Case study Technique Essay

In psychology, cases study is the use of descriptive research and analysis to obtain in-depth information about a person, group, or a phenomenon. Case study is conducted using techniques such as direct-observation of the person, personal interviews, psychometric tests, and use of earlier researches archived (Dunbar, 2005). Psychology uses a case study often in clinical research to explain an unusual occurrences and conditions of the patient. The conditions are contrary to the pre-established principles in the fields of psychology and clinical research. Most of the case studies are single-case design; however, there is multiple-case design where instead of using sampling, replication is the criterion for use. Case study in psychology ought to be valid, and reliable to help in the future psychological research. This paper explains the reasons, disadvantages, and advantages of the case study. Reasons for Using Case Study Case study allows the researcher to examine and gather information about persons in far more detail than if the research was on a large number of people. Although the case study is not a research method, clinical and psychological researchers identifies methods of data collection that is suitable for the case study (Goodwin, 1995). For instance, observation, interviews, personal notes, and officially documented records. The reason for the case study is to investigate into the private lives of persons with the focus of understanding them and helping them in overcoming the problems that they experienced in their daily lives. Advantages and Disadvantages of Case Study Case study allows the researchers to collect detailed information about a person that is useful. The information would not have been obtained by the other research methods. The information obtained during the case study is richer and is greater in depth compared to the other experimental designs. Moreover, the research considers rare cases where large samples of similar people are not available. Scientific experiments on the person done during the process of study are also an advantage (Dunbar, 2005). The process enables the researchers to adapt to ideas and come up with a hypothesis that  will be a point of reference in the future research. On the contrary, the data collected during the case study cannot apply in a wider population. This makes the data not be useful in longitudinal case studies. In addition, some of the studies are not scientific in nature (Goodwin, 1995). They are only a generalization of the scientific principles. The study considers only one individual; therefore, the study is prone to the researcher biases. The bias of the experimenter can influence the conclusions more than in the other study designs. It is also difficult to prove the effect from the psychological case study (Dunbar, 2005). A case study is often prone to be more time consuming than the time used in other study designs. Sources of Case Study Data The case study research generates data from different sources. The researchers use field notes to record data that is already available in stored databases. The use of sampling where one person is examined to represent a wider group is also a method of case study data collection. In addition, questionnaires, observations, and interviewing are other methods used to collect case study data. In conclusion, the study tends to collect qualitative data. The psychological case study is important since it collects unique and in-depth data about a person. Mainly, the rare phenomena and conditions allude to case studies. Finally, it is vital to refer to the recorded data to ensure that the findings are accurate and applicable in the real life situations. References Dunbar, G. (2005). Evaluating research methods in psychology: A case study approach. Malden, MA: BPS Blackwell. Goodwin, C. J. (1995). Research in psychology: Methods and design. New

Cross Cultural Studies Essay

Beauty, is anything that appeals, and is incorporated in current fads and trends of the area. Its features drastically vary across the globe where antagonizing manners are adopted. Obesity is such an example, where in the west, obesity is shunned, and admonished, and on the contrary, in the African countries, obesity lures and is considered to be a blessing, exhibiting richness. Beauty may be skin deep, but there are cases when such becomes a paradox. Obesity is not just about the weight, or the physical and genetic rationalities we can derive from it. Obesity can also be derived from its psychological roots. What is obesity and how it affects the reputation, personality, or even the attitude towards it varies across cultures as mentioned earlier. In this paper, obesity is seen as good and wanted physiological trait, compared with as a social cancer plaguing the health in most Western countries. RESEARCH FINDINGS Norimitsu Onish (2001), in his article entitled, ‘On the scale of Beauty, weight weights heavily’, has explained in a formidable manner the craze obesity has amongst teenage girls in Nigeria. He has depicted the ways ladies will employ to go beyond their means so as to become fat, and conducts market surveys determining which types of steroids, pills or chemicals they would use. The paper explains how obese women are idealized and looked up onto. Onish indicates that women would tend to consume harmful chemical to gain fatty tissues, and have become so obsessed with becoming fat, that they would go to ‘fattening farms’ and get massaged weeks before their weddings. Likewise, some of the poorer women would consume animal feed in order to get fat and become attractive, as they cannot afford the rich foods. Historically, fleshy African women were considered well endowed financially, because they can afford food, are healthy and fertile. Women in African culture are revered to as the food provider, the one who plants and supplies food in the community. A fleshy African woman connotes someone from an affluent family or perhaps a potential good provider for her family. The heavy African woman was valued and held in high esteem. However, it is important to note that African women labored diligently, working sun up to sun down, and their laborious tasks were not conducive to being big. The arduous work kept African women basically on the thin side (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). STRATIFICATION: Stratification is an integral part of a community and society that occurs due to a division in the classes which is determined by the economic situation of the household or community. This horizontal stratum is also prevalent among some countries which have a male dominant society, on the pretext of religion. This has been depicted in Onish’s article, where obese women are a status symbol, exhibiting their resources, and that they belong to well to do families, compromising their health in this way. A very good example is quoted explaining how a girl since the age of 11 years, was forced to become obese on the pretext of getting a ‘good match’, and now she suffers from hip dislocation, and bone disorders, as it has become difficult to carry herself around. Culturally, being large was not customary. In the African view, women who are fleshy, had hips, and a voluptuous body are the women to marry. Body size was also perceived to make them excellent mothers. African women who are large have more adipose tissue, and were perceived to carry a fetus to full term and suspend for some time the effects of starvation should there be scarcity of food (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). In a class lecture by Mead back in 1974, culture was defined as the transmission of values and behaviors and concepts. It is the way one eats, the way one walks, and the way one raises a child. In Africa, the cultural level was subtle for little girls to learn that African men and families values large women and was highly acceptable. But being voluptuous was deemed in a different way when slaves were transported to the new world. African women then were viewed and even designated to be breeders and has a duty to give birth as many times as her owner wants to. Alex Haley documented this in his book by relating how large African women beats slave children and hands them to a slave owner as a sexual prize (Johnson and Broadnax, 2003). In another article, ‘Culture: A sociological view’, Becker (Becker, 1982) explains the significance of culture in a society and how it is regularly modified in order to meet the modern fashion and fad. Culture is being regularly changed, and newer versions of principles and practices are adopted. Likewise, stratification in terms of race and gender is also now being diluted, as a sense of equality is prevalent within most of the societies across the globe. A society is organized by its cultural values, which is the essence to its development, and thus although newer concepts are adopted, older principles should not be ignored and should be passed onto generations in order to preserve a society’s cultural heritage. The gradual changes in society together with the culture in which one grows takes generations. There are a few and core cultural traits which are passed on from one generation to another, preserved in families, despite the many changes that are constantly happening. In the sociological context, this also reflects how society influences the individual’s views and perceptions with the many changes happening around him/her. At some point, the person knows what his culture is inherently, but also adjusts to fit in and cope up with the many cultural changes in our societies. CROSS CULTURAL STUDIES: Cross cultural studies was a very interesting subject that depicts the various anthropologies around the globe. The primary essence in this study is an element of tolerance which various ethnic groups have to incur so as to accommodate and intermingle with various cultural set ups. A united stand in which people from entirely different cultures will team up and constructive serve towards the progress and development of a society is prevalent in most countries. A good example is depicted by the people of Malaysia, in which various ethnic groups coexist and play their respective roles in order to make Malaysia one of the most rapidly developed nation in the past decade, and it is now a role model for others to follow. Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Buddhism coexist and temples are built right next to mosques and churches, where people go shoulder to shoulder to preach in tolerance and harmony. The same can be derived when slaves where transported to the New World. As African women became sexual prizes to their owners, some Westerner has fathered a child, and bore an African-American child. In the existing culture, being thin is in. Bulimia and anorexia has become an epidemic amongst teens and younger women because of the images of thin women being cultivated in the new society. The cross cultural examination between how women in Africa in comparison with African-American women view obesity is different and is a reflection of how views and perception change over time and across cultures. CONCLUSION: Culture differ across the globe, meeting the geographical requirements of a region, these can vary and be contrary, like the case of obesity, which is endeavored by some, and admonished by other societies, like the westerners. Likewise, cultural set ups are modified and changed in order to meet modern day requirements, and simultaneously maintaining and preserving the ancient cultural values that have been passed on. Similarly, cross cultural set ups also do exist, and various ethnic groups coexist and serve proactively for the development and progress of nations, thus exhibiting discipline, unity and tolerance. REFERENCES: Becker H. (1982) Culture: A Sociological View, Yale Review, September 2, , 71:513-527 Johnson, R. W. and Broadnax, P. A (2003). A perspective on obesity – analysis of trend of obesity in African-American women. ABNF Journal. Onish N. (2001) Maradi Journal: On the Scale of Beauty, Weight Weighs Heavily New York Times dated Feb 12

