Ethics in the journalism Essay

Ethics in the journalism sector is not a new issue of debate. Journalism ethics has been described as â€Å"a dysfunctional ethical discourse† by Iggers (as cited by Mccabe, 1999). The role of media is always very important in manufacturing the consent of people and develops a view regarding any particular issue. However the way news is collected, compiled and presented is always a question of debate. Citizens get the information regarding the social problems. The media has the capacity to bring the change. The traditional media is based on the maturity of the information, published news and different other subjects. Media has moved from its traditional role of observer to the change agent within the society (Mccabe, 1999, p. 199). The role of technology in media presentation has been very crucial in the recent past. The information is available easily on the website. â€Å"The Internet blurs traditional categories like â€Å"professional† versus â€Å"amateur,† â€Å"published† versus â€Å"unpublished,† and â€Å"public† versus â€Å"private. Existing rules for the ethical conduct of human subjects research that rely on these categories are thus difficult to extend to this new medium. † (Bruckman, n. d. ) Information available on the various websites makes it convenient and handy. However, the reliability of information available at this source is questionable. The referencing of the sources from which information has been obtained and how the credit has been given is always important in order to maintain the ethical standards of the journalism in this internet age.

Hugo Boss Case Study

Options 4/3/2012 Option: you have the choice to buy something for a certain price but if the price is less than that price forget about the contract. The most you ever pay is the contract price. You have the possibility of doing better. Nothing to lose only gain since you locked in a certain price; seller of contract can only do worse. The person whom makes the contract charges a price to enter into the contract, the seller keeps this contract. This price is called the premium, options start life with a value, it is an impure derivative.The underlying is instrument is what the contract is about person whom buys the contract Is known as the option buyer/investor, seller is known as the option writer/issuer, what you pay if you exercise the contract is known as the strike price or exercise price. Options have expiration days after that we can not use them anymore, another parameter is the type of option that it is Six parameters: Underwriting asset, parties involved, strike price/exerc ise price, expiration date, type of option.The premium fluctuates with demand, the contract could be sold Underlying: SBUX 1,000 Strike Price: 60 a share 1 Month: Type: Call Premium: 8 If you do not exercise the option it is allowed to expire Options come in types, Styles, and classes Put option right to sell at a certain price Put option: Underlying: sbx, 1000 shares, spot price 55 Strike price: 50 Time: 1 Month Premium: in a put option you pay for the buy to sellOptions come in three styles: European Style: You can exercise on a certain date, only at expiration American Style: You can exercise at any time, makes premium from an American option more but not by much only worth a lot more when dividends high dividends and low interest rates are present Bermuda Options: specific dates when you can exercise them Pay off diagram 50 55 60 (exercise price) Starbucks pricePayoff 300 400 500 60 0 7010 8020 10040

Notarial law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Notarial law - Essay Example Even if it were agreed that notaries should judge whether document signers comprehend the documents being executed, precisely what does that mean' What is the legal test of whether a signer comprehends a document being executed' One version of a legal standard for a signer to comprehend a document is whether the signer understands both the detailed substance of the terms of the document and the practical and legal consequences of the instrument. If this is the test, the mental competence of the signer would necessarily be implicated, for a signer could not possibly comprehend the full meaning and import of a document if the signer were mentally incapacitated. 5Obviously though, even a competent individual might not comprehend a particular instrument. Further, substantial confusion is caused by the imprecise use of the concepts of "competence" and "comprehension."6 As suggested above, while competence refers to one's ability to understand the nature and consequences of his/her transactions generally, comprehension refers to one's actual understanding of the nature and consequences of the particular transaction.7 Yet, these definitions are regularly substituted for one an other, just as the terms competence and comprehension are in artfully interchanged as though they were synonymous. 8 Now, the entire discussion leads one to the most important moot point of notaries verifying Power of Attorney documents. There can be no doubt that power of attorney is the most powerful document as it entrusts someone with all powers of another to represent him and act completely on his behalf .Therefore , it is necessary that signing of such document is duly notarized and validated as it may be tool of defrauding people This is essentially why it is so vital to ensure that such super powerful documents are notarized and following the reasoning already laid out in this paper , in matters of such importance , the notary public should try and find out if the signor is competent to sign and also has comprehended what he is signing . A possible version of the legal test of document signer comprehension is that the signer appreciates merely the general nature of the document (i.e. the kind of instrument being executed). Not only do the authors not object to the imposition of a duty on notaries consistent with this notion of document signer comprehension, but we endorse it. 9 However, one may safely presume it is the former definition of document comprehension, or a comparable meaning, that the proponents of a duty of notaries to determine document signer comprehension have in mind.10 For example, in his book Notary Public Handbook, Alfred Piombino seems to advocate such a heightened duty for the notary, for he suggests (during his discussion of "competency") that the notary should inquire into the signer's understanding of "the nature of the act to be performed" as well

Consideration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Consideration - Essay Example The extant practice of the courts is to reject a transaction even if there is consideration for the promise; if it is illegal in nature. Furthermore, it has become accepted practice to refuse enforcement of a promise, for the reason that it had not been the objective of the promisor to create any legal association by that promise. As such, consideration is no longer perceived to be a concise term that indicates the presence or absence of justification for enforcing a promise2. Albeit, consensus demands unconditional acceptance of an offer, consideration is also required, if a valid contract is to come into existence. Consideration is related to various legal concepts and provisions. A mere inclusion of consideration in the contract is insufficient to make it valid. Consideration should be either in a monetary form or in a form that can be estimated monetarily. A promise that lacks consideration is not capable of being legally enforced3. In general, the provision of goods or services constitutes the consideration on account of one of the parties to the contract. The other party pays money for these goods or services. Agency law terms such financial consideration as commission. Such consideration is known as price in sale of goods; receipt of wages or salary by employees in employment contracts; freight in the carriage of goods; and premiums in insurance contracts4. As such, persons, who are under a legal obligation to perform some duty, need not be provided with consideration, in order to perform the same. This is due to the reason that they are legally bound to complete the duty. Thus, anyone who is under a legal obligation to do something cannot make a good consideration by merely completing it. Performing a duty beyond a person’s legal obligation can constitute good consideration. This principle was established in

"IS WAL-MART GOOD FOR AMERICA" Assignment

"IS WAL-MART GOOD FOR AMERICA" - Assignment Example The decline of Rubbermaid in the period of 1994 to 2004 began when price of resin increased, and Wal-mart could not afford the new prices. In addition, reductions for products in the market influenced sale of Rubbermaid assets to Newell and the subsequent loss of jobs. In response, Wal-mart attested against Five Rivers. However, the company won the case. The outcome made Five Rivers more competitive and facilitated reevaluation of import duties that resulted in increased Chinese prices. I am surprised to discover the aggressiveness of Wal-mart in production and distribution of low-cost products. Specifically, I am perplexed about the innovative ideas of global sourcing concept and how the firm manages to influence prices of other commodities in America. Wal-mart strategies are fair yet they adversely affect other producers. However, in the context of buyers the tactics avail cheap goods for everyone. It is providing a broad range of products at rock-bottom cost taking into consideration the prevailing economic situations (Boone 2012) Wal-mart should embrace a collaborative management approach and diversify its production mechanisms to balance the needs of different stakeholders and workers. Wal-mart should train and involve workers in supply chain

Evidence Based Practice - Vascular Bleeding Following PCI Essay

Evidence Based Practice - Vascular Bleeding Following PCI - Essay Example 3.0%), particularly hematoma (1.1% vs. 2.5%) and pseudoaneurysm (0.1% vs. 1.0%), as compared to MC use (n = 951). Odds ratio of developing complications for VCD recipients was 0.56 (95% CI: 0.40 – 0.79). Because baseline characteristics between treatment groups were initially different, statistical adjustment was done. In 2010, a prospective, small-scale, short-term case-series study involving 413 patients treated of acute coronary syndrome was used to identify predictors of vascular complications. The use of VCDs by the sample was fairly limited, only 62 used Angio-Seal and 19 had PerClose. For those who used VCDs, there were no significant differences in the occurrence of hematoma during or after the use of procedure. In addition, those with complications were old and had significantly higher systolic blood pressure, as compared to those that did not have complications (Sulzbach-Hoke, Ratcliffe, Kimmel, Kolansky, & Polomano, 2010). The different VCDs were also compared. In patients that have received PCI in the past eight years, those who underwent VCD (n = 2, 814) had significantly lower incidence rate of ≠¥ 10 cm hematoma as compared to those who were given MC (n = 1, 407), 1.1% vs. 2.1%. Baseline characteristics between VCD and MC groups were not statistically different. Comparison among Angio-Seal, Perclose and Starclose users revealed that those who used Perclose had the least rate of complications (5.6%), while those receiving Starclose had the most (10.2%). The differences among rates were significant (Iqtidar, Li, Mather, & McKay, 2011). A similar, wider scale, retrospective study (n = 1, 819, 611) was conducted 2012 by Tavris, et al. The rates of bleeding in Angio-Seal (28.7%), Perclose (8.3%), Boomerang Closure Wire (BCW) (0.6%) and hemostasis patches (7.9%) VCDs were less than 1%, while those receiving MC (38.9%) was 1.18%. In contrast, StarClose (4.4%) and Mynx

