Wednesday, October 30, 2019

The Effect of Using Facebook as a Teaching Tool on Students Interest Research Paper

The Effect of Using Facebook as a Teaching Tool on Students Interest and Motivation in Learning English - Research Paper Example The interest of students and their motivation have always been a concern for many scholars like Fenfanng Li and Fushan Sun. Li’s contribution is well evidenced in the work EFL Learners’ Belief and Learning Strategy Use by English Majors while Sun’s work is on Pedagogical Implications to Teaching English Writing. According to Begawan (2009), the perspective with which many students have taken learning English as a new language can be attributed to the lack of interest or key goal towards its overall achievement. On the same note, it is critical to note that the mode of learning the languages devised is not motivating students to read and research extensively on the language concepts. According to Liao, (2009), a portion of language educators have relied heavily on the transmission model, which emphasizes on the teachers’ responsibility of conveying the knowledge and correcting errors. With respect to this practice, more students get tired of this teacher-ce ntered model of English learning and end up terming English as a very boring and monotonous instead of being update and informative. One crucial attempt to solve this would be the utilization of approaches that stimulate students’ interest in language learning.... On the same note, it is critical to note that the mode of learning the languages devised is not motivating students to read and research extensively on the language concepts. According to Liao, (2009), a portion of language educators have relied heavily on the transmission model, which emphasizes on the teachers’ responsibility of conveying the knowledge and correcting errors. With respect to this practice, more students get tired of this teacher-centered model of English learning and end up terming English as a very boring and monotonous instead of being update and informative. One crucial attempt to solve this would be the utilization of approaches that stimulate students’ interest in language learning. National Council of Education Research and Training (2006) argue that the growth and development of technology, with the booming digital revolution; English language has been incorporated in multimedia as the means of instruction. This is highly critical to influence E nglish language among the users of digital technology. With increased immersion of students in Web 2.0 technologies like the blogs, twitter, social networks like Facebook, virtual worlds, video sharing and photo sharing, these can effectively be utilized as means of encouraging students to learn English to fully participate in them (Fang, 2010). My interest has been driven to Facebook owing to its ease and interactive features that are highly crucial in motivating the language teaching (Childs, 2009). This is with respect to the language of instructions used for the social network sites. This research study aimed at looking on the effect Facebook has, as a tool on the students’ interest and motivation in learning of

