Public Meeting Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Public Meeting Paper - Essay Example Last week, the council circulated a notice on an intended public meeting to be held in the Town Hall on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 starting 9.00 am to 11.00 am. The meeting Seated at the front were committee members along a hardwood table with the chairperson at the middle. Attendants were busy making adjustments on the microphone in order to ensure maximum audibility and on the projector to ensure that images focused fell on the projector sheet at the right angle with a favorable light intensity for maximum clarity. The chairperson, a young man in his late twenties, is a stickler for thoroughness, and he could not head a half-done work. The stage was all set and the music started booming from the large speakers placed at all corners of the hall. On the public side of the hall, the new benches proved inadequate for the many residents that showed up for the meeting. The room had become stuffy before the meeting started, but one of the attendants tapped a switch on the wall. The fans ab ove burst into life and a refreshing breeze filled the hall, freeing the public from the discomfort that had started to spread despite the chilly weather outside. The only security guard at the event could even manage a smile as he cast glances across the hall. Tempe town is known for its peace-loving residents and probably that is why organizers found it unnecessary to hire more security officers for the event. Since people are quite unpredictable, meetings like these should have more security guards since a group of calm people can turn to a mob at the slightest provocation. Organizers of the event should have put more thought into this, and that is why, though not in this particular meeting, they may end up learning a security lesson the hard. It is also necessary to consider that shooters on rampage have increased and as such, venues form a perfect niche for maximum casualty infliction. At exactly 9.15 am, the master of ceremony walked to the stage along the brightly lit aisle, took the microphone, and requested a local Baptist church pastor to lead with opening prayers. The treasurer then read the financial report for the last six months. Using graphs and diagrams, he explained the financial status of the council, giving both income and expenditure outlines. He used a laser pointer to emphasize on essential details of which the public was supposed to take note. The treasurer’s speech was elaborate giving all the technical detailed information of the trading, profit and loss account, the balance sheet and cash flow sheet among other details. Though important, the public could benefit more if the report was given in layman terms and language. Most people were seen to yawn with many moving out incessantly. A few odd ones were asleep despite the congestion on the hard benches, a clear indication of how tasking it was listening to this accounting jargon. Though the meeting went on smoothly, a rule should have been made to limit people from going out of the hall, especially when a speaker was talking. Because of these movements, attention shifted from the speaker so frequently that the chairperson had to call for order three times in a row. After question time, the chairperson gave his speech in which he thanked the public for continuous support of the council’s activities. The chairperson apologized to those who did not understand the

Robert Swindells Essay Example for Free

Robert Swindells Essay How does Robert Swindells make you feel sympathetic to the situation that homeless people find themselves? Robert Swindells makes you feel sympathetic in the book quite a lot. Here are some reasons: I think the main reason is because he uses first person narrative. The homeless character can say his opinion on the street because he has the most experience whereas the public and charity can only get facts and exaggerate. Link can also express the difficultness he faces in a diary. Swindells also makes the character say Emotive words which make it sound bad e. g.Link describes the sleeping really bad which make readers fell sorry for him. The first person narrative is good also because Link describes the story as if you were there. The book makes you feel sorry for Link because at the start it shows you how he had no choice but to be homeless because of his stepdad Vince. At the start it showed you how nobody cared about him and how he couldnt help for help or support. At first you think everything will be ok because his sister Carole helps him but the cliff-hanger makes you feel sorry as in the end he was still let down. You can also see how upset he was when he received a sleeping bag as it was a sign from his family saying hes homeless. The ending is quite sad because you feel upsetting knowing that most of the homeless will never get any better. I think he uses a bad ending to make people be more aware of the homeless and to make you even more he used a murder story. Theres also another bit at the last moment to make you so sympathetic when he finds out that Gails really a journalist. In the book it shows how hard it is for Link to get a job. Its shows each day go past making you feel sorry hes living rough because hes waiting for a job opportunity. In the end he cant find any and it shows him begging for money and how hard it is to encourage people to give and he describes them as: head-shakers, pocket-patters and shruggers. You feel sympathetic as these words are used. Showing the publics opinion makes you sad as they have a negative opinion about the homeless. The author is trying to show you what you might be like and trying to give you a positive opinion about the homeless. He also tries to show that its very hard to ask for help as its like hes invisible.

Arguing for Authenticity: A Comparison and Contrast of Two American Mod

â€Å"[F]uture commentators on American poetry and political issues will not be able to ignore [historical context of the author]† argues Barry Ahearn, author of the article â€Å"Poetry: 1900 to the 1940’s,† which discusses the importance of the â€Å"authentic voice of the region† in poetry that gives each work legitimacy (Ahearn 373). The author uses criticism regarding various authors and responds to each with a different argument, such as the mentioning of alcohol in female poetry versus using the â€Å"cultural clichà © †¦ of Appalachian moonshine† in female poetry (Ahearn 372-373). Ahearn discusses writers such as: Sterling A. Brown, Langston Hughes, H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Robert Frost, Robinson Jeffers, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Lorine Niedecker, George Oppen, John Crowe Ransom, Charles Rezikoff, Muriel Rukeyser, Gertrude Stine, Wallace Stevens, Sara Teasdale, William Carlos Williams, and Louis Zukofksy. The purpose of mentio ning so many others, so claims Ahearn, is to gather a survey of works between 1900 and the 1940’s. The author talks more about some writers more than others; for instance, Ahearn points out William Carlos Williams and Wallace Stevens differing qualities to the point of describing them as so opposite that they are, in fact, almost dependent on each other. For the purposes of this paper, however, I will be examining how the author discusses Langston Hughes and Robert Frost; both of which he describes in great detail. The discussion of these writers creates a wide range of Modernist authors that influenced each other and the people who read their works. The author claims that it is the authenticity of the writer that creates a more accurate work of literature, and the life experiences of these authors, that adds to th... ...thesis statement. The individual sections of this article were well written and each seemed to have its own thesis statement. Each section could be expanded and turned into a very interesting paper on its own. Though it seems that the author wanted to talk about too many authors at one time, creating an article that gives many ideas, but not as much connectivity or flow. Works Cited Barry Ahearn. "Poetry: 1900 to the 1940s." American Literary Scholarship 2008 (2008): 365 386. Project MUSE. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. . Works Cited Barry Ahearn. "Poetry: 1900 to the 1940s." American Literary Scholarship 2008 (2008): 365 386. Project MUSE. Web. 28 Mar. 2012. .

Advantages and Disadvantages of Modern Lifestyle Essay

Technology has taken unimaginable strides over the past couple of decades, affording people all around the world possibility, flexibility and, above all things, convenience in their everyday communication and overall lifestyle. It is ever-changing. Whether you’re sending a love letter, making a purchase, running a business, researching a paper, financing a house, getting in touch with your old college roommate or booking a flight to Fiji, it all comes down to one simple thing: the click of a mouse. Social Networking It’s possible in today’s world to reconnect with high school and college friends in a matter of minutes. Before the Internet came to be, it was nearly impossible to stay in touch. Unless you ran into them at your 10-year reunion, you had no idea where they were. Nowadays, in this growing culture of social networking, it’s nearly impossible not to know what they’ve had for dinner, not to mention where life has taken them. No matter how many miles stand between you, social networking has allowed both old and new friends to keep in touch from moment to moment. Opportunities to Work From Home The flexibility of working from home in your pajamas or from the beach in your bathing suit may be one of the most attractive advantages modern technology offers for some. Not only does it save you a long commute to the office, a ton of gas money and the inevitable stress of hitting rush hour traffic, but it buys you more time in the day to spend on more important matters like family and friends. Convenience in Education Getting an education is as simple these days as turning on your laptop and taking classes online. Although it’s not your traditional classroom, the kind housed with a roomful of students seated in wooden desks and a professor lecturing in the front of the room, it is nonetheless an effective alternative to a good education. Even though you may be curled up on your couch in the middle of the night with a hot mug of tea and your cat on your lap, you are, in fact, in the modern learning environment, earning your degree from home. Even high school classes are being offered online for students seeking summer school and degree programs.