What are the key features of an effective learning environment(in Essay

What are the key features of an effective learning environment(in Primary school) and how can this support the Primary National Strategy and Every Child Matters - Essay Example Good teachers are able to assess learning effectively. They also are able to control their classes and treat all students equally. The Primary National Strategy supports improving most of these factors, but more needs to be done. A report of the success of the Primary National Strategy concluded that The National Literacy and Numeracy frameworks are still used by teachers as their core support in planning for progression in both English and mathematics. Schools are anxious to maintain the improved standards they have seen since the introduction of the NLNS. Many do not wish to risk losing these gains through too great a change. Although the strategies have improved the teaching of English and mathematics, teaching in both subjects remains no better than satisfactory in one lesson in three. Although provision of additional guidance and better targeted support has improved the quality of teaching in some schools, it has yet to raise the overall frequency and consistency of teaching that is good or better in all schools. One significant improvement in teaching is teachers’ use of information and communication technology (ICT), a consequence of increased guidance and support provided through the PNS. However, despite support for teachers in developing assessment fo r learning, improvements are slow in coming and weaknesses remain (Primary National Strategy: An evaluation of its impact on primary schools 2004/05, 2005). A teachers knowledge of their subject matter is very important factor in that teachers effectiveness. A teacher with a high level of knowledge can usually explain a subject better to students. They will rely less on simple memorization and they will be able to answer any unexpected questions by students. They will receive more respect from students. They act as a good role model for students as they can show that learning their subjects is

I Believe by Joe Satriani - Strange Beautiful Tour 2002 Essay

I Believe by Joe Satriani - Strange Beautiful Tour 2002 - Essay Example The song was performed during his famous â€Å"Strange Beautiful Tour† (Satriani.Com 1) in the year 2002. Here in this performance he is seen in slightly different mood and amidst a different set up as compared to his other concerts. He is seated with his guitar with a microphone set in front of him. Joe Satriani sings and simultaneously plays the guitar with as much equal ease as he would play breathtakingly soulful and extremely complicated guitar portions. He uses a slightly different guitar tone in this song compared to the original recording. This tone as it sounded has less dominance of the chorus effect and the clean tone. It is a more natural sounding tone with which he begins the piece, playing the signature line of the song. The song has other artists backing it up with drums, bass-guitar, keyboard and backing-guitar. The refreshing sound of a dominant bass guitar adds to the magic of the overall performance. The bass guitar is played in a different style with more d rag and delay in its tone, relaxing the temperament of the song and giving it a laidback and peaceful sound. The experience of having Joe Satriani perform one of his most popular songs and that to this particular composition: â€Å"I Believe† was indeed a rare and memorable experience. ... Acclaimed for his innovative â€Å"picking† through the plectrum strokes and delicate yet clean fret-board finger movements, he shows his impeccable timing and variation in his playing style based on the mood of the song. After the completion two bars (as in the recording) Joe accompanies his guitar with his voice as well. Indeed playing a complex riff whose notations and track timings do not synchronise with the metronome strokes of a four-by-four beat, and singing simultaneous requires mastery over both art forms. Joe good at both makes it look effortless as he proceeds to the short 1-bar interlude where he plays produces the octave effect by stroking the 1st and 5th string of the guitar simultaneously and gliding his fingers over the fret board. He manages the vocal part and the guitar riffs in a very clean and effortless style, switching back and forth from playing to singing and guitar accompaniment and vice versa. The chords that he plays in the main portion of the song: â€Å"I believe, there’s a reason for everything; I believe we can change† reveal the basic chord progression of the piece and sound unique and innovative. Joe makes the performance even more interesting by playing an impromptu guitar solo in between that had slight similarities with the original interlude guitar solo. The drums only enter after the first eight lines, i.e. at the end of â€Å"There’s just no other place†. The combined sound of Joe’s guitar (with delay and chorus effects), the low whining base guitar and the drums was wonderful. Joe’s deep sense of music, his aesthetic thinking and creativity are yet again reflected through his unique solo. He deviates from the original composition for the interlude, but weaves a well rounded,

Entrepreneurial Business Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Entrepreneurial Business Innovation - Essay Example The ultimate indicator of the value of a firm, the market price or the stock price, is being affected much less by the earnings or the asset base of the company. Rather, value creation in today's company is being increasingly represented by intangible factors like innovation, human capital, ideas, brands, corporate social responsibility initiatives, customer relations, technology, management capabilities and others (Creating Value, n.d.). To provide vision, mission and objectives and ethical position: At the very outset, the leader has to enumerate the purpose of the company's existence. It is the vision statement. It may also be referred as the dream of a company. The next step is to describe the mission statement. The mission statement deals with the ways to deal with the vision. In other words, it says about the path to achieve those dreams. The objective of a company describes the immediate steps that are to be taken to achieve the vision and the mission. Ethical position implies that the company should have certain social bindings and should not forego its moral nature for the purpose of its profit. Portfolio Management: The ultimate objective of any company is to earn profit. For the purpose, the company must invest in those sectors or fields which it thinks would generate more profit. Since we know that resources are scarce, so the management must take utmost care to fix proper allocation of resources for the generation of higher revenue. The portfolio of the company must be guided by financial indicators like ROCE (Return on Capital Employed). Where, ROCE = Profit before Interest and Tax / Capital Employed The company should essentially invest only in the fields where the ROCE is above the WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital), otherwise, it cannot generate revenue. Managing the Strategic Value Drivers: It is said there are three strategic value drivers. Namely, Quality and Differentiation - The company must have a differentiated product from its competitors in the industry. Also, it should be qualitatively superior. It is very tough to get into the mind of the market i.e. potential customers, if the company does not meet the basic requirements. Cost - As the saying goes, a penny saved is a penny earned. The cost for the company should be kept as minimum as possible. All the major business leaders are following this principle with due diligence. Intellectual Property - Of late, this value driver has been recognised. As we know, intellectual property deals with the rights on patent, trademark, copyrights, etc, so the management of the company should understand how crucial this value driver is. This could be a source of long term benefit. Role of Business Leader Visible in the Proposed

Machievelli Biography Essay Example for Free

Machievelli Biography Essay Machiavelli lived during the Renaissance era of the Medieval times. In this time period many concepts and ideas were being reborn, including the Christian faith. He lived during a time period in which the people of the time thought of the Black Plague as a symptom of judgment upon the sinfulness of the land. These same people began to scourge themselves in order to express their sorrow and therefore remove God’s judgment laid upon them. Although Machiavelli lived long after the fall of the Roman Empire, he lived in an Italy that had evolved into a war-torn battleground between the city state dynasties. There were conflicts between the French and Spanish for the control of land. Machiavelli lived in a time of growing political powers and a Christian community that was adapting and changing according to the claims of the Reformers. Machiavelli had a goal: he sought to create a dichotomy between ethical Christianity and the Ethical demands of political rule. The 15th and 16th century world focused on theologically reforming the Church. Many reformers of the time and before Machiavelli’s life, including the 14th century reformer John Wycliffe, wrote on how the papacy of the Church had grown far too powerful. During Machiavelli’s life St. Francis was teaching the commoners about Jesus, and the commoners began relating to Christ. The Church was not only effected by the reformers and the teachings of St. Francis, but it was also effected by itself; it was hurting itself. The church fought against the reformers, condemning them as heretics; the church was threatened by the words of reform. Machiavelli lived among the Christians and like many of the reformers he was seeking a reform between the Church and the State. Essentially, Machiavelli writes to prove that being a moral ruler and a person are two separate ideas, in the case of extreme circumstances and, like Luther, there are two kingdoms independent of each other. Machiavelli probably wouldve been considered a think tank of his time and he believed that a ruler, or anyone may publicly state that they are Christians yet exhibit no real conviction. In the eleventh chapter of The Prince Machiavelli argued that Ecclesiastical principalities were to be desired because the people who inhabited them were governed by their own religious laws. Machiavelli viewed these laws as tools, tools to prevent unruly citizens within the principalities rather than to enforce outside rules. Machiavelli idealizes an idea completely different from the church, that politics is something that deals with facts and not abstracts, that it is a challenge to the notion of both Pope Gregory VII and Pope Innocent III’s â€Å"Divine Right to rule.†3 Machiavelli realized that the divine right to rule theory is nothing but a religious idea that does not work with the present state of man. Machiavelli also understood that human corruption and sin is an unending prob lem that rulers need to deal with. Machiavelli continues by suggesting that being a moral leader does not mean that one is a good leader as good leadership leads to order, stability, and public good. He claimed that when order, stability, and public good are threatened a ruler cannot risk limiting their actions by piety or virtue. Machiavelli believed that morals stood in the way of success, that rulers need to learn how to not be good, and be willing to kill. While the religious leaders saw Machiavelli as non-Christian and destructive, Machiavelli states that leaders need to administer necessary evils in efforts to maintain order and stability within their rule, that humans can be predicted through reason. The Church saw his political agenda as lacking in Christian ethics; however, his political reform lines up with Christian thinkers and with Christian ethics of generosity, compassion, and even the golden rule as we see in Saint Augustine’s and St. Benedict’s writings. An initial consideration of Machiavellis thoughts on generosity, we notice that he believes it is good to be considered a generous person, but that it is dangerous to do so. Although sounding contradictory to Christianity, Machiavellis reasoning lies in the Christian idea of doing the most good for as many people as possible. Machiavelli argues that being generous requires that the ruler imposes new ways of revenue collection and therefore make his subjects hate him and lead to a guarantee that no one will think well of him.1 Machiavelli makes a similar case for compassion, in that it is better to be seen as cruel then it is to be viewed as loving, if necessary. He asserts that as the head of an army a ruler needs to â€Å"be prepared to be thought cruel.† The same Christian idea can be used to explain his argument as before. In the words of Star Trek’s Spock, â€Å"the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few†. Machiavelli states that its more compassionate to impose harshness on a few rather than make use of compassion and risk chaos to take place.2 If we look back to St. Augustine’s The City of God 4 we learn that rulers and people are dominated by their own selfish lust for power, whereas in the City of God, which Luther also makes notions of in his Doctrine of The Two Kingdoms, people serve one another in charity. Under this assumption we see that men do not serve out of charity, but rather serve in a situation of do unto others as you would have done to yourself. Perhaps Machiavelli agreed with this view of Christianity. Machiavelli’s ruler never commits an act that they would not have done to themselves. I think the Machiavellian ruler loves their neighbor as much as themselves. Machiavelli sees the political field as a place for necessary evil. He believes, out of love, that some evil must take place in order to benefit the most people. Machiavelli saw the world he lived in as a two kingdom place, like Luther and St. Augustine did. He viewed human history for what it was, not what it could be; he saw people as evil and sick. Machiavelli’s picture of human history took into account the human equation, that we are sinful and therefore predictable, which he believes will lead to a better understanding of the future.

