Effectiveness of Advertisement based on Consumers Attitudes

The success of a business does not rely only on the quality of products or services that the company offers to the market.Even though the company provides the best product or service that the customer may avail, the success of the marketers will still be based on how the company executes their marketing plans. Apparently, the strategic plans do not refer merely to the supply chain management and marketing mix.The marketers need to consider the possible impact of the products, advertisements, and competitors in penetrating the market. Since the marketplace is a wide area where the marketers, customers, and even competitors meet, it is necessary for the marketers to understand the important factors that may help the product to stay and grow in the market.Consumers’ AttitudeThere are many reasons why people purchase the products in the market. Basically, they buy products because those are part of their needs while some purchase the products for luxury alone. Regardless of the re asons of the consumers in buying the product, the target of the marketers is always to create awareness and sell the products to the target markets.The marketers should always remember that people buy a certain product to satisfy the needs which could be another complicated term for the company who would like to penetrate the market. There are three factors that may affect the behavior of the consumers in buying the product, the internal, the external, and the marketing.Internal factors refer to the knowledge, attitude, and perceptions of the consumers toward the product, personality and lifestyle of the buyer, and roles and involvement of the customers to the purchase. On the other hand, the external factors include the culture, situation, and groups where the consumers belong. Lastly, the marketing mix also plays very important part in the decision making of the customers. The last factor refers to the quality of product and service, affordability of price, and effectiveness of th e promotion to the target market.One of the most challenging parts of being a marketer is understanding the reasons of the consumers in preferring and buying the product in the store shelf. Consumer behavior refers to the disposal or use of the products and the study of how these products are purchased. Consumers purchase a certain product because of many factors which should be taken into consideration.The knowledge and strong understanding about the factors that affect the decision making of the consumers would help the marketers to reach the anticipated level of success. Apparently, the factors that affect the consumers are extremely complex making the marketers think of new concepts in order to persuade different kinds of people in different locations to buy only one brand of product in the market.The psychological influences in consumers’ behavior can easily be recognized; however, the activities that should be done by the marketers sometimes lack the ability to persuade the customers to purchase the product.   Motivation is the psychological concept that could help the marketers to improve the plan for developing and promoting the product in the marketplace.

Development of intelligence test performance Essay

Intelligence can be defined in several ways, ranging from broader definitions such as the ability to cope with life, to more specific definitions such as skill in problem-solving and reasoning. Intelligence tests are implemented by psychologists in order to assess such skills, and a quantitative measure of this intelligence is usually presented in the form of an IQ (intelligence quotient). IQ scores are the basis of much research into the development of intelligence test performance. One cultural factor which may have an affect on a child’s measured intelligence is mother love; attachments may play a part in children’s cognitive development. This hypothesis can be tested by studying children who have been separated from an attachment object (i.e. a parent), and Skeels & Dye found evidence to suggest that the formation of an attachment improves intelligence test performance. In their study, 13 of the most mentally retarded infants in an orphanage were moved to an institution for mentally retarded women, where they would form an attachment with a mildly retarded woman. Over the next four years, those who had moved had an average IQ gain of 32 points, compared with an average reduction of 21 IQ points for those who remained in the orphanage; this difference was still evident 27 years later. This study can be commended for its implications: at the time the accepted view was that IQ was constant throughout life, but the study showed that, with the right treatment, IQ can be significantly improved. Another factor in IQ development is quality of education. Schweinhart et al.’s Perry Preschool Project provides evidence for this; compared to children given no pre-school education, those who had been given quality pre-school education appeared not only to have improved IQs later in life, but they were also less likely to commit crime and drop out of high school. This finding is duplicated by Operation Headstart, which provided children from disadvantaged homes with pre-school programs. There was an average IQ gain of 10 points in the first year and, although the IQ scores returned to average levels, subsequent progress such as high school graduation was higher in those who had taken part in the project. This indicates that an increased quality of education may lead to an increase in IQ. Another cultural factor that may influence the development of measured intelligence is a child’s home environment. Bradley et al. Identified six factors, including parental involvement and the provision of play materials, which were significant in a child’s development of intelligence, and called it the HOME inventory. If the HOME score of a child was low, a child’s IQ may have declined between 10 and 20 points between the ages 1 and 3, whereas the opposite was true for those with high HOME inventory scores. This theory would be supported by Piaget and Vygotsky, the theories of both of whom suggest that the provision of age-appropriate play materials are likely to improve cognitive development. In addition, Vygotsky emphasises the role of culture in cognitive development, which is very much in line with the HOME inventory study. It may even be that diet is a cultural factor which has an influence on a child’s development of intelligence. In a study by Schà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nthaler & Bier, children who had been given vitamin-mineral supplements performed better on a non-verbal IQ test than those who had been given a placebo. This supports the idea that diet has an influence on intelligence, but it it not necessarily the case that supplements improve IQ; the researchers suggested that it was a poor diet that diminished IQ, and the improved diet restored the cognitive abilities of the children who previously had a poor diet. The idea that it is environmental cultural factors, rather than race and genetic cultural factors, that have an effect on a child’s intelligence test performance is supported by Scarr& Weinberg, who found that both white and black children, when adopted by middle-class white families, performed better on IQ tests at age 7 than the average for their respective ethnic groups. They attributed this improvement to growing up in a culture of tests and schools, and exposure to better healthcare and socialisation. However, in a follow-up study ten years later, it was found that the black children’s IQs were not notably higher than the average for their group, indicating that an upbringing in a white, middle-class home had little or no influence on their intelligence. However, this does not necessarily indicate that it is a genetic cause, since skin colour and intelligence are believed to have very different genetic structures. It may be in indirect genetic influence, in that black children raised in a white home have lower self-expectation, or that they socialise with other black children at school (which may have more of an influence than their white, middle-class home). IQ tests have, however, been heavily criticised for lacking reliability, as an IQ result from one test can vary dramatically with an IQ result from another. Additionally, they have been criticised for being culturally biased; there are many different types of thought (e.g. language, problem-solving, pattern recognition, reasoning), and some types of thought are more valued in some cultures than in others. This may extend to sub-cultural differences between people of different socioeconomic status. For example, it has often been found that black American children perform less well on IQ tests than white children, however, Serpell (1979) found that white children performed significantly less well than black children on an IQ test aimed at black Americans. This brings into question the use of IQ tests as a valid method of measuring intelligence.

Interest Group Profile Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Interest Group Profile - Assignment Example It has no board of directors, but rather Norquist makes all broad decisions on objectives, goals, finances etc. himself. The group indicates it has a state chapter in every state, but information on the structures and size of those chapters is not available publically on the group’s website. It has a number of affiliated groups, all of whom have similar low-tax goals. The most prominent of those groups include the cost of government centre, the Stop Etax group, and the Alliance for Worker Freedom, which pushes for so called â€Å"right to work† legislation that weakens union memberships. Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform have one main accomplishment, which is not legislative in nature but has shaped the state of congress for more than a decade. This is called the â€Å"Taxpayer Protection Pledge† – which essentially amounts to a declaration that a Congressperson is asked to sign, indicating that they will never, regardless of circumstances, rais e taxes in any way (meaning, broadly speaking, that they will not allow the government to raise more revenue, so if loopholes are closed then tax rates must be lowered an appropriate amount). To date, every single Republican member of congress has signed this pledge, and it has shaped public policy debate for years, especially in the last four years since Barack Obama was elected as president. It has also pushed the Republican party rightwards historically, as any Republican who refused to sign the pledge would face a primary challenge from someone who would. Though this is not legally binding (obviously), the pledge has provided serious trouble to some politicians in the current environment, when a majority of Americans agree that taxes should be raised on the wealthy. They either have to demonstrate that they do not hold to their election promises, making their chances for re-nomination or re-election much more difficult, or must continue to hold to a pledge that is growing increa singly unpopular and could even mean not doing what they think is right given the circumstances in the economy at the moment. Americans for Tax Reform is structured as a non-for-profit and thus does not have a Super PAC but rather has a 501(c)(4), a separate kind of entity that focuses on â€Å"issue ads† and does not have to disclose its donor roles. It has spent somewhere in the range of the tens of millions of dollars, all of which went to supporting Republican candidates or opposing Democratic ones. It is interesting to note that this group also spends a great deal of money in pushing for particular candidates during Republican primaries, seemingly trying to select the most anti-tax, conservative leaning politician. This non-for-profit technically does not even list itself as a lobbyist, because it does not actively lobby members of congress, rather, it focuses on pushing them to sign pledges before being elected into office. It has, in general, been one of the greatest f orces pushing the country rightwards since 1985, a date from which, it is

