice trials, although older participants consistently displayed greater interference effect throughout the practice compared to younger participants (as cited in Davidson, Zack Williams 2003). The type of Stroop variation which has been developed for this study is the Directional Stroop, an example of this is if the word right was presented on the left hand side of a screen and the participants were asked to locate the position of the word whilst ignoring its content. One of the first studies investigating the Directional Stroop Effect was conducted by Shor (1970,1971) who in the first condition inserted the words left, right, up and down into arrows, which were pointing in the directions named but were not congruent to the name in the arrow, for example, an arrow may be pointing right but it will have the word left embedded into it. Shor observed that interference was present when participants identified the words with a manual response, but not when they identified the words with a vocal response. In the second condition of the study Shor only used arrows and observed that interference was present when participants identified the arrows using both manual and vocal respon ses, but this interference was small in relation to the Classical Stroop. This study also indicates the importance of the type of stimuli being used in studies, arrows have produced interference for both manual and vocal responses compared to arrows which have directional words embedded into them (as cited in Baldo, Shimamura Prinzmetal 1998). Furthermore, in a study by Clarke and Brownell (1975) participants were asked to decide whether arrows were pointing either up or down whilst positioned inside a rectangle; in a study by White (1969) participants were asked to name the position of the words North, East, South and West inside a rectangle; both studies found similar results to Shor, with small but reliable interference. There have been many studies which have included variations within the Directional Stroop Test (Greenwald 1977; Dyer 1972; Pieters 198; Roefols, Turrenout Coles 2006). In studies done by Seymour (1973/1974) and Palef and Olsen (1975) participants were asked to name the locations of words in relation to a fixation point, both studies noted that interference was present (as cited in MacLeod, 1991). Many studies have also looked at the link between gender and Stroop performance. Even before the Stroop task, a psychologist named Ligon (1932) claimed that girls were able to name colours faster than boys, although he did not note any difference in their word-reading speed ability (as cited in MacLeod, 1991). This claim may be supported by some of the findings that researchers have discovered in their studies; one study found that females performed better than males on 2 colour card tests (Golden 1974), another study found that females gave a significantly higher performance than males after both sexes completed the colour-word test 5 times (as cited in Sarmany, 1977). According to Baroun (2006) females have been found to have an advantage over males for colour recognition and have been reported to be quicker at reacting to Stroop tasks; another psychologist suggested that this may be due to the general response speed females have (as cited in Jensen, 1965). Other psychologists such as Shen (2005) suggested that males take a longer than females on the Stroop task because males have a different cognitive strategy to females (as cited in Shen, 2005). There has always been controversy over whether there are differences in gender performance on the Stroop test and many studies have attempted to test whether differences in gender performance exist or not. In a study by Baroun and Alansari (2004) 210 university students took part in the Stroop test, 96 were male and 114 were female, although Baroun and Alansari found that Kuwaiti students (140 of the participants) had greater interference than British students (70 of the participants), no gender differences were observed for Stroop interference (as cited in Baroun Alansari, 2004). However in 2006, a study by the same researchers found differences in gender performance in Kuwaiti males and females on the Stroop test, researchers found that Kuwaiti females were faster on the colour card Stroop than Kuwaiti males (as cited in Baroun Alansari, 2006). The dependant variables for this study are reaction time and error rate and it is important to research what previous investigators have found in relation to reaction time and error rate, as this provides valuable contributions as to what should be expected. Mekarski, Cutmore and Suboski (1996) tested 6 males and 8 females in a Stroop test in which reaction time and error rate was measured. Researchers found that males were consistently slower than females but error rates did not differ significantly (as cited in Mekarski, Cutmore Suboski, 1996). Boyden and Gilpin (1798) established that errors made on 2 tests were correlated positively for males but not for females, they indicated that this may be due to males being linked distractability and being impulsive. Many psychologists have suggested that although females may be faster in naming colours for the Stroop Test this does not relate to the measuring of interference (as cited in Macleod, 1991). As mentioned previously the type of stimuli used in studies is important. In one study 36 undergraduate students were required to respond to one stimulus whilst ignoring another, so if presented with an arrow participants were required to ignore the word stimuli, and if presented with a word then they were required to ignore the arrow stimuli. Researchers found greater interference for participants when they responded manually to the word stimuli whilst ignoring the arrow stimuli as well as when they responded vocally to the arrow stimuli whilst ignoring the word stimuli. Although interference was present for both types of stimuli the magnitude of interference seems to be dependent on response modalities; vocal or manual (as cited in Baldo, Shimamura Prinzmetal 1998). Many of the studies investigating the effects of gender performance that have been discussed have tested reaction time but not error rate. This study has been