Diageo Plc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Diageo Plc - Case Study Example At that time (eighteenth century), it was identified mostly with spirit brands like Justerini, Malts of Scotland such as Talisker, Glenkinchie and Lagavulin. In the nineteenth century, the company introduced Johnnie Walker; one of the most popular whiskies to date. In that same century, there was introduction of Smirnoff and subsequently Bailey's. In the twentieth century, the company started getting associated with Captain Morgan rum and eventually adopted it. Ever since, the company has been characterized by numerous innovations and introductions of new alcoholic drinks the world over. The Diageo Plc Company falls under the food and beverages industry in general and in the distillers sub industry. Therefore all the factors affecting the company will be examined in against the backdrop of this industry. The industry analysis will be done through SWOT and PEST analysis. The former type of analysis is instrumental in identification of the internal and external factors affecting a given company. It is also crucial in identification of the factors impending growth of a particular company. PEST analysis is more useful in determination of the external environment. (United Nations, 2001) The most outstanding feature about Diageo Plc is its brands. Some of the brands it offers have been around for centuries. This implies that the company has been able to secure brand loyalty. These include Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Bailey's. On top of this, the distiller has a huge size with branches all over the world. The advantage of such a large size is that the company can appeal to numerous market segments. Besides this, it can make up for weaknesses in one area with strengths in another country. (Hill, 2005) The Company also has confidence in the fact that it produces good quality beer. This means that sometimes the product 'sells itself' so to speak. It can also pride itself in the fact that it delivers lots of products in an efficient and fast manner. Actually most bars and pubs in the United Kingdom heavily rely on supplies from the company. Such an arrangement is only possible if the supplier has established a name for itself. This is definitely the case with Diageo. Another source of strength is the fact that the company promptly caters for its clients through efficient customer care. Responses to customer requirements and needs are done promptly and most of the time this is achieved through cooperation with the marketing and sales team. The Company has been at the frontline in employment of technological advancements in its production processes. For example, some of its distilleries are up to date in order to speed up the rte of production. On top of this, it is continuously introducing latest bottling technologies. It

What Is Political Philosophy Essay Example for Free

What Is Political Philosophy Essay What is philosophy and particularly political philosophy? Philosophy is a broad or specific study of areas concerned with existence, values, ethics, knowledge and reason. The word philosophy is rooted in the Greek word philosophia which literally meant ‘the love of knowledge’ So questioning human existence is one example: Does God really exists etc. Important as well are questions about what we know and what we can know; both constitute the area of philosophy known as epistemology (the theory of knowledge) Ethics is also a part of philosophy dealing with human conduct. What responsibilities do we have to ourselves as well as others? The study of political philosophy asks questions surrounding a just society and or state. David Rafael defines political philosophy as a doctrine or ideology setting up norms or ideal standards for the society. He claims that the ideal philosophy tells us what we ought to be or to do. In this regard political philosophy differs from political science. Political science seeks to explain facts as instances of general laws, but political philosophy is more idealistic. Hence; †¢philosophy- what ought to be done (idealist). †¢science- what actually happens/ based on facts (more realist) In studying philosophy, a central feature or one can say is the most dominant feature is the Western Civilization. Western civilization should not be confused as a geographical concept. As noted by Ebenstein and Ebenstein (2000) â€Å"Its birthplace is the Mediterranean  ¬ Greece, Palestine and Italy. From there it spread through Europe and the Middle East. A penetration into Asia and Africa lasted for several centuries. † Importantly, the spread of the west should not be confused with mere colonial expansion. It’s broader than that. It is the way of thought, Language yes, but religion, ethics, morals, ideas of life and livelihood are only some of the broader areas that the â€Å"West† embodies. E. g. Less than two hundred and fifty years old, the United States is now the centre of gravity of western civilization in terms of economics, politics, culture and military power. In antiquity, Athens, Jerusalem and Rome were the leading points. During the Dark Ages, Byzantium was the most important site of cultural, literal, and administrative leadership. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Paris was the undisputed cultural capital of the West. In the nineteenth century, London inherited that place. New York became the leading artistic, scientific and intellectual clearing-house in the world during the twentieth century, and its place in the year 2000 is being taken, in terms of cultural influence by Los Angeles demonstrating the geographical mobility of western civilization. Western political thought (Philosophy) The tradition is generally associated with historical Greek cultures. In the early days Greece was a divided polis (city-state) which was constantly at war: an example is the Peloponnesian War between the democratic Athens and the Authoritarian Sparta. The Greek World view; intellectual culture and political practice spread as a result of colonial expansion. It spread further when Europe colonized the rest of the world. The Greeks idea of democracy and of course its political traditions spread to other areas with the rise of Macedonia whose leader at the time was Alexander the Great and he was taught by Aristotle. Alexander the great formed an empire that encompassed a federation of Greek states. It included Egypt, parts of India and other territories which we know now as Uzbekistan. The western traditions in Political Philosophy became more dominant in the European conquest, its creation of the plantation system, the dominance of African labour and eventual colonial subjugation of the non-European world. So here we are: how do we identify the defining features of Western Political thought? Ebenstein says that we have to find the things that are so central to the society and strip them away and see if the society exists without them. The Roots of the West are as follows: †¢the Greeks concept of Reason †¢two, the Jewish belief in one God (monotheism) †¢and three, the Christian conception of love. In the Great Political Thinkers (Ebenstein and Ebenstein, 2000) †¢Rationality: â€Å"The belief and use of reason are not inventions of the 20th century. However they argued that the Greeks invented rationality. They noted that Greeks did not start from scratch, as various Oriental people influenced them but they noted that Greek civilizations has it imprinted itself on the rest of the world, was Originally, the Greeks were not derived from earlier people in the direct way the rest of the world barrowed the ideas from the Greeks. The supreme Greek ideal was to think clearly. †¢Monotheism (belief in one God) is the second root of the West, with the resulting concepts of brotherhood of mankind (all men and women being children of the same Father) and one of one world ruled by a higher law which is above human whim and arbitrariness. It could be argued that other societies came close to the concept of â€Å"one God† before the Jews did; but the Jews were the first to build their whole life around their belief in God, and to base their thoughts, ethics, laws and government on this belief. †¢Love (Christian conception) is the third root of the West. Christianity incorporated Greek rationalism and absorbed Jewish monotheistic ethics, and added a new dimension that went beyond both: the principle of love as the basis of people’s relation with God, and more importantly, each other. Here, the point can be made that Greek thought and life put a great value on â€Å"sympathy† (a Greek word meaning â€Å"to feel with†) and friendship, the latter considered by Aristotle, for example, to be the basis of all social and political organizations. The Greeks were intensely interested in love; Plato’s dialogue Symposium is one of the great conversations on love in world Literature. Yet love in Symposium is primarily the mutual embrace of two souls soaring together to the heights of perfection in life of reason. On a lower level, love was seen by the Greeks as a fierce demon, something approaching madness. Similarly, classical Jewish thought emphasizes compassion and charity, and admonishes its adherents to â€Å"love thy neighbour as thyself†. But neither the Greek nor the Jewish conception of love has the unconditional, universal character of Christian love. In Christian thought, love is not in the periphery of life, in the rare moments of ecstasy, but in the centre of life: Love is life itself. EXERCISE QUESTION 1 (This question is only for discussion in the first tutorial and will not be accepted as coursework). What is the meaning of epistemology, ontology, and agency? How do you define and identify yourself? What are the sources of ideas and meanings you have been using to define and identify yourself? What are the epistemological bases of your personhood? Why do you believe what you believe? What beliefs, what set of ideas have shaped your concept of self and who you are and are becoming?

Wal-mart: Not A Villain :: essays research papers

I live in Mentor, Ohio, a suburb about thirty-five miles east of Cleveland. It used to be all greenhouses, until a few decades ago when it began the process of commercialization, along with other neighboring cities. Big-name stores moved into town, slowly at first. After awhile, along came a shopping mall and stores such as K-Mart. These businesses really began to change the community for the better. As the area became more developed, more people moved there. Eventually Wal-Mart made its way into town. The onset of competition forced K-mart to relocate (less than a mile down the road from the original site, across the street from where the Wal-Mart was being built) and upgrade to a Super K-Mart Center. The difference between K-Mart and Super K-Mart is that Super K-Mart has everything that regular K-Mart has, but it is now also equipped with a complete grocery section. This enables customers to do all of their shopping in one location.It all started in 1962. The first Wal-Mart Discount City opened that year in Rogers, Arkansas, and the franchise has been growing exponentially ever since. In 1980 there were 276 stores, and in the year 2000, there are more than 3,400 Wal-Marts in every state of the USA and a handful of foreign countries. These countries include Germany, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and Korea, to name a few. Wal-Mart has aspirations to be globally recognized like McDonald's and Coca-Cola. For five years, the state of Vermont waged a war against Wal-Mart, refusing to let any of these super stores inside state boundaries. Eventually Wal-Mart won the battle and the first store opened in Bennington, Vermont. Instead of expected protests, Wal-Mart's business was booming. During the first week, the store had almost 1.5 times as many transactions as people live in the town. According to "Shopping With the Enemy", town life will never be the same because "people crave the low prices, large selection and convenient parking," offered by discount stores (146).In the article "Wal-Mart's War on Main Street," by Sarah Anderson, it is correctly stated that "rural life is changing and there's no use denying it." (Anderson 139) Even without imposing businesses, the technological advances of today make the world smaller and smaller. It used to be that in rural places there would be one farm and then nothing for miles. There wasn't much contact with people outside of one's family.

