Epistemologhy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Epistemologhy - Essay Example A good example was the challenges that people had back in the 50s when the radio program, "The War of the Worlds" was played. This was a popular novel back in 1938 and on Sunday, October 30, 1938 at 8 p.m. this radio broadcast was done. Because people relied on the radio to give them the "correct" news, they believed that the broadcast was "true". This created a panic across the nation and people called radio and television stations to find out what they should do (Rosenberg 1). This example shows how it is difficult to know what is "real" and what is "not real" when we are talking about knowledge. Descartes had a lot to say about knowledge and it is difficult for us to truly understand what knowledge is and how it is used in the world. On the one hand, we can say that someone "knows" something but we cannot really say how the individual knows what they know. In thinking about knowledge we have to go deeper and wonder whether knowledge is a belief or it is something that we learn. Descartes tells us that we must look at reality and determine what that is first before we can say what knowledge is and we must understand it without doubt. Descartes ideas seem rational although they are somewhat difficult to explain.(Newman par. 1). He believed that if any thought could be subjected to any doubt then it was false (Skirry par. 2). Although this idea has some validity it is this researchers opinion that his idea does not go far enough. If we were to categorize thoughts it would be difficult to tell which ones were "true" and which ones were "false" because there is always room for d oubt. In fact, most people would suggest that their way of thinking was "true" no matter what it was and therefore our thoughts would be different on a variety of issues. Descartes had some of the information but not all of it (although we do have to think about what was available to him

Barclays Bank PLC Is A Multinational Company Essay Example for Free

Barclays Bank PLC Is A Multinational Company Essay Amenities to attract highly skilled and creative persons at all important levels ? Tradition of closeness to key customers and target customers A business can differentiate itself by performing its existing value activities or reconfiguring in some unique ways. And the sustainability of that differentiation will depend on two things: a continuation of its high perceived value to buyers and a lack of imitation by competitors. There are many alternative strategic directions in which Barclaycard could implement in their current strategy of differentiation. These may include technology innovation or product/ service differentiation. Product/service differentiation Product differentiation occurs when, owing to differences in physical attributes, ancillary service, geographic location, information, and/or subjective image, one firms products are clearly preferred by at least some buyers over rival products at a given price (, 1990, ). For firms seeking to make their demand curve less elastic, successful differentiation provides an insulated position against competitors by enabling firms to sell a larger quantity at a given price or by allowing the firm to create brand loyalty in customers resulting in lower sensitivity to price. This uniqueness may build an entry barrier for competitors to overcome (, 1992; , 1980). However, being unique may require a trade-off with investment if achieving differentiation requires costly effort such as extensive research, product design, high quality materials, or intensive customer support. Thus, the firms employing the differentiation strategy cannot ignore costs and risk (, 1980). Horizontal product differentiation focuses on differences in attribute variety among competing brands. It occurs when one brand contains more of some attributes but less of some other attributes in comparison to another brand (). Consumers different tastes will exploit differing strong and weak points among brands given identical prices (, 1992). The shift towards consumerism is accelerating with significant implications in many of the markets in which we operate. Fundamentally, our view is that consumerism involves a shift in power from institutions towards consumers. The rapid transformation of the credit card industry – first with the severing of the traditional tie between bank accounts and credit cards and second, with the emergence of credit as a true commodity in the credit card industry illustrates this so well. Consumers in the past were grateful if they received credit it was seen as a right granted to a special few by a bank and hence banks held power over individuals. The value proposition was the availability of credit. Technology Innovation In the case of Barclaycard, it is could improve its operations and competitive advantage through real time design data driven tools. This tool would improve their credit limit strategies and increase their interest earning balances. A Fair, Isaac Model Builder for the decision trees may be used as this tool uses historical data to assist in identifying optimal account management strategies. Fair, Isaac Model Builder for Decision Trees is a PC Windows based application designed specifically to support data driven strategy design. It gives lenders the power to rapidly create new strategies in real time using multiple performance dimensions, to process large datasets rapidly so strategies at any point for greater understanding of the portfolio and transfers strategies to and from production application with ease, putting new strategies into production faster. This real time, highly interactive approach dramatically shortens the time between strategy creation and roll out. With Barclaycard objectives of the new strategies to increase interest bearing balances, increase turnover, control bad debt, and address attrition, Fair, Fair Isaac can be a big help for the organization. While the average number of cards in a person’s wallet has increased over the last five years, the value to an individual of having multiple cards will diminish in an environment where credit is a commodity.

Wollstonecrafts A Vindication of the Rights of Women Essay -- Gender

A woman’s job is to cook, clean, and bear children. Although it may not remain true now, many thought this for most of history. A woman had her duty to her husband and that served as almost all of her worth. During the Enlightenment, some women began to question this norm and to voice their unhappiness. The Enlightenment period was an intellectual movement that sought to reform society and advance knowledge (â€Å"Age of Enlightenment†). Even with all of the Enlightenment’s great advancements, women still did not possess many rights. Women continued to be â€Å"oppressed and kept to the private sphere,† separated from men (â€Å"Women in the Enlightenment†). Few women challenged these social norms, but a few existed such as Mary Wollstonecraft. Wollstonecraft changed European thought on women through the writing of her essay â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Women.† Her essay proposed controversial ideas on a womanâ€⠄¢s position as a wife, right to education, and rights in society. During the Enlightenment, a pamphlet war began called the Revolution Controversy. Edmund Burke started the Revolution Controversy when he published an essay that sparked debate over the French Revolution. After the publication, many authors such as Wollstonecraft responded and disagreed with Burke’s views. Wollstonecraft’s response was titled â€Å"A Vindication of the Rights of Men† (â€Å"Revolution Controversy†). Two years later, she also responded to Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Pà ©rigord’s report to the National Assembly of France. His report stated that women â€Å"should only receive a domestic education† (â€Å"A Vindication†). Wollstonecraft became infuriated at this claim and quickly began to write her essay â€Å"The Vindication of the Rights of Women.† She set out... ...pedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 11 Oct. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011. . "Timeline of Women's Rights (other than Voting)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 7 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. wiki/Timeline_of_women's_rights_(other_than_voting)>. Van Doren, Charles. A History of Knowledge: Past, Present, and Future. New York, NY: Ballantine, 1991. Print. Wollstonecraft, Mary. The Vindication of the Rights of Women. Boston: Peter Edes, 1792. Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Bartleby Books, 1999. Web. 16 Oct. 2011. www.bartleby.com/144/>. "Women in the Enlightenment." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. Enlightenment>.

The Voice

You may adore it, you may despise it well guess what I love: The Voice. Well if you have not heard of it; let me give you some insight into it. It`s a British television talent show based on ‘The Voice Of Holland’ created by the Dutch television producer John De Mol. It began its 11 week run in March 2012. There are four stimulating and appealing judges to judge the voices of the contestants; more over the judges are Danny O’Donoghue who is absolutely good-looking; there’s Jessie J who sings absolutely flawlessly; followed by Sir Tom Jones who is totally a legend; last but not least Will.I. Am who is extremely hilarious! As soon as I saw that they were the judges I literally jumped off my feet and started screaming! As you could see all the judges are singers moreover they aren’t producers or other music executives as an alternative they are famous recording artists who represent a range of musical genres. OMG the presenters are Reggie Yates and Holl y Willoughby. I absolutely admire Reggie Yates and Holly Willoughby well I'm not fond of her that much, yet she’s alright.Well I haven’t even mentioned why I think highly of ‘The Voice’ yet! I admire it because it’s different compared to all the other different talent shows, for instance: X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. In addition, The Voice is judged based on their voice and not accordingly to their appearance as the auditions are ‘blind auditions’ meaning that the judges back are turned towards the contestant, so that they can’t see who’s singing, which I think is superior!Thus if the judges liked the voice they would buzz to see who’s behind the voice. If there’s more than one judge that buzzed the contestant gets to chose who they want as their mentor throughout the competition. Which I personally think is the most thrilling part of the auditions to see who they pick and who I think they are go nna pick. Besides, I forgot to say I also Love the songs they sing throughout the competition, mainly because I’ve heard of them before, as a result they are my variety of music! So what are your thoughts?Well, Isabel Mohan says â€Å"The Voice failed because it was so nauseatingly nice† along with Aiden Merrygold says â€Å"I find this show pointless as we already have an X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent and I think that’s enough! However, I don’t care what others say about this show it’s their opinion and my opinion is I find this show irresistible. Well, so far of the first series on the whole much-loved episode was the semi – finals one, where the contestants sang with their mentors for the very first time! It was exciting as well as intriguing to see what song they would sing and sort of genre they would pick!However, the battle rounds were very electrifying to watch, as all the contestants were incredibly good singers moreover it was sad to see a few of them leave. So, what are the battle rounds? Do you know? Well, let me tell you a bit about it. During the battle rounds the contestants are coached by judges and mentored by an additional recording artist they are known as ‘advisers’. The battle pits two of a judge’s singers against each other they must sing the same song in front of a studio audience. After, the judges have to choose which of their own singers must go home.