carried out because there is a lack of studies investigating the difference in gender performance for the Directional Stroop, although there are handfuls which have done so for the Classical Stroop. This study aims to explore the Directional Stroop Effect using words and pictorial targets in the form of arrows and its effect on reaction time and error rate between males and females. This study will examine whether interference occurs in participants for both words and pictorial targets and whether gender has any effect on reaction time and error rate. The hypothesis for this study is that there will be a significant difference in performance between males and females, which will be measured by reaction time and error rate. A further hypothesis being tested is that stimuli type will effect reaction time and error rate. Method Participants The participants used for this study were 50 University of Greenwich students (25 males and 25 females) who were obtained through stratified random sampling method; a sampling method which allows individuals to be equally selected for participation therefore reducing bias, but also selecting individuals who belong to a certain sub-group, this study only required 25 males and 25 females. This study was conducted in the U.K. Materials The materials used for this study include a borrowed laptop from the University of Greenwich with the software application Superlab. Superlab is an effective application for presenting visual stimuli on the screen, and was used in this study to present word and arrow stimuli in addition to recording the reaction time and error rates of participants to explore the performance level between males and females. Design This is a quantitative study and a repeated measures design was used to reduce individual differences and test the effect of 3 factors at the same time. The independent variables are gender and stimuli; gender has 2 levels (male and female) and stimuli has 3 levels (word-location, arrow-location, arrow-direction). The dependent variables for this study are reaction time (in milliseconds) and error rate. This study has used a correlation analysis which describes how one variable relates to another, in this study we are looking at whether gender has an effect on the reaction time and error rate of participants performance and whether stimuli type can affect reaction time and error rate. Procedure Participants were first given an information sheet detailing the procedure of what they would have to do and any ethical risks involved in the study and were then asked to sign the consent form declaring that they had read and understood the details of the study. To maintain confidentiality of records participants were asked to invent a personal code, known only to them and which would be used to identify their data should they choose to remove it. Each participants personal code was entered into Superlab before they started their study to ensure that data recorded concerning their reaction time and error rate would be saved under their personal code. Participants were informed that there would first be a practice session to ensure they understood what to do; the practice session consisted of 2 slides, after the practice session participants began with the first condition of the study which was responding to where the location of a word on the screen was by pressing a button. The wor ds used in this study were up, down, left and right; participants were presented with a RB-530 response pad (see appendix a) which they used to indicate their responses. The second condition of the study was responding to where the location of an arrow was on the screen by press the correct button on the response pad and the third condition was participants responding to the direction in which the arrow on the screen was pointing; each of the conditions consisted of 10 slides, participants reaction time was measured from when the stimuli appears on the screen to when participants press any button. After the experiment participants were provided with a debrief sheet containing details of what the study was investigating and contact details of the investigator. Results The raw data (Appendix B) was analysed using PASW Statistics 17. A mixed design was performed on reaction time and error rate separately. The between subject factor was gender (male/female) and the within subject factor was stimuli (word-location/arrow-location/arrow-direction). Discussion The results show that females have performed faster and made fewer errors for the word-location stimuli compared to males, similarly males have performed faster and made fewer errors for the arrow-direction stimuli. However, arrow-location is the stimuli in which both males and females have scored high, one of each dependant variable; males made the least errors but females gave the fastest responses. Results also show that stimuli type affects participants reaction time significantly, but does not have a significant effect on error rate, additionally results showed a weak stimuli X gender interaction on reaction time in particular and a significant stimuli X gender interaction on error rate, however gender alone does not seem to have a significant effect on reaction time or error rate. The results from this study indicate that overall women respond faster to the Directional Stroop and that males and females do not differ significantly in terms of error rate. The findings show that arrow-direction is the stimuli in which participants take the longest to respond and also tend to make the most errors, this may be explained by the Selective Attention Theory, which may suggest that naming the direction of an incongruent arrow may require more attention as the participants have to focus on the point of the arrow, compared to naming the location which does not require as much focus on the stimuli, but more on its location on the screen. Many psychologists and studies (Ligon 1932; Golden 1974; Sarmany 1977; von Kluge 1992; Baroun 2006; Baroun Alansari 2006) have previously implied that females respond faster than males, additionally Jensen (1965) proposed that this may be because of the general response speed females have. The results from this study are similar to the findings in the study performed by Mekarski, Cutmore and Suboski (1996) who found that males responded slower but there were no significant differences between males and female for error rate. The results for the present study show that overall females responded the fastest and males made the fewest errors. 