Monday, October 28, 2019

A Study of Globalisation Essay Example for Free

A Study of Globalisation Essay Executive Summary This paper attempts to make sense of globalisation from a social and business perspective. Initially I will talk briefly about globalisation within our community and the different stand points those communities and individuals have taken; for and against globalisation. I will then talk about the multinational companies that have made the phenomenon of globalisation possible and these companies various impacts on societies and local communities around the world. The topic is further analysed by using multinational food retailing companies in Latin America as a case study. Displayed to the reader through this case will be a clear indication of how local communities and in particular their farmers are affected by globalisation and multinational companies. There are many different views on globalisation; and those against it oppose many different aspects of it. One of the countless reasons why there are anti-globalisation activists is due to the following: Multinational food retailing companies, the backbone of what is known as globalisation within the supermarket industry, have in many cases entered small farming communities around the globe and destroyed a way of life for many of the farmers and labourers around them. Within Latin America these farmers have been forced to flee their homes to find refuge within the slums of the urban sprawls within their cities or even to cross borders into the USA. Introduction to Globalisation Definition: Globalisation can be defined as the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa (Giddens 1990). It has also been described as process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organisation of social relations and transactions assessed in terms of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impact generating transcontinental or inter-regional flows and networks of activity. (Held, et al 1999) In relation to Latin America (the major area of discussion of this paper) globalisation can be defined as a practice or system that has affected several of the continents most persistent problems. Such problems would be the diverse extent of economic exploitation and social disparity that has branded Latin America ever since its European colonisation in the sixteenth century. (Harris Halebsky 1995) Pro-globalisation: Free trade fosters prosperity and has an extremely important characteristic that affects our way of life. This characteristic is actually its tendency to be able to prevent war. Extensive research has shown that trade promotes peace both directly, by reducing the danger of military divergence, and indirectly, by promoting prosperity and democracy (Weede 2004). Globalisation and free trade in the 20th century and beyond can be compared with the 19th Century expansion of empires (like the British Empire). These empires built an infrastructure in developing countries; railways, ports and beautifully constructed colonial buildings were just some of the benefits these developing countries could take advantage of. Even though these commodities werent built for the benefit of the developing country (they were built for British trade) they still ultimately increased these countries abilities to trade and to become technologically independent. In the 20th Century infrastructure, technology, health and education systems implemented by the world powers, in developing and developed countries, has improved the overall quality of life for people worldwide, this does not include Africa. The average GDP for all countries except Africa has gone up; however the downside is; the difference between the rich and poor countries has also increased. The reason for this is that the countries introducing themselves to the developing countries are actually gaining a much more significant benefit. Anti-globalisation: This term is more commonly attributed to the political standpoint of certain people, groups and organisations that are in opposition to certain facets of globalisation. Those in resistance often oppose large multi-national companys dominance of global trade agreements and trade-governing bodies like WTO (the World Trade Organisation) (Graeber 2002). Otherwise known as a social movement, anti-globalisation represents its participants in their opposition to large corporations who endeavour to attain and have attained political power. Political power can be put into effect via international trade agreements, anti globalisation activists scrutinize these agreements, stating that they quite often undermine the environment, labour rights, national sovereignty, the third world, and other various aspects of our everyday lives as human beings (Graeber 2002). It is common knowledge that globalisation and free trade can affect developing countries negatively, however, the worlds most developed countries and the people who live within them are also affected negatively. Globalisation forces job opportunities from these developed countries to other countries around the world and low skilled workers in developed countries lose their jobs. This increases the difference between the rich populace and poorer populace in that country. The following quote, from the United Nations, backs this statement up and shows us why there are anti-globalisation activists. The richest fifth of the world have 80% of the worlds income and the poorest fifth have 1%; this gap has doubled between 1960 and 2000 (United Nations 1999) largely due to the impacts of globalisation. As displayed above, multi-national corporations play a substantial role within the theory and practice of globalisation, these corporations are powerful by nature and currently account for over 33 per cent of world output, and 66 per cent of world trade (Gray 1999). These organisations even though considered to be global companies are still heavily nationally embedded in terms of their business activity (Hirst and Thompson 1996). Despite this; multinational corporations still have considerable economic and cultural power. The next section of this paper will talk about these companies, their branding and how they affect communities around the world. Globalisation Multinational Companies Social Impact (How do they impact our local communities?) Branding: The main driving force for the growth of multi-national companies and the globalisation of their impact is in their brand (Klein 2001). In the mid-1980s a management theorists came up with a seemingly harmless idea that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products. This idea led to the exorbitant expansion of wealth and cultural influence we see in multinational companies today and over the past fifteen years (Klein 2001). Brand builders are the new primary producers in our so-called knowledge economy (Klein 2001). Modern multinational companies have used a strait to the point yet brutally honest approach to branding over the past fifteen years. This approach is that companies should not disburse their limited capital on factories that will require physical maintenance, on equipment that will decay or on workers who will undoubtedly age and perish. As an alternative, they should focus that capital in the processes used to build their brands (Smith Smith 2002). Multinationals: Multinational corporations are in actuality weak and vague organisations that generally display the corrosion of everyday values that afflict practically all late contemporary social institutions (Gray 1999). Diverse communities around the world are impacted and exploited by these multinational companies. They continually create or contract business in countries where they can profit from cheaper wages and assets. As discussed earlier this can mean added wealth and infrastructure for that community. However, it quite often means increased levels of unemployment in the city/country where the industry was located beforehand. Not to mention that the wages payed and work environment in the communities where the operations are implemented are usually relatively poor (Smith Smith 2002). Below are a few examples that articulate this situation perfectly: * The numbers of people living on less than $2 per day has risen by almost 50% since 1980, to 2.8 billion-almost half the worlds population. And this is precisely the period that has been most heavily liberalized (World Bank 2000). * The worlds poorest countries share of world trade has declined by more than 40 per cent since 1980 to a mere 0.4 per cent (UNCTAD 1999). This has been precisely the period in which the majority of multinational companies have grown exponentially, and is obviously a large factor resulting from their growth. Multinationals apart from affecting whole economic systems of countries and communities also attempt to create new markets within these communities. They search for new markets which have not yet been exploited in order to increase sales; it is typically carried out by creating new desires among target groups. The easiest target market for multinational companies to create new desires for is the child and youth market. Prized not only for the influence they have over adult spending but also for their own escalating spending power, the youth of today are one of the most profitable and influential markets (Kenway and Bullen 2001). Despite all this negative hype about multinational companies; they have played a very significant role in the growth of globalisation. Around the world individuals and communities are linked much closer to each other and information and money flow quicker than ever before. Globalisation and its creation of multinationals has resulted in making goods and services in one part of the world increasingly available in all parts of the world. International travel and communication is also much more frequent. In all globalisation has made life easier for those who can actually afford the luxuries of travel and international business. (Sourcewatch 2006). The Food Chain; Survival of the Biggest A case study of Latin America and the detrimental effects globalisation and multinational food retail companies have had on its local farmers. Commodity prices have fallen dramatically, by some two thirds over the past 30 years, so that farmers have had to triple production just to maintain their incomes. One example among many: in just the last three years, Tanzanian farmers experienced a decline of 50% in the price of coffee. (OXFAM 2001) While farmers earn less, consumers have been paying more. (ONeill 2001) Although, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation, Latin America produces four times the amount of food needed to feed the population, 58 million people are still malnourished. Introduction: During the 1980s a transformation within Latin America began; this transformation was one that would shape the future of farmers all over the continent for decades to come. For some it would be a positive change, however a large majority found it to be the opposite. The transformation I talk about is opening up of trade barriers within Latin America in order to allow food retailing companies access to the regions un-commercialised and fertile lands. During the 1990s the revolution in food retailing within Latin America accelerated extraordinarily as countries unbolted their economies to suit conditions for financing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. As Latin Americas overall FDI significantly increased; multinational food retailers bought out local chains and entered joint ventures with the obstinate ones. The greatest fears for farmers in the region were realised when the multinational companies introduced unfair trade rivalry from American and European growers with weighted financial backing. Small farmers are constantly left to compete with the biggest world players as these food retailing chains (products of globalisation) move from large cities to smaller towns and from economically sound countries to ones still developing their economic and social systems (Dugger 2004). These chains are now the prevailing force in the trade of processed foods and theyre produce sales are growing to a similar reputati on. When global food retail companies dominate a market, there are scenarios whereby it can be seen to be advantageous for all the citizens within that community. Such a scenario would be when the economy, of the region being taken over, is growing energetically and spawning decent jobs for globalisations losers, because in spite of everything the chains are creating cheaper, cleaner and safer shopping environments for these societies. Samuel Morley, a visiting research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), has written extensively on inequality and labour economics in Latin America, he stated that It would be an appealing transformation of the sector if alternative jobs could be made available, however these scenarios never seem to materialise in Latin America and other developing countries/continents around the world as they do not have economies of great strength. As Latin Americas population grows its economic situation trails further and further behind. In Latin America, 220 million of the total regional population of 500 million people are poor. The case study that I will shortly talk about outlines just how bad the situation in Guatemala is, Guatemala is actually one of Latin Americas better off regions, with supermarkets controlling 10-15% of grocery sales. Therefore the case gives you an indication of what the more unfortunate farming communities, in Latin America, must have to endure. For example in Argentina supermarket chains control 30% of this industry and in Brazil; 50% (Dugger 2004). Rural markets shrink throughout the continent, even though the victims of globalisation are pushed to trade within them, these rural markets are slowly but surely lost in the black holes that we call multinational companies. Within a single decade Latin Americas farming communities have been transformed by food retail giants such as Ahold and Walmart. These multinational goliaths have transfigured food distribution by offering low prices, a range of choices and convenience; they are now also changing the face of food growing (Dugger 2004). This could seem positive to some, however it is far from that; there are thousands of Latin American farming communities who have been devastated by the unforseen and overwhelming challenges that these companies bring (Dugger 2004). The major visible impact that these changes have had within the farming communities over the past decade is the great increase in the number of, now penniless, farming migrants entering the urban slums of their own countries and crossing the American border to seek refuge from their new corporately governed country side. Guatemalas Local Farmers Suffer (Case): Within the serene confines of the extraordinarily fertile and incredibly poor Guatemala, supermarket giants have crushed farmers to the point where they are no longer able to maintain operations within the land they once called home. Guatemala was once, not long ago, a place where people swapped produce for service and service for produce, money was required to sustain theyre everyday living, however, life was effortless and uncomplicated up until the multinational giants arrived on Latin American shores. Guatemalan man Mario Chinchilla would inspect his field of sickly tomatoes on a daily basis; he would labour all day trying to meet the requirements of the new supermarkets which had opened up in town, however no amount of labour could possibly turn his crop into the stout, flawless product that Guatemalas leading supermarket chain offered to its customers (Dugger 2004). A better product at a cheaper price, it seems good all round doesnt it, but at the end of the day it has ruined many people lives. The chain I talk about is a giant Dutch multinational company named Ahold (Worlds 3rd largest retailer). The Chain is so large it includes names such as Bi-Lo and Stop Shop under its assets. For some time Mario headed a farmers cooperative that was managing to sell produce to the chain however this proved to be an ephemeral opportunity whereby the multinational chain ran away with the locals hopes and dreams, leaving them to sit in their unsold crops of rotting vegetables. The reason for this was because the multinational retailers require farmers who encompass the proficiency and capital to invest in modern farming technologies such as; greenhouses, drip irrigation and pest control (Dugger 2004). They wanted consistent supply without ups and downs, said Mr Chinchilla. We didnt have the capacity to do it (Dugger 2004). Inequality, rebellion and violent repression within Latin America has been a recurring problem for many decades, during the 1990s there was already a gap between rich and poor and the supermarket chains have simply added to this gap. This time Latin America has tried a different (non-violent) approach. In order to fight for their right to live comfortably in their homeland farmers joined forces; there are rare success stories, however many (like Mario Chinchilla and his Co-op) have suffered a more common fate. In Guatemala there is a tiny farming community named Lo de Silva; more than 300 farmers who originally belonged to Mr. Chinchillas co-op, the Association of Small Irrigation Users of Palencia, were from this village (Dugger 2004). Out of those 300 farmers there are only 8 still enduring the torment that globalisation has brought them. These remaining farmers arent even able to sell to the supermarkets they sell their product to middle men for severely discounted prices; to top this off the only product the middlemen will accept from them is salad tomatoes. Mr. Chinchillas case is an ideal example that demonstrates how the opportunity of success for small farmers is a remote prospect to most. Small farmers are simply getting left behind due to their lack of market pull and marketing/operational techniques (Dugger 2004). A survival of the biggest situation has been created only the big can serve the big; the small need not apply, as global companies wipe out local distinctions in establishing a level economic playing field. (Hannaford 2006). During the 1990s food retail conglomerates went from controlling between 10 and 20 percent of the Latin American market to totally dominating it (Economist.com 1997). During this period, in Guatemala specifically, the quantity of supermarkets has more than doubled; as their share of food retailed has reached 35 percent. The smaller shops and open air markets still remain and retail a great deal of fruits and vegetables in Guatemala. For customers to leave these historically enriched and characterised markets and enter the newly opened supermarkets in the region, is to leave behind Guatemala and enter a commercialised shopping centre that could reside in Hong Kong or London, with its marked down jumbo packages and symmetrical fruits in plastic trays. None of this, however, matters unless the bottom line is understood. The bottom line is that the rules of the World Trade Organisation are actually taking second place in importance to the privately set standards of the food retail giants. Also pressures from the I.M.F. and the World Bank to allow greater foreign investment into Latin America were proposed to formulate more competitive economies for them; however it is obvious that this model didnt have a community element at its centre. Hardships have come from; not only what I described previously (the fact that the farmers must sell theyre produce at much cheaper prices, better quality and in a more convenient matter) but also from the fact that that they are now competing with the rest of Latin America, the United States and even the world because trade borders have been opened to allow almost anyone import and export capabilities. Rigid opposition from internationally renound growers is now a reality for Central and Latin American farmers; at a distribution centre, for a subsidiary company of Ahold in Guatemala City, shipments of apples from Washington, pineapples from Chile, potatoes from Idaho and avocados from Mexico are brought in (Hannaford 2006). Conclusion Globalisation has positive and negative affects on our society. This paper has outlined in great detail the negative affects of globalisation and multinational food retailing companies on Latin Americas and the worlds small farmers. The reason for this is due to the fact that there were; only on occasion, very rare and unusual success stories to be found about smaller farmers succeeding in their sales to companies such as Ahold and Walmart, within Latin America. After researching farming communities around the globe, it can be deduced that Latin America is not alone in this battle to produce food and sell it at competitive prices, while still maintaining some sort of meaningful social existence. Asian, African and Indian farmers; have been heavily exploited. Even farmers within more developed countries such as Australia have had to sell their products at severely discounted prices in order to satisfy multinational company standards. Farmers world wide, are however, not alone. Traditional strategies of help to farmers that feel the hardships of globalisation, such as providing fertilizers and improved seeds, are no longer enough to enable them to sustain their businesses. Professors and agronomists are banding together to document trends and develop new methods of help that will allow the fleeing farmers of Latin America, Africa and Asia to compete with others in selling products to the multinationals. In the midst of the these methods a few techniques stand out, such as; regulations put upon the multinationals that require farmers be paid promptly, laws that restrain these companies from dominating entire markets (such as mergers of supermarket chains) and enhanced hygiene and convenience through technology at open-air markets. After reading this paper I hope you too can conclude it is important that societies living within the limitations of this amazing world are given the chance to experience lifes pleasures and break out of the chain of inevitable failures that multinational corporations have brought to them. Being given the chance to make an honest and fair living, is only basic compassion and mercy; two marvellous characterises that any individual can encompass. If multinational food retail companies and global companies in general were able to, in some way, display this, then Anti-Globalisation would be a much less used expression. References * Dugger, C. W., (2004) Foreign Desk Late Edition Final, Section A, Page 1, Column 1, New York Times December 28, Tuesday. (http://www.nytimes.com) * Economist.com, (1997) Survey: Business In Latin America Back on the pitch, The Economist print edition. * Giddens, A., (1990) Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. * Graeber, D., (2002) New Left Review 13, January-February issue, The New Anarchist. * Gray, J., (1999) False Dawn. The delusions of global capitalism, London: Granta. 262 pages. * Hannaford, S., (Last updated 2006) Small farmers versus oligopolies: No contest, (http://www.oligopolywatch.com). * Harris, R. L., Halebsky, S., (1995) Capital, Power, and Inequality in Latin America, chapter: The Global Context of Contemporary Latin American Affairs, (Boulder. CO., Westview Press.) * Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. and Perraton, J. (1999) Global Transformations politics, economics and culture, Cambridge: Polity Press. * Hirst, P. and Thompson, G., (1996) Globalisation in Question. London: Polity Press. * Kenway, J. and Elizabeth Bullen, (2001) Consuming Children: Entertainment, Advertising and Education, Open University Press. * Klein, N., (2001) No Logo, London: Flamingo. 490 pages. * ONeill, B., (2001) Whats eating Us? OXFAM News. (http://www.oxfam.ca/news/WorldFoodDay/Whats_eating_us.htm) * OXFAM. (2001) Briefing Paper No 9, November. (http://www.oxfam.org.uk/search?SearchableText=Briefing+Paperssubmit.x=19submit.y=8) * Smith, M. K. and Smith, M., (2002) Globalization encyclopaedia infed. (www.infed.org/biblio/globalization.htm) * Sourcewatch 2006 Globalisation, (Centre for Media and Democracy) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Globalization). * UNCTAD. (1999) Conference on Least Developed Countries. (http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=3073lang=1) * United Nations. (1999) Human Development Report. * Weede, E., (2004) The Independent Review, Volume 9, number 2, The Diffusion of Prosperity and Peace by Globalisation. * World Bank. (2000) Global Economic Outlook Report. Washington: World Bank.(http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/DATASTATISTICS/0,,menuPK:232599~pagePK:64133170~piPK:64133498~theSitePK:239419,00.html)