How far is Hamlet dominated by a Christian worldview? Essay

England during the 17th century was a Christian society and country. All Children would most certainly have been baptised shortly after birth and once at a suitable age capable of understanding religion would be taught the essentials of Christian faith. Attendance at church was compulsory; failure to do so without a good medical reason or otherwise would lead to a hefty fine. During the 16th century in England those of Christian faith subsequently despised other races against that of Protestantism, and any other religion or paranormal existence that they did not understand. The persecution of Jews within Elizabethan England meant the state forbade them the rights to ownership of land or to engage in trade. Shakespeare showed an incredible understanding and knowledge of issues and crises of his time, introducing burning issues of today into his deeply Christian country that showed an inability of understanding and respecting other faiths and religions. Within the pre-Elizabethan period and onwards society was influenced heavily by the head of state, religion and new theoretician’s ideas. A Theocentric world view stated that everything was circled around God, hence the ‘Divine Right of Kings’ , which derived itself from this idea, proclaiming the head of state was put into power due to the approval and justification of God. This idea generally became associated with the Christian faith during the Renaissance period of the late 16th and early 17th centuries which was spreading rapidly through Europe settling much cultural diversity. The Renaissance was a time of rebirth and massive cultural turmoil. Artists and performers of all kinds within Western Europe became more aware of the classical past and the world beyond the narrow boundaries of medieval mysticism and religion. Poetry and writing was nonetheless influenced heavily by the general acceptance to new ideas. Shakespeare shows that he was conscious of the feudal world within which he was raised, continuously questioning every aspect of society. Shakespeare would most definitely be considered to be a ‘Renaissance’ or ‘Modern Man’. Aristotelian Tragedy would have had some impressionable effect upon Shakespeare’s ideas. He would adopt the idea that every tragedy must contain a ‘Tragic Hero’, and that this person has a fatal flaw that will lead to his eventual downfall (and death). Also Seneca’s tragedies which were finally published in England in 1581 would have had some effect upon the way in which Shakespeare would have composed his plays. He adopted many ideas including, a supernatural being proposing revenge, characters driven to madness, embedded narratives within the play . etc. Christianity was not just a religion within 16th century England but a political pivot point for argument and debate. In 1559 Parliament enacted the ‘Act of Uniformity’ and the ‘Oath of Supremacy’. By the introduction of these two laws by Henry VII and his heir Elizabeth I ensured the loyalty of their strongest political supporters and in turn condemning Roman Catholics. The following is an excerpt taken from the ‘Oath of Supremacy’ published in 1559: †I [†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ] do utterly testify and declare in my conscience that the Queen’s Highness is the only supreme governor of this realm, and of all other her Highness’s dominions and countries, as well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal, and that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state or potentate hath or ought to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre-eminence or authority ecclesiastical or spiritual within this realm.. † This quote fundamentally states the allegiance and sincerity of one towards the Head of State, swearing ones loyalty to them alone and not to another figure head or person of command. Despite political interventions within humanity and society, Shakespeare highlights issues which would then have been disregarded as being evil, such as apparitions and supernatural occurrences. Many examples could be identified however ones of relevance are plenty within ‘Hamlet’. Within Act I, Scene I an apparition of King Hamlet appears, which later on within the play urges Hamlet to avenge his death. This would heighten the audience’s suspense due to the drama involved. Shakespeare surprises both the audience and the characters within the play by introducing a ghost, creating a hugely effective atmosphere of anxiety and fear throughout the scene. Elizabethan people misunderstood paranormal existences and this phantom would have heightened their (the audiences) suspicions and fears towards them (the ghosts) furthermore. Many people of Shakespeare’s time regarded ghosts as the devil himself. The play is very much written in a pro-Christian era and many aspects of Christianity show through. Hamlet’s voice comes through however, sceptical of this. Hamlet contemplates the idea of committing suicide within his soliloquy in Act I, Scene II as he cries, ‘O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolve itself into a dew, Or that the Everlasting had not fixed his canon ‘gainst self-slaughter. O God, O God! ‘ Here Shakespeare shows us that suicide is not favourably looked upon and even seen as an act that would leave you in purgatory (as is King Hamlet’s), waiting for one’s sins to be forgiven and for redemption to commence itself. Quote King Hamlet, ‘I was sent to my account with all the horrible imperfections on my head. O horrible, O horrible, most horrible! ‘ However it must not be forgotten that ‘Hamlet’ is first and foremost a play about revenge. Prince Hamlet was asked by his ‘father’ to pursue vengeance for this wrongdoing. An Elizabethan audience would understand the complication involved with the ideas of revenge. Shakespeare uses an allegory within the play, where Denmark represents England regarding views on Christian beliefs, such as suicide, death, redemption and paranormal beings . etc. Within the period of ‘Hamlet’s’ composition there were many factors which Shakespeare commented upon by incorporating them within his plays. By understanding the structure of society and the role that Christianity and religion played within Shakespearean England we empathize why within a few scenarios Hamlet was deterred from undertaking certain actions immediately, the murder of Claudius at prayer for example. The audience that viewed this play would also have related to Hamlet’s actions, his steadiness and composure with which he performed everything and acted. However to a modern day audience if Hamlet was a person living at present and was to act the way as Shakespeare intended him to then his actions would be heavily frowned upon by many as no longer do we (a majority [not applicable to religious followers] ) regard religion as a major factor within our lives. Due to our secular society, despite somewhat of a Christian favouritism in schools for example, we fail to identify (before education) with the way in which Prince Hamlet thinks. We ask the following question, why does Hamlet abide by the conceptual ideas laid down by society? Hamlet had no other choice than to undertake his actions the way he did as Shakespeare, his creator, wrote from influences surrounding him. England like Denmark was a troubled country as it still feared the spread of Roman Catholicism by another incident such as the failed Spanish Armada of 1588. In modern times, spanning over the last two centuries, many wars have been studied by people and they have come to the realisation that our world too is a world of politics with underlying motives such as a battle of religion. Issues such as feminism regarding ‘Hamlet’ have allowed various playwrights such as Heiner Muller, author of ‘Hamletmachine’ to show the subordination of women within society. He gives a voice to two main characters, Prince Hamlet and Ophelia, so that they are able to speak their minds within this bizarre production. The oppression and victimization of Ophelia is shown to the audience. Ophelia is allowed to make moral thoughts and decisions where in turn she can find herself as a person not just a sexual object. She shows this hatred towards the patriarchal society within which Shakespeare wrote the original ‘Hamlet’. Ideas of feminist movements are highlighted within ‘Hamletmachine’ in contrast to ‘Hamlet’, which shows women as objects controlled by men. (Ophelia controlled by her father Polonius. )(Gertrude controlled by her King, Claudius. ) And in turn it seems as though if women disobey their ‘masters’ they face the consequence that destiny presents to them, death. ‘There are more things dreamt of in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. ‘ What is philosophy? Philosophy is when there are no limits of exploration as to questioning underlying factors which makes this creation of life what it is. This is exactly what Hamlet says to Horatio in Act I, Scene VI, ‘There are more things dreamt of in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. ‘ What Hamlet is basically saying is never disbelieve. Anything is possible, never oppose, wrongfully criticize or demean an object never before witnessed or seen. A modern day audience would understand specific actions after having grasped what the 17th century religious influence within society was like. However the way in which the government intervenes itself regarding religion has greatly changed in that it is now no longer seen as a way to indoctrinate people and influence them.