Big Data Analytics Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Big Data Analytics - Literature review Example â€Å"Big Data† as its name indicates is a collection of huge amounts of formless and meaningless data which are generated by high-quality and heavy software applications belonging to a varied group of software applications such as social networks, a wide variety of scientific computing applications, medical information systems, e-government applications, and many more. The research has shown that data that is used and processed by these different software applications share some common attributes. Some of these common characteristics can include large-scale data (which defines the distribution and size of data stores), scalability issues (it define the functionalities and features software applications processing across-the-board, huge data repositories such as big data), ensuring and maintaining advanced Extraction-Transformation-Loading (ETL) processing on low-level, unstructured and meaningless data to some extent meaningful information; designing and implementing straight forward and understandable analytics over big data stores with the purpose of attaining intelligence and extracting valuable facts and information from them. Additionally, in the past few years, analytics over big data stores has caught the attention of researchers and organizations. In addition, the research has shown various application areas where these analytics can play a significant role. In this scenario, scientific computing is believed to be one of the most important application areas for the reason than in this domain academic researchers and scientific create huge amounts of data every day in the results of their experiments and tests (for instance consider fields such as astronomy, high-energy physics, biomedicine, biology and many others). On the other hand, extracting valuable information and knowledge for different useful tasks on the basis of these huge, comprehensive data stores seems to be impracticable for common database management systems and other similar analy sis tools (Cuzzocrea, Song, & Davis, 2011; Lopez, 2012). Figure 1Big Data Process In this scenario, figure1 demonstrates the process of big data analytics. First of all data is collected from different sources. As discussed above these sources vary from social networks to different information systems and web applications. Hence, the size of this data is so huge that it is difficult to measure. In this scenario, understanding and using this data for useful tasks is almost impossible. Therefore, there is a need for a framework that could help users understand and make effective use of this data. For this purpose, there are a number of frameworks and users can select a suitable framework according to their needs and requirements. After selecting a framework, this framework is applied to data and some coding is done. After that the users can obtain results that they can use to drive decisions and perform the desired operations (Fisher, DeLine, Czerwinski, & Drucker, 2012; Lopez, 2012). Though, the term â€Å"big data† is used in different ways in different disciplines. However, in their paper (Chaudhuri, 2012) define some common characteristics of the big data idea as they have to do with analytics: Investigating unstructured data and text to determine if these sources can

Law Cases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Law Cases - Essay Example Additionally, it questions if limiting specific conduct, can be due to an opinion that is unpopular. South Carolina Supreme Court decision was that the state had no power to arrest and charge the demonstrators totally based on the opinions they were expressing. The court indicated that the defendants were convicted of an offense that was general in nature and not of exact definition. The Supreme Court thus reversed the decision of the State Trial Court. Due to lack of hostility on the side of demonstrators as well as spectators in addition to lack of clear evidence that the traffic flow was disturbed by the demonstrators made the Supreme Court to reverse the decision. According to the Supreme Court, the state suppressed the demonstrator’s freedom of speech. The case involved Florida A&M students who demonstrated in a non-public drive near a jailhouse premises. Despite being warned by the sheriff, they continued with the demonstrations leading to the arrest of 107 students. After being convicted by Florida Circuit Court as well as the District Court of Appeals, the petitioners indicated that they were denied fourteenth amendments rights. The major issue in this case is to determine whether or not the students had the right to engage in a demonstration on non-public premises. Another issue was to determine whether the jailhouse is included in the category of public office. According to the Supreme Court, the drives as well as the jailhouse premises are not in the category of public property. Since the petitioners had no intention of seeking service from the jail the abatement argument was dismissed. During the hearing, violation of constitutional rights was not perceived to have an impact on the case. During this case, the reasoning was that the state has the right to enforce its rules to protect the ground that is private. There lacked recorded evidence

Databases Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Databases - Coursework Example Relational databases use specific integrity rules to facilitate accurate collection of data and to make that data accessible. Firstly, the rows in a relational database must all be unique. In case of duplicate rows problems can crop up when resolving which of the two likely selections is the right one. For most DBMSs (databases management systems) users are able to specify that duplicate rows are not permitted, and when that is done the DBMS will block the addition of any rows that are identical to an existing one. Another integrity rule of relational databases is that column values should not be repeating arrays or groups. The third involves the logic of a null value. A database handles situations where information may not be available by employing a null value to show that a value is absent (Pathak, 2008). It is not equal to a blank or zero; a blank is equal to another blank and a zero is only equal to another zero. Two null values are not equal. When each row in a table is unique, it is possible to use one or more columns to mark a specific row. This distinct column or group of columns is referred to as a primary key. Any column that forms a primary key cannot be null; in any case it were the primary key which it is a part of would cease to be a complete identifier. This rule is known as entity integrity. Relational databases can greatly enhance the quality control and accessibility to organizations’ sensitive and valuable information materials. It can contribute towards a competitive edge by facilitating business analysis that can help to determine methods of improving products and services (Pathak, 2008). In comparison to non-relational database settings, relational databases are more flexible hence easily adapt to dynamic business needs. In addition, unlimited access to sensitive data means better data for more effective decision-making. Relational databases can also have a huge positive impact on numerous MIS

Digital Audio Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Digital Audio - Research Paper Example By 1937, British scientist Alec Reeves invented and patented the Pulse Code Modulation (PCM). The digital revolution has also been pushed forward by the advent of cheap and powerful computational devices. We must also keep in mind the immense contribution of the military in any great leap in technology. The First World War brought in electricity and vacuum tubes. By the Second World War, solid state electronics were invented and this is the first impetus in bringing in the era of miniaturization and power. By 1950s and 1960s, computers were developed and used by the military to build the World Wide Web, which later on in the 1990s were made available to the average consumer. In 1957, Max Matthews of The Bell Laboratory demonstrated how to record sound digitally using computer. The digital recording process consists essentially of an Analogue to Digital conversion. This is achieved by chopping up the signal into small intervals at a rate at least twice the highest perceivable frequenc y. Each part of the sample is then coded using binary numbering system and recorded as pulses. The earlier experiments were done using tape as a storage medium but later discs replaced them. They had a higher density. In chopping up the signal at the rate of 44.1 KHz (in case of ACDs), the amplitude of each part of the waveform sampled is expressed as a binary number containing the equivalent of a combination of 16- zeroes and ones (if 16 Bit quantization is used as in ACDs) or any lower number depending upon the system. This means that the amplitude of this small part of the signal sampled can be expressed in as many as 16 to the power 16 or 65,536 increments. Such a high number of increments to describe a small part of the signal required fast recording density and speed. Therefore video tape recorders were used to record digitally converted audio signal. Discs carrying video frequencies were made to rotate up to 1800 rpm and between 150 and 400 rpm for audio programs. To record a full album digitally, we had to wait until 1976. The first ever 16 bit digital recording was made by Dr. Stockham of Soundstream using a Soundstream Recorder in the U.S. Santa Fe Opera. Sony introduced its flagship D/A converter the PCM 1 in the same year. Now digital recording was in the hands of anyone who can afford the machine and hook it up with an existing VHS VCR to convert it into a digital recorder. In 1979, the first fully digital album was released by Ry Cooder: â€Å"Bop till you Drop†. It was recorded using a 32 track digital multi-track recorder built by 3M. In 1980, Sony and Philips announced the arrival of Audio Compact Disc. The possibility of easy and lossless distribution of high quality digital audio content finally brought in the first waves of the digital boom. In the sphere of studio systems, during 1985, there were only three models of Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) available and only two of them were disk based systems. Audio File from AMS and Dire ct to Disc by NED, were the only two options the third by Denon was the DN 052 ED. But in the years immediately after this, the Digital Audio Workstations were the order of the day for any studios. 3M, Sony, Mitsubishi and Studer introduced their own versions of the DAW. By 1986, the digital consoles started coming in and RDAT was introduced in Japan, making it possible to make digital replicas of recordings easily. If CD was to replace the LP, RDAT was supposed to replace

Professional and research skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Professional and research skills - Essay Example Further, it has been stated that with reference to various past studies that vibration, visual and auditory can help improve gait in Parkinson disease patients. As references from some other relevant studies have also been provided to evidenced the fact that vibratory stimulation can bring positive changes in gait impairment among patients of all age group (Winfree, et al. 2012). This study particularly focuses on effectiveness of vibratory shoes specifically designed for Parkinson patients to have gait free movement. From the introduction of the study it has been noticed that researchers have not explicitly defined impairment Parkinson patients suffer and how they aim to improve that impairment with the use of PD shoes. This point is noticeable, as other studies such as a research entitled as "A Training Program to Improve Gait While Dual Tasking in Patients with Parkinson’s disease: A Pilot Study", by Yogev-Seligmann, et al. (2012), defined that impairment include an ability of a person to walk to improper movement and an inability to manage other tasks while walking, which creased risk of falling. This research study is unlike many other qualitative studies as next heading of the research paper is not followed by adopted method or methodology, but authors present design of the shoes they have introduced. However, in this study researchers have discussed that for designing desirable shoes prototype components were used and microprocessor platform is used for rapid development platform, but why researchers have preferred elastic nature of the shoes has not been reasoned (Winfree, et al. 2012). Although, researchers have not discussed method of data collection and those sources that could prove the construction of shoes of suitable for gait impairment. However, the way researchers have discussed each feature of PD shoes is commendable. Authors have discussed design and functioning of the shoes under separate headings. First heading