Tests of Significance: Uses and Limitations

Tests of Significance: Uses and Limitations Abstract Statistical tools are undoubtedly important in decision making. The use of these tools in everyday problems has led to a number of discoveries, conclusions and enhancement of knowledge. This ranges from direct calculations using general statistical formulas to formulas integrated in Statistical software to fasten the process of decision making. Statistical tools for testing hypothesis, significance tests are strong but only if used correctly and in good understanding of their concepts and limitations. Some researchers have indulged into wrong usage of this tests leading to wrong conclusions. This paper looks at the different significance tests (both parametric and non-parametric tests) their uses, when to be used and their limitations. It also evaluates the use of Statistical Significance tests in Information Retrieval and then proceeds to check the different significant tests used by researchers in the papers submitted to Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval (SIGR) in the period 2006, 2007 and 2008. For the combined period 2006-2008, including the years 2006 and 2008, of the papers submitted had statistical tests used and of these tests were used wrongly. Key Words: Significance Test, Information Retrieval, Parametric Tests, Non-parametric Tests, Hypothesis Testing Chapter One 1.0 Introduction Statistical methods play a very important role in all aspects of research, ranging from data collection, recording, analysis, to making conclusions and inferences. The credibility of the research results and conclusions will depend on each and every step mentioned above; any fault made in these steps can render a research carried out for several years, spending millions of shillings to be worthless. This does not mean carrying any test and mincing figures shows that statistics has been used in the given research; the researcher should be able support why he or she used that specific test or method. Misuse of significance test is not new in the world of science. According to Campbell (1974), there are different types of statistical misuse: Discarding unfavorable portion of data This occurs when the researcher selects only a portion of data which produces the results that he/she requires perfectly while discarding the other portion. After a well done research, the researcher might get values that are not consistent to what he/she was expecting. This researcher might decide to ignore this section of data during the analysis so as to get the â€Å"expected results†. This is a wrong take since the inconsistent data could give very new thoughts in that particular field that is if these irregularities are checked and explained why they occurred, more ideas abut that area can be explored.. Overgeneralization Sometimes the conclusions from a research can only work on that particular research problem but the researcher might blindly generalize the results obtained to other kinds of research similar or dissimilar. Overgeneralization is a common mistake in current research activities. A researcher after successfully completing a research on a particular field, he/she might be tempted to make generalizations reached in this research to other fields of study without regarding the different orientations of these different populations and assumptions in them. Non representative sample This arises when the researcher selects a sample which produces results geared towards his/her liking. Sample selected for a particular study should be one that truly represents the entire population. The procedure of selecting the sample units to be used in the study should be done in an unbiased manner. Consciously manipulating data Occurs when a researcher consciously changes the collected data in order to reach a particular conclusion. This is mainly noticed when the researcher knows exactly what the customers aim are, so the researcher changes part of the data so that the aim of that research is covered strongly. For example if a researcher is carrying out a regression analysis and does a scatter plot, if he/she sees that there are many out liers,the researcher might decide to change some values so that the scatter plot appears as a straight line or something very close to that. This act leads to results which are appealing to the customer and the eyes of other user but in real sense does not give a clear indicator of what is really happening in the population at large. 1.0.5 False correlation This is observed when the researcher claims that one factor causes the other while in real sense both two factors are caused by another hidden factor which was not identified during the study. Correlation researches are common in social sciences and sometimes they are not adequately approached, this leads to wanting results. In correlation studies say to check if variable X causes variable Y, in real sense there are four possible things. The first one is that X causes Y,secondly Y causes X, third is X and Y are both caused by another unidentified variable say Z and lastly the correlation between X and Y occurred purely by sheer luck. All these possibilities should be checked while doing these kinds of study to avoid rushing into wrong conclusions. False causality can be eliminated in studies by using two groups for the same experiment that is the â€Å"control group (the one receiving a placebo)† and the â€Å"treatment group (the one receiving the treatment)† . Even though this method is efficient, implementing it raises very many challenges. There are ethical issues like when one patient is given a placebo (effect less drug) without his/her conscious and the other group given the right drug. One question comes to mind; is it ethical to do this to the first group? Carrying out the experiment in parallel for two different groups can also prove to be very expensive. 1.0.6 Overloaded questions. The questions used in survey can really affect the outcome of the survey. The structure of questions in a questionnaires and the method of formulating and asking the questions can influence the manner in which the respondent answers the questions. Long wordy questions in a questionnaire can be too boring to a respondent and he/she might just fill the questionnaire in a hurry so that he/she finishes it but does not really care about the answers that he/she has provided. The framing of questions can also yield leading questions. Some questions will just lead the respondent on what to answer for example â€Å"The government is not offering security to its citizens, do you agree to this? (Yes or No)† Use of statistical significance has been with us for more than 300 years (Huberty, 1993).Despite being used for a long time, this field of decision making is cornered by criticism from all directions, which has led to many researchers writing materials digging into the problems of statistical significance testing. Harlow et. al (1997), discussed the controversy in significance testing in depth. Carver (1993) expressed dislike of significance tests and clearly advocated researchers to stop using them. In his book, How to Lie with Statistics, Huff (1954) outlined errors both intentional and unintentional and misinterpretations made in statistical analyses in depth. Some journals e.g. American Psychological Association (APA) recommended minimum use of statistical significance test by researchers submitting papers for publications (APA, 1996), though not revoking the use of the tests. With the relentless criticism, other researchers have not given up on using statistical significance testing but have clearly encourage users of the tests to have good knowledge in them before making conclusions using them. Mohr (1990) discussed the use of these tests and supported their use but warning researchers to know the limitations of each tests and correct application of the tests so as to make a correct inferences and conclusions. In his paper, Burr (1960) supported the use of statistical significance test but requested researchers to make allowances for existence of statistical errors in the data. Amidst these controversies, statistical significance testing has been applied to many areas of research and remarkable achievements have been recorded. One such area is the information retrieval (IR). Significant tests have been used to compare different algorithms in information retrieval. 1.1.0 Information retrieval Information retrieval is defined as the science of searching databases, World Wide Web and other documents looking for information on a particular subject. In order to get information, the user is required to enter keywords which are to be used for searching, a combination of objects containing the keywords are usually returned from which the user looking for information can single out and pick one which gives him or her the much required information. The user usually progressively refines the search by narrowing down and using specific words. Information retrieval has developed as a highly dynamic and empirical discipline, requiring careful and thorough evaluation to show the superior performance of different new techniques on representative document collections. There are many algorithms for Information Retrieval .It is usually important to measure the performance of different information retrieval systems so as to know which one gives the required information faster. In order to measure information retrieval effectiveness, three test items are required; (i) A collection of documents on which the different retrieval methods will be run on and compared. (ii) A test collection of information needs which are expressible in terms of queries (iii)A collection of â€Å"relevance judgment† that will distinguish on whether the results returned are relevant to the person doing the search or they are irrelevant. A question might arise on which collection of objects to be used in testing different systems. There are several standard test collections used universally, these include; (i) Text Retrieval Conference (TREC). – This a standard collection comprising 6 CDs containing 1.89 million documents (mainly, but not exclusively, newswire articles) and relevance judgments for 450 information needs, which are called topics and specified in detailed text passages. Individual test collections are defined over different subsets of this data. (ii)GOV2-This was developed by The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).It is a 25 paged collection of web pages. (iii) NII Test Collections for IR Systems (NTCIR)-This is also a large test collection focusing mainly on East Asian language and cross-language information retrieval, where queries are made in one language over a document collection containing documents in one or more other languages. (iii) Cross Language Evaluation Forum (CLEF). This Test collection is mainly focused on European languages and cross-language information retrieval. (iv) 20 Newsgroups. This text collection was collected by Ken Lang. It consists of 1000 articles from each of 20 Usenet newsgroups (the newsgroup name being regarded as the category). After the removal of duplicate articles, as it is usually used, it contains 18941 articles. (v) The Cranfield collection. This is the oldest test collection in allowing precise quantitative measures of information retrieval effectiveness, but is nowadays too small for anything but the most elementary pilot experiments. It was collected in the United Kingdom starting in the late 1950s and it contains 1398 abstracts of aerodynamics journal articles, a set of 225 queries, and exhaustive relevance judgments of all (query, document) pairs. There exist several methods of measuring the performance of retrieval systems namely; Precision, Recall, Fall-Out, E-measure and F-measure just to mention a few since researchers are coming up with other new methods. A brief description of each method will shade some light. 1.1.1 Recall Recall in information retrieval is defined as the number of relevant documents returned from a search divided by the total number of documents that can be retrieved from a database. Recall can also be looked at as evaluating how well the method that is being used to retrieve information gets the required information. Letbe the set of all retrieved objects andbe the set of all relevant objects then, Recall(1.1) As an example, if a database contains 500 documents, out of which 100 contain relevant information required by a researcher, the complement ,number of documents not required = 400. If the researcher uses a system to search for the documents in this database and it return 100 documents of which all of them are relevant to the researcher, then the recall is given by: Recall Supposed that out of 120 returned documents, 30 are irrelevant, then the recall would be given by Recall 1.1.2 Precision Precision is defined as the number of relevant documents retrieved from the system over the total number of documents retrieved in that search. It valuates how well the method being used to retrieve information filters the unwanted information. Letbe the set of all retrieved objects andbe the set of all relevant objects then, Precision(1.2) As an example, if a database contains 500 documents, out of which 100 contain relevant information required by a researcher, the complement ,number of documents not required = 400. If the researcher uses a system to search for the documents in this database and it returns 100 documents of which all of them are relevant to the researcher, then the precision is given by: Precision Supposed that out of 120 returned documents, 30 are irrelevant, then the precision would be given by Precision Both precision and recall are based on one term; Relevance Oxford dictionary defines relevance as â€Å"connected to the issue being discussed†. Yolanda Jones (2004) identified three types of relevance, namely; Subject relevance which is the connection between the subject submitted via a query and subject covered by returned texts. Situational relevance: connection between the situation being considered and texts returned by database system. Motivational relevance: connection between the motivations of a researcher and texts returned by database system. There are two measures of relevance; Novelty Ratio: This refers to the proportion of items returned from a search and acknowledged by the user as being relevant, of which they were previously unaware of. Coverage Ratio: This refers to the proportion of items returned from a search out of the total relevant documents that the user was aware of before he/she started the search. Precision and recall affect each other i.e. increase in recall value decreases precision value. If one increases a system’s ability to retrieve more documents, this implies increasing recall, this will have a drawback since the system will also be retrieving more irrelevant documents hence reducing the precision of that system. This means that a trade-off is required in these two measures so as to ensure better search results. Precision and recall measures make use of the following assumptions They make the assumption that either a system returns a document or doesn’t. They make the assumption that either the document is relevant or not relevant, nothing in between. New methods are being introduced by researchers which rank the degree of relevance of the documents. 