General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Essay

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level .c rs om 1123/11 ENGLISH LANGUAGE Paper 1 Writing Additional Materials: * 4 0 7 9 5 7 8 4 2 9 * October/November 2011 1 hour 30 minutes Answer Booklet/Paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST If you have been given an Answer Booklet, follow the instructions on the front cover of the Booklet. Write your Centre number, candidate number and name on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen. Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Answer both Section One and Section Two. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. This document consists of 3 printed pages and 1 blank page. DC (CW) 33870/3  © UCLES 2011 [Turn over 2 Section 1: Directed Writing You are advised to write between 200 and 300 words. Total marks for this part: 30. Task Recently you witnessed a major disturbance at a railway station when many people were injured. You are asked by the local police to write an account of what you saw. Write your account. You must include the following: †¢ when and where the incident happened and how close you were to the scene the cause of the disturbance and what exactly happened some of the ways in which people tried to help. †¢ †¢ Cover all three points above in detail. You should make your account informative and helpful for the police to show you are a reliable witness. Start your account ‘To the Police†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ and remember to add your signature and the date.  © UCLES 2011 1123/11/O/N/11 3 Section 2: Creative Writing Begin your answer on a fresh page. Write on one of the following topics. At the head of your essay put the number of the topic you have chosen. You are advised to write between 350 and 500 words. Total marks for this part: 30. 1 Describe a time when you prefer to be alone and a time when you like to be part of a crowd. (Remember that you are describing the atmosphere and your feelings, not telling a story.) 2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of attending either a small school with few students or a large school with many students? 3 Write a story which includes the sentence: ‘As we entered the building, the other people smiled as if they knew something we did not.’ 4 Bullies. 5 Write a story about someone who returned to a village or town after a long time away. (You should include full details of why the person went away to show that it is an important part of your story.)  © UCLES 2011 1123/11/O/N/11 4 BLANK PAGE Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity. University of Cambridge International Examinations is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is itself a department of the University of Cambridge.  © UCLES 2011 1123/11/O/N/11

Affirmative Action1 essays

Affirmative Action1 essays I. We didnt land on Plymouth Rock, my brothers and sisters Plymouth Rock landed on us! Malcolm Xs observation is brought out by the facts of American History. Snatched from their native land, transported thousands of miles in a nightmare of disease and death and sold into slavery, blacks were reduced to the legal status of farm animals. Even after emancipation, blacks were segregated from whites in some states by law, and by social practice almost everywhere. American apartheid continued for another century. In 1954 the Supreme Court declared state-compelled segregation in schools unconstitutional, and it followed up that decision with others that struck down many forms of official segregation. Still, discrimination survived, and in most southern states blacks were either discouraged or prohibited from exercising their right to vote. Not until the 1960s was compulsory segregation finally and effectively challenged. Between 1964 and 1968 Congress passed the most sweeping civil rights legislation since the end of the Civil War. It banned discrimination in employment, public accommodations (hotels, motels, restaurants, etc.), and housing; it also guaranteed voting rights for blacks in areas suspected of disenfranchising blacks. Today, several agencies in the federal government exercise sweeping powers to enforce these civil rights measures. But is that enough? Equality of condition between blacks and whites seems as elusive as ever. The black unemployment rate is double that of whites, and the percentage of black families living in poverty is nearly four times that of whites. Only a small percentage of blacks ever make it into medical school or law schools. Advocates of affirmative action have focused upon these differences to support their argument that it is no longer enough just to stop discrimination. Liberal Democrats feel that ...

Amazing Ice essays

Amazing Ice essays Life as we know it would not exist if ice were denser then liquid water. Rivers, lakes, and oceans control much of our climate, because large amounts of water take a very long time to heat up and cool down. So when at the beginning of summer the water is still cold from the winter, and at the beginning of winter the water is still moderately warm from the summer. That is why it is usually cooler on the lakefront. If ice happened to be even slightly denser the liquid water, then that means that it would sink. When winter came around when the water would freeze it would drop to the bottom of the body of water and sit there, and in the protection of the all the water above heat would never reach it and it would never melt. This means that over time whole oceans could freeze over. This would drastically drop the average temperature of our planet. It would be impossible for any type of water life would be impossible to live. Water is said to be our life source, our whole way about bringin g water to running faucets in homes would have to be different. We would have to figure a way to melt large amounts of this water for household uses. We might even have to buy our water in stores at obviously more expensive prices because of the more expensive process of obtaining water. If there were no water life many different kinds of Indians that relied on fish for their main source of food would have either perished or would have moved inland to find other ways to live. Many towns that rely on fish as a main export would also be less productive, such as Boston where most of the citys income is from lobster or other fish. The whole human body would be different; right now a person can only live without water for a few days. Humans would have to evolve into Camels to have any chance of survival in such harsh conditions. The list can go one forever on about how life would be so completely and utterly different from a slight change in t ...

Mary Cassatt Quotes

Mary Cassatt Quotes The first American Impressionist artist, Mary Cassatt was born in Pittsburgh.   Her family lived for a few years in Europe. Cassatt studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, then, as the Civil War ended, moved to France, where she remained for the rest of her life except for occasional trips to visit the United States.   She remained a U.S. citizen, though, and took a special interest in the woman suffrage movement in her home country. Mary Cassatt was influenced especially by Degas. She was the only American invited to the Impressionist circle who accepted the invitation.   She became especially known for her mother-and-child paintings.  Under Mary Cassatts influence, many Americans collected Impressionist art. In 1892, she was invited to contribute a large mural on the theme of modern woman to the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, to be held in 1893.   Another artist contributed the paired mural on primitive woman. Her popularity continued, even as she turned from newer Parisian painting movements.   Cataracts interfered with her ability to do her painting, despite multiple operations, and she was nearly blind the last decade of her life.   She continued her involvement, despite her vision problems, with the woman suffrage cause and, during World War I, with humanitarian causes to help those affected by the war including wounded soldiers. Selected Mary Cassatt Quotations Theres only one thing in life for a woman; its to be a mother.... A woman artist must be ... capable of making primary sacrifices. I think that if you shake the tree, you ought to be around when the fruit falls to pick it up. Why do people so love to wander? I think the civilized parts of the World will suffice for me in the future. I am independent! I can live alone and I love to work. I hated conventional art. I began to live. I have touched with a sense of art some people – they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that joy for an artist? Americans have a way of thinking work is nothing. Come out and play they say. American women have been spoiled, treated and indulged like children; they must wake up to their duties. There are two ways for a painter: the broad and easy one or the narrow and hard one. If painting is no longer needed, it seems a pity that some of us are born into the world with such a passion for line and color. Cezanne is one of the most liberal artists I have ever seen. He prefaces every remark with Pour moi it is so and so, but he grants that everyone may be as honest and as true to nature from their convictions; he doesnt believe that everyone should see alike. I have not done what I wanted to, but I tried to make a good fight. Degas to Mary Cassatt: Most women paint as though they are trimming hats. Not you. Edourd Degas about Mary Cassatt: I dont admit that a woman draws that well! [Quoted in The American Womans Almanac, Louise Bernikow] Mary Cassatts visit home, long after she had become famous in Europe, was reported in the Philadelphia newspaper as the arrival of Mary Cassatt, sister of Mr. Cassatt, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad, who has been studying painting in France and owns the smallest Pekingese dog in the world. Related Resources for Mary Cassatt Mary Cassatt IndexWomen and Painting More Womens Quotes: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Explore Womens Voices and Womens History Womens Voices - About Womens QuotesBiographiesToday in Womens History

Monster Cookie Company and E-commerce Assignment

Monster Cookie Company and E-commerce - Assignment Example MCC company may face a risk of future closure because the company may hire dishonest web designers and programmer unknowingly who may tend to expose MCC business secrets to its competitors (Ghosh, 2001).Additionally, a mostly online business depends entirely on the mercy of their financial institutions. In case financial institution receives claims against the company from its suppliers, the bank may freeze the account of the company and this may cause the company to collapse (Ghosh, 2001). 4 Introducing e-commerce at MCC will enable the company to have a broader market of supplying monster cookies due to a wider geographical coverage established by e-commerce. This, in turn, will lead to an increase in companies sales and profitability (Al-qirim, 2004). Additionally, the company will have an opportunity of interacting with suppliers who can supply raw material for manufacturing monster cookies’ at a subsidized cost. 6 There are numerous e-commerce systems used by similar organizations among the systems include LinkedIn, twitter, facebook to name just but a few. Those systems have enabled similar organizations as MCC Company to have a broader network where business transactions can take place more efficiently and effectively (Al-qirim, 2004). 6 The most significant financial implication of e-commerce at MCC Company is that the company has to adopt the use credit cards in order to receive payments from virtual customers located in different parts of the world. However, this may lead to fraud because some online customers are dishonest and may tend to make payments using a defective and stolen credit card and this may cause MCC Company to incur substantial financial losses (Ghosh, 2001).

Research Diary 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Research Diary 5 - Essay Example I therefore, think that by correctly addressing the letter and using language that is non-offending and is able to send the desired message are important principles of writing business letters. Using rhetoric approach in business writing has emerged as critical issue because it exploits the tenets of human psychology to ensure that the basic purpose of writing business letter is accomplished with high success. Rhetoric enables individuals to use persuasive language that adds to the effectiveness of written discourse. According to Aristotle, the three appeals of rhetoric are ethos, pathos and logos (2011). Ethos conveys writer’s credibility, pathos appeals emotionally and logos use rationalization to emphasize their points. The three paradigms of writing are therefore vital ingredients that significantly lend credibility to the writer and the written discourse. Consequently, business writing exploits rhetoric principles to communicate effectively one’s intended message to persuade the reader and exhort desired response. These are essential benefits of rhetoric approach in business writing. The various methods of persuasion become highly crucial imperatives as they tend to provide information and send appeal in manner that clearly rationalizes the issues so that reader is convinced. If the business letter lacks conviction and strong logical explanations, the reader is not able to understand the points raised and fails to respond appropriately or as desired. Thus, the very purpose of writing business letter fails and writer is not able to achieve his/her goal. As such, effective business writing becomes important for communicating the desired message in manner that requires least effort in understanding the core issue by the reader/ audience. The success of project completion relies heavily on effective teamwork and strong communication channels within team members.

