Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Cross Cultural Awareness for the International Manager Essay

Cross Cultural Awareness for the International Manager - Essay Example It runs an Internet filtered search engine that caters mostly to school-age children of ages 7 to 12. This search engine filters effectively the restricted sites from the children and promotes wholesome Internet surfing suitable to its young consumers. It aims to release an English-language Internet filtered search engine, a more advanced and more scrutinizing system (when compared to competitors Google and Yahoo) where it can be made available to the Chinese English-speaking children and adults, in accordance to the strict regulations of the government. Since it is a more efficient filter as compared to its competitors, it also features a Chinese counterpart site for its bilingual target public. It needs bilingual speakers and writers who would be able to man a new center that would be built in the country. China, or the People's Republic of China if the official name has to be used, has a total area of 9,596,960 sq km, slightly smaller when compared to the United States of America. The country is found in Eastern Asia, surrounded by Mongolia on its north, Central Asia countries on its west, South and Southeast Asia countries on its south and the East China, Yellow and South China Seas and the Korea Bay in its east With a total population of 1.3 billion people (July 2006 est.),... It also has a wide variation of dialects with each region having their own such as Yue or Cantonese (Hongkong area), Wu or Shanghaiese (Shanghai area), Minbei (Fuzhou area), Minnan or Hokkien-Taiwanese (Taiwan area), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects and other dialects of the ethnic tribes. Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect) is the official language in China as mandated by the government. The population growth is estimated to be 0.59% by 2006. Those below 14 years old make up 20.8% of the population, 15-64 years old has 71.4% and those 65 years old and over are 7.7%. Adding to the variety of the country is the religious adherence of the population to Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam despite the discouragement of the state for religious practices and its push for atheism in 2002. In 221 BC, China was first united under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty which the British based its current English name (its local name is Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo). Its last reigning dynasty, the Manchu, was replaced by a republic in January 1, 1912. The Communist Party took over in October 1, 1949, officially making it the People's Republic of China. For centuries China stood as a leading civilization even as the Roman Empire crumbled, exceeding the rest of the world's foremost civilizations and contributing important discoveries and inventions in arts and sciences. But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation (The World Factbok, 2006). After the devastation brought about the Second World War, the Communists under the command of Mao Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that

Monday, October 28, 2019

Fantasy Theme Analysis of Commercial Essay Example for Free

Fantasy Theme Analysis of Commercial Essay â€Å"It’s Not About the Shoes† The Jordan Brand attempts to communicate to its audience that to become legendary they need to understand that it is not about the shoes, but what it is you do in them. They do this by showing a number of star athletes performing when they were in college and high school to the narrator’s (Michael Jordan) words. This paper hypothesizes how it is the Jordan Brand attempts to bring their audience to the shared rhetorical vision of becoming legendary, through fantasy themes in their ad â€Å"It’s Not About the Shoes†. The Fantasy Theme Criticism To understand this paper’s argument on how it is the Jordan Brand attempts to use fantasy themes in their ad, we must first understand what exactly the Fantasy Theme Criticism is. It was created by Ernest G. Bormann, and was designed to provide insights into the shared worldview of a group of rhetors. It is derived from the Symbolic Convergence Theory, and can be applied to different types of rhetoric including the kind(s) used on small groups, social movements, political campaigns, and organizational communication. The criticism relies on two assumptions. One, that rhetoric creates reality, and two, that convergence occurs. With regards to rhetoric creating reality we are to assume that the symbolic forms that are created from the rhetoric are not imitations but organs of reality. This is because it is through their agency that anything becomes real. We assume to that convergence occurs because symbols not only create reality for individuals but that individual’s meanings can combine to create a shared reality for participants. The shared reality then provides a basis for the community of participants to discuss their common experiences and to achieve a mutual understanding. The consequence of this is that the individuals develop the same attitudes and emotions to the personae of the drama. Within this criticism the audience is seen as the most critical part because the sharing of the message is seen as being so significant. The basic unit of this analysis is looking at the different fantasy themes within the rhetoric being analyzed. Fantasy themes tell a story that  accounts for the groups experience and that is the reality of the participants. The three fantasy themes that are necessary to create a drama are setting, characters, and actions. These fantasy themes then come together to form a fantasy type, and rhetorical vision. A fantasy type is a stock rhetorical vision that appears repeatedly in the rhetoric of a group. The actual rhetorical vision is the unified putting together of the various shared fantasies, or a swirling together of fantasy themes to provide a credible interpretation of reality. In the event there is a rhetorical vision, it is suggested that a rhetorical community forms that consists of participants in the vision, or members who have shared the fantasy themes. It is within this community that the ability to understand and act on the motives for action that the rhetorical vision attempts to communicate reside. Analysis Within this ad, there is a number of fantasy themes that the Jordan Brand incorporated that potentially could lead their audience to the desired rhetorical vision they wished to communicate. This part of the paper will seek to analyze this ad by first looking at our ads relationship with the audience, and then breaking the fantasy themes down into the three different kinds that make up this analysis and how they could come together to form a fantasy type and rhetorical vision. In order for the ad to make sense it must share a First there is the setting theme(s). Setting themes depict where it is the action is taking place. In this ad, there are a variety of different athletic venues depicted in which the physical setting takes place for athletes to become legendary. For example, there is a basketball court (P3, P8, P15, P20, P21), a boxing ring (P12-13), a baseball field (P5-6), and football field (P11, P17-18). All of these different physical places are where athletes go to train and perform to become legendary. We here the narrator state various inspirational lines pertaining to ones performance such as, â€Å"It’s about work before glory† (L10-11) and that it is about â€Å"Taking everything you have been given, and making something better† (L8-9). This suggests to the audience that practice and hard work in whatever sport you choose to compete in, are required if you wish to become legendary. The next major setting theme of the ad is within the audience is itself. In the very first scene (P1) all we see initially is the shoes with an unidentified person sitting in them. The screen then scrolls up to reveal a man who it is sitting in a chair deep in thought. This is possibly meant to be symbolic that each and every person in the audience is that athlete in those shoes. Then in the final scene we see a black screen with the words Become Legendary. These two slides form the setting that each member of the audience is supposed to face, the moment in their mind at which they either decide in favor of, or against attempting to become legendary. In addition to this the ad references â€Å"you† the audience a total of 8 times. This supports that the ad is trying to communicate to its audience wherever it is, and since this ad is attempting to call to action its audience the setting is within the audiences minds themselves when they are making their decision. Next there is the characters theme(s). Character themes are any person or object shown engaging in human like action. As previously stated, the ad references â€Å"you† a total of 8 times and makes clear that the audience is the most important character in this ad. Through the imagery and words, the audience is supposed to either imagine themselves as the athletes depicted, or as themselves in similar settings on the athletic field. This inclusive strategy of using the language and themes of the ad to relate to the audience helps to build convergence The athletes who are shown in the ad are also important characters. It is not explicitly stated in the ad who these athletes are, but by watching the ad and viewing the final scene in which the words Become Legendary (P22) appear, the audience can infer that whoever these athletes are, they are legends in their respective games. They are depicted throughout the ad performing various acts of athletic ability, and through the narrator’s words the audience is supposed to imagine themselves performing similar acts as these athletes. Finally, there is the actions theme(s). Action themes deal with the action of the drama. Within this ad there are numerous action themes. By looking at the visuals of the ad we see athletes running up and down a basketball court (P3, P20), hitting baseballs (P5-6), shooting a basketball (P8), catching touchdowns (P11, P18), and hitting a punching bag (P13). Accompanying these visuals we here the narrator’s words and are able to understand the qualities these athletes possess, and how their actions (which become transparent through the ads visual and audio display) have lead them to become legendary. For example, we here the narrator say for the baseball scene (P4-6) that â€Å"It’s about having the courage to fail† (L4-5). The audience is supposed to understand that having courage/acting courageous is important to have if one wishes to become legendary. Another example is in slides P12-15 in which we go from the visual of a young boxer working out, to the image of basketball player in celebration and here the words â€Å"It’s about work, before glory† (L10-11). This scene depicts that the action of working hard leads to the act of celebration in victory. This scene also lends itself to the idea that the act of working hard is important to becoming legendary. These themes form a fantasy type which is that it is not about the shoes. We here this exact line stated in P1L1 that â€Å"It is not about the shoes†. Throughout the ad we then see various video clips and pictures that show us, as well as hear our narrator tell us, what it is about. We then hear in L14 that once again â€Å"It’s not about the shoes† and then in L15-16 that â€Å"It’s about what you do in them, it’s about being who you were born to be†. This fantasy type provides the resolution to the original conflict brought about in the first scene. The fantasy themes discussed above all come together to hopefully lead the audience to the rhetorical vision to become legendary, which is what the rhetor hoped to communicate. Through the fantasy themes the audience is able to see how it is that they can become legendary

Saturday, October 26, 2019

My Choices and Commitments Essay -- Personal Narrative Essay Example

In pondering what my life will be like when I am finished with college, I have to consider the rapid life-changing events and choices that I am facing now at the age of 17. In a short span of time I have had to make a decision about my future career and, based on that decision, choose where I would go to college. I realize that I am in a crucial part of my life now, and that the commitments I make today will drastically affect my status ten years from now. It's a known fact that the majority of teenagers' decisions are inadvertently made based on the order of their priorities. Priorities at age 17 are not the same as those that one will have at age 27 or older. Since no one has written instructions for perfect living, bad decisions and irresponsible errors are prominent. My past four years in high school have helped me learn from my mistakes and have also given me time to prioritize. Time management has allowed me to participate in school athletics and other extra curricular activities and still remain at the top of my class. Now that I am at the point where graduation is simply weeks away, I am beginning to feel pressure about the major decisions I have made and will make in the next few months of my life. Since I am already set as far as college plans, (I will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), the major worries are yet to come. In the next four years of my life I will encounter a variety of diverse people, lifestyles, beliefs and cultures. Though not all of these experiences will be negative, I realize how important it is that I go to college with my standards, priorities, and morals secure. I know that how I choose to live, learn and succeed will directly impact the quality of the rest of ... ...h both my peers and the school administration and staff. This reputation came about because of choices I made years ago. My church youth group has been a wonderful way to learn about community service. Seeing others who are disadvantaged, ill or needy has taught me the importance of caring for others and to be thankful for my own good health and stable family situation. Through committing myself to these various activities, I have been able to help people, as well as help myself. I have learned the importance of teamwork, gained leadership skills, and learned how to humble myself to serve others. These interactions introduced opportunities that have helped prepare me for greater things. Ten years from now, I will be able to say that the hard work was worth it, the determination paid off, and that my priorities took me to the status that I aspired to achieve.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Book Report & Stephen R. Essay