Battle between operating systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Battle between operating systems - Essay Example (White, 2011) Fast forward 5 years and we witnessed the release of the iPhone 4S in October last year, with cumulative sales in excess of 183 million units. Currently Apple holds 15% market share globally. The latest model of the iPhone is the 4S which is essentially looks the same as the previous model the iPhone4 (released June’10) but feature wise is much more powerful. The 4S has the better A9 1 GHz dual core processor compared to the single core A8 processor, an improved camera, 8mp over 5 mp, and a natural voice command service called the Siri. The 4S also features the capability to record video in 1080p FullHD quality, compared to the 720p HD quality of the iPhone 4. iPhone 5 is still under development and the rumor mill is running high regarding the design and specs of the new gadget. (GSMArena Team, 2011) Coming to the iPhone iOS, it offers a user experience which creates ‘sticky’ customers i.e. they find it difficult to switch to other companies. With propriety services such as Siri, iCloud and iMessage along with an access to iTunes and the AppStore, the iPhone users have now become a bunch of dedicated loyal customers accustomed to the particular interface which the others do not offer. Furthermore with the presence of other products such as the iPad, iPod, Mac and Apple TV, Apple is trying hard to integrate them as much as possible. This will further help in retaining customers. As far as the support services are concerned, Apple provides an online support service to tackle with any technical problems, other than that there is the option of checking the online forums for support, as there is a dedicated number of online users ready to provide assistance to others. The reason why Apple may succeed in the battle of the OS is because it has a loyal number of consumer base available to them. The iOS has now become synonymous with ease of use and customer

College Development Essay Example for Free

College Development Essay Residential life is part of almost every college or university. When most people think about residential life, they think of dorms and roommates; however, residential life is much more. The organizations are mostly divided into three units that make it all work: residence life programs, housing operations, and room assignments. (College and university,) Residence life is one of the major parts of a student’s environment. They only spend about twenty percent of their time in classrooms, as they spend most of their free time in housing. Residential life helps students to develop as young adults and future leaders. â€Å"The purpose of residence life programs is to provide educational programming, nonclinical counseling, and support for student learning†. (College and university,) People who are employed in residential programs mostly focus on improving student life and its safety, which helps to develop communication skills among people and also increase personal growth among student peers. The second unit of resident life is housing operations; they deal with daily tasks such as cleanliness, construction, and management. In a residential setting, is important to keep the environment clean and the buildings running properly in order for the community to work. The last unit of residential life is room assignments, in which finding the best-fit roommate is the most important. This area of residential life is designated to make room changes and monitor the occupancy of other housings. If there is a situation where problem occurs among roommates, the roommate assignment staff tries to find the best solution to find a resolution. Although it is often not realized, Residential Life is a big part of student life as it is a major factor in shaping a student’s experience in the institution. To ensure that residential life is at its best, the institution hires educated and professional staff. Almost every floor in each dorm has a residential assistant, who is responsible for maintaining a positive environment and be there for students if they are having a hard time adjusting. Residential assistants also welcome the students back to their dorms and inform students about upcoming activities and clubs. At the beginning of the school year, the RA creates a Facebook page for the people that they are responsible for and have group meetings to discuss issues and regulations. This helps new students feel welcome in their dorm and creates an environment where students can interact with other people in their dorms. Most dorms also have residence directors or graduate assistance. â€Å"Their responsibilities usually include staff development of their RAs, student counseling, educational programming, enforcement of institutional policies in the residence halls, and may also include other functions such as academic advising, intramural sports adviser, and facilities management†. (â€Å"College and university,) If the RA cannot deal with a problem, they report to residence director or graduate assistance, depending on who is available to their building. The staff goes through training to make sure that every need of a student is met. â€Å"There is a strong need for well-qualified, educated, and trained entry-lever live-in professional staff in campus residence halls to support and achieve the academic and educational goals of the institution† (Belch, Wilson Dunkel). It is important for students to be engaged and connected to school spirit, as it is more likely that they will remain in that institution. (Brooks). Each institution wants to give the best experience and education possible to their students. The person that oversees the Residential Assistants, Residential Directors, and Graduate Assistances is the Assistant Director of Residential Life. Keyne Cahoon is the Assistant Director of residential Life at Northeastern University and has many tasks during the day that keep her busy: â€Å"My primary responsibility is to directly supervise 5, 2 GAs, and indirectly supervise approximately 50 RAs. Additionally, I am responsible for the overall administration of the residential student conduct process (so I work with OSCCR to review and assign cases where residential student are involved), I am in charge of the professional staff recruitment and selection process (so I recruit and coordinate the process to hire all RDs and Assistant Directors of Residential Life), and I serve as a core team member of We Care†. (Cahoon, 2013) Being an Assistant Director of Residential Life is more than just dealing with housing situations. It involves a lot of communication among co-workers, documentations, and solving sometimes-unrealistic problems. Keyne Cahoon enjoys this challenge: â€Å"I enjoy students’ energy and excitement. I enjoy helping them figure out a problem and helping them solve it themselves†. (Cahoon, 2013) She is really involved in the community and enjoys every second of it. She finds her job very interesting and her passion makes her job a hobby. The only person who oversees her work is Brie McCormick, the Associate Director of Residential Life. She supervises the Assistant Director of Residential Life and deals with a lot of day-to-day issues for the department as a whole. The Associate Dean of Cultural, Residential Spiritual Life of Northeastern University is Robert Jose. He represents the Residential life as a whole unit. The theories that Residential Life uses are theories of organizations and campus environments, typology theories and models, and student success theories. All of these theories have the main focus to improve on student life outside of the classroom. Residential Life aims to provide complex learning by giving students the opportunities to make friends, be part of a groups or a clubs, play a sports, and much more. Living in dorms teaches them how to deal with every day situations in classrooms or outside. Students will be able to be â€Å"able to apply acquired knowledge to everyday situations, able to communicate clearly and effectively, acts responsibly to others, is civic minded, understands and appreciates those of other nationalities and cultures, is self-aware, and has a sense of connectedness to the university†. (Brooks) Living in the dorms helps students prepare for life after college or university and enables them to apply the things they have learned to a variety of situations. References Belch, H. A. , Wilson, M. E. , Dunkel, N. (n. d. ). Cultures of success:recruiting and retaining new live-in residence life professionals. The College Student Affairs Journal, 27(2), 176-193. Brooks, S. E. (n. d. ). The connection between residence life and first-year student retention at the university of Pittsburgh. The Journal of College and University Student Housing, 37(1), 12-23. College and university residence halls purpose of residence halls, organization and administration, residence hall staffing, residence hall student government read more: College and university residence halls purpose of residence halls, organization and administration, residence hall staffing, residence hall student government. (n. d. ). Retrieved from.