Professional Ethics Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Professional Ethics - Research Paper Example If he decides to send him to the asylum, then he is snatching away his independence but is reducing risk that the patient can pose to himself and others. Thus, the physician has to face a conflict between what is legal and what is ethical. Personal Values and Professional Ethics †¢ The physician interacting with the patient should be honest and straightforward, and should deal with the patient in a candid fashion. †¢ The patient should also be honest with the physician. †¢ The patient’s consent should be considered before sharing, selling or disclosing his personal information. †¢ The patient’s privacy should be maintained by blocking unauthorized access to his health records and personal data. †¢ Informed Consent is about having the capable patient take part in making decisions about his healthcare and treatment process (Wear, 1992). The patient should be well informed about all the circumstances and his wishes and judgment has to be considered by the practitioner. Ethical Theories and Principles According to Rainbow (2002), â€Å"ethical theories and principles are the foundations of ethical analysis because they are the viewpoints from which guidance can be obtained along the pathway to a decision.† Ethical Principles Beneficence. ... Justice. This principle states that physicians make ethical decisions that are fair to the patient and all those who are involved in the treatment process. The decisions should be made on logical bases. Ethical Theories Deontology. This theory focuses on that physicians should stick to their responsibilities when they are facing a dilemma in making ethical decisions. This will help them to make consistent decisions while adhering to their ethical obligations. Utilitarianism. This theory helps the physician to make choices whose consequences are better for the patient. He will make a decision that will yield greatest benefit to all involved. Rights. This theory respects and protects the rights of people as enforced by the society itself. Casuist. This theory enables the physicians to make decision about an ethical dilemma by comparing it to similar dilemmas and their consequences that might have happened in the past. Virtue. This theory is about judging a person through his values and standards rather than by his actions. Application to My Current Practice My current practice as a health practitioner is providing healthcare to e-consumers. I apply all ethical theories and principles because I aim to provide beneficence to my e-patients with least harm I can inflict upon them. I respect their decisions and stick to my ethical obligations. I strictly follow the Casuist theory whenever I am in some kind of a dilemma. For example, once I had to prescribe a diabetes patient to start insulin injections but I found out that his body was too frail to bear the injections twice a day. So, I referred to previous case histories of my patients to find out a

Summery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Summery - Essay Example The second chapter summary dwells on the concept of diversity which primarily focuses on the aspect of differences that exist among people living in a similar group or location. From my own understanding, diversity is concerned about the aspect of co-existence among people from different groups. That it is, living together in harmony among people from diverse places. For instance, the US is a multicultural country and is comprised of people from diverse backgrounds. Measures have been put in order to accommodate the needs and interests of people from different backgrounds. Chapter three looks at the concepts of melting pot and multiculturalism. From this perspective, I have gathered that the concept of melting pot refers to the process where people from different backgrounds converge and establish a new society. For instance, America is comprised of people who came from different places who became united to build this powerful nation. On the other hand, I have observed that the concept of multiculturalism refers to the aspect of acknowledging other people’s values and believes such that people from different backgrounds come to appreciate them and adopt some of them in their own lives. Chapter four focuses on how people react to the concept of diversity. More often, people tend to look down upon other people from other cultures or they can generally refer to them as inferior without the facts to prove their assertions towards individuals from different cultures. Intolerance of people from different cultural backgrounds is very common among other people who do not want to accept the cultural values of other people. Indeed, it is a fact that we hail from different cultural backgrounds and we must accept this hard fact that does not change. This will help us to tolerate each other. Chapter six focuses on the challenges and benefits of diversity. The main challenge of diversity is related to the aspect of discrimination of the other group by another.

Observational Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Observational Studies - Essay Example Even research that would seem, from a contemporary perspective, to be ideally suited as an observational study, like the characterization done in the 1920's by Arnold Gesell of the normal course of human development in the first 6 years of life, was carried out in a laboratory setting and followed stringent rules (Naturalistic results, 2004). An observational study (also called an epidemiological or population study), therefore is a research method that looks at large populations with an aim to find trends. It is usually retrospective that is, it examines what has happened in the past. For example, participants may fill out surveys or questionnaires on what they recall about particular behaviors, such as what foods they ate or what nutritional supplements they took in past years. Researchers simply look at what is already going on. Such research methods are often used to find connections between what people eat and the development of different diseases (Observational study, 2006). Observational studies include several observation methods such as: naturalistic observation, analog observation, self observation, and narrative observation. Naturalistic observation occurs when a researcher does observations in a naturally occurring situation, without having to get involved. In using the naturalistic observations method, the researcher makes no effort to control or change the situation. The research task is simply to make a comprehensive record of the proceedings that occur and of visible relationships between events. The main challenge in conducting naturalistic observation is to arrange the data collection so that the observer has a clear view of what occurs, but is not so prominent or noticeable that they become an object of interest or concern to participants (Naturalistic observation, n.d.). Examples of naturalistic observations without intervention include the early work of Jane Goodall on chimpanzees and of Dian Fossey on mountain gorillas as well as Timothy Perper's studies of flirting behavior in bars. Examples of naturalistic observation with intervention include participant observation studies in which a rese archer becomes part of a group in order to describe what members of the group do (Naturalistic research, 2004). Analogue observations Analogue observation involves the measurement of a client's obvious behavior in an artificial setting that is analogous to settings that the client is expected to encounter in his natural surroundings. The goal of analogue behavioral observation is to derive reliable estimates of the client's behavior in a current or future natural environment. The disadvantage of Analogue behavioral observation is that its instruments are often developed with insufficient attention to their psychometric properties, especially content weight. Although analogue behavioral observation instruments can be susceptible to change, their validity can corrode as time passes and is affected by various sources of discrepancy. However, analogue behavioral observation assessment is especially useful in detecting significant functional relations in clinical assessment (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved;

Summery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Summery - Essay Example The second chapter summary dwells on the concept of diversity which primarily focuses on the aspect of differences that exist among people living in a similar group or location. From my own understanding, diversity is concerned about the aspect of co-existence among people from different groups. That it is, living together in harmony among people from diverse places. For instance, the US is a multicultural country and is comprised of people from diverse backgrounds. Measures have been put in order to accommodate the needs and interests of people from different backgrounds. Chapter three looks at the concepts of melting pot and multiculturalism. From this perspective, I have gathered that the concept of melting pot refers to the process where people from different backgrounds converge and establish a new society. For instance, America is comprised of people who came from different places who became united to build this powerful nation. On the other hand, I have observed that the concept of multiculturalism refers to the aspect of acknowledging other people’s values and believes such that people from different backgrounds come to appreciate them and adopt some of them in their own lives. Chapter four focuses on how people react to the concept of diversity. More often, people tend to look down upon other people from other cultures or they can generally refer to them as inferior without the facts to prove their assertions towards individuals from different cultures. Intolerance of people from different cultural backgrounds is very common among other people who do not want to accept the cultural values of other people. Indeed, it is a fact that we hail from different cultural backgrounds and we must accept this hard fact that does not change. This will help us to tolerate each other. Chapter six focuses on the challenges and benefits of diversity. The main challenge of diversity is related to the aspect of discrimination of the other group by another.

I'm just Getting to the Disturbing Part Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

I'm just Getting to the Disturbing Part - Essay Example I'm just Getting to the Disturbing Part an Analysis This short story, at first was quite confusing for me. The structure or narrative was not chronological—there was too much inference throughout the story. For instance, while the narrator while telling the story of the time they decided to go kayaking; he interjected the story of his future son and how paranoid he was because he had developed a fear of water. Another instance was when he just witnessed a drowning and interjected the story of the death of his teenage brother. Although he was able to weave together these inferences effectively to the story, the inferences could create confusion. But at the same time, it also made the story more interesting because it added dimension and layer in the way the story is narrated. For instance, the narrator’s paranoia or fear of water steam from that frightful experience he had on one frightful July in Horsetooth Reservoir. And how the narrator effectively tied together the drowning of the boy to the car accident of his broth er and how he saving the boy had drawn him closer to his brother in a burst of euphoria.

