Self Reliance Essays - Eddic Poetry, Lokasenna,

Self Reliance There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark. What pretty oracles nature yields us on this text, in the face and behaviour of children, babes, and even brutes! That divided and rebel mind, that distrust of a sentiment because our arithmetic has computed the strength and means opposed to our purpose, these have not. Their mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and when we look in their faces, we are disconcerted. Infancy conforms to nobody: all conform to it, so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who prattle and play to it. So God has armed youth and puberty and manhood no less with its own piquancy and charm, and made it enviable and gracious and its claims not to be put by, if it will stand by itself. Do not think the youth has no force, because he cannot speak to you and me. Hark! in the next room his voice is sufficiently clear and emphatic. It seems he knows how to speak to his contemporaries. Bashful or bold, then, he will know how to make us seniors very unnecessary. The nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say aught to conciliate one, is the healthy attitude of human nature. A boy is in the parlour what the pit is in the playhouse; independent, irresponsible, looking out from his corner on such people and facts as pass by, he tries and sentences them on their merits, in the swift, summary way of boys, as good, bad, interesting, silly, eloquent, troublesome. He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests: he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You must court him: he does not court you. But the man is, as it were, clapped into jail by his consciousness. As soon as he has once acted or spoken with eclat, he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his account. There is no Lethe for this. Ah, that he could pass again into his neutrality! Who can thus avoid all pledges, and having observed, observe again from the same unaffected, unbiased, unbribable, unaffrighted innocence, must always be formidable. He would utter opinions on all passing affairs, which being seen to be not private, but necessary, would sink like darts into the ear of men, and put them in fear. These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the

Technological society Essays

Technological society Essays Technological society Essay Technological society Essay Critically assess the contention that the introduction of new technologies into an organisation inevitably leads to deskilling. Although the deskilling debate only started in 1974, when Harry Bravermans thesis, Labour and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century was published, the causes for the argument had begun many years earlier, in the 1890s with the introduction of F. W Taylors ideas for reorganising work. Braverman (1920-1976) was a sheet metal worker, and a member of the American Communist party. It was his background in skilled trades that allowed him to analyse the changes that were taking place. As it was Braverman that first came up with the theory of deskilling, it is his definition that should be considered. His definition says that: skill represents the central asset possessed by workers, and that modern capitalist systems of work design, like Taylorism, degrade or deskill work, as a means of controlling and cheapening it. (Braverman, 1974). This Marxist analysis was a direct challenge to the long accepted views and implemented methods of Taylor. Braverman also argued that new technologies play a vital role in deskilling, and by working on new technologies workers build for themselves more modern, more scientific, more dehumanised prisons of labour. Taylor was an American engineer, who developed the idea of Scientific Management over 100 years ago. His principles of organising and controlling work recommended to managers that complex tasks needed to be split up into the maximum number of subtasks possible (Fincham Rhodes, 2005). There were other recommendations given by Taylor, namely the divorce of conception from execution. This told managers that All possible brainwork should be removed from the shop and centred in the planning or laying out department (Braverman 1974:113) It was this that Braverman heavily criticised, and so it must be looked at how the introduction of new technologies could cause this to happen. One of the best known and earliest examples of Taylorism in practice in the workplace is at General Motors plants at the start of the last century. By using Taylors methods, and introducing the assembly line, output increased from 8,700 in 1906 to 34,000 in 1911, 300,000 in 1914, rising to 1.9 million in 1923. (Tolliday Zeitlin, 1992) These massive increases in production came without the use of skilled labour, by 1914, over half the workforce were Southern and Eastern European immigrants, many of whom had no relevant experience, and spoke little or no English (Meyer, 1981). It would therefore seem like the introduction of new technology that caused the giant increases in output did not affect all workers in terms of deskilling, the majority of workers would probably have become more skilled due to their employment. However, labour turnover was at 370% and 71% of these workers left within their first week. These workers were probably most likely to be the unskilled immigrant workers that did not have the reliance on their wages that American workers had for their families. Therefore perhaps deskilling was less prominent than it would first seem due to the introduction of new technology and the assembly line. However, we must also consider why labour turnover was so high at Fords production plants in the early 1910s. Assembly line work is notoriously boring, partly due to the removal of creativity and craft from the workers, which much have been demoralising as these workers had initially been employed for having these qualities. Therefore, the high labour turnover experienced may have been due to workers leaving due to the deskilling that was evidently in existence, and them moving to other production industries that had not yet implemented new technologies. There are also recent examples of the introduction of new technologies into an organisation causing deskilling. In the field of law, in the past lawyers were expected to have a broad knowledge of the law, but today this is not possible due to the volume of legal material that is produced (Webb, 1996). Today, IT takes a much bigger role in a lawyers position, due to the changes in legal practice that have happened due to the technology that was not in existence 10 years ago. Due to the increase in IT, jobs that once required highly skilled employees can now be carried out by less qualified workers (Onwusah, 1997). So again we can see that deskilling has been caused due to the introduction of new technologies. It is important to consider the choice of new technology that is brought into an organisation to see whether it will lead to deskilling. As has been seen in the previous examples, the introduction of the assembly line in motor vehicle manufacturing and the introduction of IT into the practice of law and other professional industries, new technology has caused and created deskilling. However, in some circumstances deskilling would not be caused, but reskilling would occur. In order for new technology to be implemented in an organisation, employees need to have the skills in order to use the equipment. Through training, workers can learn new skills, which are more relevant in todays technological world. A clear example of reskilling can be seen in the field of design. In the past the drawing of plans was very time consuming and required great precision, if points were just 1mm wrong then the whole plan would have to be started again. Now, due to the introduction of Computer Aided Design (CAD) these workers have not only become reskilled, they can use their existing skills in addition to learning new techniques. Employees in this field still need their precision skills, for example when using graphics tablets, but will also gain skills in using the relevant software. This evidence would tend to suggest that the contention that the introduction of new technology into organisations leads to deskilling was incorrect, and that it would depend on what type of technology was introduced. If technology completely takes over a persons role in a company, or takes away the employees need to have particular skills then deskilling is likely to happen, on the other hand if the introduction of new technology can work alongside employees in order to assist and aid them in their work then reskilling is more likely to occur. The type of organisation that the new technology is to be brought into is also an important factor in deciding whether deskilling will be caused. As we have already seen, in the production of motor vehicles deskilling is caused by new technologies. This can also be seen in other secondary sector organisations, for example the textile industry. In the past everything would be sewn by hand, requiring much skill, whereas from the middle of the 19th century technology was introduced, reducing the need for skilled workers, and deskilling those already in the industry. However, if we look at tertiary sector organisations reskilling is probably more likely. In the medical profession, workers at all levels in an organisation are likely to have gained more skills due to the introduction of new technologies than becoming deskilled. At the lowest level, for example a receptionist in a GP surgery, records are now stored electronically as well as on paper, increasing the complexity of their work. Looking at a higher level, a GP still has to go through years of training to become fully qualified, and now also has to be computer literate, for example in order to produce prescriptions and use diagnostic software. In addition to this, developments in the technologies available to surgeons have meant that much more skilled operations can be carried out, which in turn has increased the skill requirements required to perform operations. On the other hand, if we look at another service occupation, the field of banking, obvious deskilling has taken place. A bank clerk was once a highly regarded profession, requiring years of training. However, today the banks have reduced their qualification requirements for recruits. This is due to the computer age, as all transactions can now be carried out electronically, removing the skills that were once required. It cannot therefore be said that the introduction of new technology will always lead to deskilling in an organisation, each individual situation would need to be looked at separately in order to decide upon this. As it has so far been difficult to quantify whether new technologies will lead to deskilling or not, it is helpful to look at and consider any research that has been carried out on this subject. Data from the Swedish Level of Living surveys that were carried out between 1968 and 1991 by a group at the Swedish Institute for Social Research is probably one of the most important tools available when looking at deskilling due to the introduction of new technology. The surveys had a sample size of around 3,000 people, who were in employment and of working age. The differences between classes of jobs is shown to be important when looking at whether deskilling takes place. This can be seen from the diagrams on the next page, produced using results from the survey. Diagrams from (Jonsson, 1998:614). As we can see from these charts, there is a mixture of deskilling and upskilling, which can be related to the social class of work. For both sets of data, the two social classes that have obviously been upskilled are W4, which is lower grade white collar workers, including typists and B2, which is unskilled manual workers, including assemblers and cleaners. This is also supported by other works, for example The Coming of Post-Industrial Society, which claims that blue collar work has been upgraded through automation and technical development (Bell, 1973). On the other hand if we take the class of W1, which is the upper service class, including engineers, employees opinions are that this field has been deskilled due to the introduction of new technology, supporting the contention. However, data is only available up to 1991, and if a survey were to be carried out today then I would expect due to the massive increase in information technology over the past 15 years that peoples opinions would have changed to that of upskilling. Bravermans thesis on deskilling suggested that due to the degradation of work from the introduction of new technology, employees became bored in their role. However, the Swedish research seems to oppose this, as can be seen from the table below: (Jonsson, 1998:613) Over the time period, for both men and women, the percentage of monotonous content in jobs has decreased, suggesting again that there has been a general upskilling of jobs, contesting Bravermans views. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that this is a general trend, and that some lower level white collar workers may experience deskilling, due to the impact that the introduction of new technologies has on their roles. Finally the idea that the introduction of new technologies into an organisation will inevitably lead to deskilling must be considered. Few things can ever be certain to happen, and from the evidence that we have seen, deskilling is probably unlikely to occur in todays ever expanding technological society. In conclusion, it would seem that the contention that the introduction of new technologies into an organisation inevitably leads to deskilling is incorrect, and each individual situation needs to be looked at in order to see if the contention can be proved, however it would appear as the world gains a greater reliance on technology, skills are not being decreased, but the type of skills required is changing.