Flexible Labor in Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Flexible Labor in Organizations - Essay Example The increase in workload forces the employees to search for alternate options like flexible jobs. ‘48% of UK organizations offer flexitime to their employees compared to 90% in Germany, 94% in Sweden and 92% in Finland, and just 20% offer to telework compared to 44% in Germany and Sweden, 40% in Norway and 39% in Denmark.† (The UK’s flexible labor market may no longer be a source of competitive advantage) Flexible work is the option mostly the people are looking for because of the tight working schedules of regular work. Flexible labor has its own merits and demerits both for the organizations and the employees. Most people believe that flexible labor is going to be the future trend in organizations because of the immense benefits attached to it. â€Å"In the early 1970s, one in five American workers was employed by a Fortune 500 company; by the early 1990s, the ratio had dropped to one in ten† (Laubacher & Malone) Big organizations are no longer attractive to many employees because of the tight work schedule and lack of flexibility in work. Nowadays people are more conscious about the working environment rather than the salary alone. People are already living in a stressful world. Problems from family and society along with that from the workplace have made the life of an average person miserable. They wanted to reduce the stress level at any cost and flexible work is one option for reducing the job stress considerably. â€Å"Many observers believe that highly flexible organizational forms--often called networked organizations or virtual corporations--will become increasingly common in the future. Temporary networks of very small companies and independent contractors could undertake much of the work that is performed by large organizations today†Ã‚  

International Contemporary Slavery Research Paper

International Contemporary Slavery - Research Paper Example This study will examine international contemporary slavery and the facts that differentiate it from early forms of slavery. The study will also look at the factors that led to modern day slavery, forms of contemporary slavery, the politics involved, the international law and policies on slavery between countries, and steps taken to eradicate the problem. Contemporary slavery Many people approach slavery as part of collective history subscribing to the â€Å"rise and fall† of the slavery trajectory. When people speak of slavery, they imagine enslaved Africans toiling in sugar plantations and finally ending through the two legislations. They do not associate current times with slavery. The fact is that an estimated 27 million slaves exist today in the world. This number is more than double the number of slaves obtained from Africa and transported across the Atlantic. According to the international labor organization, 12.3 million people across the world are in one form of forced labor or another. United Nations estimates that 600,000 to 800,000 persons are trafficked internationally every year. Close to half of those involved in slavery are primarily young girls and women sold out for sexual exploitation (Bales 9). While most countries have anti-trafficking laws in place, their enforcement is erratic and in some, the laws are non-existent. The US State Department points out that 62 countries have failed to convict traffickers under the Palermo protocol as declared by UN. Currently, the slavery industry is estimated to be a $32 billion industry placing it at the same level with illegal arms trade and drug trafficking (Bales 50). International contemporary slavery is similar to past slavery in that it is characterized by violence and exploitation (Bales 12). However, today slavery is no longer a legal institution neither is it significant for any country’s economy. Slavery is also not a relationship based on ethnicity or race. Like in the past, slaver y exists in many forms; but modern slavery has two main characteristics, which differentiate it from early slavery. Today’s slaves are cheap and hence disposable (Bales 12). Today, slaves are cheaper than any other period in slave history. A field worker bought for $14,000 in 1850 would today cost only $100. This dramatically changes the economic scale of slavery. Drop in prices for any commodity affects the demand and supply economies. Currently, there are more potential slaves in the market meaning they cost little but generate high returns. Slave owners today can make returns from slaves as high as 800 percent (Bales, 12). Slaves’ inexpensiveness is good for the slaveholder and good for bottom line business but disastrous for the slaves. Buying slaves at a low price means they do not represent large investment that would require special care. This means that a slave is easily replaced. No one pays attention to the maintenance and care of the slaves or make a point o f keeping records on their whereabouts. If slaves get injured, ill or outlive their usefulness, they become a burden to the slaveholder and are in turn dumped or worse, killed (Bales 15). International contemporary slavery is facilitated by three main factors; population growth, poverty and corruption (Bales 15). After the Second World War, the world experienced population explosion. After 1945, the world

Topic needed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Topic needed - Essay Example In the recent TV dramas â€Å"Dollhouse† ad â€Å"Lost† time runs in a non-typical way: it either does not exist due to memory erasing or does not matter due to the crash of civilization. In these challenging circumstances gender identity is shaped in a different way: lacking temporal and social determination gender (feminine) identity becomes problematic and even unpredictable. Creating his â€Å"Dollhouse† Whedon aimed to raise an important philosophical question of the relationships between body representation and identity, and gender identity in particular. He author was always interested in overcoming stereotypical perception of women in his works, and this TV drama did not become an exception. The programs main assumption is that the individuals character can be literally extracted from the person`s body and saved as the information on hard drive. While the remaining hollow organism (which is perceived as a â€Å"doll† as it is devoid of any personality) can be â€Å"imprinted† with a new identity. This mechanism makes the main hero of the series - Echo – a person with no permanent inner self. That is why it leaves her in the space without time, as one of the major characteristic of time perception is development, growth, and change. The concept of such transformation creates a serious question whether a person devoid of id entity, emotions and thoughts can be considered a woman, a human. The main character, the human being which was transformed into Echo, is the one who is real (whose name is different- Caroline) gets stuck in her body unable to make her soul and inner self evolve because her body is used as capsule for other identities. It is interesting the creators of the series realized that the absence of the character`s gradual development was the reason of popularity loss and that this why the series was cancelled. That is why it is possible to suggest that on some deeper level the lack of coherent identity was perceived by

The Difference between Joy and Happiness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Difference between Joy and Happiness - Essay Example According to Houston (p.46), both joy and happiness are more sustained and enduring when they are related to God; and rooted deeply in spirituality. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the difference between joy and happiness as spiritual concepts and God’s gifts to human beings. The Difference Between Joy and Happiness in the Spiritual Context The New Testament emphasizes that the Christian life is essentially a joyful life, when Jesus Christ is made central in all aspects. Like the inestimable energy of the sun’s radiation God’s love that translates into joy is able to sustain human happiness beyond our wildest desires. To enjoy divine joy, and consequently to experience spiritual happiness, it is necessary to follow the righteous path. Christians have a supernatural gift of joy in Christ, which cannot be comprehended by those outside Christianity. The nature of Christian joy is evident even in utmost conditions of suffering by reconci ling the â€Å"negative with the transcendent love of Christ† (Houston 259). Through receiving the gift of faith in Christ who stood for the poor, the destitute and the deprived, the true character of Christian joy is experienced. ... Instead of seeking happiness from the absence of undesirable pain or suffering, Christian joy responds to the desirable presence of God. Happiness is experienced through gratitude and thanksgiving to God. Any conceptualization of happiness as a state of mild emotional euphoria is a shallow one. â€Å"A more substantial approach is to think of happiness as deep-seated satisfaction and enjoyment of life that is safe from its inevitable chances and changes† (Charry 21). Hence, an emotional view of the concept of happiness should be replaced by a theological perspective for achieving a more rewarding outcome. The popular notion of happiness is not only morally impoverished, but is also psychologically lacking and counterproductive. The false and trivial notions of happiness in contemporary times paradoxically creates unhappy people. Such wrong conceptualizations of happiness are both psychologically and socially damaging. On the other hand, it is essential to note that neither anc ient philosophy which provided guidelines on spiritual pathways to the good life, nor the Christian theology it inspired â€Å"ever separated enjoyment from goodness† (Charry 22). However, devoid of goodness, happiness is reduced to mere fun, which can be socially and psychologically harmful. Happiness in God also needs material satisfaction in order to be physically and psychologically sustaining. Hence, a healthy theological teaching on happiness must avoid both extremes, by reclaiming the association between the spiritual and the material, â€Å"as captured in the Christian teaching on the Incarnation and the classical teaching on the sacraments† (Charry 25). Happiness rooted in Christian theology materially and spiritually nurtures the body

Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology applied Essay - 1

Psychology, Anthropology, and Sociology applied - Essay Example The way these conflicts are resolved determines the individual’s ability to learn, to get along with others, and to cope with anxiety. Romantic relationships are governed by the concept of the Development of Attachment or the strong affectionate tie we have with special people in our lives that leads us to feel pleasure when we interact with them and to be comforted by their nearness in times of stress. When we establish a sense of attachment for someone special, we produce a romantic relationship. In order to make our societal and cultural lives better, we must focus our attention on Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, which focuses on how culture, the values, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group, is transmitted to the next generation. These concepts allow us to produce healthier relationships with other, romantic attachments, and better societal and cultural lives. Anthropology is important in producing better relationships with others, better romantic relationships, and better societal and cultural lives. Through participant-observation, Anthropologists are able to study many areas of human beings. Through these studies, they focus on family unit, family culture, and race to get a better understanding of these elements. Relationships become better because we are able to learn how past relationships affect our present relationships. Learning from historical examples is a good way of establishing a healthy relationship, which produces romantic ties with the individual who the person is intertwined. Societal and cultural ways become better because Anthropologist focus on understanding past cultures and societies. This research allows them to link past cultures and societies with present cultures and societies. It gives them an understanding of why and how people in present societies have a common link with past societies. Past cultures tend to t ransmit through present cultures because someone in the past taught their

Attack Prevention Article Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Attack Prevention Article Evaluation - Essay Example Before attempting to observe the issue, it is essential to understand the focal point of user domain itself. This is a huge focal point in managing security in IT networks. In essence, user domain is defined  as set of objects that allow a user to have controls and permissions. In essence, user domains can overlap. Another element of user domains is the fact that is allows users to possess segregation of duties. Segregation of duties allows users to have separate domains and grant permissions. User domains can range from simple user access accounts or it can be a specific domain such as sales, marketing, and managers.   Unlike traditional firewalls  that only guard the parameters of the traditional IT infrastructure, virtualization  firewalls  provide comprehensive security measures that monitor activity within clients. If one machine is to be attacked by a host, the other machine automatically copies data in almost dynamic time that the user is not aware of the situation. Clearly, that is a huge benefit for organizations since it allows them to have a safety net in case of an attack. The Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is a critical precautionary tool that monitors the network through monitoring packets that are passed within users. The first and easiest application of virtualization for security purposes is known as application isolation. This is a huge component towards the security aspect because it allows IT managers to gain leverage over application stability and application allocation. One of the worst vulnerabilities for user domains are insider attacks. Insider attacks occur. For instance, denial of service and spoofing are one the most common themes that occur. The problem is the fact that intercepting authentication or other sensitive information can be executed with the current WAN technology since it utilizes the traditional TCP/IP in user domains. A