Stephen R. Covey is a well-known writer of many self-help books. He is one of the leading writers in this genre of writing. His book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,’ was published over twenty years ago. Its fifteenth anniversary edition was released in the year 2004 to mark its amazing success. Apart from being a writer, Stephen R. Covey is also a humanist, an academician and a renowned speaker. His clarity of thought and his ability to convey the same to his readers is seen in this book too. This ability if his has also made him a highly influential guru in the field of business management. He has a flair for writing in a style that helps the readers not only understand the intensity and gravity of his ideologies and thought processes, but also helps them apply the same principles and logic to their own lives, sooner or later. This goal of truly helping people attain what they want and need is perfectly achieved in Stephen R. Covey’s books. Stephen R. Covey’s book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ begins with a quote by David Starr Jordan’ There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living. ’ One of the main reasons the world has loved this book all these years is that Stephen R. Covey has written about the key elements like integrity, honesty and self-management in a very simple, clear and precise manner. A few key points that will remain memorable forever include the fifth habit of highly effective people where he writes the need for people to first develop the ability to understand others before wanting to be understood. According to Covey (1989), â€Å"You don’t have much confidence in someone who doesn’t diagnose before he or she prescribes. But how often do we diagnose before we prescribe in communication? † (p. 120). Stephen R. Covey touches a different chord with the readers because in this book he also gives a lot of examples from his own life, be it the problems with his son that he was concerned about and the methodology he sought to adopt to help his son out as a devoted father or the fact that his marriage has reached a dead end. Not because his wife and he had fights or difference of opinion. But, due to the reason that they couldn’t love each other anymore and they felt they would never be able t rekindle that same kind of love and affection they felt for each other earlier. When an author of his stature chooses to tell the readers stories of his life to use it effectively as point of reference to better their own, it translates itself into a genuine self-help book. Before introducing the readers to the seven habits, he prepares them mentally by helping them understand that the bottom line is we need to understand our own â€Å"paradigms† and how to make a â€Å"A Paradigm Shift TM. † According to Covey (1998),† A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step. † (p. 18). Stephen R. Covey has seamlessly integrated all the seven habits as highly essential and necessary elements. Not a single word seems repetitive or out of place as Stephen C. Covey has given this book a very practical and pragmatic outlook. The book is a beautiful amalgamation of the basic instincts and reaction patterns humans have to every situation in their life and what needs to be done in order to receive the most suitable results either at home or at the workplace. A few principles that I have been able to introduce successfully into my life are Stephen R. Covey’s very first habit of being proactive, the third habit that clearly lists how to prioritize objectives in a given time frame and the sixth habit that refers to synergy. My ability to be more proactive has helped me at my work place and has also allowed better and more optimal utilization of my hours at work. I’ve understood the best way to prioritize my meeting at works and my tasks at home, so I never feel stressed out and at the same time I get a lot more time with my family, friends, my loved ones and myself. Stephen R. Covey’s concept of synergy aids the process of developing and establishing better human rapport and interaction. When you think about a particular situation from another person’s or party’s point of view, you in turn, gain a lot insight to turn it into a win-win situation. Stephen R. Covey’s fourth habit is tough as he asks us to think like a winner to ultimately be a winner. He clearly explains the six paradigms of human interaction and stresses on the importance of integrity, honesty, maturity and special term coined by him called ‘Abundance Mentality. ’ According to Stephen R. Covey (1989)† It is the paradigm that there is plenty out there and enough to spare for everybody. It results in sharing of prestige, of recognition, of profits, of decision making. It opens possibilities, options, alternatives, and creativity. † (p. 110). References Covey, R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Characters In the novel ‘Of mice and men’ Essay

The novel ‘Of mice and men’ is set in 1930’s America. The characters suffer from this because of the Great Depression in 1929. This led to many things, for example people losing their jobs. Because of this factor the characters Lennie and George have to travel from place to place looking for a job and a place to live. Also Woman and Black rights did not exist as they were 2nd class citizens, Crook says to Lennie â€Å"Why aint you wanted† â€Å"Cause I’m black†, unlike contemporary America. Also in the 1930’s people were discriminated against because they were put before any other person wanting the job. I think the differences between 1930’s America and today’s America shows drastically in this novel by affecting the characters jobs and social lives. Lennie is a very interesting and important character in the novel; he affects all the character but mostly George. He is very forgetful, George says to Lennie â€Å"So you forgot that already did you!!!† Steinbeck uses Lennies ‘forgetfulness’ as a way to kill Curley’s wife without Lennie knowing. Also Lennie cannot take care of himself, unlike today society cannot provide help for him and if left alone him would slowly die. Also if he was left alone he would not be able to get a job because he would be discriminated against, but with the help of George he has a chance to work if he follows Georges rules, â€Å"If he sees ya work before he sees ya talk, were set†. In this quote George is telling Lennie what to do around the boss, Stienbeck makes it clear in this quote how much discrimination there is in the 1930’s. George, I think, is the main character in the novel, mainly because he controls the book by helping and telling the characters what to do. He teaches Lennie how to behave to other people, I think if Lennie weren’t there, George would be depressed and lonely, although George sometimes get annoyed with him, he thinks a lot of him and this is why he was king enough to kindly kill him. Candy is also an important character in this novel and I think she is also very clever. â€Å"Everybody wants a bit of land, not much† she understands what its like to live in a mans world. Curley’s Wife is a very depressed character because she is a 2nd class citizen and once had hopes of becoming famous, â€Å"he was gonna put me in the movies†, her dream disappeared and is now the wife of Curley’s wife and has no role and no job in the novel, she also wants children but Curley doesn’t, and that is what a mans world was like in the 1930’s, whatever he says, goes. She gets so depressed for company that she approaches Lennie, I think she does this because she knows that he’s the only one that will listen to her, this depression leads to her downfall as Lennie accidentally kills her. Crooks is also a very depressed character because in the 1930’s blacks weren’t seen as equals. I think in this novel Crooks is vulnerable to attacks, â€Å"Listen nigger, you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?† She can have him killed because in the 1930’s woman were in a higher class then blacks, so her word is more reliable in court then Crooks. Crooks is also very wise, he has worked on the ranch for a long time, â€Å"I seen hundreds of men come by on the road†, and says that their dreams never come true its â€Å"just like heaven†. Crooks says to Lennie, â€Å"You guys is just kidding yourself. You’ll talk about it a hell of a lot, but you won’t get no land.† Crooks like everyone, is lonely. â€Å"A guy talking to another guy and it don’t make no differences if he don’t hear or understand, the thing is, they’re talking†, this quote shows how desperate Crooks is for company, like Curley’s Wife, he turns to Lennie.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Black Hawk Down essays

Black Hawk Down essays Columbia Pictures starring Josh Harnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Eric Bana, Ron Eldard, and Sam Shepard released Black Hawk Down in 2001. It was directed and produced by Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer. Mark Bowden wrote the story, and Ken Nolan wrote the screenplay. The film is about an elite group of American Rangers and Delta Force soldiers who were sent to Somalia in 1993 to capture a violent warlord whose corrupt regime had lead to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Somalis. The movie could have told the stories of hundreds of soldiers that were there but it focused on only a few. The main characters in this movie were, Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann, played by Josh Hartnett, Sergeant 1st Class Norm Hoot Gibson, played by Eric Bana, Company Clerk John Gohn Grimes, played by Ewan McGregor, Lt. Colonel Danny McKnight, played by Tome Sizemore, Sergeant 1st Class Jeff Sanderson, played by William Fichtner, Major General William Garrison, played by Sam Shepard, and Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, played by Ron Eldard. Black Hawk Down accurately depicts the battle that the American troops had to face to help the people of Somalia. The Army Rangers and the Delta Force are known today as elite fighting forces in the U.S. Armed Forces. In the film the soldiers continued to fight even though they were out numbered and had a lot of wounded and dead soldiers. The men of Delta Force and the Army Rangers always stood by each other and said, it is about the man next to you. The Delta Force and Army Rangers are very strong forces. They hold themselves at a higher level then other units in the armed forces. The Rangers Creed is used to symbolize the heart and effort of each soldier. The Rangers Creed is, Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Investigate if there is any correlation between the GDP per capita ($) of a country and the life expectancy at birth (years) Essay Example