Name and describe the stages of the human life cycle. How are these Essay

Name and describe the stages of the human life cycle. How are these stages different from what is seen in our closest relatives - Essay Example The initial phase of the human life sequence is birth. Before birth, a human being starts as a single cell. The human cells multiply and specialize into definite body parts preparing for the delivery of an infant. Birth happens after a fetus has developed for about 9 months from date fertilization (Prior, Erin and Lisa 23). The second stage of human cycle is the infancy. During this stage, the child depends entirely on others for his or her life and safety. Consequently, parents assume the duties of feeding, bathing and helping the child move from place to place. It is during this stage that the child starts learning essential concepts for surviving in the world (Sigelman and Elizabeth 28). The third stage includes the childhood that runs for about ten years. The child is mainly regarded as the toddler for the first two years after infancy. The child develops as he or she learns how to walk, talk and become independent. Primarily, persons grow attaining more freedom and responsibility as they build knowledge about selves. Furthermore, the person starts developing his or her personal intelligence and character at this stage (Ulijaszek 19). The fourth stage of the sequence corresponds to adolescence. This refers to the age between 12 to 18 years. The stage initiates with puberty where boys develop to become men and girls grow to be women. This is a very controversial stage of human cycle because the young people struggle to manage various changes occurring in their lives. The person may start experiencing growth spurts and emotional disorders emanating from the effort of search for personal identity, hormone production, and quest of higher independence. Furthermore, the human prepares for adulthood or for maturity in this stage. Consequently, the person is growing to his or her highest size and one becomes physically able to reproduce (Prior, Erin and Lisa 19). The firth stage is the adulthood that is the longest of the

Missouri Department of corrections rank among the highest in Research Paper

Missouri Department of corrections rank among the highest in recidivism - Research Paper Example By building cognitive skills the department has established the most effective intervention technique to address recidivism. The program aims at addressing issues such as decision making, successful relationships in the society and corrects thinking errors that result to criminal behaviors (Boehm, 2007). The cognitive behavioral program should target offenders’ attitude, anger, and beliefs. Peers, substance abuse, and they are more action oriented. These actions help the offender in replacing the negative actions and association with the new leant behaviors. A better prison education program is the most appropriate and recommended correction method for Missouri prison. The program should involve providing the inmates with education and skills that enable them to secure employment opportunities once they are out of prison. The state government should launch a program such as PERU (prison education revolutionary unit) that will ensure inmates acquire more skills in Automotive, Information Technology, Welding, Culinary Arts, and basic Engineering courses (Jackson & Lyons,  2007). The program will improve vocational education by availing highly trained, experienced, and skilled educationalists that will positively influence the lives of the prisoners. According to the studies by the University of Missouri, it was found that inmates who earned their General Educational Diploma Certificate (GED) in prison had a higher rate of getting employment and, consequently, less likely to repeated crime. The research showed a 33% decrease in the likel ihood of recidivism on the inmates who obtained a full-time job. Implementation of PERU will ensure that inmates acquire technical skills that will match the needs and preferences of the contemporary labor market and in a position to obtain employment. The PERU program will ominously improve prison vocational education and resolve the

My Favourite Place Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

My Favourite Place - Essay Example There are several places which are usually quoted as the rivers source. The first of which is the Thames head, which is close to the village of Kemble. Another is Seven Springs, which is near where the Churn River rises. In addition, many rivers, canals and brooks all feed the Thames. As previously stated, the river is long and also very wide, and goes through many cities, towns and villages. Some of them are Oxford, Abingdon, Lechlade, Wallingford, Reading, Eton, Marlow, Staines, Windsor, Henly-on-Thames, Weybridge and Maidenhead. .Among its crossings are various places like the Thames Barrier, Thames Tunnel, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Millennium Bridge and many more. Furthermore, you can see many magnificent buildings from the Thames, one of them being the Parliament. The long Thames combines together so many features, so many sights, and so many architectural wonders and important structures built near it, that it is virtually impossible not to fall in love with it. It provides so much entertainment and pleasure to all of those who walk beside it on its walkways. The Thames has a unique charm that is, in my opinion, unmatched by any other place. Just by walking along the river, or sailing in it, it is possible to sense the wonderful atmosphere of the river, which is almost magical. Firstly, there is the London Millennium Footbridge, which links the Bankside with the city. Around it you can find many important places, both art-wise and religious-wise. These include the Tate Modern, which is Britains national museum of international modern are, Bankside gallery, a notable art gallery, the famous Globe Theatre, and also St. Pauls Cathedral, an undoubtedly architectural wonder, as well as the place where the Bishop of London sits. Secondly, the entire area of Greenwich is, in my opinion, quite charming. Greenwich attracts a lot of tourists, being known as the location of the Greenwich Mean