1.1. 3 Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) Curve This is the plot of the true positive rate or sensitivity against the false positive rate or (1 − specificity).Sensitivity is just another term for recall. The false positive rate is given by. An ROC curve always goes from the bottom left to the top right of the graph. For a good system, the graph climbs steeply on the left side. For unranked result sets, specificity, given bywas not seen as a very useful idea. Because the set of true negatives is always so large, its value would be almost 1 for all information needs (and, correspondingly, the value of the false positive rate would be almost 0). 1.1.4 F-measure and E-measure This is defined as the weighted harmonic mean of the recall and precision. Numerically, it is defined as (1.3) Whereis the weight. Ifis assumed to be 1, then (1.4) The E-measure is given by(1.5) E –measure has a maximum value of 1.0, 1.0 being the best. 1.1.5 Fall-Out This is defined as the proportion of irrelevant documents that are returned in a search out of all the possible irrelevant documents. Fall out(1.6) It can also be defined as the probability of a system retrieving an irrelevant document. These are just a few methods of measuring performance of search systems. Then after looking after one system, there arise a problem of comparing two systems or algorithms, that is, is this system better than the other one? To answer this question, scientist in Information retrieval use statistical significance tests to do the comparisons in order to establish if the difference in systems performance are not by chance. These tests are used to confirm beyond doubt that one system is better than another. Statement of the problem Statistical inference tools like statistical significance tests are important in decision making. Their use has been on the rise in different areas of research. With their rise, novel users make use of these tools but in questionable manners. There are many researchers who do not understand the basic concepts in statistics leading to misuse of the tools. Any conclusions reached from a research might be termed bogus if the statistical tests used in it are shoddy. More light needs to be shade in this area of research to ensure correct use of these tests. Researchers in Information Retrieval also use these tests to compare systems and algorithms, are the conclusions from these tests truly correct? Are there any other ways of comparison which minimize the use of statistical tests? Objectives of the study The objectives of this study are: Investigate use and misuse of statistical significance tests in scientific papers submitted by researchers to SIGIR. Shade light on different statistical significance tests their use, assumptions and limitations. Identify the most important statistical concepts that can provide solutions to the problems of statistical significance in scientific papers submitted by researchers to SIGIR. Investigate the reality of the problems of statistical significance in scientific papers submitted by researchers to SIGIR. Investigate the use of statistical significant tests used by researchers in Information Retrieval Discover the availability of statistical concepts and methods that can provide solutions to the problems of statistical significance in scientific papers submitted by researchers to SIGIR Chapter Two This section of this paper has been divided into three major parts, the sample selection and sample size choosing which will discusses methods of selecting a sample and the size of the sample to be used in a given research, the second part deals with statistical analysis methods and procedures, mainly in significance testing and the third part discusses other statistical methods that can be used in place of statistical significance test. 2.0 Sample Selection and Sample Size 2.0.1 Sample selection Sampling plays a major role in research, according to Cochran (1977), sampling is the process of selecting a portion of the population and using the information derived from this portion to make inferences about the entire population. Sampling has several advantages, namely; (i)Reduced cost For example it is very expensive to carry out a census than just collecting information from a small portion of the population. This is because only a small number of measures will be made so only a few people will be hired to do the job compared to complete census which will require a large labor force. (ii)Greater speed during the process(less time) Since only a few people will be used or rather only a few items will be measured, the time for doing the measurement will be reduced and also summarization of the data will be quick as opposed to when measures are taken for the whole population. (iii)Greater accuracy Since only a few people will be considered in the process, the researchers will be very thorough as compared to the entire population which will see the researchers get tired in the middle of the process leading to lousy collection of data and shoddy analysis. The choice of the sampling units in a given research may affect the credibility of the whole research. The researcher must make sure that the sample being used is not biased, that is it represents the whole population. There are several methods of selecting samples to be used in a study. A researcher should always make sure that the sample drawn is large enough to be a representative of the population as a whole and at the same time manageable. In this section the two major types of sampling, random and non-random, will be examined. 2.0.1.1 Random sampling In random sampling, all the items or individuals in the population have equal chances of being selected into the sample. This procedure ensures that no bias is introduced during the selection of sample units since a n items selection will be only by chance and will not depend on the person assigned with the duty of coming up with the sample. There exist five major random sampling techniques, namely; simple random sampling, multi-stage sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling and systematic sampling. The following section discusses each of these. 2.0.1.1.1 Simple random sampling In simple random sampling, each item in the population has the same and equal chance of being included in the sample. Usually each sampling unit is assigned a unique number and then numbers are generated using a random number generator and a sampling unit is included in the sample if its corresponding number is generated from the random number generator. One advantage attributed to simple random sampling is its simplicity and ease in application when dealing with small populations. Every entity in the population has to be enlisted and given a unique number then their respective random numbers be read. This makes this method of sampling very tedious and cumbersome especially where large populations are involved. 2.0.1.1.2 Stratified sampling In stratified random sampling, the entire population is first divided into N disjoint subpopulations .Each sampling unit belongs to one and only one sub population. These sub populations are called strata, they might be of different sizes and they are homogenous within the strata and each stratum completely differs with the other strata. It is from these strata that samples are drawn for a particular study. Examples of strata that are commonly used include States, provinces, Age and Sex, religion, academic ability or marital status etc. Stratification is most useful when the stratifying variables are simple to work with, easy to observe and closely related to the topic of the survey (Sheskin, 1997). Stratification can be used to select more of one group than another. This may be done if it is felt that the responses obtained vary in one group than another. So, if the researcher knows that every entity in each group has much the same value, he/she will only need a small sample to get information for that group; whereas in another group, the values may differ widely and a bigger sample is needed. If you want to combine group level information to get an answer for the whole population, you have to take account of what proportion you selected from each group. This method is mainly used when information is required for only a particular subdivision of the population, administrative convenience is an issue and the sampling problems differ greatly in different portions of the population of study. 2.0.1.1.3 Systematic sampling Systematic sampling is quite different from the other methods of sampling, supposed the population contains N units and a sample of n units is required, a random number is generated using the random number generator, call it k, then a unit(represented as a number) is drown from the sample then the researcher picks every kth unit thereafter. Consider the example that k is 20 and the first unit that is drawn is 5, the subsequent units will be 25,45,65,85 and so on. The implication of this method is that the selection of the whole sample will be determined by only the first item since the rest will be obtained sequentially. This type is called an every kth systematic sample. This technique can also be used when questioning people in a sample survey. A researcher might select every 15th person who enters a particular store, after selecting a person at random as a starting point; or interview the shopkeepers of every 3rd shop in a street, after selecting a starting shop at random. It may be that a researcher wants to select a fixed size sample. In this case, it is first necessary to know the whole population size from which the sample is being selected. The appropriate sampling interval, I, is then calculated by dividing population size, N, by required sample size, n. This method is advantageous since it is easy and it is more precise than simple random sampling. Also it is simpler in systematic sampling to select one random number and then every kth member on the list, than to select as many random numbers as sample size. It also gives a good spread right across the population. A disadvantage is that the researcher may be forced to have a starting list if he/she wishes to know the sample size and calculate the sampling interval. 2.0.1.1.4 Cluster sampling The Austarlian Bureau of Statistics insinuates that cluster sampling divides the population into groups, or clusters. A number of clusters are selected randomly to represent the population, and then all units within selected clusters are included in the sample. No units from non-selected clusters are included in the sample. They are represented by those from selected clusters. This differs from stratified sampling, where some units are selected from each group. The clusters are heterogeneous within each cluster (that is the sampling units inside a cluster vary from each other completely) and each cluster looks alike with the other clusters. Cluster sampling has several advantages which include reduced costs, simplified field work and administration is more convenient. Instead of having a sample scattered over the entire coverage region, the sample is more concentrated in relatively few collection points (clusters). Cluster sampling provides results that are less accurate compared to stratified random sampling. 2.0.1.1.5 Multi-stage sampling Multi-stage sampling is like cluster sampling, but involves selecting a sample within each chosen cluster, rather than including all units in the cluster. The Australian Bureau of Statistics postulates that multi-stage sampling involves selecting a sample in at least two stages. In the first stage, large groups or clusters are selected. These clusters are designed to contain more population units than are required for the final sample. In the second stage, population units are chosen from selected clusters to derive a final sample. If more than two stages are used, the process of choosing population units within clusters continues until the final sample is achieved. If two stages are used then it will be called a two stage sampling, if three stages are used it will be called a three stage sampling and so on. 2.0.2 Determination of sample size to be used 2.1 Statistical Analysis In this section, different statistical tests are discussed in details in their general form, then move to discussed how each of them(the ones used in IR) are applied to information retrieval. Only some of these tests are used to compare systems or/and algorithms. In this paper we look at three sections of statistical analysis, namely: (i) Summarizing data using a single value. (ii) Summarizing variability. (iii) Summarizing data using an interval (no specific value) In the first case, we have the mean, mode, median etc and in the second case, we look at variability in the data and in the third case we look at the confidence intervals, parametric and nonparametric tests of hypothesis testing 2.1.1 Summarizing data using a single value In this case, the data being analyzed is represented by a single value, example for this scenario are discussed below: 2.1.1.1 Mean There are three different kinds of mean: (i)Arithmetic mean (ii)Geometric Mean (iii)Harmonic mean (i) Arithmetic mean This is computed by summing all the observations then dividing by the number of observations that you have collected. Letbe n observations of a random variable X. The arithmetic mean is defined as Arithmetic mean When to use the arithmetic mean The arithmetic mean is used when: When the collected data is a numeric observation. When the data has only one mode (uni-modal) When the data is not skewed i.e. not concentrated to extreme values. When the data does not have many outliers (very extreme values) The arithmetic mean is not used when: You have categorical data When the data is extremely skewed. (ii) Geometric mean This is defined as the product of the observations, everything raised to power of, usually n. Letbe n observations of a random variable X. The geometric mean is defined as Geometric mean The Geometric mean is used when: The observations are numeric. The item that we are interested in is the product of the observations. (iii) Harmonic mean This is defined as the number of observations divide be the sum of reciprocals of the observations. Letbe n observations of a random variable X. The harmonic mean is defined as Harmonic mean The Harmonic mean is used when: The average can be justified for the reciprocal of the observations. 2.1.1.2 Median This is defined as the middle value of the observations. The observations are first arranged in ascending or descending order then the middle value is taken as the median. The median is used when: When the observations are skewed. The observations have a single mode. The observations are numerical. The median is not used when: We are interested in the total value. 2.1.1.3 Mode This is defined as the largest value in the given dataset or the value that has the highest frequency of occurrence. The mode is used when: The dataset is categorical. The dataset is both numeric and multimodal. 2.1.2 Summarizing variability Variability in a data can be summarized using the following measures: 2.1.2.1 Sample variance Letbe n observations of a random variable X, then the Sample variance, is given by The standard deviation is used when: The data is normally distributed. 2.1.2.2 The C