Investigate if there is any correlation between the GDP per capita ($) of a country and the life expectancy at birth (years) Essay Example Investigate if there is any correlation between the GDP per capita ($) of a country and the life expectancy at birth (years) Essay Investigate if there is any correlation between the GDP per capita ($) of a country and the life expectancy at birth (years) Essay Essay Topic: Life Of Pi My aim is to investigate if there is any correlation between the GDP per capita ($) of a country and the life expectancy at birth (years). The GDP is the gross domestic product or value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. GDP dollar ($) estimates are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations. The GDP per capita ($) shows GDP on a purchasing power parity basis divided by population. The life expectancy at birth shows the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. It shows the life expectancy on average for the total population for male and females. Life expectancy at birth is also a measure of overall quality of life in a country and summarizes the mortality at all ages. The reason for doing this investigation is that I have seen a lot of documentaries and read a lot of articles in the newspaper which have talked about how the gap between rich and poor has increased. This has led to a poorer quality of life in developing countries. So I wanted to see if there was any link between how rich a country is per person and what on average is the life expectancy for a person is in that country. This will help me get a better understanding of how rich a country is how much it affects the quality of life. This is the reason why I think the investigation is worth doing. Data collection: The data I collected was the GDP per capita using the purchasing power parity ($) and the life expectancy at birth (years). I have collected data for these two variables from the whole world. So my population is defined as the whole world. I obtained the data from the www.CIA.gov and clicked on the world fact book. I got 239 pieces of data originally for both then I had to reject 11 pieces of data for both because some countries did not have any data for the GDP. So from the 228 I used a sampling method of choosing every 4th country on the list until I narrowed my sample to 50 countries. I chose every 4th number because when you divide 228 by 50 and choose the integer number you get 4 this ensures this is a random sampled number which provides the most representative sample from the population. I used a systematic sampling method. The list was in alphabetical order and not in rank order for both variables so by using this method Im not creating any bias. Since the data is from the CI A website I must presume that the data is accurate and reliable. Here is a table of my data which has been systematically sampled to show 50 pairs of data: Country GDP per capita, Purchasing Power Parity ($) Life expectancy at birth (years) American Samoa 8000 75.75 Anguilla 8600 76.7 Armenia 3600 66.68 Bahamas, The 15300 65.71 Barbados 15000 71.84 Benin 1100 51.08 Bolivia 2500 64.78 British Virgin Islands 16000 76.06 Burma 1700 55.79 Cameroon 1700 48.05 Central African Republic 1200 41.71 China 4700 72.22 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 600 48.93 Cote dIvoire 1400 42.65 Djibouti 1300 43.13 East Timor 500 65.2 El Salvador 4600 70.62 Ethiopia 700 41.24 French Guiana 14400 76.69 Gambia, The 1800 54.38 Ghana 2000 56.53 Grenada 5000 64.52 Guatemala 3900 65.23 Guinea-Bissau 700 46.97 Honduras 2500 66.65 India 2600 63.62 Iraq 2400 67.81 Jersey 24800 78.93 Kenya 1100 45.22 Korea, South 19600 75.36 Laos 1800 54.3 Liberia 1000 48.15 Macau 18500 81.87 Malaysia 8800 71.67 Malta 17200 78.43 Martinique 10700 78.72 Mayotte 600 60.6 Monaco 27000 79.27 Morocco 3900 70.04 Nauru 5000 61.95 New Caledonia 14000 73.52 Nigeria 900 51.01 Pakistan 2000 62.2 Papua New Guinea 2100 64.19 Philippines 4600 69.29 Reunion 5600 73.43 Saint Helena 2500 77.38 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 11000 78.11 San Marino 34600 81.43 Saudi Arabia 11400 68.73 Modelling procedures: I am going to do a scatter diagram of GDP per capita against life expectancy at birth for my 50 pairs of data to see if there is any correlation. A scatter diagram is an appropriate modeling procedure as it shows a clear relationship between two random variables. As you can see from the scatter diagram the points form a relationship which appears to be a curve so to try to establish a more linear relationship. I am going to do this by first logging my data for the GDP per capita and not logging the life expectancy data and then do a scatter diagram of this data. I am then going to log the life expectancy data but not the GDP per capita data and do a scatter diagram of this data. Then finally I am going to log both my data for GDP per capita and the life expectancy at birth and do a scatter diagram. I am going to check which scatter diagram gives the strongest linear correlation and thats the data Im going to chose. Country Life expectancy at birth (years) Log of GDP per capita, Purchasing Power Parity ($) American Samoa 75.75 3.903089987 Anguilla 76.7 3.934498451 Armenia 66.68 3.556302501 Bahamas, The 65.71 4.184691431 Barbados 71.84 4.176091259 Benin 51.08 3.041392685 Bolivia 64.78 3.397940009 British Virgin Islands 76.06 4.204119983 Burma 55.79 3.230448921 Cameroon 48.05 3.230448921 Central African Republic 41.71 3.079181246 China 72.22 3.672097858 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 48.93 2.77815125 Cote dIvoire 42.65 3.146128036 Djibouti 43.13 3.113943352 East Timor 65.2 2.698970004 El Salvador 70.62 3.662757832 Ethiopia 41.24 2.84509804 French Guiana 76.69 4.158362492 Gambia, The 54.38 3.255272505 Ghana 56.53 3.301029996 Grenada 64.52 3.698970004 Guatemala 65.23 3.591064607 Guinea-Bissau 46.97 2.84509804 Honduras 66.65 3.397940009 India 63.62 3.414973348 Iraq 67.81 3.380211242 Jersey 78.93 4.394451681 Kenya 45.22 3.041392685 Korea, South 75.36 4.292256071 Laos 54.3 3.255272505 Liberia 48.15 3 Macau 81.87 4.267171728 Malaysia 71.67 3.944482672 Malta 78.43 4.235528447 Martinique 78.72 4.029383778 Mayotte 60.6 2.77815125 Monaco 79.27 4.431363764 Morocco 70.04 3.591064607 Nauru 61.95 3.698970004 New Caledonia 73.52 4.146128036 Nigeria 51.01 2.954242509 Pakistan 62.2 3.301029996 Papua New Guinea 64.19 3.322219295 Philippines 69.29 3.662757832 Reunion 73.43 3.748188027 Saint Helena 77.38 3.397940009 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 78.11 4.041392685 San Marino 81.43 4.539076099 Saudi Arabia 68.73 4.056904851 Country GDP per capita, Purchasing Power Parity ($) Log of Life expectancy at birth Log (years) American Samoa 8000 1.879382637 Anguilla 8600 1.884795364 Armenia 3600 1.823995591 Bahamas, The 15300 1.817631467 Barbados 15000 1.856366324 Benin 1100 1.708250889 Bolivia 2500 1.811440944 British Virgin Islands 16000 1.881156321 Burma 1700 1.746556361 Cameroon 1700 1.681693392 Central African Republic 1200 1.62024019 China 4700 1.858657484 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 600 1.689575216 Cote dIvoire 1400 1.629919036 Djibouti 1300 1.634779458 East Timor 500 1.814247596 El Salvador 4600 1.848927713 Ethiopia 700 1.615318657 French Guiana 14400 1.884738738 Gambia, The 1800 1.735439203 Ghana 2000 1.752278985 Grenada 5000 1.809694359 Guatemala 3900 1.814447379 Guinea-Bissau 700 1.67182056 Honduras 2500 1.823800154 India 2600 1.803593665 Iraq 2400 1.831293744 Jersey 24800 1.897242103 Kenya 1100 1.655330558 Korea, South 19600 1.87714089 Laos 1800 1.73479983 Liberia 1000 1.682596291 Macau 18500 1.91312479 Malaysia 8800 1.855337404 Malta 17200 1.894482215 Martinique 10700 1.896085085 Mayotte 600 1.782472624 Monaco 27000 1.899108858 Morocco 3900 1.845346137 Nauru 5000 1.792041311 New Caledonia 14000 1.866405498 Nigeria 900 1.707655324 Pakistan 2000 1.793790385 Papua New Guinea 2100 1.807467376 Philippines 4600 1.840670561 Reunion 5600 1.865873528 Saint Helena 2500 1.888628725 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 11000 1.892706638 San Marino 34600 1.910784435 Saudi Arabia 11400 1.837146344 Country Log of GDP per capita, Purchasing Power Parity Log ($) Log of Life expectancy at birth Log (years) American Samoa 3.903089987 1.879382637 Anguilla 3.934498451 1.884795364 Armenia 3.556302501 1.823995591 Bahamas, The 4.184691431 1.817631467 Barbados 4.176091259 1.856366324 Benin 3.041392685 1.708250889 Bolivia 3.397940009 1.811440944 British Virgin Islands 4.204119983 1.881156321 Burma 3.230448921 1.746556361 Cameroon 3.230448921 1.681693392 Central African Republic 3.079181246 1.62024019 China 3.672097858 1.858657484 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 2.77815125 1.689575216 Cote dIvoire 3.146128036 1.629919036 Djibouti 3.113943352 1.634779458 East Timor 2.698970004 1.814247596 El Salvador 3.662757832 1.848927713 Ethiopia 2.84509804 1.615318657 French Guiana 4.158362492 1.884738738 Gambia, The 3.255272505 1.735439203 Ghana 3.301029996 1.752278985 Grenada 3.698970004 1.809694359 Guatemala 3.591064607 1.814447379 Guinea-Bissau 2.84509804 1.67182056 Honduras 3.397940009 1.823800154 India 3.414973348 1.803593665 Iraq 3.380211242 1.831293744 Jersey 4.394451681 1.897242103 Kenya 3.041392685 1.655330558 Korea, South 4.292256071 1.87714089 Laos 3.255272505 1.73479983 Liberia 3 1.682596291 Macau 4.267171728 1.91312479 Malaysia 3.944482672 1.855337404 Malta 4.235528447 1.894482215 Martinique 4.029383778 1.896085085 Mayotte 2.77815125 1.782472624 Monaco 4.431363764 1.899108858 Morocco 3.591064607 1.845346137 Nauru 3.698970004 1.792041311 New Caledonia 4.146128036 1.866405498 Nigeria 2.954242509 1.707655324 Pakistan 3.301029996 1.793790385 Papua New Guinea 3.322219295 1.807467376 Philippines 3.662757832 1.840670561 Reunion 3.748188027 1.865873528 Saint Helena 3.397940009 1.888628725 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 4.041392685 1.892706638 San Marino 4.539076099 1.910784435 Saudi Arabia 4.056904851 1.837146344 You can see from the scatter diagrams that the log of GDP per capita against the life expectancy shows the strongest linear correlation so that is the one I am going to choose. Therefore this means that I am going to use the data for log of GDP per capita and the life expectancy at birth. From the scatter diagram I can see that there is a positive correlation between the two variables. From looking at the scatter diagram I can see that the data takes an elliptical shape. Since the ellipse appears to be quite narrow it implies that there is a good positive correlation i.e. as one variable increases, so does the other. Therefore the data shows a clear linear relationship. Another technique that I am going to use is a histogram because you are able to see the distribution clearly and able to determine whether I can use Pearsons product moment correlation (PMCC) or Spearmans coefficient of rank order. I am going to draw a histogram for each variable and if the distribution is not normally distributed I shall use Spearmans and if it is I shall use PMCC. As the histograms roughly show a normal distribution I am going to use PMCC method. Analysis: Now I am going to calculate the PMCC with the help of Microsoft Excel. x y x2 y2 XY 75.75 3.903089987 5738.063 15.23411 295.6591 76.7 3.934498451 5882.89 15.48028 301.776 66.68 3.556302501 4446.222 12.64729 237.1343 65.71 4.184691431 4317.804 17.51164 274.9761 71.84 4.176091259 5160.986 17.43974 300.0104 51.08 3.041392685 2609.166 9.250069 155.3543 64.78 3.397940009 4196.448 11.546 220.1186 76.06 4.204119983 5785.124 17.67462 319.7654 55.79 3.230448921 3112.524 10.4358 180.2267 48.05 3.230448921 2308.803 10.4358 155.2231 41.71 3.079181246 1739.724 9.481357 128.4326 72.22 3.672097858 5215.728 13.4843 265.1989 48.93 2.77815125 2394.145 7.718124 135.9349 42.65 3.146128036 1819.023 9.898122 134.1824 43.13 3.113943352 1860.197 9.696643 134.3044 65.2 2.698970004 4251.04 7.284439 175.9728 70.62 3.662757832 4987.184 13.41579 258.664 41.24 2.84509804 1700.738 8.094583 117.3318 76.69 4.158362492 5881.356 17.29198 318.9048 54.38 3.255272505 2957.184 10.5968 177.0217 56.53 3.301029996 3195.641 10.8968 186.6072 64.52 3.698970004 4162.83 13.68238 238.6575 65.23 3.591064607 4254.953 12.89575 234.2451 46.97 2.84509804 2206.181 8.094583 133.6343 66.65 3.397940009 4442.223 11.546 226.4727 63.62 3.414973348 4047.504 11.66204 217.2606 67.81 3.380211242 4598.196 11.42583 229.2121 78.93 4.394451681 6229.945 19.31121 346.8541 45.22 3.041392685 2044.848 9.250069 137.5318 75.36 4.292256071 5679.13 18.42346 323.4644 54.3 3.255272505 2948.49 10.5968 176.7613 48.15 3 2318.423 9 144.45 81.87 4.267171728 6702.697 18.20875 349.3533 71.67 3.944482672 5136.589 15.55894 282.7011 78.43 4.235528447 6151.265 17.9397 332.1925 78.72 4.029383778 6196.838 16.23593 317.1931 60.6 2.77815125 3672.36 7.718124 168.356 79.27 4.431363764 6283.733 19.63698 351.2742 70.04 3.591064607 4905.602 12.89575 251.5182 61.95 3.698970004 3837.803 13.68238 229.1512 73.52 4.146128036 5405.19 17.19038 304.8233 51.01 2.954242509 2602.02 8.727549 150.6959 62.2 3.301029996 3868.84 10.8968 205.3241 64.19 3.322219295 4120.356 11.03714 213.2533 69.29 3.662757832 4801.104 13.41579 253.7925 73.43 3.748188027 5391.965 14.04891 275.2294 77.38 3.397940009 5987.664 11.546 262.9326 78.11 4.041392685 6101.172 16.33285 315.6732 81.43 4.539076099 6630.845 20.60321 369.617 68.73 4.056904851 4723.813 16.45848 278.8311 Totals 3224.34 179.0276425 215012.6 653.5361 11793.26 This shows that my variables have a good positive correlation. I am now going to carry out a hypothesis test on the correlation coefficient to see if there is enough evidence from my sample to conclude that there is correlation in the whole population. : ? = 0 (There is no correlation between the two variables in all the countries in the world) : ? 0 (Positive Correlation) N= 50 I will be doing a one tail test at the 5% significant level So the critical value = 0.2353 So 0.833872644 0.2353 Therefore I can conclude that there is enough evidence from the sample to say that I accept that there is a positive correlation. Regression line The equation of the regression line is: As you can see on the page here is my scatter diagram with the regression line drawn on it which was all done in excel. This is Y upon X regression line. Interpretation: From the investigation that I have carried out I have discovered that that there is a positive correlation between my two sets of data which is shown on my graph and regression line. The aim of my investigation was to see if there is any correlation between the GDP per capita ($) of a country and the life expectancy at birth (years). I can now confidently say that I have achieved my aim as there is a positive correlation as predicted. The sample that I took is of the whole world and is a good representation of the whole population. By using the correlation results I can predict if there was a country with a low GDP then it is expected that they have a low average life expectancy. This trend would be expected for every country in a similar position but some countries may incur lower life expectancies than normal due to some external factor e.g. war, outbreak of a new disease or some sort of natural disaster. But regardless of these exceptions they shall not affect the overall correlation. I think that this data was worth investigating and collecting because I now realise how important the GDP per capita of a country is in affecting how long a person lives and how the higher the GDP the better the quality of life is for a person. This investigation has shown that people living in developing countries are more likely to die at a young age and will not have such a high quality of life as we enjoy in a country like the UK. I also think this investigation will act as very good evidence to try and convince richer nations to help poorer ones. This data should be given to an organisation like the United Nations to try an act as a catalyst to convince them to do something about this before it is too late. Accuracy and refinements: One possible source of error was that the data may have been displayed incorrectly on the website or I may have copied it incorrectly. I would improve this by comparing data from a number of different sources to ensure accurate and reliable results. The sampling method that I used could have been a possible source of error. This is because my systematic sample only included every 4th so for example every 3rd did not have a chance to be chosen. I could have improved my sampling method by using simple random sampling instead of systematic sampling. Simple random sampling ensures that every item of data has an equal chance of being chosen. This is a very important factor in ensuring the reliability of my work. Even though the data is very reliable there are some improvements that could be made. First of all the data was only collected for a given year in my case it was for 2003. For more accurate data I could have used data over five years to see if there is actually a difference and to see if for example at that given years there may have been a low life expectancy due to an external factor like war or disease. Also the sample was only from 228 countries and there are more countries in the world so a more fair representation would be to random sample from every country in the world. This was not possible because my source did not include some of these countries due to political reasons and from lack of information for those countries. In my investigation I had to reject 11 statistics for 11 countries this reduced the randomness of my sample. I would improve this by making sure that data was available for every item in the parent population. Overall I am very happy with the accuracy and reliability of my data because I got it from a very reliable source which was www.CIA.gov. Having a reliable source for my data enables me to achieve my aim of a positive correlation.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