Crime Prevention Technology

Crime Prevention Technology Over the years, government agencies have sought ways to combat crime. Our Criminal Justice System is in a state of crisis due to prisons being over crowded. It is better to prevent a crime than to punish the individual for a crime once it has affected more parties. It is evident with the number of crimes reported in the media, instead of reducing the number of crimes taking place, it is increasing. That itself shows the urgency nations attention on crime prevention. Research indicates that certain individuals in society are more prone follow and maintain a criminal career. Furthermore, there appears seems to be with an obvious pattern among the individuals who have been jailed for committing serious crimes. For example men from disadvantaged backgrounds, with disloyal personalities and poor impulse control are regarded as having high risk personality to commit crime. As a result, it is important that Sri Lankan Criminal Justice System recognizes these high risk individuals and implement certain preventative measures to discourage them from a criminal path. 3. Today it has become important more than ever to control these individuals who are seriously damaging the nations will. As indicated by research, there appears to be a strong link between the seriousness of the act (ex, rape, armed robbery and murder etc.) committed by an individual and the number of times these individuals have come into contact with the Criminal Justice System. Therefore, it is easy to assume that the re-offending rates in Sri Lanka would be significantly higher. Hence, it is essential that the governing bodies work towards bringing down the rates of re-offending in Sri Lanka. With the help of modern technology this may become a more attainable goal. AIM 4. To indicate the role and importance of technology to prevent crimes and through that maintain law and order in Sri Lanka EXPLANATION ON CRIME 5. Crime could be defined as a breach of laws for which a countrys Criminal Justice System may ultimately enforce a guilty sentence. Crimes can be classified into felonies, misdemeanours and infraction. a. A felony is considered to be the most serious type of crime and it includes the issues related to assault, murder, rape, robbery etc. b. A Misdemeanours are less serious than felonies. It is therefore distinguished by the length or gravity of the punishment issued to the individual. These include simple assaults, Driving under the Influence of alcohol or drugs (more commonly known as DUI) and disorderly conduct in public. c. Infractions are the least serious type of crime. It includes common traffic offences, breaching speed limits. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CRIME AND TECHNOLOGY 6. Advancement in technology appears to be a double edged sword as it has created a whole new spectrum of crime and this same technology helps the law enforcement combat, prevent to or capture these criminals. For example, in addition to dealing with crimes such as murder, robbery, rape law enforcement agencies are forced to deal with internet crimes such as internet hackers, internet stalkers, internet viruses and the use of the internet to cheat are the example of a few. On a positive aspect this same technology could be utilized to increase the power and range of the law enforcement agencies. For example, technology could be used to prevent certain types crime from happening to ultimately capturing these criminals who have committed the crime. 7. Surveillance videos, fingerprint technology and DNA evidence could also be used in a court of law to help send to prison and punish these individuals without relying solely on human witnesses. There were many experiences and so many stories where that human memory has had devastating influences on certain individuals who were wrongly confined. On a positive note, most of these wrongly accused have since been released from confinement with the help of modern technology such as DNA evidence and fingerprint evidence. WHAT ARE THE CRIMES IN SRI LANKA 8. According to the Sri Lankan Police website, during the year 2010 home invasions, theft and robbery, knife attacks, homicide attempts to commit suicide and grievous harm are among the crimes that predominately committed by the Sri Lankan population are probably indicative only of reported crime as culturally Sri Lankans are less likely to report personal crimes such as domestic assaults, rapes and childhood sexual assaults because of the disgrace attached to these crimes. For example, often people are either too afraid or too ashamed regarding the circumstances and therefore are less likely to seek help and support from authorities. USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO CURB CRIMES IN SRI LANKA AS AT PRESENT AND AREAS TO IMPROVE 9. Technology is already being used to obtain evidence and capture criminals. However, we do not use technology that much, to prevent crimes in comparison to post criminal activities. Law enforcement agencies rely heavily on fingerprinting technology and the Sri Lankan Criminal Justice System had recognizes these advancements in technology. For example, DNA, fingerprinting, through telephone call details, surveillance cameras, digital photos and videos are now recognized in a court of law. FINGERPRINT TECHNOLOGY 10. Fingerprint technology has been used for more than a century and the FBI in America have used fingerprinting technology as far as 1924 in criminal investigations. Even though, Sri Lankan law enforcement agencies didnt use fingerprinting technology that far back in time, but they have relied on this technology for the past few decades of time. 11. Fingerprinting technology is a relatively cheap and it is still considered to be one of the most reliable forms of evidence in a court of law. A persons individual appearance may change with time, but it is impossible to change an individuals fingerprint. That is the main motive for them to rely on this old technology this much. 12. As Sri Lanka is a developing country we are lack with many resources to use and same goes with expensive technology, even which are readily available to use in the first world nations. Fingerprinting technology is relatively low cost, therefore Sri Lanka doesnt need to depend on foreign countries and we have the technology too. That compels us to use it more as it is readily available within the country. 13. Currently, the Sri Lankan law enforcement agencies are in the process of storing fingerprints of criminals who are recognised by the court of law and these fingerprints are stored in databases for easy access and for future reference. The government has recognised the importance of fingerprinting technology. As a result they are in the process of introducing National Identity cards that have an individuals thumb print coupled with other information to help minimise identity theft and for easy identification. BIO METRIC TECHNOLOGY 14. DNA, infrared technology, face recognition are used widely in Western countries. These advanced technologies are used to help basically in preventing unauthorised access to sensitive information or restricted buildings and areas. At present Sri Lanka does not process the resources to use these mentioned technologies even though requirement highly exist. 15. However, DNA technology is used in Sri Lanka mainly to help identify individuals at a crime outlook. It has also been used in the past to confirm an individuals identity. A highly publicised example where DNA was used was during the 2004 Tsunami to identify the biological parents of an infant as several families claimed the infant belonged to them. 16. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka lacks the financial resources to use them on a regular basis. Currently what practise is, after collecting and securing DNA evidence it is sent to a foreign country to obtain the results. This can often be very expensive and highly time consuming. CLOSE CIRCUIT TELEVISION 17. Close Circuit Television or more commonly known as CCTV is relatively new in Sri Lanka. CCTV has the potential to help control criminal and disorderly behavior in community. Research conducted in this area states that CCTV cameras help prevent crime by increasing the chances of getting caught and by further obtaining the evidence required to convict these individuals. Further it would help monitor offenders behaviors and patterns. 18. CCTV cameras may help citizens be cautionary through its presence. For example, research indicates that individuals are likely to be hesitant of committing a crimes commonly happening, such as shop-lifting when they are made aware that all their behaviors and actions are being monitored. Sri Lankan banks and money handling agencies use CCTV to help reduce bank robberies. If a robbery does take place, with its information security personals can activate their contingency plans in preventing robbery is been succeed and even filing so CCTV can then be used to gather evidence. 19. There are five disadvantages in using CCTV, for example it is costly and it can be time consuming to go through the surveillance tapes once a crime has been committed. However, a good surveillance system may help cut down the number of crimes committed. Furthermore, CCTV cameras will help law agencies recognize, catch and convict individuals. It would also help further because, if an individual is caught on camera then there would be no argument as to what is being done. It would become extremely difficult for their layers to argue or make excuses for their behaviors when caught in the action. MOBILE POLICE VEHICLES 20. With the development of the communication, with in a matter of seconds, individuals can inform authorities about a crime, details relating to incidents, regarding a person or any other related issues through a phone. With the introduction of mobile police vehicle system use of that technological advantages have become very effective both for preventives and passive criminal counter actions. 