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Effect of Television on Self Image of Teenagers in Fiji Essay example -

Television plays an important role in influencing people. It is one of the main arms of media. The teenage girls in U.S.A idolize popular actress like Mary-Kate Olsen, Calista Flockhart and Victoria Beckhem. Teenage girls want to look like them. So to attain such skinny body they tend to eating disorder. It is not only the case in U.S. Ellen Goodman in her essay â€Å"The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji† has used Anthropologic research and its statics to show the eating disorder of Fijian teenager to look like actress in popular U.S television show. Ellen article focuses on how television changed the views of technological inferior Fijian society and the role it played in changing Fijian culture. Before television was introduced, as Goodman states: women in Fiji greeted one another with their ritual cultural compliments such as â€Å"you look wonderful! You have put on weight†. And if you looked thin it was considered to be a sign of some social problem or indication that pe rson was not getting enough to eat. So gaining weight and becoming fat and bigger was beautiful in Fijian culture (Goodman 608). Ellen uses the research done by Anne E. Becker, an anthropologist and associate professor of medical anthropology at Harvard medical school to back her claim as to how the Television had an impact on teenage girls of Fiji in the way they viewed their body. The eating disorder which this teenage girls practice to look like actress in popular Television shows. Although media houses do not want to recognize the fact that it has a role in creating the above mentioned effect. Goodman states, â€Å"Something happened in 1995. A western mirror was shoved into the Face of Fijian. Television came to island (Goodman608).† Television was introduced and teenage g... ...y giving example of Calista Flockhert. Goodman is effectively limiting her claim by stating â€Å" I’m not surprised by research showing that eating disorder are cultural byproduct ( 609).† The writer’s argument in this piece is epideictic in nature. It deals with current issues and addresses questions of blame, Ellen Goodman proves with her essay that drastic cultural change in Fiji was because of Television. Works Cited Goodman, Ellen. "The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji." Everything’s an Argument. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. 608-609. Magill, J. H.. "Eating Disorders Statistics." South carolina department of mental health. DMH, 2006. Web. 9 Apr 2012. . "Teenagers with Eating Disorders, Facts for Families."aacap.org. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatr, 05/2. Web. 9 Apr 2012.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Participant Observation Essay -- participant-observer

Participant Observation Participant Observation is the study of a culture or society usually carried out by living for an extended period of time with its members. The participant-observer takes part in everyday life and carefully records such things as behaviour, events and conversations, in order to obtain a fully rounded picture of beliefs, social groupings and customs. There are two different forms of Participant Observation: Overt observation is when the subjects are aware they are being observed and allow the observer in to their lives, this is often the most criticised form due to bias, Covert observation is when the subjects are not aware they are being observed and therefore the process has to remain secret to remain relevant. The main benefit of Participant Observation as a means of research is the deeper experience and insight of the activities and customs of particular societies that the observer gains. They become immersed into a particular culture and surroundings in an effort to gain a greater understa...

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Production of Food in the Future Essay

The idea of feeding a population of 9 billion by the year 2050 is daunting. Consider the United Nations’ estimate that 1 billion people in the world today are hungry. The average number of malnourished people worldwide between 1990and 2006 is 850 million with the high point of 1.023 billion hungry people, reached in the 2008 crises. Before we can determine if we can feed 9 billion people in 2050, is it not a better question to ask: â€Å"Have we met the needs of our current population?† Increases in population growth, higher food prices due to increased demand, and rising poverty levels both in the US and internationally are all obstacles that need to be controlled. To begin with, strategies mentioned in â€Å"The Future of Food† need to be put to use, in order to overcome the challenges we face in meeting the growing demand for food. Elizabeth Dickinson states, â€Å"the world is always on the verge of a food crisis† (144). The population in this world is growing larger and larger everyday, so imagine how much food production would need to increase to feed 9 billion people by 2050. For example, in Elizabeth Dickinson’s info graphic essay, the largest number of respondents voted that the world would need to increase its food production by 70 percent. That is an enormous percentage because we would need to start increasing the production from now, so by the time 2050 comes around we will have increased by 70 percent. If we delay the process of starting to increase the food production then we will probably still won’t be able to feed the whole world in the future. As the population grows, increased demand will lead to higher food prices. For example, at any time demand for a commodity rises, prices generally surge. On the other hand, at any time demand for a commodity goes down, prices decrease. The cycle works the same with supply. An increase in supply on constant demand will cause a decrease in prices while decreasing demand will cause an increase in prices. In other words, if there is too much of the same supply but little demand then the price will go down, rather than having too much of the same supply with very high demand, prices will go up. People often ask, â€Å"What’s going on in the world today that is causing this food production problem to happen?† The answer remains, the population growth. A few examples of what has caused food prices to rise so high are: China and India have the largest and quickest growing populations generating demand for food from around the globe, so impact on prices has been raising demand from these countries, the Japanese tsunami and earthquake drove up seafood prices by 6%, and vegetable prices rose 50% month due to crop damage in Australia, Russia, and South America. If these prices keep rising we will not be able to feed the whole world and we will still have hungry people in poor countries. Elizabeth Dickinson states, â€Å"Poverty is the main problem. Even when food is abundant, many go hungry because of the lack of income to purchase food† (146). To cut down the global hunger rate, ten respondents voted that the international community should promote broader economic growth. In other words, we should produce a wider and vigorous quantity of growth. Strategies we can use to face all these challenges are genetic engineering, stress-resistant breeding, and the use of ecosystems in farming. The Green Revolution, which did not bypass Africa, is another problem facing food production. Elizabeth Dickinson proclaimed, â€Å"It failed because expensive hybrid seeds and fertilizers quickly degraded soils and impoverished small farmers† (147). This Green Revolution was ineffective. The use of fertilizer increased significantly, while per capita agriculture decreased dramatically. Yield continued to stay stationary in throughout Africa in the main crops such as maize, rice, wheat, etc. The green Revolutions impact on farming and food production has caused virulent disputes. Some people argue that it has saved many lives by enlarging agricultural productivity, while others argue that it ha made a catastrophic impact on small farmers. It has also effected the environments by â€Å"generating a massive global market for seed, pesticide, and fertilizer corporations† (GRAIN). Experiments studied in the past have came to the conclusion by stating, â€Å"a main reason for the inefficiency of Africa’s agriculture is that the crops on the great majority of small farms are not the high-yielding varieties in common use on the other continents† (GRAIN). Lastly, in â€Å"What Do We Deserve?† all of the different models of economic justice relate to â€Å"The Future of Food† by Elizabeth Dickinson. The first model is the libertarian model. This model is about the inequality of people and how different races, classes, genders, and people with different sexuality preferences don’t have the same opportunities and don’t start out their lives the same. For example, people of different classes either grow up rich, middle class, or poor. Arora states, â€Å"So while the racetrack may look nice and shiny, the runners don’t begin at the same staring point† (87). The second model is the meritocratic model. This model is about how some people are already born with talents and attributes while others don’t have that advantage. Those who do not have those advantages have to work hard to earn their wins. For example, society does not give as much praise to a person who isn’t born with a talent or attribute than they do to those who already have it in them. Arora expresses, â€Å"Are their wins not as arbitrary from a moral standpoint as the wins of those born with silver spoons in their mouths?† (88). The third model is the egalitarian model. This model talks about how if the people who are born with natural gifts don’t work for their success but still get rewarded, they should share their rewards with the public who do work to earn rewards. For example, if someone is born wealthy because of the family they come from, then they should be considerate to others and share what they have instead of being greedy. They did not work hard to earn the wealth. It was just handed to them very easily. Arora proclaims, â€Å"We should certainly encourage people to hone and exercise their aptitudes, but we should be clear that they do not morally deserve the rewards their aptitudes earn from the market† (88). All of these models relate to â€Å"The Future of Food† in very similar ways. It shows that not all people can afford the increasing prices of food, which causes world hunger. The ones born with attributes that make their life easier would be able to gain fame and fortune and wont have to worry about going hungry. Also they have things a lot easier than others. People don’t deserve anything unless they have earned it. It is not fair to those who are trying hard to succeed but fail and get no credit at all. Those trying to succeed are trying to provide for themselves in order to afford the food while prices are getting higher and higher. To sum it up, food production in the future will be a very big challenge we will have to face, but all obstacles can be overcome if we set our minds to it. I believe that if we all work together on the strategies talked about earlier, we can achieve feeding all nine billion people in this world, including all the starving people in the countries that suffer from poverty. Also with all the types of models of economic justice, society need to be fair with the right ways on rewarding people from either different classes or with different advantages.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Problem-set Essays - Mathematical Finance, Actuarial Science