E.J. Computers Case Essay Example for Free

E.J. Computers Case Essay Introduction The company I am going to be doing my project on is a small firm named E.J Computers. The company have been around for about a year and a half now and have 3 staff. Its run from a small shop, which they have just recently moved to and they are slowly expanding. Therefore I am going to introduce an Access database to help make the job of keeping the accounts work easier. Statement of problem The problem at the moment is that the company is currently using a paper-based way of doing their accounts. This way is still quite common, but it makes more work for the end-user, as he usually has to go rummaging through bits of paper and filing cabinets etc. Also a problem with doing it this way is that bits of paper etc could go missing and the data would be lost. Its slower, takes up more room and looks unprofessional. I am going to be creating a database for a computer store that sells various things, from computer parts and accessories to fully working systems. The database will consist of many tables, including ones for customer details, products, delivery etc. I will be making the database a relational database so that the tables will interact and it will make it much more easier for the end user to be able to do or get to what they want. A computer database will be a lot safer to keep the records on. If they desire the end user could use some form of data protection so that he viewing of the records are not accessible for anybody (by either pass wording it etc). This way is a lot faster, less hassle, takes up less space and I think it looks more professional. So I am going to be creating a database, which will meet all of these needs. My initial idea is to create a database consisting of 4 tables, one for the customer details, one for the components, one for the ready built computer systems, and one for the orders. Results from questionnaire I wrote a questionnaire, and took it to my end user so that he could fill it in. I got it back, and now I can use the information that he provided to enable me to design my database to suit his needs. Basically he has the appropriate equipment that is required for him to be able to use the database and he also has the knowledge. From the feedback that I got, he basically has left me to my own device on the formatting side, which is good because I can use my imagination a bit and hopefully make a good design. The end user has also said that he would also like a password on the database for data protection. This ensures that the confidential data of his customers remains confidential. He also said that he would like his database to consist of 4 tables, one for customer details, two for product details, and one for order details etc. Information about end users computer Fortunately, the end user already has a suitable computer system to enable him to use the database. The current system is an AMD Athlon 1500+ 512mb DDR pc2700 RAM, 40GB HDD, 40x CD re-writer, 3 1/2 Floppy disk, 17 CRT Monitor. He also has sufficient software, which is a bonus. Is current operating system is Windows XP professional and he also has office 2000. Description of the previous system Input of the previous system At the moment the whole system is paper based. If a customer purchases an item, their details are written down on a little white card, this includes their name, address, telephone number etc and then it is stored into a filing case. Eddie then has to write out a receipt by hand and issue it to the customer. If a customer requires delivery, there is an extra fee for postage and packaging and their information gets put into a separate file where at the end of the day it will be processed. Process of the previous system After the information is collected it is left. Hey dont use it for anything else like advertising or sending special offers. It is just stored in a cupboard and every time a customer phones up or comes into the store and purchases a product it is taken back out and another card is filled in. Output of the previous system Again, the information is not used for output at all, the do not send special offers or print receipts. The receipts are all manually drawn up and written out. All products are paid for up front; no credit is given so there are no fines and no need to use the data for output. Method used for the previous system Data Flow Diagram of the previous system Problems with previous System Main problems with the previous system Problem Solution Time consuming Database will be easy and quick to access and use. Storage All data will be stored on the computer and will be easily accessible and found. Untidy work area Database will be on a computer, which will be neatly stored on the desk. Untidy work All work will be word-processed, therefore the data will all be neat and easy to read. Unsafe Data The database will be pass worded so that no unauthorised access will be possible Requirements of the new system Objectives of the new system Using access 2000 I will be creating a database for the company, this will make the system a lot better for my end user. To enable me to get an idea if what my end user actually wants he has filled in a questionnaire for me. This should help me understand fully what the end-user wants. My database will consist of four tables, each table representing different parts of the company. The first table will be a table for the customers details, it will store the details of every customer that comes into the shop and purchases an item. It will store their name, address, telephone number and each one will have their own unique customer ID number. This information can then be used for any marketing schemes that my end-user comes up with and the data will be handy at all times. My second table will contain information about the components that are available for the customers to purchase. It will consist of a list of the products that the shop has on sale and the type of that product. It will have the price, the amount that the business has in stock and a short description. The third table will consist of a list of pre-built fully working systems that are on sale; it will have a field for system ID, the price, number in stock, and a specification of each computer system. I will then have a fourth table consisting of information of the orders that have been placed, it will have the customers ID, the ID of the product that they have ordered, how much it will cost, and whether or not it need to be delivered. How the objectives will be fulfilled Description of the new system Input of the new system As I said above I will be putting the customer and product information details into the database using a mouse and a keyboard. I will be using a mouse to select to appropriate options and applications. I will also be using a VDU so I can actually see the information that I will be putting into the system. Process of the new system The process of the system is going to be pretty simple, I spoke with my end-use and we decided that I will make queries and sorts for the tables so that the information is easier to find and get hold of. We decided that it would be a good idea if I also include a mail merged letter so that things do not have to be written time after time. Output of the new system My end user has out the point across, that the output of the system is not really as vital as the input. The main purpose of creating this database is so that the details are stored safely on the computer. However a printer will probably be needed for the purpose of printing out records, and letters etc. This is not a permanent thing and maybe things will change later but for now this would be the only output. Performance criteria and limitations of the proposed system Qualitative My database solution will enable the end user to be able to sort the customers surnames into alphabetical so that it makes it easier for the end user to be able to find a customers records. My end user will also be able to sort the prices of everything that he sells into price order (for example cheapest to most expensive). This will make it easier for the end user, so that if he gets a customer asking about certain products that are on sale he can easily do a quick sort and be able to tell the customer. Quantitative With the solution I have made my end-user will be able to find the following: * Begin using the database within 30 seconds of opening it. * Find a customer using name or ID within 15 seconds. * Find a certain product with information within 20 seconds. * Find out if there re any deliveries that need to be made within 20 seconds. System flow chart Software and Hardware considerations Hardware The hardware that I will be using to create my database is as follows: Computer system: 1.0Gghz Celeron Processor 256mb SD RAM 20gb HDD Internal AGP SiS 8.0mb GFX card 15 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor Sufficient size display so I can easily see what I am doing. Keyboard Standard RM keyboard enabling me to get the job done. Mouse 3 button Key Mouse to make selecting options easier. Laser Printer Printout copies of the work I am doing to take to my end-user to make sure it suits his needs accordingly. Some of my project will have to be completed at home in my own time on my own computer; my own computer consists of: AMD Athlon XP 1700+ 768mb DDR PC2700 RAM 40gb HDD NVIDIA Geforce4Ti 4800 SE Creative Sound Blaster 5.1 Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 Optical (USB) Logitech Internet Navigator(tm) Keyboard Special Edition Black Software The software that I will be using to create my database is as follows: Microsoft Windows 98 SE Operating System Microsoft Windows NT Network Microsoft Office 2000: Word Access Mainly using access because it enables me to perform complex searches, have a splash screen and create an advanced database system. Excel FrontPage Outlook The software that I have on my computer at home, which will allow me to be able to design the database, is: Microsoft windows XP professional corporate edition Microsoft Office XP: Word Access Excel FrontPage Outlook Data security of the new system Use of passwords I am going to be using a password for my database, as my end user has requested it. My end user will need a password, to ensure customer confidentiality. The password will be a word requested by the end user and only he and his staff will have access to the password and therefore the database. I have suggested that my end user should change his password on a regular basis, to ensure that if the password is found out it will get changed again. This makes the whole system more secure. Also, to make sure that the system does not get infected by viruses I have also suggested that the end user invest in some form of anti virus software. The software I have suggested is Norton Anti Virus 2003 but it is down to the end users discretion whether or not he goes ahead with it. Differences and similarities between the current system and the proposed ICT solution Similarities There are not many similarities between the two systems, as the general idea was to change the system to make it a lot better. However there is one similarity between the two systems, the same information is entered into the database as is entered onto cards. This is only a small similarity, as the whole process is completely different now. Specification Design Possible solutions There were a few other possible solutions to my end-users problem; I came up with a number of alternatives but the database solution just seemed to stand out as being the best. The other solutions that I came up with which were taken into consideration by my end-user were as follows: * Swap the cards for sheets of paper, which could be stored in folder or filing cabinet. We decided that this would not be such a could idea, because its not really much of an improvement and my end-user needs a big improvement. * A spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. We also decided against because is not a very efficient programme for the type of thing my end-user wants. You cannot perform clear searches or have different tables etc. * A table using Microsoft word. Again, we decided not to use word plainly because this programme is too simple and basic. It does not really include many advanced features like searches and the information cannot be stored neatly, which makes the information difficult to access. Reasons and justifications for final choice of software and hardware We eventually decided to go with the database using Microsoft Access, because overall we thought it was the best piece of software to use. A few of the reasons why we chose Microsoft Access are: * You can perform searches and queries * Data is easily accessed * Modern * You can create tables which are linked together * Create mail merged letters * Password In my hardware section I have already specified what I will be using for hardware. This specification of hardware is suitable for me to create the database because it offers enough speed and memory (both virtual and physical) to enable to be able to work efficiently. This is because the bigger the processor the bigger amount of RAM, all makes the computer a lot faster. Outputs required by the end user The outputs that are required by my end-user are: * Invoices So that the customer has a proof of purchases. * Splash Screen This is to improve the presentation of the database and to put information about the creator on. * Reports To enable the end user to print out hard copies of queries etc * Mail-merged letters So that the end user can automatically contact customers. Inputs and stored data needed to create the outputs Output What is required? Invoices Customer information, product information and details of purchase (date etc) Splash Screen My 1337 skillz Reports Results from queries from all 4 of my tables will be shown to make the reports, which will then be printed off so that the user has a hard copy Mail merged Letters Customers details, which can be automatically accessed. Processes that are required to produce the required outputs Knowledge and ability to use advanced package features Relationships The database that I will be creating will be a many-to-many. I will be in the form of first form normalisation. I will have four different tables, each having its own primary key that will be referentially integrated to a linking table, to make sure all the tables stay up to date.