How to Print an Array in PHP Using Print_r()

How to Print an Array in PHP Using Print_r() An array in PHP computer programming contains a group of similar objects that are the same type and size. The array can contain integers, characters, or anything else with a defined data type. The print_r PHP function is used to return an array in a human readable form. It is written as: print_r($your_array) In this example, an array is defined and printed. The tag pre indicates the following code is preformatted text. This tag causes the text to be displayed in a fixed-width font. It preserves line breaks and spaces, making it easier for the human observer to read. pre?php $Names array (a Angela, b Bradley, c array (Cade, Caleb)); print_r ($Names); ? /pre When the code is run, the results looks like this: Array([a] Angela[b] Bradley[c] Array([0] Cade[1] Caleb)) Variations of Print_r You can store the result of print_r in a variable with a second parameter to print_r. This technique prevents any output from the function. Augment the function of print_r with var_dump and var_export to show protected and private properties of the objects, including type and value. The difference of the two is that var_export returns valid PHP code, whereas var_dump does not. Uses for PHP PHP is a server-side language used to add enhanced features  to a website developed in HTML, such as surveys, shopping carts, login boxes, and CAPTCHA codes. You can use it to build an online community, integrate Facebook with your website, and generate PDF files. With PHPs file-handling functions, you can create photo galleries and you can use the GD library included with PHP to generate thumbnail images, add watermarks, and resize and crop images. If you host banner ads on your website, PHP rotates them at random.  The same feature can be used to rotate quotations. It is easy to set up page redirects using PHP and if you are wondering how often your visitors check out your website, use PHP to set up a counter.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

How the banking industry has been affected by online banking Dissertation

How the banking industry has been affected by online banking - Dissertation Example Telecommunication systems and technologies help the bank to reach customers and provide them with not only general information but also the opportunity to perform interactive services of offline banking transactions like payment, receipts and transfer of funds (Aladwani, 2001). However Sullivan (2002) is critical of the technology and advises the banks that adopt internet banking to develop different methods of conducting business and speculates that internet will destroy old models and concepts of banking and will have profound influence on the banking industry. Online banking though offers variety of services resulting in better customer satisfaction giving personal experience (Karjaluoto, et al, 2002), it is often accompanied by risk factors which is why there is a need to carry out a research to study how the online banking has affected the banking industry. Background Traditionally banks used the internet to provide general information about the banks, services offered and other information to the customers. The incredible growth of internet has changed the way banking was processed with the entry of virtual banks like Compubank and Net.B@nk, providing customers with financial services over the internet and low cost or no fees as these banks do not have branches thus reducing the operating and fixed costs by replacing employees with technology (Jun and Cai, 2001). In order to sustain their competitiveness in the market, the traditional banks went online in order to provide better customer service, allow the customer access the services from the internet, make payment, receive and transfer funds online without standing in queue. According to a June 2006 study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 43 percent of internet users or about 63 percent of American adults bank online (Patton, 2006). Online banking allows 24/7 customer service, borderless transactions, speedy service, effective banking transaction assisted with more sophisticated tools and s ervices providing optimum security (Magoon and Vasisth, 2006). According to Plunkett (2008) companies that offer ATMs, physical branches and online services find the combination to be very effective as it costs a great deal less to service a customer who primarily relies on online services to manage accounts and ATMs to withdraw cash. Consumers who use online services seem to be educated, have large bank balances, better credit ratings and create higher levels of profits than customers who opt for traditional banking, the view which is also agreed and found by Sullivan (2000) that bank can generate a large number of Internet transaction if it has sizeable customer base. However, Plunkett (2008) states that maintaining accounts security are the major challenge to online banking as they have often been subject to attacks by hackers, scam artists and virus writers. It is further stated that success in online banking seems to be dependent on physical locations as consumers still wanted a branch to solve their queries. In a study carried out by Rose (cited in Jun and Cai, 2001), it was found that most of the banks, evaluated for service quality, showed an unsatisfactory level of service and argued that online banking has become complicated which may cause many problem than it can solve. Various studies

Friday, October 18, 2019

Healthy people discussion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Healthy people discussion - Coursework Example Generally, the HP 2020 is focused at attaining longer lives that is free of avoidable diseases while maintaining high quality health (Fielding, Kumanyika & Manderscheid, 2013). The HP 2010 strengths include processes that are data driven, measurable objectives and targets, and diversity in its usage. However the HP 2020 was different in wording as a result of diversity of organizations and individuals. This is evident in the determinant framework, electronic and ecological approach utilized. This means that the HP 2020 was more focused in developing objectives addressing the link between health status and the above factors (Fielding et al., 2013). The goals have changed in order to improve the lives and health quality offered to individuals. The changes in HP 2020 were influenced by different societal aspects. For instance, the HP 220 was focused on the ability to coordinate tribal, state, national and local attributes. The other societal issue that influenced change in the HP 2020 is the increase of population of people from different races. Improving the health utility highly influenced the changes in the

A femnist Analysis of an Item of Popular culture Research Paper

A femnist Analysis of an Item of Popular culture - Research Paper Example Through the ages, continuous evolvement has resulted in popular culture being remembered by era which witnessed its boom. Popular culture (sometimes also referred to as pop culture) can not only be distinguished by timeline, but also through areas/regions. Feminism is defined as â€Å"the theory of political, economic, and social equality of the sexes† (Merriam Webster). As opposed to popular belief that Feminism calls for feminine dominance in the society, its actual motive is to establish equality between the genders by equal representation of women in all walks of life. Its history can be dated back to 1895 when this word was first coined and used; however, equal rights propaganda had been in effect long before then. Women have been discriminated against since time unknown due to baseless assumptions formulated by the male-dominating society representatives. Similar to other minorities like African-Americans, women’s rights had been greatly limited, often unjustly ta ilored short. Soon, this injustice came to light, followed by the â€Å"feminism† revolutionary protests and propagandas. However, to fulfill the purpose of this paper, I will be elaborating on a â€Å"Feminist Analysis of an Item of Popular Culture† hereafter. The item I have chosen is a movie released in the year 2000, with a subsequent edition in the year 2003. Rumors have it that another edition in the series will be released in 2011. The name of the movie is â€Å"Charlie’s Angels (2000)† and â€Å"Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)† starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as central characters around which the story revolves. This film is based on a television series with the same name which had complete five seasons and 110 episodes from September 1976 to June 1981. Unsuccessful attempts were made to revive the television series since 1981, ultimately resulting in the formation of a successful box office hit movie in 2 000. Charlie’s Angels – both movies – depict the three central feminine characters as private investigation agents. The investigation agency for which the â€Å"Angels† work is run by a multimillionaire named â€Å"Charlie†, a man who is never focused on screen, and who conveys instructions to his agents through a speaker phone in his office, leaving them to work on their projects by themselves – somewhat unsupervised. The three heroines are distinctively bold and beautiful, extremely talented, tough and skilled, fussing about their exterior beauty while at the same time fighting crimes and criminals with manly valor and tactics. The first movie shows the â€Å"Angels† (as Charlie had named them) in pursuit of a software genius who had developed a unique voice recognition system through which the location of any person could be found. Unfortunately this genius is kidnapped, which the story later reveals was self-inflicted. In collabor ation with a communications satellite company and an aide, this genius aims to use his recently developed technology to locate and kill the multimillionaire and the Angels’ Boss – Charlie – as he believes Charlie to be the murderer of his father. The chase that follows shows Charlie being saved from the fatal attack by inches through the Angels’ extensive efforts and immense technological know-how. Even though Charlie’s physical existence was mere inches from exposure, he manages to make a quick run into oblivion, maintaining his unknown and unfocussed identity in front of the Angels and the audiences. The second movie has a similar thriller storyline. It shows the Angels in

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Change Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Change Management - Term Paper Example The intended change initiative has been measured to be cultural in nature where a flexible workplace is aimed to be introduced and is expected to be accepted in the place of a traditional form of workforce. Importance of Change Management There are stated to exist certain strong macroeconomic factors which are expected to turn out to be increasingly powerful in the coming few decades. Owing to such an anticipated and unforeseen situation, organizations will recognize the need to trim down the expenses, enhance the quality of the products as well as services, identifying fresh prospects related to development and escalation of the productivity factor (Kotter, 1996). These factors evidently focus on the requirement of a proper process related to change management in the organizations. Change management is referred to the application of planning, organizing, employing and screening the alterations creating an influence on the production aspect of the concerned organizations. The process needs to be structured in a planned way (ITSM Community, n.d.). In the initial stage, the consciousness regarding the need for an alteration needs to be identified and established. Then, a desire for backing such a change and a requirement of participation needs to be triggered. In the next step, a proper knowledge regarding the ways related to change needs to be communicated to the concerned individuals. The subsequent step would involve the competency to employ the needed expertise and conducts. The final step would involve the aspect of support in order to maintain the change (Hiatt, 2006). The organization considered for this paper plans to introduce a change in the seating arrangements of their employees in order to make available increased floor space in the office. The seating arrangement has been planned for those working staffs who are majorly engaged with work related to manufacturing as well as lab. These employees are learnt to spend most of their working hours in the m anufacturing and the lab areas and are just needed to spend almost 2 hours in an average each day in their respective allocated workspace. It was observed in this respect that the workspace of such individuals remains idle for most of the time in a given working day and for which an opportunity loss was also measured. In order to make the optimum use of office space, the management of the organization planned for an unallocated seating arrangement in replacement of the personal workspace. This particular notion of flexible workspace is assumed to facilitate the organization to accommodate 232 numbers of employees in place of 58 seating spaces in each shift in each day by taking into deliberation the 2-hr window. Need of a Vision Statement The above mentioned change is estimated to be a cultural shift as a flexible workspace concept will be introduced in place of individual workspace. The organization needs to carefully introduce this intended change as the loosing of one’s pe rsonal workspace might lead to resentments among the existing workforce. A planned procedure requires to be employed in order to carry out this change process successfully in the organization. The organization would need to put in additional efforts to make the employees believe in the actuality that the intended change is vital along with