Filipino Philosophy Essay

Filipino Philosophy is the attitude, worldview, and notion of the natural citizens of the Philippines towards the day-to-day experiences in life, religion, communication, survival, interrelationship with people and intra-relationship with his sakop or to oneself – the â€Å"I,† and the uplifting of one’s soul – the Filipino being. Filipinos are used to be stereotyped as the bamboo grass for it always sway with the wind. The Filipino people has gone through tough and rough times, good and bounty years, and yet they always stand as firm as it was on the day our ancestors fought Magellan. Our own worldview explains why we stand all erect despite economic downfall, political crisis, natural calamities. One thing that is to be observed, everything revolves in relationships, in the sakop, in the upliftment of one’s soul. Justice for the Filipino people is the satisfaction of the needs of the self and his relations. These and more is the pattern of Filipinos which leads to the general behavior of the nation – the philosophy of the Filipinos. It is the critical examination of the grounds for the fundamental beliefs of Filipino being as an individual and as a universal; likewise it is an analysis of the basic concepts employed in the expression of their worldview. Included in this study is the study of Filipino worldview from different tribal groups to mainland people and to the new generation of the modern times. Since it is a study and the Filipinos have a diversity of life as it has a seven thousand one hundred islands, there should also be different branches of Filipino Philosophy of which I categorize as: (1) Ethnolinguistic-Tribal Philosophy where Bicolano, Cebuano, Tagalog, Ilocano Philosphies would fall under; (2) Filipino Philosophy of Religion; (4) Animism and Practices of Filipinos; and (5) other Filipino Phylosophies that Filipino scholars may add and institutionalize that is not or only partially influenced by the Western Philosophy and purely in the Filipino context. Ethnolinguistic-Tribal Philosophy will further explain and discuss the main ideas and the worldviews of the linguistic groups in the country. Particulars bring about the general. Each particular small group philosophies combines into one distinct philosophy which is the Filipino Philosophy. What unites it or what is common among the philosophies? The self or the â€Å"I,† or that individual characteristic – sakop orientedness. The Filipino is more others-centered than self-centered. Filipino basic personality is made up of Filipino beliefs and knowledge that are equated and related to various rituals and formal and informal education passed from generation to generation. The family contributes to and maintains the Filipino values and to the individual self most specially that the Family is part of the â€Å"self† being the â€Å"sakop.† Filipinos value family highly and rely on family relations in defining and seeking help for problems or disorders. The family name is valued more highly than that of the individual. These values bind the individual to the family, making him/her to consider how a decision will impact the family. The Filipino cannot be discussed on a person by person basis. Unlike western practices, a Filipino is not complete without his relationships A Filipino cannot be defined sans family †¦ these are his essential relationships — with one another, with family — and no Pinoy is truly Pinoy without them. This relationship-seeking attitude is most evident when introducing Filipinos in every corner of the country. The basic unit of the Philippine social organization is the family that includes the mother, father and children, and the bilateral extended family that embraces all relatives of the father and the mother. Of special importance is the sibling group, the unit formed by brothers and sisters. There are no clans or similar unilateral kinship groups in the Philippines. The elementary family and the sibling group form the primary bases of corporate action. The Philippine society is characterized as familial. This means that the influence of kinship, which centers on the family, is far-reaching. The Filipino family is the nuclear unit around which social activities are organized – it is the basic unit of corporate action. The interests of the individual in Philippine society are secondary to those of the family. Filipinos have a unique way of establishing kinship without actual blood relations. â€Å"Pakikiramdam† or known as Smooth Interpersonal Relationships is the core identity of the Filipino. It is a natural skill for all Filipinos to read between the lines. He has this internal language to sense the surrounding. Filipinos rarely get involved if they have no personal concern regarding the activity or the project. A Filipino will exert more effort when he/she is related to that specific given task or his name and the name of the â€Å"sakop† is involved. Along with this also arises the need for a personal touch. A simple personal invitation is a hundred times more regarded than any formal written invitation. Filipinos likes to be invited even if it is only a joke and even if it is an occasion within the clan or nearby neighborhood. A neglect of this personality leads to misunderstanding or â€Å"pagdaramdam.† Filipinos usually like to associate themselves with a higher power and, in return, submit to this higher person if the need arises. This is most likely true to the â€Å"Masa† and even to elite people of the Philippines. It becomes the source of their strength and the source of a wall to lean on in times of crisis and in job seeking opportunities. Filipinos value small-group centeredness which can be seen from the word ofkami. A Filipino has a â€Å"barkada† aside from his immediate family where he/she can pour out his/her angst and happy moments with. It is the ultimate manifestation of small-group centeredness because it is a tight bond among friends which dictate what the group would think, do or say. Amor propio, the stubborn pride that Filipinos possess and hold on to despite the situation is another distinct element of being a Filipino. The expression wala ka namang pakikisama easily coerces Filipinos to act in peculiar manners especially if the pakikisama is determined by the barkada. Pakikisama is very important in a group, in a workplace, and in areas where there is a social group. Another characteristic is that Filipinos seek to succeed and make himself a person in his own right. It may be a show of being bida and sikat all the time that is a manifestation of pasiklaban, the Filipino does this only to share his glory with his family. Therefore, the Filipino is not inconsistent with the established fact that Filipinos are others-centered because his pagsasarili is a result of his desire to uplift his family or his loved ones – others-centeredness-responsibility. Hiya is a Filipino social behavior regulator that prevents a Filipino from violating a norm, a family value, and a group goal. This is also the root of the Smooth Interpersonal Relationships that Filipinos highly prize. This is the golden rule among Filipinos in the sense that a Filipino makes it a point not to intentionally embarass a person just as he wouldn’t want to be embarassed by another. Euphemism is an important Filipino procedure for all relationships. This tactfulness mirrors the Smooth Interpersonal Relationship that Filipinos highly regard. In the interdependent Philippine society, reciprocity is an essential to all relationships. Utang-na-loob, a Filipino is indebted to another until such a favor is returned in kind. This utang na loob is very much rampant in 95 % of Filipinos specially those who are native of the Philippines and among Filipinos in other countries. Utang na loob may stem from Hiya or mainly from the uniqueness of the Filipino â€Å"self.† Many of the provinces of the Philippines are separated from each other by water because the Philippines is an archipelago. Large islands, Luzon and Mindanao have mountain ranges also separate different land areas. As a result of the physical isolation from each other, Filipinos have a rich, multi-cultural heritage and speak 150 different languages and dialects. It must be noted that even though Filipinos speak many languages, there are only eight major languages based on the number of speakers: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilokano, Hiligaynon/Ilonggo, Waray, Bikolano, Pangasinense, and Kapampangan. Of these, Filipino, which is based onTagalog and was formerly spelled as ‘Pilipino,’ is the official language along with English. Most textbooks, laws, signboards and mass media are either in English or Filipino. From this language barrier and indifferences come out regionalism which dates back from the the colonial past of the Philippines under Spain and the United States. Spaniards encouraged regionalism to dissipate any nationalist revolt against them. They practiced a â€Å"divide and rule† policy wherein they employed Filipino soldiers from one region to put down an uprising in another region. In addition, Spanish friars, in their desire to evangelize, studied the native tongues and incorporated Catholicism into Filipino social customs and religious observances. In doing so, the Spaniards preserved the native languages and dialects of the Filipinos. They also implanted Roman Catholicism in the Philippines, and influenced the Philippine legal system, social institutions, literature and arts. Meanwhile, the American colonial rule also unwittingly encouraged regionalism.[11]. Language differences and regionalism are just a few factors of the rich cultural herritage and behaviors of individual – tribes in context – that give color and blend of Filipino Philosophy. major factors influencing Filipino Philosophy are its Education, Language and Geography, Western and Eastern Philosophies, and most especially Religion. Education shapes the mind of individuals. It is the way of acquiring and disseminating knowledge. Through education, cultures, thoughts and ideas, concepts and theories are handed down from one generation to another. It is by education that we learn the Western thoughts and their civilization which we try to imitate and to live-out. It is by education that we inculcate to the next generation, the ideal self and the justified and unjustified, true and false beliefs. Language and Geography determine the type of the desires, the taste and the perceptions of the people. It is one of the major factors contributing to the indifferences of major cultures in the Philippines most especially that the country is separated by water. Culture takes part in the molding of history and of man. And the rest, together with culture and history runs in circle around the development and of the nature of Filipino Philosophy. Culture, like history, modifies the worldview of the Filipinos. For every ethno-linguistic community, society, province or region whatever you want to call it, every individual or the whole group has its own worldview on how to enrich, practice, and show his or her own culture. Despite the indifferences of cultural background and ancestral indifferences, the Filipino worldview in the context of the self has never changed. Culture is passed from generation to generation through time (history), through psychological time, but the self being that self, which is others-oriented-kin-related-self, remains the same as it is. In this regard, the Filipino self is unique and his worldview, which is to be in harmony with all that is around him or her, is true to every Filipino from age to age and from culture to culture. Filipino Philosophy is unique in itself and is a pride of the Filipino people. It doesn’t matter which general worldview it belongs. What matters is that the country that belongs to the eastern coast has a philosophy that is distinct and rich in itself. The choice is left to the people whether to take it as a material for its national pride and left to the critics, the Filipino philosophers and scholars if they push our philosophy to the limits and to the level of other philosophies or to drag it down. For it shapes the Philippine politics, economics, justice system, and the rest of that which revolves in the society of the country. A Filipino has two major ways of dealing with his society depending upon the basis of relatedness to the self. Individuals always value pakikitungo, pakikisalamuha, pakikisama to people whom he does not know; and likewise, he/she deals on how to be in harmony with the related individuals to his life – involvement and â€Å"pakikiisa† are two very important values to consider.