Sociology Essays Researcher Power Relations

Sociology Essays Researcher Power Relations How do power relations challenge us to re-think the issue of dialogue in research, ethicsand critical urban ethnography? Sociological research is not theclearly defined process that the textbooks would have us believe. It can be amessy business and is fraught with pitfalls so the researcher needs to beflexible in his/her approach to the project. Power relationships emerge as anissue right from the beginning. There are the power relations contained within social institutions and in personal relationships. The relationship between theresearcher and the researched is generally thought of as one of unequal powerrelations where the researcher is the custodian of expertise concerning themeaning of a research subjects experiences. The balance of power may not,however, be in the researchers hands at the beginning of a project, if theresearcher needs to gain access to a setting then he/she may be subject to thewhims of gatekeepers. Gatekeepers have the power to say no the researchersrequest and if you do manage to gain entry it is often at the end of a longslow process. Lofland and Lofland (1984) say that feelings of anxiety when aresearcher first encounters gate keepers, is not unusual because they hold thereins of power. Bogdan and Taylor (1984) write about problems with gatekeepers.They argue that there are those professionals in charge of establishments suchas retirement homes or womens refuges, who exercise their power by monitoringwho should and should not visit. In this way they retain control of the spaceoccupied by the people they care for and in controlling their space alsocontrol the influences of and within that space. Giddens 2001 has argued that thechanges in modern society have, in their turn, brought vast changes to the waywe live our lives: The development ofmodern cities has had an enormous impact, not only on habits and modes ofbehaviour, but on patterns of thought and feeling. >From the time whenlarge urban agglomerations first formed, in the eighteenth century, views aboutthe effects of cities on social life have been polarized (Giddens,2001:573). Hammersley (2000) has argued that social research cannot be understood outside of the social world that itstudies. It does not exist in some autonomous realm, but affects, and isaffected by other factors in society. Beginning with a brief explanation of keyterms this paper will give a brief description of the long and hotly contesteddebate that frames the quantitative/qualitative divide within researchdiscourse. This should demonstrate that even before a researcher frames aresearch question they have to contend with the powerful discourse that says social research should be undertaken in a scientific manner if it is to producemeaningful data. The paper will examine the question of how power relationschallenge us to re-think the issue of dialogue in research, ethics and criticalurban ethnography. The main focus with regard to how knowledge is acquired, andhow, like research, it is intimately connected with relations of power, will beon feminist work. The final part of the paper will d eal with power relations,dialogue and ethics in the context of critical urban ethnography. Epistemology An epistemological concern is onethat raises the question of what might be regarded as acceptable knowledge in adiscipline. Central to this point is whether it is feasible to study the socialworld in the same way and using the same principles as science (Bryman, 2004).Research undertaken in this way is generally associated with a positivistparadigm of research. Positivism Positivism is most closelyassociated with the work of Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim. Positivism is anepistemological standpoint that argues for the application of the scientificmethod to the social world. It is usually (though not always) associated withquantitative research and the collection of statistics. Positivism is,therefore, very closely associated with the scientific method which, looselyput, is based around the laws of cause and effect. Bryman (2004) identifies theaspects of positivism in the following ways, only those things that we canobserve through our senses can really be known. Theory (speculations about whatmight be the case) is used to generate hypotheses (general statements) that canbe tested and from which laws can be derived. The hypothesis is subjected toquestions e.g. who, what, when, where and data gathered either throughinterviews, observation, or using existing data such as crime statistics. Ifthe findings confirm the hypothesis then laws are derived, if not then the hypothesishas to be modified. This process continues until a suitable conclusion isreached that confirms the modified hypothesis. Positivists state that sciencemust be objective and value free (Bryman, A. 2004).Durkheim argued that in order to be scientific and to obtain objectiveknowledge, social facts should be counted as things, and that allpreconceptions must be eradicated (Durkheim, E, 1938:31).Scientific statements should be the interest of the scientist because they arethe only statements that can be confirmed by the senses i.e. science proceedsthrough observable, repeatable experiments.. It is this form of research in particularthat feminists have dubbed malestream research (Abbott and Wallace,1997) they argue that: Many malestream sociologistsare resistant to the view that there is a need for a reconceptualisation.Nevertheless, this is the position that w accept and while we recognise thatthis is an uphill struggle we think that it is a necessary one if we are toachieve an adequate sociology (Abbott and Wallace, 1997:13). Interpretivism This is the opposite view topositivism where a research strategy is needed that respects the fact thatthere is a difference between the physical world and people. The scientificmethods that are used to study the physical world may not be appropriate tostudying the social world where the sociologist is trying to understand the meaningsthat people give to their actions. Interpretivists most often use qualitativeresearch methods consisting of unstructured interviews and participantobservation. Positivists criticise research data gained in this way asunscientific and subjective. They argue that the findings from such research donot have the same validity or reliability as data collected in a scientificmanner (Bryman, 2004). Researchers who use qualitative methods tend to maketheir research process as transparent as possible and will often ask theirresearch subjects to check the findings to see whether they are an accuraterepresentation of the persons life. Both types of researchers want toknow what is happening in society but interpretivists also attempt tounderstand. Weber (1947) maintained that sociology is a Science which attempts theinterpretive understanding of social action in order to arrive at a causalexplanation of its cause and effects (Weber, 1947:88). Qualitative researchers tend tomake use of unstructured interviews, case study research and participantobservation. Ethnographic methods such as in-depth interviews and prolongedparticipant observation are also favoured methods. These last tend to be usedmore often by those who are engaged in critical research. Hammersley (1992)criticises the use of ethnographic methods because he believes that this typeof research is less able to produce data that will result in useful theoreticalinsights. Participant observation is regarded by positivists as unscientificand not rigorous enough they regard it as subjective. Hammersley (1992) hasargued that because ethnographers can produce different accounts of the samesetting then the results of such research might be said to reflect a purelypersonal perspective rather than a scientific and reliable account.Yet anothercriticism of this type of method is that the ensuing account is the result ofhighly selective methods of data collection (Hammersley , 1992). This isarguably a nonsensical criticism as all research is the result of a set ofselection processes. The researcher constantly has to decide what is the bestway of collecting the information that will answer the research question. Thishappens in what is regarded as scientific and value free social research justas much as it does in social research that does not claim to be objective andvalue free. All researchers, as Gouldner (1971) points out have to make choicesabout their domain of enquiry i.e. when, where, how, and from whom they aregoing to obtain their data. There is a clear difference betweenscience and the scientific method and the methods that are needed toinvestigate the social world. For human beings, human action is meaningful andthey act on the basis of that meaning. The sociologists job is to interpretthe social world from the research subjects point of view. What this means isthat far from research being objective and knowledge being objective and valuefree, they are in fact marked by the stamp of their producers. Marx recognisedthis in his analysis of capitalism and feminists have recognised this in theiranalysis of patriarchy and of an epistemological stance that bears the stampand is endowed with the power of the white western male. Thus power relationsare evident even before we begin on the actual research process. Knowledge and Power The rationalistattitudes towards knowledge that developed during the Enlightenment remaineddominant until well into the nineteenth century. They were, as many feministshave argued (Abbott and Wallace, 1997), a powerful force in determining whatconstituted knowledge and have had considerable effect on the structures ofmodern society. A similar critique of knowledge has also been mounted by theFrench philosopher Michel Foucault (1966). The work ofthinkers such as Nietzsche (1886) and Foucault (1966) has emphasised the factthat knowledge is intimately tied to structures of power and domination.Foucault argues that it is power which produces and sustains knowledge.Anything that contradicts the authorised view of what counts as knowledge isseen as deviant and transgressional. Thus, he argues, Power isthat which says no. Any confrontation with power thus conceived appears only astransgression (1966: 53). Feministcriticisms of knowledge and the way that knowledge is produced are aconfrontation with power and authority. The tendency of many thinkers toneglect class, race, gender, and economic factors contributes to the exclusionof oppressed and marginal viewpoints thus further reinforcing bothuniversalistic and objective models of knowledge and the power structures associatedwith this view. Foucault has argued that the enlightenment model of scientificreason only existed through the will to objectify and dominate. For Foucault,this kind of knowledge is inseparable from the desire for power. He argues thatresearch into criminality or mental illness is often undertaken for the expresspurposes of legislation, and not for a desire for improvement in these areas(1966). These critiques of the structures of power have meant thatepistemological questions are now a central issue within contemporary culture(Lennon and Whitford, 1994). The writings of Marx (1970), Foucault (1966), andmembers of t he Frankfurt school (and in a different context liberationtheologians) emphasise the fact knowledge claims are a reflection of theinterests of those with economic power. More recently, black scholars andscholars from the third world have also indicated the Eurocentric and racistnature of most knowledge production (Lennon and Whitford, 1994). The separationof fact from value in knowledge production is not appropriate, that is to sayknowledge is not objective and neutral. Rather, knowledge bears the stamp ofits producers and is affected by their value systems. It is through thisunderstanding that feminist and other forms of critical research developed. Critical Research Carspecken(1996) maintains that critical research is aimed at exposing the powerrelationships at work in society particularly as they relate to social inequalities. The researcher studies this from the viewpoint of the oppressedin the hope of achieving social change. Critical research is informed by thecritical theory of the Frankfurt School. Critical social research does not fitwell into either the positivist camp or the interpretive one but embraces allthose approaches which tend to criticise society (in terms of its powerrelationships for example) in order to transform it. Hammersley (1995) hasargued that the growing influence of qualitative research and most particularlyof the type of research that is critical of power structures and of theinequalities that exist within society has meant that increasingly the basisfor seeing social research as scientific has been undermined. Harvey (1990) hassaid of critical research that: critiqueis an integral part of the processA critical research process involves morethan appending critique to an accumulation of fact or theory gathered throughsome mechanical process, rather it denies the objective status of knowledge (Harvey,1990 quoted in Haralambos et al, 2000:982). Knowledge inthese terms is a process that is never finished because the social world isconstantly changing. Knowledge is inseparable from the values of the socialcontext in which it emerged, the research participants, and most importantly,the researcher. The knowers always affect what is known as Ely et al (1996)argue: Researchlike all other knowing, is a transactional process the knower and the knownboth act upon each other (Ely, et al, 1996:196 ibid.). Criticalresearch is primarily concerned with uncovering oppression and oppressivestructures and by that action transforming them. By uncovering these structureswithin social accounts the critical researcher can then link these with widersocial processes and structures. Thus Oakleys analysis of housework and howwomen bear the brunt of it links back to industrialisation and the rise ofcapitalism and womens removal from the public world of work to the privatesphere of the home, this also links with the growth of patriarchal oppressionof women (Harvey, 1990). Thus a critical analysis such as this can uncover thebasis of some of the power relationships that exist within society andeventually to change them. Harvey (1990) says of this process that it: ..involvesa constant questioning of the perspective and analysis the researcher isbuilding up. It is a process of gradually, and critically, coming to knowthrough constant reconceptualisation. This means that the selection of a coreconcept for analysis is not a once and for all affair (Harvey, 1990:30). Harvey (1990)maintains that critical research does not depend on any one method becauseresearchers may often use a variety of methods in ensuring that they have madethe connections with wider social processes such as the structures of power,and also to increase the reliability of their findings. Feminist research alsooperates by the use of a number of different research methods, feminists are moreconcerned with improving womens lives and with the non-exploitation of thosewho are researched, than they are with the commitment to any one set of methods.Some (primarily male) researchers argue against feminist research because theysay that it is subjective and partisan. They argue that research should neverbe partisan and that it is impossible for everyone to be equally free, theremust always be some hierarchy. Thus Geuss (1981) contends that: It seems unrealistic underpresent conditions of human life to assume that any and every preference humanagents might have can be satisfied, or to assume that all conflict between thepreferences of different agents will be peacefully