Peer Group Relationships in Age Groups

Peer Group Relationships in Age Groups In the media, peer groups are made out to be the bad kids around the back gates at school they are publicised as those who make teenagers take up smoking, drugs and underage drinking but is this reality or the media hand picking out the sections to make a story? During this dissertation, I will look at what age peer groups are most influential; when are they a negative influence and at what age people most depend on their peer group. I chose this topic as it is an area of interest and relates to my psychology studies, I want to pursue this further at university and it will give me a deeper understanding in psychology and my prior knowledge will give me an advantage. This topic covers both psychology and sociology which will give me an insight to a new area as well as Furthering Pre-Knowledge. I will use many different resources during this essay including the internet, books, journals and e-resources; I will keep a bibliography of all references as well as in text citations. So, what defines a peer group? Collins English Dictionary puts it nicely as a social group composed of individuals of approximately the same age, whereas The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy adds a little extra by explaining it is a group of people who share certain social characteristics, such as age, class, occupation, or education, and interact on a level of equality. An individual may be a member of several peer groups, including friends, schoolmates, and co-workers. By looking into the effects of peer groups and their importance on different ages, I will be able to see whether all they are important for is making teenagers go down the wrong road, or whether their uses start at a much earlier age and are crucial to our development, new views show that a childs early relationships have a large effect on later growth and development. During this dissertation I will look at both sides to determine the age when peer groups are at their most influential and fundamental toward people focussing on the differences between peer groups in young children and those in adolescence. Peer Age Relationships Some believe that peer groups are a great participating factor in building our cognitive development; others think it lures teenagers into a detrimental environment. Edwards (1992) said, the increasing use of preschools, organized playgroups, and child care arrangements has brought the age of access to peer relations down near the beginning of life (p.197) whereas Erwin (1998) said, childrens earliest relationships are normally with the primary caregiver, usually the mother, and the rest of the immediate family. Edwards believes that peer groups are fundamental from the very early stage of pre-school to gain the ability to succeed in life, whereas Erwin believes young peer relationships are only with immediate family and do not strengthen until adolescence. How are peer groups defined in both young childhood and adolescence? By establishing this, I can look deeper into the two age categories and delve into how peer groups affect children in these groups and the use of their peer gr oup. Young Children Some theorists, such as Bowlby, Freud and Rutter suggest that early childhood is a sensitive period in life for social development; they also believe that certain types of peer experiences during this period can have an impact on the childrens later behaviour. Theorists such as Berndt, Hoyle and Bulowski theorize that one of the most influential factors that could have an effect on the stability of friendships is the initial quality of the friendship. Accordingly, friendships that have a positive, solid foundation will be more likely to withstand the test of time compared to friendships based on more negative attributes (e.g. mutual aggression, control) (Human behaviour, 2011). Young Children Infants People usually think that infants are not old enough to understand peers and they show no preference to people, many parents believe this is their only chance to hand pick their childs friends, but typically, infants orient toward peers by 2 months of age, make simple gestures by 3 to 4 months, and direct smiles and vocalizations to peers by 6 months, meaning that infants are aware of their peers and can distinguish and make decision, they are just more subtle at this age (Vincze, 1971). Among infants and toddlers, friendship has often been defined in terms of peer familiarity, consistency of interactions between the partners, and/or the mutual display of positive affect, sharing, and plays. For example, in research conducted by Howes (1983), dyads were considering friends if: at least 50% of their social initiations resulted in social interaction (mutual preference) one or more exchanges of positive affect occurred between partners (mutual enjoyment) One or more episodes of reciprocal or complementary play occurred between partners Howes found that 60% of toddler friends sustained their relationship over a period of months, and in 1992, Howes reported that toddlers friendships (particularly cross-gender friendships) often lasted well into the pre-school years. As said earlier, Erwin (1998) disagrees with this research and believes childrens earliest relationships are normally with the primary caregiver usually the mother and the rest of the immediate family. During the first two years of life, infants do not spontaneously seek out other children for interaction or for pleasure, even though six month old infants may look at and vocalize to other infants, they do not initiate reciprocal social play with each other (Human behaviour, 2011). Ross (1990) has shown that toddlers peer relationships are unique, in the sense that both partners tend to adjust their interactions they conduct with each other, and interact in ways that are different from the ways they treat other children (Young childrens peer relations and social competence, handbook of research on the education of young children, 2006). Young Children Pre School Years Vandell Mueller (1980) think that by as early as 2 years old, children prefer certain peers over others as play partners. Between two and five years of age, childrens interactions with each other become more sustained, social and complex. Solitary play is dominant among three year olds, but this strategy shifts to group play by five years (Human behaviour, 2011). It has been theorized by Howes (1992) that at this age, children have a level of emotional maturity to a degree that enables them to form close ties with their peers. Because pre-schoolers are better able to conceptualize, reflect on, and describe their friendships when they are at this age when compared to infants and toddlers, researchers have been able to use childrens self-reports to assess friendships (Price Ladd, 1986), although other theorists would argue that although they have a better understanding of their friendships, they still havent reached a full awareness of their peers and therefore you cannot rely on sel f-reports from 2 year olds, although, by the second and third years, toddlers begin to engage in more sophisticated forms of games and repricol play which shows that they are gaining peer awareness. The significance of peer relationships increase and change with age, peer relationships become increasingly stable, intimate and personally significant by 3 years, children usually have 22 contacts and Erwin (1998) believes children start to use the term best friend from the age of 4 and Hayes (1978) also found that preschool children could not only name their best friends they could also articulate reasons for liking them. Adolescence Adolescence is generally the term used for teenagers, the time when children are going through the most changes including puberty. It can be broken up into three sub categories, early (11-13 years); middle (14-18 years); and Late adolescence (19-24 years). The adolescent years have traditionally been treated (and still are by many authors) as an area of interest distinct from the rest of childhood (Erwin 1998). The sociology of adolescence has been dominated by a social problems approach that is, basic research has centred on those phenomena which appear to characterize adolescence as a period of individual crises (Credo reference, 26th Feb 2011). Relationships during this era have often been examined as entities separate from and largely discontinuous with those that went before, despite the glaring obvious proposition that the groundwork for transition in adolescence must have been laid in childhood (Coleman, 1995). During adolescence, peer relationships become more important and influential than parent relations. Early Adolescence Social relations are organized around the peer group rather than families or individual friends. (Credo reference, 22nd Feb 2011). The rapid growth of the teenage population as experienced in the 1990s has led to a rise in adolescent peer groups simply because the sheer increase in the number of peers that young people have has increased. (Steinberg, 1996). As the importance of the family in the adolescents life declines, whether it is from a divorce or from normal growth, friends move to the forefront. Friends are usually peers, that is, people of the same age, with similar backgrounds and interests. Peer group membership answers adolescents concerns about many things including their changing bodies. Discussing their fears with other young people experiencing similar physical changes and asking similar questions about their impact helps adolescents to accept their physical development. In several ways, the group reassures the individuals that they are acceptable and not abnormal. Pe er groups can help adolescents accept their physical development by devising means to hide it. Body differences appear less different when people dress alike. Each group has its own look, from sophisticated dressy, to designer labels, to ratty jeans and T-shirts, to whatever is handy. Each group presents an identifiable image through a style of dressing that clearly states what is acceptable. (Kaplan, 1993). Acknowledging that by early adolescence, peer groups have a significant influence on childrens behaviour Middle Adolescence Peer pressure is heightened during this stage and is mainly seen as a negative influence that provokes behaviour such as underage drinking and sex. Some researchers believe the children in this stage which are part of the in crowd are more susceptible to peer pressure than those who friends with peers who are kind, nice and well-liked (Science daily, 23rd Feb 2011). In a contemporary society, peer groups have become an increasingly important context in which adolescents spend time. Modernization has led to more and more age segregation-in schools, in the workplace, and in the community. Todays teenagers spend far more time in the exclusive company of their peers than their counterparts did in the past (Steinberg, 1996). Becoming a peer group member meets many adolescent concerns about social expectations as well. Late Adolescence Many teens try to balance school work with part-time jobs, dating and other activities. Todays teens also deal with an uncertain national economy, violence, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases. With all this, teens lack the experience and the coping and problem-solving skills that would help them make good decisions about handling these stresses. Without such skills and given the almost complete absence of their families support, teens are at the mercy of their friends immature ideas about how to solve problems (Kaplan, 1993). Young people need to develop independence from their parents. They need to learn decision-making skills, to act on their own and learn to live with the consequences. But young teenagers find these goals confusing and the ways of achieving them even more so. They feel dependent on their parents because they privately know that they lack the confidence and the skills to succeed in the outside world alone. Adolescents, however, deeply resent this need an d view it as a sign of weakness, often covering up with arguments and impulsive behaviour (Kaplan 1993). Development Young Children Peer groups can have an effect on a young childs sense of well-being and belonging which are increasingly important concerns as education and child care settings have become a significant role in childrens daily lives throughout the world. Child rearing is acknowledged as a collaborative endeavour between families and early childhood education and care institutions (OECD 2006). Peer relations are high priority because of the fun and pleasure a child will get from being in the company of other children, which is most evident in play. Non-parental early childhood arrangements have proliferated because parents need to be employed and cannot simultaneously care for their children. Although, throughout the 21st century, these arrangements of early childhood care are seen as a means of enrichment for the child to help establish their developmental needs by meeting new people and other children to gain dependence from their parents and that is where peer groups start to enhance a child from one of the earliest stages in our lives. These adaptations have created the need for early years practitioners to think and act in new ways to help establish this development. Positive attachment relationships with caregivers influence childrens formation of positive relationships with peers and children who are in less conflict with peers are more likely to form positive relationships with caregivers (Howes, 2008). Interactions with peers (meaning other children) develop through multiple and recursive interactive experiences which are well scripted social exchanges that are repeated many times with only slight variation (Bretherton, 1985). From this, the child forms an internal representation of a relationship with a playmate, and from those playmate relationships friendships could evolve children who engage in repeated and complex interactions with a given playmate are more likely to represent the partner as a friend and the content of these interactions will influence the quality of the resulting friendship (Kernan, 2010). Factors affecting peer development A childs participation in peer activities and their social ability relies on a number of contributing factors which can either have a positive effect on their ability to create new peers. Relationships with caregivers As mentioned earlier, children who have strong attachments to their primary caregiver are concurrently and longitudinally more socially competent with peers even when controlling for parental attachment quality (Howes 1999; Pianta et al 2002). We sometimes incorrectly assume this is because sociable children from good relationships with all people, peers and caregivers. However, in order to master peer relationships the child needs to be able to explore and experiment with peers whilst making forays back to a trusted adult, if a child feels valued and supported they are more likely to make these steps and form stronger relationships, but those children who dont form a relationship with their caregiver are more susceptible to pick fights, refuse to let somebody play or hide from a bully as they dont believe they have the support of the adult (Kernan, 2010). In the introduction, it was mentioned that the first peer relationship a child makes is with their primary caregiver, whether thi s is with their mother, father, or teacher it is essential that children create the strongest bond possible with this figure in order to have the confidence to establish new bonds with other people including other adults and children their own age. When children are new to peer groups they dont know the games or the players which puts them at a risk of exclusion or withdrawing from already formed groups, this makes them miss the opportunity to play with others and develop new social interaction skills with other peers. This makes the time when a child enters a new environment such as a classroom an important setting for the development of peer relations. Setting A childs setting is a main contribution to their social development, for example, imagine a classroom setting in which most of the interactions were harmonious and respectful, in which children and adults worked together on projects, in which a child who was distressed or frustrated was comforted and helped, and in which laughter and other expressions of positive affect predominated. Contrast this with a classroom setting in which children were ridiculed for being different, talked to and touched in a harsh rejecting manner, competed rather than helped each other, and the general tone included mistrust and anger. We can imagine that the social development of children would take two different paths in these two extremes. Because encounters with peers become experiences of living within a group for the child, it is impossible to understand the social development of a child as isolated from the group (Kernan, 2010). Time and permission The main place where child to child relations are made are during play, which means the caregiver must create an environment that values play so they can have the physical space, materials and encouragement to pretend and play together. If a child is playing with another child and this is interrupted and they are separated, it may result in the children thinking it wasnt allowed, so it is essential that this importance doesnt fade into the background. Howes and Wishard (2004) say that the amount of time children engage in complex pretend play has decreased over the 20 years they have been observing in local programmes. This decrease is consistent with anecdotal reports that programmes are providing relatively little unstructured time for children to play. Without the time and permission to have play with other children, this could have a negative effect on a childs social and peer building skills. Strategies focussed on peer building The Government published its first national play strategy, earmarking  £235 million to: Make sure that every residential area has a variety of high-quality places for all children to play safely and free of charge à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ as a direct response to demands from children, young people and their families for better play facilities. (Department for Children, Schools and Families, 2008) This strategy will help to raise awareness for the profile of plays importance in childrens development, and people from all background have access to this funding. Although, despite the 2004 Children Acts statutory duty for government bodies to take into account the views of children when planning services, there is little evidence of this in this play strategy. 9 000 children were involved in the consultation of the strategy, but this was done online and the ages of the children were not given, and it is highly unlikely that the younger children who will be most affected by the scheme would have been part of this consultation. There were 42 800 respondents aged 19 and under that gave their opinions about services in the areas in which they lived, although this may be applauded, the views of the local population of more than 130 000 children from birth to seven years making up 39 per cent of those 19 and under were not surveyed. The BIG lottery fund is a grant making non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom created by the Government to administer funding to suitable causes following the creation of the National Lottery. This organisation decided to give  £155 million to Childrens Play initiative which was based on the recommendations of the 2004 play review Getting Serious About Play which defined play as what children and young people do when they follow their own ideas, in their own way and for their own reasons the report also mentioned how play was a key factor in development for a childs social wellbeing and their ability to form peers both early and late in life (2004). When the programme finished, 90% of Local Authorities reported that the programme had raised the profile of play, 48%of portfolios said BIG funding had helped them to secure extra funds and unexpected outcomes achieved included enhanced parental engagement, increased social and community cohesion (BIG lottery fund, 2006) There are also courses available for those to study child development and play to help enhance the social skills of children and so those primary caregivers like nursery nurses will now have a bigger insight into exactly what a child needs and how to achieve that to help them gain the skills needed to have the confidence to build more relationships when they advance to the older stages and have to gain ore peer relationships. Northumbria University currently have 12 courses available for early years, these include early years and disability studies to learning in families, schools and beyond. Most of these courses contain topics related to play and child development. The development of courses and funding which is now available shows how early childhood has become more recognisable as a major stepping stone in the formation of peer groups and their ability to give us fundamental skills we will recall on later in life. Peer Pressure Adolescence Most commonly, peer pressure is seen as the time in our lives when peers have the most influence over us Google will bring up over 3 million results for the search peer pressure. There are links including ways to deal with peer pressure, definitions and past newspaper articles that are related to peer pressure. 9 out of 10 teenagers will give in to peer pressure whether it is simply wearing similar clothes or under age alcohol and sex. Peer pressure can have a devastating effect on those in adolescence but it also beneficial by getting a teenager to do something they want to, but just dont have the courage or confidence for. Positive effects of peer pressure Friendship Amongst peers, teenagers will find friendships and acceptance and share experiences with these other teenagers that will build lasting bonds. Adolescence is a tough time of a persons life, you go through puberty start new schools and have exams and have to make some life changing decisions, having friends around you whilst going through this stage can have a positive effect on you. Studies such as the Effects of Friendship on Adolescents Self-Esteem by Thomas J Berndt and Keunho Keefe show that friends can build self esteem and bring out the confidence in people. When in a strange environment, it has been proven that when accompanied by a friend, your heart rate lowers. Positive Examples Peers can set good examples for each others. Having peers who are committed to doing well in school or to doing their best in a sport can influence a person to also be more goal-oriented. The same applies for peers who are kind and loyal which can influence them to build these qualities in themselves. Peers do not have to be somebody you know, for example watching Tom Daley diving at the Olympics could encourage another person to aspire to be like Tom. A teenager is more likely to copy somebody their own age than somebody older, so having a positive role model from the same age group (e.g. Taylor Swift for singing) is a type of peer pressure than can have a positive effect on somebody. Feedback and advice Adolescents are going to listen their peers, who can give them advice and feedback on trying new ideas explore beliefs and discus problems. They can help them to make decisions such as what courses to take, what haircut to get and issues such as how to deal with family arguments. This advice could help a teen through a rough patch and help them make life changing decisions for the better. It can encourage them to try new things, for example joining the school gym or art club. Socializing Peer groups give opportunities to people to try out new social skills, allows people to get involved with others friends of friends so to speak and gives them a chance to expand their circle of friends. Peers can help each other to build relationships or to work out issues. Encouragement Peers can encourage other peers to work hard to hit specific targets, such as getting a solo in the school concert or they can encourage you to study and aim high for your exams as well as listen and support them when they are upset or troubled and they can empathize with each other when they have experienced similar difficult situations. New experiences Some teens could be involved in clubs, sports or religious groups and they could help other teens to get involved in these too, helping them to gain new experiences, new likes and dislikes. Negative effects of peer pressure Although there are positive effects to having peers in adolescence, there are also negatives and a lot of stresses which can come from peers during this age. They can pressure people into doing something they are uncomfortable with such as shoplifting or doing drugs. These pressures can be expressed openly for example have a drink, its only one drink, everybody else is doing it or it could be more indirectly by simply providing alcohol at a party. But most peer pressure is much more subtle, without talking, a peer could let somebody know how they must dress, talk or the attitudes they should have towards school, parents and teachers in order to win their approval. This pressure to conform can be much more powerful than the more direct pressure; they dont want to look awkward or uncomfortable, so when unsure of what to do in a situation, they naturally look to others for cues about what is and what isnt acceptable. Drugs Peer influences have been found to be amongst the strongest predictors of drug use during adolescence. It has been argued that peers initiate drug use by providing, modelling and shaping attitudes to drugs. There was a study done by Farrell and White to determine how much peer pressure affected adolescent drug use, they included factors such as family are you more likely to conform with drug users if you were from a single parent family, no father or lived with a step parent. The results showed that although those who were living without a father figure were more likely to participate in drug use, it could not outweigh the strong relations between peer variables and the frequency of drug use found within the study, which replicates the findings of previous studies that have also found peer variables to be amongst the strongest predictors of adolescents drug use. Although, drugs are not just marijuana or heroin and other types of really bad illegal substances, drugs also include alco hol and cigarettes. Underage drinking is one of the leading causes of teenage death it makes you think irrationally, drink and drive or even binge drink until you are unconscious; all of these effects of alcohol usage increase the chances of ending up in hospital or six feet under. Although, peer pressure is not the only factor leading to underage drinking, there are other influences such as relationships with parents, parental or sibling drinking and the media. Underage smoking is a common peer pressure problem; someone who starts smoking at the age of 15 is three times more likely to die due to cancer than someone who started in their late twenties. According to a two year study by Carlos Bolanos, teenage smoking can lead to depression in adulthood. Teenagers are 80% more likely to try smoking underage if their friends and family also smoke; this is an immense amount of peer pressure to put onto an adolescent. Sex Many teens particular males feel the pressure to have sex before they are ready. According to research 63% of teens believe that waiting is a good idea, but few of those actually do wait. 1 in 3 boys aged 15-17 feel the pressure to have sex, often from their male friends, whereas only 23% of females within the same age range say that they feel the same pressure. This factor is what is making schools rethink about the delivery of sex education, and the need to introduce sex education at a much younger age. Although, there are other contributing factors such sexually transmitted diseases and the rise in teenage pregnancy, reports in 2003 showed that 1 in 7 sexually active 14 year olds have been pregnant, the report did not say whether they had continued with the pregnancy. (Colin, 2003) Conclusion