The beliefs and practices associated with Holy Communion Essays

The beliefs and practices associated with Holy Communion Essays The beliefs and practices associated with Holy Communion Paper The beliefs and practices associated with Holy Communion Paper Holy Communion is a practice performed by Christians, for a number of reasons relating to belief and worship. While the ways in which Holy Communion is celebrated differ among the churches, communion prayers tend to revolve around the story of the last supper and the act of Christ giving his disciples bread and wine, and declaring it as his body and blood. This is the story of the last supper, the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night of the Passover before he was betrayed by Judas, arrested and then executed. During the meal Jesus and his disciples were at the supper table and he broke some bread, gave it to his disciples and said, This is my body which is given for you. Every time you eat bread, think of me. Jesus took a cup of wine and gave it to the disciples and told them to drink from the cup and said, This wine is my blood that will be shed to remove the sins of all who come to believe in me and it is the start of a new agreement between God and mankind. The significance of this event, has been interpreted by the churches in different ways, which in turn has led to the variety of ways in which Communion is practiced among the churches. Both the beliefs and practices associated with Holy Communion differ significantly from church to church. While the majority of churches practice Holy Communion, there are a few churches that dont practice it at all, such as the Salvation Army and the Quakers. While there are some differences in the way that Communion is celebrated between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches (both high churches) the difference between the Roman Catholic church and Methodist church (low church) is far more substantial. There are two fundamental differences. The first and perhaps the most important difference is in the interpretation by each church of the way in which celebrating Holy Communion affects the individual taking part. This is known as the issue of belief associated with Holy Communion. This is explained in more detail in the paragraphs below. The second important difference, one that is easier to recognise, is in the way in which churches prepare for and perform Holy Communion. While some churches continue to adopt traditional methods to perform Holy Communion others adopt a far more informal approach. The high churches, such as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox, stick to very traditional methods and attach central importance to taking Holy Communion. By contrast low churches such as Baptist and Methodist, while they do celebrate Holy Communion, they do not regard it as being any where near as important as the higher churches, and tend to celebrate it in a much more relaxed and informal manner. The following are examples of how individual churches perform Holy Communion and the reasons they attach different levels of importance to it. Catholics refer to Communion as the Eucharist and practice it in a very traditional way. The first thing to note is that while some churches celebrate Communion on a weekly or more infrequent basis, Catholics can take Communion every day. It is not a requirement for Roman Catholics to go every morning but it is strongly encouraged by the church to attend Communion (Mass) as often as possible and at least once a week. This explains why Communion is so very important for Roman Catholics and is often described as the central form of catholic worship. The only person allowed to administer Communion is a validly ordained Priest acting in the role of Christ. In other words, the Priest represents Christ and his body and his blood are represented by wafers made from wheat (called the host) and wine made from grapes. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit is contained within the wafers and the wine and that in the act of receiving communion the congregation is taking in the Holy Spirit. It is therefore central to the Catholic faith, so much so that they believe that by taking communion they are taking in the strength of the Holy Spirit which will help them lead a life free of sin. The quotation from John 6:53 sums up the overall belief held by Roman Catholics In Communion, we are eating the True Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, without which you shall not have life in you. Their interpretation of the story of the bread and wine is very literal. Communion can only be taken by those who have been baptised into the Catholic faith and have taken their First Holy Communion. This usually happens around the age of 7 or 8. The traditional Catholic church service (mass) follows a set format (liturgy) and concludes with the taking of Communion. During Communion wafers are used instead of bread, fermented wine is used which is taken from a shared chalice. The priest holds up the wafer as he says, the body of Christ and hands it over to the person receiving communion at which point this person would say, Amen. Then the priest pours out the wine and says, The blood of Christ at which point the person receiving communion takes the chalice and says, Amen. Any leftover bread or wine is either eaten by the priest or kept as reserved sacrament for the infirm in the parish. This routine tends to differ only very slightly between the high churches. The low churches have a much less traditional way of celebrating communion, which tends to link to the fact that they believe the bread and wine only represent the body and blood of Christ in a metaphorical sense, but that by performing communion they are only reminding themselves of Jesus, and believe that his spirit is no more present than usual. For example, Baptist and Methodist churches also hold Communion, which they call the Lords Supper, but they use less traditional methods of practice and hold it in lower regards. The members of these lower churches do not actually accept the belief that Jesus spirit is present within the bread and wine, and so do not take the service as seriously, but they do perform the Lords Supper with the intention of remembering Jesus. The argument used by these lower church members to support their views is that Jesus meant the bread and wine was his body and blood in a metaphorical sense, and the phrase they value most during the Last Supper is when Jesus said, Do this in memory of me. A typical Baptist communion takes place monthly and the only qualification necessary to receive The Lords Supper is a membership with the church. Examples of how the Baptist version of communion differs from the higher church versions of communion are the fact that a table is used instead of an altar, there is no set form (Liturgy), there is no main service and there is no need for an ordained minister. Bread is used but instead of wine they either use unfermented wine or fruit juice and instead of drinking this from a shared chalice they have individual glasses. The people receiving the Lords Supper remain in their seats while receiving it and they all drink at the same time. Any bread left over is given away and any unfermented wine or fruit juice is returned to the bottle. It is clear to see that from the differences in practice, the lower churches believe Communion to be less important. For example, the fact that they return the wine or juice to the bottle shows that they do not believe it to be the blood of Christ, as otherwise they would treat it with higher respect. Methodists also receive communion in a less traditional way but they do have a main service while taking Communion and an ordained minister is necessary. They also would have to go up to the table to receive The Lords Supper and do not all drink at the same time. Other churches, such as the Church of England would celebrate Communion, or as it is known in the Church of England, Eucharist, in an almost identical way to the Roman Catholic church, the only differences being that they use both an altar and a table and they may also use bread instead of wafers. This almost identically shared practice displays almost identical beliefs shared by both members of the churches regarding communion. Christians that do not have a specific building in which to worship and attend communion often practice their religion at home alone or with others in what is called a house church. The practices will remain roughly the same from house to house, due to a lack of an altar or ordained minister, but the beliefs will vary depending on the individual receiving Communion.

The one and only anxiety essays

The one and only anxiety essays As you take a role as a student, you will have some worrisome along your education path. Its can be either positive or negative worrisome. Its up to you to determine and to overcome it. As a student, the one thing I am worried about is losing my lifeguard job because I will not be able to do several things. First, I cannot pay for the full credit tuition. Financial aid only pay 25% of the tuition, I still need to pay the rest. I want to take a full credits in every semesters. If I lose my job, I cannot take full credits in a semester, it would slow down my education. Secondly, I would not be able to help out my family to pay the bills. The 25% of my paycheck goes to the bills. If I ever get fired, my parents have to work extra hard and its hurt me inside, seeing them working more hours when they are old. Last, I will not have money to pay for the miscellaneous expenses. College has a lot of expenses a student has to pay. For example, I need to pay for foods and books. I spend 10 dollars every week on foods. Sometimes, I spend on books that will prepared for my tests. If I stop working, I will not have money to eat or buy books. I will not ask my parents because I will feel bad, I am an adult now, I cannot ask my parents for money. Overall, losing my job is the biggest worry in my mind as a student. I must keep my job, in order to do that, I have to do my job responsibilities correctly. ...

The Dictionary of Concise Writing

The Dictionary of Concise Writing The Dictionary of Concise Writing The Dictionary of Concise Writing By Maeve Maddox Serious bloggers understand the importance of concise writing. Unfortunately, great writing tips on brevity are scattered among many resources. Fortunately, a book called The Dictionary of Concise Writing crossed my desk. Written by Robert Fiske, The Dictionary of Concise Writing is the definitive guide to fat-free writing. This book literally contains its subtitle more than 10,000 alternatives to wordy phrases. For example, I wanted to lead this sentence with the phrase as an example. Instead I referenced the book and found the alternatives for example and for instance. Other great entries I use on a daily basis: as a result consequently; hence; so; then; therefor; thus past (previous; prior) experience experience is inclined to think (that) asserts; believes; claims; contends; feels; holds; maintains; says; thinks Each time you reference the book, you are training yourself to recognize wordy or redundant phrases. Definitely a good exercise! You can find the book on Amazon.com Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Book Reviews category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, WhetherDeck the Halls30 Words for Small Amounts

Aristotle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Aristotle - Essay Example One of the primary elements of a virtuous man is that he also be a courageous man. Despite the fact that Aristotle’s ideas lie at their foundations, much of Aristotle’s ideas are presented in relatively abstract terms, often difficult to understand and apply to everyday modern conceptions. However, studying Aristotle’s concepts of what constitutes a courageous man can provide a great deal of insight regarding what he intended when he discussed the more abstract concepts of virtue. Aristotle dedicates three full chapters to the discussion and investigation of what constitutes a courageous man in his book, Nicomachean Ethics, which begins to demonstrate on a more concrete level what he intended in his discussions of the virtuous man. Courage is a mean between fear and recklessness. All objects of fear are fearful things, and generally they are evil also, so fear is defined as the expectation of evil. It is right and proper to fear some evils, but wrong to fear those which are not within ones control as an agent. The truly courageous man is concerned only with the most terrible of evils—death—and in particular with death in the most noble of circumstances, war. The real test of courage is how a man behaves in the face of dangers that are to some extent within his control. Like all human beings, the courageous man fears what is fearful, but he endures his fear in the right way and for the right reason because his aim is to act with nobility. It is possible to fear things to a greater or lesser extent than is warranted or to fear what is not really fearful, and these are the forms taken by the vices surrounding courage. Common usage has no name for excessive lack of fear, but the man who is afraid of nothing is either a madman or totally immune to pain. Excessive confidence is called recklessness. Excessive fear is cowardice. Cowards, reckless men, and courageous men are all concerned with the same situation, but have different attitudes

Hunger game Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hunger game - Essay Example Even though it is not realistic, the issues discussed and showed in the movie are more than real. There is a huge contrast between life in districts and the capital of the country called Panem. It intensifies inequality and segregation of the poor in this seemingly civilized society. The movie intentionally exaggerates styles of Panem citizens and mocks their habits. At the same time, these people are superior to others because they have money and power. The show is designed to keep all people away from the thoughts about rioting against this unjust system. In many ways, it reveals how reality shows work in media. Love, death and violence become just good elements to keep people involved in the show. Nobody cares about the fact that people actually die during the game. All spectators desire to observe the development of the story and celebrate the only survivor. They want to see real suffering, tears and desire to survive because their comfortable and rich life become absolutely boring for them. This movie is exceptional because it shows how politics and media merge becoming one powerful tool of influence. The producers of the show know how to manipulate with public opinion and give people hope or fear. The value of human life equals zero because people become objects. Their actions are predetermined by the conditions created by producers and designers. This moral degradation depicted in the movie motivates people to revise their current attitude to consumerism and media. The movie suggest some logical development to modern culture which is perceived as the top of civilized world in the history of man. It reveals that the world is not just; people who have power exploit others and use media to expand their influence. Weak human beings and their feeling become only elements of the show to entertain