and rationally resolved.Some frustration-even some imposed frustration-of some human preferences mustbe legitimate and unexceptionable (Guess, 1981:16). Presumably thelegitimate and unexceptionable preferences are the prerogative of the male, whofor centuries has had some much power over womens lives. It is this kind ofpower that feminists are keen to expose, they are also concerned about thepower relationships which exist between the researcher and the researched, andwhich have sometimes been exploited by (male) researchers. In view of this somefeminists argue that participatory research, where the researcher and theresearched work together on a project, should be a defining feature of feministresearch. Abbott and Wallace (1997) argue however, that this is not often donebecause, it is notpossible for the researcher to share her knowledge and expertise, and to implythat she is sharing them conceals a power relationship rather than overcomingit (Abbott and Wallace, 1997:288). Feminists who douse these methods argue that participatory research not only gives women a moreactive role in knowledge production but further increases the validity of theresearch findings. McGuire (1987), has this to say Participatoryresearch proposes returning to ordinary people the power to participate inknowledge creation, the power that results from such creation, and the power toutilize knowledge (Maguire, 1987:39). Even this statement isproblematic because the researcher has at least some training in how researchmight be said to proceed and this is not easily passed on to those who are nottrained (Abbott and Wallace, 1997). Mies, 1983 has this to say: the study of an oppressivereality is not carried out by experts but by the objects of the oppression.People who were before objects of research become subjects of their ownresearch and action. This implies that scientists who participate in this studyof the conditions of oppression must give their research tools to the people (Mies,1983:16). Shared experiences, it might beargued, help to balance out the power relationships that feminists such asAbbott and Wallace (1997) contend, inevitably exist between a researcher andthose who are researched. One way in which the researcher may try to lessen thepower differential is through self-disclosure. Thus recovering alcoholics whoare researching alcohol misuse or women who have survived domestic violenceinterviewing women who are being abused would make the interviewee aware of thefact. While it maybe impossible to do away with the power differentialaltogether, it does make it less problematic. Ann Oakley (1982) has writtenthat, the goal of finding outabout people through interviewing is best achieved when the relationship ofinterviewer and interviewee is non- hierarchical and when the interviewer isprepared to invest his or her own personal identity in the relationship (Oakley,1982:41). This power differential thatexists in the research relationship may also colour what is found because datais never free of the influence of the person who gathered it. Carspecken (1996)believes that although critical researchers may have a value commitment that isnot to say that the research needs to be biased providing it is systematic andcareful. Stanley and Wise have this to say, .the recognition that whoa researcher is, in terms of their sex, race, class, and sexuality, affectswhat they find in research and is as true of feminists as of any other researchers(Stanley and Wise, 1993:228). This power differential willalso affect, and may distort the dialogue between the researcher and theresearched. Abbott and Wallace (1997) argue that because the researcher willnecessarily involve herself with the women she is studying then she needs to beaware of this. Constant reflexivity is required if the research is to beconsidered valid. The researcher must be aware that because she is a part ofwhat is going on this inevitably affects what is going on and there needs to bea continual taking stock of how personal values, attitudes and perceptions areinfluencing the research process. A feministinterviewing women is by definition both inside the culture andparticipating in that which she is observingpersonal involvement is morethan dangerous bias it is the condition under which people come to know eachother and to admit others into their lives (Oakley,1982:58). Aronson (1992) has pointedout that the ethnographic interview is a common method of gathering data inqualitative research. Interviewing is also a method which is favoured byfeminist researchers (Oakley, 1982; Stanley and Wise, 1993). The interviewprocess should be such that women feel at ease and can relate their experiencesas they see them. The interviewer should encourage the participation of theinterviewee, the aim of which is to conduct research with women rather than onwomen. In this way it is thought that a fuller picture of womens experiencesemerges (Oakley, 1981 et al). Carspecken (1996) argues that one way ofminimising any distortions that may arise due to the power differential betweenresearcher and researched is to check out your findings with the researchparticipants. Differences may also arise here if the dialogue between theresearcher and the research participants has been awkward or untruthful in anyway there may be objections when the participant sees what has been wr itten.Seeing this distorted dialogue in print may increase any feelings ofpowerlessness that the participant might have and thus renegotiating thedialogue may prove difficult. Ethics At the very least ethics areconcerned with protecting the anonymity of those who are participating in theresearch. This is vital if for example the participants are women who haveexperienced rape or domestic abuse as any such exposure of their true identitycould put them at further risk. Many researchers, not just feministresearchers, also regard the use of non-sexist language as an ethicalprinciple. Sexist language is exclusionary and denotes the power relationshipsthat have for centuries existed in patriarchal society. Relationships that arein some way based on power are prone distortions in communication and it is upto the critical researcher to be aware of these sources of distortion as amatter of ethical principle. Carpecken (1996) thus believes that researchersshould: Establish supportive,non-authoritarian relationships with the participants in your study. Activelyencourage them to question your own perceptions. Be sure that participants areprotected from any harm that your study could produce, and be sure that theyknow they are protected (Carpecken, 1996:90). There isconsiderable contemporary debate about what constitutes ethical research. Thisis particularly the case with sensitive areas and with feminist methodologies(Abbott and Wallace, 1997). Feminist researchers are concerned with the ideathat the people who are the major part of many research undertakings should notbe exploited. As I have stated previously, feminist researchers are concernedwith the researched. Relationships between researchers and their human subjectsare often continued long after work in the field has finished (Ely et al,1996). The majority of feminists are conscious that the research relationshipis a two-way process. Researchlike all other knowing, is a transactional process the knower and the knownboth act upon each other (Ely, et al, 1996:196 ibid.). Many feministsregard it as crucially important that women who are more oppressed andmarginalised than they themselves are given a voice for their experiences. Theyargue that some, (predominantly male) researchers have used respondents asobjects to be worked on (Reinharz, 1983; Abbott and Wallace, 1997). In manycases there is no further contact with the people they have worked with oncethe research process is finished. Feminists have said that this kind of researchis conducted on a rape model. The researcherstake, hit, and run, with a total disregard for the needs of the researched.They intrude into their subjects privacy, disrupt their perceptions, utilisefalse pretences, manipulate the relationships, and give little or nothing inreturn. When the needs of the researchers are satisfied, they break off contactwith the subjects (Reinharz, 1983:80). The issue of giving oppressed andmarginalised women a voice has been identified by black feminists, as anethical matter. This is because black womens voices are the most marginal ofall womens voices in the academy, and the current educational systemreinforces the values and culture of the dominant classes, thereby ensuringtheir continued domination and the covert exercise of power (Hill-Collins, P,1990). In view of these ethical questions, many feminists are conscious of theneed to put something back in, whether by the payment of a fee, or ofcontributing to work in the community. More recently however ethical questionshave also concerned researcher safety. Is it ethical to allow a lone (possiblyfemale) researcher to venture into settings where the power relationships thatpertain in such a setting may put that researcher at risk. Power and ethics areclosely entertwined. Covert participant observation (whereby the researcherdoes not disclose their true role and reasons for being in the setting) isoften regarded as unethical and a misuse of researcher power becauseparticipants are not given the chance to give their informed consent to the research.It is also regarded as privacy violation (Bryman, 2004). Thus the powerrelationships that are, or might be at work in the research relationship needto be acknowledged at all stages of the research process and before decisionsabout how the research is undertaken are formalised. Research, particularly qualitative research is not just composed of a setof facts drawn from a number of suitably phrased questions. It is madeup of all the seemingly unrelated bits and pieces that are part of humanrelationships (Ely et al, 1996). Critical Urban Research The most famous urban research is that of the Chicago school in the 1920sand 30s. Robert Park was the central figure here and his main concerns werewith the effects of social and cultural forces on human nature. Park and hiscolleagues recognised two levels of behaviour the biotic and the cultural. Thebiotic level concerned mechanisms of survival and competition and the culturalwas concerned with how the human subject was constituted (Dickens, 1990). Urbanresearch is concerned with how the city influences those who inhabit it and howit shapes their lives. Giddens has argued that the space people occupy has tobe taken into account when studying social life because social interaction isnot aspatial, it has to take place somewhere. This somewhere Giddens designatesa locale. Localesrange from a room in a house, or street corner, the shopfloor of a factory,towns and cities to the territorially demarcated areas occupied by regionstates. But they are typically internally regionalised (Giddens, 1984). The Chicago school was highly influential on the way in which streetsociety was studied. Jacobs (1961) undertook what became a classical study ofGreenwich Village when she studied the everyday behaviour and relationships ofpeople on the sidewalk. In the nineteen-ninetees Duneier (1999) wanted todiscover how sidewalk life had changed in the intervening years. He studied thelife of pan handlers and street vendors to see whether and in what ways itscharacter might have changed. Duneier started out as a voyeur and customer at abookstall in Greenwich Village and it was there that he noticed the tenor ofsidewalk life. His primary informant was the bookseller who at first wasreluctant to take part in the research. When he eventually wrote up hisfindings and submitted the manuscript for publication he was not comfortableeven though he had invited his informant to read the manuscript and comment onit. He eventually co-opted the informant to co-teach with him about life on thestreet for a Blac k American. Duneier believed that not only would this adjustthe imbalance in power relationships in research more adequately but thatstudent feedback and comments on the course might allow him to remedy anyshortcomings of the original research. Duneier had faced a number of challenges during the course of researchsuch as gaining access to the culture and the confidence of those who lived andworked on the streets. He had trouble fitting in because of the obvious powerdifferentials of class and race as well as the inequality of the researchrelationship (adapted from Giddens, 2001 pps 652-655). Duneiers researchparticipants were among the least powerful of society. The way in which modernsocieties operate what Giddens (2001) has called a geography of centrality andmarginality where affluence and abject poverty co-exist made the lives ofDuneiers research participants unliveable. He was worried whether he wasimposing an agenda on his research participants that would make their liveseven more problematic. What Duneiers research revealed was that the socialresearcher has to take account of the wider social context and processes ofwhich he/she is a themselves a part. Mac an Ghaills critical ethnography ofheterosexual and homosexual young men also tries to reduce the powerdifferential between researcher and research participants and to be as open andethically aware as possible though collaboration, reciprocity and reflexivity(Haralambos et al, 2000). Conclusion This paper has examined how power relationships in research impact at alllevels of the research process and affect the dialogue between the researcherand the research participants and the ethical considerations that are part ofsocial research. It has also attempted to show how these processes can severelyaffect the undertaking of critical urban ethnography. Duneiers work inparticular demonstrates how power relationships operate at all levels inresearch and how decisions that have been made (for example the changinggeography of the urban environment) which neither the researcher nor researchparticipants have any control over can affect the outcomes of the research anda researchers own sense of his personal ethical commitment to the people whomay have participated in the research. There are a number of reasons why thisis important. Those scholars who are critical of this type of research oftenfail to acknowledge that the scientific paradigm is also beset with these kindsof issues and p roblems but fails to take them into account. This is what Popper(1992) called the theory of demarcation whereby any variables that do not fitwith the theory are ruled out of the equation. Duneier and others explicitrecounting of the problematic nature of undertaking social research thatcontributes to knowledge, is committed to social transformation, and at thesame time is aware the pitfalls that can occur when researching the lives ofthose who are already disenfranchised by society. There may never be a completeanswer to addressing the issue of power relationships in social research but Iwould wish to argue that the researcher who neglects the fact that such thingsexist and influence all research is failing to give an accurate account of thesocial reality that he/she is investigating. 5000 words Bibliography Abbott, P andWallace, C (1997) An Introduction to Sociology, Feminist Perspectives Routledge,London. Aronson, J. (1992). Theinterface of family therapy and a juvenile arbitration and mediation program,.Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, FortLauderdale, FL . Bilton, T. etal, 1996. Introductory Sociology, London, Macmillan (Ch. 13). Bogdan, R andBilklen, S (1982) Qualitative Research for Education: An Introduction toTheory and Methods, Allyn and Bacon, Boston Bogdan, R andTaylor, S (1984) Introduction to Qualita