Violence As A Social Problem Essay -- essays research papers

Violence is a social problem that increases over the years. Violence is not so much shown in magazines and books as it is on television and the media. This does not mean that violence on television is the only source for aggressive or violent behavior, but it is a significant contributor. Children can also pick up violence from a parent or guardian at an early age. Peers are important in a child’s life. It has been psychologically proven that males are more aggressive than females. Therefore, if a child’s peers are being aggressive, their actions tend to be imitated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American children watch an average of three to four hours of television daily, which can be a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior. Hundreds of studies of the effects of media violence on children have found that children may gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems, imitate the violence they observe on television and identify with certain characters, victims or victimizers. Parents can protect their children from excessive television violence by paying attention to the programs their children are watching and restricting them from shows known to be violent, pointing out what is wrong with the program. Another solution to this problem is to explain that the actor has not actually been hurt or killed and such violence in real life results in pain or death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children are not born understanding the difference ... Violence As A Social Problem Essay -- essays research papers Violence is a social problem that increases over the years. Violence is not so much shown in magazines and books as it is on television and the media. This does not mean that violence on television is the only source for aggressive or violent behavior, but it is a significant contributor. Children can also pick up violence from a parent or guardian at an early age. Peers are important in a child’s life. It has been psychologically proven that males are more aggressive than females. Therefore, if a child’s peers are being aggressive, their actions tend to be imitated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American children watch an average of three to four hours of television daily, which can be a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior. Hundreds of studies of the effects of media violence on children have found that children may gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems, imitate the violence they observe on television and identify with certain characters, victims or victimizers. Parents can protect their children from excessive television violence by paying attention to the programs their children are watching and restricting them from shows known to be violent, pointing out what is wrong with the program. Another solution to this problem is to explain that the actor has not actually been hurt or killed and such violence in real life results in pain or death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Children are not born understanding the difference ...