Description of the Afterlife in Different Cultures Essay

Description of the Afterlife in Different Cultures - Essay Example That is why different cultures attach different meanings and beliefs to this afterlife. (Still3) The Greeks for instance, believe that once someone dies, they go to another world, whereby you are welcomed by a goddess who is very beautiful. Homer uses a narrative to explain this myth. He shows how Odysseus was carried in a ship together with other companions in a black ship. He also explains that there is another region which they saw, and which was covered by mist and clouds where another goddess sits. According to the Greeks, the dead communicate with each other and can always see each other. They also believe that after the end of the physical life, the spirits of the dead join the dead in the new land even before they are physically buried. That is why Elpenor and Odysseus manage to talk to one another, and that is why Elpenor sends Odysseus with a message that, he should be buried soon. (Homer 89) They also believe that the living can communicate with the dead through spirits and that one can recognize the dead by appearance. That's why when Odysseus made the sacrifice of a ram, he even saw his mother's spirit who did not speak to him, but god advised him on how to lead his life. The gods act like their seers and can foresee all the shortcomings in life, and warn their families. Greeks have different gods for different things, who also have different names. Through the sacrifices they make, the living are told what they want by talking to their god and asking these gods, questions which are not clear to them. (Homer 150) The (home) land of afterlife appears to be a very scaring place from Homers description. It appears like a lifeless place. For instance, "huge rivers, fearful waters, oceans which no man can cross on foot." This means that there is a lot of water in this land and people use boats to move across these waters. The living can communicate with the "Living" dead verbally. The dead live together as groups, and they seem to appear in groups of their gender. The women came in large numbers to drink the blood. Odysseus seems to hold a very detailed conversation with people's spirit who had died long time ago. It appears to be a question answer dialogue between him and these spirits and also the gods of the people. (Homer 601). The deaths of people can always be prophesied just like Odysseus death was prophesied. There is also revenge from the dead to those who had crossed them or killed them. The Greeks afterlife seems to have very many interactions with the living. It's like there is always a channel of interacting and communicating between the living and the dead. According to the Islamic culture, afterlife is a moment to enjoy more than the physical life. They believe that, in that land, Angels are all over taking guard on the dead; the environment is so good and very peaceful. They believe that once one dies, they go to accompany their God in a precious land. They believe that the physical life on earth is actually a preparation to the afterlife in heaven. According to them, their afterlife is in heaven, and that all generations will meet some day in that land. Once someone dies, they go to heaven and they will be judged one day, the day when all the generations will meet. However they believe that the faithful Muslims will be rewarded for their faith. That is what the Koran (Qur'an) states, and that their God is very generous. They

Hepatitis B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hepatitis B - Essay Example Besides, the infant vaccination after birth would serve as a safety net against infection for infants whose mothers are not tested. Although the majority of infants receive the vaccination during one of their routine visits to health care, the strategy does not exist for adolescents and adults. Since a majority of Philadelphia residents contract the disease through irresponsible sexual behavior, it would be imperative to take care of the groups that engage in sex. Adolescents are known to engage in unprotected sex for lack of knowledge while infidelity among adults is an irresponsible sexual behavior that can to the disease. It is important to note that about 62 percent of HBV cases diagnosed in 2013 resulted from engaging in unprotected sex (Delaney 2013). In the US, for example, vaccination among adults reduced the infection rate by more than 90 percent (â€Å"MMWR† 2013). The same positive statics would be observed in the Philadelphia local

LOG501 MOD 5 case SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LOG501 MOD 5 case SLP - Essay Example The infrastructure comprises of every transportation mode from rail, road, sea and air to the economy of country as all of these factors collectively support the logistics development within the country (Lynch, 2010; â€Å"The transportation challenge: Moving the US Economy†, 2008). Despite increase in efforts of US government in the development of the logistics and transportation industry, it has been unable to achieve the targeted results. For instance, the government of US has allocated $2.3 billion of the federal budget for the development of the transportation infrastructure which is more than 5% as compared to last year i.e. 2010 (â€Å"Transportation Performance Index Update 2011†, 2011). It has been specifically mentioned in a report that the backbone of an effective supply chain and logistics system for any company is the transportation and logistics industry of the country as they need to have access to the right mediums for enhancing their transportation facilities as it facilitates their delivery mechanism. There is a requirement of a well-developed transportation and logistics sector because the rules and regulations are developed in accordance to the demands of the companies that are present in that sector. In order to compete effectively, the government of US has to ensure that the resources are effectively utilized and all changes are made slowly and steadily (â€Å"20th annual trends and issues in logistics and transportation study†, 2011). US had a strong sector which was growing steadily till 2008; after the recession, it had to undertake severe precautionary measures especially creation of stringent laws for safe and secured transportation and logistics activities (â€Å"24th annual state of logistics report†, 2012). The main factors that are impacting the infrastructure development are as follows: 1. Growth in

Hepatitis B Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hepatitis B - Essay Example Besides, the infant vaccination after birth would serve as a safety net against infection for infants whose mothers are not tested. Although the majority of infants receive the vaccination during one of their routine visits to health care, the strategy does not exist for adolescents and adults. Since a majority of Philadelphia residents contract the disease through irresponsible sexual behavior, it would be imperative to take care of the groups that engage in sex. Adolescents are known to engage in unprotected sex for lack of knowledge while infidelity among adults is an irresponsible sexual behavior that can to the disease. It is important to note that about 62 percent of HBV cases diagnosed in 2013 resulted from engaging in unprotected sex (Delaney 2013). In the US, for example, vaccination among adults reduced the infection rate by more than 90 percent (â€Å"MMWR† 2013). The same positive statics would be observed in the Philadelphia local

Marketing management for the service industry Lab Report

Marketing management for the service industry - Lab Report Example Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts are among the main players in the Asian Tourist markets and, since, its entry in 1994, it has grown at a tremendous rate to establish a global brand. It is founded by Mr. Ho Kwon Ping and his wife Mrs. Claire Chiang. The company operates in a numbers of countries including Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand where it has established a strong presence. As a result of its success especially in providing quality services in an environmental friendly manner, in addition its marketing strategy, a case study on the company is going to be analyzed, researched. An analysis will be offered in relations to the company’s services and marketing strategy. B. Facilities and Services of BTR Banyan Tree Resorts (BTR) currently offers a wide array of facilities and services that can constitute to a luxury resort experience. This is much so when related to the prices they are offering and the type of market or clients that are targeted and access services . A luxurious resort experience contains a number of things ranging from the type of services, the quality of services, the price offered, type and quality of facilities available among others. In relation to this, the following discussions identifies the services and facilities at BTR and provides the justifications for the reasons why the two (services and facilities) constitute to a luxurious resort experience. B1. Facilities The BTR resorts around Asia offer a variety of facilities that enhance the experience of clients to a whole new level. First and Foremost, the resort’s units are mostly constructed on natural environments that involve making minor adjustments such as including a few added artificial features or removing a few natural features. This is, when the units are constructed, it involves removing a few of natural aspects that might not provide a comfortable experience and at the same time, add a few artificial aspects such as electricity lighting among others. This in addition with the use of local furnishings created from local materials constitutes to a natural, peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable experience. The location and construction of the resort units is usually one of the key contributing factors of a luxurious resort experience that most hotels in crowded and noisy cities are unable to provide. This feature is in line with the company’s vision and mission of providing clients with an experience that meets their five senses and most notably, their smell, sight and sound where breath taking view and breezes offer an unforgettable experience. Secondly, BTR offers spa galleries that are branded as Banyan Tree spa. This facility is one of the most exquisite features in the resort and guarantees its clients a memorable and luxurious experience. The fourth sense of touch and personal rejuvenation are experienced by clients is a courtesy to this facility. In addition, the type of products, level and quality of expertise offered by the staff in these facilities make the experience more unforgettable, luxurious and enjoyable. For the sake of this facility, BTR has an academy where it trains local experts for different services and most notably the massage services. Thirdly, BTR especially in its Banyan Tree Phuket Resort has a Banyan Tree Gallery brand concepts that are closely associated with the spa facility, where it is mainly concerned with retailing massage oils, skin and body lotions among other products. These

Standing Together Opposing Prejudice Essay Example for Free

Standing Together Opposing Prejudice Essay As I hail from a Muslim dominant Saudi society that is a manifestation of Islamic tenets of equality and fraternity. I was not aware of the racism and its different facets as Islam forbids any racial discrimination based on caste, creed or color and Saudi society follow this model of equality. So my first memory of racism is not related to an early age but it is at a mature level. Although I read several incidents and fiction about racism but my first direct encounter with racism was when I was studying at California State University and we were involved in a project on creating awareness about racial discrimination among student in particular and neighboring community in general. It involved a freshman Eric Butler from the University that used to work at a store and suffered from racial discrimination at the hands of a white male to whom Eric was offering his services to help. He complained about this racism to his employer and later to the company but company showed an attitude of indifference as nothing had happened. Students wrote letter supporting Butler castigating sentiments of racism in the adjacent community. I remained a part of the letter writing student community and later become involved in the student movement that was named Standing Together Opposing Prejudice (STOP). This movement emerged from that letter writing community and aimed at creating awareness about racial discrimination as most of the on-campus students including me believed that racial discrimination is a phenomenon of the past and nothing of this sort happens in contemporary era. Events like of Eric Butler’s happen due to lack of social tolerance. Although American society has struggled and succeeded to eliminate the notion of discrimination from the thoughts and action of people as a social habit but some individual still have malicious tendencies to involve in acts of social discrimination. This is due to some defect in the process of smooth socialization.