Essay --

1. NAME OF THE SYSTEM E-Cab is a service of mobile Taxi application via online. 2. SUMMARY OF THE SYSTEM TO BE DEVELOPED E-Cab is a JoBa company, provide a complete taxi services using the latest equipment and technology to facilitate the travel of individuals in and around the Johor Bahru area. The value proposition is straight-forward for confirm your pickup point and order your cab with the press of a button. In seconds you’ll receive confirmation of the name, photo and car model/plate of your driver, and will be able to follow the vehicle’s location in real-time as it approaches you. You can save favorite addresses, check ride history and use many more features constantly being added. Since drivers are checked for compliance before joining the network, passengers do not need to worry about their safety and can simply enjoy their ride. E-Cab gives customers the opportunity to pay with a multitude of payment instruments. So, our customers can pay through debit and credit cards, account vouchers and also coupons. Other products being introduced are university student debit cards, private label cards, account cards, pre-paid single event cards and specialty payment cards. Our company pays our drivers and gives our customers a full account of their taxi transactions. As an added safety measure for both drivers and passengers, E-Cab cabs are fitted with Global Positioning Systems (GPS), which enable the cabs to be tracked or located in an emergency. All E-Cab taxi will be clean, well maintained, and inspected regularly for safety and comfort. E-Cab’s has a unique Global Positioning System (GPS) that pinpoints the nearing driver thus allowing the driver to give an accurate estimated time of arrival. The GPS will enable the company ... ... clean and tidy taxi, friendly and polite drivers, careful driving, most practical route taken, and drivers know more about maintenance/repair services. â€Æ' REFERENCES Easy Taxi. (2013). Easy Taxi: Your Taxi in One Clicks! Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Easy Taxi Web site: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=br.com.easytaxi Softusvista Inc. Venture. (2010-2013). Malaysia Taxi Auto Fare. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Taxiautofare.com: http://www.taxiautofare.com/my/Default.aspx The Atlantic Monthly Group. (2013). The Atlantic: Why You Can't Get a Taxi. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from The Atlantic Web site: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/why-you-cant-get-a-taxi/308942/ Wikipedia. (2013, June 25). Taxicabs of Malaysia. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_Malaysia

Harry Potter and the Philosiphers Stone imaginary writing

I have missed you ever so much. Things are wonderful; I actually made some friends today. Namely Ron Weasley, he a funny, ginger hair boy, a bit obnoxious I must say but lovely all the same. Oh, and guess who the other one is? The famous HARRY POTTER! He's such a lovely boy, handsome and heroic. They saved me from a troll! How weird? I know. What is a troll doing in a school? I bet that's what you're probably asking? It was enormous and vile! It was a dreadful ordeal and I would not wish such a thing upon no one. After charms class we were on our way to dinner and I overheard Ron talking about me and making harsh remarks that I think I'm better than everybody else, that I am snob and a ‘know it all'. I then ran off as I was hurt by those words and spent the rest of the evening crying in the girl's toilet. Meanwhile Professor Quirell ran into the dinner hall screaming, ‘TROLL in the dungeon, TROLL in the dungeon, I thought you ought to know' and then he fainted. After the Professor's traumatic display, the teachers ran off to get rid of the troll while Harry and Ron came in the toilets to warn me of that a troll was on the school premises. But believe it or not immediately after they entered the toilets, the troll came in and that was when everything got very chaotic. The troll tried to attack us; Ron then used a spell that we learnt earlier in charms class to control the troll's club and used it to clobber it on the head until it fainted and Harry then dragged me to safety. It was one of the most horrific and terrifying experience I have ever encountered in my life. I really do appreciate Harry's bravery and Ron's quick thinking, so all in all it was a joint effort that saved your precious daughters life. But let's not dwell on the negative events that took place at Hogwarts. On a positive aspect we won the gold cop for Gryffindor house. At first I did not think that we would stand a chance because the end-of-year feast was decked out with Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. There was a huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the high table. Dumbledore began awarding the houses with their points; â€Å"in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points,† I really did not know what to say, and I felt so disappointed. Not to my surprise in first place was Slytherin with four hundred and seventy-two. A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Dumbledore then said â€Å"yes, yes, well done, Slytherin.† â€Å"However, recent events must be taken into account†, and the room went silent. Then he says he has a few last-minute points to dish out. â€Å"First to Mr Ronald Weasley, for the best-played chess Hogwarts has seen in years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points†. â€Å"Second to Miss Hermione Granger†¦ for the cool use of logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points†. I then buried my face in my arms from disbelief. Dumbledore then said â€Å"third to Mr Harry Potter†¦for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points.† Everyone knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy points – exactly the same as Slytherin. We had drawn for the House Cup – if only Dumbledore had given Harry just one more point. Dumbledore raised his hand and the room gradually went silent. â€Å"There are all kinds of courage,† he said smiling. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom.† A loud noise erupted from Gryffindor table and Harry, Ron and I stood up and cheered with exhilaration, we were so overwhelmed with excitement, we just could not keep still. In an instant the green became scarlet and the silver became gold; the vast Slytherin serpent vanished and a soaring Gryffindor lion took its place. It really felt great and I am looking forward to next year. My first year has almost ended but it was a remarkable and an awe-inspiring experience, surely one I will never forget. It seemed that thing would be back to normal next year, well as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts. I can't wait to see you Mum and Dad. I love you loads. Tell every one high and I will be home soon.