My Kitchen, My Sanctuary Essay -- Descriptive Essay About A Place

Have you ever been at home and still didn’t feel safe? Well, that’s how I felt in my own home sweet home. That was of course until I found a place to rest and relax in my hectic life- my home’s very own kitchen. Shortly after we moved in, the kitchen grew in to a sanctuary for me with every memory I’ve had in it. I think the kitchen is a relaxing place, is because for me it represents a place of symbolic, spiritual cleansing. The kitchen is usually dirty, and every few days I have to clean it. When that happens, I view the event as a representation of my own inner, spiritual state. When the kitchen is out of order, my life is chaotic. When the kitchen is clean, my life has order. The reasons it’s a sanctuary is because it’s my family’s meeting place, it’s my families back up plan, and it’s our emergency entrance / exit. My kitchen is no ordinary nor extraordinary kitchen- instead is it a corner of the house that I feel sa fe in. My kitchen at home is a sanctuary for me because it’s my family’s meeting place. When anyone in our house has something to announce, an important event is upcoming, or we have to discuss anything- it’s done at the kitchen table. The smell of my mom cooking something, or something she had cooked always welcomes us. One very important discussion we had was when I received my high school application. We all sat around the table and discussed what choices I should put for two hours. All that was done at the kitchen table, and it was one of the most wonderful experiences in our family. The whole time my mom had been preparing chicken noodle soup, and the smell satisfied us all- it would definitely be scrumptious. We also, had time to talk about what I wanted to do in my future- and I have never before been... ...auses all the stress of your life to melt away. Along with the dopamine produced directly by the food, your body also makes dopamine when you have successfully created a dish. You reached a goal, and your mind rewarded you for all your hard work. Not only is the kitchen a great place to relax because it has food, but it's also a place of quite introspection. I usually go there, even when I'm not hungry, just to walk around and look out the window. I think. It's a place where I can let all my thoughts come together and I can sort things out. I love the kitchen for so many reasons but to me I feel really safe. The reasons it’s a sanctuary for me is because it’s my family’s meeting place, it’s my families back up plan, and it’s our emergency entrance / exit. Everyone has a favorite place to be, a place where new innovations begin, and for me it’s the kitchen at home.

Journey through Hell in Blood Meridian Essay -- Blood Meridian Essays

Journey through Hell in Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian details what can only be described as the kid's journey through hell. Throughout the novel McCarthy gives the reader the sensation of being in hell. The is brutal and unforgiving physical setting adds a hellish atmosphere in which there is no evidence of any morals or sympathy for the innocent. Judge Holden is even described in terms reminiscent of the devil. All of these factors lead the reader to compare the kid's journey through the Mexican-American border country with a descent into hell. Blood Meridian is set in a place and time period where there was little societal structure and a lot of racial hatred. The very land that the kid travels is full of dirty saloons and people in poverty. As McCarthy writes, "bone palings ruled the small and dusty purlieus here and death seemed the most prevalent feature of the landscape" (48). The country is definitely not travel-friendly. There is an added element of godlessness in the kid's journey. When the kid signs up with a group of renegade nationalists, t...

The Importance of Labeling of Goods and Products

In the grocery store anyone can find a plethora of goods that have the potential to improve human life in the simplest ways. Goods such as a Snickers bar, which can provide a little relaxation from an insane day at the job, or a gallon of milk, so that the kids can have something to drink with the nutritious breakfast that was also bought at the grocery store. Yet one aisle in this great place of choices destroys the relaxing candy bar or the weekly gallon of milk. This aisle is heavily perfumed and can not be avoided because it is placed smack-dab in the middle of the store. This aisle is the chemical aisle. It contains things from Mr. Clean, which cleans up the spilled milk that dried on the linoleum floor, to Raid which is supposed to get rid of flies at the next family bar-b-que. Even though life in general would be easier and more enjoyable without insects that can be bothersome, it is not necessary to pollute the air, ground, food, and liquids that are used daily by the inhabitants of the planet Earth, nor is it necessary to give misleading information about the products being used to boost sales and get a higher profit. The government should make stricter laws on the labeling of goods that contain chemicals which could be potentially hazardous to one's health. First, â€Å"corporations are trying to mislead consumers into believing household pesticides are harmless,† according to Marion Moses, M. D. of the Pesticide Education Center in San Francisco (â€Å"Latest Organic†). Raid, a product produced by S. C. Johnson Corporation, which is used to kill roaches, ants, and flies, has inscribed on the side of its container â€Å"Made with pyrethrins: pyrethrin insecticide is made from flowers† (18). That fact is very reassuring in its own way, but what is not mentioned on the label is that only eight-tenths of one percent of Pyrethrin is actually used in the production of Raid (18), and that the most active ingredient is Dursban which can cause numbness, tingling sensations, incoordination, headache, dizziness, tremor, nausea, just to name a few(Extoxnet). Also, over ninety-eight percent of Raids ingredients are inert, which do not have to be named on the label (â€Å"Latest Organic†). The government must stop companies from being able to hide ingredients used in their products and should be forced to tell the general public what is being used in the products. It is interesting to know that some of the most dangerous chemicals are not labeled, and, if they are, Dursban for example, they are labeled as something that does not pose any sort of danger. Yet even if the chemicals are labeled, and all of the amounts are placed on the back of the product so that the consumer can see what is used in the item, who is going to go home and look the chemicals up in places like the Extoxnet site or in the encyclopedia to see if the chemical will hurt them. But still, those problems can be solved easily if the companies would just sit down and consider what is being done to the public and what should be done to solve the problem. Fruits and vegetables are another problem all of there own though. It would be scary to see a label rite on the skin of an apple or a leaf of lettus. A list, that could be easily accessible, should be made up that states all of the chemicals sprayed on fruit. This way the dangers of chemicals such as Fonofos, which is primarily used on corn crops(Extoxnet), would be available and people would be aware of the potential hazards that come with the chemicals used in their products. Labeling or letting the general public know what is being used on apples to keep worms off them should be enforced by the government. It would be a relatively easy process since the companies already know what chemicals are being used on their products. But as long as Corporate America still feels the need to hide every little thing from the public, the public is doomed to walk up and down the aisles of the supermarket so that they can find one can of insecticide that might be able to kill the flies which are flying around the potato salad.

How does Atwood explore the theme of love in the novel ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’?