50 University of Greenwich students were used as participants for this study and 50 participants can be assumed to be a small and unrepresentative sample of the general population. For future studies a larger sample could be collected and participants could be selected for their age as well as their gender, age would be interesting variable to examine and investigate how people from different age groups differ in performance. This study took place in the U.K. and therefore lacks in ecological validity, the participants from this study were all obtained from the U.K. and were all volunteers therefore it is difficult to draw up appropriate conclusions about cause and effect relationships because the findings from this study may not be generalisable to people from other countries. Baroun and Alansari (2004) found that Kuwaiti students displayed greater interference than British students, this is a good example of how the present study may not be generalisable to other people. However, the study Baroun and Alansari conducted in 2006 did find similar results to the present study; females were reported to respond quicker to the stimulus presented to them than males, therefore there may be certain variables which have been found world-wide and others which still need to be investigated. The experiment also lacks ecological validity because it was not a realistic situation, people would not usually press buttons on a response pad indicating their answers to what they see on a laptop screen. In this study all the participants started with the word-location stimuli and then moved to the arrow-location stimuli and then finally finished with the arrow-direction stimuli, this may have led to the order of stimuli being confounded. Participants have been reported to respond slowest and make the most errors to the arrow-direction stimulus, but participants may have been affected by an extraneous variable which may have effectively slowed down their reaction time and therefore affected their results. Extraneous variables are situations or factors which can have an impact on participants performance and results. In future replications of this study the order of presenting stimuli could be counterbalanced which is a method used to avoid the confounding of variables. Participants could be divided into different groups and each group could be shown the stimuli in a different order. Before the actual experiment started, participants were given the opportunity to experience a practice session, however as this practice session was only 2 slides long and only used the word-location stimuli participants may not have understood or had the chance to properly understand what they were asked to do. For future replications of this study it can be suggested that participants experience at least 2 slides of each stimuli type which they will be presented to them in the real experiment so that they can actually practice properly and have have a real opportunity to understand what there are being instructed to do. Another limitation of this study is that slides showing each stimuli one by one flows straight to the next one as soon as the participant presses a button on their response pad. Participants are informed at the beginning of the study that they must try to respond as quickly as they can, and in haste some participants may have missed the slide which describes the next set of instructions for the next stimuli type. Due to this error participants may respond slowly because they are suddenly exposed to an arrow instead of a word which they have been exposed to in the previous slides, in addition to this if participants miss the slide informing them to switch from selecting the location of the arrow to the direction the arrow is pointing in then they may make errors, which may as a result be due to misunderstanding of instructions. It may be more effective if after every stimuli type is presented there is either a loud beep sound indicating the start of a new stimuli type or for each stim uli type to be opened in a separate window as to avoid any confusion. Future replications should also include congruent stimuli to begin with so that reaction time and possibly error rate can be compared to when participants are shown uncongruent stimuli. Unfortunately the eye-sight of participants were never tested before the study therefore there is no guarantee of whether any of the participants were long sighted and may have had difficulty viewing what was on the screen. Although the words and pictorial targets used were of a large size, future studies should ensure a check-up of participants eye-sight before the study to ensure that this variable does not affect the outcome of the results. As discovered in the study conducted by Baldo, Shimamura and Prinzmetal (1998) response modalities can have a great impact on the amount of interference observed. Future studies into gender and the Directional Stroop could use both manual and vocal responses from participants, this would help expand knowledge on how type of response could affect interference. In addition to this the present study presented words and pictorial targets separately, future replications could include a condition which presents words and pictorial targets combined as well as separate. This study used a quantitative design method which is statistically reliable as well as replicable. However the results provided are also likely to be limited as they provide a less descriptive and detailed account of the actual human behaviour which takes place during interference for the Stroop test. It is believed that for this study a quantitative approach was the right design method, there are no studies which could be found, which have investigated gender and its effect on reaction time and error rate for the Directional Stroop therefore any future psychologists who wish to investigate these variables