21. It had been used in the past to combat terrorism, because of its rapid and effective accessibility. Same as that it will be effective provided with some improvements to the system. USE OF MEDIA 22. Media plays a vital role in counter criminal activities. We have experienced during the war against the LTTE how effectively it can be used. There were occasions when suspected persons photographs and details were flashed on the screen on televisions, almost immediately and sometimes within a day, the information reached the authorities through vigilant civilians. 23. With the use of media, the authorities could use the population of over 20 million citizens of Sri Lanka to help observe and then report if any criminal activities take place. As it is impossible for governing agencies to monitor everywhere due to the lack of man power and resources it will be an added advantage. Therefore media could be used to distribute current information to the public and authorities could then use information reported by the citizens. 24. As mentioned previously, when it comes to personal crimes from a cultural perspective individuals are less likely to inform authorities. Television programmes such as Thiththa Aththa and Gahaniya use the media to encourage individuals to report and discuss these sensitive issues. On the opposite side of things, the same information that is used to help understand the circumstances of an incident, then it can be used by a criminal to cover his or her tracks. DIFFICULTIES FACED IN USE OF TECHNOLOGY ECONOMY 25. According to recent data, Britain is monitored by 4 million Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras making them the most watched nation in the world. British governing body insists that the use of CCTV cameras should be viewed as being beneficial and protective. Sri Lanka does require a large amount of CCTV systems if it is to cover the required places effectively in entire country. 26. A very basic camera system may cost about Rs. 100,000. As it is very expensive, it prevents Sri Lanka from using the required number of CCTV cameras. This same cost factor affects the use of other effective technologies such as use of DNA or Bio metric technology. LACK WITH KNOWLEDGE, EXPERTISE AND SKILL PERSONAL 27. Lack of skilled personals and professional knowledge has become another limiting factor in use of modern technology. Sri Lankan education system does not recognise the importance of technology in combating crime with the use of Bio metric technology. 28. There is a huge brain-drain as most educated individuals in this area of expertise are likely to leave Sri Lanka for lack of employment. For example, even if these individuals have the knowledge, as Sri Lanka lacks the infrastructure, required equipment as well as the technology to maintain the level required to have a functioning Bio metric system. This then compels Sri Lanka to depend mainly on foreign technology and expertise. KNOWLEDGE LAPSES AMONG THE CITIZENS 29. Sri Lanka is still a developing country. The ageing populations as well as the citizens in the rural areas in Sri Lanka are not aware of the available technology. For example, our grandparents would not be comfortable using a mobile phone. Even though the younger generation is aware of the benefits computers offer, in comparison to India, Sri Lankas IT literacy rate is comparatively low. 30. Another complication arises in trying to introduce National Identity cards with the thumb print. Even if this technology was introduced, citizens need to be made aware of the basic functions and the methods to use them. LACKS IN INFRASTRUCTURES FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT 31. Infrastructure requirement for sensitive scientific subject like bio metric or commonly known as DNA are not available in the island, for that matter we are totally depended on other countries. This is leading to have more issues with time factor, economic factor and therefore tendency of using these technologies will always with some limitations. 32. Not only the infrastructure, more importantly we do not even have the required equipments. For example we are in a process of introducing an identity card with finger print and with many other details. But to achieve the purpose those authority that are going to check the identity on the ground must be equipped with required mechanism to use the technology. If not having all required data, if those authorities happened to go with manual identification the entire purpose cannot be achieved. TRAINING ISSUE 33. As discussed above, the level of IT literacy is relatively low in Sri Lanka. It would be extremely expensive to train individuals from the beginning and it would also be very time consuming. 34. Training would only be beneficial if the individual chosen is able to understand and remember what is expected of them. However, at the moment it is important to recognize individuals with some basic knowledge and interest in computers. This will help eliminate individuals unsuitable for the training programs. SUMMARY 35. As same as any other field influence of the technology is a factor which is unavoidable for both crime and counter criminal activities. It is well understood that it is better to prevent a crime than to punish the individual for a crime once it has affected more parties. But the available technology that, which we are equipped with is been basically used for post criminal activities. However as at today there is urgency in use of technology for preventive mashers too. Because we are with enough details on that, certain individuals in society are more prone follow and maintain a criminal career. Furthermore, there appears seems to be with an obvious pattern among the individuals who have been jailed for committing serious crimes. 36. Fingerprint technology, DNA or bio metric technology, Circuit Television or more commonly known as CCTV and mobile police vehicle system are used in Sri Lanka in counter criminal activities with many difficulties. Media also plays a vital role in counter criminal activities and again it is a double edged weapon which plays negative role too. 37. Sri Lanka is a developing nation who has many difficulties in case of economy. There for the cost factor is being recognized as the main barrier in using technology against crime. Lack of skilled personals and professional knowledge, lack the infrastructure, lack equipment as well as the technology, training issues are the other difficulties faced by the authorities. 38. Having being identified the areas where, more attention of the authority is highly essential now we have to up lift the awareness of the society to get the proper use of technology in order to achieve our ultimate aim by maintaining countries low and order. RECOMMENDATIONS 39. Sri Lanka is a developing nation. Therefore, we only have access to limited resources. Hence, it becomes important to identify the requirements to prevent crime. It is true that justice cannot be determined by Rupees and cents, however, any changes to the system must be considered with concern for its cost effectiveness. For example, even if certain technologies have been used successfully in Western Countries, it does not necessarily mean that the same technology would be appropriate to use in Sri Lanka. 40. As average citizens may not be aware of the technology available, it may help to have a national wide education programme through the use of media and many other means. This has to be done before introducing any technology which may lead to confusion among the citizens. 41. At the school level children are to be taught about technology and the benefits of computers as we need to train the next generation. In turn this knowledge of the children can be used to educate their families on the same aspect. 42. Sri Lanka needs to enhance its databases. It would be beneficial to recognize and train individuals in computing skills. These individuals could then be used to help collect the most relevant data and help store them accurately for future references. 43. On the other hand the governing body needs an eliminating programme to recognize potential individual that would be of value to them in the future after the training is completed. It is important to realize that as we lack the skill levels and the resources to train these individuals, the governing agencies to need help from foreign countries. The initial cost would expensive but in the long run it would benefit Sri Lanka 44. New technology that such as CCTV is likely to become an essential tool when controlling criminals and their behaviors in time to come. However, it is important that law agencies do not only rely on CCTV cameras to attain this goal. For example, if the police force is aware that a certain area has CCTV cameras installed, they are less likely to frequent that particular area. If an individual gets assaulted in an area that has CCTV, the police may not be able to get to that area in time to help the victim. It is true that, the police could use the video to help catch the criminal after the crime has been committed but unfortunately, this may be of little consolidation for the already victimized individual. 45. If we were to increase the number of patrol cars used, we should focus on the crime-ridden areas. This would help maximize the man power and resources used. It may also help if the patrol cars have access to a cellular phone. These vehicles are to be equipped with GPS to gain more advance passion over counter parties. This way, if a crime is reported, the dispatch centre would then be able to direct the closest patrol car to the area. 46. In response to personal crimes such as rape and domestic assault, media could be used to reach out the average citizens still living in the rural areas. It might help to encourage the younger generations to reach out to their elders regarding this matter. If people are made aware that these issues could be resolved with help, more victims may come forward without worrying about being made ridiculed by their peers. It may also help to start these educational policies at school levels and encourage children to speak to their parents and relations. This may then promote gender and social equality in Sri Lanka.