Problem-set Essays - Mathematical Finance, Actuarial Science 1. Three teachers have different accounts in the same bank. Use the information given below about each teacher to find the missing variable. Mr. Draft: Invested $450 in savings plan A with annual interest rate 11.4%. After time, he ended up with a total of $629.55 in her account. How long did he invest? Mr. Callahan: Invested in savings plan B and earned $25.26 in interest on her investment of $867.26. He started his investment in January and ended it in June. What was his interest rate? Fr. Moeller: Invested in savings plan C with an annual interest rate of 12%. After two years she earned $124.50 in interest. How much did she invest? Answer the question asked for each teacher. 2. On a credit card you charge $200 with an annual interest rate of 15%. Find the amount of interest that you owe if it takes you the following times to pay the credit card. 6 months: 1 year: 2 years: 5 years: 10 years: 20 years: What happens as you take longer and longer to pay off your bill? 3. Accumulate P20,500 for 110 days at 11.5% simple interest 4. What is the principal invested at 8.125% simple interest on May 21, 2007 that will amount to 14,615 on November 18, 2007? 5. Accumulate P15,800 for 4 years and 9 months at 6.875% simple discount. 6. Discount P16, 400 for 5 years and 3 months at 9.875% simple discount. 7. If 25,000 accumulates to 26,700 in 2.5 years, find the (a) interest rate (b) discount rate A 4 month note dated July 4, 2004 with face value of P25,000 bears interest at 13.6%. The note is discounted on September 13, 2004 at a bank whose discount rate is 12.375%. Find the proceeds. 8. How long will it take P4,500 to amount to P6,100; if interest rate is compounded quarterly. 9. How long will it take for P7,350 to amount to P18,500, if invested at 8% compounded monthly? 10. If P3,050 accumulates to P8,660 in 5 years. What is the interest rate compounded monthly? 11. Find the rate compounded quarterly if P745 accumulates P786 in 3 years and 9 months. 12. What nominal rate compounded monthly, will yeild the effective rate 4%? 13. If interest is compounded quarterly find the nominal rate if thge effective rate is 9% 14. Find the effective rate corresponding to the rate 5% compounded quarterly 15. When interest is compounded monthly, find the effective rate corresponding to the nominal rate 3% 16. Find the compound amount and compound interest on principal P20,000 borrowed at 6% compounded annually for 3 years. 17. Find the compound amount, which would be obtained from an interest of P2000 at 6% compounded quarterly for 5 years 18. Find compound interest on P2500 invested at 6% per annually, compound semi-annually for 8 years. 19. Find the interest using the four methods on P8,000 at 11.5% interest from August 2, 2006 to Novemeber 27,2006. 20. Find the interest on P12,000 at 9.875% from NOvember 20,2007 to April 6, 2008.

Monday, October 21, 2019

A Profile of the Bali Tiger

A Profile of the Bali Tiger Name: Bali Tiger; also known as Panthera tigris balica Habitat: The Island of Bali in Indonesia Historical Epoch: Late Pleistocene-modern (20,000 to 80 years ago) Size and Weight: Up to seven feet long and 200 pounds Diet: Meat Distinguishing Characteristics: Relatively small size; dark orange fur    Adapted Perfectly to Its Habitat Along with two other Panthera tigris subspeciesthe Javan Tiger and the Caspian Tigerthe Bali Tiger went completely extinct over 50 years ago. This relatively small tiger (the largest males didnt much exceed 200 pounds) was adapted perfectly to its equally small habitat, the Indonesian island of Bali, a territory roughly the size of Rhode Island. Considered to Be Evil Spirits There probably werent that many Bali Tigers around even when this species was at its peak, and they were regarded distrustfully by the indigenous settlers of Bali, who considered them to be evil spirits (and liked to grind up their whiskers to make poison). However, the Bali Tiger wasnt truly imperiled until the first European settlers arrived on Bali in the late 16th century; over the next 300 years, these tigers were hunted by the Dutch as nuisances or simply for sport, and the last definitive sighting was in 1937 (though some stragglers likely persisted for another 20 or 30 years). Two Theories About Differences With the Javan Tiger As you may already have surmised, if youre up on your geography, the Bali Tiger was closely related to the Javan Tiger, which inhabited a neighboring island in the Indonesian archipelago. There are two equally plausible explanations for the slight anatomical differences between these subspecies, as well as their different habitats. Theory 1:  the formation of the Bali Strait shortly after the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, split a population of these tigers last common ancestors, which went on to develop independently over the next few thousand years. Theory 2: only Bali or Java was inhabited by tigers after this split, and some brave individuals swam the two-mile-wide strait to populate the other island.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

20 Exploratory Essay Topics Interesting Facts about Personal Names

20 Exploratory Essay Topics Interesting Facts about Personal Names Welcome to our second guide where we discuss 20 topics for an exploratory essay on â€Å"what’s in a name†. If you’ve missed our first guide where we discussed 10 facts for an exploratory essay on â€Å"what’s in a name† then we recommend that you go through that first before going through this one. In this guide, you’ll be introduced to 20 Topics relevant to your assignment, so you can begin writing without having to worry about where to start. We’ve also included a sample exploratory essay by choosing one of the 20 topics outlined below to give you a good idea about how an exploratory essay is faithfully written. Having essay examples on â€Å"what’s in a name† will prove to be very helpful as it will assist you tremendously in writing your essay. Once you’re done reading this guide, we highly recommend taking a look at our final and third guide, â€Å"how to write a deep exploratory essay on what’s in a name†. This last guide is perfect for polishing your writing skills and getting to know how a remarkable exploratory essay is written. Without further ado, here are 20 topics for an exploratory essay on what’s in a name: Why Personal Names Are of Psychological Significance The Relationship between Personal Names and Human Psychology Do Names Affect Your Life Significantly? Studies and Experiments Suggest They Do Why Deeper Research and Studies into Names Have Been Largely Neglected by Psychologists What Kind of Roles Does a Name Play in Your Life? The Reason Behind Trusting a Person Whose Name is Easy to Pronounce Why Boys with Feminine Names are More Likely to Bully in School Evidence Suggests Women with Masculine Names are More Attractive Physically Does Culture, Religion or Fashion Influence How We Name Our Children? Studies Show that You Cannot Have a Unique Name German Researchers Reveal the Most Appealing Names on Online Dating Platforms Why Psychologists Should Devote Their Time to Researching the Significance and Importance of Names Is there a Relationship between Names and Facial Appearance? The Effect of Names on Your Job and Professional Life How People Perceive You When You Have a Jewish or Muslim Name Psychological Factors that Affect Preferences for First Names Evidence Suggests that Your Name Might Make You a Future Smoker The Effect of Names on an Individual’s Self-Esteem and How They Seem to Feel Depressed The Definition of Attractive and Unattractive Names According to Psychologists Why Parents Should Be Careful When Choosing Their Children’s Names Liked the topics? There’s just so many to choose from, you may not know where to start. Allow us to help you with that: when choosing a topic, shortlist the ones which can be researched easily. This will assist you to writing the perfect exploratory essay without having to worry about what topic to choose. Below, we’ve written a sample exploratory essay for you on one of these 20 topics so you can have an idea about how to write an exploratory essay on your own. It’s good to take a peek or two when you are writing just to make sure you are doing it right. Anyhow, here is the exploratory essay: Sample Exploratory Essay: Do Names Affect Your Life Significantly? Studies and Experiments Suggest They Do According to Shakespeare, names are unimportant and arbitrary but research and evidence has shown otherwise, since a number of psychologists have taken a keen interest in exploring the significance of names and their effect on our lives as well as our interests. Studies now suggest that people’s lives are indeed influenced by their first names. Researchers have now found how people’s names affect their lives. For example, women that have a masculine name tend to achieve greater success in the legal profession while women with attractive names are considered more physically attractive. On the other hand, when research was conducted on boys[4]   that had feminine first names, it was concluded that they were more mischievous misbehaving at school and even after school. Although the reason was unclear, many psychologists agree that this was due to lower self-esteem and because their classmates might be embarrassing them by calling out their names. However, to this day, the real reason has not been unearthed. Our names also affect how others perceive us. During the studies, researchers found out that a name’s ethnicity plays a significant role in how we choose our jobs, our hometown and the people we interact with. In a recent study conducted by UC Irvine, it was concluded that easy to pronounce names are more truthful and trustworthy in the eyes of strangers, while people with hard to pronounce names are â€Å"hard† to trust. The study showed that easily pronounced names are also easily remembered, which is why our brain signals our instinct to trust that person. A study conducted by German researchers, found something of significance about the names. These researchers sent 47,000 emails to online daters and found out that people tend to go for attractive names. The best part? These emails did not include photos, but only names and a general introduction. This goes to show how important it is to choose an attractive name instead of a random one. For example, Alexander is one of the best names for males while for females, Charlotte is considered a top choice. These experiments and studies concluded that there is much to be revealed about names than meets the eye. Although psychologists neglect to investigate this matter further, it’s about time they started taking an interest in names and their effect on human behavior. Many studies and experiments have shown that names play an important role in our lives. Conducting more experiments and studies on a large scale would contribute a lot to what’s in a name and the significance of this subject. Now, let’s head to our final guide on how to write a deep exploratory essay on what’s in a name which rounds off our bare essentials for writing a marvelous exploratory essay. References: Robin S. S. Kramer, Alex L. Jones, (2015) Do People’s First Names Match Their Faces? Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis Vol. 12, No. 1  jasnh.com/pdf/Vol12-No1-article1.pdf Kenneth M. Steele, Laura E. Smithwick, (1989) First Names and First Impressions: A Fragile Relationship, Sex Roles, Vol. 21, Nos. â…ž , Mars Hill College  http://www1.appstate.edu/~kms/documents/SteeleSmithwick1989.pdf Jochen E. Gebauer, Mark R. Leary, Wiebke Neberich; (2011) Unfortunate First Names Effects of Name-Based Relational Devaluation and Interpersonal Neglect, Sage Journals  http://spp.sagepub.com/content/3/5/590.short Andrew M. Colman, David J. Hargreaves, WladySlaw Sluckin; (1980) Psychological Factors Affecting Preferences for First Names* ARG, University of Leicester  https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/npb/people/amc/articles-pdfs/psycfact.pdf Andrew M. Colman, David J. Hargreaves, WladySlaw Sluckin; (1983) The Attractiveness of Names Human Relations, Volume 36, Number 4, pp. 393-402  https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/npb/people/amc/articles-pdfs/psycfact.pdf Hewitt, E.A. (no date) ‘WHAT’S IN A NAME: Gender, power, and Classic Maya women rulers’, Ancient Mesoamerica, 10(2), pp. 251–262. David N. Figlio, (2005) Boys Named Sue: Disruptive Children and their Peers NBER Working Paper No. 11277  nber.org/papers/w11277