The Environment of Crisis on the Nigerian Educational System

Comparative Education Volume 33 No. 1 1997 pp. 87 ± 95 The Environment of Crises in the Nigerian Education System CORDELIA C. NWAGWU ABSTRACT The Nigerian education system witnessed tremendous expansion between independence in 1960 and 1995. However, the rate declined after 1986 when economic depression resulted in the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme. A population explosion, frequent changes in the government due to military coups, a depressed economy and unplanned and uncontrolled educational expansion all created an environment of crisis in the education system.The crises included those of poor funding, inadequate facilities, admission and certi ® cate racketeering, examination malpractices, general indiscipline and the emergence of secret cults. Personnel management problems resulted in frequent strikes and closures and the abandonment of academic standards. The thesis is that any society which stimulates the uncoordinated growth of its education system and then fails to provide the necessary dedicated teachers, teaching and learning facilities and operating funds for staff and student welfare services, is creating an environment within which all types of problems and crises will ? urish. Lessons for other developing nations include the need for democratically elected stable governments instead of military regimes and better planning, funding and management of the education system. The National Policy on Education (NPE) It is necessary to examine brie? y the present system of education and its immediate past in order to appreciate the nature, causes and magnitude of the different types of crises in the system.The National Policy on Education (NPE) popularly referred to as the 6-3-3-4 system, was introduced in 1977 and then revised in 1981 (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1981). It marked a radical departure from the British system of education which Nigeria inherited at independence in 1960. Basically it adopted the American system of 6 years of primary education, 3 years of junior secondary school, 3 years of senior secondary school, and 4 years of university education. Primary education is free, but not compulsory.Junior secondary education is supposed to be free, but it is not yet so in any of the 30 states in the federation. The transition from primary to junior secondary education was planned to be automatic but many states conduct competitive entrance examinations since the available junior secondary schools cannot accommodate all the aspirants. A major emphasis in the NPE is the teaching of pre-vocational subjects to all students at the junior secondary level. The learning of Nigerian languages is also compulsory at the primary and secondary school levels.Much more attention is being paid to women’ s education and the teaching of science, technical and vocational subjects at the senior secondary and tertiary levels. Although many policy documents support decentralisation of the system of administratio n, there is an ever-increasing tendency towards centralisation of Correspondence to: Cordelia C. Nwagwu, Institute of Education, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. 0305-0068/97/010087-09 $7. 00 O 1997 Carfax Publishing Ltd 88 C. C. Nwagwu ducational control especially as the federal government is called upon to assume a greater role in the funding of the education system at all levels. During the 1993 ± 1994 academic year, there were 38,254 primary schools, 5959 secondary schools, 55 colleges of education, 45 polytechnics and colleges of technology and 35 universities in Nigeria. Though some critics consider the above statistics inadequate for a country with approximately 100 million people, the number of institutions represents a phenomenal rate of expansion of the education system between 1960 and 1993.Indeed, at independence there was only one university college, one college of technology, no colleges of education (only 280 low-level teacher training colleges) and 443 se condary schools (Fafunwa, 1974). It is generally acknowledged that the system has developed quantitatively, but it lacks many of the ingredients needed for qualitative growth. The problems in the Nigerian education system which have reached crisis dimensions are direct consequences of the rapid, unplanned, uncontrolled and uncoordinated expansion of the system. Contextual and Theoretical FrameworkNigeria has been politically independent for the past 35 years. During this period, a democratically elected civil government has only been in power for 10 years. The remaining 25 years have witnessed military rule by different military regimes which seized power in military coups. All over the world, military regimes, which although they claim to be a corrective intervention, are usually seen as an aberration since they govern by force and not by the wish of the people. They tend to be unpopular, undemocratic, dictatorial, corrupt and unaccountable to anyone except themselves.In Nigeria, l ong periods of military rule have created problems of instability, uncertainty and degeneration on the political, economic, social and educational scenes. There are very many educational policies which are released in the form of decrees and edicts, but the policy implementation has been haphazard and quite unsatisfactory. Irregular and sudden changes in the government leadership result in good educational policies failing to be implemented in full or even started. In Nigeria there have been ten different governments since 1960, that is an average of one every 3. years. Many people have attributed the various crises currently plaguing the Nigerian education system to the poor and unstable national leadership, the ripple effects of which tend to hit education programmes and institutions hardest. For example, every new government prefers to start its own projects rather than to complete those started by its predecessors. Consequently, in many educational institutions, from universitie s to primary schools, we  ® nd uncompleted and abandoned buildings and other facilities.To make matters worse for the Nigerians and the education system, military regimes have no de ® ned mandate and duration, so the military of ® cers appointed by their seniors to administrative and political positions see their appointments as temporary. They have no constituency and, invariably, they are posted to administer a state other than that of their own origin. With little commitment to the people or to the development of the education system, they cannot afford the luxury of long-term planning. In this operational environment, the education system becomes very vulnerable to crisis.Moreover, in the view of MacKinnon (1960), it is unfortunately true that the opportunities for patronage and, in the Nigerian case, ethnicity and religion as well, will usually bring into power and government institutions people who have mediocre ability or who are more concerned with self-interest than w ith the welfare of the public and the education system. Therefore, the administrative style of the military governments in Nigeria has created a context within which ordinary organisational and managerial problems in the schools quickly turned into intractable crises.The military governments appeared more interested in exercisCrises in the Nigerian Education System 89 ing absolute control over the teachers and students, whom they perceived as potential troublemakers, than in intervening in educational problems which could not be settled quickly with decrees and edicts. This was especially so where the release of funds was involved. Educational planning has been described as the application of a rational, systematic analysis to the process of educational development so that national education can respond more effectively to the needs of individuals and society.Coombs (1970, p. 15) opined that although educational planning per se is not the source of policies and decisions, people who have such responsibilities need it to guide them. It is the argument of this paper that because the Nigerian leaders did not pay suf ® cient attention to educational planning, particularly during the long periods of undemocratic non-consultative military governments, they could not keep the intricate internal and external relationships of the educational system in a reasonable balance.As there were rapid dynamic changes in the social and economic circumstances of the country, the education system could not adjust quickly enough and so the environment of crises became inevitable. Whatever educational planning existed in Nigeria during the unstable and tense years of military regime exhibited the characteristics which Coombs (1970, p. 19) described as focusing on the mechanics and logistics of education rather than on the needs of the students and society. Such planning was therefore short-term in outlook, fragmentary in its coverage, non-integrated and non-dynamic.Moreover, the so cial demand approach to educational planning was emphasised by various governments in Nigeria, both civilian and military, for political and propaganda reasons. Thus, for example, the refusal to charge tuition fees in the universities and the policy of establishing a federal university and a polytechnic or college of education in every state in Nigeria were politically popular but educationally and economically irrational decisions. The policy was made when there were only 12 states in Nigeria.Now that there are 30 states, with the military government in the process of creating more states in 1996, the funding crisis in higher education is being further aggravated. Any education system that emphasises growth and expansion without due regard to the development of reliable sources of funding, an adequate supply of trained teachers for different academic programmes, infrastructural facilities to accommodate natural and stimulated increases in school population and a dynamic economy to absorb its graduates from the schools is laying the seeds that will, on germination, create an environment in which all types of crises will ? urish. Such is the experience of the Nigerian education system. Funding and Educational Development We can examine the crises in Nigerian education from two broad perspectives. One approach is to look at different periods in the development of education in the country and the major crises that featured during each period. This method was adopted by Ocho (1995) when he grouped the crises periods as follows. (1) The crisis of irrrelevance, 1842 ± 1954. (2) The crisis of unequal expansion, 1955 ± 1969. (3) The crisis of unplanned expansion, 1970 ± 1983. 4) The crisis of  ® nancial inadequacy, 1984 ± 1994. In this paper, we shall adopt the second approach which focuses on the crises which have plagued a given period. Here, we shall concentrate on Nigerian education in the last decade and a half, 1980 ± 1995, a period that has created alarm among educational administrators, parents, teachers, students and even the international community. The crisis of educational funding is a fundamental issue because critical shortages of 90 C. C. Nwagwu  ® nance have affected the organisation and administration of education at all levels.The oil glut in the world market in the early 1980s led to a sudden decline in revenue from petroleum products which had accounted for approximately 80% of Nigeria’ s income from exports. The consequences were immediate. The free universal primary education (UPE) scheme which was started by the federal government in 1976 was hurriedly handed over to state governments and the poor ones could not sustain the programme. Bursary awards for student teachers were stopped and subsidised feeding for students in higher education institutions was also abolished.The chairman of the Implementation Committee on the NPE, Dr J. S. Sofolahan, summarised the situation when he said in his 1991 report t hat `The National Policy was conceived in times of oil boom, born in times of oil glut, and nurtured in times of economic depression’ (Sofolahan, 1991). Chuta (1995) said it was important to note that there was a decline of 6% in real gross domestic product (GDP) between 1980 and 1990 and he referred to this as bad for the future of Nigeria.In 1994, the Central Bank of Nigeria reported that the money supply, particularly by way of de ® cit  ® nancing in the economy, increased from 5 N 24. 3 million in 1980 to over 5 N 64. 9 million in 1990. This led to tremendous increases in the prices of goods and services. The Nigerian currency was seriously devalued from the naira to US dollar ratio of 1:1 in 1985 to 85:1 in 1995. Neither individuals nor the educational institutions could cope with the rate of in? ation. Worse still, the federal government reduced its subvention to educational institutions.For example, while student enrolment in the universities continued to increase, the government expenditure per student declined from 5 N 3085 in the 1980 ± 1981 academic year to 5 N 3057 in the 1984 ± 1985 academic year, in spite of rising costs and in? ation in the economy (Akangbou, 1986). In 1994 ± 1995, the government spent 5 N 5000 per university student, but the real value in terms of 1984 ± 1985 purchasing power was only 5 N 500. The management of the education funding crisis has been very unsatisfactory.Basically, the strategy has been to pass the responsibility for  ® nding extra funds from one tier of government to another, and to ask parents to pay fees where none were paid before or to pay more where government subsidies had formerly been provided. For example, the annual tuition fees in state-owned universities increased from an average of 5 N 1000 in 1990 to 5 N 3000 in 1993 and then to 5 N 7000 in 1995 ± 1996. At the secondary level, the tuition fees, even in states that had free secondary education in 1990, rose from an average of 5 N 300 in 1993 to over 5 N 600 in 1995 ± 1996.To help pay primary school teachers’ salaries which were owed several months in arrears, the federal government established the National Primary Education Commission by Decree No. 31 of 1988. This was later abolished by Decree No. 3 of 1991, but was re-established by another government by Decree No. 3 of 1994. Another strategy to address the education funding crisis was the merging of some federal universities. However, the succeeding government, for political reasons rather than to improve the sourcing of funds, demerged them in the late 1980s and they exist today as separate universities.For their part, some institutional authorities embarked on the retrenchment of staff and a reduction in enrolments. These administrative decisions associated with poor funding created problems and shortages in the educational environment. Crisis in Facilities Management The inadequacy of the infrastructural facilities to cope with the very rap id rate of expansion in student enrolment is a major source of crisis in the education system. There are two main reasons for this situation. The  ® rst is a high birth rate of 3. % per annum, thus providing a relatively young population, with 48% of the total population under 15 years of age. The second reason is economic depression and in? ation which have made it dif ® cult to build new Crises in the Nigerian Education System 91 classrooms, maintain the old ones and buy new equipment. In 1985 ± 1986, there were 12. 9 million pupils in the primary schools. The  ® gure for 1993 ± 1994 was 15. 87 million pupils. During this period, very few new classrooms were built to accommodate the extra 3 million pupils, hence there is a problem of overcrowded classroms today.It was the same story in the secondary schools in the period 1989 ± 1994 as Table I shows. TABLE I. Classrooms and enrolments in Nigerian schools Primary schools Secondary schools Year Classrooms Enrolments Clas srooms Enrolments 1989 ± 1990 375,726 12,721,087 76,819 2,749,528 1991 ± 1992 377,439 13,776,854 82,930 3,123. 