and effects further will be able to easily replicate the methods used for this study. A future replication of the Directional Stroop Effect could use a matched pairs design in which group one are tested as if they are taking the hazard perception practice section of a driving test, participants would need to locate the uncongruent directional words and pictorial targets, which could be in the form of an arrow or other road signs. The second group of the matched pairs design study would also need to locate the same uncongruent directional words and pictorial targets but would also have a distractor task such as trying to text someone from a mobile phone at the same time they are locating the uncongruent stimuli. This type of study should be able to provide some insight into the type of interference drivers experience and which type of distractors, such as making a call, sending a text message to someone, or even applying make-up, cause the most accidents or interference. In conclusion, the results support the hypothesis that stimuli type affects reaction time, although stimuli type does not seem to have any affect on the error rate of participants. In consistency with some previous studies (Merkarski, Cutmore Suboski 1996; Baroun Alansari 2004) the results from the present study has found that females respond faster than males, which may be explained by Jensen (1965) who suggests that this is possibly related to the general response speed of females. Results also show that males make fewer errors than females, however there is no overall significant difference between gender performance for the Directional Stroop Effect. References Baldo, J.V., Shimamura, A.P. and Prinzmetal, W. (1998) Mapping symbols to response modalities: Interference effects on Stroop-like task. Perception and Psychophysics, Vol. 60 (3), 427-437. Baroun, K. and Alansari, B. (2004) Gender and culture performance differences on the Stroop colour and word test: A comparative study. Social Behaviour and Personality, Vol. 32 (30), pp.235-246. Baroun, K. and Alansari, B. (2006) Gender differences in performance on the Stroop Test. Social Behaviour and Personality, Vol. 34 (3), 309-317. Cothran, D. and Larsen, R. (2008) Comparison of inhibition in two timed reaction tasks: The Colour of Emotion Stroop Tasks. Journal of Psychology: Indisciplinary and Applied, 142 (4), 343-385. Retrieved from PsycINFO database. Davidson, D., Zack, R. and Williams, C. (2003). Stroop interference, practice, and aging. Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition, Vol. 10 (2), 85-98. Golden, C.J. (1974) Sex differences in performance on the Stroop colour and word test. Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 39 (3), 1067-1070. Retrieved from PsycINFO database. Jensen, A.R. (1965). Scoring the Stroop Test. Acta Psychologica, Vol. 24, (5), 398-408. MacLeod, C.M. (1991) Half a century of research on the Stroop Effect: An Integrative Review. Vol. 19 (2), 163-203. Psychology Bulletin. Mekarski, J.E., Cutmore, T.R. And Suboski, W. (1996) Gender Differences during processing of the Stroop Task. Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 83 (2), 563-568. Sarmany, I. (1997) Different performance in Stroops Interference Test from the aspect of personality and sex. Studia Psychologica, 19, (1) 60-67. Retrieved from PsycINFO database. Schneider, W. and Shriffin, R.M. (1977) Controlled and Automatic Human Information Processing: Detection, Search and Attention. Psychological Review, 84, pp. 1-66. Shen, X. (2005) Sex differences in perceptual processing performance on the colour-kanji Stroop Task of visual stimuli. International Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 115 (12), 1631-1641. Shor, R.E. Hatch, R.P., Hudson, L.J., Landrigan, D.T. and Shaffer, H.J. (1972) Effect of practice on Stroop-like spatial directions task. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 94 (2), 168-172. Stroop, J.R. (1935) Studies on interference in serial verbal reaction. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643-662. von Kluge, S. (1992) Trading accuracy for Speed: Gender Differences on a Stroop task undder mild performance anxiety. Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 75 (2), 651-657. Wheeler, D.D. (1977) Locus of interference on the Stroop Test. Perceptual and Motor Skills, Vol. 45 (1), 263-266. Wuhr, P. (2007) A Stroop Effect for Spatial Orientation. The Journal of General Psychology, 134, (3), 285-294.

Chinese Managers Leadership Style

Chinese Managers Leadership Style 3.1 Introduction Among various choices of research methodologies, this study draws on a framework within the qualitative research paradigm. The study takes an interpretive approach and adopts a data collection design of participant interviews. The purpose of this section is to introduce the underpinning philosophical arguments regarding methodological consideration and to justify the appropriateness of qualitative design to the context of this study. Supportive theories for this choice as well as the sampling methods, data collection methods, arrangements for interviews and the relevant research considerations will be addressed. In order to link the methodological choices with the study purpose, research questions will also be reiterated. 3.2Research questions The purpose of qualitative research is to describe, explore, and explain phenomena being studied (Marshall and Rossman, 1999). Qualitative research questions, therefore, often take the form of what, how and why, and are more concerned with the process rather than the outcome. As this study is to explore how Chinese culture, specifically Confucius philosophical doctrines have shaped Chinese leadership style, as well as how Western theories have exerted a profound influence on Chinese leadership in modern Chinese society, the research questions of this study go as follows: What are the main characteristics of Chinese managers leadership style in Public Sector in Tianjin? Given the above, to what extent does Chinese culture, particularly Guanxi affect and shape Chinese leadership style? In this day and age, how is leadership in China influenced by Western leadership models? What are the implications that Chinese leadership styles present for the future practice? As a result, the research methodology was selected and employed to explore the development of the topic to answer the above questions. 