Impact Of Agents Of Socialization On Pester Power Education Essay

Impact Of Agents Of Socialization On Pester Power Education Essay Introduction In this ever changing world, there is an increasing trend in the recognition of pester power of children by the marketers. Pester power is basically the influencing power of the children which they exercise in their routine life to get what they want and indirectly affect the buying decision of their parents. The basic reason behind the acknowledgement of pester power is that exposure of the children is growing over time as they are getting more social so dictating buying decisions of their parents. Thus pester power will be the main focus of my dissertation and the researcher will attempt to determine various factors of socialization that are gradually playing their role in strengthening this kid-influence on parents purchase of products. Background The term Pester Power first originated in US in late 1970s, described as the power children had, by repeated nagging, of influencing their parents to buy advertised or fashionable items. Nicholls and Cullen (2004) studied this parent-child relationship which results in pester power and developed a matrix for it which shows that while a family in making a buying decision parents and child both have to make a tradeoff between desire of control over decision and self realization of resulting purchase. Figure below is the matrix developed by Nicholls and Cullen (2004) it depicts that when children has high self realization and parents have high desire for control their interaction results in pester power of children. Source: Nicholls, A. J., Cullen, P. (2004). The child-parent purchase relationship: pester power, human rights and retail ethics. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services Problem discussion Children has an increased access to pocket money and a bigger say in purchase decisions is a result of children getting more information from various sources, being more social and demanding as well. This increase in population of youngsters and their influencing power determines a large potential customer base for marketers. Objectives and research question Based upon above background of study and problem discussion, purpose or main objective of this study is to provide a better understanding of how the agents of socialization of children make them influence their parents purchase decision. In order to conduct this research, research questions are Primary Research question RQ: Do the agents of socialization have an impact on pester power of children? Subsidiary Research questions RQ2: Does parents/peer pressure has an impact on pester power? RQ3: Do advertisements and TV programs have an impact on pester power? Literature Review Kids represent an important market segment to marketers because kids have their own buying behavior. More importantly, kids could monitor the buying decisions of their adult parents because they are the adults of future. Today most of the advertisers spend more on TV advertisements having children content to attract more children which are going to change the behavior of their parents. There are different variables involved in pester power effectiveness. That is what McNeal and Yeh, (1997) has also stated that due to increase in awareness of children market potential had increased in three ways that the children were spending money they had, that is essentially their pocket money, to satisfy their own needs and wants. Secondly, they influenced their parents spending and finally they eventually would become a loyal customer base for the companies in the long run. Interaction with parents is the first thing that influences children buying behaviors. The parents teach their children the buying behavior. Same proposition was given by Ward et al (1977) that primary socialization agents for children were parents and children behavior in adulthood was dominated by their parental influence. If there is a direct and clear communication between the children and their parents then children could be easily influenced by their parents. Mostly the pester power works if there is more emotional engagement between the parents and their children. Children learn from their parents the way in which they live, buy and eat. Moore and Moschis (1981) and Mascarenhas and Higby (1993) stated that the most instrumental among social entities were parents from which children learnt consumer behavior. Another researcher Moschis (1985) has concluded that interaction of children with all other entities was majorly influenced by their parents, when they were in direct or in direct contact with each other. Along with this he also postulated that, because of the nature of parent-child relationship, effects of other agents of socialization like peer groups and mass media were modified to a large extent. Peer Pressure is the second component of the research question, which influences children buying behaviors. Children spent a lot of their time in certain peer groups such as at school, play places or street friends belonging to different families. A child learns a lot from other children. The extent to which these gatherings influence varies from situation to situation. For example, a child can even make a decision to buy his school bag by looking at other children. Same element of influence was studied by many researchers including Parsons et al., (1953), David and Roseboroug (1955), Moschis and Moore (1981) has described the impact of peer pressure in two ways, expressive consumption and effective consumption. By expressive consumption they mean the social motivations and the materialistic values that are associated with the purchases while on the other hand, purchase styles and modes of consumptions were categorized as effective consumption influence. This study comes in line with my study that social motivation and the purchase patterns of both the parents and peers influence children. This influence may or may not be productive as Bachmann, et al (1993) stated that consumption learning from peers affected child consumer socialization directly or indirectly. Another research, stated earlier, by Ward (1974) has explained the relationship of parental influence and peer pressure with age that as age increases parental influence is over shadowed by peer pressure Impact of advertisements content and TV programs on children has gained significant importance by researchers and marketers. Berns (2004) has given a reason for the fact that children are now being used as a marketing tool is their cognitive immaturity, he argued on this point by saying that children were more likely to believe that the images or characters they see on TV were real. Some of ways in which this agent of socialization influences the pester power of children are: Making children desire things which their parents do not want to purchase by showing attractive contents in advertisements. Encouraging children to influence or advocate the buying behavior of their parents Presenting children as heroes in a particular situation such as showing a scene in which other children are in danger and one child adopts the rule of savior etc. Making Children feel inferior by showing them that if they will not buy a particular product they are not good but bad. According to OGuinn and Shrum (1997),a advertising and programming content are the two channels of communication which inform children and young people about products and encourage them to purchase. Another point that O Guinn and Shrum (1997) has stated in their findings is that consumer behavior was learned by children more easily if they were targeted with persuasion shown in commercials and various TV programs. Expansion in media messages and continuous changes in media environment are two key contributors for increasing the level of advertisement subjected towards children. Store Visits and Retailing environments also influence children buying behavior as Shim, et al (1995) proposed that children became more conscious about the information regarding products such as price and brands the more often parent took their children for the shopping. Keeping this in view marketer induce sales by adding some incentives for children to influence their parents to buy a product. For example, a fast food restaurant usually adds play place along with the dining hall or some retailer give away toys, snacks, sweets as gift with the products purchased. Although products are for adults but retailers make children pester their parents to buy that product. The attractive display of product also works in inducing this power more efficiently; these kinds of purchases made by parents under the influence of children are usually impulse purchases. According to research conducted by Schulman and Clancy (1992) on the most admired after school activities among the children depicts that watching TV got the highest attractive scores while second on the list was shopping which shows that in either of the two cases our research questions are being supported that these agents of socializations are impacting children behavior to a large extent. Cartoon character and Celebrities endorsement also has some bearing on children buying behavior. A recent study conducted by Dotson and Hyatt (2005) states that association of brands with certain popular sports, music and stars had increase the level of influence on children. Almost all children watch cartoon programs and other children oriented TV programs such as Quiz shows, Sports Shows etc. By introducing heroic characters like super-man, spider-man and various celebrities in advertisement make children buy that product because of emotional attachment of children with these things. Product category and stage of decision making process are being varied by children as the amount of influence they exert and product they prefer. For some product categories they influence purchase made by the parents and for some other products they are active initiators, information seekers, and buyers. Children influence is different for different products, product sub division, nature of socialization of children and they prefer product what they are attracted towards. Beside of the goods which are for direct consumption, children shows their influence in buying of goods for their family as their parents are less involved in the goods are preferred by them and preference increases in case of less expensive and the products for their own use. (Belch, 2004) Today, most of the marketers are targeting kids because of the change in demographics and psychographics of children population. The first learning point for the children about Where to buy is from family. The family characteristics such as family environment and parental lifestyle enhances the impact of the role of children in the different stages of taking buying decisions, as stated by Belch (2004) as well. Most of the children, when they go out with their parents on shopping, learn where a particular product or service is available and how they can reach them. The second source of children learning about where to buy comes from peer or social group they usually spend their time. As Belch (2004) stated that cultural values influence consumption related behaviors of children. The third source of children learning about where to buy comes from different advertisements and TV programs. There is big problem for children and their parents as viewers because young children are easily at tracted towards the content of advertisements and promotions. Theoretical Framework The independent variable in this study is agents of socialization and the dependent variable is pester power of children. Agents of socialization Pester power Independent variable Dependent Variable Operationalization In order to quantify independent variable, agents of socialization, the researcher has identified two indicators based upon the findings of literature review which are operationalized as under: Parent/Peer pressure: How the parents buying behavior and patterns are learned by the children because they are in constant contact with them and to what extent the interaction of children with their peer transform their preferences for products? Advertisements / TV programs: How much attention children pay to what they see on television, the retail environment impact children in nagging for a particular product and to what extent children get inclined towards a cartoon character or even children in a commercial? In order to quantify the dependent variable, pester power the researcher has identified three indicators which are operationalized as follows: Product preferences: How much differences in preference of children make them influence their parents purchase decision? Where to buy: How do children know from where they can get their desired product? How to buy: Do they know the tactic of buying the product, by nagging? Hypothesis The hypotheses developed for conducting the research are: H1: There is a relationship between agents of socialization and pester power Null Hypothesis: There is no relationship between agents of socialization and pester power Alternative hypothesis: There is a positive relationship between agents of socialization and pester power. Objectives of the Research Study Several factors such as interaction with parents, interaction with peers, shopping experiences and advertisement (Normal + Celebrity endorsement) has increased the nagging behavior of children. The more increase in interactions of a child with all these factors; it gives rise to pester power or the power of nagging in the child. For measuring pester power, the researcher has prepared a questionnaire (See Appendix) for measuring the impact of these two variables (parent/peer pressure and advertising) on pester power in children. The objective of this study is to measure the nature of relationship that exists between parent/peer pressure, advertising and pester power. Another objective is to find out if only these variables are there to boost up the pester power or there is also something else which has not yet been discovered in the previous research conducted (literature review) on pester power. Due to limited time and money constraints, it is not possible to get accurate and pure results, but the researcher will try his best to get the better results from limited resources. The finding of this study will also be helpful in the professional career of researcher being a business student. There is dramatic increase in the population of youngsters. Being an entrepreneur or marketer, this study will help the researcher to devise an efficient marketing communication strategy in his professional career for example this part of population can be targeted in marketing campaigns because of their larger proportion in the total population and maximum net marketing contribution can be obtained out of it. Secondly, this study will also be beneficial to the parents. The reason is, due to increase in population of youngsters, the marketers are targeting them in their marketing communications. This trend has positive as well as negative effects. Some marketers are using unethical tactics to market their product which is socially unacceptable. This study will help the parents to efficiently control the exposure of children to advertising and parent/peer pressure to minimize pester power and its negative effects. Research Methodology Design This study will be a questionnaire study. In questionnaire study, the respondents will be given a questionnaire and they will have to select from only available options. It is not a laboratory experiment where the environment of respondents can be controlled. It is a social research and the respondents are humans. The environment or context of this research cannot be controlled. The researcher will conduct questionnaire surveys. Questionnaire surveys are appropriate because these surveys allow quantification of data and thus quantitative evidences will be used to justify the results from research study. Questionnaire Surveys will help to gain required responses which can be further converted in quantitative terms for research. Subjects To test above mentioned hypothesis, the researcher will need to find data about agents of socialization and level of pester power. This data will be collected from parents having kids entering a shopping mall. The researcher will be using non-probability sampling method. A sample size of 100 parents entering shopping malls will be taken. Large shopping malls will be targeted for carrying out this research study. Convenience sampling method will be used for this research study. Instruments Instrument for carrying out research is already discussed above which is questionnaire surveys (quantitative research) for getting deep insights of the research problem. The researcher chose questionnaire surveys to get desired responses because quantification of data was desired. Moreover, the subjects find it easy to select an answer from given responses and therefore the response rate of questionnaire surveys are high. An interviewer completed questionnaire of close-ended statements will be used. Each questionnaire is expected to be completed within 10 minutes. So, questionnaire surveys are more flexible than any other instruments for research. Therefore, the above instruments for research study are reliable. Similarly statistical tests like z-test and t-test will be used to measure the reliability of measures. Context The research will be applied to the retail industry of United Kingdom (UK) by visiting the retail chains, retail stores and shopping malls. The research will be conducted from parents visiting the retail stores, retail chains and shopping malls of UK retail industry. Only those parents will be interviewed who will have the children under the age of 10-20 years old. Results Results obtained from the research study will be tested and validated by statistical measures using Microsoft Excel and SPSS. A z-test and t-test will be used to test significance among variables. Moreover, ANOVA will also be used to test significance of variables. Similarly, results obtained from focus groups and in-depth interviews will be tested qualitatively by recording video of these events. Research Paradigm This study Impact of agents of socialization on pester power is a quantitative, deductive and correlation study. The study is quantitative because it involves collection and analysis of numerical data as questionnaires responses can be measured on different scales and could be coded. The study is deductive because hypotheses is tested as There is a positive relationship between agents of socialization and pester power. The researcher arrived at the above hypothesis from the literature review. Now, the researcher already has a statement in the form of hypothesis, and this statement would be tested by collection of data and analysis which is a deductive approach. Finally this study is correlation study because a relationship is being measured between two different kinds of independent variables and dependent variable. In this study, agents of socialization are independent variables and pester power is dependent variable. Ethical Concerns The participants of the research study will be involved in the research with their informed consent by explaining them the purpose of the research study. The participants of the research study will be at minimal risk with no physical harm. A briefing would be given to respondents about the purpose of study by explaining the true nature of our study in order to have their informed consent. The respondents will be given a free choice to opt for giving information and responding to the questionnaire. The element of confidentiality and privacy will be of major concern during this study. The researcher will ensure confidentiality by using dummy data. Limitations It is a single mans effort and therefore some limitations will also be associated with the project and these limitations would be constraints of time and cost. In case of questionnaires surveys, participant in hurry or thinking about something else may choose a wrong response. Moreover, fatigue, anger and hunger may alter the interpretations of surveys. There could be human errors in the analysis and presentation of results. Conclusion The prime users of the study conducted will be the marketers who have to develop their advertising campaign. This point is also very important for parents as well, they try to reduce this pester power in their children, because it bring about negative changes in them, this is the reason that many countries like Canada have banned such advertisements that enhances pester power in children.