Dreams in Death of a Salesman. Essay -- English Literature

Dreams in Death of a Salesman. In this essay I’m going to consider Arthur Miller’s perception of dreams, particularly the American Dream. Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman" is a detailed review on the capitalist American society of the 1940s and also on human psychology and how much materialistic success means to us. He uses the misfortunes of a salesman named Willy Loman to illustrate this. Miller introduces the Loman family in a depressing mood (dim lighting is used and shows a house that has "towering, angular shapes" surrounding it and with little furniture). This immediately gives the audience a glum feeling about the play. The Loman family is a very stereotypical American family, with the father, Willy, working all day, a loving mother, Linda, and two children, Biff and Happy. As the play develops however, we learn more and more about the real tragedy of the family. Willy believes in the American dream. It was very influential in the American society of the 1940s and still is to some people, today. But only a few people have benefited from it. The American dream is based on the idea that as long as someone works hard, they will achieve great success no matter what their sex, age, nationality is. As the audience learn about the Loman family's poor financial situation, it becomes clear that Willy is a victim of the American dream. Willy's failure in leading a rich or even just a comfortable life is very apparent. He complains about his work and struggles to pay his bills. He is also frequently shown in a state of depression, he cannot concentrate when driving; he is still working at his old age and is struggling to bring in a steady income. His unstable mind makes him contradict himself in th... ...fridge fails. Arthur Miller seems to see her, not Ben, as the real hero of the play. This is reflected in the gentle respect he gives to her in his writing. This play is a strong message against the principle of the "American Dream". Willy Loman is constantly striving to achieve the dream, but drives himself crazy. Biff seems to be the only character in the Loman family that is able to set himself aside from this dream, wanting only to be happy - his own man. Although I believe dreams to be an important, if not essential part of life, I also believe that contentment is far more important. If you cannot be happy with what you have, you cannot possibly hope to be happy with what you wish for. Willy Loman dreams of becoming a great man, dreams of the great man he was and dreams of the great man Biff can be, he just fails to realise that they are great men.

Huxley’s Human’s Shortcomings of Analysis :: Huxley Hyperion Satyr Essays

Huxley’s Human’s Shortcomings of Analysis Aldous Huxley’s "Hyperion to a Satyr" makes outlandish use of overclarification and unnecessary dramatics to draw ahilarious portrait of the human struggle against its intrinsic nature.His comparison of the techniques, successful and failed, used by human beings to physically dispose of and psychologically deal with the problemof humanwaste, exposes a universality of human thought, emotion, and solution.Thevarious ideologies queried and explained serve to instill within thereadera unifying perspective of mankind, rather than a dividing one. Thisis anincredibly significant point, considering the difficulties encounteredbythe general individual who desires to know the past beyond simple eventsandoutcomes. By contrastingthis property of human analysis against Huxley’sdescriptions of theclasses and their relations, a greater sense of theperspectivenecessary todiscern and fathom our world is gained. The essay consists of an opening retelling of the events concerning a walk on the beach with Thomas Mann, which hethen transitions into discussions on dirt, philosophical perspective, breath,fecal matter, animalistic nature, urbanism, chemical methods, symbolization,slavery and class distinction, political systems, and religion. In general,theseare all related to specific time periods or societies, and the troublesencountered and solutions embarked upon by those who were limited by perspective.Huxley repeatedly reminds the reader of his/her own limitations of perspectivethat must be as well inherently present by the inclusion of unrelated examples of futuristic prediction, or in some cases, futuristic ‘damnation’. Thistemporal mode of analysis is the relevant context the essay must ultimately be viewed in. By describing the various elementsof subject matter far beyond what would be the necessity of reader understanding, Huxley turns an otherwise historical pursuit to an intellectual one. Theissue of human excrement, filth, symbolization, solution, etc. is doubtlessoften dealt with in sociological and cultural studies, but Huxley’s technique of using this problem as a vehicle into the ancient and modern mind isunique. This is why the paper must be viewed in terms of a greater picturethan the individual events described. The methodology to be used takesgreatest use of Huxley’s demonstrations of contrast, and is therefore focusedonthe shifts and variances of perspective. This is often broght aboutin situations where he alternately raises the most miniscule of detailsto the highest pedestal and dismisses the giants of philosophy in commonlists. The purpose of this is to even the bias of time, or essentiallyto provide the reader with a firm grasp of the notion that all gre at thoughtis still limited by environment.