Cultural Perspectives in Education Essay Example for Free

Cultural Perspectives in Education Essay The word ‘Culture’ refers to civilization or human activity. It can also refer to universal human capability to categorize skills, and to train and convey them characteristically. Therefore, one can say that Culture evolves over a period of time in response to adaptive challenges. What activities are carried out, who should participate, why they are valued and the rules of interaction are coded into the cultural models. There are different ways to educate, express or reveal knowledge to a student. The student’s education very much depends upon the teacher’s philosophy of education. This philosophical point of view appears to be true that could bring a negative influence in the classroom, no matter what syllabus is designed for the student. The students possess different qualities and beliefs that teachers should realize and learn to adapt to in the classroom. If teachers are not able to go beyond the boundaries of social class, religion, race, creed, gender, sex, disability or cultural background, then the focus of the students will also turn heavily upon differences and the classification of students as special needs or underachiever, thus building insensitive pre-expectations toward students in the classroom. â€Å"The primary goal of education is to show students different points of view and encourage them to evaluate their own beliefs. The teacher should help the students to appreciate how ones observations and interpretations are influenced by social identity and background†. Chang, H. (1993). Students should be allowed to feel free to voice an opinion and empowered to defend it. A student is able to focus on and enjoy learning more when the school and classroom make him feel safe-comfortable with himself and with his surrounding. The learning situation should be made culturally neutral by keeping in mind the potential barriers and obstacles that each student may have. Taking this into account Marda Steffey (2001) suggests a four point motivational framework for culturally open teaching: 1. Establishing inclusion—norms, procedures, and structures woven together to form a learning context in which all learners and teachers feel respected by and connected to one another. 2. Developing attitude—â€Å"norms, procedures and structures that create through relevance and choice a favorable disposition among learners and teachers toward the learning experience or learning goal. 3. Enhancing meaning—norms, procedures, and structures that expand, refine, or increase the complexity of what is learned in a way that matters to learners, includes their values and purposes, and contributes to a critical consciousness. 4. Engendering competence—norms, procedures, and structures that create an understanding for learners of how they are or can be effective in learning something of personal value†. (Nawang, 1999) The main idea of the four points is that when student and teachers find themselves submerged in a unique world of the classroom, the interaction of culture is invaluable for the success of the learning process. Solomon, B. B. (1991). Teacher should recognize any biases or stereotypes in the class room, â€Å"by treating each student as an individual, and respect each student for whom he or she is. Amend any language practices or examples that exclude or degrade any group, should be aware of how students feel about the cultural climate in the classroom†. (Woolbright, 1989) A productive education must start with an awareness of these issues and some basic schemes for overcoming them. Although a variety of teachings can be fruitful, it seems especially cooperative to offer an atmosphere where students can easily hold an open discussion rather than class session in which a correct answer is required. True open discussion will send a message of authority between equal students who have something substantial to add to a common endeavor. Sharing the facts and principles of ones discipline with students is very important as that helps to prepare an environment of comfort, trust and joint respect. Therefore, such an environment makes it possible for people to exchange ideas and thoughts on complex and often terrifying issues. It opens a way for students to carry out a common ground of joint practices and respect which can bind students together and at the same time make it easier for them to understand and observe many differences. The teacher should not only establish a content of diversity but a procedure that creates and demonstrate appreciation of diversity. It is important to keep in mind that students always observe and learn their teachers’ behavior as well as their expressions. The classroom environment not only represent the fundamental value of appreciation of diversity of cultures nevertheless it also capitulate great rewards in terms of vital thinking skills, especially the aptitude to value sophisticated multiple point of views on complex rational and ethical issues. The school or college should recognize all of the various types of diversities, whether it is cultural or not. Students should understand when they go their classroom that they will be interacting with many different types of students from all walks all of life. Levinson, B. A. , and Holland, D. (1996). They should understand that they are all in this facility for a reason and that it doesn’t matter what they look like or what language they speak, they need to cooperate to make their class environment more conducive to learning. It is very unfortunate to say that not much improvement in this has been made around the world except few countries, while in rest there is still school and colleges where cultural factors are given preferences. Every discipline is influenced by the inequity of power that exists across racial and cultural groups, between genders, and among other socially created classes of difference. In spite of advances in race and cultural relations, gender equality, and religious tolerance, significant documented differences continues to exist around the world. In order to gain a true moderate education, school administration should honor diversity of cultures. It should recognize holidays of other ethnicities and always study new and interesting ways of life. The students of the respective schools and colleges should â€Å"love learning about other cultures and how they interact with one another†. (Harold, 2006) The students should be allowed to do arts and projects that are representatives of other cultures and take great pride in the fact that they now have knowledge of their brothers and sisters around the world. Educators have a responsibility to assist the people who are privileged enough to be students in becoming aware of the inequalities around them. Therefore, each educator should work to infuse each class with the diverse voices that contributed to the knowledge base of the discipline. References Chang, H. (1993) Affirming Childrens Roots: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Early Care and Education: California Tomorrow. Hodgkinson, Harold L. (2006) Education in Social and Cultural Perspectives: Prentice-Hall Levinson, B. A. , and Holland, D. (1996). The cultural production of the educated person: An introduction. In B. A. Levinson, D. Foley, and D. Holland (Eds. ), Albany: SUNY Press. Phuntsog, Nawang. Magic of culturally responsive pedagogy: In search of the Genies lamp in multicultural education. Teacher Education Quarterly, Summer 1999 Solomon, B. B. (1991) Impediments to Teaching a Culturally Diverse Undergraduate Population: Kendall/Hunt Publishing. Woolbright, C. (Ed. ). (1989) Valuing Diversity on Campus: A Multicultural Approach. Bloomington, Ind. : Association of College Unions-International.

Television watching Essay Example for Free

Television watching Essay Extensive viewing of violent programs on television can lead to aggression in children. Children watch an average of three to four hours a televison a day. Television is a powerful influence in shaping behavior and developing value systems. It may lead to a gradual acceptance of violence, imitation of violence, and the identification of violence within themselves. The more a child views a violent television program the more they will become immune to violence and learn to gradually accept it. Research has shown ideal to be true. One example: in several studies, those who watched a violent program instead of a nonviolent one were slower to intervene or to call for help when, a little later, they saw younger children fighting or playing destructively. (What do) Viewing the violent program caused the child to take more time to react to the situation. He had been desensitized to the violent act because he had been viewing a violent programmed show. Television can cause a child to grow to feel immune towards violence. Perhaps our child in this case simply felt nothing but seeing what he witnessed, or maybe he had accepted it as something normal. In either case the violent programs that children are watching are causing adverse effects. A child who has no been exposed to such violent programming on television would have reacted much quicker and intervened when they saw a younger child fighting. But television doesnt only cause children to become immune to the horror of violence, or to gradually be able to accept it as a part of the world. It also can lead to the imitation of violence from the children. Television violence causes an imitation and a heightened sense of aggression among younger children. This proposes a much more of a problem then simply accepting violence and becoming immune to it. Younger children are more likely to carry out violent acts on other children if they are exposed to a substantial amount of violence on television today. This can cause problems in school, home, and even work environments. The child will come to believe that violence is the answer to his problems. Any act of aggression carried out upon another human being will result in a adverse condition being put upon the person committing the act. A child may feel that they need to lash out again someone who took a toy from them as then seen it done on television. This is where the problem begins to make itself apparent. Children who watch the violent shows, even just funny cartoons, were more likely to hit out at their playmates, argue, disobey class rules, leave tasks unfinished, and were less willing to wait for things than those who watched the nonviolent programs (Children). We can see clearly these children are going to find themselves in a whole lot of trouble and many quicker then they realize. From watching the violent programming on televison they accept it as a solution, and the imitate what it is that they have seen. So its not just the imitation alone that effects the children watching the programming its a series of steps. They gradually accept it, then they imitate it, and in imitating it then learn to identify with it. Identification on violence in televison programming leads to an extended identification of the world, aggression, and themselves. Identification with violence on televison can become the most dangerous relationship between TV and the younger person. Studies by George Gerbner, Ph.D., at the University of Pennsylvania, have shown that childrens TV shows contain about 20 violent acts each hour and also that children who watch a lot of television are more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place (What do..). Believing that the work is a mean and dangerous place can put fear into a child. They have already learned to accept and imitate violence, through identification they may react in a way that fits in with the ideal of mean and dangerous. Also, they may become more aggressive in order to fit in with their perspective of what should be. Drama televison often shows a teen going through many difficult situation in their life. Perhaps the program is about a teen committing suicide as a way to deal and cope with his problems. The young child has already learned to accept this violent act and feel immune to it. He could imitate it, or identify with it. In either case this is where a serious problem can begin to show an ugly head. These situation could perhaps been avoided if less violent programming was viewed, or moderated. The violent acts carried out in children is not simply one of these three factors, but it is a progression of the three. Children can accept the violence, then imitate, and identify with it. One in itself doesnt present as serious as issue as the three combined. Televison programming does indeed  have an adverse relationship with aggression among children. We most come to realize that this relationship is only going to progress and in some cases could even result in the loss of many lives.