3.3 Methodological choice 3.3.1 Interpretive research tradition Among the three research traditions, i.e. Positivism and Postpositivism, Interpretive Research, and Critical Postmodernism (Gephart, 2004), Interpretive Research is generally considered the most appealingly applied by a significant number of researchers. This study takes an interpretive approach to understand the Chinese managers leadership style as perceived by their Qualitative research can be either interpretive or positive depending on the philosophical assumptions taken by the researcher. According to Schwandt (2000), qualitative research is a diverse term covering an array of techniques seeking to describe, decode, translate, and somehow come to terms with the meaning, rather than the measurement or frequency of phenomena in the social world. Interpretive research is a more specific term. Interpretive studies assume that people create and associate their own subjective and intersubjective meanings as they interact with the world around them. With regards to the epistemology, interpertivsts recognize that the way they make sense of the world is shaped by their goals, culture and experience (Creswell, 2003; Weber, 2004). Reality is viewed as socially constructed and cannot be objectively determined (Easterby- Smith et al., 1991). The foundation assumption for interpretive research is that knowledge is gained, or at least filtered, through soci al constructions such as language, consciousness, and shared meanings. In addition to the emphasis on the socially constructed nature of reality, interpretive research acknowledges the intimate relationship between the researcher and what is being explored, and the situational constraints shaping this process. Interpretivists believe that the researcher and the researched are interdependent and affect each other in their interactions (Gephart, 2004; Weber, 2004). Walsham (1995) indicates that interpretive research attempts to understand phenomena through the meanings that people assign to them. It does not predefine dependent and independent variables. Nor does it set out to test hypotheses, but rather aims to produce an understanding of the social context of the phenomenon and the process whereby the phenomenon influences and is influenced by the social context. 3.3.2 Qualitative study Within the field of social research there have been opposing views on how the social world can be or should be understood. Traditionally the positivist paradigm has been related to quantitative research techniques, scientific measurement and empirical findings (Silverman, 2000). However, recently research methodology is considered as a continuum between quantitative and qualitative designs with the approach adopted based on an ability to answer or add knowledge to a particular issue (Creswell, 2003; Miller and Brewer, 2003). According to Creswell (1994), a qualitative study is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting. Although a quantitative research method was useful in studying statistical differences among variables and factors for proofing assumptions, its limitation was the inability to fully reveal the underlying meanings people associated with particular activities or social process (Esterberg, 2002). In favor of this argument, Silverman (1997) further extends that quantitative research may overlook the social and cultural construction of variables as well as the attitudes and meanings behind the variables. Qualitative studies, though perceived to be complex, time-intensive, and sometimes fraught with methodological challenges, can be the richest of studies, often illuminating complex phenomena in radically new ways (Conger, 1998). They are responsible for paradigm shifts, insights into the role of context, and longitudinal perspectives that other methods often fall to capture (Isabella, 1990; Mintzberg, 1973; Roberts and Bradley, 1988). Qualitative research may take on different traditions or assumptions such as phenomenology, hermeneutics and ethnography. However, Mason (1996) indicates that there are three common elements that bind qualitative research strategies together: Qualitative research takes an interpretive position in relation to understanding interactions within a multi-layered social world; Data generation is flexible and sensitive to the social context in which data is produced; Data analysis that use explanation building which involve understanding the relevant complexity, detail and content of the subject matter. (Mason, 1996:4) Such an argument provides a strong theoretical foundation for this study regarding the interaction between managers and their subordinates in Public Sector in China. As a result, having considered these arguments, qualitative methodology would be useful in exploring the meanings and perspectives in this dissertation, because it permits an exploration of participants concepts of Chinese leadership, the interpretation of cultural effects on Chinese leadership style and the complexity of issues that contribute to the subject. 3.3.3 Qualitative leadership studies It has been widely held that qualitative research in the social sciences plays an important part only in the exploratory phases of a research. At this stage, the researcher knows about the subject he/she is to investigate, and his/her hypotheses are purely speculative. Once the researchers understanding gradually becomes well-defined, quantitative analysis can follow to refine and validate the hypotheses generated by the previous qualitative research. However, Conger (1998) challenged this assumption by arguing that in reality, qualitative research must play an important role on matter at what stage in the investigation of leadership topics. The main reason, he points out, is the extreme and enduring complexity of the leadership phenomenon itself. Since leadership involves multiple levels of phenomena, possesses a dynamic character, and has a symbolic component, quantitative methods, which are largely based on surveys in the leadership field, tend