277 1993 ± 1994 447,859 15,870,280 104,693 4,032,083 Source: Educational Data Bank, Federal Republic of Nigeria (1995). The crisis of the shortage of the infrastructure and facilities is felt everywhere and at all levels of the education system.The library facilities and books are grossly inadequate and so is the provision of classrooms, classroom furniture, laboratories and workshops. Hostels are not available in some institutions, including universities. Where some are provided, the rooms are crowded with students. Chuta (1995) observed that the hostel room shortage had become so acute that a black market racket had developed. In many institutions, buses for students have broken down beyond repair, while even electricity and good drinking water are not assured on a daily basis.To address the shortage of facilities, parents are often asked to provide chairs, desks an d beds for their children in the primary and secondary schools. The government obtained a World Bank loan to purchase books and instructional materials for use in the universities and for secondary schools the federal government secures equipment for vocational workshops under a bilateral agreement with some East European countries such as Bulgaria. Unfortunately, some schools cannot install and use these because they lack the necessary electricity and/or water for their operation, as well as trained technicians to manage and maintain them.The objectives of the NPE cannot be attained in the absence of teaching and learning facilities. Indeed, the environment of the critical shortages of the infrastructure, facilities and services is a frustrating and crisis-generating one. Crisis of Indiscipline and Standards Critics from within and outside education are often locked in serious controversy over whether the standards in Nigerian education are rising or falling because they cannot agr ee on what the standards ought to be in the  ® rst instance.However, Nwagwu (1990) argued that minimum standards in education should be perceived as yardsticks for responding positively to the challenges of relevance, need satisfaction, quality and excellence in the education system. Therefore, any system that fails to meet the population’ s expectations of providing the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes they require to solve individual and societal problems, has fallen below the expected standards. This, in the view of Coombs (1968, p. ), implies subjecting the input into the education system, the programmes and processes and the education system’ s outcomes or products to critical analysis. In this paper, the standards in Nigerian education have been deliberately linked to the various acts of indiscipline that appear to be on the increase at all levels of the system. Three 92 C. C. Nwagwu major acts of indiscipline? admission rackets, examination of malpracti ces and secret cult activities? will be discussed. Admissions MalpracticesDue to the limited vacancies and high demand for placement into secondary and tertiary institutions, there is an admissions crisis, which in turn has affected standards for two main reasons. Firstly, the quota system leads to the rejection of many brilliant candidates and the admission of weak ones because of their place of origin and the connections they have with important personalities. For example, the Federal Ministry of Education formula for admission into the federal secondary schools is as follows: merit 15%, states quota 40%, environment (catchment zone) 30% and exigency (discretion) 15%.The formula for admission into federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education is merit 40%, states quota 30%, catchment zone 20% and discretion 10%. Secondly and arising from a down-grading of merit as a basis for admission, there is much racketeering during the exercise. Bribery, corruption and nepotism become agents that ensure admission of weak candidates and, at times, even of the bright ones who have lost faith in merit, fair play and justice.As a result of this situation, mediocrity and economic power take precedence over academic standards. Examination Malpractices Related to the admissions crisis is the desperate need to obtain certi ® cates and, consequently, the serious crisis of examination malpractices. Chuta (1995) identi ® ed four main strategies for cheating in examinations by the code names given to them in Nigeria by the students. (1) Life mercenary service by which an academically able person enters the hall and writes the examination for the real candidate. 2) Hall assistance whereby materials useful for answering the questions are brought into the hall with the collusion of the supervisors and invigilators. (3) Express service by which the real candidate sits in the hall while a hired person writes the examination outside and later smuggles the answer script s into the hall. (4) Super express service whereby the candidate is given the question papers in advance; the candidate writes the answers at home and then brings the scripts into the hall on the examination day.Alarmed by this development, the West African Examinations Council and other examination boards cancel thousands of students’ results every year and ban some schools from serving as examination centres. The students affected are expelled or suspended. The Nigerian Government also directed that offenders should face special tribunals under the Miscellaneous Offences Decree to ensure speedy trials and stiff penalties. An important step in solving the problem is to examine the environment that has created the need for these vices and crises in the education system.A proper analysis puts the blame on two main factors. One is the education system itself which puts so much emphasis on examinations. Worse still, the assessment of a student’ s performance is placed on just one examination either for admission to or for the award of a particular certi ® cate. Continuous assessment is still new in the system and it is not a part of the evaluation process for many examinations, such as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Examination for entrance into the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Crises in the Nigerian Education System 93Another factor is that Nigerian society, as in many developing countries, places too much value on the possession of certi ® cates rather than on the acquisition of requisite knowledge and skills. Many students, therefore, supported by their parents and teachers, even resort to criminal activities (including membership of secret cults) to pass the public examinations which will secure these cherished certi ® cates and help obtain admission into higher institutions or employment. The bogus certi ® cates which many people carry about are, in essence, a manifestation of what Dore (1976, p. ) refer red to as `the quali ® cation ± escalation ratchet’ and `the diploma disease’ . In Nigeria today, students refer to their educational certi ® cates as `meal tickets’ . Their main preoccupation is with how to obtain the certi ® cate and not with how much knowledge and skill they have acquired from the teaching and learning experiences in their schools. Unfortunately, the educational environment has not fostered positive attitudes towards the acquisition of essential knowledge, values and skills as a condition for deserving an educational certi ® cate.With educational institutions very poorly funded and with great shortages of quali ® ed teachers, instructional facilities and materials, very little effective teaching and, hence, learning, takes place in the schools. Confronted by employers and a society that are so certi ® cate conscious and competitive entrance examinations into higher education institutions, the environment for admissions racketeer ing, examinations malpractices and membership of secret cults is properly set. Personnel Management ProblemsAfter independence, there was an unprecedented popular pressure to build more schools and to train more and better teachers. The government responded positively to this social demand for education without serious regard to a cost ± bene ® t analysis of the implications. Consequently, between 1960 and 1985, primary school enrolment increased  ® ve times and secondary enrolment over 22 times, while higher education enrolment increased 84 times. As expected, there was also a tremendous increase in the number and quality of teachers.Part-time and sandwich in-service programmes expanded between 1985 and 1995 and led to many professionally trained teachers with the National Certi ® cate in Education (NCE) and  ® rst degrees in education. As a result of this positive development, salaries and allowances have also increased so much that some state and local governments can n o longer regularly meet their monthly obligations to teachers. With poor and sometimes unpaid teachers’ salaries and allowances, the environment has been created for frustration, indiscipline, a lack of dedication to duty and frequent strike action among teachers at all levels.Bereday (1969) remarked that `Financing education is an under-developed and unimaginative enterprise’ (p. ix) and this is very true in Nigeria. Today there are overcrowded classrooms, overworked and underpaid teachers and double sessions particularly in urban areas, yet there are many unemployed but well-trained professional teachers. Hardly a month passes without either a group of primary, secondary or higher education teachers being out on total strike action demanding improved conditions of service.This disrupts academic sessions, breeds ill-taught graduates and retards educational development in the country. The quality of all education systems re? ects the quality, dedication and motivation of its teachers. If teachers are well-supported by the government and society, they can use their commitment and teaching competence to help stem the crisis of student indiscipline and examination malpractices and to reduce the impact of the shortages of facilities and funds. 94 C. C. Nwagwu ConclusionThis analysis of the condition of education in Nigeria shows that unplanned and uncontrolled expansion of the system, inadequate funding, corruption and poor management are mainly responsible for the many types of crises there are today. The organisational climate is not conductive to serious teaching and learning. This is because over the decades, particularly under the military regimes, Nigeria has pursued the policy of an unrestrained positive response to the social demand for education.Thus, within the education system germs of problems had a fertile environment in which to grow until they have become chronic diseases that now threaten the very existence of the system. The Nigerian Government appear to have ignored the important advice given by educators such as Dore (1976, p. 8) that the effect of schooling, the way it alters a person’ s capacity to behave and do things, depends not only on what is learned, but also on how and why it is learned and the environment within which it is learned. There are a few general lessons to learn from the Nigerian experience.The  ® rst is the need for developing countries to aspire to be governed by stable, popular, democratically elected governments which can develop long-term as well as short-term plans for the articulated development of the nation and the education system. Military regimes are arguably incapable of providing such leadership because the hand-picked military junta does not have the training and experience nor the mandate, time and temperament to operate in this way. Secondly, good policies that are haphazardly implemented can create crises.For example, the quota system of admission came into bein g in Nigeria to meet the demands of the `federal character’ provision enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This was designed to ensure an equitable representation of all parts of the country in all the federal institutions and the protection of minority and disadvantaged groups such as women. Unfortunately, the formula produced by the government of ® cials for the quota system neither ensures equity nor merit because of its defective formulation and worse still, its poor, dishonest and undisciplined application.The Nigerian experience highlights the point that supervision of the effective implementation of education policies is thus as important as their initial formulation. Thirdly, Nigerian experience suggests that the planning and management of the education system should be left to professional educators who arguably have the training, experience and, above all, the interest and commitment necessary to achieve the effective development of th e system and the attainment of both short-term and long-term educational aims and objectives.Fourthly, schooling is not synonymous with education and political leaders should constantly be made aware of this. Therefore, a situation in which young people are stimulated to go to school but are then denied reasonable facilities and opportunities for effective teaching and learning experiences is likely to lead to a crisis, not only in the education system but also for society as a whole. In Nigeria today, there is a crisis of con ® dence in the ability of the education system to tackle the many serious problems confronting it.Nigeria is at a crossroads where she must develop the courage to  ® ght problems which range from home to school and through society to government. The  ® rst major step is a recognition that the environment that has generated and supported the identi ® ed crises in Nigerian education must be changed if an operational climate that will ensure effective tea ching and learning is to be achieved. In the  ® nal analysis, however, what is needed most are more stable education policies which are faithfully implemented, better planning and the management and utilisation of whatever material and human resources re available for developing and maintaining an effective and ef ® cient education system. Crises in the Nigerian Education System 95 REFERENCES AKANGBOU, S. D. (1986) Financing Nigerian Universities (Ibadan, University of Ibadan, Faculty of Education Lecture Series, No. 2). BEREDAY, G. Z. (1969) Essays on World Education: the crises of supply and demand (New York, Oxford University Press). CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (1994) Statistical Bulletin, 5(1). CHUTA, E. J. 1995) Money syndrome, paper presented at the 10th Congress of the Nigerian Academy of Education at Abuja (Abuja, November 9, 1995). COOMBS, P. H. (1968) The World Educational Crisis: a systems analysis (London, Oxford University Press). COOMBS, P. H. (1970) What is Educationa l Planning? (Paris, UNESCO IIEP). DORE, R. (1976) The Diploma Disease: education, quali ® cation and development (London, George Allen & Unwin). FAFUNWA, A. B. (1974) A History of Education in Nigeria (London, George Allen & Unwin).FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (1990) Statistics of Education in Nigeria 1985 ± 1989 (Lagos, Government Printer). FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (1995) Educational Data Bank (Lagos, Federal Ministry of Education). FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA (1981) The National Policy on Education (Lagos, Government Printer). FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA (1995) Educational Data Bank Statistics (Lagos, Federal Ministry of Education). MACKINNON, F. (1960) The Politics of Education (Toronto, University of Toronto Press).NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES COMMISSION (1993) NUC Statistical Digest 1988 ± 1992 (Lagos, NUC). NWAGWU, N. A. (1990) The Concept of Minimum Standards in Education. Second Nathan Ejiogu Memorial Lecture, Nsukka, University of Nigeria. OCHO, L. O. (1995) A history of the crisis in the Nigerian education system, in: O. ANIMBA, P. OMOLUABI & O. ANOWOR (Eds) The Nigerian Education System in Crisis, pp. 55 ± 63 (Enugu, Amazing Grace Publishers). SOFOLAHAN, J. S. (1991) Chairman’ s Report to the National Policy on Education Implementation Committee (Lagos, Federal Ministry of Education).