Comparing William Shakespeares Sonnet 18 and Sonnet 130 :: Compare Contrast Comparison

Sonnet 18 and Sonnet 130, by William Shakespeare, are two of the most well known Shakespeare sonnets. Both are similar in theme, however, the two poems are very much contradictory in style, purpose, and the muse to who Shakespeare is writing. Both Sonnets have different styles. Sonnet 18 is a much more traditional poem, showing the reader a picture of his muse in the most divine way. Shakespeare uses a complex metaphor of comparing his subject to the summer, but at the same time making it easy to understand. The poet goes as traditional as possible; his friend surpasses the beauty of summer, as summer will fade and turn to winter. Sonnet 130 is just as easy to understand as the former. The use of straightforward comparisons that go from line to line, instead of one metaphor elaborated through the entire poem, makes this sonnet quite different in style. Sonnet 130, in contradiction to Sonnet 18, purposefully branches off from the traditional romantic love poem for he does not describe the subject as a true beauty but as his true love.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two poems do seem to have a similar theme; both are focused around describing the poet’s muse. However, Sonnet 18 is not about love at all—Shakespeare makes no reference to love in the poem; he is merely describing how beautiful this individual is. Sonnet 130, on the other hand, is a true love poem, making direct mention to it in the couplet: â€Å"And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare / As any she belied with false compare.† Surprisingly enough, Sonnet 18 shows more the love Shakespeare has for himself and his writing ability. In the last three lines: â€Å"When in eternal lines to time thou growest: / So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this and this gives life to thee.† he is basically saying that in his eternal verse his muse will forever live. And although the couplet is sweet, a different approach to its meaning would be: â€Å"As long as people can read, they will read my poetry!† Sonnets were created to show-off a poet’s skill and not their love—in Sonnet 18 it is most apparent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The sonnets are similar in that the subject who which Shakespeare is writing is very dear to him. The most over looked difference, however, is who the subject actually is.

What is the meaning of Women Empowerment?

In the middle of the 18th century, women empowerment was greatly demonstrated through boycotts and uprisings. Not only women from the lower class suffered, but women from the middle class suffered as well. Lower class women who were working in factories would work the same amount as their male counterparts, get constantly mistreated and would still get paid lower than men. Middle class women had to always listen to their husband and never go against them. There were a lot of stereotypes between the freedom of men and women. Because of these stereotypes, this caused women to rebel and most women were very well aware of their subordinate status in their community and applied several feminist movements. One women who showed high representation of women empowerment was Abigail Adams. Abigail was the wife of president John Adams and had five children. Since she was married to the president, she was always left alone at the house taking care of all her five children as well as their farm. Since her husband was hardly home, she got very bored doing the same activities everyday. Abigail indicated many concerns, through a letters to her husband, about women and how they are being treated in society. Abigail wrote several letters to her husband, but one of her letters stated that â€Å"Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.† He letter was one of the first steps to to fight for women's rights and freedom. She exclaims that men should not have all the power in their homes because they would all become oppressors. Abigail also told her husband that if women did not get equal rights, they would rebel and not pursue the laws where they had no voice or representation in. Lastly, she emphasized the fact that John Adams needs to remember the rights of women when the Declaration of Independence was being written.