to focus on a single level of analysis such as behavioral dimensions (Yukl, 1994), and in turn overlook the organizational and environmental factors (Conger, 1998). Therefore, they are insufficient to investigate thoroughly phenomena as complex as leadership. In addition, other scholars have drawn limitations and narrowness of the investigation frame of quantitative analysis in the leadership study. For example, Phillips (1973) argues that quantitative surveys are usually influenced by social desirability concerns of respondents and only reflects behavior attitudes rather than actual observed behavior. Lantis (1987) also articulates that quantitative analysis is unable to measure interactions, which is a critical element of leadership. Qualitative methods, as proposed by Conger (1998), when properly employed, may render leadership studies distinct advantages over quantitative methods: First, more room to explore leadership in depth (Bryman, 1992); Second, the flexibility to detect unexpected phenomena during the research; Third, more opportunities to sense the contextual factors; Fourth, more effective to investigate symbolic dimensions (Morgan and Smircich, 1980). It is based on all these arguments, that this study adopts a qualitative method, trying to put into full play the advantages that qualitative method possesses in studying the Chinese leadership style in Public Sectors. 3.4 Interviews 3.4.1 Interviews as a qualitative method Based on the methodological discussions, interview was chosen as the most appropriate method of data collection for the research at hand. This method is the most frequently used qualitative method and recommended in situations where a detailed understanding of complicated behavior is sought and where detailed probing of the respondent is anticipated. Kvale and Birnkmann (2009) emphasize a qualitative research interview as a professional conversation focusing on an alternation, which occurs on the personal interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee around a particular issue or range of topics and on the descriptive data conducted through that interaction. Unstructured interviews 3.4.2 Semi-structured interviews In this study, semi-structured interviews were applied as a research tool. Semi-structured interviews form an important part of qualitative research (Cassell and Symon, 2004). In semi-structured interviews, the interviewer designs a general structure by deciding in advance what ground is to be covered and what questions are to be asked. This leaves the detailed structure to be worked out during the interview. The interviewee is given considerable freedom to express his/her views on his/her own words. This results in them raising issues and topic that the researcher may not have thought about as important for the study (Banister and Booth, 2005). The interviewer can respond using prompts, and follow-up questions to encourage the interviewee to clarify or expand on their answers. He/She can also react via facial expression and body language. This would allow the interviewer to innovate and give the interview a direction (King, 2004) and get explanatory answers for questions about peoples behavior and opinions (Saunders et al, 2003; Banister and Booth, 2005). This is one of the strengths of this kind of interviews. In summary, semi-structured interviews provide the opportunity for the researcher to probe deeply to uncover new clues, open up new dimensions of a problem and to secure vivid, accurate inclusive accounts that are based on personal experienced (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002). In semi-structured interviews, the application of probing is one of the most significant techniques. Probing centers on assisting the interviewee in continuing to speak his/her mind by the interviewer posing questions fully and relevantly (Cooper and Schinder, 2000). Patton (1990) identifies three types of probing techniques, namely detail-oriented probes, elaboration probes, and clarification probes. In this study, the elaboration probe is employed to encourage the interviewee to express more feelings (Patton, 1990). The interviewer took the initiative and encouraged the interviewee by supplementing questions like What makes you think so?; Can you give some examples?; Can you tell me more about this? etc. For semi-structured interviews, basic structures and frameworks are necessary. Before conducting the interviews, boundaries were drawn with pertinence to the research questions and research objectives. In turn, boundaries and framework also provide reference for the judgment of data to be obtained. Without boundaries and framework, the discussion can go on different track and become too general (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000). With boundaries set to the interview, the interviewer can not only maintain the exploratory principles through the use of major topic themes within the questions but also had sufficient flexibility to extend the boundaries of the original theme or to vary the sequence and emphasis of the questions (Corbetta, 2003;Kvale, 1996; Miller and Brewer, 2003). 3.4.3 Framing the interview questions Framing the questions for the interview is very important. The questions allow respondents to quantify individual experiences and convey the results or answers that are expected from the research (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000; Easterby-Smith et al., 2002). Silverman (2001) and King (2004) suggest that research questions should not reflect the researchers own presuppositions or biases. Saunder et al. (2003) also stress that the questions framed should not be leading or suggesting a restricted set of answers. The interview questions in this study include a series of open-ended questions (Appendix). This is because open-ended questions provide the opportunity to gather an authentic understanding of peoples experience (Silverman, 1999). Moreover, they also allow the interview respondents to talk freely and explain their understanding on Chinese leadership style and Chinese and Western cultural effects on framing such kind of leadership style. As discussed above, discussion on these questions may move beyond the research boundaries, therefore sub-questions have been framed to direct the discussion in the required directions. 