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Small Business Enterprise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Small Business Enterprise - Essay Example keeps the organisation tightly controlled by the family members and related investors without worry of missing payments to different lending institutions. Little Yang Sing does not have a broad menu or is the dà ©cor overly fashionable, it is more of a casual restaurant that provides quality Asian-inspired food to many different demographics. The business’ greatest strengths lie in marketing and human resources, especially in areas of recruitment and satisfying workers at the motivational level. This report discusses the strengths of the business’ marketing approach and how it has developed a better small business human resources system to gain better employees. The information gathered for this report came from secondary research and primary research in the form of a telephone interview conducted with a silent investor involved with the launch and operations of Little Yang Sing. It should be noted that Little Yang Sing has only six employees, including ownership that is active in the day-to-day operations of the company in order to save costs on payroll. There are 441,200 people in the Manchester region who are able to support the ongoing operations and profit expectations for the Little Yang Sing restaurant (tripatlas.com, 2009). However, in the warmer climate months, Manchester supports many world-renowned events and foods festivals which bring many different domestic and international customers into the Manchester area. This gives opportunities for Little Yang Sing to, literally, promote itself to millions of potential customers during the tourist season. Of the 441,200 people in the area, 81 percent are of white ethnicity, with only an additional nine percent being of Asian culture (statistics.gov.uk, 2009). This means that Little Yang Sing must consider how to market its rather limited menu to people who are not of Asian descent, therefore this small business must consider the demographic trends of the high white population in order to create marketing

Friday, October 18, 2019

Importance of Writing in Business Profession Essay

Importance of Writing in Business Profession - Essay Example   According to her, students should be versed with the current trends in the industry by reading widely something that also contributed to her success.   In addition, she also states that â€Å"working in other industries including service industry also helped† her develop experience in writing.   On the other hand, Jane Zhao also experienced challenges in different writings that have to be done in her job. Due to the kind of operations that take place in Dell Incl., writing and presenting departmental reports were challenging to her. In this regard, Jane Zhao had to be trained on various but relevant technical issues that were necessary for her to carry out her duties effectively. Therefore, she further advises that â€Å"students pursuing business major have to be flexible† in whatever field they get an opportunity in order to learn new writing skills necessary for their success.   The future of business major student is going to be tough because of several re asons. To start with, there are many graduates of business major than are the job opportunities. Jane Zhao explains that every year she receives thousands of applications from graduate students in the business major yet there may be no single opening. According to her, â€Å"students should develop a good network with professionals† in order to increase their chances of getting a job after their graduation.   Secondly, many industries are diversifying their income avenues while streamlining their expenditure hence reducing the number of employees.

Operation Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Operation Management - Essay Example This achievement can be credited to the attribute and analysis of Etisalat's widespread network, that characterizes UAE as one of the developed countries in the world in terms of unified and the best quality mobile connection (Etisalat, 2013). Research question 1) What are the concepts of operations management at Etisalat? 2) What are the weak points of operations system in Etisalat? Mission and vision statement Vision This vision is a community where populaces' reach is not restrained by issues or detachment; a society where individuals will naturally keep in touch with friends and family; a society where companies of different extents can make contemporary sales without the confines of distance and transportation (Etisalat, 2013). Mission Etisalat task is to lengthen publics' influence (Etisalat, 2013). Etisalat is developing superior networks that will make people to advance, acquire, and develop. The company has been in the forefront in technological inventions, involving a netwo rk of 3.75 installed in Egypt. Furthermore, Etisalat owns popular stocks in Thuraya, a controlling supplier of cable telephony (Etisalat, 2013). How Etisalat delivers its products to the customer Etisalat employs workforces that are highly skilled and obtained from twenty different nations, mainly contribute to the achievement of the company. Using expertise in working modern and technically advanced apparatus, the workers conduct widespread testing measures at every production stage (Etisalat, 2013). Its products are presently marketed in over forty countries across the world. Approximately fifty five per cent of Escalate's sales are achieved out of the UAE marketplace, as Etisalat aims at penetrating new markets in Asia and Africa (Etisalat, 2013). Explain the competitive priorities of the company A business should be involved in satisfying its clients' needs for quick and reliable services at affordable cost, as well as assisting its own providers in increasing facilities they pr esent (Slack and Lewis, 2007).There are five crucial aims and they concern all kinds of procedures. These are cost, quality, flexibility, and speed (Slack and Lewis, 2007).The following are the competitive priorities of the company of Etisalat telephone; cost, quality, flexibility, and speed as presented in the following table (Etisalat, 2013). Table 1.1 Cost, quality, flexibility and speed Cost refers to the actual price of the commodity. It should be noted that low cost is generally attractive to clients, which can be realized by manufacturing commodities at lower prices. Quality refers to organizing things in the right manner by providing goods and services that are perfect, which in turn satisfies the customers. Flexibility refers to implementing things quickly for clients to receive their commodities or services. Speed refers to doing things fast, to reduce the time between the demand and the invention or service that provides the client speed benefit. Marketing strategies A st rategy refers to an enduring proposal to attain certain aims. Marketing strategy refers to a marketing proposal designed to attain selling objectives (Slack and Lewis, 2007). Etisalat aims at producing the best quality telephone that cannot be found in any other company in UAE (Etisalat, 2013). Operation strategies This is the total outline of suggestions

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Enveloping and PeakVue Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Enveloping and PeakVue - Dissertation Example Machinery parts composed of bearings are primarily aimed at minimising friction and abrasion. However, due to various reasons like general wear and tear, heating, cracking, rapid temperature change, etc., a bearing may malfunction. This malfunctioning generates repeated discrepancies and mechanistic disruptions, which might be endured by the machinery in the early stages. The problems due to increased frictions inside the bearing parts are usually acoustic in nature, and impact-echo method of vibration monitoring becomes important in detecting them (Sandalone and Street, 1998). If defects of this category are not diagnosed timely, major functional disruptions or failures may take place. Hence, in the realm of rotating machinery fault analysis, and particularly the bearing fault analysis techniques, fast and sophisticated methods need to be found out and adopted. PeakVue is such a technology which is effectively deployable in mechanical engineering processes like antifriction bearing fault detection (Emerson Process Management, 2011). It effectively helps in diagnosis and severity evaluation of faults in the rotating machines by assessing the peak values of acoustic emission frequency distributions. Working Almost every metal has comparable fatigue failure curve. The cyclic stress is plotted along the vertical axis and the quantity of cycles to a failure is plotted along the horizontal axis. Metals generally can never reach such a degree of stability that eventual failure of a metallic part (e.g., a bearing) will not take place even if cyclic stress is considerably reduced. The failure will come about some microscopic abrasion, crack or defect in the crystalline structure of the metal solid state. The actual failure can take place on the metallic surface (visible) or in the metallic lattice below the surface (invisible). The crack eventually grows to an extent that a piece of the bearing element separates out as a spall from the parent metal. (Druiff, 2008) In o rder to detect the severity of the stress cycles leading to metallic fault and failure, PeakVue deploys a two stage processing. According to Druiff (2008), since the duration of the impulses are very short the analyzer software is programmed such that the sampling is executed very rapidly. This ensures that the highest possible number of individual wave peaks can be captured. All the values thus obtained are examined and sequenced to diagnose the highest peak present in each specified time interval block. Further, â€Å"Since they are not coherent there is no advantage to maintaining the positive and negative peaks as such. The second step is to full wave rectify the chosen peaks to make them unipolar.† (Druiff 2008, pp. 24-25) Finally, the values obtained are stored as samples of waveforms and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) (Brigham, 2002) is performed subsequently. PeakVue is a technology that is chiefly pioneered by the renowned Emerson Process Ma