The Human Genome Project Debate :: Science Technology Genetics Papers

The Human Genome Project Debate The Human Genome Project is a 15 year, 3 billion dollar venture whose goals involve identifying the 80,000 genes in human DNA and determining the sequences of the 3 billion chemical bases that make up human DNA. Genes are made up of a threadlike material called DNA. DNA contains four main ingredients, which are called bases. A single gene may contain thousands of bases, so the Human Genome Project (HGP) is not any easy task. First, scientists have to go into the cells nucleus, where the DNA is located. Here the DNA is tightly coiled, so researchers have to uncoil it and then examine the DNA and write down the order of the bases. The order is extremely important because it underlies life's diversity. The ultimate objective of the HGP is to create a directory of the genes that can be used to answer questions such as what specific genes do and how they work. Once all the genes are examined, and their bases described, researchers have to translate what their order means. A genome is the entire DNA in an organism, including its expressed genes. These genes carry the codes for making all the proteins the organism requires. These proteins determine everything from how the organism looks to how it behaves. The HGP has been progressing very rapidly. Because of its rapid success, a new set of goals were arranged for the 1998-2003 year period. The first goal is to complete the sequencing of the human genome and to make it publicly available to researchers so they can all work together to better the human condition. Included in this goal is to improve technology so that there is a more efficient way of sequencing DNA. Advancing technology includes decreasing the cost of current technology, funding for new technology, and effective review methods for implementing advanced technology development. Variations in human genomes include the most common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP's), deletions, insertions, and duplications. One goal of the HGP is to gain a better understanding of the types and frequencies of these variations and their possible functional purpose. Mapping SNP's will aid in researching conditions such as cancer and mental retardation. These maps may also be applicable in identifying genes that contribute to increasing disease risk. Another major goal of the HGP is determining the functions of genes. Once the complete genome sequence is discovered, the interpretation of the sequence still needs to be done.

Plantation and Oral Tradition in Margaret Walker’s Jubilee Essay

Margaret Walker’s novel Jubilee focuses on the life of a slave girl by the name of Vyry who gains her freedom at the end of the Civil War and sets out with her children, Minna and Jim, and husband, Innis Brown, to make a new life for their family in the Reconstruction Period. Walker’s awareness of the southern plantation tradition is made clear throughout Jubilee in the way that she debunks the negative tropes placed on the shoulders of African Americans by the nostalgic white writers of the South; Walker also incorporates her knowledge of black oral tradition by way of small snippets of text on every page which marks the start of a new chapter in the text. The first section of Jubilee covers the antebellum years, before the Civil War ripped the southern United States apart. Traditionally, a plantation narrative is narrated from the perspective of a slave, frequently portrayed as â€Å"happier and better off under slavery than they would be if they were free† and established the stereotypical â€Å"happy darky† (Campbell). â€Å"The happy-go-lucky darky images of the antebellum South could be contrasted favorably to the images of impoverished, potentially dangerous blacks of post-Reconstruction.† (Warren, 119).Walker fractures this trope by incorporating her ancestors’ harsh treatment on a real plantation. The plantation tradition has the enslaved narrator holding the plantation in high esteem, as if it were a golden utopia, when in reality slaves face inevitable punishment and death; they are neither happy nor enjoying the treatment delivered to them by their masters. Walker shows this through the story arc of Lucy, one of Master John’s slaves and friend of Vyry. Lucy tries to escape, but is caught and branded with an â€Å"R† on her face for â€Å"runaway.† Determined to take her freedom into her own hands, she learns to cover her mark with makeup, â€Å"a mixture of yellow ochre, red clay, and charcoal, until it had blended into her skin† (Walker, 127). Lucy runs away again, and is successful in reaching the free North. Even when slaves do stay on the plantation and follow orders, they are still vulnerable to abuse from their overseers. Plantation tradition usually upholds the Master’s orders in a place of highest priority, another trope that Walker breaks in Jubilee. Shortly after Lucy ran away the second time, Master John had â€Å"plainly told [Uncle Plato and Uncle Esau] and Mr. Grimes that they were not to go into the fields anymore† (Walker, 132) because they  were too old for that kind of hard labor. Grimes, the overseer, went against Master John’s decision again and ordered them both back out into the fields. â€Å"In less than an hour in the blazing sun the two old men had collapsed in the fields, overcome by the heat and unaccustomed exertion† (Walker, 133). Uncle Plato and Uncle Esau took refuge in an abandoned slave cabin that was burned down while the two men were sleeping. â€Å"There was a big mix-up over whether [Grimes] actually ordered his guards to burn that particular house or another† (Walker, 134), but Master John and the rest of the slaves did not believe that it was an accident. After these usurpations and his wife Salina’s casual brushing-off of Master John’s claim to authority on the plantation, Caline observes that â€Å"his say-so don’t amount to nothing† (Walker, 136). Margaret Walker’s use of the black oral tradition crops up throughout Jubilee in the way she incorporates spirituals, sayings, prayers, and hymns into the beginning page of each chapter. One of the main purposes of oral tradition is to pass down the history of the race, since there were no written history books for their culture. â€Å"The oral tradition of the African societies and the necessity for oral traditions as a result of the slave system has helped the Black culture survive† (Staggers). History books talk of slaves singing spirituals and hymns in the fields as a way to boost morale, and it was common practice, even enforced by law, for slaveholders to not grant their slaves an education, resulting in a slave’s inability to read and write. Walker uses snippets from such songs or texts to foreshadow the theme or struggle of their respective chapters. When Brother Zeke first speaks of God sending them a Moses, that chapter’s quote is â€Å"When Israel was in Egypt’s land / let my people go / Oppress’d so hard they could not stand / let my people go† (Walker, 18). Walker would also write Aunt Sally singing when she was working in the kitchens of the Big House. â€Å"When Aunt Sally was deeply troubled, she opened her mouth and raised a real wailing song over he r cooking† (Walker, 71). If slaves ever spoke out against their masters, they would face extremely harsh punishment and perhaps even death. Most of the people in the Big House would not recognize the singing as Aunt Sally expressing her discontent, but rather see it as just making noise. The oral tradition offers a freedom of expression that is disregarded and seldom if ever over-analyzed by the white oppressors they were singing out against. Through these songs and prayers igniting each new chapter of the rise and  fall of the Confederacy through Vyry’s eyes, and the destruction of the tropes distorting the harsh reality of slavery throughout the entirety of Jubilee, Margaret Walker creates an accurate and emotional story that proves her knowledge of the literary traditions surrounding the truth of her ancestors that southern writer after writer in the Reconstruction Period had strived to suppress. Works Cited 1. Campbell, Donna M. â€Å"The Plantation Tradition in Local Color Fiction. â€Å"Literary Movements. Dept. of English, Washington State University. 07/04/2013. Web. 09/03/2013. 2. Staggers, Gail. â€Å"Talkin’ Loud: Black Oral Tradition.† Yale-New Haven Teachers’ Institute. Web. 09/04/2013. 3. Walker, Margaret. â€Å"Jubilee.† New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1966. Print. 4. Warren, Kenneth W. â€Å"Black and White Strangers: Race and American Literary Realism.† Black Literature and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1995. Print.

Lord of the Flies: Examine Goldings methods of writing in the last three paragraphs of Chapter Nine

The end of chapter 9 is very different to the rest of the novel, both in the style it is written and in what Golding is trying to portray about human nature. My first impressions of this extract are how different Golding's style of writing is; he is much more poetic, mythical way â€Å"the clear water mirrored the clear sky†. The rest of the novel is written in much more of a matter-of-fact style, through the eyes of one of the other boys, however still in third person. The way he uses adjectives such as â€Å"inaudible† create a sense of calmness and silence, which is a harsh contrast to the killing scene just before â€Å"the noise was unendurable†. This is perhaps to represent the calm, quiet spirituality of Simon's nature, and show how he is a million miles away from the other boys, who made so much noise. It could also represent the fact that Simon is now alone, both physically and metaphorically as he is the only one who knows the truth. Golding also creates an almost superhuman element to Simon, making Simon godlike or giving him the air of a Saint; â€Å"†¦dressed Simon's course hair with brightness†. This is interesting as it is something he was made a point of not doing elsewhere in the novel. He has made a point of showing how fragile human nature is- â€Å"Ralph, cradling the conch, rocked to and fro†, here showing Ralph's emotional breakdown after participating in a murder, and shown the other boys to have regressed to become subhuman â€Å"savages†, in opposition to Simon becoming almost angelic. Throughout the novel Golding has also used the island as a microcosm of the ‘real world', and towards the end of the extract he goes against this idea and describes the world beyond in great detail â€Å"itself a silver shape beneath the steadfast constellations†. I think the fact he describes this in so much detail is important, he is clearly trying to make a point of it: the fact the death of Simon is such a huge human tragedy, but yet when compared to the enormity of the natural world it pales in insignificance. Even though the novel at first seems pessimistic, and hard to believe the author was a Christian, I disagree. When Golding writes â€Å"Simon's dead body moved out to sea†, I think he is showing that amongst all the injustices in the world, those with faith and spirituality (as I think Simon is meant to represent the spiritual aspect of human nature) will go to a better place away from the horror of the world. I think the novel perhaps has a subtle underlying Christian message. You can see throughout that Golding has been very crafting in how he uses techniques to explain the importance of Simon's death in the novel, and the important differences between Simon and the other boys, and the fact Simon has not turned savage. The language he has used to show this is not typical of the rest of the novel however the symbolism is.