Two Sides to Every Story Professor Ramos Blog

Two Sides to Every Story How can two people who experience the same event have a completely different perception of that same incident? The general theme between the two short stories â€Å"There Was A Man, There Was A Woman† and â€Å"Bread† are of people having drastically different perceptions of the same situation based on past experiences which can be related back to the novel â€Å"1984†. We will explore this claim by diving into the deeper meaning of these texts. First of all, in the short story â€Å"There Was a Man, There Was a Woman†, it can be seen that the two nameless characters were both stuck in the same cycle week after week. On every second and fourth Friday of the month, the man would go deposit his paycheck and head straight to the bar to drink with his friends â€Å"and believed if he drank and drank, the words for what he was feeling would slip out more rapidly†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Cisneros 133). The man always ended up not saying what was truly on his mind. The woman would would also head to the bar every time she got paid, which was every first and third Friday of the month. Just like the man, the woman would drink and drink in hopes that her words too would also then slip out of her mouth faster, but just like the man, she usually just drank and said nothing. As seen in the quote, â€Å"At home when the night came down and the moon appeared, the woman raised her pale eyes to the moon and cried.†(Cisneros 133), the wo man in the story seems to be depressed about something we do not know about. The man, who goes to the same bar as the woman, looks up at that same moon, only the man does not weep. Instead the man looks at the moon with a different, complex perception than that of the woman. Instead of the moon bringing him tears, the moon brings the man a feeling of being content with his life. The quote, â€Å"The man had contemplated the millions who had looked at the same moon before him, those who had worshiped or loved or died before the same moon, mute and lovely.†(Cisneros 133), shows that the man finds peace when looking at the moon, unlike the woman who only sees sadness. Their perceptions of the same object in the sky seem to be polar opposites when compared to one another. Furthermore, n the short story â€Å"Bread†, the man and the woman appear to be having sex. The word bread in the story is a metaphor for having sex. After the two â€Å"eat bread†, or have sex, they cruise the city in the pearl blue car. The man is driving through the city and remembering and admiring the beauty of the city. On the other hand, the woman is riding in the car with the man driving through the same city, yet she only gets reminded of her cousin’s baby that had died from eating rat poison at a beautiful building like the one they just past by as seen in the quote, â€Å"And me remembering when I was little, a cousin’s baby who died from swallowing rat poison in a building like these.†(Cisneros 84). The perceptions of the man and woman of the buildings they are passing by vary drastically based on the past memories they have both experienced. The man only remembers the city and it’s buildings because of how charming the city had b een. The woman, however, only remembers the city based on the past experience of her cousin’s baby dying by eating rat poison in a building similar to the ones they were both seeing once again. Another key difference between the man and the woman was the perception of the sex that they were having. The man has a wife and kids, but did not feel bad that he was cheating on his wife with this woman. The man seemed happier than ever when he was having sex with the woman who was not his wife. The woman, on the other hand, was the one to feel horrible about having sex with the man. She was the one who felt bad about having sex because she knows what it is like to lose someone in her life based on her past experiences. The woman knows what loss and pain feel like because of the traumatic memory of the death of her cousin’s baby. And we know that the loss of this baby causes negative feelings because the woman was a little girl when the baby died and she still remembers the ev ent based on the way buildings look. It can be inferred that the man has not lost someone important in his life based on the fact that he is willing to ruin his marriage with his wife and family by having sex with the woman. Based on both of their past experiences, their feelings about adultery are radically different from one another as well as how the sight of beautiful buildings make them both feel. In addition, the idea of perception based on past events can also be seen in the novel â€Å"1984†. In the novel, the main character, Winston, works for a totalitarian government called â€Å"The Party†. The goal of The Party is to take over the whole world and in order to do they, they need to control the citizens by any means possible. Every citizen, including Winston, cannot have their own thoughts and are monitored 24/7 by a figure called Big Brother. The Party goes so far to control political rebellion and keep oppression by coming up with a new language which eliminates all words related to rebellion. Another huge thing The Party takes away is sexual intercourse. The Party sees sex as a disgusting act so they take away all pleasure from the act and use it only as a means of reproduction for new party members. Winston then meets a woman named Julia and falls in love. Julia convinces Winston to sneak out of the city to this grove area where they can talk freely with out worry of anybody listening. When Winston gets to this area outside of the city and meets Julia, they have sex. This is where both of their perceptions of the act of sex differ vastly from each other. Winston has not been in love or had sex for pleasure in decades. So Winston is having sex with Julia because he is in love with her. Julia, on the other hand, has been having sex with other men as an act of political rebellion and reintroduce the feeling of the human spirit in men. This is the same case for having sex with Winston. Julia has sex with Winston to set his spirit free, while Winston has sex with her because he is in love with her. All in all, it can be seen that past occurrences undoubtedly cause dramatically different perceptions of the same current events. These events can be seen in the examples stated above such as in the short story â€Å"There Was a Man, There Was a Woman†, the man and the woman having different feelings when they look at the moon as well as seen in the short story â€Å"Bread† when the man and the woman have different feelings about having sex with each other based on their past events. Therefore, these examples demonstrate the theme of past memories causing different perceptions of the same events. Work Cited Cisneros, Sandra. â€Å"Bread.† Woman Hollering Creek, Random House, Inc., 1991, pp. 84. Cisneros, Sandra. â€Å"There Was a Man, There Was a Woman.† Woman Hollering Creek, Random House, Inc., 1991, pp. 133-134.Orwell, George. 1984. New American Library, 1955.