Financial risk management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Financial risk management - Essay Example man Sachs bank saw its profits decline due significant losses being realized from large subprime write downs which were followed by mortgage crisis meaning beneficiaries were unable to pay. The short selling of subprime mortgage securities to Lehman Brothers is blamed to have worsened the financial crisis to the detriment of both institutions. As a result, the bank approached the federal government for a bailout under the troubled asset relief programme (TARP). Since the loan came with high interest rates and short repayment period, the bank’s financial condition worsened and become highly geared. In summary, Goldman Sachs financial crisis can be classified as threefold, that is, financial malpractices among traders and top executives in trading mortgage securities (operational risk), mortgage industry crisis/ risks and high financial leverage. Risk management theories that can be used to explain the crisis an offer insights into possible solutions are discussed hereunder. Weinberg (2007) noted that the bank relied on incomes from trading to maintain its profit growth which was risky. Therefore, the bank should have maintained a prudent model to monitor the value at risk (VaR) for securities being traded. VaR model shows the maximum estimated loss for a portfolio factoring market related risks at a given time horizon (Esch, Kieffer and Lopez, 2005). Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) would also have helped the bank to understand the behavior of capital markets and possibilities of excess, negative and optimal return on a portfolio by analyzing the securities market line (Elton et al., 2010). Brownian motion model of financial risk management though highlights useful risk strategies useful under normal circumstances was found to fail in providing rational understanding of financial turmoil (Borma and Sharma, 2011). Boma, S. & Sharma, D. (2011). â€Å" How much trust should risk managers place on â€Å"Brownian Motions† of financial markets?† International Journal

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Enveloping and PeakVue Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Enveloping and PeakVue - Dissertation Example Machinery parts composed of bearings are primarily aimed at minimising friction and abrasion. However, due to various reasons like general wear and tear, heating, cracking, rapid temperature change, etc., a bearing may malfunction. This malfunctioning generates repeated discrepancies and mechanistic disruptions, which might be endured by the machinery in the early stages. The problems due to increased frictions inside the bearing parts are usually acoustic in nature, and impact-echo method of vibration monitoring becomes important in detecting them (Sandalone and Street, 1998). If defects of this category are not diagnosed timely, major functional disruptions or failures may take place. Hence, in the realm of rotating machinery fault analysis, and particularly the bearing fault analysis techniques, fast and sophisticated methods need to be found out and adopted. PeakVue is such a technology which is effectively deployable in mechanical engineering processes like antifriction bearing fault detection (Emerson Process Management, 2011). It effectively helps in diagnosis and severity evaluation of faults in the rotating machines by assessing the peak values of acoustic emission frequency distributions. Working Almost every metal has comparable fatigue failure curve. The cyclic stress is plotted along the vertical axis and the quantity of cycles to a failure is plotted along the horizontal axis. Metals generally can never reach such a degree of stability that eventual failure of a metallic part (e.g., a bearing) will not take place even if cyclic stress is considerably reduced. The failure will come about some microscopic abrasion, crack or defect in the crystalline structure of the metal solid state. The actual failure can take place on the metallic surface (visible) or in the metallic lattice below the surface (invisible). The crack eventually grows to an extent that a piece of the bearing element separates out as a spall from the parent metal. (Druiff, 2008) In o rder to detect the severity of the stress cycles leading to metallic fault and failure, PeakVue deploys a two stage processing. According to Druiff (2008), since the duration of the impulses are very short the analyzer software is programmed such that the sampling is executed very rapidly. This ensures that the highest possible number of individual wave peaks can be captured. All the values thus obtained are examined and sequenced to diagnose the highest peak present in each specified time interval block. Further, â€Å"Since they are not coherent there is no advantage to maintaining the positive and negative peaks as such. The second step is to full wave rectify the chosen peaks to make them unipolar.† (Druiff 2008, pp. 24-25) Finally, the values obtained are stored as samples of waveforms and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) (Brigham, 2002) is performed subsequently. PeakVue is a technology that is chiefly pioneered by the renowned Emerson Process Ma

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Stress Effects and Ways to Reduce Stress Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Stress Effects and Ways to Reduce Stress - Essay Example However, there are number of causes of stress. Like emotional stress, physical stress, environmental stresses, energetic and health stress. Physical stress occurs due to over physical work/activity and it is very common in adults. Most importantly, physical stress effects regularly on many body joints changes and will create pain in your later life. Stress can affect you in the two ways; long term and short term. Long term stress is much worst than short term; Moreover; long term stress is more dangerous because it creates regular changes in your body in many ways. In general term, there are there broad sectors of stress effects. From the medical point of view, the physiological stress if activate in your brain, it will triggers the pituitary gland and sympathetic nervous system as a result of its activation - it creates regular changes in your adrenal gland which raises your heart rates. Furthermore, human liver produces energy throughout the stress situation and in the process, the patient can suffer stomach pain, constipation and so forth. The physiological stress raises your heart beats up to 71 to 90 beats in a minute to 200 per minute. Yes, Stress effects emotiona... In general term, there are there broad sectors of stress effects. 1) Physiological Effects From the medical point of view, the physiological stress if activate in your brain, it will triggers the pituitary gland and sympathetic nervous system as a result of its activation - it creates regular changes in your adrenal gland which raises your heart rates. Furthermore, human liver produces energy throughout the stress situation and in the process, the patient can suffer stomach pain, constipation and so forth. The physiological stress raises your heart beats up to 71 to 90 beats in a minute to 200 per minute. Emotional Effects Yes, Stress effects emotionally as well and if it affects emotionally, it can create sound changes in your brain function. As a result of its activation, it adversely affects your mental capabilities, - your logical thinking becomes illogical, and you become anxious for no reason. However, it can be minor or major, major stress could lead you to a suicide. Besides this, it alters your behavioral patterns suddenly in these feelings; you become very sensitive and can be very irritating. You could enter into an argument with others for no reason; whatsoever, you can suddenly starting fighting with others at work. It may turn your mind on pessimistic thinking on all aspects, by and large behavioral changes adversely affect decision making powers either at work or at home concerns. Also, you could become gloomy and it makes you less tolerant. Physical Effects Physical effects includes frequent headaches, back ache and other muscle pain, sleep difficulties and exhaustion, cramp in the neck and shoulders, appetite and weight changes, anxiety, feelings of being helpless and hopelessness, fatigue, memory and concentration problems however

Race and Racism Essay Example for Free

Race and Racism Essay In comparison to the almighty universe in which people all live in, human beings are merely a speck of dust at the size of it all. Then here are these beings on planet earth, with all 7 billion people under the same moon, divided. No longer are human equals as beings, but separate because of the system of ignorance, exploitation, and power used to oppress people on the basis of ethnicity, culture, mannerisms, and culture (Marable 1). Racism is the issue Americans have swept under the rug; the problem is being ignored, leaving cultures in the dark of their own history causing blame to be shifted on to all sorts of hosts, and it’s time to pick up the rug to dust. Society as a whole seems to have broken down what makes a person unique, dehumanizing them and leaving them susceptible to oppression (Marable 2). One must not be so quick to forget that every single human being is made up of the same genetic material, to forget something so broad is to undermine the gift of thinking itself. Manning Marable writes in Racism and Sexism that stereotypes are at the heart of every form of racism today. Racism is not a topic that sits around at the front of everybody’s brain. Racism does not twist on the tip of your tongue begging to be talked about. Racism is something that is ignored and denied. Shocking statistics from Tim Wise’s On White Privilege were discussed, stating that in 1962, 80% of white folk believed that racism was not even a problem. In the same year, 90% of white folk believed that colored children had equal education opportunities as white children. To believe that racism was not even a problem would be to say that over the 750 race riots 228 people were not actually killed, 12,741 people were not critically injured, and that the 15,000 acts of arson did not leave black urban neighborhoods in ruins, in the same year of 1962 (Postrel). White people are completely unburdened by race; where as colored people constantly feel their capabilities are always being second guessed. However, Charles M. Blow, author of Escaping Slavery, explains to the reader that apparently white people think their actions are justified! And Blow goes as far as to say that â€Å"the idea that progress toward radical harmony would or should be steady and continuous is fraying† (Blow 1). In On White Privilege, the speaker Tim Wise pointed out that white people were asked in 2009 if they believed that racial discrimination is still a problem and only 6% said ‘yes. ’ To put that into perspective: more people would believe that Elvis is still alive than to believe that racial discrimination is still a problem (Wise). Perhaps the density of the universe compromised the carrying capacity of the human brain causing a malfunction making it so the only thing people can think about is them self. Definitely not progress (Blow 2). The white system of ignorance and exploitations is causing the cultures of color to completely lose track of their own histories (Marable). People who are oppressed themselves begin to lose touch with their own traditions of history, community, love, celebrations, struggle, and change (Marable). Tim Wise reminds viewers whose history we are truly learning in school- text books are filled only with white history; people of color are forced to regurgitate white history, white literature, white art, white theater, etc. , while if a white person does not know an ounce of black history, it can go virtually unnoticed in this country (Wise). Actions speak louder than words and people seem to continue to prove their ignorance. As part of the Civil Rights Movement and an effort to create a solution to unlawful discrimination in housing based on race, color, sex, nation origin, or religion, the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968 (Russell). Fast forward 38 years later where 2006 showed the highest level of discriminating housing complaints based on race (Wise). 38 whole years later and the only thing society can show on terms of progress is the lack of acceptance being distributed around the country. There is not enough change taking place as a country in order to move forward into truly being the United States of America; home of the Brave but we still fear what we do not know. It is always easier to accuse other forces for a problem than to admit that you are actually making the mess yourself. It has been said that if one is not a part of the solution then one is a part of the problem; however, some people are purely unburdened by race, they don’t know racism because they have never had to experience it- people are completely surrounded by and completely oblivious of the problem. Failure to talk about racism feeds the denial (Wise). The finger can be pointed in any direction, and instead of calling it â€Å"blame† the word â€Å"cause† is used instead because that is more constructive, and let’s face it, we need as much progress as we can get. However, progress seems to be unbearably intangible when Blow points out that the pillars of the institution- the fundamental devaluation of dark skin and stained justifications are for the unconscionable- have proved surprisingly resilient (Blow). The ignorance and lack of education only feeds the pillars’ strength. Completely blinded by utter fear, America seems to be in a standstill of progress towards the issue on racism. Starting with Charles Blow’s work in Escaping Slavery, down to Manning Marable’s Racism and Sexism, and what Tim Wise said in On White Privilege, it can be assumed that progress will always need to be made to bring this country closer to unity. Breaking down racial barriers and stereotypes have proven to be an especially lengthy process, however that does not justify the slothfulness of it all. Open minds and hearts is what it is going to take to shatter the structure that leaves this country divided. Word Count: 1,100 Works Cited Blow, Charles. â€Å"Escaping Slavery. † New York Times 4 January 2013. Marable, Manning. â€Å"Racism and Sexism. † Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, 5th ed. Ed. Paul Rothenberg. New York: Worth Publishers, 2001. 124-129. Pring. Wise, Tim. On White Privilege: Racism, White Denial, and the Costs of Inequality. The Media Education Foundation, 2008. DVD. Postrel, Virginia. The Consequences of the 1960s Race Riots Come Into View. The New York Times. N. p. , 30 Dec. 2004. Web. 18 Feb. 2013.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Effects of Social Class Identification on Government