Net Present Value is the most realistic technique for evaluation

Net Present Value is the most realistic technique for evaluation Introduction Drury (2000) stated, The theory of capital budgeting reconciles the goals of survival and profitability by assuming that management takes as its goal the maximization of the market value of the shareholders wealth via the maximization of the market value of ordinary share. Capital budgeting decisions may be defined as the firms decision to invest its current funds most efficiently in the long term assets in anticipation of an expected flow benefits over a series of years. (Pandy, 2005) According to the above definitions of capital budgeting, following features can be identified, I. Exchange current funds for future benefits II. Funds are invested in long term assets and III. Benefit will occur to the firm over a series of years. Therefore main objective of the capital budgeting decisions are to maximize the wealth of the shareholders by, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Determining which specific investment projects to be undertaken à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Determining the total amount of capital expenditure which the firm should be obtained à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Determining how this portfolio of projects should be financed. In capital budgeting process different investment appraisal techniques are used to evaluate the investments. They are mainly traditional and Discounting Factor (DCF) methods. In traditional method consist of Payback and Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) which dont have the time value adjustment. But in DCF method Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) are included and they are adjusting the time value of money to the cash flows. These techniques give different benefits and limitations in investment evaluation process, although as per the theoretical view DCF analysis may give more benefit to the organization. However successful completion of a project mainly depends on the selection criteria adopted while choosing the project in the initial phases itself and the choice of a project must be based on a sound financial assessment and not based on impression. DCF techniques are being widely used in both public and private sector. This is the method recommended for evaluating investment proposals. In this method, the incremental cost and benefits of proposals are discounted by a required rate of return in order to obtain the net present value of the proposal. Investment decisions are essential for a business as they define the future survival, and growth of the organization. The main objective of a business being the maximization of shareholders wealth. Therefore a firm needs to invest in every project that is worth more than the costs. The Net Present value is the difference between the projects value and its costs. Thus to make shareholders happy, a firm must invest in projects with positive NPVs. We shall start this essay with an explanation of investment appraisal, NPV, then compare this method with other investment appraisal methods and finally try to define, based on the works of Tony Davies, Brian Pain, and Brealey/Myers/Allen, which method works best in order to define a good investments. What is Investment Appraisal? A means of assessing whether an investment project is worthwhile or not Investment project could be the purchase of a new PC for a small firm, a new piece of equipment in a manufacturing plant, a whole new factory, etc Used in both public and private sector Types of investment appraisal: Payback Period Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Profitability Index Net Present Value (discounted cash flow) Why do companies invest? Importance of remembering investment as the purchase of productive capacity NOT buying stocks and shares or investing in a bank! Buy equipment/machinery or build new plant to: Increase capacity (amount that can be produced) which means: Demand can be met and this generates sales revenue Increased efficiency and productivity Investment therefore assumes that the investment will yield future income streams Investment appraisal is all about assessing these income streams against the cost of the investment Capital budgeting versus current expenditures A capital investment project can be distinguished from current expenditures by two features: a) Such projects are relatively large b) a significant period of time (more than one year) elapses between the investment outlay and the receipt of the benefits. As a result, most medium-sized and large organizations have developed special procedures and methods for dealing with these decisions. A systematic approach to capital budgeting implies: a) The formulation of long-term goals b) The creative search for and identification of new investment opportunities c) Classification of projects and recognition of economically and/or statistically dependent proposals d) The estimation and forecasting of current and future cash flows e) A suitable administrative framework capable of transferring the required information to the decision level f) The controlling of expenditures and careful monitoring of crucial aspects of project execution g) A set of decision rules which can differentiate acceptable from unacceptable alternatives is required. The classification of investment projects a) By project size Small projects may be approved by departmental managers. More careful analysis and Board of Directors approval is needed for large projects of, say, half a million dollars or more. b) By type of benefit to the firm  · An increase in cash flow  · A decrease in risk  · an indirect benefit (showers for workers, etc). c) By degree of dependence  · Mutually exclusive projects (can execute project A or B, but not both)  · complementary projects: taking project A increases the cash flow of project B.  · substitute projects: taking project A decreases the cash flow of project B. d) By degree of statistical dependence  · Positive dependence  · Negative dependence  · Statistical independence. e) By type of cash flow  · Conventional cash flow: only one change in the cash flow sign e.g. -/++++ or +/-, etc  · Non-conventional cash flows: more than one change in the cash flow sign, e.g. +/-/+++ or -/+/-/++++, etc. Brief Introduction to Discounted Cash Flow and Methods This section would give a briefing on the mentioned topic and explain them thoroughly later on in this report. Discounted cash flow (DCF) DCF focuses on the time value of money, Rs.1 is worth more today than Rs.1 in the future. The reason being that it could be invested and make a return (yes, even in times of low interest, so long as interest rates are positive). So thats the discounting methodology, DCF has two methods. Net Present Value (NPV) The annual cash flows are discounted and totaled and then the initial capital cost of the project is deducted. The excess or deficit is the NPV of the project, it goes without saying that for the project to be worthwhile the NPV must be positive and the higher the NPV the more attractive is the investment in the project Internal Rate of Return (IRR) The IRR or yield of a project is the rate of return at which the present value of the net cash inflows equals the initial cost, which is the same as the discount rate which produces a NPV of zero. For an investment to be worthwhile the IRR must be greater than the cost of capital. Due to the following reasons, DCF method is identified as a best method for Investment appraisal processes, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They give due weight to timing and size of cash flow à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Thy take the whole life of the project in to irregular cash flows do not invalidate the result obtained. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Estimate of risk and uncertainty can be incorporated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Use of discounting methods may lead to move accurate estimating and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ They rank projects correctly in order of profitability and give better criteria for acceptance or rejection of projects than other method. Because of that in theoretically said that DCF analysis is best method to evaluate the investment over its rivals. A survey carried out by the Arnold Hatzopolous (2000) and Graham Harvey (2000) to identify the practical usage of investment appraisal techniques among the large manufacturing firms of UK had revealed that NPV and IRR are less behind its rivals in practically. Therefore they have commented that there is a gap between usages of appraisal techniques in practically and theoretically. The economic evaluation of investment proposals The analysis stipulates a decision rule for: I) accepting or II) rejecting Investment projects The time value of money Recall that the interaction of lenders with borrowers sets an equilibrium rate of interest. Borrowing is only worthwhile if the return on the loan exceeds the cost of the borrowed funds. Lending is only worthwhile if the return is at least equal to that which can be obtained from alternative opportunities in the same risk class. The interest rate received by the lender is made up of: The time value of money: the receipt of money is preferred sooner rather than later. Money can be used to earn more money. The earlier the money is received, the greater the potential for increasing wealth. Thus, to forego the use of money, you must get some compensation. The risk of the capital sum not being repaid. This uncertainty requires a premium as a hedge against the risk; hence the return must be commensurate with the risk being undertaken. Inflation: money may lose its purchasing power over time. The lender must be compensated for the declining spending/purchasing power of money. If the lender receives no compensation, he/she will be worse off when the loan is repaid than at the time of lending the money. Internal Rate of Return The internal rate of return (IRR) is another widely used method of investment appraisal. It calculates the rate of return, where the difference between the present values of cash inflows and outflows, the NPV, is zero. Thus when would a company undertake the project? Simply when the expected rate of return, the IRR, exceeds the target rate of return of the company. This is called the IRR rule. When the IRR is superior to the target rate of return, the NPV is positive. When IRR is equal to the target rate of return then NPV is equal to 0, and when the IRR is inferior to the target rate of return, then the NPV is negative. IRR can easily be determined through interpolation, which assumes a linear relationship between the NPVs of a capital investment project obtained using different discount rates. The exact rate is calculated algebraically using the theorem of Thales. we would have to compute a complex weighted average of these rates to be able to compare it to the IRR. This very much complicates the task, and gives us yet another reason to stick to the simple NPV method to better appraise investments. It has been shown that NPV proves to be much more reliable and simple of use than IRR. IRR is indeed subject to many pitfalls developed above. Nevertheless, a very important proportion of managers still use the IRR method to define attractive investments. Why could this be? It can be argued that managers do not trust the cash flow forecasts they receive. In the case of two projects A and B having the same NPV, IRR plays an important role. Project A requires an investment of 8,000 and project B necessitates an investment of 80,000. As said earlier both NPVs are the same. In such a situation where the NPVs are similar, managers would go for the project, whose initial investment is the lowest. If the project were to be dysfunctional, it is always easier to recover from a small initial loss than from a bigger one. By looking at the IRR the choice is quickly made. The project with the highest IRR is the one with the less risk. To summarize we have seen that although easy to use when used correctly, there are many drawbacks to the use of the IRR. IRR ignores the size of investment projects. That is two projects may have the same IRR but one project can return many times the cash flow returned by the other project. If the project cash flows are alternatively positive and negative, then we obtain two or more IRRs, or even no IRR, which can be disconcerting for interpretation. IRR should not be used to make a choice between mutually exclusive projects because it proves to be unreliable when it comes to ranking investment projects of different scale. So Forth, the IRR rule is difficult to apply when the discounting factors used over the years are different. Indeed, it is not easy to define what opportunity cost IRR should be compared to. Modified Internal Rate of Return (MIRR) Modified internal rate of return (MIRR) is a financial measure of an investments attractiveness. It is used in capital budgeting to rank alternative investments. As the name implies, MIRR is a modification of the internal rate of return (IRR) and as such aims to resolve some problems with the IRR. Problems with the IRR While there are several problems with the IRR, MIRR resolves two of them. First, IRR assumes that interim positive cash flows are reinvested at the same rate of return as that of the project that generated them. This is usually an unrealistic scenario and a more likely situation is that the funds will be reinvested at a rate closer to the firms cost of capital. The IRR therefore often gives an unduly optimistic picture of the projects under study. Generally for comparing projects more fairly, the weighted average cost of capital should be used for reinvesting the interim cash flows. Second, more than one IRR can be found for projects with alternating positive and negative cash flows, which leads to confusion and ambiguity. MIRR finds only one value. Calculation MIRR is calculated as follows: , Where n is the number of equal periods at the end of which the cash flows occur (not the number of cash flows), PV is present value (at the beginning of the first period), FV