Bioterrorism and Plague Essay -- Biological Terrorism Terrorist Homela

Bioterrorism and Plague Plague, also known as Yesirnia pestis, has wreaked havoc since the first documented outbreak in the 6th century, along with changing the course of history. Although bubonic plague is the most common form of plague, pneumonic plague is the more fatal form of the bacteria. It is the only form that has been successfully aerosolized by man and has the potential of taking down a mass of people in days. If used as a bioweapon, it would cause major damage. This paper is designed to inform you of the history, the facts, and the precautions needed to prevent a bioterrorist attack. In 1970, The World Health Organization estimated that 50 kg, or 110 lb, of Y. pestis sprayed over a city would infect 150,000 individuals and kill about 40,000 (Grey, p.218). Throughout history, there have been plague epidemics that have killed thousands of people. From the Athenian plague starting in 430 B.C. to the famous Black Death in 1346, people from all over the world have been caught in chaos with insufficient treatments and no reliable way of preventing this horrible disease from spreading. Today, vast medical advancements have yielded successful treatments for the plague, but people are still highly susceptible to widespread disaster if a bioterrorist attack does manage to occur. In 430-26 B.C. during the Peloponnesian War, which was fought between Sparta and Athens, overcrowded conditions in the cities allowed plague to spread quickly. It claimed tens of thousands of victims including Pericles, the former leader of Athens. We know of this outbreak because of the last remaining source: Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War (Smith, p. 1). Having been through the plague himself, Thucydides described the symptoms w... ...5. Arizona Dept. of Health Services. 8 July 2005 â€Å"FAQ About Plague.† 2005 CDC. 5 April 2005. www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/plague/faq.asp Med TV. â€Å"Bubonic Plague Symptoms.† 2006. MED TV. 11 Oct. 2006. www.plague.emedtv.com/bubonic-plague-symptoms.html Henderson, Donald; Inglesby, Thomas and O’Toole, Tara. Bioterrorism. Chicago: American Medical Association, 2002. Inglesby, Thomas and Dennis, Davis. â€Å"Plague as a Biological Weapon.† Medical and Public Health Management. 2000. JAMA. 3 May 2000. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/283/17/228/ â€Å"Natural History.† Plague. 2005. CDC. 30 March 2005. http://cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/history.htm#100 Mayoclinic. â€Å"Plague.† Health Library. 1998-2008. Mayo Clinic. 1 Sept. 2006. www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/OQ493.html Grey, Michael and Spaeth, Kenneth. â€Å"Plague.† The Bioterrorism Sourcebook. The McGraw-Hill Companies: US. 2006.

A Study of Brand Strategy for Supermarket Industry in Hong Kong

In the growing FMCG market of Hong Kong, the concept of brand strategy for supermarkets is the most vital variable of interest to retailers. This research makes an in-depth analysis of the dimensional aspects of brand strategy for supermarket industry with additional focus on the store image which is the antecedent for store loyalty.The research extends to examining the efforts of the supermarkets in Hong Kong to assess the effectiveness of such efforts in building a brand strategy for an effective store loyalty towards their stores.The research proposes to achieve the objectives of assessing the effectiveness of the efforts of the supermarkets in building a brand strategy by a review of the available literature on the topic of study and also by conducting a social research by employing recognized research methods to present a comprehensive and analytical report on the findings of the research.The study proposes to use qualitative methods for the collection of secondary data and info rmation including a collection of a wide range of resources for a review of the literature on the topic of the study. Quantitative method in the form on an ‘Online Survey’ of the customers of supermarkets by using a well constructed questionnaire to collect their opinions on the effectiveness of the efforts of the supermarkets in building a brand strategy in the supermarket industry in Hong Kong.The study will consider various attributes that promotes the brand strategy towards the supermarkets in Hong Kong.It will be astounding for the people who visit the Asian Cities like Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok for the first time to witness the role, shopping plays in the culture of the local people in this region.Retail therapy can be considered to be a conspicuous national pastime of these regions. With the growing wealth in Asia and with the enhancement in the disposable income of the people in the continent, there are every chances that consumer based firms will emerge as the strongest sector in the coming periods.Under the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) there had been a higher influx of tourists from China which has resulted in a growth of 9.7 percent higher sales in the departmental stores as of September 2006 on a year-on-year comparison.According to a survey conducted by ACNielsen the market research firm, on 22000 global consumers, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia were included in the top 10 markets in the consumer confidence. (ACNielsen Global Consumer Confidence Report, Jan 2006)With the increased consumer activities in the retail sales it becomes important for the supermarkets to assess the shopping habits of the consumers and adjust their marketing strategies to maximize the sales growth and revenue. This is especially necessary in a large consumer market like Hong Kong.The effectiveness of the actions from the supermarkets on improving the stores loyalty, though depends largely on the consumer buying habits there are seve ral other factors that determine the store loyalty like, proximity of location of the stores, brand awareness, quality of the products, pricing and promotional offers and other consumer habits.Being a highly sensitive issue getting the store loyalty of the consumers is a tough task for the supermarkets as switching to alternative stores by the customers costs nothing to them and is also less cumbersome. This poses a great challenge to the supermarkets. In this context this research makes a detailed study into the effectiveness of the efforts of the supermarkets in building a brand strategy for establishing store loyalty among the consumers. Â  