The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood describes the story of Offred, a Handmaid, a woman ascribed a breeding function by the society in which she lives in, and who is placed with a husband and wife higher up the social ladder that â€Å"need† a child. Through Offred's eyes we explore the rigidity of the theocracy in which she lives, the contradictions in the society they have created, and her attempts to find solace through otherwise trivial things. In this essay I will talk and explore the issue of how â€Å"love† is portrayed throughout the ‘Handmaid's Tale. The people and the situations, where love is required and abused, such as in the ‘ceremony! ‘ The immediate form of love in the novel is the love between ‘Offred' and her best friend ‘Moira. ‘ This love is portrayed to the readers through the eyes of ‘friendship' shared between two people through times of childhood, right through to the times of hardship, such as in the society of Gilead. Moira has been Offred's friend right from high school, when she would come around her house, ‘dropping her denim jacket onto the floor†¦ Right through to the times where Offred was having an affair, with Luke, her present husband. Moira's love for Offred seems to come across as her guide and advisor, she is the one individual described by Offred as being a ‘fantasy' and also by the other handmaid's. When Moira and Offred meet one another after a time of separation in the new regime Offred describes being ‘ridiculously happy. ‘ This immediately indicates to the reader, the fact that the friendship shared between these two women is so intense that even after a long separation they are ‘still' excited and happy to see one another. Most readers can relate to this, from their personal experiences, when they have been separated from their childhood friends and then have come into touch, these feelings are both felt and explored by the handmaid's and the readers, who relate to the feelings and emotions of separation. The one factor against their friendship in the society is that they are unable to explain what they feel for one another, they derived of talking and making any form of communication towards one another, ‘Friendships were suspicious†¦ e avoided each other. ‘ This also immediately informs the reader of the fact that these two women care for one another to such an extent that they are unable to cause any harm to one another, if it means to not talk to each other than so be it, they will not talk to one another. They care for one another to the extent that they will not allow a ridiculous law from the Gileadian society to come between their most intense and long friendship. The readers can relate to this from their own experiences, because if they too have intense friendships with their friends then they too will try their utmost hardest to not allow any one or any law to come between them. The ‘love' of friendship between Moira and Offred, outlines the fact that there are still people living in this society that value friendship, even though it is forbidden. Like Moira, from Offred's past she had memories of her husband Luke and her young daughter, whom she loved very much and also the two closest family members she lost the night they were running away from the society of Gilead. Memories of her daughter seem to always be sad, as the flash backs she gets of her daughter are of a distressing nature. This is a clear example of when Offred has a nightmare of the night she was ‘running with her' (her daughter). Offred remembers ‘holding her daughters hand' and then also seeing ‘her go away from me†¦ being carried away from me. ‘ These memories of Offred's daughter are extremely painful for her as she wakes up wiping her ‘wet' face, which are obviously ‘tears. From this the readers come to a conclusion that Offred loved and still loves her daughter so much that even when she thinks or dreams of her it brings tears to her eyes. Offred loves her daughter so much and probably regrets and is saddened by the fact that she was unable to say her final ‘goodbye' to her own daughter. Even though Offred throughout most of her novel doesn't know where her daughter is she, or whether she is still alive or not, she believes in her heart that her daughter is still alive and one day in the future she will meet her. This immediately shows that readers that the love and bond between mother and daughter is so deep that Offred, a mother still is adamant that one day they ‘will' meet again. Luke, Offred's husband, like their daughter has also been taken away from Offred, who has no idea where he has been taken, what he does and whether is still alive. However Offred is still in the belief that like her daughter Luke is well, healthy and one day he too will meet her and all three of them will run away as far as possible where the Gileadian society will not find them. Offred loved Luke so much in her past that she was willing to spend days and even night with him, ‘before the divorce,' of him and his present wife at that time which was not Offred. This immediately informs the readers that the love that was shared between Offred and Luke was so intense that they were willing to leave everything that they had in the past to be with one another, and if this meant Luke divorcing his wife for Offred then so be it. The extent of their love was the result of their daughter. Offred throughout the novel has believed that Luke and her would re unite again in the past, she fanticises of him when she's on her own, ‘I want Luke here so bad†¦ I want to be held, told my name†¦ want to be valued†¦ I want to be more than valued. † This immediately informs the readers that the love shared between Offred and her husband Luke, was a love in which Offred felt ‘loved' and ‘valued' not used for the single purpose of ‘sex,' just to make babies for the ‘un-women! The theme of ‘love' in the novel is given a whole new identity in the ‘Handmaid's Tale,' this, because, ‘love' is if you have strong emotional feelings of affection for someone. The ideas of ‘making love' is when two people ‘in love' and have sexual and romantic feelings towards each other and express it through ‘making love-sex. ‘ However in the handmaid's Tale, the handmaids are being completely used for the function o f making babies for the couples that can't have any. These women are having ‘sex' with men they are ‘not' in love with, with men who ‘don't' feel anything towards them, with men who just want them for the function of making babies and nothing else. There is no emotional attachment†¦ ‘Kissing is forbidden! ‘ this is the total abuse of the name and meaning of ‘love. ‘ As far as the Gileadian society is concerned, there should be no love between two people, women should be baby and sex machines to use whenever they want, this is shown to the readers when Nick is described as not having a ‘woman issued' to him yet! Therefore the context of ‘actual' love does not exist in the novel; love is only sex and babies. No emotional attachment, as in the ceremony, where Offred is held down and ‘fucked,' by the commanders, who ‘fucks' her and leaves. The ceremony in which the commander ‘fucks' Offred is blatantly the most disturbing forms of so called ‘love' in the novel. In this scene, Offred is pinned down by the commanders wife, whilst the commander ‘fucks' her. Kissing is forbidden,' which obviously means that there is no emotional or sexual attachment in the whole process of making love. Offred herself explains that she is ‘not' making love with the commander. It is him who is just ‘fucking her. ‘ From this ceremony the readers come to a conclusion and realise that the actual meaning of love had be re-written, just like the palimpsest, therefore the people living in the society have had to stop the ‘normal' way they should be thinking about making ‘love' and now just have sex for the benefit of having children. Overall I come to a conclusion, that the theme of by Margaret Atwood, ‘love' in the novel has been completely abused by those living in this regime, especially the commanders. I also come to a conclusion that there are still some people in the regime, such as the handmaids, who still crave the desires they have had in the past, such as being ‘valued' and ‘loved' by their husbands. Also I have learnt that ‘love' in this novel is not necessarily about ‘sex' but also the ‘love' between two friends; Offred and Moira, who are each others backbones throughout the novel, inspiring each other to become better people and over come this regime. Finally I have also learn that love is not only about ‘sex' its about loving one another mentally, emotionally and then physically, you only realise what you had in the past, until you lose it†¦ this is what has happen to the handmaid's.

Hamburger †United States Essay

A company that finds major success in one country won’t necessarily catch on in another. There are a number of fast-food chains that succeeded in America, but have failed globally. One example is the widely popular Wendy’s. Wendy’s is the third largest burger chains in the U.S. However, according to the article Wendy’s to Exit Japan, Wendy’s has recently declared that they â€Å"will not renew its agreement with its Japanese franchisee, Zensho Co Ltd, after both of them failed to reach an amicable solution on the development of Wendy’s brand in Japan.† This will result in the closure of 71 outlets located in and around Tokyo, Japan. Despite being one of the leading quick-service restaurant companies in America, Wendy’s has struggled to understand and expand internationally. It seems that they were being consistently beaten by the business that McDonald’s generates. Japan is McDonald’s largest market outside of the United States. It has nearly 4,000 restaurants there. The closure of Wendy’s marks the end of a 29-year presence in Japan, and is clearly a testament to the different tastes of the Eastern and Western countries. In October, Wendy’s attempted one final marketing strategy when they launched a $75 million campaign titled, â€Å"When It’s Real.† However, the campaign failed to boost sales and actually declined 4%. That appeared to be the last straw for the franchise. It’s difficult to succeed in the restaurant industry during a recession. People are more careful with their money so they tend to eat more at home. However, fast-food chains continue to thrive during these tough economic times because of their affordability. I do feel that what happened to Wendy’s could have been prevented. After all, McDonald’s is still succeeding in Japan, so why couldn’t Wendy’s. It’s important to remain innovative, especially during a recession. If they could have been creative and developed catchy marketing strategies during these tough times, I think they could have swung back into more prosperous times. References Schaefer, R.T. (2009) Sociology: A brief introduction (8th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Zacks Investment Research (2009). Wendy’s to Exit Japan. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2010 from: http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle/articleid/3711374

Infant Mortality: a Case Study

Theresa Curtis Intro to Global Health Case Study: Infant Mortality Each year approximately 10 million babies do not breathe immediately at birth, of which about 6 million require basic neonatal resuscitation. The major burden is in low-income settings, where health system capacity to provide neonatal resuscitation is inadequate. Many of these babies die because their birth attendant or caregiver did not know a simple technique called neonatal resuscitation. Neonatal resuscitation is important because it is a technique that can and will save a baby’s life.Birth asphyxia is one of the leading causes of infant mortality, cerebral palsy and mental disabilities worldwide. In this case, we were asked to look at the China Neonatal Resuscitation Program. Why is this program important and why was China the country in the most need to have the program implemented? The program is important because more than twenty percent of chinese children die from birth asphyxia. In China 17 million c hildren are born every year. And The idea that children have to die because a nurse is not trained to resuscitate the child is sad.We, as americans are used to the big medical centers and if something happen we know that our child will be in good hands. The Key players in bringing rescuscitation to china was the American Academy of pediatrics. The program was first introduced in 1987 and it failed. I guess at the time there was not enough funding and of course when something new is introduced in the medical world, doctors or administrators are not quick to accept new techniques. I think of all that children that lost their lives because doctors and nurses were not trained to administer CPR or mechanical ventilation.The Chinese Society of Perinatal Medicine provided obstetricians and neonatologst. The Chinese Nursing Association provided nurses professional education and training in resuscitation. They also included midwives in the training because midwives do not use resuscitation t echniques during births. The Freedom of Breath Foundation of life Program was developed to reduce infant mortality rates by ensuring there is at least one skilled neonatal resuscitation provider at every delivery. After five years, that goal has been reached, nd more than 100,000 medical professionals from more than 20 provinces have been trained. In studies conducted by the China Ministry of Health, birth asphyxia mortality declined by 53 percent in 360 hospitals surveyed. (AAP. ORG) The future of the program is other countries being introduced to neonatal resuscitation. If the program worked for china than whose to say, it would not work for other countries. I wanted to research and find what other countries have implemented neonatal resuscitation since China.There is a similar program in Bangladesh. Before the program was implemented, the traditional way to resuscitate was to hold the baby upside down, slap the bottom or blow in the baby’s face. The only suctioning was of the mouth and nose. The main barriers to effective resuscitation are lack of competent staff and lack of simple equipment. Aga Khan University with UNICEF launched a program to improve resuscitation skills of Physicians, Nurses, and Midwives.I hope that all countries are able to implement a neonatal resuscitation program in the hospitals but also go out into the communities and share the technique with those that give birth at home. It is known that many women do not go to medical facilities to give birth. Therefore, there need to be a nurse or midwives that can go out into the village, community, to teach the home nurse how to give proper resuscitation. My five-year goal would be that all people know how to administer neonatal resuscitation.Many children are lost because they come out and they are not breathing. However, if more than one attendant knows the procedure more children can be saved. I would all medical personnel trained and re-trained every six months. It is important t o maintain skills. In many countries the father is not apart of the birth, and maybe they should be. A male instructor can train and show the father during a home birth how to resuscitate if needed. It can be the difference between life and death. Freedom of Breath, Freedom of life |Helping babies breathe | | |Designed to train birth attendants in developing countries in the area| |First to successfully bring neonatal resuscitation to china, in a |of newborn resuscitation. | |systematic and sustainable way. | | |Was developed to reduce the infant mortality rate by always having a |Has a train the trainer approach.Train the nurses and midwives in the| |person trained and skilled in neonatal resuscitation at delivery. |area of resuscitation before they go into the hospital and train | | |fellow nurses and midwives. | |Grew to national scale having 190 certified instructors and 44,000 |Trained 31 facilitators and 102 learners. however, the majority of | |practitioners trained |parti cipants could not demonstrate mastery of bag and mask ventilation| |The rate of birth asphyxia declined by more than a third. | |Providers’ skills and confidence have increased and more babies are |Participants in a program for neonatal resuscitation in | |surviving. The program is saving lives and improving the health of |resource-limited settings demonstrated high satisfaction | |women. | | References www. aap. org www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov www. jnj. com/giving-breath-to-life www. unicef. org/rosa/newborn