is future value (at the end of the last period). The formula adds up the negative cash flows after discounting them to time zero, adds up the positive cash flows after factoring in the proceeds of reinvestment at the final period, then works out what rate of return would equate the discounted negative cash flows at time zero to the future value of the positive cash flows at the final time period. Spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft Excel, have inbuilt functions to calculate the MIRR. In Microsoft Excel this function is =MIRR. Example If an investment project is described by the sequence of cash flows: Year Cash flow 0 -1000 1 -4000 2 5000 3 2000 Then the IRR r is given by . In this case, the answer is 25.48% (the other solutions to this equation are -593.16% and -132.32%, but they will not be considered meaningful IRRs). To calculate the MIRR, we will assume a finance rate of 10% and a reinvestment rate of 12%. First, we calculate the present value of the negative cash flows (discounted at the finance rate): . Second, we calculate the future value of the positive cash flows (reinvested at the reinvestment rate): . Third, we find the MIRR: . The calculated MIRR (17.91%) is significantly different from the IRR (25.48%). Lefley and Morgan have developed a financial appraisal model, which has extended the traditional appraisal methodologies so as to provide more considered comparison for individual investment projects. The Lefley and Morgan model creates a profile, which combines the uses of NPV, Discounted payback period, and the discounted payback index, (DPBI). The discounted payback period is interesting to take into consideration as the entity proceeding with the investment might be lacking money and would prefer having a quick return of the funds invested. DPBI is used to assess the number of times the initial cost of the investment will be recovered over the projects life. It is calculated by dividing the accumulated present values by the initial capital cost. Combined these methods give a fairly accurate view of an investment. Net present value vs internal rate of return Independent vs dependent projects NPV and IRR methods are closely related because: Both are time-adjusted measures of profitability, and their mathematical formulas are almost identical. So, which method leads to an optimal decision: IRR or NPV? a) NPV vs. IRR: Independent projects Independent project: Selecting one project does not preclude the choosing of the other. With conventional cash flows (-|+|+) no conflict in decision arises; in this case both NPV and IRR lead to the same accept/reject decisions. NPV vs. IRR Independent projects If cash flows are discounted at k1, NPV is positive and IRR > k1: accept project. If cash flows are discounted at k2, NPV is negative and IRR Mathematical proof: for a project to be acceptable, the NPV must be positive, i.e. Similarly for the same project to be acceptable: Where R is the IRR. Since the numerators Ct are identical and positive in both instances:  · Implicitly/intuitively R must be greater than k (R > k);  · If NPV = 0 then R = k: the company is indifferent to such a project;  · Hence, IRR and NPV lead to the same decision in this case. b) NPV vs. IRR: Dependent projects NPV clashes with IRR where mutually exclusive projects exist. Example: Agritex is considering building either a one-storey (Project A) or five-storey (Project B) block of offices on a prime site. The following information is available: Initial Investment Outlay Net Inflow at the Year End Project A -9,500 11,500 Project B -15,000 18,000 Assume k = 10%, which project should Agritex undertake? = $954.55 = $1,363.64 Both projects are of one-year duration: IRRA: $11,500 = $9,500 (1 +RA) = 1.21-1 Therefore IRRA = 21% IRRB: $18,000 = $15,000(1 + RB) = 1.2-1 Therefore IRRB = 20% Decision: Assuming that k = 10%, both projects are acceptable because: NPVA and NPVB are both positive IRRA > k AND IRRB > k Which project is a better option for Agritex? If we use the NPV method: NPVB ($1,363.64) > NPVA ($954.55): Agritex should choose Project B. If we use the IRR method: IRRA (21%) > IRRB (20%): Agritex should choose Project A. See figure below. NPV vs. IRR: Dependent projects Up to a discount rate of ko: project B is superior to project A, therefore project B is preferred to project A. Beyond the point ko: project A is superior to project B, therefore project A is preferred to project B The two methods do not rank the projects the same. Differences in the scale of investment NPV and IRR may give conflicting decisions where projects differ in their scale of investment. Example: Years 0 1 2 3 Project A -2,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 Project B -14,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 Assume k= 10%. NPVA = $1,500 x PVFA at 10% for 3 years = $1,500 x 2.487 = $3,730.50 $2,500.00 = $1,230.50. NPVB == $7,000 x PVFA at 10% for 3 years = $7,000 x 2.487 = $17,409 $14,000 = $3,409.00. IRRA = = 1.67. Therefore IRRA = 36% (from the tables) IRRB = = 2.0 Therefore IRRB = 21% Decision: Conflicting, as:  · NPV prefers B to A  · IRR prefers A to B NPV IRR Project A $ 3,730.50 36% Project B $17,400.00 21% See figure below. Scale of investments To show why: The NPV prefers B, the larger project, for a discount rate below 20% The NPV is superior to the IRR a) Use the incremental cash flow approach, B minus A approach b) Choosing project B is tantamount to choosing a hypothetical project B minus A. 0 1 2 3 Project B 14,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 Project A 2,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 B minus A 11,500 5,500 5,500 5,500 IRRB Minus A = 2.09 = 20% c) Choosing B is equivalent to: A + (B A) = B d) Choosing the bigger project B means choosing the smaller project A plus an additional outlay of $11,500 of which $5,500 will be realized each year for the next 3 years. e) The IRRB minus A on the incremental cash flow is 20%. f) Given k of 10%, this is a profitable opportunity, therefore must be accepted. g) But, if k were greater than the IRR (20%) on the incremental CF, then reject project. h) At the point of intersection, NPVA = NPVB or NPVA NPVB = 0, i.e. indifferent to projects A and B. i) If k = 20% (IRR of B A) the company should accept project A.  · This justifies the use of NPV criterion. Advantage of NPV:  · It ensures that the firm reaches an optimal scale of investment. Disadvantage of IRR:  · It expresses the return in a percentage form rather than in terms of absolute dollar returns, e.g. the IRR will prefer 500% of $1 to 20% return on $100. However, most companies set their goals in absolute terms and not in % terms, e.g. target sales figure of $2.5 million. The profitability index PI This is a variant of the NPV method. Decision rule: PI > 1; accept the project PI If NPV = 0, we have: NPV = PV Io = 0 PV = Io Dividing both sides by Io we get: PI of 1.2 means that the projects profitability is 20%. Example: PV of CF Io PI Project A 100 50 2.0 Project B 1,500 1,000 1.5 Decision: Choose option B because it maximizes the firms profitability by $1,500. Disadvantage of PI: Like IRR it is a percentage and therefore ignores the scale of investment. The Payback Period (PP) The CIMA defines payback as the time it takes the cash inflows from a capital investment project to equal the cash outflows, usually expressed in years. When deciding between two or more competing projects, the usual decision is to accept the one with the shortest payback. Payback is often used as a first screening method. By this, we mean that when a capital investment project is being considered, the first question to ask is: How long will it take to pay back its cost? The company might have a target payback, and so it would reject a capital project unless its payback period was less than a certain number of years. Example 1: Years 0 1 2 3 4 5 Project A 1,000,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 For a project with equal annual receipts: = 4 years Example 2: Years 0 1 2 3 4 Project B 10,000 5,000 2,500 4,000 1,000 Payback period lies between year 2 and year 3. Sum of money recovered by the end of the second year = $7,500, i.e. ($5,000 + $2,500) Sum of money to be recovered by end of 3rd year = $10,000 $7,500 = $2,500 = 2.625 years Disadvantages of the payback method It ignores the timing of cash flows within the payback period, the cash flows after the end of payback period and therefore the total project return. It ignores the time value of money. This means that it does not take into account the fact that $1 today is worth more than $1 in one years time. An investor who has $1 today can consume it immediately or alternatively can invest it at the prevailing interest rate, say 30%, to get a return of $1.30 in a years time. It is unable to distinguish between projects with the same payback period. It may lead to excessive investment in short-term projects. Advantages of the payback method Payback can be important: long payback means capital tied up and high investment risk. The method also has the advantage that it involves a quick, simple calculation and an easily understood concept. Discounted Payback Method Some companies require that the initial outlay on any project should be recovered within a specific period. The discounted payback appraisal method requires a discount rate to be chosen to calculate the present values of cash inflows and then the payback is the number of years required to repay the initial investment. Yet payback can give misleading answers. Project Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 A -4,000 2,500 500 5,500 B -4,000 2,500 1,800 0 C -4,000 3,180 500 0 The cost of capital is 10% per annum Project A Year Net cash Discount factor Present Cumulative flow at 10% values present values 0 -2,000 1.00 -2,000 -2,000 1 500 0.91 455 -1,545 2 500 0.83 415 -1,130 3 5,000 0.75 3,750 2,620 Project B Year Net cash Discount factor Present Cumulative flow at 10% values present values 0 -2,000 1.00 -2,000 -2,000 1 500 0.91 455 -1,545 2 1,800 0.83 1,494 -51 3 0 0.75 0 -51 Project C Year Net cash Discount factor Present Cumulative flow at 10% values present values 0 -2,000 1.00 -2,000 -2,000 1 1,800 0.91 1,638 -362 2 500 0.83 415 53 3 0 0.75 0 53 The payback rule does not take into consideration any cash inflow that occurs after the cut-off date. For example if the cut-off date is two years, project A, although clearly the most profitable on the long term will be rejected. Thus if a firm uses the same cut-off regardless of project life then it will tend to accept many poor short lived projects and reject many good long lived ones. The Accounting Rate of Return (ARR) The ARR method (also called the return on capital employed (ROCE) or the return on investment (ROI) method) of appraising a capital project is to estimate the accounting rate of return that the project should yield. If it exceeds a target rate of return, the project will be undertaken. Note that net annual profit excludes depreciation. Example: A project has an initial outlay of $1 million and generates net receipts of $250,000 for 10 years. Assuming straight-line depreciation of $100,000 per year: = 15% = 30% We here see that ARR is based on profits rather than cash flows and that it ignores the time value of money. It therefore just gives a brief overview of a new project, and should not be recommended as a primary investment appraisal method. As said earlier the impact of cash flows and the time value of money are essential in making an investment decision. Another disadvantage of the ARR is the fact it is dependent on the depreciation policy adopted by the business. Disadvantages It does not take account of the timing of the profits from an investment. It implicitly assumes stable cash receipts over time. It is based on accounting profits and not cash flows. Accounting profits are subject to a number of different accounting treatments. It is a relative measure rather than an absolute measure and hence takes no account of the size of the investment. It takes no account of the length of the project. It ignores the time value of money. The payback and ARR methods in practice Despite the limitations of the payback method, it is the method most widely used in practice. There are a number of reasons for this:  · It is a particularly useful approach for ranking projects where a firm faces liquidity constraints and requires fast repayment of investments.  · It is appropriate in situations where risky investments are made in uncertain markets that are subject to fast design and product changes or where future cash flows are particularly difficult to predict.  · The method is often used in conjunction with NPV or IRR method and acts as a first screening device to identify projects which are worthy of further investigation.  · It is easily understood by all levels of management.  · It provides an important summary method: how quickly will the initial investment be recouped? limitations of NPV when evaluating alternative investment proposals NPV is not that flexible and only uses information available at the time of the decision. It does not account for changes to the projects after the initial decision is made. NPV factors in risk by using a single discount rate, but in reality choices in the future concerning the project will likely change its payoffs and risk. Try real option analysis instead if you want to get around this problem. NPV only evaluates tangible and quantifiable projects. Some projects with negative NPVs are carried out anyway because they have some kind of strategic value, e.g. it shows the firm in a good light, builds goodwill or allows access to as yet unknown earnings in the future. Conclusion In conclusion it can thus be stated that only discounted cash flow methods should be used for appraising investments. This leaves us with the discounted payback method, the IRR, and the NPV. The Discounted payback method, ignoring cash flows that occur after the payback point, cannot be used on its own as it simply provides an overview. Concerning the IRR, although easy to understand it has many pitfalls that have been developed above. Thus the NPV rule proves to be the safest and most reliable. Yet the ideal