Black Segregation Movements

Black Segregation Movements Free Online Research Papers Black segregation movements had a positive impact on the world. The black community was forced to suffer through acts of violence and hate due to the belief that race accounts for differences in human character. Restaurants, bus stops, and companies throughout the southern United States of America practiced total seclusion of races. The whites looked at the segregation as a way of life, while the blacks felt the need for a dramatic change. The black community demanded equality and respect by organizing black segregation movements which halted the suffrage. Black segregation movements imposed a positive impact on the world through bus boycotts, â€Å"sit-ins†, marches, and civil rights groups, which ended discrimination problems in the United States. To begin, blacks had to overcome difficult challenges to be rid the beliefs behind racism. The white community in the south had the idea that blacks were inferior and uneducated, which caused racism in every public place. The blacks were unable to vote or take any political position in America. Also, black men were forced to step aside to let a white man and were prohibited to look at a white woman. If a white child played with a black child, the parents would whip him until he understood that blacks were not good people. The country made education for blacks difficult to obtain by keeping schools open for only 3 hours daily during crop times. Black segregation was a way of life that people accepted as a normal occurrence. The black children believed that whites were better and often wished they were born into white families. Both children and adults were often offensively referred to as â€Å"niggers† or â€Å"colored.† Thus, black life was extremely difficult in times of segregation. The most integrated public place provided an excellent start to end segregation towards the black community. The southern buses were completely segregated, yet the most popular place to find a combination of both blacks and whites. The blacks paid the same amount of money as a white at the front of the bus, but were ordered to get off and re-enter through the back. At the front of the bus, seats were reserved for whites, while the blacks were forced to move to the back. If the bus was full, and no seats remained for a white person, a black was ordered to get up from his seat and walk to his destination. The blacks became frustrated by the acts of hate, and realized the need for change. On December 1, 1955, an elderly black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. Parks was arrested, yet left a lasting impression on the United States. To show the country the hate needed to stop, the black people organized several bus boycotts. Before the boycotts, forty thous and black people rode the buses, while only twelve thousand whites were found on the popular way of transportation. As the bus incomes began to plummet, the country realized an agreement was necessary. The politicians offered a first-come-first-serve policy, and the blacks accepted. The bus boycotts were important to the end of segregation because the whites began to realize that the black people were a part of the community, and they help the country to grow. The boycotts also shook up the whites, and led them to believe that the blacks were educated and able to come up with intelligent ideas. Also, these boycotts helped the blacks to feel that they could end segregation if they put their mind to it. The people began to realize that segregation only happened if they allowed it to. Therefore, bus boycotts helped stop segregation in the Southern United States. Next, to end segregation, four college students began to â€Å"sit-in† at college counters, despite the â€Å"whites only† signs. Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, and Davis Richmond became furious when they were constantly told they were not allowed to sit at a popular food counter. The four students decided they would participate in the local scene, just like any white could do. The undergraduates â€Å"sat-in† at the counter, even when ordered to leave. However, the men did not move, for they were tired of being mistreated. The students were arrested, but later freed. The community was shocked at the bravery of the men, and began to take after them. Soon, many blacks, and few whites who joined them, were sitting at the â€Å"white only† counters. In the attempt to end the discrimination, the blacks had to suffer through terrible conditions. The whites poured food and itching powder on their heads, shouted hurtful words at the blacks, and shov ed them out of the food joints. However, the difficult times of pain and sadness brought times of joy and relief to the black community. The blacks performed a cycle where they â€Å"sat-in†, went to jail, got out, sat again, marched, picketed, went to jail, and got out. The endless cycle proved that they could not be stopped, and that the segregation could be ended. The â€Å"sit-ins† gave other black people the strength to protest that they did not have before because they realized it was beginning to become effective. The â€Å"sit-ins† also showed the white community that they can not stop the blacks from trying to protest against the hate. As a result, discrimination was beginning to be defeated. In order to demolish segregation, the black community organized several marches to show the world that discrimination needed to end immediately. Adults asked children to march in order to show the world that the offspring were suffering too. The children marched from the church in Birmingham, signing songs about freedom to support their parents who were attempting to end the hate. Police halted them, putting 959 children into the jails. The children were released, and attempted to march the following day. However, while marching, firemen sprayed the young black children with 100 pounds of pressure per square inch. The hoses slammed the young crowd into parked cars, buildings, and sidewalk curbs. Also, Selma became the center for a major civil protest and focus of national attention. The black community organized a march to Selma, where they could register to vote. They organized â€Å"Freedom Day† in Selma, where two hundred and fifty blacks waited outside of the County Courth ouse with signs at eleven o’clock in the morning. The local officials took the signs away from the protestors and snapped photographs of each black, hoping the photos would result in job losses. The marches helped aid to the end of the hate. The several marches allowed the entire community to participate in the act to end segregation. Also, the marches led the community to register to vote, which gave the blacks more freedom then ever. Hence, as the black community organized marches, segregation began to deteriorate. The black community created civil rights groups in order to organize black segregation movements. For example, the SNCC was one group that worked to better the community. The group walked with high school and college students, visited churches, met with the young and the old, and looked for national leaders. Also, the popular group promised to better the community by getting black neighborhood streets paved, trashed picked up, and the group forced the government to give more money to schools in order to better education. The groups often tested new laws to make sure that they were truly being enforced to enable equality between the races. Another popular group that fought segregation was the NAACP. The assembly forced improvements in black schools by fighting for more money and better conditions. Also, the group realized that the white teachers had fewer students to teach yet made a better income than the black teachers. The organization ordered that black and white teachers must be hired for their skills instead of the color of their skin. Both civil rights groups imposed a positive effect on the strive towards freedom. The groups were often in charge of organizing black segregation movements such as bus boycotts, marches, and â€Å"sit-ins.† Also, the groups bettered education for the black children by requesting more money for black schools. Lastly, both groups promoted better job availability for blacks, and less violence in the communities. Therefore, black segregation was ended with the help important civil rights groups. In conclusion, black segregation movements portrayed a positive image of the black community in the world. Black segregation movements imposed a positive impact onto the world through bus boycotts, â€Å"sit-ins†, marches, and civil rights groups, which ended discrimination problems in the United States. The blacks came together to find ways to put an end to the segregation that was apparent in the country. Thus, the segregation movements helped blacks to regain strength and the country to maintain order and equality. Research Papers on Black Segregation MovementsWhere Wild and West MeetComparison: Letter from Birmingham and Crito19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionThe Hockey GameHip-Hop is ArtCapital PunishmentThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationQuebec and Canada

Investigating how much the 5 pence minimum charge on local calls increases the cost of making local calls Essays