Lifespan Human Development Essay

Lifespan, simply defined, is the utmost period of time that a living being can survive. Lifespan can also be applied to a material or object. For a human, the period between his birth and death is a process that is identified as the lifespan development. According to Rebecca Heron (2010), lifespan development encompasses all of the developments or changes that occur from birth throughout life. Others termed lifespan development as a series of events that took place in a person’s life that made him more knowledgeable or wise. Others call it journey. Everyone has their own stories to tell. No matter how sad or colorful one’s story is, it is still something that we can call journey. Let me start mine by letting you know something about me. I am a Latin-American (Cuban) male. I was raised in Newark, NJ and I am in my late thirties now. When I got married last 2004, I moved down to south Jersey. People say that I am a good listener and that I give a good piece of advise. Like every other teenagers, I can say that I gained experiences from my teenage years. Thanks for my best friend Denniz; she was always there especially during my rough times in relationships. She was my shoulder to cry on when I needed one. D. Boyd and H. Bee (2009) tell that there is a Learning Theory that can be applied in a person’s life. According to this theory, one’s development results from an accumulation of experiences. I agree to this concept because I can say that people goes through a lot of experiences in life. Love is a great experience. I can still remember being in love and being out of love but still moved on. With a friend like Denniz, who says life can be so tough? We used to hang out most o the time as I can remember but then she has to move to California during our late teens. We continue to talk over the phone, share each others’ stories until fate has to take her away. A terrible car accident took the life out of my friend and until now, there is never a day that I do not think of her. I know that whatever I am right now, she is a part of it. Living on the darkest point of my life, somehow, I manage to move on. In fact, I acknowledge the need for higher education that is why I pursue studying. I can say that despite the hardships I had, I also gained success. I manage to buy a home, getting married, being asked to speak at my GED graduation on TV, and simply being there to help my parents when they needed me most. I also value simple things like my dog licking my face, the warmth smile of wife, and sometimes, being very child like. I got hurt a lot of times. First, when my best friend died. Then, when I found out that my aunt died in a cold hospital room instead of spending her time with her family. I also got hurt when I was laid-off from my job of 14 years which made me feel that I failed my wife. Because of this, I make sure that I do not disappoint someone, especially my loved ones. I developed the hatred for failure. However, I believe that life is a form of trial and error. Whenever my actions did not produce the outcome that I wanted, I re-think and plan again. Until I am very sure that I will be successful. Intelligence and sensitivity are imparted to me by my parents. There are times that I am emotional rather than logical. But with a bundle of experiences that I have in my life, I learned to balance both of them when I wanted to be successful in the things I do or the decisions I made. I can say that I am in the middle of my journey now. I believe that there are more experiences for me to face and I am ready for it. I had become a better person because of the experiences in my life because it taught me how to be tough and move forward. Twenty or thirty years from now, I want to see myself obtaining a degree in nursing. It feels good that your parents and wife are proud of you. They had been there when I started this task and I want them to be there when I am successful. Of course, I also want to have children of my own where I can be a proud parent someday. I want to teach them what my parents taught me and am able to know that I and my wife have influenced them in a fine way. Now, I can say that my goal as of the moment is to change the relationship between me and my two older brothers. We did not develop expressing our feelings towards each other on our younger years even though we spend a lot of time together. As I age, I feel the need to open up more with them because our relationship as siblings becomes deeper. I’d also like to see my friend Denniz someday. I like to tell her what I went through and how she had become part of it. I’d like to tell her that she is never forgotten and that she is the best friend I ever had. I’d also like to see my aunt. I wanted to say sorry for not being there when she needed us. I’d tell her that we cared for her and ask for her forgiveness. Trials come at times when you do not expect it but with a strong bond with family and friends, it is easy to overcome. With all the influences I have in this journey of mine, I owe most of it to my family. From the hobby of watching movies, to being charismatic and even being open-minded about things, I got it from my family and some from my friends. They are most important to me. That is why disappointing them is the least that I want to do. I’d rather use my ability to make them laugh and see smiles on their faces rather than inflict pain on their hearts. References Bee, Helen and Boyd, Denise. (2009). Lifespan Development. Prentice Hall. Heron, Rebecca (2010). Definition of Lifespan Development, retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www. ehow. com/facts_6066997_definition-lifespan-development. html

5 Performance Objectives of Wegmans

Performance objectives of Wegmans Today I decided to do my presentation about Wegmans main performance objectives, first of all I will describe what exactly Wegmans Company is and what are 5 objectives of operations. Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a privately-held, family owned company that was founded in 1916 by the Wegman family. Based in Rochester, NY, they have raised the bar on the customer shopping experience. The company prides itself on offering exceptional customer service, high quality goods, an abundance of choice, restaurant-quality prepared foods, and beautiful stores and displays.Wegmans has appeared on Fortune's annual â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work For† list since its inception in 1998, and has ranked among the top 10 for eight consecutive years. And about performance objectives I can say that it is a generic set of performance and indicators that can be used to set the objectives or judge the performance of any type of operation. There are 5 main performance objectives: Quality – â€Å"Doing things right†. Quality is very important aspect for customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction, it's all about providing error free goods and services.Speed – â€Å"Doing things fast† to minimize the time between the order and the availability of the product or service that gives the customer a speed advantage. Dependability –â€Å"Being on time†, means that customers will get their goods and services when they are promised. Flexibility – â€Å"Changing what they do†. It's about that organizations can change their products and services and change the way they do business. Cost – â€Å"Doing things cheaply†. Low price is a universal attractive objective to customers, which can be achieved by producing goods at lower costs.Let’s begin discussion about Wegmans performance objectives. Quality as I already said is most important from these five and of course it’s important for this company as well. The most important thing employers are doing is prevent problems from occurring in the first place by carefully partnering with suppliers who understand their expectations. Be it a grower, a Wegmans brand manufacturer or a seafood supplier, company makes it its business to know suppliers well, visiting their fields or facilities whenever possible.If a supplier is making a product for Wegmans lebel, they must either be inspected by Wegmans' own Quality Assurance Auditors or must be certified against one of seven â€Å"Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)† endorsed manufacturing standards. The first shipment of any new Wegmans brand product is scrutinized by company's Quality Assurance staff to be sure it meets product specifications and food safety requirements. Tests are conducted in Wegmans Test Kitchen lab, or if necessary, by independent laboratories. Additional sampling and testing is done periodically, sometimes prompted by customer or employee comments.Company also pays attention on friendly environment. Each store manager sets the tone for the warm, friendly work environment that employees expect when they work for Wegmans. And in turn, employees greet their customers with warm, friendly, helpful attitudes, which is crucial for any business whose employees regularly interact with customers. So as we can see Company cares much about safety and high quality of products, because the owners of the business know well that high quality can influence customer satisfaction and lead to stable and efficient processes.For Wegmans Company it is very important to produce services and goods as fast as possible, and for this they are doing their best. As we know for fast production it's important to have very good, qualified employees and good, modern technologies. So Wegmans company cares much about staff which works there, Wegmans’ Chairman Robert Wegman state that: â€Å"Respect, fairness, honesty, and concern are whatâ€⠄¢s important to people. To my way of thinking, the only way to achieve great customer service is by treating employees right.They have qualified employees in technic and production departments and also they have different training programs for providing better performance of the staff. Wegmans puts a huge emphasis on being an innovator in retail technology. In 1974, Wegmans was one of the first companies to introduce bar-code scanning, and in 1990 Wegmans introduced electronic discounts. The company launched its web site, wegmans. com in 1996. The site not only helps customers save time and money through its on-line ad, but also offers meal solutions, recipes, and even provides the ability to apply for jobs within the company.According to all these company is providing fast production and this is a huge way for the company success. Dependability is extremely important factor for customer trust and satisfaction, as i checked Wegman's has strong position in it too. Customers are much satisfied how fast the company delivers its products, they love to go for shopping in Wegmans, some of them even said that: â€Å"A trip to Wegman's is better than a trip to an amusement park†. All these is caused because firm provides additional ervices such as internet shops, which means that you can check out Wegmans products and services online, and even buy there, so save time by this, they also have recipes how to cook many different type and delicious food, they even provide these service by internet, if you go on their online page you can see many videos, about how to cook different foods, so as one Wegmaniac put it, â€Å"Shopping at Wegman's is an experience. † In addition to a unique shopping experience, including one-third of the space devoted to prepared foods, with another 15,000 sq. ft. or a liquor department, a 300-seat cafe, 70,000 products and some 30 checkout lanes, Wegmans brought relocated 75 Rochester employees to Massachusetts to ensure customer s are treated the way Wegmans wants them to be treated. As an addition i would like to say that company managers said that for them it's very important to know their consumer base and understand the demand. There's so much diversity in Wegman's markets these days, they need to know who their customers are and give them what they want. They said they have to give them not only what they are familiar with, but also explore other products that might not be a mainstream item.And in their case, that's unique vegetables and fruits. Flexibility helps the firm to change over between tasks quickly and without wasting time and capacity. Wegmans provide good flexibility, as the firm is changing over time, they are doing researches and are changing by customer needs, they can change techniques, operations, they are producing new products, are offering many different services. For example last year they did a research and find out that they can be successful in growing certain varieties of organ ic produce in the northeast.CEO of the firm also said that last year they explored new techniques called a hoop house. It's a metal frame with a plastic cover, and there they grow heirloom tomatoes and it was very successful. Every month they are offering new food products and for special celebration days they have special recipes, for example for thanksgiving day they offer which Turkey to choose, how to cook it, with what ingredients and so on, all these staff is very likable for customers and that's a another factor why it is so popular.And the final objective cost is described For Wegmans as follows, they are trying in all ways to keep medium costs and at this time keep all the customers as well. They are doing this very well, because they have many tools for this, for example at a time when commodity and fuel costs are rising dramatically, Wegmans Food Markets announced that it will not increase prices on 40 products that families buy most, to help customers and employees manag e their grocery costs. â€Å"We considered the importance of an item to a family when choosing our list of 40,† said President Colleen Wegman. Such things as bananas, pasta, frozen vegetables, and laundry detergent are in most shopping carts every week. They are products that families can’t do without, so what they pay for these items really matters. † The 40 products they selected to hold prices on were those that families buy week in and out. They were mostly Wegmans brand. Why? They have better access to information on the factors that determine costs for their own brand. Their quality makes them already the best value in their categories, and they’re often the top-selling brand.Another good example of cost leadrship of Wegmans is that, In November of 2008, many families were feeling the economic shock of their lives as the nation’s financial system teetered, jobs melted away, and household budgets shrank. Wegmans announced a decision to lower hu ndreds of prices on frequently purchased products. If customers and employees were facing leaner times, the company reasoned, Wegmans should also live with leaner times. So by performance objectives described above we can see that Wegmans is successful company and is doing best for its customers.