Effects of Social Class Identification on Government Walsh, K. C., Jennings, M., Stoker, L. (2004). The Effects of Social Class Identification on Participatory Orientations Towards Government.  British Journal of Political Science,Vol.34, No.03, pp.469-495. Brief Summary There is common claim that class identity does not matter for American political behaviour. The researchers tried to find out the influence of social class identification on participatory orientations towards government. The researchers focus on class identity perspective which people use to interpret and interact with the political world. The researchers used panel-study data spanning thirty-two years and two generations. Research Description This study’s independent variable is social class identification. There are two approaches, the first respondents subjectively identified themselves, and the second one is objective assessment. The researchers distinguish two classes (working-class and middle-class) by levels of income, education, union membership, and occupation. This study’s dependent variable is participatory orientations towards government. The researchers employed four measures. All of these measures concern political involvement and engagement (political interest, political efficacy, conception of good citizen, and political participation). Because there were many variables in this research, the researchers used multivariate analysis. Two variables are control variables, they are gender and race. â€Å"In a multivariate analysis, a variable is said to controlled when its influence is removed. We control variable by holding its value constant† (Agresti, 1999, p.305). The methodology in that research was a quantitative approach. Creswell (2003, p.18) explained quantitative as â€Å"an approach which the investigator primarily uses post positivist claims for developing knowledge, employs strategies of inquiry such as experiments and survey, and collects data on predetermined instruments that yield statistical data†. Because the purpose of this research is to make predictions about relation or effects of social class on political world, researchers used inferential statistics. â€Å"Inferential statistical analysis can predict characteristics of entire populations quite well by selecting samples that are small relative to the population size. In the past quarter-century, social scientists have increasingly recognized the power of inferential statistical methods†, (Agresti, 1999, p.5). This research used longitudinal research, from 1965-1997 with panel-study type. The sampling technique is proportionate stratified random sampling. The sample is 1,669 seniors from 97 secondary high schools in America in 1965 and also their parents. Furthermore, the instrument which researchers used is a questionnaire. Research Critique Clarity This research methods use inferential statistics to predict population characteristics by using sample, so the concept of population and sample must be clear. According to Babbie (1990, p.72), researchers must begin with a careful specification of population and should not mislead or deceive the readers. He gave example â€Å"Adult New Yorkers† is clearer than â€Å"American† because there is specification of the age and boundaries. In this study, the population all senior high school students in USA, and the unit analysis is an individual senior high school student in 1965. The sample is 1,669 students in 1965 and their parents. The researchers describe the different attitude between two generations. Besides that, the researchers also show the trend or the changing of respondents attitude using four wave panels for student generation in 1965 (G2) and three waves panel for their parents (G1). This article published in July 2004 and at the beginning of the article (p.469) clearly stated that it is about American political behavior. In addition, the brief result or answer for research question is â€Å"class may be particularly important in the present political context†. However the researchers used data survey in 1965, 1973, 1982, and 1997. The focus of research is one of issues here. Longitudinal research usually compares the changing of the subject time after time. One of types of longitudinal research is panel-study. â€Å"Panel studies involve the collection of data over time from the same sample respondents. The sample for such a study is called the panel†(Babbie, 1990, p.58). Researchers make claim the result particularly important for present political context instead of stated trend of last five decades or comparison of two generations. 2.2 Theory and Hypotheses â€Å"Theory has an important role in research and is an essential ally for the researcher. Researchers interweave a story about the operation of the social world (the theory) with what they observe when examine it systematically† (Neuman, 2007, p.24). Dennis Gilbert (2010, p.11) define social classes as â€Å"groups of families, more or less equal in rank and differentiated from other families above or below them with regard to characteristics such as occupation, income, wealth, and prestige†. Furthermore he figure out American social class structure become six parts: underclass (12%), working poor (13%), working class (30%), middle class (30%), upper-middle class (14%), and capitalist class (1%). Each of class has characteristics in terms of typical occupation and education. In this research, researchers just use two social classes. Justification to do that because based on previous research by Jackman and Jackman in 1975, the vast majority respondents identified as working-class (37 %) or middle-class (44 %). In subjective social class identification, respondents have to choose two options. As a result there are several respondents did not give answer. Instead of beginning with theories and concepts related to engagement in governmental affairs such as political participation and civic engagement, the researchers directly gave their measurement. They used four measurements to measure participatory orientations toward government (political interest, active citizen, political efficacy, and political participation). Based on the purpose of research to get to know relationship social class identification toward participatory orientations toward government, the simply hypothesis would be: H0 = There is no significant correlation/effects between social class identification and participatory orientations towards government. Ha= There is significant correlation/effects between social class identification and participatory orientations towards government. In analytical surveys usually are driven by theoretical questions. The purpose is to collect evidence which supports or contradict some hypothesis about the cause of people’s behavior. Buckingham and Saunders (2004, p.14) define hypotheses as â€Å"statements about what our theoretical propositions lead us to expect to find. They enable theories to be tested by predicting patterns of observations that should occur. Hypotheses therefore predict patterns of association in observed data as a means for testing causal theories†. 2.3 Research Design and Methodology â€Å"Research design is a strategy for collecting and analyzing data. It must be appropriate for answering the questions which the project is seeking to address, and it must take into account the practical constraints which the project is likely to encounter† (Buckingham and Saunders, 2004, p.294). The strategy which researchers used to collect data here is a survey. Sampling In order to get the view and attitude of population, the researchers used random sampling. This is the selection of a sample that should be representative of the population. The researchers choose from sampling frame available, and each individual has same opportunity. In this study, type of probability sampling which researchers used is proportionate stratified random sampling. The researchers said (p.473) â€Å"the students were distributed across a stratified sample of ninety-seven secondary schools, with the probability of schools selection being proportionate to size†. As described above, the sample took in 1965 from 97 schools with target subjects 1,669 students and one of their parents as well. We can ask questions, why the researchers used stratified random sampling? Why make a senior high school student as a unit analysis? Why there are four wave panels? Actually it is a series of data survey about political attitudes and behaviors by obtaining data on the same individuals as they aged from approximately 18 years of age in 1965 to 50 years of age in 1997. Based on that series of data survey, in 2004 the researchers make study about the effects of social identification on participatory towards government affairs. According to this information, we can assume the stratum here is the generation (G1 and G2). These four wave panels yielded 935 respondents for G2 (students) and 898 respondents for three wave panels G1 (parents). However, the surveys in 1973 and 1982 did not include social class questions. Because of geographical problem to make personal interview, the base panel survey in 1973 and 1982 are 728 for G1 and 659 for G2. One problem here, can we compare every wave panel, if the sample compositions are different? Instrumentation â€Å"A research instrument is a survey questionnaire or interview schedule that researcher uses to measure variables† (Neuman, 2007, p.168). The researchers used a questionnaire which conducted by several ways (face-to-face interview, computer-assisted personal interview, computer-assisted telephone interview, and self-enumerated questionnaire). This research used Logistic regression model for binary response variables which only has two possible outcomes. Education level: This index was scaled from 0 (less than high school) to 1 (PhD). Union Member: 0 = no; 1 = yes. Income: all of responses about household income were coded to the midpoint of the category and then rescaled within each wave and each generation from 0 (least) to 1 (highest). Occupation Skill Level Self-Employment and Homemaker For the better education level, income, and participate in union member would take into account in middle class status. However, for occupation indicators, the researchers just gave information about the consideration without description where those characteristics were placed. There are several questions in the questionnaire which measure political attitudes of American people. Researchers employed four measures, and it is categorized as a dichotomous dependent dummy variable. The value is most often a representation for a measured variable (Hagle, 2004). Political interest, 0 = hardly at all, 1 = most of the time Being an active citizen, 0 = if they did not volunteer such a response, 1 = respondents volunteered a response of this nature in any one of the responses. Political Efficacy, 0 = least efficacy, 1 = most efficacy Political participation, 0 = least active, 1 = most active The measurement scale which researchers used is an ordinal scale. Neuman (2007, p.375) defines ordinal level measurement as â€Å"a level of measurement that identifies a difference among categories of a variable and allows the categories to be rank order†. Even though just there are two categories (0 and 1), we can order it, which is 1 is more active than 0 in terms of political participation variable for example. Ordinal scale can have more than two options, for example (very interested, interested, uninterested, very uninterested). 2.4. Analysis of Data and Findings The researchers provide regression tables to describe their research result. In this study, researchers stated (p.479) that they used bivariate (type I) and multivariate regression models (type II). Bivariate analysis is an analysis of association between two variables. On the other hand, â€Å"multivariate analysis is statistical procedures which attempt to distinguish and measure the relative strength or significance of association between several independent variables and a dependent variables† (Buckingham and Sunders, p.292). The regression model formula: y= a + b1x1 + b2x2 + †¦ + e. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Interest The positive and significant coefficients on class identity in the bivariate models (I) indicate that middle-class identifiers display higher levels of interest. Generally, the stable middle-class identifiers are consistently and statistically significantly more interested in politics than are the stable working-class identifiers with p-value Relationship between Class Identity and Conception of Good Citizen as an Active Political Participant Middle-class identifiers are significantly more likely to emphasize the importance of being an active player in politics. In generation 2, the working-class mean drops from 0.53 to 0.41, whereas middle-class mean stays at 0.62. In model II, stable middle-class always more likely to mention active engagement than were stable working-class, 0.10 more in 1965 and 0.20 more in 1997. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Efficacy The bivariate models show the gaps between middle-class and working-class identifiers range from 0.14 to 0.21 for G1, and from 0.16 to 0.23 for G2 on the 0-1 efficacy scale. The dramatic decline of political efficacy happened from 1973 to 1992 (0.61 to 0.49) for G1 middle-class. On the other hand, for G2 slightly increase from 0.65 in 1982 become 0.67 in 1997. Relationship between Class Identity and Political Participation The constants and coefficients in the type I models demonstrate the expected life cycle: decreasing participation among parents as they become older and increasing participation among the offspring generation as they middle age. The type II models show that subjective identification becomes a less impressive predictor for G1 members as the coefficients on stable middle-class identity changed from 0.15 in 1965 to 0.09 in 1982. At confidence interval 95% and p-value (*p Limitation and Recommendation 3.1 Reliability and Outdated Neuman (2007, p.115) explain reliability as â€Å"dependability or consistency. It suggests that the same thing is repeated or recurs under the identical or very similar conditions†. This research seems like not reliable enough due to limited information given by the researchers. It may be difficult for the other researchers to conduct similar type of research in the future. The data which the researchers used derived from 1965-1997. Meanwhile, the research launched in 2004, and now 2014. Thus, this research could be less important to be used because the condition and preferences of people to participate on governmental affairs might be has been changed. 3.2 Sampling The representativeness is one of issues here. The researchers use data from their previous research. We can question, whether 1,669 students (with his parent) at 97 schools are representative? How about the distribution? Response rate from this study is just slightly more than a half of the total respondents, 935 of 1,669 or 56%. Then from 935 the researchers could only processed 728 data. Some of the reasons data not completed is because some respondents refuse to state their social class identity and geographical factor. It is easier for the researchers to focus on particular area or state. Besides that, the researchers can make shorter the range of research duration, only one decade for example. It is because not easy to keep the same and large respondents in long time period. 3.3 Data Analyzing The researchers not much explain about dependent variables in type II model, but from four those regression tables we know that, education and income are outstanding variables who make significant differences between working-class and middle-class. Research Good Practice and Contribution This study not only including subjective claim but also use objective indicator to determine of the social class of the respondents. Researchers effort to use panel study spanning two generations G1 and G2 for thirty-two years, allows the reader to check the trend of participation. The researcher concluded there is relevance of social class identification and participatory toward government affairs. It showed middle class with better income, education level, and occupation more contributive and active in political activity and civic engagement than working class. This research could be consideration for government to make strategies how to increase political participation like to vote in general election. Besides that, media, academician, and politicians could make effort to raise public awareness about how relevance and important of politics in their life. Conclusion To conclude this study, I would like to highlight back some points. Overall, it is a good research and useful in social political discipline. The researchers offered something new from previous research about social class and political participation. They used longitudinal research, compare two generations, and used objective measurement to determine social class. However, there are still few things need to be improved towards achieve a better result. Bibliography Agresti, A., Finlay, B. (1999) Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Babbie, E. (1990). Survey research methods . Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Buckingham, A., Saunders, P. (2004)The survey methods workbook: From design to analysis. Cambridge: Polity Press Creswell, J.W. (2009) Research Design – Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches 3rd edition, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Hagle, T. M. (2004) Dichotomous Variablesin The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods. Ed. Michael Lewis-Beck, Alan Bryman and Tim Futing Liao. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Jackman, M. R., and Jackman R. W. (1983) Class Awareness in the United States. Barkeley: University of California Press. Neuman, W. L. (2007) Basic of Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson Education. Walsh, K. C., Jennings, M., Stoker, L. (2004). The Effects of Social Class Identification on Participatory Orientations Towards Government.British Journal of Political Science,Vol.34, No.03, pp.469-495.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Startup Plan for Wedding Internet Business :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Startup Plan for Wedding Internet Business Frequent Shopper Programs Card Programs, or Frequent Shoppers Programs (FSP) are increasing in supermarkets around the country. FSPs are bringing more consumers into the grocery stores more often and studies show that these cardholders are more likely to spend than non card members. One study shows that over 80% of customers shop less than once a week in the same store. Most consumers have low customer loyalty, so retailers are looking for a way to reward them in order to get them to continually shop in their stores. Retailers are looking for a way to increase their profits by having repeat customers. Studies show that cardholders account for 75% of the stores sales. Main goals of using a FSP are to retain customers, have them visit frequently and spend more money. Targeted demographics for card programs consist of larger, upscale, educated families of three or more. Studies show that the top five reasons for a consumer to choose a retail store are due to: 1). Convenient Location 2.) Store Deals 3.) Frequent Shopper Programs 4.) Assortment of Merchadise 5.) Store Cleanliness Consumers who have cards spend 4xs more each transaction than a non card member. The average non card holding consumer in the store spends $7 versus a card holder who spends $28 per transaction. By using frequent shopper programs, retailers can keep a database to segment their customers by their buying habits in order to better market themselves to the needs of their customers. Databases can help with marketing efforts geared at differentiating themselves from competitors by segmenting customers by how often they shop, how much they spend, and what their shopping patterns are. Grocery retailers are seeing benefits from these programs but there are some glitches to joining one. FSPs are expansive programs to initiate. The program costs anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 a year. Retailers must consider whether their ready to initiate a program and monitor the database in order to create a variety of marketing schemes to follow through on.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