Investigating how much the 5 pence minimum charge on local calls increases the cost of making local calls Essays Investigating how much the 5 pence minimum charge on local calls increases the cost of making local calls Essay Investigating how much the 5 pence minimum charge on local calls increases the cost of making local calls Essay The aim of this coursework is to discover how much the 5 pence minimum charge (to quote BT: the minimum charge for each call remains at 5p inclusive of VAT) on local calls increases the cost of making local calls. This information would then be used to ascertain whether moving to a telephone operator without a minimum fee would be a good idea. If moving would save money, then it would be worth doing. Certainly, looking over the current bill, it seems like there are many calls less than 5 minutes (as local rates are 1 pence per minute during the evening and weekend and the phone is always switched off during the daytime). Data Collection The population is the entirety of local calls made during 3-month period. This population is formed because of the procession of only one itemised bill, which happens to be from 1st of November to the 1st of February. The current telephone operator is BT. This bill (i.e. the population) lists 886 calls, with a total duration of 30 hours, 38 minutes and 57 seconds. The complete cost for this period is à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50.30 (to the nearest 2 d.p., before VAT). The population is continuous because time can be given to any number of decimal places. The data is surly as accurate as it is possible to be only untraceable computer bugs could explain inaccuracies. As computer problems are unlikely for a large multi-national firm, such as BT, we can consider the data within the population to be reliable and good quality. A sample method appropriate here could be random sampling. An example of this might be labelling 886 pieces of paper, throwing them into a hat and selecting 50. Also, a computer could be used to select 50 random integer numbers in the range of 0 and 887. Such a random method would however give no indication of whether the duration of calls remained constant over time. Random sampling may allow a certain cluster of calls to dominate the general trend. Stratified sampling would not be appropriate for the investigation because we want to find out the number of 5-minute calls, not just select a certain number of them. This sampling method would be useful for a sub-investigation, for example to see how much effect the over 5-minute calls make to the charging by only selecting the over 5-minute calls and assessing their magnitude. Another way of sampling would be to select every x call, where x is the result of 886/50 rounded down to the nearest whole integer. This would mean recording the call duration for every 17th call (because 886/50 = 17.72). This will generate more that 50 samples, however, 50 is a minimum not a maximum. As the data is probably accurate, there cannot be any outliners. Please note: a computer maths or spreadsheet package has not been used in the preparation of this report. Thus, the data collected is given bellow (and then sorted by hand): Call duration in seconds Cell duration in seconds (sorted) 53 10 50 11 10 20 120 31 413 33 45 33 274 34 99 35 48 35 50 35 100 35 53 35 54 36 42 36 44 37 11 38 108 38 36 38 38 39 54 41 47 41 41 42 54 42 35 42 47 44 50 45 269 45 42 47 35 47 55 48 35 50 227 50 35 50 33 53 36 53 39 54 170 54 35 54 1077 55 38 57 31 99 33 100 45 107 1266 108 34 120 107 170 20 227 57 269 38 274 37 413 42 1077 41 1266 Table 1 raw data and raw data sorted Analysis Mean A mean gives some idea of central tendency (the average call duration). It will however, be affected by the extreme values 413, 1077 and 1266. Therefore, it seems appropriate to measure the mean with and without the 3 values. With the 3 values (done using a calculator, to 2 d.p.): ==112.56 seconds or 1 minute 52.56 seconds Clearly, this answer is higher than most of the times, so not particularly representative. With out the 3 values (done using a calculator, to 2 d.p. ): ==63.2 seconds or 1 minute 3.2 seconds. The second answer seems more representative, but still does not take account of the majority of the times. Mode The mode is another measure of central tendency that gives the most frequent call duration. The mode is clearly 35 seconds (because this call duration is the most frequent, being repeated 5 times). From a visual inspection, this time seems to give quite a good indication of central tendency as most of the time seem to fall within the 9 t (seconds) 61 range. Median Another measure of central tendency is the median, which may be numerically calculated or read off a calmative frequency graph. As the later is not necessary accurate because hand drawn, the numerical method will be used. The median gives the middle number, and as such is not affected by the extreme numbers. It does not however, take account of the actual values of the call durations. Hopefully, it should give some idea as to the average of the data. To calculate the median, the numbers must each be assigned a rank. The median is the mean of the duration assigned to the 26th and 27th rank (because 52/2 =26 and (52/2)+1=27 and n is even). The ranks, which were assigned manually to the data, are given in the table below: Ranks Cell duration in seconds (sorted) 1 10 2 11 3 20 4 31 5 33 6 33 7 34 8 35 9 35 10 35 11 35 12 35 13 36 14 36 15 37 16 38 17 38 18 38 19 39 20 41 21 41 22 42 23 42 24 42 25 44 26 45 27 45 28 47 29 47 30 48 31 50 32 50 33 50 34 53 35 53 36 54 37 54 38 54 39 55 40 57 41 99 42 100 43 107 44 108 45 120 46 170 47 227 48 269 49 274 50 413 51 1077 52 1266 Table 2 raw data sorted and ranked (by hand) The 26th and 27th values are both 45 seconds. Therefore, the median is 45 seconds ((45+45)/2=45). From visual inspection, this does seem to represent all but the extreme values, however, the mode seems to give the best measure of central tendency. Ranges The range is 10 1266 (=1256). If the finial 3 values were removed, the range would be 10 284. This shows that the 3 values do have an extreme affect upon the calculations that take them into account. The inter-quartile range would give a better measure of spread, as it would avoid the extreme values. The median of the median of the whole data set and the lower bound is the lower quartile, whilst the median of the median of the whole data and the upper bound is the upper quartile. Lower quartile The 13th value is 36, as is the 14th. So, the lower quartile is 36 seconds. Upper quartile The 39th value is 55, and the 40th is 57. the upper quartile is 56 seconds. Thus, the inter-quartile range is 56-36 or 20 seconds. This tells us that the middle half of the sample is with a 20 second range. Since half of 52 is 26, we know that the 26 of the sample falls within the 20 seconds of each other. Thus, we can deduce that the median is a good measure of central tendency. Calculating the midrange would not be applicable, as the extreme values would have too significant an affect on the result. Standard deviation The standard deviation measures average (not accurate because of squaring and square-rooting, so called standard) deviation from the mean. As 2/3s of the data lie within the standard deviation, perhaps it will be a good measure of spread and central tendency. The standard deviation will help tell us whether 2/3rd of the data is within 5 minutes, and if so it may be worth changing the operator. The formula used is: . The squared call durations are given bellow (these squares were calculated by using a calculator). Call duration in seconds Cell duration in seconds (squared) 10 100 11 121 20 400 31 961 33 1089 33 1089 34 1156 35 1225 35 1225 35 1225 35 1225 35 1225 36 1296 36 1296 37 1369 38 1444 38 1444 38 1444 39 1521 41 1681 41 1681 42 1764 42 1764 42 1764 44 1936 45 2025 45 2025 47 2209 47 2209 48 2304 50 2500 50 2500 50 2500 53 2809 53 2809 54 2916 54 2916 54 2916 55 3025 57 3249 99 9801 100 10000 107 11449 108 11664 120 14400 170 28900 227 51529 269 72361 274 75076 413 170569 1077 1159929 1266 1602756 Table 3 call durations sorted and squared (using a calculator) (calculated using un-rounded values, and checked using the statistical function of the calculator.) Therefore, 2/3rd of the call durations lie within 224.89 seconds. 224.89 seconds is 3 minutes 44.89 seconds, showing that 2/3rds of the call durations lie within 5 minutes of the mean. This strongly indicates that changing operator would be beneficial. Number of call durations less than 5 minutes Another useful calculation would be to calculate how many of the call durations fall below 5 minutes (300 seconds). If we consider the sample reasonably representative then we can say that the ratio of under 5 minute to over 5 minute calls is 49:3. If the sample is representative, then this means there is a very high number of calls bellow 5 minutes. Displays Box and whisker diagram A good was of summarising some of the calculations above would be a box and whisker diagram. This is figure 1. Frequency polygon A frequency polygon is an appropriate method of discovering the shape of the distribution (see figure 2 and sheet F2). Please note that the last 3 call lengths were not included, as this would have adversely affected the scale and not given a meaningful display. Figure 2 shows a slight positive skew. There is a tight distribution about 20-60 seconds. After 60 seconds, there are occasional calls lengths. Cumulative frequency diagram Suspecting a tight distribution, a cumulative frequency diagram was created (the straighter the S shape, the tighter the distribution about the median). A cumulative frequency diagram gives better results if the data is spread evenly throughout the intervals; this appears to be the case. Cumulative frequency is calculated as a running total of all frequencies. The bounds are 10, allowing for the fact that the data is widespread. As the data is integer, the bounds are inclusive. Bounds Cell duration in seconds (sorted) Cumulative frequency 0-9 0 0 10-19 2 2 20-29 1 3 30-39 16 19 40-49 11 30 50-59 10 40 60-69 0 40 70-79 0 40 80-89 0 40 90-99 1 41 100-109 3 44 110-119 0 44 120-129 1 45 130-139 0 45 140-149 0 45 150-159 0 45 160-169 0 45 170-179 1 46 180-189 0 46 190-199 0 46 200-209 0 46 210-219 0 46 220-229 1 47 230-239 0 47 240-249 0 47 250-259 0 47 260-269 1 48 270-279 1 49 Table 4 cumulative frequency of call durations. The cumulative frequency graph shows that there is a tight S shape, indicating a tight concentration of values around the median. This confirms the calculations made above (i.e. the inter-quartile range). The top of the S shape is particularly long and straight, indicating widespread but infrequent data past the upper quartile (56 seconds). Interpretation It has been discovered that there is a large concentration of call durations bellow 5 minutes, indicating that moving to a different operator may be advised, although increased pence per minute increase from such a move may negate any benefit. With 49 of the 52 calls less than 5 minutes, the mean, mode, median, standard deviation and quartiles falling less that 5 minutes, it is clear that most calls are much less than 5 minutes duration, according to the sample. The positive skew also supports this point, by showing that calls tend towards lower than 5 minute call durations. It has also been discovered that the 3 calls above 5 minutes are considerably above five minutes. This indicates the pence per minute increase problem outlined above. Therefore, it has been shown that (provided the sample is representative) if call charges are not increased and the 5 pence minimum dropped, moving to another call operator would be sensible. The data of the population is of good quality, as indicated in the introductory paragraphs. The data is very accurate as a computer calculated it automatically and the sample hand gathered 3 times (to insure there was no errors in gathering the sample). The extreme values were therefore verified 2 times. In terms of validation, none of data should (or was) negative. This was manually checked for after sample collection. It certainly appears that the data was worth collecting as it has shown a high biased towards 5-minute call durations. Even if the data had not shown this, it would have told us that changing to another operator might not be such a good idea. With there being only 3 calls over 5 minutes, these 3 calls probably are not representative of the over 5 minute calls in the population. If it can be shown that many of the over 5 minute calls in the sample are considerably over 5 minutes. This could be a problem if there are pence per minute increases with a new non-5-minute-minimum-charge operator: the effect of the increase may negate the effects of the lack of a 5 minute minimum charge. Accuracy and refinements The sample only represents 5.9% (, to 1 d.p.) of the population. Thus, how representative the sample is of the population is questionable, especially as only 3 of the sample were over 5 minutes in duration. Using a telephone can often result in somewhat fixed patterns of calling, thus using a systemic method of data gathering maybe influenced unduly by these routines. When gathering data by eye from a long list of numbers that are similar in appearance (as in this case) may be particularly error prone. Accuracy in long calculations such as standard deviation may not be wholly accurate despite repeating the calculations 2 times and using the calculator as further backup. The impact of other call types, such as national and international has not been assessed; a change in operator may adversely affect these rates. A greater sample and/or population size could improve reliability of the analysis as the sample gathered may be more representative. A greater population could be found by collecting different quarterly bills. A greater sample size could be derived from changing the number of call durations to skip to a number less than 17. To gain a more representative sample of over 5 minute calls, it would be acceptable to carryout a sub investigation on a sample of over 5 minute calls (i.e. a sample of the population of over 5 minute calls). This would help us discover how much of an effect call charges would have on the bill. If all the whole population could be gathered, say by optical character recognition technology, then a computer statistics package could be used to calculate and graph the data. This would eliminate any problems associated with sampling but would be costly, if the hardware and software required was not easily accessible. Also, optical character recognition is not 100% accurate, so the data would have to checked by had a long uncomfortable occupation. There exist more advanced methods of calculating various statistics, and could be utilised to give greater, more refined, insight. An example might be calculating the skew or kurtosis numerically. Another possibility of determining the number of under 5 minute calls would be to manually count the number of over 5 minute calls in the whole population and subtract that number from 886 (the total number of local rate telephone calls). This would give an accurate proportion of under 5 minute calls, but would not give their nature (e.g. how close to the 5 minute barrier are they). Other graphs or charts could be drawn to give further insight into the data set. An example might be a pie-chart showing proportion of over and under 5 minute calls of the sample. A different method of sampling could be employed to avoid the routine problem that a systemic method carries or an unrepresentative problem that a random method carries. Perhaps a mixture of the two could be employed to generate a higher quality sample. This could be that the number of call durations missed before collecting another could be randomly generated using the random number facility on a calculator. Moving a piece of paper or ruler already marked) and can help to ensure that durations are indeed 17 call durations apart (by sight). As a change in operator may affect all charge rates, the affect upon the cost of national and international calls should be assessed or else savings from the removal of the 5 pence minimum charge could be negated and the new operator forsaken (and it may in fact cost to return to BT). There are in fact only 5 international calls, totalling 1 hour 4 minutes in duration and costing a total of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12.77. With such a small population, statistical analysis in not advised. Merely cost comparing the call charges with other operators should be sufficient. In addition it should be remarked that the cost for the international calls is quite low and would probably not negate a saving made from removing the 5-minute minimum charge. This is especially true as many non-BT operators are constantly advertising their low international rates. There are 57 national calls, of which total duration is 2 hours and 17 minutes, and costing a total of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5.48. With such a small charge, it hardly seems worth investigating. It would be possible to see how much the same call time (2 hours and 17 minutes) would cost with another operator. It might be advised as a further extension to the investigation, to find out (of the sample data) how many extra minutes are actually charged for because of the 5-minute minimum charge. This would help discover how much one would save when moving to a new operator. In conclusion, it seems that several statements can be made: o The sample is fairly accurate (with the population being as accurate as possible), but could be improved in terms of representation. o The cost of over five minute local calls, national and international calls should be calculated against any increase in charges of another operator to ensure that the increases effect does not take away the effect of removing the 5 minute minimum charge. o Most local rate calls are less than five minutes in duration, but it is possible that some of the over 5 minute calls are particularly long in duration.