Legal environment of business W 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Legal environment of business W 1 - Essay Example According to Swendiman (2012), the health care reform is one of such interventions that came at the national level that has really been instrumental in addressing most of the concerns of citizens on health in areas such as coverage, accessibility, cost, accountability and quality of health care. The debate however continues as to the inadequacy of this provision, giving rise to suggestions for a U.S. constitutional right to have access to all forms of healthcare. There may be several arguments against this position but the argument for having a U.S. constitutional right to have access to all forms f healthcare is greatly supported in this instance. Firstly, it would be noted that as part of the explicit rights spelt out in the constitution, there is no direct mention of the word â€Å"health† or â€Å"medical care† as noted by Swendimen (2012). However, Public Health America (2013) debates that the constitution is more of an implied document rather than a contextual one. By implication, aspects of the constitution may be debated in accordance with others. For example, to ensure the human rights to life, one could imply that a person ought to have all conditions that make the provision of factors that protect life available. Meanwhile, the health of a person is an important determinant that cannot be overlooked when mention is made of protection of life. From this perspective, it would be argued that have a U.S. constitutional r ight to have access to all forms of healthcare would help in realizing the implied constitutional provision on right to life. Again, Stuart and Showalter (2011) noted that even though the healthcare reform has solved most of the health needs of citizens, studies from different sources actually indicate that people continue to have limitations to excellent healthcare because of the numerous limitations with access to certain forms of healthcare. This means

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Change Management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Change Management - Term Paper Example The intended change initiative has been measured to be cultural in nature where a flexible workplace is aimed to be introduced and is expected to be accepted in the place of a traditional form of workforce. Importance of Change Management There are stated to exist certain strong macroeconomic factors which are expected to turn out to be increasingly powerful in the coming few decades. Owing to such an anticipated and unforeseen situation, organizations will recognize the need to trim down the expenses, enhance the quality of the products as well as services, identifying fresh prospects related to development and escalation of the productivity factor (Kotter, 1996). These factors evidently focus on the requirement of a proper process related to change management in the organizations. Change management is referred to the application of planning, organizing, employing and screening the alterations creating an influence on the production aspect of the concerned organizations. The process needs to be structured in a planned way (ITSM Community, n.d.). In the initial stage, the consciousness regarding the need for an alteration needs to be identified and established. Then, a desire for backing such a change and a requirement of participation needs to be triggered. In the next step, a proper knowledge regarding the ways related to change needs to be communicated to the concerned individuals. The subsequent step would involve the competency to employ the needed expertise and conducts. The final step would involve the aspect of support in order to maintain the change (Hiatt, 2006). The organization considered for this paper plans to introduce a change in the seating arrangements of their employees in order to make available increased floor space in the office. The seating arrangement has been planned for those working staffs who are majorly engaged with work related to manufacturing as well as lab. These employees are learnt to spend most of their working hours in the m anufacturing and the lab areas and are just needed to spend almost 2 hours in an average each day in their respective allocated workspace. It was observed in this respect that the workspace of such individuals remains idle for most of the time in a given working day and for which an opportunity loss was also measured. In order to make the optimum use of office space, the management of the organization planned for an unallocated seating arrangement in replacement of the personal workspace. This particular notion of flexible workspace is assumed to facilitate the organization to accommodate 232 numbers of employees in place of 58 seating spaces in each shift in each day by taking into deliberation the 2-hr window. Need of a Vision Statement The above mentioned change is estimated to be a cultural shift as a flexible workspace concept will be introduced in place of individual workspace. The organization needs to carefully introduce this intended change as the loosing of one’s pe rsonal workspace might lead to resentments among the existing workforce. A planned procedure requires to be employed in order to carry out this change process successfully in the organization. The organization would need to put in additional efforts to make the employees believe in the actuality that the intended change is vital along with

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Innovation and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Innovation and Change - Essay Example Innovations are established from both the internal and the external environment. There is need for organizations to scan the environment constantly in order to determine the threats and opportunities. Different strategic approaches to management exist. These include environment led approach and the resource based view approach. Regardless of the extent of innovation, the need for new knowledge, new markets, and new employees will have significant impact on the organization Goffin and Mitchell (2005). Hence, change has to be considered when dealing with innovation. The advancement of technology in the 21st century has resulted in increased productions in organizations. Today, the economies of scale concerns have become irrelevant. Supply surpasses demand hence increased competition, and the requirement of enhanced continuous innovation. For successful innovation process, an organization has to establish appropriate structures, processes and culture. Through this the workforce, the par tners and the customers will know what is valuable to the organization. In the whole process of innovation, the organization will be forced to make difficult and complex changes. Innovation is defined as a process in which ideas are transformed in organizations into superior processes, products or services. This process involves new ideas or reforming the existing ones. Through this, organizations are able to successfully progress, compete and distinguish themselves in the market. Most successful organizations like Google have allowed the workforce to pursue their interest of creativity. The company has become more than a search engine through innovations such as Google maps. In the current markets where the patterns of production are changing, innovation is of great significance. In the Fordist and post-Fordist development path of learning economy, the global competition is based on the dynamic principle of competitive advantage. This relies on the exploitation of the available inp uts hence continual innovation is necessary. Organizations face increased international competition, increasing deregulation in industries, increased workforce diversity, decreasing product life cycles, rapid technologies evolvement in communication and information. Turbulence in environment has resulted in changes in the information age. In such an environment, organizations have to be innovative as they face different opportunities and challenges while trying to enhance the operations in existence (Burnes, 2004). Innovation is categorised into 4Ps namely, product, process, position and paradigm. Product refers to things that are physical, while process is the way things are done or delivered. The definition of products and processes is known as positioning. Paradigm refers to viewing the world in a new aspect and living in it. Industrial laboratory and the present call centre creation are considered as innovation processes. Positioning involves re-branding a product in existence a nd giving it a different identity. An example of positioning is the changes that took place on the Lucozade drink. Initially it was known be convalescents drink. Later it was transformed to be dynamic booster for wellbeing. Paradigm change is key radical innovation. It has substantial impact in a given society. An example of this is the steam engine created during industrial revolution. It was versatile, it drove; pumps in

Women role in our society Essay Example for Free

Women role in our society Essay Today, it cannot be denied that the liberation of the women (will be better to change to the women’s liberation) from domestic duties and subservient status has actually brought them an independently social equal position or superior to that of men. Women today are very active as they take part in many social functions of the communities, and have achieved (achieve – it might be dangerous to use simple present and present perfect in a joined- sentence, take a safer way ^0^) great successful (successes – should be a noun not adjective) in life. In any ( various, a vast amount of – I’m not quite sure about using â€Å"any† here, it’s fine when you translate to Vietnamese, however, it’s pretty rare to see such sentence in English document) countries around the world, many of ambassadors, ministers, commander-in-chiefs and senators are women. Some believed that women are excellent managers, since they are patient and prudent to solve the difficulties and urgent problems rather than being impatient like men. For instance, the recent survey points out that in Europe women held 23.2% of the seats in the Congress, however, in Sweden and Finland the number increases to 42% (The point is this example doesn’t seem to prove the above statement, take another one which should be related to a situation requiring being patient – customer complainning, for instance). Besides, many people think that women earn (more) than three-fourth as much as men actually, women’s weekly earnings were 75% of men’s which show the women’s ability compared to men. Women are also working in every fields of life. They are serving the nation in the same way like (as) the men (are), more than 70% of them are in the labor force. Women is flying the airplanes, they are doctors, engineers, lawyer †¦.and more than a mother. Today (Avoiding using such word, it will lower you mark ) many girls (young females) graduates (graduate) from high schools and enroll in colleges or universities then become successful  managers or even the chairmans of a big company (to increase the mark try to use words like : multination corporation, enterprise). Women can learn, start a business and they can become billionaires just like the men. In conclusion, women today are treated more fairly, they can vote, do politics, run a business, and their ability to work in any aspects in life such as education, economics, laws, entertainment shows that women are not behind in any case than a man. But (never ever use â€Å"but† to begin a sentence) in many part of the world, there is still gender discrimination which must be fought against. To be fair, this is a good assignment, well done. However, you can do even better if you focus on : + To list various things, never use â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , for example  such as education, economics, laws, entertainment = must be changed into such as education, economics, laws, and entertainment It must be that way to get a band 7 or 8 in the test + Never use â€Å"but†, â€Å"and†, to start a sentence - there are more, try to search for them + Avoiding using many, today, and words that show personal opinions, it is more academic to use passive voice. +The provided arguments are not strong enough, do more research before writing will help