Most Significant Events of the 1950s-1990s Essay -- American History

During the course of our American History, there have been events that have changed the course of the nation. In the more recent times, our nation has been through the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, and even the Reaganomics. Despite all the turn of events in the American history, our nation has overcome and survived. Civil Rights Movement of 1954 – 1965 The Civil Rights Movement has been a changing point in the lives of countless minorities. The Civil Rights Movement started in 1954 when Linda Brown was denied entry to a school in Topeka, Kansas due to her race, thus creating the Brown v. Board of Education case. The Brown v. Board of Education case helped mark a turning point for minorities and ruled that it segregation in schools was unconstitutional. In 1955, one of the most famous events in the history of the Civil Rights Movement occurred. Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955 after refusing to give up her bus seat for a white man. Rosa’s refusal sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. Finally, in 1964, President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to John Simkin, â€Å"The 1964 Civil Rights Act made racial discrimination in public places, such as theaters, restaurants and hotels, illegal. It also required employers to provide equal employment opportunities. Projects involving federal funds could now be cut off if there was evidence of discriminated based on colour, race or national origin.† (Spartacus Educational, 1997) The fight for civil rights has been going on for decades in our nation. During the Civil War, President Lincoln tried to fight to end slavery of African Americans in the south. According to the National Archives and Records Administration, â€Å"Presiden... ...source. Retrieved on August 11, 2008 from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcivil64.htm The Watergate Files. August 19, 1974. (Date Unknown) Online Website Resource. Retrieved on August 16, 2008 from http://www.ford.utexas.edu/museum/exhibits/watergate_files/content.php?section=5&page=d The Watergate Files. July 24, 1974 The United States v. Richard Nixon. (Date Unknown). Online Website Resource. Retrieved on August 14, 2008 from http://www.ford.utexas.edu/museum/exhibits/watergate_files/content.php?section=5&page=d Tull, Matthew Ph D., Chronic PTSD in Vietnam War Veterans. (April 3, 2008, Para. 2). Online Website Resource. Retrieved on August 9, 2008 from http://ptsd.about.com/od/ptsdandthemilitary/a/Vietnamlongterm.htm Vietnam War. Vietnam War. (2007). Online Website Resource. Retrieved on August 16, 2008 from http://www.vietnamwar.com/

Why We Baptize in Jesus Name :: essays research papers

Why We Baptize in Jesus' Name Introduction The subject of water baptism has long been called a great issue and no doubt has been made such by many church leaders of the past and present. In our study of it, let us first consider its importance, or the necessity of being baptized. The Importance of Water Baptism Christian water baptism is an ordinance instituted by Jesus Christ. If it is not important in the plan of God, why did Jesus command it in Matthew 28:19? And why did Peter follow up by saying, "Be baptized every one of you," and by commanding the Gentiles to be baptized (Acts 2:38; 10:48)? We must remember two points about the importance of water baptism. First, whatever Christ definitely established and ordained cannot be unimportant, whether we understand its significance or not. Second, Christ and the apostles showed the importance of this ordinance by observing it. Jesus walked many miles to be baptized, though He was without sin, saying, "For thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness" (See Matthew 3:13-16.) It is true that water itself does not contain any saving virtue, but God has chosen to include it in His plan of salvation. Peter explained, "Baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 3:21). According to Luke 7:30, "the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized." The Mode of Baptism According to the Scriptures, the proper mode of baptism is immersion. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water" (Matthew 3:16). "And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him" (Acts 8:38). "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death" (Romans 6:4). A corpse is not buried by placing it on top of the ground and sprinkling a little soil on it, but by covering it completely. According to the World Book Encyclopedia, "At first all baptism was by complete immersion" (vol. 1, p.651). And the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "In the early centuries, all were baptized by immersion in streams, pools, and baptisteries" (vol. 2, p.263). Immersion was not convenient after the Catholic church instituted infant baptism; thus the mode was changed to sprinkling. (See Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed.