Compare/Contrast two friends Essay

In this world we need to know and to make a difference between a good friend and a bad friend. In this world we see the friends are useful, helpful, and happiness. Per person point of view; for example, people are like to make friends, and some their do not like to make a friend who are solitary of the people. First, friends are teaching us in this world, and we need who trusts their in our life. We have to talked to our friends who are we comfortable with and talk a privately that is a wonderful friends, and he keeps everything in his life without talking out. A greet friends are always together whatever times and they are one hand, which is mean lovely, helpful, and greatness to find them. On other hand, we know some people have a bad personally. They we have to keep way from us. They who makes us a bad gay, useless, unhappy, dangerous, and always their have a trouble; whatever times, a bad friends have dangerous idea and they are a big different between a greet friends and a bad friends. We have to call them enemy because they are usually make us in troubles and they do not have anything to trust in this world. Also, if we have to compare between a abusive friends and a good friends, we find a lot of difference and they are dissimilar because the a good friends always honest with themselves and a bad friends take you to dangerous way and they are lying with themselves. To sum up, compare from a good friends are difficult, but it is not difficult between a bad friends and a useful friends. In my opinion, in this world we need to experience with friends until we have to find a greet friends that can makes us happiness, trust, and comfortable with ourselves.

Learning Theories and Instructional Design Essay

This article discusses the principles of adult learning theory. More specifically, Kimbarow relates adult learning theory to effective methodologies that can be employed in treating patients with aphasia. For Kimbarow, the major principles of adult learning theory are the ability to recognize that adults are self-directed individuals and that it is essential for instruction to be prepared such that it is culturally and socially sensitive in meeting the needs of the learner. Kimbarow also discusses the life participation approach, or LPAA. The life participation approach emphasizes the role of the patients’ overall quality of life in the care that the patient receives. This complements the adult learning theory as it further emphasizes the impact that patient involvement has in the treatment and planning of activity programs. The study offered these recommendations: A patient will have a better quality of life if the patient plays an active role in the planning of their course of treatment and if the instruction meets their cultural and social needs. By recognizing and planning instruction in this manner, the instructor will be successful in preparing activities that meet the needs of the adult patient. Review: This is an interesting and current article for those who want to explore the premise of adult learning theory. However, the article is limiting in its discussion of adult learning theory as it relates only to aphasia patients. The article would be more effective if it contained further discussion into the effectiveness of adult learning theory to patients or students with other conditions or in other learning environments. Lee, D. , Belifore, P. , Budin, S. (2008). Riding the Wave. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40(3), 65-70. Summary: In their article, Lee, Belifore and Budin discuss the importance of differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all students in the classroom begins with the planning process. The authors’ recognized that different teachers plan and deliver lesson plans in different ways. However, they recognize that the types of lesson plans utilized and implemented by classroom teachers can impact the way that the information in the lesson is disseminated to the students. The study offered these recommendations: According to the authors’, reducing student punishment should result in an increase in student accountability and responsibility. â€Å"High probability request sequences are positive interventions improve student compliance through increased student workload and the removal of negative consequences: (Lee, Belifore and Budin, 2008). It also creates an environment of problem solving, whereas students are accountable for their work no matter what. In doing this, the punishment for not turning in work does not result in a failed grade. Review: The article is an important tool for those individuals seeking an interesting perspective in the need for differentiating instruction. At the same time, the article offers an innovative perspective on the role of consequences in the education system. The recommendations made by the authors’ are best suited for the traditional classroom setting. Felder, R. M. , & Brent, R. (2005). Understanding student differences. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 57-72 Summary: In their article, Felder and Brent discuss the different learning styles that must be taken into consideration in the development of course curriculum and evaluation methods. As the authors’ describe, these various methods are used to assess student understanding of subject material. Felder and Brent point out that students in the classroom setting tend to be very diverse in culture and have different levels of motivation to learn. The study offered these recommendations: Because students have different attitudes towards their instructor as well as other students, instruction must be designed to respond to the different â€Å"attitudes about teaching and learning, and different response to specific classroom environments and instructional practices† (Felder & Brent, 2005). Due to this, the instructor should understand learning differences to facilitate, structure, and validate successful learning. Review: The study offers an important perspective as to the diverse needs of individuals in the classroom setting. The study would be more effective if it made specific recommendations as to instructional design modifications that can be used to reach out to students in the learning environment. The article encourages further reading and investigation into the subject that can only better the instructor in planning instructor to meet the needs of students.

Understanding of operations in the hospitality sector Essay

Understanding of operations in the hospitality sector - Essay Example In this regard, companies such as Hilton Hotels & Resorts Corporation have emerged as major investors in the London market. Essentially, the Hilton Hotels & Resorts company has been one of the most successive companies in the hospitality sector in the London market. The company has established its operation bases in various locations across London. An analysis of the company’s success history reveals that it has gone through a strategic developmental process. This study focuses to evaluate the performance of Hilton Hotels and Resorts Corporation and providing an overview of the company’s areas of improvement as well as the appropriate course of action that can be employed to solve some of challenges facing the corporation. The company has shown remarkable performance in London. The number of people visiting the company’s establishments in London has been increasing from time to time. The outstanding performance of the company can be attributed to the effective use of the modern technology and employment of competent workers. The corporation  has realized  the need for incorporating the modern technology in all of its establishment. Most services of the company have been computerized to enhance efficiency and timely delivery. In essence, customers visiting any of the company’s establishments are assured of quality services and satisfaction. The company has established effective websites where customers can get any information regarding the various establishment. In addition to official websites, the company has ventured into the social media for advertisements and interaction with customers. In this regard, the customer services have been made more accessible and efficient. Apparently, the company has established reliable online payment and booking platforms. In this regard, customers can book and pay for accommodation form any part of the world. Therefore,

Business Plan #3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Plan #3 - Essay Example In this kind of environment where employees are motivated, there is increased productivity, more inventions and creativity within the company, staff’s potential is unleashed as they can freely express their opinions and views and ensure that they have been taken seriously. Employees can change their negative attitude about the work and start working in a positive way. When employees are motivated, they have got the urge to stay longer at the organization instead of resigning. Motivated workers will hardly miss at the workstation and will not go for absenteeism as compared to demoralized workers. It is through motivation that the managers will improve the standard of weak performers in the organization. They will closely monitor their work; try to find if the underperforming staffs understands the job description they are doing. After this analysis, the manager will come out with the conclusion that best suites each staff. Managers have a responsibility of challenging their staff to achieve the best. This mechanism makes them as leaders, and role models to their juniors. When managers assign leadership roles to their juniors it really motivates them, and they have a desire to be like their managers and this really helps them to be confident at the workplace. Organizations where employees are allowed to have fun and organize retreats for themselves helps to break the monotony of the work and gives them to rejuvenate themselves. For example, inter - departmental parties, retreats or activities that bonds the staff to work as a family rather than more of workplace. It is important for senior staff to applause the efforts of their juniors. Through this, the junior staff feels appreciated and recognized. Applauding their efforts means they are rewarded by promotions or gifts. In a business setting, for example, in an audit firm, your staff will be mostly accountants. Due

Individual Critica Essay - Strategic Analysis of an Organisation

Individual Critica - Strategic Analysis of an Organisation - Essay Example Here, the researcher will conduct PESTLE analysis in order to understand how external factors are shaping Network Rail’s strategic initiatives. Based upon pertinent internal and external pressures on Network Rail, the paper has selected corporate social responsibility (CSR) as key strategic issue to be discussed. In the main discussion, the paper will review strategic initiatives being taken by Network Rail in order to address corporate social responsibility issue. In context to corporate social responsibility, the paper will analyze issues regarding nature of the emerging stakeholder, tensions and challenges within Network Rail and pertinent industry. Strategies of Network Rail to address corporate social responsibility issue will be addressed from leadership or change perspective will be analyzed to understand effectiveness of strategy of Network Rail. Before going into main discussion, the essay will shed light on business matrix of Network Rail in order to create backgroun d for further discussion. Network Rail Ltd uses the trade name of Network Rail and the company has multiple subsidiary companies. The company is headquartered at London, United Kingdom and was established in the year 2002 (Network Rail, 2014). Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd works as subsidiary of Network Rail and the subsidiary operates and owns rail infrastructure across different cities in UK. However, Network Rail does not operate underground railway track or railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland (Network Rail, 2014). From structural perspective, Network Rail Ltd works as a statutory corporation, which can be classified as "not for dividend" private company (Network Rail, 2014). As a result, Network Rail Ltd neither has shareholders nor is it controlled by any particular owner. The company is vulnerable to government ownership as well as intervention, due to absence of legal owners. During 2012, Network Rail announced

Stephenie Meyer - Author Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stephenie Meyer - Author - Essay Example With no prior writing experience it is quite a miracle that she managed to enthrall her readers with her creativity. Meyer graduated in English Literature but that did not provide her a great platform to start writing, prior to writing the series she worked as a receptionist and had no firsthand experience of writing.â€Å"Stephenie born in Connecticut in 1973. Her family was settled in Phoenix by the time she was four. The unusual spelling of her name came from her father, Stephen ( + ie). Stephenie went to high school in Scottsdale, Arizona.† (Stephenie Meyer) The most fascinating thing about the story is that it was her dream which was later transformed into a full blown story; she started penning down the story for her own enjoyment but her sister after having read the story forced her to send it to various publication houses in the US. â€Å"Though I have had my name spelled wrong on pretty much everything my entire life long, I must admit that it makes it easier to google myself now.† (Stephenie Meyer) Her creativity known no bounds and this is why she is rich, famous and oozing with