The Time Machine Essays

The Time Machine Essays The Time Machine Paper The Time Machine Paper Essay Topic: The Time Machine The pen is mightier than the sword; an expression that summarises the central theme of both my choices for the wider reading assignment. George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) and Herbert George Wells both apply an ingenious and extremely effective technique in their finest novels, Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Time Machine. Their tool is not blindingly obvious, but rather like a Trojan horse, implanting itself in the readers mind whilst he or she is indulging in the storyline. Their tool, a concealed propaganda in a way, is the use of satire.Satire is the use of ridicule, irony, humour or other such methods to mock any given subject. Satire is widely recognised as a deadly weapon in media, and is a genre for moving picture and written text. I class Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Time Machine as political satires as they confront certain political ideologies. The latter also falls under science fiction as it plots a scientists adventures as he travels into the distant future in his time machine. In fact, Nineteen Eighty-Four is also set in a future time (relative to the time of writing), but it does not involve any time travelling or regard other such scientific theme.Both serve as prophecies of what society may come to if current political practices are continued. I feel that this is very obvious in both books. In The Time Machine, the main character actually proclaims after telling his story, No. I cannot expect you to believe it. Take is as a lie or a prophecy. Nineteen Eighty-Four, describes a horrendous world, where freedom is a word associated only with animals. It also describes the politics in this world, and after a while it is obvious that Orwell is criticising certain political principles.Although today they may come across as incredible exaggerations, at the time of writing they were very much plausible to the typical reader, as I will explain. H. G. Wells pursues a time travelling scientist into the year 802,701, where corrupt, unbalanced society results with the human race splitting into two different species. Although both have evolved into creatures very different from todays human, one race, the Eloi, seems to be more similar to homo sapiens that the other; it exists on the surface of the earth and has a similar physical appearance.The other, the Morlocks, has formed its habitat under the ground, and has developed hairier bodies, and eyes that are complimentary to its dark environment. The Morlocks survive by farming the Eloi. The initial horror of this state that mankind has reached is simply the fact that the Eloi have, in a way, devolved. They have a basic language, express no emotion or attachment to each other and show a child-like sense of interest; they are amused easily for a few minutes, after which they move on. And yet they live a fantastical life, always happy and content.This, as I said, is only the initial horror. Wells then introduces the Morlocks; the descendants of working class communities. These hideous animals farm the Eloi, providing them with clothing and other such materials in order to produce healthy crops. They emerge in the dark to prey on isolated Eloi. The Time Machine was first published in 1895. The young mastermind Albert Einstein was introducing new theories into physical science, concerning time and time travel. British society was still in the stages where the poor were very poor and the rich were very rich.These are the two main reasons that The Time Machine would not have come across as completely bogus at the time of writing. Wells describes a horrific situation; something that many target readers will be sensitive to. This is a technique that Orwell also employs. As the title suggests, Nineteen Eighty-Four portrays Britain in the year 1984. Although Orwell may have been exaggerating in this portrayal, this novel was first published at a time when Orwells suggestions came across as credible possibilities similar to The Time Machine. The novel follows the life of a certain Winston Smith in this future Britain, under the government, called The Party of Oceania. This government practices what it called English Socialism. It criticises capitalism, and emphasises how life has improved dramatically since the eradication of capitalism and the introduction of English Socialism. However, Orwell gradually reveals a totalitarian society. Ironically, capitalism is very evident in this society. Winstons, and every other party members, days are monotonous endurances.They live in a world where totalitarianism has overcome their lives. In fact, totalitarian ways mean that people cannot know whether totalitarianism has overcome the world, the nation or merely their own community. Winston Smith is a representation of the many civilians who have become rebels in their mind but are too frightened to let their rebelliousness be outwardly expressed. The government monitors every move Winston makes, via a technology called the telescreen. Every word he utters is recorded. All interactions with other people are analysed.Society has reached a stage where sleep is a threat to oneself, for the reason that the telescreen may pick up words of rebel that escape ones mouth during a dream. The social order is hierarchically arranged. The lowest and most numerous class is the prole. I put lowest in speech marks because they actually are not treated as the lowest form; they are given more freedom than party members. These come next. Normal party members, like Winston, are employed by the party to work in one of four ministries. Here they carry out various tasks to ensure that the party runs smoothly.Winston works in the ministry of truth, where day after day, he rewrites newspaper, magazine and other such articles as the party sees fit. For example, if a previous article states that Oceania is at war with Eurasia, but the party is now at war Eastasia, all copies of that article must be tracked down and rewritten to agree with the current situation. In reality, Oceania may not be at war at all, but in order to unite all citizens and in an effort to take over their minds and control their thinking, Oceania is at war with Eastasia and Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.Above the ordinary party members is th e Inner Party. Such members are privileged; they live luxurious lives, in large houses with servants. They make the decisions that other civilians have to follow. Finally, at the apex of the hierarchy, stands Big Brother. All decisions pass through Big Brother before they are finalised. The character, though, is very vague. He appears only on large posters with the caption Big Brother Is Watching You, and the word Ingsoc, an abbreviation for English Socialism and on the propaganda transmitted through telescreens.The people are taught to love Big Brother, and obey his every command without hesitation. And that is what people do. The description of Big Brother, not coincidentally, fits that of Stalin. Similarly to The Time Machine, Nineteen Eighty-Four suggests that if current ways are continued, human intelligence will generally decline. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell makes it clear that civilians are unintelligent by giving examples of characters that ignore the obvious truth and continue their lives as if nothing if wrong with the world. Orwell then demonstrates that these people have no choice.Winston and his lover Julia, whom he discovered was also rebellious at mind, are found out whilst attempting to assimilate with the proles. They are taken to the Ministry of Love, where, to the readers horror, their way of thinking is altered so that they conform to the party and learn to truly love Big Brother. A world where the government has so much power, that it can control peoples thoughts and wishes, may seem bizarre to present day readers, but it was not so to the Britain of 1949. At the time, totalitarian tyrannies were in the recent past or in current practice, i. e.the Nazis and The Soviet Union under Stalin. Britain was still recovering from the devastation that the war with the Nazis had brought and people were still very traumatic and sensitive with the subject. Orwell would not have to think twice about whether this novel would might received as an ex aggeration. The Time Machine is written from a first person point-of-view. This allows the story to be more dramatic, as the characters feelings and thoughts can be shared with the reader. It also makes it easier for the reader to imagine the situation, as they can imagine themselves in the place of the main character.Nineteen Eighty-Four is written from a third person point-of-view, but orients around Wilson. Often, Orwell goes into the mind of Winston and writes in the first person. This allows Orwell to express Winstons thoughts, but also write about certain aspects without bias. Both novels use vivid descriptions of horrific situations as their element of satire. By depicting a hell-world, and suggesting that the existent of these hell-worlds was brought around because of corrupt political practices, the authors are ridiculing their target political practices.Both authors begin with mildly shocking descriptions and then, develop the scenario by introducing increasingly shocking descriptions. The more they can shock the reader, the more effective theyre text will be. The Time Machine begins with The Time Traveller very eager to travel forward in time. He arrives in a harmonic, serene world, as if it had been taken out of a dream, at a time which he first refers to as The Golden Age. However, this is only the cover. The Time Travel then discovers some of the inhabitants of this future world, the Eloi, who, as I have explained, are devolved humans, with child-like tendencies.One of these Eloi creatures, through gesturing asked [the Time Traveller] if [he] had come from the sun in a thunderstorm! Such a question immediately forms low opinions of the Eloi. In Nineteen-Eighty Four, the stupidity of people is not so extreme, but it is evident in the way characters converse and act. For example, a character called Parsons, continually compliments Big Brother and the Party and cheerfully carries out his duties to the party such as collecting money from party memb ers for the Party.He is oblivious to the fact that the party is more-or-less robbing party members of their money; a very tiny percentage of this funding will go towards the public. Although this fact is all-too-obvious, many characters like Parson simply ignore it. Another indication is Orwells direct description of these characters actions: Winstons handed over two notes, which Parsons entered in a small notebook, in the neat handwriting of the illiterate. Orwell is directly illustrating that Parsons is almost illiterate.

How to Grow Aragonite Crystals

How to Grow Aragonite Crystals Its easy to grow aragonite crystals! These sparkly crystals only require vinegar and a rock. Growing crystals is a fun way to learn about geology and chemistry. Materials To Grow Aragonite Crystals You only need two materials for this project: Dolomite rocksHousehold vinegar Dolomite is a common mineral. It is the basis for dolomite clay, which should also work for crystals, but if you grow them on a rock you get a beautiful mineral specimen. If you use clay, you might want to include another rock or a sponge as a base or substrate to support crystal growth. You can find the rocks at a store or online or you can play rockhound and collect them yourself. How To Grow the Crystals This is one of the easiest crystal-growing projects. Basically, you just soak the rock in vinegar. However, here are a couple of tips for the best crystals: If your rock is dirty, rinse it off and let it dry.Place a rock in a small container. Ideally, it will be slightly bigger than the rock, so you dont have to use a lot of vinegar. Its okay if the rock sticks out of the top of the container.Pour vinegar around the rock. Make sure you leave an exposed space at the top. The crystals will start to grow at the liquid line.As the vinegar evaporates, aragonite crystals will start to grow. Youll start to see the first crystals in a day. Depending on temperature and humidity, you should start to see really good growth around 5 days. It may take up to 2 weeks for the vinegar to completely evaporate and produce crystals as big as possible.You can remove the rock from the liquid whenever you are satisfied with the appearance of the aragonite crystals. Handle them carefully, as they will be brittle and fragile. What Is Aragonite? Dolomite is the source of the minerals used to grow the aragonite crystals. Dolomite is a sedimentary rock often found along the shores of ancient oceans. Aragonite is a form of calcium carbonate. Aragonite is found in hot mineral springs and in some caves. Another calcium carbonate mineral is calcite. Aragonite sometimes crystallizes into calcite. Aragonite and calcite crystals are chemically identically, but aragonite forms orthorhombic crystals, while calcite displays trigonal crystals. Pearls and mother of pearl are other forms of calcium carbonate.