Select two approaches to counselling which might be useful in Essay

Select two approaches to counselling which might be useful in education, and describe their assumptions and methods. Critically discuss their relevance and suitability for counselling in schools - Essay Example A theoretical approach presents a position that regards the theory and practice of counselling. A school of counselling can be viewed as a grouping of different theoretical approaches, which are similar to each other in terms of fundamental characteristics, which distinguishes them from theoretical approaches in counselling schools. The three main schools, which influence psychotherapy practice and contemporary counselling are usually separated into three overlapping and distinct traditions or schools of theoretical approach that have informed the practice of counselling. They are the humanistic school, the psychodynamic school and the cognitive/behavioral school (Greig, 2007). The humanistic/existential school has its roots in the works of pioneers such as Rogers, Moreno, Maslow, Berne, Binswanger, May, Perls and Boss characterized by a belief in self-actualization and choice. The humanistic school sometimes incorporate existential approach hence gets the broader title humanistic-existential school. It is based on humanism, a system of beliefs and values which emphasizes the better qualities of human beings and individuals’ abilities to develop their human potential. The humanistic counselors often emphasize enhancing clients’ abilities to reason and behave in harmony with their underlying habits to actualize themselves as unique characters. Describing humanistic/existential approach to the development of mental disorders is a considerable challenge. Humanistic approaches in many aspects are philosophical in nature, speak to the nature of the individual’s condition, deal with values and prefer a holistic view of the person. The humanistic/existential approaches evolved as a reaction to the determinism of the early models of psychopathology. Many psychologists were disturbed that Freudian theory did not touch on the inner world of the client but categorized the client according to preconceived diagnoses. They described a client in terms of psychic

Body Mass Index Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Body Mass Index - Research Paper Example A BMI value that is above 30 suggests that a person is obese (Brownell & Puhl, 2005). Obesity has been identified as a major cause for concern with respect to discrimination, which has been observed in various aspects of people’s everyday life. This paper seeks to highlight and discuss instances in people’s lives, which are affected by discrimination based on obesity. Various research studies that have been conducted to investigate whether bias against obese individuals led to discrimination in various aspects of people’s everyday life. Findings from research studies have established that there exists a stereotype against obese people, in society. This stereotype is based on the negative attributes that have been pegged on their characters and appearance. One such research study was able to establish that there existed discrimination in the work place, especially when it came to hiring, promotion and remuneration (Brownell & Puhl, 2005). The findings from this research illustrated that there was bias, which evolved to discrimination of obese individuals in all aspects of employment and workplace practice. Obese people have been found to experience discrimination in the health care sector where doctors have prejudice over obese patients. This discrimination and negative stereotyping has led to a decline in the quality of health care that obese individuals receive (Brownell & Puhl, 2005). Obese people have also been found to experience discrimination in the education system from its early establishment through to college. This has been blamed for the rising cases of suicides perpetrated by school going children. Discrimination based on obesity has been increasing over the years that it has been leveled with racial discrimination (Brownell & Puhl, 2005). Discrimination based on obesity has been identified as an increasing threat to the wellbeing of the society, but at the same time, it