Demarcation in Philosophy of Science Essay

The demarcation problem in the philosophy of science is about how to distinguish between science and nonscience, and more specifically, between science and pseudoscience (a theory or method doubtfully or mistakenly held to be scientific). The debate continues after over a century of dialogue among philosophers of science and scientists in various fields, and despite broad agreement on the basics of scientific method. The demarcation problem is the philosophical problem of determining what types of hypotheses should be considered scientific and what types should be considered pseudoscientific or non-scientific. It also concerns itself with the ongoing struggle between science and religion, in particular the question about which elements of religious doctrine can and should be subjected to scientific scrutiny. This is one of the central topics of the philosophy of science, and it has never been fully resolved. The Purpose of Demarcation Demarcations of science from pseudoscience can be made for both theoretical and practical reasons. From a theoretical point of view, the demarcation issue is an illuminating perspective that contributes to the philosophy of science. From a practical point of view, the distinction is important for decision guidance in both private and public life. Since science is our most reliable source of knowledge in a wide variety of areas, we need to distinguish scientific knowledge from its look-alikes. Due to the high status of science in present-day society, attempts to exaggerate the scientific status of various claims, teachings, and products are common enough to make the demarcation issue pressing in many areas. The demarcation issue is therefore important in many practical applications such as the following: Healthcare: Medical science develops and evaluates treatments according to evidence of their efficiency. Pseudoscientific activities in this area give rise to inefficient and sometimes dangerous interventions. Healthcare providers, insurers, government authorities and – most importantly – patients need guidance on how to distinguish between medical science and medical pseudoscience. Expert testimony: It is essential for the rule of law that courts get the facts right. The reliability of different types of evidence must be correctly determined, and expert testimony must be based on the best available knowledge. Sometimes it is in the interest of litigants to present non-scientific claims as solid science. Therefore courts must be able to distinguish between science and pseudoscience. Environmental policies: In order to be on the safe side against potential disasters it may be legitimate to take preventive measures when there is valid but yet insufficient evidence of an environmental hazard. This must be distinguished from taking measures against an alleged hazard for which there is no valid evidence at all. Therefore, decision-makers in environmental policy must be able to distinguish between scientific and pseudoscientific claims. Science education: The promoters of some pseudosciences (notably creationism) try to introduce their teachings on school curricula. Teachers and school authorities need to have clear criteria of inclusion that protect students against unreliable and disproved teachings Ancient Greek Science An early attempt at demarcation can be seen in the efforts of Greek natural philosophers and medical practitioners to distinguish their methods and their accounts of nature from the mythological or mystical accounts of their predecessors and contemporaries. Medical writers in the Hippocratic tradition maintained that their discussions were based on necessary demonstrations, a theme developed by Aristotle in his â€Å"Posterior Analytics†. One element of this polemic (passionate argument) for science was an insistence on a clear and definite presentation of arguments, rejecting the imagery, analogy, and myth of the old wisdom. Aristotle described at length what was involved in having scientific knowledge of something. To be scientific, he said, one must deal with causes, one must use logical demonstration, and one must identify the universals which ‘inhere’ in the particulars of sense. Criteria for Demarcation: Logical Positivism also known as Verificationism * Held that only statements about empirical observations and formal logical propositions are meaningful, and that statements which are not derived in this manner (including religious and metaphysical statements) are by nature meaningless. * The Viennese philosophers who introduced the positivist paradigm effectively laid the groundwork for the modern philosophy of science and one of its most important strands of thought. The early Positivists favored a rather strict approach to the demarcation and strongly affirmed the empirical nature of science, meaning that questions that cannot be empirically verified or falsified are irrelevant to scientific thought. * These philosophers, who called themselves logical positivists, argued that to produce a meaningful claim, one must always return to the tangible observations that result from that claim. * By the late 1970s, its ideas were so generally recognized to be seriously defective. Falsifiability * Proposed by Karl Popper. In his monumental book, â€Å"The Logic of Scientific Discovery† he proposed the idea that scientific hypotheses must be falsifiable; unfalsifiable hypotheses should be considered pseudoscience. Popper’s emphasis on falsifiability changed the way scientists viewed the demarcation problem, and his impact on philosophy of science was enormous. * Popper’s demarcation criterion has been criticized both for excluding legitimate science and for giving some pseudosciences the status of being scientific. Postpositivism * Thomas Kuhn, an American historian and philosopher of science, is often connected with what has been called postpositivism. * In 1962, Kuhn published The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, which depicted the development of the basic natural sciences in an innovative way. According to Kuhn, the sciences do not uniformly progress strictly by scientific method. Rather, there are two fundamentally different phases of scientific development in the sciences. In the first phase, scientists work within a paradigm (set of accepted beliefs). When the foundation of the paradigm weakens and new theories and scientific methods begin to replace it, the next phase of scientific discovery takes place. Kuhn believes that scientific progress—that is, progress from one paradigm to another—has no logical reasoning. He undermines science as a whole by arguing that what is considered science changes throughout history in such a way that there is no objective way (outside of time or place) to demarcate a scientific belief from a pseudoscientific belief. Science, Kuhn argues, is like politics: institutions believe that certain ways are better than others at different points throughout history; however, it is impossible to be more or less certain of our basic assumptions about the world. Within a democracy (a specific political paradigm) there can be progress: an economy can grow, schools can be built, and people can be given healthcare. However, if a revolution occurs and the country becomes socialist, the government is not inherently better or worse than before, but simply begins to follow a different set of assumptions. Paradigm shift * A paradigm shift is a phenomenon described by philosopher Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. * Kuhn posited a process to explain the persistence of incorrect ideas, and the seemingly rapid and sudden abandonment of these ideas when they finally are rejected. * People tend to believe in what they know, and science is basically conservative. A current â€Å"paradigm† or theory is difficult to dislodge. It takes either a large volume of evidence, or a particularly powerful single piece of evidence to overturn major scientific theories (scientific revolution). When this occurs, it is called a â€Å"paradigm shift†. Lakatos’ research programs * Imre Lakatos combined elements of Popper and Kuhn’s philosophies with his concept of research programs. Programs that succeed at predicting novel facts are scientific, while ones that fail ultimately lapse into pseudoscience. Feyerabend and Lakatos * Kuhn’s work largely called into question Popper’s demarcation, and emphasized the human, subjective quality of scientific change. Paul Feyerabend was concerned that the very question of demarcation was insidious: science itself had no need of a demarcation criterion, but instead some philosophers were seeking to justify a special position of authority from which science could dominate public discourse. Feyerabend argued that science does not in fact occupy a special place in terms of either its logic or method, and no claim to special authority made by scientists can be upheld. He argued that, within the history of scientific practice, no rule or method can be found that has not been violated or circumvented at some point in order to advance scientific knowledge. Both Lakatos and Feyerabend suggest that science is not an autonomous form of reasoning, but is inseparable from the larger body of human thought and inquiry. NOMA * The concept of Non-overlapping Magisteria is a relatively recent attempt at proposing a clear demarcation between science and religion. It explicitly restricts science to its naturalistic foundations, meaning that no conclusions about supernatural phenomena like gods may be drawn from within the confines of science. â€Å"As to the supposed ‘conflict’†¦between science and religion, no such conflict should exist because each subject has a legitimate magisterium, or domain of teaching authority—and these magisteria do not overlap.† Criteria based on scientific progress Popper’s demarcation criterion concerns the logical structure of theories. Imre Lakatos described this criterion as â€Å"a rather stunning one. A theory may be scientific even if there is not a shred of evidence in its favour, and it may be pseudoscientific even if all the available evidence is in its favour. That is, the scientific or non-scientific character of a theory can be determined independently of the facts†. Instead, Lakatos proposed a modification of Popper’s criterion that he called â€Å"sophisticated (methodological) falsificationism†. On this view, the demarcation criterion should not be applied to an isolated hypothesis or theory but rather to a whole research program that is characterized by a series of theories successively replacing each other. In his view, a research program is progressive if the new theories make surprising predictions that are confirmed. In contrast, a degenerating research programme is characterized by theories bein g fabricated only in order to accommodate known facts. Progress in science is only possible if a research program satisfies the minimum requirement that each new theory that is developed in the program has a larger empirical content than its predecessor. If a research program does not satisfy this requirement, then it is pseudoscientific. According to Paul Thagard, a theory or discipline is pseudoscientific if it satisfies two criteria. One of these is that the theory fails to progress, and the other that â€Å"the community of practitioners makes little attempt to develop the theory towards solutions of the problems, shows no concern for attempts to evaluate the theory in relation to others, and is selective in considering confirmations and disconfirmations†. A major difference between his approach and that of Lakatos is that Lakatos would classify a nonprogressive discipline as pseudoscientific even if its practitioners work hard to improve it and turn it into a progressive discipline. In a somewhat similar vein, Daniel Rothbart (1990) emphasized the distinction between the standards that should be used when testing a theory and those that should be used when determining whether a theory should at all be tested. The latter, the eligibility criteria, include that the theory should encapsulate the explanatory success of its rival, and that it should yield test implications that are inconsistent with those of the rival. According to Rothbart, a theory is unscientific if it is not testworthy in this sense. George Reisch proposed that demarcation could be based on the requirement that a scientific discipline be adequately integrated into the other sciences. The various scientific disciplines have strong interconnections that are based on methodology, theory, similarity of models etc. Creationism, for instance, is not scientific because its basic principles and beliefs are incompatible with those that connect and unify the sciences. More generally speaking, says Reisch, an epistemic field is pseudoscientific if it cannot be incorporated into the existing network of established sciences. Rejection of the Problem * Some philosophers have rejected the idea of the demarcation problem, such as Larry Laudan. Others like Susan Haack, while not rejecting the problem wholesale, argue that a misleading emphasis has been placed on the problem that results in getting stuck in arguments over definitions rather than evidence. Laudan * Larry Laudan concluded, after examining various historical attempts to establish a demarcation criterion, that â€Å"philosophy has failed to deliver the goods† in its attempts to distinguish science from non-science—to distinguish science from pseudoscience. None of the past attempts would be accepted by a majority of philosophers nor, in his view, should they be accepted by them or by anyone else. He stated that many well-founded beliefs are not scientific and, conversely, many scientific conjectures are not well-founded. 3 Major Reasons why Demarcation is sometimes difficult: * science changes over time, * science is heterogeneous and; * established science itself is not free of the defects characteristic of pseudoscience