3.5 Sampling Sampling for qualitative research seeks to provide explanations of attitudes and behavior rather than quantify their extent in the population. According to National Centre for Social Research (2002), qualitative samples should not be as large as survey samples or to be statistically representative. Rather, qualitative samples should be selected purposively to encompass the range and diversity present in the target population. Miles and Huberman (1994) also assert that qualitative researchers should work with small samples of people, bound by specific contexts, and studied in depth. In this study, unstructured interviews were conducted individually with five senior managers from five organizations of the Public Sector in Tianjin, as well as semi-structured interviews were employed seven subordinates of these managers. Therefore the sample size of the study is twelve. Additionally, nonprobability sampling, a non-random and subjective sampling method (Cooper and Schindler, 1999) is used for this research. Different from random sampling, this method allowed the interviewer to choose sample members as she wished or wherever she could find them. Another concept related to nonprobability sampling is judgment sampling. As one kind of nonprobability samplings, judgment sampling is used to select sample members to conform to some criterion (Cooper and Schindler, 2000). With the application of judgment sampling, people who work as managers in Public Sector in Tianjin were selected for main target samples, and their subordinates for sub-target samples. Since the study is to investigate the general perception of the leadership style in Public Sector in Tianjin, the sampling frame of this study is the public in general who work in different managerial levels in Public Sector in Tianjin. 3.6 Data collection 3.6.1 Data collection procedure The data collected for this dissertation has been obtained from a combination of both secondary and primary sources. The secondary data include a selection of variety of books, journals and articles. The primary data were gathered from a series of unstructured and semi-structured interviews. In total, 12 interviews were undertaken with interviewees form 5 organizations in Public Sector in Tianjin (Appendix). These multiple sources of data allowed the researchers to address a broader range of historical, attitudinal, and observation issues (Yin, 1989). Furthermore, multiple sources of evidences provided multiple perspectives of the same phenomenon. Participants in this study ranged from general staff to senior managers. The judgment sampling method employed here correlates with one of the approaches described by Mason (1996) in that it seeks to provide a detailed view of particular units; not with any intent to act in a representative way of the wider population but to generate theory that may be applied or evaluated within a broader context. Five senior managers form different organizations are researchers relatives. The close relationship, therefore, contributed to both fulfillment of the interviews and the in-depth exploration of the research. In addition, seven subordinates work with five managers respectively. Subordinates perception of their managers characteristics could enrich the performance of the research. As a result, this elicited 12 interviews that formed the database of this study. The five organizations from which 12 interviewees stemmed cover the following five sectors: Economy and Trade Commission Justice Bureau Department of Cultural Affairs Urban Planning Bureau Public Primary School Interviews were undertaken in June and July 2010. Among the 12 interviews, five with senior managers were conducted in their houses or the researchers house, and each interview lasted 40 minutes around. Others 7 were taped in interviewees offices, lasting 20-30 minutes respectively. Moreover, interviews were conducted in the interviewees native language (Chinese) so that the subject was able to express their ideas fully. All the interviews took place in a private and quiet environment with only the interviewer and interviewee present. All participants were made fully aware of the details of the study. The schedules were directly and respectively sent to all participants ahead of the interviews so as to confirm the researchers intent to record the interview via audiotape and to introduce the arrangements related to confidentiality. All participants consented to the using of the tape recorder during the interviews. Such pre-interview communication proved important, because on the one hand, it allowed the participants enough time to get into the purpose and questions of the interview; on the other hand, it played an essential role in requesting informed consents (Kvale and Birnkmann, 2009) from the participants, assuring them of safety, showing respect to their dignity, rights, and well-being. Especially when conducting qualitative research with sensitive topics, such ethical issues need to be a concern of the researcher (Malhotra, 2004), since there is much closer interaction between the interviewer and the individual examined (King, 2004) and usually more personal or sensitive information is shared. Therefore, the researcher had the responsibility to care for the rights and needs of the respondents (Kvale and Birnkmann, 2009). All this also supported the development of trust in the interaction of the interviewee with the interviewer to ensure that they would be as truthful and open about their experiences and feelings as possible (Easterby-Smith et al., 1999) 3.6.2 Data analysis As is typical in qualitative research (Creswell, 1994), data analysis proceeded in tandem with data collection. The interview transcripts served as the basis for the data analysis. After a general sense of the information gathered through reading the transcripts several times (Creswell, 2003), coding of the data was used to analyze the interviews. Coding is defined as the formal process of selecting all the usable material from the complete data collected (Fisher, 2004). To code the data, it would be useful to