Examination of Some of the images Essay

Wilfred Owen fought throughout the First World War until the last week when he unfortunately died in combat. He must have seen many people in shock from the horrors and destruction of war and that is why he composed a poem about shell shocked soldiers. He said this about his poems: â€Å"My subject is War and the pity of war† this poem is another example of this. It is apparent that Owen believed that the men are no longer human and that they are in fact called â€Å"these†. Since loosing their sanity he no longer thought that the people he saw were anything he could recognise; â€Å"Who are these?† He was obviously shocked by what he had observed. He used the word â€Å"twilight† to set an atmosphere for the rest of the poem. It shows what condition the soldiers were kept in because it was a dark area; moreover it gives the whole place a spooky and chilling aura. Owen described the physical features of the shell shocked soldiers at the beginning poem in a cruel approach. â€Å"Drooping tongues† shows the reader a visual image of a motionless man who could not control his body which meant that his tongue would fall out his mouth. Owen goes on describing the victims; â€Å"jaws that slob their relish† the reader can imagine men with their mouth’s open drooling non stop, almost as if their souls have left only to leave a body to fester. These soldiers must have looked repulsive for Owen to describe a human in this manner. It is obvious that Owen was confused by what he had seen, â€Å"Baring teeth that leer like skulls’ teeth wicked†. He could not explain in a definite sentence how these soldiers became what they were; instead he used language effects like alliteration to establish how the shell shocked soldiers behaved. â€Å"Stroke on stroke of pain† is a sibilance which slowed down the poem. It also gives a harsh sound to signify the non-stop artillery which happened in battle. The writer is telling the reader that one cannot imagine what these people were feeling. â€Å"lungs loved laughter† causes a sound of calm slurring to illustrate the groans of the mental as someone passed through them. It is a very affective approach in producing an image of motionless corpses groaning with madness. This quotation further emphasises the loss of thinking because they once enjoyed their lives only to be desecrated from war. The alliteration of â€Å"m† is used twice in â€Å"Mental Cases†: â€Å"memory†¦murders† and â€Å"multitudinous murders†. The sound which this affect produced was a murmuring noise, perhaps making the reader think that Owen was contemplating something like the beginning of a finished war. He used murders because their souls had gone and were now insane. With the quotation â€Å"heads wear this hilarious, hideous† the sound which is created from it when read out loud is one of panting and gasping. This might symbolise the noise of the shell shocked men, or even Owen was making a flashback of war on the front line with the image of a gas attack and soldiers trying to get air in their lungs. There is also an oxymoron in the sentence which shows that he was confused about why the men were in that current state of health. The most significant quotation which really makes the reader imagine what Owen would have seen is†Awful falseness of set-smiling corpses†. This image makes the reader think deeply about how much the shell shocked victims were disturbed by the war. There are many words and expressions in this poem which were chosen to make sound and also to put an image into the mind of the reader. Often these words make the flashback of the battlefield in which the men became shell shocked from. The phrase â€Å"batter of guns shatter† is an internal rhyme that gives a machine gun fire sound showing pain to the reader. The whole quotation of â€Å"Batter of guns and shatter of flying muscles† gives a sound of war description. It also portrays a very graphic incident of a person that was blown to pieces. It becomes apparent that in the second stanza that Owen is trying to work out why these men had become mentally unstable. In line fifteen he refers back to the thinking of the mental by saying; â€Å"Always they must see things and hear them†. The vital word in this sentence is â€Å"must† it shows that because of their state he thought that they always get shocked by the thought of war. The poet displays his anger in the poem; â€Å"Carnage incomparable, and human squander†. He detested the killing of lives and that included people who were no longer rational. Owen felt that if war never occurred the men â€Å"that had loved laughter† would had been healthy and young. In the last line of the second stanza he came to the conclusion of what happened to the men he had seen; â€Å"Rucked too thick for these men’s extrication†. Owen thought that the problems had gone too far, such as seeing many deaths, for the men to escape from it. The poet knew that these shell shocked men were tortured as every minute went by, â€Å"still their eyeballs shrink tormented†. In â€Å"twilight† the men could cope because there were no flashes of light to distress them, the light might have symbolised the artillery and this would have meant that they did not want to go to war ever again; â€Å"Sunlight seems a blood-smear†¦.Dawn breaks open like a wound that bleeds afresh.† The light symbolises the revisit of war for the shell shocked soldiers. Throughout the poem there are dashes in the poem such as â€Å"-These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished.† Each one of these sentences was written in a slightly different style to the rest of the poem; as if Owen was being shown round a ward full of victims of war by a doctor. In line twenty seven the poem says â€Å"Snatching after us who smote them brother†. Owen wrote this because he thought that the mad people were blaming the living (sane) for what had happened to them. In the last line it says, â€Å"Pawing us who dealt them war and madness.† This excerpt could have many meanings such as the shell shocked victims wanting revenge for those who made them turn insane. Further more, Owen is emphasising the pompous leaders as if they were the people inspecting the hospital realising what they had done. Of course, they had no idea of what â€Å"hellish† orders they â€Å"dealt† to those who fought in The Great War because they were not at th e front line. The whole idea of seeing mental people meant that Owen could not describe the situation in plain English, everything is described metaphorically. The whole impression of the mental people was that they were in a nightmare (Surreal) which they had not yet awaken from. He included the horror, pity and after effects of war to show the reader how â€Å"helpless† men could no longer cope with â€Å"Carnage incomparable† which meant that, in the end, they just broke down.

Assess the View The Modern Family Is Child Centrded Essay

Assess the view that the modern family has become more children centred. Some sociologists argue that the modern family has become more children centred. This is mainly due to the changes in laws restricting child labour and excluding children from paid work. This is because from about the 10th to the 13th century the idea of childhood did not exist. According to Aries in the middle ages childhood as a separate age-stage was short. Children entered wider society on the same terms as adults. Even the laws we have today to protect children were not applicable, the law often made no distinction between children and adults and they faced the same punishment as adults. However Aries theory can be deemed as unreliable as he used evidence from paintings and diaries to understand childhood and family life in the past. Another reason some sociologist argue that the family has become more child centred is due to the introduction of compulsory schooling for all children in 1880. This benefited mostly the poorer children as some upper class children had already been receiving education. According to Aries some elements of the modern notion of childhood gradually began to emerge from the 13th century onwards. This is because school came to specialize in the education of children. However conflict sociologists such as Marxist argue that inequalities among children of different classes still exist even if all children go to school. The opportunities and risks they face still differ as many children remain unprotected and badly cared for. The view that the modern family has become more children centred can be explained with declining family size and lower infant mortality rates.

Drugs among youth.3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Drugs among youth.3 - Essay Example ng, the methodology used by (Knyazev) is a good example because the research participants were asked to complete personality questionnaires in addition to different questions regarding their relationships with their family members and friends. Kirst, Erickson, and Strike (135) have demonstrated the characteristics of their research participants stratified by their gender. Similar approach can be adopted to stratify the characteristics of the research participants of this research by their age and gender. Hadland et al. (490) have presented the popularity of different kinds of drugs among the research participants belonging to different samples in the form of a graph. The same graph can be plotted for the causes of drug abuse and the different groups of research participants on the basis of their age and gender while presenting the results of this research. Since the data collected for this research will be analyzed and the results will be presented in the form of a blog post, tables, graphs, and charts will be used to present the results. Once the data has been collected from the research participants using the aforementioned tools, it will be analyzed with the help of SPSS Software. Recordings of the interviews priorly conducted with the research participants will be heard and their responses will be summarized under different headings, that would henceforth be referred to as variables. Using the software’s features, correlation among the variables will be found out. The variables will include both the responses of the research participants gained from the interviews and their characteristic features like age and gender as identified from the demographic survey. In addition to that, the relative importance index of the different causes of drug abuse will be identified. One the data has been analyzed, it will be presented in the form of a poster. The blog post will contain a chart showing research participants belonging to different age groups and genders, and