Global civ. (Guns, Germs, and Steel) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global civ. (Guns, Germs, and Steel) - Essay Example Basically, Diamond argues that those humans who moved out to areas that were ecologically and geographically favorable for food production became advantaged. Instead of spending all their lives hunting animals and gathering fruits from the wild, they practiced agriculture and domesticated animals. More food could be obtained faster by engaging in agriculture than in hunting and gathering thus creating enough time for other things. According to Diamond, this extra time obtained was used in inventing the things that he views to be the proximate causes of the inequality witnessed today. Consequently, these proximate factors helped these societies to come up with political organizations and later on facilitated the conquering and taking over of other societies. The ultimate argument that Diamond presents is that ecology and geography determined the fate of societies. He notes that initially all human beings were hunters and gatherers. Hunting animals and gathering food from the forest was not very productive and very little was obtained. The result of this was spending so much time in searching for food. Basically, Diamond argues that people’s lives circulated around looking for food to eat and doing nothing else. When people started to move from Africa to other continent this situation changed in some places. The author notes that some regions were fertile and could support agriculture. With the emergence of agriculture, food production increased greatly and surplus was created. Animals were also domesticated (Diamond 83). For the first time people could focus on other things apart from just looking for food. But this only happened in those areas that were geographically and ecologically favorable for agriculture. The surplus time which had been created was used to invent other things which the author views to be the proximate causes of the

Module 2 Case Assignment Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Module 2 Assignment - Case Study Example CPI/Original Year CPI) * 100 = ((234-217)/217)*100 =7.834 Part III: 1. Unemployment Rate = (Number of people Unemployed / Number of people in the civilian labor force) * 100 = (2500/30000) * 100 = 8.33 % 2. Now 500 people have stopped looking for a job so they will not be counted, as unemployed neither they will be counted in the total labor force. So now unemployment rate is: ={(2500-500)/(30000-500)} * 100 =(2000/29500) * 100 =6.78% Part IV: 1. As we can see that the interest rates on the treasury bonds tends to increase over the years. The difference among the rates in the bonds is caused by Maturity Risk Premiums. This is because to invest for a longer period is relatively risky due to the uncertainty in the economic conditions. 2. The statement that ‘the liquidity premium requires that an asset can be sold both quickly and for fair market value’ is false. This is because the liquidity premium is paid to the investors as a security. Since, the bonds ‘cannot be easily converted to cash’. They are paid a premium to compensate for the illiquidity. 3. Inflation over the years = (Change in CPI / Original CPI) * 100 = ((105-102.5)/102.5)*100 = 2.439 % Therefore, annual inflation rate over the 3 years is 1.02439. Divide 1 by the number of years, so we get 1/3. Now, 1.02439 ^ (1/3) is 1.00806. And subtracting 1 from 1.00806 will give us the annual inflation rate, which is 0.008064 or 0.8064 %. Investors should require a 0.8064% inflation premium. 4. The yield curve will not have an upward slope but rather a flatter curve since the investors will not get high rates of interest on purchasing bonds as the risk of investing is zero and the value of their capital will remain the same. Part V: 1. As we compare the GDP levels of the US, Japan, Canada and the UK, we can see the trends of the rate of their GDP growth in the respective years from 2008 till present. During 2008, the GDP of all the countries increased by a similar figure that is aroun d 1 to 1.5 percent. During 2009 the trends changed for all countries as we can see however to varying extents. The GDP of all countries decreased. This is visible from the negative rate of growth as we can see where the GDP of Japan was highly affected and it fell by 9 percent. However, the GDP of UK fell by 6 percent, of US around 5 percent and 4 percent for Canada. After 2010, the economic situation seemed better and the economies started to recover where Japan hit the rate of almost 14 percent, from a negative rate of 9 % to a positive 5. Other countries GDP also increased with UK increasing least. In 2011, the trend seemed somewhat stable for the US and Canada. The rate decreased a little for the UK. However, it was very static in the case of Japan until 2012. 2. The prices were increasing persistently during 2008 in all the countries. However, inflation rate in the US and in the UK was highest of about 4 percent. The inflation rate in Canada was about 3 percent while in Japan i t was 2 percent. During 2009, because of the economic crisis prices actually decreased, as it is visible from the figure, with Japan facing deflation 2 percent and the US of about 1.75 percent. Canada faced deflation of about 1 percent. While the prices in the UK did not decrease, they rose at a lesser rate. Gradually prices started rising during 2010 until 2012, with UK facing highest rate of inflation, following the US and Canada at a similar pace. And Japan was still stuck in

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 22

Essay Example The waiters in their sparkling white uniforms were always cheerful; waving at us the moment we entered. They knew each person’s favourite flavour: if it was Mocha for the rest of my friends, they knew Rita and I loved it black. The soft lighting, the muted music and the relaxed atmosphere was enough to ease our jangled nerves after the long lectures. The waiters would not hover over us, expecting us to order snacks or accompaniments, but stand unobtrusively in the background, happy to oblige whenever one of us had enough pocket money to treat the rest to sandwiches. Yes, we were very frugal in those days, we had to be: after all, it was Mom-Dad’s money. The manager was a wonderful person, who remembered each of our names and would even help us earn some pocket money by working there in our free time. Yes, The Coffee House was a truly exotic place. Happy times leave happy memories. The happiest moment of my life was when sitting by the window table, I proposed to Rita over a cup of coffee. I had my own fears and doubts. I would have been shattered if she had refused. I knew she liked me, but was not sure if she liked me enough to spend the rest of her life with me. Both of us were just taking up our first jobs in the coming month and I felt that was the right time to ask her. The still remember the startled look in her eyes when in true a gentleman’s style, I fell on my knees and asked her if she would spend the rest of her life with me. With George Michael playing in the background, it felt just the right thing to do. She had a soft smile on her lips, a twinkle in her eyes and the setting sun was falling on her face, making her blush. Bashfully, she looked deep into my eyes and whispered â€Å"yes.† Shouts of â€Å"Whoa!†, â€Å"Bravo,† â€Å"Yippee† and catcalls filled the place. Our friend s were sitting across the room and were ecstatic too. The Manager made the moment

We are passively scripted by our parents Essay Example for Free

We are passively scripted by our parents Essay One question that almost every individual ponders upon at least once in his or her life is whether the life that we have been handed down is an open book which we can write in any way we feel like or is it a pre-written script that we are simply enacting? Are our behavior patterns, emotions, responses our very own, determined by our own selves or are they pre-programmed into us genetically, by our parents, teachers etc? Before directly looking at any possible answer, let us discuss some interesting aspects about life. Firstly, for any external circumstance or event, the responses of different individuals are usually different. As an example if a boy leaves his girlfriend for someone else, the resulting response in the girl can vary from mild anger to temporary sadness, to even acute depression. These differences in emotive behavior are rooted in the belief patterns, concepts and ideas that are ingrained in every individual. The A-B-C theory of personality by Albert Ellis, elaborates this point by saying that in any life situation, the activating event (A) does not lead to the emotional consequence (C). Rather, the emotional consequence is triggered by the beliefs (B) of the individual. A healthy and rational set of beliefs can make a healthy, strong individual while a person with irrational beliefs is much more likely to endure pain and suffering from the same set of cards that life deals out. So of what is responsible for forming these beliefs in any individual? I think a lot of aspects in our life are pre-programmed, genetically into our system. Many other beliefs become a part of us during our childhood and depend on the social, cultural and economic environment of the child, on the parents and teachers and some of these beliefs are created by us on our own. To elucidate on the first point let us look at the simple example of gender. We all know or have seen how men and women intrinsically differ in interpreting different situations and in their reactions to them. In any difficult or crisis situation men are usually more level headed while women more emotional. Similarly, in human relationships, women are more intuitive than men and therefore perform better. Though this varies widely and we have level headed women as much as we have intuitive men, we can understand that gender often does play a role in determining behavior patterns and this is something scripted into us from our birth. For such patterns that are pre-programmed by birth itself, I think while it is very difficult or almost impossible to change these patterns, recognizing them can help us deal with them and subdue the control they have on us. I would say the second set of beliefs that is rooted in our childhood is the most significant one in the determination of our personality. A child picks up a huge amount of stuff, both directly and indirectly, from his or her environment, parents, teachers and friends. Unknowingly it is often the parents who pass on their fears and phobia’s to a child. Let us take the example of an adult who is afraid of darkness. When the activating event (A) is a sudden power disruption in the house, consequence (C) is fear. Now for another adult for the same event, the consequence (C) will perhaps be mild irritation. Now this person who is scared of the dark was not born with this fear. In fact a toddler, he would fearlessly walk into dark corners and places. However, his mother had this fear of darkness which she passes on to her child through her behavior. A child learns from his mother. Walking down a dark alley, the mother suddenly grips her son’s hand very firmly and hisses, â€Å"Don’t leave my hand, it is dark! † The child learns – darkness is something very dangerous; I should be afraid of it. In this way knowingly or unknowingly, the child’s parents, teachers, environment etc instill in him concepts and behavior patterns that play a big role in determining his or her attitude to life in the years to come. However, I do feel that some of the concepts are self-created and whether to continue believing in something that has been a part of one’s belief system since childhood is also up to oneself. By recognizing unhealthy patterns in ourselves we can train ourselves to not behave like mere programmed objects but actively choose to respond in an intelligent manner. As human beings we can strive to throw out every irrational belief in our system and instill rational thoughts to counter them. Though an uphill task, I think it is certainly one that can be done and if every undesirable belief cannot be thrown out of us completely, the strength of their control on us can surely be minimized.? Works Cited 1. Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Individual Counseling Theory and Practice, James J. Messina (www. coping. org/write/C6436counselther/lectures/C6436-9th-CBT. ppt