Monday, October 14, 2019

Human Memory How reliable is Eyewitness Testimony

Human Memory How reliable is Eyewitness Testimony This essays attempts to reach a conclusion regarding eyewitness testimonies and the extent of its reliability. This was done by identifying factors in three different processes stages. The acquisition stage is the period where the witness experiences the event. The retention stage is the period between the time the event ends and the time the witness are asked for a recount or questioned about the event. The retrieval stage is the period where the witness is providing information from their recall. During the acquisition stage, research regarding exposure time, estimation of factors concerning the event (for example, time), violence of the event, weapon focus and witness stress was analysed. During the retention stage, research regarding post-event information, introduction of conflicting information and introduction of misleading information was analysed. During the retrieval stage, research regarding method of questioning, leading questions and a case study of an actual event was analysed. Experiments and case studies regarding these factors were then evaluated to weigh the impact that it had on eyewitness testimony. In conclusion, it was found that experiments regarding eyewitness testimony hold little evidence to support its reliability but there are also some findings that dispute this. Thus, it was concluded that it is reliable only to a small extent though it can be highly accurate under certain conditions. Applications of this conclusion includes jurors being more aware of the factors regarding eyewitness testimony and taking into account when deciding on a verdict especially if the main evidence is based solely on eyewitness recounts. Eyewitness testimony is usually a verbal account given by an individual who has experienced an event, typically of a crime. Eyewitness testimony relies heavily on the capability of the individuals to accurately recount the event. In a trial, the jury is most often persuaded due to the statement(s) of the witnesses. Also, in cases where little material evidence can be collected, eyewitnesses are the focus for reaching a verdict. It has been argued that because testimonies are largely based on fallible memory which can be influenced by a variety of factors, it should not be depended upon. The contention of this essay is to identify and evaluate the extent of accuracy of this claim by identifying and evaluating factors that affect memory and by reviewing experiments and case studies to reach a conclusion on this matter. Memory and thus eye-witness reliability has become an issue of importance due to the high percentage of errors in identifying and prosecuting accused individuals. Thus, the reliability of eyewitness testimonies and impact on trials should be reviewed. Memory is defined as a kind of repository in which facts (information) may be retained over some period of time (Loftus, 1979). According to the Atkinson and Shiffrin model of memory storage (1971), memory is made up of three different types of information stores, each with different duration, capacity and function. The first is Sensory Memory. This type of store lasts for the spilt second when individuals collect information from their sensory systems and preserves information in its original sensory form. The sense organs are limited in their ability to store information about the world in an unprocessed way for more than a second. Thus, information is filtered through or selected by attention for further memory processing into the next type of memory store. This process of experiencing and filtering information is called acquisition. The next memory store is Short-term memory allows individuals to retain information long enough to be used and lasts approximately between 15 to 30 s econds. Miller (1956, cited in Weiten, 2005) proposed that Short-term Memory had a capacity of about 7 chunks of information. If certain actions are carried out, the information will be transferred to the last type of memory store, Long-term Memory. Long-term Memory provides retention of information which can last between minutes to a lifetime and has a limitless capacity. The process of information deposited in the short-term and long-term memory store is called retention. Information is constantly being transferred between these stores. When witnesses are asked to give recount of what they witnessed, information is taken from the long-term memory store and this process is called retrieval. Events during these three processes may affect the quality of the eyewitness testimony. During the acquisition process information may not have been perceived in the first place, information may be forgotten or interfered during the retention process or information may be inaccessible during questioning or during the retrieval process. Analysis of Factors that may affect Eye-witness Testimony during the Acquisition Process During the acquisition process, there are a number of factors that can affect an eyewitness report of an event such as exposure time or stress. This can be divided into event factors and witness factors. This section of the essay will evaluate the effect of these factors on the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Exposure time to the event or object of focus is an event factor. Laughery et al (1971, cited in Loftus, 1979) tested subjects on their recall based on the exposure time to a picture, showed one at a time of different positions of a human face. Two Caucasian male target faces were used, one with fair-colored hair and complexion with glasses and another with a darker-colored hair and complexion without glasses. The independent variable is the time the subjects viewed the pictures, which ranged from ten seconds to thirty-two seconds. The subjects were them asked, approximately eight minutes after exposure to identify the target within a series of 150 slides of human faces. The dependant variable is the accuracy of the subjects recall. Fifty-eight percentof the subjects who viewed the pictures for thirty-two seconds correctly identified the target but only forty-seven percent of the subjects who viewed the pictures for ten seconds correctly identified the target. This suggests that the more time a witness has to view the target, the more accurate their recall will be. This research is significant as it is very scientific and precisely tested a specific variable that affects memory and recall. Although this is so, it was also conducted in an artificial environment and thus, has low ecological validity. The research may also contain cultural and gender bias as it only tested for Caucasian males as the target. Thus, its application to targets of different cultures or gender is questionable. Estimating factors such as time, speed or distance is often asked of eyewitnesses. This involves perceiving the event and accurately inferring information from it. Marshalls (1966, cited in Loftus, 1979) experiment tested subjects estimation of time. Four hundred and ninety-one subjects watched a forty-two second film and a week after they had given their written and oral reports of the event, they were questioned as to the duration of the event. On average, subjects gave an estimate of about ninety seconds. The results show that witnesses can inaccurately estimate certain factors of an event. Although the results are significant, the study was conducted in a controlled environment which gives it little ecological validity. To further assess the accuracy of this study, an additional study that can be considered is Buckhout et al. (1975, cited in Loftus, 1979)s study on the effects if eyewitness testimony in a real situation by staging an attack where a student attacked a professor in front of 141 witnesses. The attack lasted for thirty-four seconds but when interviewed later on, the average estimate of the duration of the event was eighty-one seconds, almost twice the actual time. This study supports Marshalls study which shows that there is a tendency for witnesses to overestimate the duration in an event. This is significant in most cases, especially for cases of self-defense where the time between the attack and the retaliation is very significant in the categorization of the action. Another event factor is the violence of the event. A research done by Clifford and Scott (1978, cited in Loftus, 1979) investigated the ability of eyewitnesses to perceive violent and non-violent events. Forty-eight subjects with equal number of men and women watched either one of two tapes. In the non-violent version, the characters were involved in a verbal exchange and weak restraining movements. In the violent version, one of the characters physically assaults another character. In an effort to be even, the start and end of the tapes were manipulated to be identical. It was found that regardless of gender, the level of recall is significantly lower for those who viewed the more violent tape. It is inferred that this is due to the greater amount of stress that is produced in response to the violent event. This shows that eyewitness testimony of a violent event should be considered with the possibility of a higher rate of inaccuracy. Though the results are significant due to the hi gh reliability of the scientific method used, it also lacks ecological validity as it was conducted in an artificial environment where witnesses do not actually experience the event. An event factor that is linked to the witness factor, stress, is weapon focus. Easterbrook (1959) found that under high stress, individuals tend to concentrate more on a few features of their environment and less attention to other features. Weapon focus is where a crime victim is faced with an assailant who is brandishing a weapon. This rises the stress level of the crime victim and thus, they will only concentrate on a few features, mainly the weapon and will have trouble recollecting other factors such as the assailants features. Loftus et al (1987) tested this with an experiment where thirty-six students were showed a series of slides which showed one of two scenarios at a fast food restaurant. Half the subjects saw a customer pointing a gun at the cashier while the other half, the control group saw a customer handing the cashier a check. A part of the experiment tested the memory of the students based on a series of seven questions on the customer. It was found that the level of accuracy of the weapon group was fifty-six percent while the level of accuracy for the control group was sixty-seven percent. As the results show that the accuracy level of the weapon group is lower than the control group, this is highly significant in showing that eye-witnesses acquisition process might be seriously hampered by the presence of a weapon. The results of the experiment are highly valid as it was conducted in a controlled environment which allowed a direct cause and effect outcome. While this is so, the participants did not experience the event and thus their response may be different to an actual witness which means that the experiment lacks ecological validity. During an event, stress is a witness factor that should be taken into account. This refers to the level of stress or fear that a witness experiences which may influence their perception during the acquisition process of the event. A simulated case study done by Berkun (1962, cited in Loftus, 1979) placed army recruits in a stressful situation. They were isolated with the exception of a telephone link. Then, they were told that they were in danger to induce anxiety and were required to repair a broken radio by following a series of complicated instructions. It was found that the high level of anxiety impaired performance of the subjects. As this case study was conducted during a period of different ethical standards than today, there are ethical implications to be considered. Nevertheless, the results of this case study significantly support the Yerkes-Dodson law (1908, cited in Green) which states that emotional arousal facilitates learning and performance up to a point after which t here is a decrement. This can be applied to eyewitnesses who experience stress. Their senses may be stimulated but after a point, their acquisition process will be negatively affected. Although this is so, this case study has only looked at male soldiers, thus when applied to the general population, it lacks ecological validity. Analysis of Factors that may affect Eye-witness Testimony during the Retention Process Eye-witnesses are being tested on their retention of information from their Long-term Memory. Because retained information and thus, memory is being transferred between memory stores, it is possible that it can be influenced, enhanced or even distorted during or in between transfers. This section of the essay will focus on the numerous researches that have been carried out to investigate the accuracy of this or the extent of the influence that may occur. After an event occurs, sometimes witnesses discuss what they saw with each other and the information that is exchanged can result in an enhancement of memory in the form of modification or addition. An experiment was conducted by Loftus (1975) on one hundred and fifty participants. They were showed a film of a car crash where a car failed to stop at a stop sign and turned right to enter traffic, causing a five-car collision. After the film which lasted for less than a minute, participants were asked a series of ten questions. Half of the participants were asked about the stop sign in the first question while the other half were asked about the right turn. All other questions were the same. The independent variable here is the first question and the dependant variable is the last question which asked participants if they remembered seeing a stop sign. Loftus found that there was a higher percentage of participants who recalled seeing a stop sign if the first question related to a stop sign than the control group, fifty-three percent and thirty-five percent respectively. This shows that by mentioning an object, there is a higher chance of it being recalled. The results are highly significant as it was calculated using precise results with a specific variable tested. It can be argued that the experiment lacks ecological