Case Study Yorkshire Radio Station Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Yorkshire Radio Station - Case Study Example Strategy has two key dimensions - the resource allocation decision and the development of sustainable competitive advantage. We will confine our dissertation on development of sustainable competitive advantage leaving the resource allocation decisions. 1. Fit to market environment - the primary requirement is the perceived notion of customer for the need of the product or services. The customer looks for competitive advantage, superior value from a product. 3. Efficiency versus effectiveness: Efficiency is internal to the organization whereas effectiveness identifies opportunities to create market. As Peter Drucker says 'Efficiency is doing things right, Effectiveness is doing right things'. Primary focus of the organization should be on effectiveness rather efficiency.... Diversification strategies - Diversification are of four types 1) Forward integration, Backward Integration, concentric diversification and conglometric diversification. Criteria for Strategic success: The following five factors determine the success of a strategy: 1. Fit to market environment - the primary requirement is the perceived notion of customer for the need of the product or services. The customer looks for competitive advantage, superior value from a product. 2. Timing: nothing fails like success - A product or service, which is in vogue today, becomes obsolete tomorrow, hence timing is very important for success of a strategy. 3. Efficiency versus effectiveness: Efficiency is internal to the organization whereas effectiveness identifies opportunities to create market. As Peter Drucker says 'Efficiency is doing things right, Effectiveness is doing right things'. Primary focus of the organization should be on effectiveness rather efficiency. 4. Speed versus decisiveness: Speed is important, companies that are fast to innovate, manufacture and distribute and quick to respond to customer requirements are more successful. But with speed the decisive commitment of resources also is very important. 5. Organizational effectiveness: The organizational effectiveness in its manpower, their commitment to deploy their skills effectively contributes to the organizational effectiveness. Let us analyze the Current situation: Presently Yorkshire Radios station's activities are as follows: 1. Broadcasting Yorkshire sports like Football Rugby, Racing, Cricket 2. Broadcasting music. 3. Main focus is on coverage of Leeds United with exclusive access to the manager, Players and chairman plus full match

Applicationof nursing process to delivery cultural competent care to Research Paper

Applicationof nursing process to delivery cultural competent care to Haitian Americans - Research Paper Example The immigrants faced a huge test of survival in the new lands. Most of the Haitians, however, had fled to France. This was because of the French policy of assimilation, which saw most educated Haitians go to France. Over time, the number of Haitians living in the US has increased. According to the 1990 census conducted in the United States, there were more than 290,000 Haitians in the United States (Zephir, 2004). This figure, however, does not include the tens of thousands who live in the US illegally. Being of the black race, and with the historical racial segregation of the US, the Haitians have always faced a huge task of being accepted into the community. Like most other Blacks, they have faced political as well as social discrimination from the whites of the United States. This made survival for the Haitians a very difficult endeavor. Today, however, the Haitian Americans as well as other ethnic groups from the black race are a strong part of the American

Management Practices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Practices - Essay Example At Grandma’s Treats, there is a need to have a business model based on the concept of e-marketing and e-commerce. The owner of Grandma’s Treats could attract more customers and operate his business more effectively if he creates a website, advertises, and sells his "treats" on the World Wide Web. Interesting terms like e-tail or e-tailer are used to define online retailers these days. Almost every bid retailer has a presence on the internet and even the websites comparing prices of same product that available online from different vendors are present for the ease and comfort of the consumer. There are two forms of electronic commerce, one that is conducted between different businesses referred to as business-to-business or B2B and the other that is conducted between business and a consumer also called Business-to-consumer or B2C. In a B2B, there can be predefined business parties or arbitrary parties involved over the internet whereas B2C is primarily practiced with arb itrary consumers over the internet with the help of platforms like Facebook, E-bay, Amazon etc. Internet marketing as of 2007 is growing faster than other types of media because exposure, response, and overall efficiency of Internet media are easier to track than traditional off-line media—through the use of web analytics for instance—Internet marketing can offer a greater sense of accountability for advertisers. The whole of Media Campaign could be covered. The nature of the internet means businesses now have a truly global reach. While traditional media costs limit this kind of reach to huge multinationals, e-Marketing opens up new avenues for smaller businesses, on a much smaller budget, to access potential consumers from all over the world. Internet marketing allows the marketer to reach consumers in a wide range of ways and enables them to offer a wide range of products and

Assign 5 mjtjm Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assign 5 mjtjm - Assignment Example he author demonstrates the questions remains unanswered by stating that there is the absence of accepted viewpoints as the existing hypothesis were mainly on qualitative considerations that allowed different interpretation. The author chooses to use quantitative factors to answer the questions. The author mentions prior research carried out by Humphreys (1929 and others). The researcher considered that the variation of direct radiation was determined by the change in atmospheric transparency due to dust emitted during volcanic eruptions. However, the author disagrees with the findings arguing that the variation of the radiations could also be caused by increased atmospheric dust emitted by human activities1. The author uses observational images from the meteorological satellites, data from geological investigations on the level of volcanic activity and results of calculations of monthly mean values of radiation. There are no sampling issues involved in the research. The dependent variable in the study is that the changes in Earth’s temperature. The independent variables are the variations in the transparency of the atmosphere that depends on the level of volcanic activity. The hypothesis to be tested is precise as temperature change is related to change in solar radiations2. The author uses inferential statistics which is an appropriate approach based on the data available. The assumption is that the change in temperature and transparency in the atmosphere are linear. The author’s findings are that human activities influence the climate as the activities produce energy that produces heat that is an additional to the heat generated by the solar radiations. The author has an expectation that one of the glaciers expansions could reach the critical latitude that would result in complete glaciations of the Earth setting in. The author borrowed the conceptual definition from a piece of prior research3. The author concludes that human activities should be taken

Research methodology.research methods Dissertation

Research methodology.research methods - Dissertation Example There are different styles of research which are in practice, including the document study which is exploratory one, the questionnaire study which is analytical and the interview study which is based on theoretical observations. Document study is about collecting facts, while interview and questionnaire methods are to understand individuals’ perceptions in the descriptive and theoretical manner (Bell, 2010). Interview research uses non-numerical and unstructured data, more than this, it has research questions which are more general at the start, and get specific as the study progresses (Teddlie, 2009). This chapter introduces three methods of research; the interview, the questionnaire, and the document research methods. Furthermore, the strengths and weaknesses of each of the method will be highlighted. The chapter also discusses the ethical code of conduct of the study. Introducing the Research Methods (Interview, Document and Questionnaire) Document Method (Strengths and Wea knesses) First method is the document research which is based on analysis of primary and secondary documents. The primary documents may include the experimental data, such as responses’ data of a particular company or organization. Secondary documents may include books, periodicals, journal articles and scholarly abstracts which assist the researcher to collect secondary-theoretical information on the study (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). There are two main sources of data collection in document research: secondary and primary documents (Guest, 2011). Further, the document research applies two approaches: source-oriented document research and problem-oriented document research. The source-oriented research means collection of the secondary documents which is to build the ground of the research - the subject. On the other hand, problem oriented research refers to collection of the primary documents which aim is to identify the problem, objective and purpose of research (Johnson & Christensen, 2010). One weaknesses of document research is that it entails a large set of data from documents, which needs to be filtered out for conducting the research. Apart that, document method applies to the HRM subjective studies and therefore provides the reason to the researcher to get it adapted for its research (Teddlie, 2009). The Questionnaire Method (Strengths and Weaknesses) The second common research method is the questionnaire which is based on a designed set of closed-ended questions (Griffith & Layne, 1999). The researchers had to have a certain aim before they apply the questionnaire method. As the method requires certain objectives, they limit the method with its purpose of application. Moreover, as the questionnaire is designed on the basis of close-ended questions, it cannot produce the effective descriptive information on the study which is the most essential to conduct a research. The responses collected through questionnaire are fixed and not changing, t hey are more specific and less detailed (Griffith & Layne, 1999). Interpretation and findings in questionnaire are entirely based on statistical elaboration. The more effective the statistical analysis of the study is, the more useful and effective the information will be in the questionnaire to get used as findings or interpretation. The Interview Method (Strengths and Weaknesses) The third adaptive method is the interview, which is based on formation of thematic questions and questions to be deployed on interviewees for thematic answers. The interview is in a way similar to questionnaire method, as it details questions; but still it differs as it brings descriptive information from the respondents (Griffith & Layne, 1999). The interview guideline based on a set of thematic questions can generate productive information for research. It can bring changing perception of individuals and also changing opinions of respondents on a particular subject or theme, which a questionnaire canno t do (Griffith & Layne

Assign 5 mjtjm Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assign 5 mjtjm - Assignment Example he author demonstrates the questions remains unanswered by stating that there is the absence of accepted viewpoints as the existing hypothesis were mainly on qualitative considerations that allowed different interpretation. The author chooses to use quantitative factors to answer the questions. The author mentions prior research carried out by Humphreys (1929 and others). The researcher considered that the variation of direct radiation was determined by the change in atmospheric transparency due to dust emitted during volcanic eruptions. However, the author disagrees with the findings arguing that the variation of the radiations could also be caused by increased atmospheric dust emitted by human activities1. The author uses observational images from the meteorological satellites, data from geological investigations on the level of volcanic activity and results of calculations of monthly mean values of radiation. There are no sampling issues involved in the research. The dependent variable in the study is that the changes in Earth’s temperature. The independent variables are the variations in the transparency of the atmosphere that depends on the level of volcanic activity. The hypothesis to be tested is precise as temperature change is related to change in solar radiations2. The author uses inferential statistics which is an appropriate approach based on the data available. The assumption is that the change in temperature and transparency in the atmosphere are linear. The author’s findings are that human activities influence the climate as the activities produce energy that produces heat that is an additional to the heat generated by the solar radiations. The author has an expectation that one of the glaciers expansions could reach the critical latitude that would result in complete glaciations of the Earth setting in. The author borrowed the conceptual definition from a piece of prior research3. The author concludes that human activities should be taken

How Attitudes Are Formed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

How Attitudes Are Formed - Essay Example Attitudes once formed play a vital role in governing the behaviors of the people (Albarracin, Johnson & Zanna, 2005). Many factors can have an influence on forming the attitude of the people, which includes learning from social environment, evaluation of social aspects, personal beliefs, cultural and religious norms, heredity factors, and personal or family life experiences. Since the attitude is directly in proportion to behaviors and behaviors have a direct impact on the actions of an individual, therefore, a positive attitude can only come under formation when one’s perception is optimistic. Cognitive, behavioral, and affective components also help in forming one’s attitude. There can be many theories that define how a person can form his attitude, amongst which two theories – Mere Exposure and Classical Conditioning comes under discussion below (Albarracin, Johnson & Zanna, 2005). Mere Exposure is one theory that defines that a recurring confrontation with an object or a person presides over the fondness of an individual as it influences the perception. For example, if a person is repeatedly watching a television serial or listens to a song repeatedly, each time his understanding of the images he watch or the sound he listen becomes better and his perception transforms into either his liking or boredom (Fiske, 2010).