Access to Treatment and Quality Care Research Paper

Access to Treatment and Quality Care - Research Paper Example The paper concludes that the problems that individuals are facing on accessing mental health services are persistent problems that have to do with different forms of unstable payment systems. Unlike other illnesses, mental disorders face massive inconsistency and subjective limitation in insurance coverage. The quality of the care that is provided will vary between the insurance providers and knowing the differences and the similarities and the rap preview to the impact in both sectors will help us to determine the strengths and weaknesses. Once we determine the attenuating circumstances in one of these mental health treatment sectors, it will ease the road for professionals to work on it and find a way to bridging the gap. The non-profit public mental health care refers to services operated by government agencies; for example, state and county mental hospitals, and services that financed with various government resources such as Medicaid. The Community Mental Health Services Block Grant a Federal-state program that finance health care services for individuals, who are poor and disabled, and federal health insurance program primarily for older Americans and people who retire early due to disability (Heyman 2001). Mental healthcare coverage is a very controversial topic especially in the United States. Many attempts have been made beginning in the twentieth century to provide a universal healthcare coverage to all those Americans who were not insured but most of them ended up in failure due to the influence of some groups, like doctors, who saw it as a way of curtailing their freedom to practice in the service of their patients. Wynia (2007), states that many of the early efforts to provide discounted healthcare were pressured out of existence by physician groups but the rising cost of healthcare has made it a mandatory issue to be

Strategic Supply Chain and Logistics Management Essay

Strategic Supply Chain and Logistics Management - Essay Example This is a flexible method because Dell sells through retail outlets. Dell also kept track of customer’s inventory, allowing them to order PCs directly rather than going through the hassles of purchasing. (Kraemer, Dedrick, and Yamashiro 2000) The advantage in Dell’s strategy is that it minimizes inventory. Dell’s method is direct selling, and selling through the Internet. At Dell Computer, speed and balance are the secret weapons to creating value. (CNET Networks Inc. 2007) Hewlett-Packard (HP) does not rely on outsourcing of supplies. Rather than relying on a network of partners, the company builds its PCs in-house. HP computers are of highest quality. Management believes that every part and component should be designed and produced in house. Since the beginning, HP had been making its own screws. HP people focused on developing new technology internally, resisting collaboration with outside partners to leverage existing technology. (Mendelson and Siegler 1999, 134) Executive management is right on the top, which means this is the top echelon of the company or business. Important decisions and company strategies have to come from this part of the organization because they affect the operation, to include the future and success of the organization. Supply management is equally important as in other strategic decisions processes in the organization. Supply management sustains the lie of organization. Without an effective supply chain, business cannot thrive or be successful in the long run. Operation is the process by which goods and services are created. We find productive processes in all kinds of organized activities such as factories, offices, supermarkets, and hospitals. Production and operations management deals with decision making related to productive processes to ensure that the resulting goods or services are

The Affordalbe Care Act Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Affordalbe Care Act - Research Paper Example every citizen has the right to obtain affordable and dependable health care, which is the responsibility of the Federal government to make sure efficient provision of the service. The notion encouraged him to fight for legislation the Affordable care act. Obama’s ideologies on health care is founded on believe that the insurance companies unrestrained authority to influence care, and patient insurance have left many Americans uninsured and underinsured (Phillips 20). In accordance with the new law commonly termed as â€Å"Obama care,† Obama believes that American citizens are geared towards the provision of a health care system that is secure. The scheme entails Americans receiving health insurance through employers to make citizens coverage reasonable and secure. The scheme permits individuals with pre-existing conditions the capability to get preventative care with no payment of deductibles and co-pays. Additionally, Obama states the new law would eradicate insurance overpayments and fraud cases in Medicare together with Medicaid systems, which would save people a lot of money. This move permitted Obama to ensure the expansion of health care provision to many people who would have been insured, but now enjoy coverage on their parents’ scheme until they reach 26years of age. The Affordable Care Act offers seniors similar benefits that would need individuals earning more than $200,000, to make contributions to the Medicare Trust Fund beginning starting in 2013. When evaluated the health care visions in the past and the current are noticeably

Sales Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sales Proposal - Essay Example The brochures containing information about the different models of air conditioners are with me. All I need to do is make a concise proposal and hand it to the customer along with the prices and the brochure. The proposal must be made in a letter that is not more than two pages in length. The proposal begins with the reference to the customer’s verbal enquiry, and goes on to thank him for the same. The range of the air conditioners is divided into three categories, as top class, medium level, and the regular air conditioners. I arm myself with all the information and brochures of the top class air conditioners. I also take with me a few brochures of the medium and the regular ranges. The literature containing my proposal and the brochures are packed into my brief case. I neatly place two ball pens at the slots provided inside the brief case. The proposal provides the main features of the air conditioners and requests the customer to refer to the brochures for more details. The proposal is careful to mention the advantages of the company’s air conditioners compared to the other air conditioners available in the market. I take a blank proforma invoice with me so that when the order is placed the customer gets the proforma invoice against which he can make the payment. I will send him the regular bill with the air conditioner. It is 4.00 pm and I am at the customer’s residence. I politely introduce myself and enter the residence. I open my brief case and hand him my proposal and the brochures. The customer goes through the proposal in silence. Then he asks me how much time it would take for the air conditioner to be fitted in his bedroom. I tell him it would take about an hour. He asks me some more routine questions and I answer them politely. I then convince him about the benefits of the air conditioner and the changes he can expect in his residence with the new air conditioner.

U.S. & Japan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

U.S. & Japan - Essay Example Indeed, the nature and outcome of warfare, as of any human endeavor, are largely dependent on the individual talents and cumulative experiences of the people who engage in it. To study the material and technological aspects of modern warfare to the exclusion of its emotional, spiritual, and intellectual elements is foolish. The very existence of war requires that one possess not only the physical means to sustain an armed struggle but a mentality that predisposes one to initiate it or persevere in it. It follows, then, that hostilities cease when one of these two essential elements has been destroyed--when one combatant no longer possesses either the physical means or the psychological will to carry on the fight. What were the dominant ideologies and institutions of international politics of the twentieth century? At the dawn of the twenty-first century, this seems a particularly appropriate question to ask. What distinguished them, what were their limitations, what was their potenti al, and what prospects do they hold for the new millennium? The purpose of combat operations is to physically destroy the enemy's physical and material ability to make war. The objective of psychological operations is to erode his will to continue the fight.John W. Dower's War without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War (New York: Pantheon, 1986) is a superb analysis of the impact of cultural stereotypes and racism on the conduct of the war in the Pacific. 1 John W. Dower assesses the impact of racial hatred, cultural stereotypes, and acid psychological factors on the conduct of the Pacific War. Yet his treatment of wartime atrocities, Japanese adherence to "death before dishonor," and Americans "obsessed with the task of slaughter" reveals only part of the story. Although he refers to the surrender of demoralized Japanese soldiers, the subject is peripheral to his work. This is understandable given his focus, yet one is left with a very dear impression that such occurrences were extraordinarily rare and insignificant events. More problematic is Dower's assertion that Americans in decision-making positions were so singularly unimpressed with the idea of waging a serious propaganda campaign against the Japanese that "such ideas had little impact." In fact, this is not the case. Psywar was not an afterthought on the part of Allied military commanders, nor was it always perceived as some "impractical plaything of effete civilians."2 In their attempts to demoralize Japanese troops Allied propagandists in the Southwest Pacific alone disseminated nearly 400 million propaganda leaflets and witnessed the capture of approximately 19,500 Japanese prisoners. The dearth of historical inquiry into the conduct of psywar against the Japanese, likely results from assumptions that deserve closer scrutiny. One such assumption seems to be that psywar could not have been effective against an enemy so thoroughly indoctrinated in a tradition that emphasized "death before dishonor" and the supreme virtues of loyalty to the emperor, unquestioning obedience to one's superiors, and self-sacrifice in the service of the nation. To be sure, soldiers in the IJA were thoroughly imbued with these values. But just as it did not prevent them from experiencing defeat on the battlefield, military indoctrination did not safeguard the emperor's soldiers from the ill effects of demoralization. The evidence shows that as the war progressed and Allied military successes mounted, morale among Japanese combatants markedly declined and Japanese soldiers became increasingly susceptible to the Allied war of words. Pacific War narratives provide graphic images of the brutal fighting in the Pacific, the atrocities committed by combatants, and the fight-to-the-death mentality that dominated among all fighting men in what has been characterized as a savage race war.