Merger and Acquisition a Survival Strategy in Business

Braiding is more than a hairstyle – it’s a cultural tradition that cuts across racial, social, economic, and geographic lines. Hair Braiding in Africa Ancient African hair braiding patterns reveal a variety of complex geometrical designs, which often pointed to characteristics of the wearer. Identity Status Religion Age Ethnicity kinship Hair Braiding in Egypt In ancient Egypt, braiding was reserved for royalty and for ceremonial rituals like weddings.Hair Braiding in America Historically, most Native American women and children wore braids to signify things: Whether a woman was married or unmarried women was based on the braids she wore. Braiding was also performed for religious rituals. Native American men wore braids with feathers, fur, leather, or beads to prepare for war. Hair Braiding in Europe According to Medieval and Renaissance artwork, upper-class women were revealed by elaborate braids and styles.Simpler braids were often chosen by common women for functiona l purposes – to keep hair cleaner between baths and to keep hair out of the way while cooking, cleaning, and performing other daily chores. The Braid Breakdown There are hundreds of different types of braids, including French braids, English braids, Dutch braids, Swiss braids, multi-strand braids, crown braids, etc. – all of them â€Å"twists† on the traditional style. Currently, 11 states have imposed a specialized license for hair braiders, and seven states require braiders to obtain a full cosmetology license.Ten states specifically exempt hair braiders from cosmetology licensing laws, and in the other 22 states, the law remains silent on the issue. We loved when Dorothy brought her braid to Oz, but no movie has made braids more famous than â€Å"Return of the Jedi† did. Who could resist Princess Leia’s many braided do’s? When your hair is divided into even rectangular or triangular sections all over your head, with the hair in each secti on twisted together and wound into a protruding knot, the style is known as African knots or Zulu knots in the U.S. In Africa, however, the style is called â€Å"chicken poop. † In the 2005 playoffs, NBA forward Vladimir Radmanovic made more headlines for his hair than for his performance on the court. His reason for going braided? He just wanted to get the hair out of his eyes. According to South African research published in the British Journal of Dermatology in 2007, tight hair braiding, especially when combined with hair-straightening chemicals, can lead to permanent bald patches and severe acne on the scalp.Yikes! In 2010, a 4-year-old was suspended from pre-K in his suburban Dallas school district because his hair was too long. The school board’s compromise that he could braid his hair and pin it up? REJECTED. |Hair braiding is an ancient art, practiced by the Ancient Egyptians as long ago as 4000 BC. |[pic] | |Today it has become a â€Å"hot â€Å" fashion tre nd with many styles, weaves and colorful ornamental | | |beads.Not only women but also men have embraced this beautiful art, creating color and style | | |beyond our ancestors wildest dreams. | | | | | |How and where did braiding begin? Hair braiding, as we know it today has its origins in West | | |Africa.The different and often complex designs signify the social status, age group and village| | |a girl has come from. The braid patterns are made up of different geometrical patterns and can | | |become quite complex for special occasions, such as marriages. | | | | | |Braiding is traditionally a social art.Because of the time it takes to braid hair the women | | |took time to socialize while braiding and having their hair done. It begins with the elders | | |making simple knots and braids for younger children. Older children watch and learn from them, | | |start practicing on younger girls and eventually learn the traditional designs. Here in America | | |you see mothers and grandmo thers braiding and putting colorful beads in little children’s hair. | |This carries on a the tradition of bonding between elders and the new generation. | | | | | |The difference between ancient and modern braiding: Nowadays, as well as the colorful beads and | | |intricate designs of our ancestors, hair weaving has become part of the traditional braiding | | |technique. This opens the door to a whole new assortment of styles and looks.The Hip Hop | | |industry has taken hair braiding and weaving to a whole new level of popularity and style, | | |allowing people from all walks of life to enjoy creating a fashion statement with hair braids | | |and weaves. Hair weaves range from real hair to a vast array of different colors and textures | | |made from synthetic hair.The traditional beads are also being developed into all sorts of | | |shapes and sizes. | | | | | |Hair Care for Braiding and Hair Weaving | | |When you decide to braid your hair or use hair weaves, your hair need s to be in good condition, | | |or you will experience breakage and damage.Your hair should have elasticity. This is a natural | | |condition of hair fibers and will be present in all hair that has not been chemically treated. | | |If you have used relaxers, bleaching, or perms, | | |these chemicals make your hair dry and brittle, it is very important to use good conditioners on| | |a regular basis to restore your hair’s natural elasticity.Be sure to discuss this with your | | |stylist, so that you can enjoy braiding styles without damaging your hair. | | | | | |Hair braiding and weaving can be quite costly, so it is essential to go to stylists who are | | |experienced and knowledgeable. Make an appointment with your stylist for a consultation, before | | |you have your hair done. | |Discuss what style is best for you, the cost and how to maintain your hair braids or weave. | | |Proper care of your hair when braiding and using hair weaves will prevent damage to your hair | | |and scalp. Hair braiding is one of the most versatile ways to style your hair and truly make | | |yourself unique, with this beautiful and ancient art form. | | [pic][pic] [pic]

Arguments

Arguments based on emotion work in different media by getting the audience to feel a sense of what the advertiser is trying to convey. The effectiveness of these arguments differ based on the promoter and what they are trying to present. For example, if the promoter is trying to get a message across through a book, they have to include something that might interest readers. Unlike books, if they are trying to advertise something through television, they include something that might interest people who like watching T.V. , such as â€Å"couch potatoes† etc. The approach for magazines is different. If someone is already reading a magazine they are in for ads therefore it is much easier to grab their attention. However, arguments based on emotion vary significantly on websites. You can go from a positive response to an extremely negative response in a few seconds, therefore you must be careful. Certain things an ad might portray may go against what someone believes and will insti gate hate† comments which technically may not deserve that type of classification.Others may be able to receive the emotion the ad is trying to present and therefore the ad can be successful. Newspapers are an emotionally colder source than television news in my perspective because when you are watching the news, the reporters can sound a little enthusiastic, delivering the news in a hopeful manner. When reading the newspaper, you can only Interpret It how you envision It and so If the tone of the paper Is depressing, then It would be emotionally colder.

Dangers of Drugs

There are many persuasive arguments you can give to convince middle school students not start using drugs. One argument is the pain you would put your family through. Not only is it dangerous to using the drugs, it is also very dangerous to be around the people that sell the drugs. One of the best arguments I could give it the very harmful affects that the drug does to your body. There are endless arguments that you could give to students not to buy and use drugs but I believe those are the best arguments. Using drugs are very dangerous to not only you but your family too.When people start using drugs, they do not think about the pain and suffrage that your family will have to go through. Your family will have to go through the challenge of overcoming your addiction with you, which will put a strain on your relationship with them. It would be very hard for your mother or father to see you using a dangerous drug. Not only will it affect you but it will affect the people that you love most. When somebody said â€Å"drugs† they only think about using them. They do not think about the extremely dangerous people that you have to be around to get the drugs.These types of people are not nice, and could hurt you. These people have probably committed crimes and have been in prison. There is so much more to the word â€Å"drug† than people think about, such as the people you have to be associated with. The first time that you use a drug nobody thinks that they will be addicted to it. When addiction takes place you have to use the drug everyday, even multiple times a day. After using the drug for so long is does major damage to your lunges, mouth, skin, liver, kidneys, and even your facial features. These are major parts of the body and most are replicable.Using drugs after awhile will eventually kill you. After learning that all those things that take into account when using drugs- would you ever try them? After hearing three great arguments on why not to u se drugs, I believe those three are the best. Using drugs not only affects you but also your loved ones too. Being around those types of people are potentially dangerous. Last but not least, the dangerous affects that the drugs could do to your body. No one deserves a life of addiction; so I hope that you have learned something and will never touch a dangerous drug.

Argentinas Economics

Examines the economic recovery of the early 1990s under President Menems reforms, background, monetary policy, foreign investment, taxes and future. Introduction Argentina, along with much of Latin America, suffered an economic downturn during the 1980s. However, with the Menem administration (elected in the late 1980s), the country undertook a series of economic reforms designed to bring the country out of its economic doldrums and into a new era of prosperity. Many of those reforms had the desired effect so that by 1994, the country had seen its economic situation improve dramatically; this was reflected in the nations financial markets. The nation suffered an economic recession in 1995, but further steps taken by the government have strengthened the economy to the point that by 1996, performance had returned to 1994 levels. Argentina endured a recession during 1994 and 1995, but its long-term economic performance is expected to be strong. This research considers the economic recovery that

Roosevelt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Roosevelt - Essay Example But it is more likely that the paternalistic notions of the Roosevelt conservationists included a belief that somehow the federal government could enact a balance between traditional and modern America. In this sense conservation legislation was intended to preserve the status of representatives of older America by insuring that they could adapt to the new times (Morris 234). Thus the Newlands Act, which protected the small homemaker from monopoly and oppression by the intrusion of a benevolent government into local affairs, clearly envisaged a society where each man could develop expertise without losing his identity or trampling upon someone else. Since industrialism, with its rapid technological changes and consequent social flux, threatened the maintenance of balanced progress, an enlightened government of experts was needed to insure that modern America somewhat resembled the nation from which it had sprung. Roosevelt received a reputation as a "trust builder". ... Roosevelt spoke of the "square deal" in domestic affairs and of "gentleman's agreements" in foreign policy. This morality in government was perfectly consistent with a consensus of values which affirmed equality of opportunity, the right of the common man, and the democratic political process, while at the same time upholding an open-class society with acknowledged leaders, correct practices, and certain social barriers. In reorganizing the structure of the government, the technocratic paternalists were attempting to insure the "stability of American institutions" in what they recognized as a changing age. In appealing to traditionalist patterns of behavior, such as self-reliance, and eulogizing traditional success models, such as the yeoman farmer, they were articulating America's need to reassert the common elements of her heritage. More moral functions they could not have imagined (Morris 296). The Roosevelt administrators may have recognized that one logical extension of rapid in dustrialization was a new American ethos built upon science and technology, fully urbanized, symbolized by large corporate structures, and ruled by an educated elite, but they were less capable of recognizing that this ethos was far removed from the rural, individualistic, agrarian, egalitarian one of their fathers. As President Coolidge stressed repeatedly, the great American need is not more law enforcement but better general law observance. A square deal involves a just tax system, really a system for nation, state and locality combined; one that is fair as a whole not simply just in spots. The giving of a square deal is an inescapable responsibility of a democratic society. To secure it we shall need the best