UNHAPPY RELATIONSHIPS IN HEMINGWAY'S LIFE AND FICTION Essay

UNHAPPY RELATIONSHIPS IN HEMINGWAY'S LIFE AND FICTION - Essay Example He believed in omitting extra details as a way of strengthening his stories. He compared this to an iceberg. Just like only the top 1/8th of an iceberg can be seen above the water with the rest remaining below the surface providing it with its momentum and dignity, Hemingway believed his stories should follow the same structure. Although some critics loved him, others said his stories were shallow. â€Å"He had no sympathy for women, they said, portraying them either as manhood-destroying bitches or as mere objects of sexual domination† (Lynn, 1987, p. 10). A close reading of his stories reveals not only the messages the author intended to send, but also some insights as to the way he felt about things. Throughout his life, Hemingway struggled in his relationships with others, particularly women, and these struggles can be traced through many of his works including â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants†, â€Å"The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber† and â€Å"S nows of Kilimajaro.† There are numerous similarities between the short story â€Å"Hills Like White Elephants† and Hemingway’s life at the time he wrote it. According to Baker (1969), Hemingway wrote this story during the 100 day separation period between himself and his mistress Pauline that his wife Hadley insisted upon before granted a divorce. The story is essentially the conversation that takes place between a man and a woman at a small train station cafà © as they wait for their next train. One of the first indications that perhaps things are not right with the couple is the fact that they are drinking beers in the middle of the day. While this is not necessarily an indication of trouble, the emphasis on ‘big ones’ and the observation of the girl â€Å"looking off at the line of hills† observing that â€Å"they look like white elephants† (Hemingway, 1986: 273) begins to suggest the general direction of the story about to unfold. As the man

Business - Incentive Plans Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business - Incentive Plans - Term Paper Example Indeed, the distinctive challenges faced by the U.S. Army in terms of human resource management have drawn academic attention to how it manages its own incentive programs in sometimes very risky environments. In addition, how an organization structures its incentives is very informative of how that organization expects its employees to respond to rewards and punishments in carrying out the group’s objectives. In the case of the U.S. Army, the group’s objectives are to provide prompt national defense and sustaining land dominance across a spectrum of conflicts (U.S. Army, 2005). Incentive programs in the U.S. Army must then mobilize and encourage soldiers to take part in armed conflicts when necessary as a matter of maintaining the national defense. Because of the nature of employment in the U.S. Army, incentive programs must be based on which geopolitical areas are desirable and which are undesirable to employees. One particularly interesting incentive program that the U.S. Army employs is the Targeted Selective Reenlistment Program. Under this program, soldiers with a low cost of serving in an undesirable location accept a bonus and are sent to an undesirable location; on the other side, soldiers with a high cost of serving in an undesirable location reenlist but decline the bonus. ... equires a significantly large workforce concentrated into small geographic areas, relatively low-skilled employees are ultimately necessary for maintaining organizational infrastructure in achieving desired outcomes. Although the TSRB program does not affect high-demand skill employees, lower-level Army employees receive a direct benefit and, from a personnel management perspective, it is these areas in the organizational hierarchy that the Army has the most difficult with in terms of employee turnover. The U.S. Army also faces a unique human resources management challenge insofar as the Army incentivizes referrals to join the organization. Even though there might be a challenge recruiting qualified talent, most for-profit and nonprofit organizations, facing labor surpluses, do not need to incentivize referrals. In 2009, the U.S. Army discontinued an incentive program that gave $2,000 to any soldier who referred new recruits into enlistment (ArmyTimes, 2009). Facing budget cuts, the Army was unable to continue the program, along with many other incentive structures that were slashed in the face of growing criticism of defense spending. Based on the suspension of the referral program, one can say that the U.S. Army no longer offers a viable incentive structure for soldiers to pull other qualified individuals into service. Given the organizational objectives the Army aims to achieve, and the large workforce that it requires to achieve those objectives, it is a weakness not being able to attract more talented individuals to its ranks through referrals. According to Crispin and Mehler (2011), 27.5% of hires in organizations are attributable to referrals. It is not clear how much of this potential the U.S. Army is losing by not having a stable employee referral program that

Ethical Issues in Mental Healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ethical Issues in Mental Healthcare - Essay Example According to the research "Ethical Issues in Mental Healthcare" findings, psycho-clinical situations are based on trust and clients share their sensitive information with the therapist and great responsibility of not unnecessarily sharing secrets of oneself with others lies on to the shoulders of the psychologist. Again right of privacy is more of an ethical convention than a rule because therapists in the light of their past and current experience came to know that if they do not respect the right to privacy of their clients then they do more harm than good. The Hippocratic Oath gets activated and therefore, psychologists, psychiatrists and psychosocial therapist should not indulge them in behaviors that hurt their society. Therapists face another challenge of telling the truth to their patients whereas, they do not have to hurt them to an extent where they decide to quit the therapy altogether. In modern psychology, therapists are guided to wait for the right moment, to tell the tr uth rather than telling it up front because it will do emotional harm to their clients. They are required to create a mutual understanding that the practice of therapy is being carried to increase patients’ quality of life and once patients realize that a psychologist is his or her last resort before self-harm (Teale, 1955) then he or she becomes susceptible towards the therapeutic intervention and finally, began to treat truth as a fact and before that all of them treat their real condition as a dream and as an illusion.

SISCO Marketing Plan Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

SISCO Marketing Plan - Case Study Example This being the first year of operation in the financial and mortgage industry, SISCO has developed its own customer base, thus cultivating its own niche market. An aggressive marketing will however lead to a growth of its customer base, thus making its presence widely known in Jeddah. SISCO's core business shall be the supply of financial services to both individuals and business owners, who have interests in the mortgage and property development industry. Following a study of the target market, the information acquired will hence help the company to better serve the needs of the customers. The kingdom is witnessing a change in demographics of home development. Previously, individuals build at least 98 percent of the homes, whereas developers only handled the remaining 2 percent. The trend is however rapidly changing owing to a drastic rise in both the building materials, and a corresponding increase in development cost The sector is bound to witness a rapid growth, and which will continue onto the following year. This saw investment into real estate increasing by more than two folds by the end of 2007. This review, which was provided by the Global Investment House, also reported of an annual growth in the sector of 115.9 percent, and which now stands at SAR 100.4 billion. In almost all the segments in this market, demand almost always surpasses supply. While this trend is expected to hold in coming years, real estate prices, as well as rental will more than likely remain buoyant. 9. Market trends: The real estate market in Saudi Arabia has remained buoyant, thanks to the availability of sustainable demand. As long as there is an economic expansion, there will be a resultant creation of investment opportunities in the region. Demand will thus continue picking up, fuelled by an influx of increased rates. In addition, population growth in the kingdom has been forecasted to continue growing annually at a rate of 2.5 percent, to reach 25.66 million at the end of 2009. At the same time, there shall be a decline in the average house hold size from 5.5 to 5.2 persons for the periods 2005-2009. This will in turn lead to a corresponding increase in housing demand, which has been estimated to be at 1 million units by the end of the same period. This translates into an increase of 200,000 units per year on average. Jeddah is also witnessing a growing trend, in which high rise and luxurious apartment are being designed and developed by real estate developers of repute (Parker 2007). 10. Market needs: There is a dire need to supply over 200,000 housing units per year. In order to achieve this, a total of 280 million square meters of land is needed. Further, SAR 500 billion needs to be invested in the sector to be able to construct the 1 million housing units. In order to quench this thirst for housing units, the availability of sufficient financial mechanisms are needed (Parker 2007). 11. SWOT Analysis: This is a description of the company's strengths, weaknesses, threats and