identify clear themes at the initial stage. Hence, themes that consistently emerged in the interviews were identified and the material was divided into chunks and allocated to the themes (Creswell, 2003; Fisher, 2004). This approach to data analysis has the advantage as it is flexible and can be adapted to the needs of the study while it still forces the researcher to take a well-structured approach to analyzing the data, which assists in creating a clear and organized account of the findings. Therefore, after the transcription of the interview data from the audiotapes, the data analysis was categorized into four theme sections. The process of coding and analyzing data was ongoing and continued throughout the formulation of the subsequent chapters. Therefore, codes remained open to modification until the end of the study and were modified and developed as the analysis proceeded (Fisher, 2004). In the analysis process, the method of direct quotations was used to illustrate informants responses precisely. Additionally, examples of contradicting arguments of the interviewees were included to ensure a balanced account of the data gathered. This enhanced the validity and authenticity of the research (Creswell, 2003; Spiggle, 1994). The presentation of the findings is structured around the main themes identified. Care was taken not to drift towards generalizations but keep in mind the individual experiences from which these themes were developed (Creswell, 2003; King, 2004). 3.7Limitations Undertaking any form of research regardless of methodology or study design takes the author on a journey that is often challenging and frustrating. A potential major weakness of the research method employed in this study could be the problem of bias. Bell and Opie (1999) suggested that interview as a qualitative method is highly subjective technique and therefore there is always the danger of bias. This is true because there is a strong possibility that interviewees might choose not to reveal all issues related to the research questions due to feelings of embarrassment or a lack of knowledge on the topic and confusion etc. The researcher may tend to seek out answers that support preconceived notions. This may not be deliberate but may arise due to the classification of information and the flow of analytical thinking. Such a bias may limit the scope of the available data in relation to the study themes (Miller and Brewer, 2003) and greatly influence the reliability of the data collected. However, as Gavron (1966) suggested, awareness of the problem plus constant self-control can help alleviate the degree of bias. Another challenge that this study was facing is the transcribing of data. Since all interviews were conducted in Chinese, transcribing from the record in the audiotape into English written words may easily involve errors. This may occur due to the misunderstanding or mishearing of respondents words or ignoring the emotionally loaded intonations. Moreover, the language barrier constitutes another problem. Although the researcher tried her best to maintain the authenticity and reliability of the data, the slangs, jargons, colloquial expressions and established phrases in one language may not be possibly given a parallel in another language. Therefore, all that the researcher could do was to try to avoid any interventions and misunderstandings during the interview and repeated respondents key points in front of the respondents so as to ensure that interviewees opinions were fully and accurately understood by the researcher.

To Dam, or Not To Dam Essay -- Marc Reisner Ecology Environmental Essa

To Dam, or Not To Dam â€Å"The River, slightly milky from glacial sediment, tumbles down rocky chutes, boils through tight canyons, and glides across beds of agatelike stones. In the distance, poking through storm clouds, are plunging slopes dense with virgin hemlock and fir†¦Intruding into this primeval scene are two decrepit dams† (Reisner, 382). In this essay by Marc Reisner, his standpoint on the issue of dams is very well seen. Reisner talks of the ecological damages that dams create. The debate over dams has been heated in recent years, their harmful effects and overall abundance is the topic for such debates. But are dams as bad as everyone says they are, do dams do more harm than good, or more good than harm? Emphasis should be placed on comparing the ecological effects verses the economical benefits. There are many pros and cons for the ecological side of this debate. One pro is that dams help areas that would otherwise be waterless and barren support life. Taken from a pamphlet prepared by the Committee on Public Awareness and Education, â€Å"Water is the vital resource to support all forms of life on earth. Unfortunately, it is not evenly distributed over the world by season or location. Some parts of the world are prone to drought making water a scarce and precious commodity, while in other parts of the world it appears in raging torrents causing floods and loss of life and property. Throughout the history of the world, dams and reservoirs have been successfully in collecting, storing and managing water needed to sustain civilization† (CPAE, 1). This is a major benefit to the ecology of the world, as the quote stated water is the basis of life, the human body depends on water for survival. Although ther... ...to benefit the United States. Even those who oppose dams benefit from them in one way or another, destroying them would give our nation’s economic system a detrimental blow. Finally for the solution for this dilemma, I don’t believe there is an general solution. Each dam should be looked at individually, if the costs outweigh the benefits, then it should be destroyed, and vice versa. The issue of dams will not be easily solved. Ever since the first dam was built there has been controversy, and as long as one stands so will the debate. References McKibben, Bill. Daybreak. In A Forest of Voices: Conversations in Ecology – 2nd Edition (pp. 156-169). Mayfield Publishing Company. Committee on Public Awareness and Education. (1997, May). Benefits and Concerns About Dams – an Argumentaire. Retrieved March 3, 2003, from http://www.icold-cigb.org/BandC.PDF