Ansoffs Matrix Explanation Essay Example for Free

Ansoffs Matrix Explanation Essay Using the same product in the same market, however altering the looks or the style of the product to make is look new to encourage higher sales. E.g. Coca-Cola using different styles of coke and using different advertising campaigns to sell the same coke product. Product development When a new product is used in the same market. For example if coke sold juice, it would still be in the same drinks market however it would be a different product. New market Market development Selling the same product to a new market. It has a higher risk because it is a different set of customers. An example of this is Tesco’s expansion into petrol sales. Diversification A new product to be sold in a completely new market. This has a higher risk because it is a completely new idea and may not catch-up quickly which may lead to the company making a loss. A good example of the unrelated diversification is Richard Branson. He took advantage of the virgin brand and diversified into various fields such as entertainment, air and rail travel foods etc. Ansoff’s Matrix Main Definition: â€Å"The Ansoff Matrix is a strategic planning tool that provides a framework to help executives, senior managers and marketers devise strategies for future growth. It was created by Russian American, applied mathematician and business manager, Igor Ansoff† The Ansoff Growth matrix is a marketing planning tool that helps a business determine its product and market growth strategy

Validity Reliability Quantitative

Validity Reliability Quantitative Use a variety of sources to answer the questions, 2) not copy directly out of any book, 3) include sources to responses and cite them at the end of his writing, and 4) provide more details about how you applied his knowledge of research to his independent study.   His goal is to demonstrate through writing his research knowledge and that he applied that knowledge to his independent study. Question # 5 Validity and generalizability aspects of quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research: Quantitative research Validity and reliability are two important aspects in order to approve and validate the quantitative research. Moskal Leydens (2002) defined the validity as â€Å"the degree to which the evidence supports that the interpretations of the data are correct and the manner in which interpretations used are appropriate†. In other words, Joppe (2000) stated that validity is the one if the obtained results are truthful and believable. He also adds that to determine the validity, the researchers generally poses a series of questions, and will often look for the answers in the research of others to know whether the measurements are accurate or not (p. 1). Joppe (2000) also defined reliability as how consistent the results are when the experiment is repeated a number of times under same methodological conditions, then the instrument is said to be reliable. Kirk and Miller (1986) identified three types of reliability referred to in quantitative research, which relate to: (1) producing th e same results under same measurement conditions (2) the stability of a measurement with respect to time; and (3) the similarity of measurements in a given time period (p. 41-42). Charles (1995) argued that reliability is the consistency with which an individuals scores remain relatively the same and can be determined through the test-retest method at two different times. HE refers to this type of instrument as stable instrument. He also stated that a high degree of stability indicates a high degree of reliability, which means the results are repeatable. According to Creswell (2003) there are several threats of validity that proves or raises issues about the accuracy of the data or results or application of statistical tests to conclude the effects of an outcome. They are internal threats, external threats, statistical conclusion threats, and construct validity threats. Campbell and Stanley (1963) states that the basic requirement to interpret an experiment is to clearly define internal validity. Internal validity threats are experimental procedures, treatments, or experiences of the participants that threaten the researchers ability to draw correct inferences from the data in an experiment. These are raised due to usage of inadequate procedures like changing the instrument or a tool during an experiment, changing the control group participants under study etc. Because of these inadequate procedures, the experimenter should find whether the experiment make a difference in this instance or not. External validity threats arise when the researcher concludes incorrect inferences from the sample data to other persons. It addresses the question of generalizability that to whom can we generalize the obtained results. A statistical conclusion validity threat arises when experimenters draw inaccurate inferences from the data because of the violation of the assumptions of the statistical test being used for the collected data. Construct validity threat arises when investigators use inadequate definitions and measure variables based on those inadequate definitions. In general, methods of establishing validity in quantitative research are: Experiment review Data triangulation Participant feedback Regression analysis Statistical analysis In my study, I clearly defined and took care of the internal validity threats that can arise from the data collected and the tools used for collecting the data. In order to avoid this threat in Microsoft Excel, as the random data generated keeps on changing, I copied the data on multiple sheets so as to make sure the data was not lost for further analysis. I took care of the external validity by inferring the data to their respective parts, products and machines correctly and obtained results after performing a careful analysis. I applied descriptive statistics analysis and drew line graphs between the numbers of products, delay time and interpreted the results clearly. Qualitative research Golafshani (2003) argues that the concepts of validity and reliability related to the quantitative research may not be applicable or support for qualitative research. Winter (2000) points out that the necessary tools such as precision; credibility and transferability are considered to validate the qualitative research. Transferability refers to the extent in which the obtained results can be used by other researchers. Credibility is nothing but the data, data collection and the results obtained are trustworthy and believable. All the technical issues such as validity, reliability, triangulation and generalizability show the effect of credibility. In terms of the quantitative research, reliability means, the result is replicable. But, in terms of the qualitative research, reliability is testing the information for high quality which otherwise looks confusing making the reader change the track of the study. Stenbacka (2001) relates that in the quantitative study, quality or reliability refers to evaluating the purpose of explaining, while in qualitative study, it serves the purpose of generating understanding of the information. Creswell Miller (2000) stated that the strength of the qualitative study depends on the accuracy of the findings in view of the researcher, participant or the readers. Moskal Leydens (2002) defined the validity as â€Å"the degree to which the interpretations of the data accurately describe the phenomenon under investigation†. I qualitative research, internal validity refers to the match between the researchers observations, interpretations, categories and reality. In addition to validity, Moskal Olds (2002) used trustworthiness as an alternate method to validate the study which states that the made interpretations are accurate. Patton (2001) states that validity and reliability are two factors qualitative researchers should be aware of in designing, analyzing, interpreting, and judging the quality of study. According to Seale ( 1999), to ensure reliability in qualitative research, the research needs to examine the trustworthiness. He adds that trustworthiness of the research report becomes important if the validity and reliability of the study is discussed. Testing or maximizing the validity of the qualitative research: Stenbacka (2003) suggested that the structure of documenting and doing a high quality research work leads to a generalizability if the validity and trustworthiness are maximized. To do this, a data triangulation method has to be implemented to control bias and to establish valid propositions. Creswell Miller (2000) defined data triangulation as the formation of themes or categories using a validity procedure for convergence among multiple and different sources of information. It involves comparison of results obtained from different data methods such as surveys, interviews, observations etc. So, to establish multiple ways of truth for a qualitative research, researcher needs to redefine, implement and test the validity, reliability, generalizability and data triangulation concepts thoroughly. Methods for establishing the validity and to enhance the credibility of qualitative research are: Negative case analysis Presenting the negative information that runs counter to the themes Audit trail Clarifying the bias that the researcher brings to the study Prolonged field experience Spending prolonged time in the field to develop an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon under study Data triangulation triangulate different data sources of information by examining evidence from the sources and using it to build a coherent justification Member checking to determine the accuracy of the qualitative findings Mixed methods research: Designs combining both qualitative and quantitative research methods to collecting, analyzing, interpreting and reporting data are called as mixed methods research. In mixed methods strategy, the researcher should consider both quantitative and qualitative validity strategies and mix both of these in a way that best works to build credibility and trustworthiness of the data, data collection, and out comes of the study. Question # 2 Framework Elements of Research: For every research proposal, a definite framework exists to follow a certain pattern. According to Creswell (2003), there are three different research approaches: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach. To understand these approaches fully, every researcher needs to consider three framework elements: knowledge claims, strategies of inquiry, data collection statistical analysis called as methods. My study falls under quantitative approach. The three framework elements that are related to quantitative approach are: Knowledge claims: Creswell (2003) defines knowledge claim as initiation of the project with certain assumptions about how the study will be learned and what the outcomes of the study are during the inquiry. Hunston (1993) suggests a researcher, to treat knowledge claim as an item in the research article. He also adds that the chosen item should be agreed by the community of that discipline. Dahl (2007) argues that the constructions of such claims are complex with the text sequences because; the concept of knowledge claim is not easily understandable. It should be originated from the critical thinking of the discipline that is embodied in the positional form. He also investigated on how the new knowledge claims are constructed for the present-day research article introductions in economics and linguistics. According to Creswell (2003), the different types of knowledge claims are post positive knowledge claims, socially constructed knowledge claims, advocacy or participatory knowledge claims and finally pragmatic knowledge claims. When the research includes determining or reducing or an empirical observation and measurement or theory verification, then the type of knowledge claim is post-positivism. Popper (Wikipedia) supports that post positivists believe human knowledge based on conjectural thinking. Nicholas Philips (2000) believed that thinking is not based on solid foundations rather they think as a prospective outcome believing that there is something real which we should find out. Creswell (2003) states that â€Å"Post positivism refers the thinking and after positivism; challenging the absolute truth and recognizing that we can not be â€Å"positive† about claims of knowledge when studying the behaviors and action of human†. Post positivism reflects in determining the effects or outcomes, examining the causes that reflect the outcomes by doing experiments, reducing the ideas into a small, set of ideas to test such as variables that constitute hypothesis and research questions, developing numeric measures of observations and studying the behavior of individuals. The problem studied by post positivist refers that there is a need to examine, and analyze the causes so as to interpret the outcomes. Post positivist can also be a reductionism where the variables of hypothesis and research questions are selected and carefully analyzed. Knowledge claims that arise for my independent study are: Post positivism, believing that the delay time can be minimized in realty with the help of an algorithm. It is also believed that any production work order can be optimized with the help of developed algorithm. The knowledge claims that refer to my study are Post-positivism which includes combination of determination, observation and measurement of the delay time. The study involves recognizing the possible causes of a factor (work order) and determining the effects (delay time) of a factor by a careful observation and finally minimizing the effect or improving the performance (Productivity) of a system. The study involves development of a random data for careful observation of the delay time and analyzing the generated data in a real-time analysis for finding out the causes such as delay time and its effect o the productivity of the system. Then an algorithm is developed to test the behavior of the data so as to improve the p erformance of the system. Strategies of inquiry: A stage of inquiry in quantitative research includes numerical summaries, generalizations across populations and comparisons between populations. The design followed is experimental design in which the researcher examines how the phenomenon changes as a result of developing or implementing a method. Strategies of inquiry provide specific designs for procedures in the research design. Though strategy of inquiry is using from decades, has become more important with the increase in the computer technology, and the ability to analyze complex models. Strategies associated with quantitative research were those that invoked the post positivist perspectives. These include true experiments and less vigorous experiments called quasi-experiments and correlation studies, and specific single-subject experiments (Campbell Stanley, 1963). He also states that, in this computer world, quantitative research strategies are involved with complex experiments that can analyze many variables and treatment s witht eh help of factorial designs and repeated measure designs. Strategies associated with quantitative approach are: A strategy of inquiry that is employed in my study is experiments. The experiments that I conducted for my study include visiting four manufacturing industries, observing the flow of products on different manufacturing production lines, and finally analyzing the type of model or an algorithm to be developed. Based on my observation, I see that the flow of parts on every assembly line is being obstructed by high process times parts causing a waiting of other products which resulting in high delay time for preceding products. This causes the performance of the system and ultimately affecting the productivity of the manufacturing production line. The observation is done in four manufacturing industries, each involving many numbers of assembly lines. Based on the observations data, I concluded that the part times and the product assembly times are different for different assembly lines and for different manufacturing industries, so I realized to work on optimizing the random part, produc t times which should be suitable to any production line. My study has comparison of the data sets with each data set consisting of 500 products of initial generated delay time with final delay time after incorporating the developed algorithm for the delay time. It is an experiment model which involves a creation of random data with Microsoft Excel and analyzing the various machine parameters with the help of Microsoft tools. Research methods: The most important element in the research process is the methods of data collection and analysis. For quantitative research, the research methods I used are predetermined instrument based questions such as performance data, attitude data, observational data and census statistical data using Microsoft Excel. My research problem is how to develop a universal algorithm to optimize the production work order. It involves identifying the factors that influence the outcomes, and testing the factors with the help of large data. The approach that matches to my problem is quantitative approach. To collect the data, I observed four industry assembly lines and generated a random data after a careful observation by using various closed-ended and open-ended questions and focuses on numeric data so that the results and interpretations are applicable to any type of industry assembly line. The method of data collection for my study is using Microsoft Excel as an instrument that generates a random data which reflects to the data of current manufacturing industries production line consisting of different products with each product having different parts. The purpose of collecting a random data using Excel is to analyze test the algorithm whether it has a definite outcome so that the algorithm is applicable for any type of data or manufacturing assembly line. Then the analysis includes comparison of the delay times of the original data and the optimized order data for delay time. The analysis includes the implementation of algorithm and application of descriptive statistics. Question # 1 Purposes and benefits of sections of Independent study My independent study is related to quantitative research model. My study deals with development of an algorithm to arrange production work order for minimizing delay time at on the assembly line. It purely deals with the quantitative random data and uses post positivist claims for the development of sound knowledge for delay time comparison and employs experiments, and generated data aster observing a variety of manufacturing assembly lines, strategies of inquiry Purpose of the quantitative research is to do numerical summaries, generalizations across populations and comparisons between populations. This research primarily relies on quantitative data. It includes few variables which are the building blocks (Delay time, work order, number of different products) and many cases or categories (Five sets of data with each set consisting of 500 products which are different). These quantitative research methods use experimental designs. Here, every chapter follows a typical pattern. Introduction Purpose: The purpose of an introduction is to provide background information to the readers for the research reported in the study. A good introduction chapter motivates the reader and audiences to go a head a read the rest of the study. It provides a plan for the research, so that readers will be able to understand how the study is different and related to other research (Creswell, 2003 p.73). It establishes the issue leading to the research by conveying information about a research problem (Creswell, 2003 p.74). In this, the problem is addressed by understanding the factors or variables which are the process time, product order that influence an outcome delay time (Creswell, 2003 p.75). It provides the understanding of the problem that explains or relates to an outcome delay time and helps the researcher best understand and explain the problem why the delay time is to be minimized (Creswell, 2003 p. 76). The outline of my introduction chapter is Introduction I introduced in brief about my study, providing a background of what it is with a little bit of literature so as to educate the reader. Statement of the problem in the study I defined the problem of my study clearly with an example of a simple manufacturing line. Sub problems are also stated in addition to the main problem. Objectives I listed out the objectives of the study that I am going to achieve by solving the above problem. Justification of the study I gave a justification on for what I am working on this study and supporting what I say. Benefits of research I listed out the benefits of the research, who are going to benefit by using this study in long term and in short term period. Assumptions, limitations and delimitations I listed out various assumptions that I am going to consider, what limits my study in solving the above problem. Definition of terms and I defined the important terms that the reader should be aware of or know before proceeding into the next chapter. Summary -Summarizing the chapter. Benefits: By writing an effective introduction chapter, a reader can figure out the problem leading to the study i.e., how the delay time is optimized by arranging the production work order, reviewing the literature about the problem to find whether there are any related theories that is done by other investigators, identifying deficiencies in the literature about the problem, targeting audiences and notifying the significance of the problem for this audience (Creswell, 2003 p.73). Literature Review Purpose: The purpose of the literature review is to find and learn more about the topic and check whether any researcher previously has made any study or research on the same topic or on the related topic (Creswell, 2003 p.29). If explained in detail of the previous related research, the reader will try to connect the study with previous studies by filling the gaps.(Cooper, 1984; Marshall Rossman, 1999). It provides the importance of the study when compared to the prior studies and also benchmarks the results with other findings. After the careful analysis of the research topic with the help of past research, a clear definition of the problem of the study has been stated. All or some of these reasons may be the foundation for writing the scholarly literature into a study (Miller, 1991). My research is all about how to optimize the assembly lines. I conducted a literature review on single-model assembly lines, mixed-model assembly lines. Then, I narrowed it down to the algorithms dealing with assembly lines involving the optimization or minimization of delay times so as to clearly understand the past research, problems of the past models and clearly define the research problem. Introduction- I explained what I am going to talk in this chapter. And also I will tell what the various important issues I am highlighting are. Assembly line I talked about assembly lines literature, presenting the information related to my study on assembly lines and the prior researcher accomplishments. Delay time- I talked about assembly lines literature, presenting the information related to my study on assembly lines and the prior researcher accomplishments. Algorithms I spoke about key algorithms as there are so many types related to the study. Summary- Summarizing the chapter. Benefits: The literature review helps the researcher to revise the research idea and shows methodological techniques to problems specific to the research problem that will help in designing the study. It also helps to suggest possible questions or hypotheses that need to be addressed (Creswell, 2003 p.46). Methodology Purpose: The purpose of methodology chapter is to bring focus on survey and experimental modes of inquiry. The researcher will explain which methodology he is using, why he chose that methodology and why he chose not to use other methods. In methodology chapter, the researcher discusses about the framework elements of research such as knowledge claims, strategies of inquiry, and methods. The method that was used to collect data is explained in detail like how did to generate random data of five sets with each set consisting of 500 products using Microsoft Excel ad procedure I followed to find the real-time delay time. The reader will exactly know what was done with the collected data, to the point that he or she can replicate the study to get similar results. Introduction- Here I talk about the previous chapter, by concluding some important points that are going to be used in this chapter. Restatement of the problem I restated the problem clearly by narrowing the problem into a specific definite path so as to make a clear understanding to the reader after dealing with the prior research work, the accomplishments etc. Because, the stated problem before might not be clear as the research work wasnt done at that time. After knowing the literature review part, the researcher analyzes the problem and states here clearly. Research design- involves framework elements of the research in order to determine the type of approach followed based on the framework elements of research. Then quantitative, qualitative and mixed approaches are compared. In addition to this the validity of the method is also discussed. After knowing the type of approach, proceeded to various steps like experiments, data collection. Ethical issues are also considered before planning for data collection. Instrumentation the instruments for conducting an experiment are explained in detail. Types of instruments, specifications are clearly mentioned. Data collection data is collected with the help of instruments and tools Analysis of the data data is ready for the analysis and using statistical tools, or any other techniques are used. Summary- Summarizing the chapter. Benefits: With the help of methodology chapter, audiences can recognize the variation that exists in the qualitative, quantitative and mixed method studies, why I chose a quantitative study for the research problem I defined then it advances general guideline for procedures of the study. These guidelines include a discussion about the general characteristics of the study if the audiences are not familiar with the approach to research. (Source: Classroom material by Dr. Lynda Kenney) Results Purpose: The purpose of results chapter is to present the analysis, the tools used for obtaining results so that the reader can understand easily and can be able to interpret and learn what has been done in the study. It needs to be organized in a step-by-step manner in such a way that the collected data, statistical tests, graphs, charts, are presented for support description for the reader to interpret quickly and accurately (Leedy Ormrod, 2005). Introduction Application of algorithm Results Summary- Summarizing the chapter. Benefits: The benefits of the results chapter is for readers to quickly interpret the conclusions and significance with the help of the tables, graphs, charts and figures obtained from the interpretation and analysis of the data. Flow Chart Purpose: The purpose of the flow chart is to explain the process of optimization of the production work order in a step-by-step process that is described in the study. Sometimes, a simulation model can also be presented for easy understanding. It depicts an outline of the algorithm in a straightforward manner. Introduction Explanation of the developed algorithm -Flow chart Summary- Summarizing the chapter. Benefits: It makes the readers understand easily at a glance what has done in the entire study. It also helps the researcher to make and follow the created flow chart while analyzing the data. Discussion Purpose: The purpose of the discussion chapter is to highlight the main theories and conclusions used in the research study so that a reader can easily figure out what theories the researcher used in implementing and analyzing the data. Each major conclusion is clearly explained with the help of chart, graphs and tables and compared with the results of the similar work by other investigators. Then, the researcher continually connects her findings with the theoretical frameworks. Any new or unusual results are also explained (Leedy Ormrod, 2005). If the researcher is not sure about the significance of the results or could not understand the phenomenon of the data, he presents a speculative discussion outlining several possible outcomes by alerting the readers that such a discussion is speculative. Finally, he outlines the important results he thinks of with the study. Introduction Discussion of the results Advantages of the results Outline of important results Summary Benefits: The benefits of the discussion chapter are to make grand conclusions which support the subsequent paragraphs. Here, the entire conclusions, implications or the effects due to each conclusion including the minor and major effects are presented. The discussion also includes the method of computation or derivation of the study. Such situation arises when one figure is derived from preceding figures. If the application or method is involved, then a complete example with the method is to be explained for complete understanding to the reader. Finally, explained the significance and outcomes of the study. Conclusions and Recommendations Purpose: The purpose of the conclusions chapter is to make a summary of the conclusions in reference to the objectives and the problem stated in introduction chapter. The researcher also points out both what are found and what are not found. It is also the section examined by the prospective reader with limited available time (Leedy Ormrod, 2005). Introduction Restatement of the problem Conclusions Recommendations Benefits: Although the researcher has previously presented each of the conclusions, conclusions chapter tell us the reader the ultimate effect or the benefit of the study. In my study, I have explained how the delay time is minimized or optimized by arranging the production work order so that it is quite helpful to readers, who might easily lose track of some important conclusions as they read earlier portions of a study (Leedy Ormrod, 2005). In addition to this, a prospective reader will able to quickly examine the research in limited time. I explained the benefits of my study that findings of this research will aid industries, retails stores by demonstrating how the algorithm is currently used, and how retail stores can assist customers to implement universal algorithm. Industries may benefit from models of evaluating arrangement of parts of a product on an assembly line. REFERENCES Leedy, P. D., Ormrod, J. E. (2005). Practical Research: Planning and Design. PEARSON. Columbus. Ohio. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches. Second Edition, SAGE. Thousand Oaks. USA. Olds, B., Moskal, B. Miller, R. â€Å"Assessment in Engineering Education†, Journal of Engineering Education , to appear Jan. 2005. Moskal, B., Leydens, J. Pavelich, M. Validity, reliability and the assessment of engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education , Vol. 91, No. 3, 351-354, 2002. Leydens, J., Moskal, B. Pavilich, M. ,Qualitative Methods Used in the Assessment of Engineering Education. Journal of Engineering Education , 93(1), 65-72, 2004. Hunston, Susan, 1993. Professional conflict. Disagreement in academic discourse. In: Baker, M., Francis, G., Tognini-Bonelli, E. (Eds.), Text and Technology. In Honour of John Sinclair. John Benjamins, Philadelphia/Amsterdam, pp. 115-134. Dahl. T, 2008. Contributing to the academic conversation: A study of new knowledge claims in economics and linguistics, Journal of Pragmatics 40, 1184-1201 D.C. Philips Nicholas C. Burbules (2000): Post