validity as it was conducted in an artificial environment but this allowed a specific variable to be tested which would have been impossible with a case study. As demonstrated by this experiment, eye-witnesses memory may be influenced by post-event information that they receive and thus, the more information that the witness is exposed to after the event, the higher the chance that their memory might be compromised. A modification to the previous variable is the question as to what happens when a witness learns new information which is different from what they experienced. Loftus (1975) conducted an experiment where forty participants were shown a three-minute video which involved a group of eight demonstrators noisily interrupting a lecture. The participants then had to answer a series of twenty questions. All the questions for the participants were identical except for one. Half of the participants were asked, Was the leader of the twelve demonstrators who entered the classroom a male? and the other half were asked, Was the leader of the four demonstrators who entered the classroom a male? All questions had to be answered with a yes or no. A week later, participants had to answer another set of questions. The critical question was How many demonstrators did you see enter the classroom? It was found that participants who previously answered the question with the word twelve reported an average of 8.9 demonstrators while the other half reported an average of 6.4 demonstrators. It can be argued that this experiment lacks ecological validity as it was conducted in an artificial environment and that participants only viewed the event and did not actually witness it. The results may not be fully applicable to the general population. Although this is so, the controlled environment showed a direct cause and effect of a specific variable. The results of this experiment can be applied to eye-witness testimony where witnesses may be mislead in their testimony as their memory might be compromised by the introduction of conflicting information. Similar to the experiment above is an experiment conducted by Loftus and Zanni (1975, cited in Hill, 1998) which was a modification of the original Loftus and Palmer research. The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effect of adding post event information on memory. Participants were shown a film of a car accident after which they had to answer a series of questions. Half of the participants were required to answer, Did you see the broken headlight which implied that there was a broken headlight while the other half were asked, Did you see a broken headlight which only required participants to recall if it was there. It was found that half of the participants, who were asked using the word the, incorrectly reported seeing a broken headlight. As most of the other variables were controlled in the experiment, and only a specific variable was changed, the results signify that memory can be modified by post event information. It can be argued that the participants did not experie nce the incident and thus the experiment lacks ecological validity when applied to actual witnesses but as a specific variable was examined, it can be concluded that the cause and effect was to a large extent connected. This experiment shows that eyewitnesses may be influenced by post event information which may negatively affect their account. McCloskey and Zaragaza (1985) also conducted experiments concerning the effect of misleading post event information on participants. After watching a series of slides depicting an event, participants received a narrative of the event. Participants in the mislead condition will receive a narration with receive the narrative with misleading information about a detail of the event, a hammer was referred to as a screwdriver instead while the control group werent provided details of the specific event. Participants then had to answer a series of questions about the event. The critical question concerning the tool had the original item as an option (hammer) and a new item (wrench). It was found that accuracy for the control group was seventy-five percent and seventy-two percent for the mislead condition group. The fact that there was little difference between the two groups points to the idea that misleading post event information does not distort memory of an event. This experiment suppor ts the validity of eyewitness testimony and due to the controlled setting; the results are highly valid though it lacks ecological validity. Analysis of Factors that may affect Eye-witness Testimony during the Retrieval Process Most evidence from eyewitnesses are a result of their accounts of the event. This involves the retrieval process of information from their long term memory store. This section of the essay aims to analyse and evaluate research conducted in relation to the techniques of retrieving information from eyewitnesses such as question wording or method of questioning. This is to evaluate the extent of influence of such techniques on the reliability of eyewitness accounts and in relation, memory. The method of questioning during the retrieval process plays an important role in the accuracy of eye-witness testimony as investigated by Lipton (1977, cited in Wells, 1978). Lipton conducted an experiment where participants watched a film of a murder in a courtroom setting. He found that unstructured testimony which allowed free recall resulted in ninety-one percent accuracy. This is a significant value as compared to other types of questioning such as open ended questions with eighty-three percent accuracy, leading questions with seventy-two percent accuracy and multiple choice questions with fifty-six percent accuracy. These results show that the type of questioning that the witness is subjected to affects the accuracy of their recount. When applied to trial testimonies, jurors should take into account the type of questioning to predict or get an idea of the level of accuracy of the testimony. Though conclusive to a certain extent, the experiment lacks ecological validity as the participants did not actually experience the event, merely perceive it but as it is a controlled environment, the reliability of the cause and effect factors is high. Loftus and Palmer (1974 cited in Hill, 1998) carried out an experiment to investigate the effect of leading questions on the accuracy of participants in recalling a car crash. Fourty-five participants were separated into seven groups and each group watched a video of traffic accidents. The videos lasted from five to thirty seconds. After watching the video, participants had to give an account of what they had just seen. The independent variable is the question About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?. The word hit is replaced with the words smashed, contacted, bumped and collided for different groups. The participants answer as to the estimate of the cars speed is the dependant variable. Loftus and Palmer found that the mean estimate of speed for more aggressive words such as smashed is higher than less aggressive words such as contacted. The results are highly significant, p Contending the results of this experiment is Yuille and Cutshalls (1986) case study of a real life event. 13 participants were interviewed using Loftus and Palmers (1974 cited in Hill, 1998) technique in their recall four to five months after witnessing an attempted robbery in daylight where one individual was killed and another, seriously wounded. It was found that there was a very high level of similarity between the accounts given by the witnesses, the accounts did not alter in response to leading questions and that the witnesses were able to recall the event in detail. Additionally, accounts of those who were more distressed had a higher accuracy level. These results are different to Loftus and Palmer (1974 cited in Hill, 1998). The eye witnesses did not alter their accounts greatly in response to leading questions. As this is a case study, it holds high ecological validity unlike laboratory experiments. Although this may be true, Yuille and Cutshalls case study was of an event t hat was relatively traumatic event and was viewed in ideal conditions. Most incidents do not mirror this setting. Also, it was an investigation of only one case study. Hence, the application of these findings is debatable when applied to general eye witness testimonies. Conclusion This essay evaluated the extent of accuracy of the claim that eyewitness testimony should not be depended upon. This was done by focusing on the different factors that can affect human memory, and in relation, eyewitness testimony as it is fundamentally based on memory. Experiments and case studies related to factors in three different memory stages were identified and evaluated. Research concerning the acquisition process such as exposure time, estimation of factors concerning the event, for example, time, violence of the event, weapon focus and witness stress level during the event was analysed. Results point to a correlation of high levels of inaccuracy when more traumatic factors are included in the event. This is also reflected in research concerning the retention process and the retrieval process although there is some evidence that supports the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Overall analysis criticised the low ecological validity of controlled experiments but also supported the high level of validity that comes with it as it essentially provides a cause and effect relationship between specific variables tested. Case studies were found to be very specific with regards to certain factors, which leads to a debate about their general application. Since experiments are only replications of real-life events, it cant be fully taken as the actual process . This may have some influence on the results obtained as it can be argued that the participants are not really experiencing the event, thus essential factors like, atmosphere, or even interest in the event may be compromised. In this manner, results of case studies hold a higher level of reliability. As indicated by the numerous researches on different factors during the process of collecting, processing and retrieving information from memory, eye witness testimony is reliable only to a small extent. Under such fallibility, it can be questioned if eyewitness testimony should be relied on at all. Though eyewitness testimony has been proved accurate in a number of researches, the amount of investigations concluding on the fact that it is highly imperfect far outweighs it. Though a large number of researches do not support the reliability of eyewitness testimony, there is also evidence to support it like Yuille and Cutshalls (1986) case study. This suggests that although eyewitness testimony can be unreliable, under certain conditions, it is highly accurate. Implications for application of the analysis in this essay could include jurors being more wary of eyewitness testimony and the conditions relating to it when deciding upon a verdict. Further research could include more case studies to increase the ecological validity of the theories produced by experiments analysed in this essay. References Atkinson, R. C. Shriffin, R. M. (1971), The Control Processes of Short-term Memory, Stanford, California, Stanford University Easterbrook J. A. (1959), The Effect of Emotion on Cue Utilisation and the Organisation of Behaviour, Psychological Review, Vol 66(3), 183-201 Green, C. D, (n.d.) Classics in the History of Psychology Yerkes and Dodson (1908), Toronto, Ontario, York University, Retrieved from psychclassics.yorka.ca: http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Yerkes/Law/ Hill, G. (1998), Oxford Revision Guides, AS A Level Psychology, New York, Oxford University Press Loftus, E. F; Loftus, G. R; Messo, J. (1987), Some facts about Weapon Focus, Law and Human Behaviour, Vol 11(1), 55-62 Loftus, E. F. (1975), Leading Questions and the Eyewitness Repost, Cognitive Psychology, Vol 7, 550-572, University of Washington Loftus E. F. (1979), Eyewitness Testimony, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England, USA, Harvard University Press Yullie J. C. Cutshall J. L. (1986), A case study of eyewitness memory of a crime, Journal of Applied Psychology, Volume 71(2), May 1986, 291-301 Weiten, W. (2005), Psychology: Themes and Variations, The United States of America, Thomson Learning Inc. Wells, G. L. (1978), Applied Eyewitness-Testimony Research: System Variables and Estimator Variables, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Volume 36, No. 12, 1547-1557, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Definition Of Good And Evil Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout human existence, questions have arisen concerning the nature of good and evil. Many scientist, philosophers, and theologians have been intrigued by these questions. Through Augustine’s Confessions and E. O. Wilson’s In Search of Nature, one is accessible to two distinct perspectives concerning the nature of good and evil.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Augustine sets up an argument in his Confession that attempts to define evil. God is the author of everything. Augustine says, â€Å"nothing that exists could exist without You [God]† (Book I, Chapter II). Nothing in this world exists apart from God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  For Augustine, God is good because everything He made is good. Everything about God is good. No aspect of Him is lacking, false, or not good. However, the question of evil and from where it came still remains.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Augustine then asks himself where it was that evil came. Evil could not have come from God; it must have come from another source other than God. Because we clearly see evil in this world, did God allow it to enter? This would seem that God is not omnipotent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Originally Augustine believed that evil had substance. However, his views changed later where he says, â€Å"If they were deprived of all goodness, they would be altogether nothing; therefore, as long as they are, they are good. Thus whatsoever things are, are good; and that evil whose origin I sought is not a substance† (Book VII,...