The Innocence of Daisy Miller Essay -- Henry James, Daisy Miller

In 1878, Henry James wrote, Daisy Miller, a novella about a young American girl and her travels in Europe. Daisy Miller is a complex short story with many underlying themes such as appearance versus reality, knowledge versus innocence, outward action versus inward meditation, and Nature versus urbanity. In this short story, one is left to judge whether Daisy Miller, the main character of the story, is â€Å"a pretty American flirt† or a misunderstood, modern young woman. By probing into the complexities and contradictions of Daisy’s character, it is obvious that Ms. Miller is merely a misunderstood young woman. Through his novel, Henry James shows his readers that the gap between what people believe to be true and the actual truth can be large, hence the theme of appearance versus reality. To the Europeanized Americans in the novella, Daisy’s independence causes her to appear immoral. She is innocent and uncultured and incautious but the circle sees only the surface of her character and the actions that character takes. She rebels not by having a great knowledge of the rules which bind the society and consciously deciding to throw them out the window, but by being limited in her scope of experience and by refusing to change her natural ways in order to please a culture to which she does not belong. The great theme of the disparity between reality and appearance is at its greatest strength in the relationship between Winterbourne and Daisy because of the conflict which roars inside of Winterbourne regarding the appearance he cannot overcome and the reality he cannot accept. Daisy's lack of knowledge and experience deceives Winterbourne who is incapable of seeing life through the lens of inexperience after leaving America. He thus fails to understand her inexperience as innocence. Winterbourne attempts to apply the conventional rules he has accepted since leaving America to Daisy without realizing that she is not dissecting the world with the same meditating process that he undertakes. In Europe, Daisy behaves just as she had back in America. She even goes as far as to say â€Å"I’m a fearful, frightful flirt! Did you ever hear of a nice girl that was not?† (44). It is through this quote that one can see that Daisy does not realize in Europe, nice girls are most definitely not â€Å"flirts†. It is such behavior that scandalized the conservative Americans that she... ...y. At one point, Winterbourne tells Daisy that it did not matter whether he thought she was engaged or not. This so upsets Daisy that she cries, "I don't care...whether I have Roman fever or not!" (56). Winterbourne's ultimate rejection of Daisy, his decision to side with the American circle in Daisy's condemnation, hits Daisy so cruelly that she no longer cares to live. He refuses to believe in Daisy's innocence and she quickly fades away. Her resiliency and natural spontaneity have died. Winterbourne does not realize his mistake until Mrs. Miller relays Daisy's message to him and Giovanelli speaks to him at the funeral. Giovanelli looks to Winterbourne and states, â€Å"She was the most beautiful young lady I ever saw, and the most amiable...and she was the most innocent† (58). It was through this conversation that Daisy's innocence triumphs. The lasting message of this novella is Daisy's innocence and the cruelty of the society, which condemned her to death. Works Cited James, Henry.   Daisy Miller:   A Study.   The Heath Anthology of American Literature.   3rd ed. Vol. 2 Eds. Paul Lauter and Richard Yarborough.    Boston:   Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.  Ã‚   452-92. 2 vols.