Friday, October 11, 2019

Android Essay

|Google Android |November 15 | | |2011 | |An operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Developed by the Open |Operating System | |Handset Alliance led by Google. | | Table of Contents Introduction3 About 4 Architecture7 System Threading11 CPU Scheduling 12 Process States14 Memory Management18 Synchronization Techniques19 Event Handling 20 Security21 Networking22 Evaluation23 Bibliography24 Introduction Since its initial launch on the T-Mobile G1 in October of 2008, Google's Android operating system has evolved rapidly, perhaps more rapidly than any other operating system in recent memory, to become one of the most important and prolific smartphone platforms in the market today. The Android OS is the name of the Linux based operating system owned by Google and supported by the Open Handset Alliance. Android is used as an operating system for devices such as cell phones, tablets and netbooks. Google bought the original developer of the software, Android Inc. , in 2005. Android's kernel (core of the OS) was derived from Linux but has been modified by Google developers. Android is also open source, which means developers can customize the OS for different phones and applications. This is why different phones may have different looking graphical interfaces and features even though they are running the same OS. Android OS is completely open source, which means that developers can use the core OS functions to develop applications, unlike iphone OS which is a closed system. About The version history of the Android operating system began with the release of version 1. 0 in September 2008. Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. Android has seen a number of updates since its original release. These updates to the base operating system typically fix bugs and add new features. Generally, each version is developed under a code name based on a dessert item. The code names were released in alphabetic order: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, and Ice Cream Sandwich. Like Apple's Appstore, Google opened its Android market, allowing the apps developers to publish their apps without any restrictions. Unlike Apple's Appstore, Google Android market does not have any restrictions for third party development and will not run an apps approval system. Android is an open source platform. The entire stack, from low-level Linux modules all the way to native libraries, and from the application framework to complete applications, is totally open. More so, Android is licensed under business-friendly licenses (Apache/MIT) so that others can freely extend it and use it for variety of purposes. Even some third-party open source libraries that were brought into the Android stack were rewritten under new license terms. Therefore, every developer has access to the entire platform source code. There are several advantages of the Android OS for developers, besides the fact that it’s completely open source, let’s mention a few: Advantages [pic] †¢ The entire Application framework can be reused and replaced by selective components Wi-Fi network applications support (Depends on hardware) †¢ Dalvik[1] virtual machine enhances the power management systems †¢ Supports 2D and 3D graphics †¢ Supports common media file formats †¢ Reliable and enhanced data storage using SQLite framework[2] †¢ Open source Web-Kit Engine-based web-browser †¢ GPS, Navigational compass, Touch-Unlock, and acceleromet er applications support †¢ Androids development environment includes a device emulator, debugger, performance profiling tool, and an Eclipse IDE plug-in [pic] Logo of Android OS Architecture [pic] The main components of the Android architecture: 1. Applications: These are applications written in Java. Some of basic applications include a calendar, email client, SMS program, maps, making phone calls, accessing the Web browser, accessing your contacts list and others. [pic] 2. Application Framework: This is the skeleton or framework which all android developers has to follow. The developers can access all framework APIs an manage phone’s basic functions like resource allocation, switching between processes or programs, telephone applications, and keeping track of the phone’s physical location. The architecture is well designed to simplify the reuse of components. Think of the application framework as a set of basic tools with which a developer can build much more complex tools. [pic] 3. Libraries: This layer consists of Android libraries written in C, C++, and used by various systems. These libraries tell the device how to handle different kinds of data and are exposed to Android developers via Android Application framework. Some of these libraries include media , graphics, 3D, SQLite, web browser library etc. The Android runtime layer which includes set of core java libraries and DVM (Dalvik Virtual Machine) is also located in same layer. [pic] 4. Runtime Android: This layer includes set of base libraries that are required for java libraries. Every Android application gets its own instance of Dalvik virtual machine. Dalvik has been written so that a device can run multiple VMs efficiently and it executes files in executable (. Dex) optimized for minimum memory. [pic] 5. Kernel – Linux: This layer includes Android’s memory management programs, security settings, power management software and several drivers for hardware, file system access, networking and inter-process-communication. The kernel also acts as an abstraction layer between hardware and the rest of the software stack. pic] The basics of the Android kernel are just like any other monolithic architecture, all services (file system, VFS, device drivers, etc. ) as well as core functionality (scheduling, memory allocation, etc) are a tight knit group sharing the same space. The kernel of this system is both a hybrid and a monolithic modular design. It is br oken down into five major subsystems: †¢ Process Scheduler: (SCHED) responsible for controlling process access to the CPU. The scheduler enforces a policy that ensures that processes will have fair access to the CPU, while ensuring that necessary hardware actions are performed by the kernel on time. Memory Manager: (MM) permits multiple processes to securely share the machine's main memory system. In addition, the memory manager supports virtual memory that allows Linux to support processes that use more memory than is available in the system. Unused memory is swapped out to persistent storage using the file system then swapped back in when it is needed. †¢ Virtual File System: (VFS) abstracts the details of the variety of hardware devices by presenting a common file interface to all devices. In addition, the VFS supports several file system formats that are compatible with other operating systems. Network Interface: (NET) provides access to several networking standards an d a variety of network hardware. †¢ Inter-Process Communication: (IPC) subsystem supports several mechanisms for process-to-process communication on a single Linux system. System Threading By default, an Android application runs on a single thread[3]. Single-threaded applications run all commands serially, meaning the next command is not completed until the previous one is done. Another way of saying this is that each call is blocking. This single thread is also known as the UI thread because it’s the thread that processes all the user interface commands as well. The UI thread is responsible for drawing all the elements on the screen as well as processing all the user events, such as touches on the screen, clicks of the button, and so on. Threads may suspend themselves or be suspended either by the Garbage Collector (GC), debugger or the signal monitor thread. The VM controls all the threads through the use of a internal structure where all the created threads are mapped. The GC will only run when all the threads referring to a single process are suspended, in order to avoid inconsistent states. CPU Scheduling The Linux kernel uses the Completely Fair Scheduler (CFS), which has the objective of providing balance between tasks assigned to a processor and applies fairness in the way that CPU time is assigned to tasks. This balance guarantees that all the tasks will have the same CPU share and that, each time that unfairness is verified, the algorithm assures that task rebalancing is performed. Although fairness is guaranteed, this algorithm does not provide any temporal guarantees to tasks, and therefore, neither Android does it, as its scheduling operations are delegated to the Linux kernel. Android uses its own VM named Dalvik (see footnote 2), which was specifically developed for mobile devices and considers memory optimization, battery power saving and low frequency CPU. It relies on the Linux kernel for the core operating system features such as memory management and scheduling and, thus, also presents the drawback of not taking any temporal guarantees into consideration. [pic] In terms of execution, the algorithm works as follows: the tasks with lower virtual runtime are placed on the left side of the tree, and the tasks with the higher virtual runtime are placed on the right. This means that the tasks with the highest need for the processor will always be stored on the left side of the tree. Then, the scheduler picks the left-most node of the tree to be scheduled. Each task is responsible for accounting the CPU time taken during execution and adding this value to the previous virtual runtime value. Then, it is inserted back into the tree, if it has not finished yet. With this pattern of execution, it is guaranteed that the tasks contend the CPU time in a fair manner. Another aspect of the fairness of the algorithm is the adjustments that it performs when the tasks are waiting for an I/O device. In this case, the tasks are compensated with the amount of time taken to receive the information they needed to complete its objective. [pic] Since the introduction of the CFS, the concept of scheduling classes was also introduced. Basically, these classes provide the connection between the main generic scheduler functionalities and the specific scheduler classes that implement the scheduling algorithms. This concept allows several tasks to be scheduled differently by using different algorithms for this purpose. Regarding the main scheduler, it is periodic and preemptive. Its periodicity is activated by the frequency of the CPU clock. It allows preemption either when a high priority task needs CPU time or when an interrupt exists. As for task priorities, these can be dynamically modified with the nice command and currently the kernel supports 140 priorities, where the values ranging from 0 to 99 are reserved for real-time processes and the values ranging from 100 to 139 are reserved for normal processes. Process States The order in which processes are killed to reclaim resources is determined by the priority of the hosted applications. An application’s priority is equal to its highest-priority component. Where two applications have the same priority, the process that has been at a lower priority longest will be killed first. Process priority is also affected by interprocess dependencies; if an application has a dependency on a Service or Content Provider supplied by a second application, the secondary application will have at least as high a priority as the application it supports. All Android applications will remain running and in memory until the system needs its resources for other applications. A process has five different states. [pic] †¢ Active Processes Active (foreground) processes are those hosting applications with components currently interacting with the user. These are the processes Android is trying to keep responsive by reclaiming resources. There are generally very few of these processes, and they will be killed only as a last resort. Active processes include: o Activities in an â€Å"active† state; that is, they are in the foreground and responding to user events. You will explore Activity states in greater detail later in this chapter. Activities, Services, or Broadcast Receivers that are currently executing an onReceive event handler. o Services that are executing an onStart, onCreate, or onDestroy event handler. †¢ Visible Processes Visible, but inactive processes are those hosting â€Å"visible† Activities. As the name suggests, visible Activities are visible, but they aren’t in the foreground or responding to user events. Thi s happens when an Activity is only partially obscured (by a non-full-screen or transparent Activity). There are generally very few visible processes, and they’ll only be killed in extreme circumstances to allow active processes to continue. Started Service Processes Processes hosting Services that have been started. Services support ongoing processing that should continue without a visible interface. Because Services don’t interact directly with the user, they receive a slightly lower priority than visible Activities. They are still considered to be foreground processes and won’t be killed unless resources are needed for active or visible processes. †¢ Background Processes Processes hosting Activities that aren’t visible and that don’t have any Services that have been started are considered background processes. There will generally be a large number of background processes that Android will kill using a last-seen-first-killed pat- tern to obtain resources for foreground processes. †¢ Empty Processes To improve overall system performance, Android often retains applications in memory after they have reached the end of their lifetimes. Android maintains this cache to improve the start-up time of applications when they’re re-launched. These processes are routinely killed as required. State Diagram [pic] Memory Management Android’s process and memory management is a little unusual. Like Java and . NET, Android uses its own run time and virtual machine to manage application memory. Unlike either of these frameworks, the Android run time also manages the process lifetimes. Android ensures application responsiveness by stopping and killing processes as necessary to free resources for higher-priority applications. Each Android application runs in a separate process within its own Dalvik instance, relinquishing all responsibility for memory and process management to the Android run time, which stops and kills processes as necessary to manage resources. Dalvik and the Android run time sit on top of a Linux kernel that handles low-level hardware interaction including drivers and memory management, while a set of APIs provides access to all of the under- lying services, features, and hardware. Synchronization Techniques Regarding synchronization, Android uses its own implementation of libc – named bionic. Bionic has its own implementation of the pthread library and it does not support process-shared mutexes and condition variables. However, thread mutexing and thread condition variables are supported in a limited manner. Currently, inter-process communication is handled by Open-Binder. In terms of real-time limitations, the mechanisms provided by the architecture do not solve the old problems related with priority inversion. Therefore, synchronization protocols such as priority ceiling and inheritance are not implemented. Event Handling In terms of interrupt/event handling, these are performed by the kernel via device drivers. Afterwards, the kernel is notified and then is responsible for notifying the application waiting for that specific interrupt/event. None of the parts involved in the handling has a notion of the time restrictions available to perform its operations. This behavior becomes more serious when considering interrupts. In Linux the interrupts are the highest priority tasks, and therefore, this means that a high priority task can be interrupted by the arrival of an interrupt. This is considered a big drawback, as it is not possible to make the system totally predictable. Security Android has a unique security model, which focuses on putting the user in control of the device. Android devices however, don’t all come from one place, the open nature of the platform allows for proprietary extensions and changes. These extensions can help or could interfere with security, being able to analyze a distribution of Android is therefore an important step in protecting information on that system. Android applications run in a sandbox, an isolated area of the operating system that does not have access to the rest of the system's resources, unless access permissions are granted by the user when the application is installed. Before installing an application, Android Market displays all required permissions. A game may need to enable vibration, for example, but should not need to read messages or access the phonebook. After reviewing these permissions, the user can decide whether to install the application. Networking Android supports connectivity technologies including Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)[4], Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE)[5], Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (IDEN)[6], Code division multiple access (CDMA)[7], Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO)[8], Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)[9], Bluetooth[10], Wi-Fi[11], LTE[12], (Near field communication) NFC[13] and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)[14]. Evaluation Mobile software development has evolved incredibly over time, giving us the power of not having to carry our laptop everywhere, or waiting to get home to access our networks or documents, 3G and 4G speeds directly on our phones give us that power, making mobile devices the most popular way to stay connected, as speeds are comparable to standard net speeds. Android has emerged as a new mobile development platform, building on past successes and avoiding past failures of other platforms. The android OS is an open source, meaning that is freely available to anyone who wishes to learn it. Google has opened up the software to creativity, because now we all have access to learning the development process. Hackers, coders, and all techy gurus have created a plethora of net-libraries ranging from support groups, forums and websites to further help newbies in the process. Android was designed to empower developers to think creatively by giving them almost absolute power over creating innovative applications. Bibliography Android Developers. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. . Burnette, Ed. Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform. Raleigh, NC: Pragmatic helf, 2010. Print. Burns, Jesse. â€Å"DEVELOPING SECURE MOBILE APPLICATIONS FOR ANDROID. † DEVELOPING SECURE MOBILE APPLICATIONS FOR ANDROID (2008). Print. Linux. com | The Source for Linux Information. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. . Maia, Claudio, Luis Nogueira, and Luis Pinho. â€Å"Evaluating Android OS for Embedded Real-Time Systems. † Print. â€Å"Memory Management in Android  « Welcome to Mobile World !!! † Welcome to Mobile World !!! Web. 11 Nov. 2011. . Shevchenko, Aleksey. â€Å"Application Handling of Database Timeouts and Deadlocks – Developer. om. † Developer. com: Your Home for Java and Open Source Development Knowledge. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. . â€Å"White Paper Android by 2012, Android OS, Android SDK. † Upload & Share PowerPoint Presentations and Documents. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. . ———————– [1]A Java interpreter machine, completely optimized for Android platform a nd which is developed to run on low-end memory mobile devices. One of the prominent aspects in Dalvik is its capability to run along an application compilation enhancing the runtime performance of the applications. Dalvik is not exactly, a Java machine, because Dalvik could not read Java code, but consists its own byte code called â€Å"dex† and so the executable files compacted using Dalvik holds the file type name ‘. dex'. Google states that the credit for Androids successful development goes to Dalvik VM, because this type of virtual machine, delivers a good performance over various stages of an application runtime environment, conserving more battery-power during long run of an application. [2] An embedded relational database management system contained in a elatively small (~275 kB) C programming library. The source code for SQLite is in the public domain. [3] Processing of one command at a time [4] A standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe technologies for second generation (or â€Å"2G†) digital cellular networks [5] A digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-com patible extension of GSM. [6] A mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone 7] A channel access method used by various radio communication technologies [8] A telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access [9] A third generation mobile cellular technology for networks based on the GSM standard [10] Technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short wavelength radio transmissions in the ISM band from 2400-2480 MHz) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs) with high levels of security 11] A mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices [12] A preliminary mobile communication standard, formally submitted as a candidate 4G system [13] NFC allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to e ach other, usually by no more than a few centimeters [14] A communication technology for wirelessly delivering high-speed Internet service to large geographical areas