Herbert Hoover Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Herbert Hoover - Article Example The Efficiency Movement of the United States, was a major part of the Progressive Era. The ideology championed by those who supported this movement, was that the society, government and the economy contained unwanted elements that bogged things down. In order to cleanse the system, experts must be appointed to identify the errors and to fix them. Hoover was a prominent figure who championed this movement. He held the view that the economy could be fixed and made better by coming up with technical solutions. However, it so happened that the Great Depression started in 1929, during the first year of Hoover's tenure as President. Since his ideology that the economy could be fixed, could not work in such a situation, he was the centre of criticism and mistrust. Herbert Hoover was a reformer and believed in improving the condition of livelihood of the citizens. He denounced the laissez-faire system and believed in regulating bills through Congress. In addition to this, he also supported volunteerism.

Building Accommodation for Horses, Sheep and Laying Hens Essay

Building Accommodation for Horses, Sheep and Laying Hens - Essay Example It is a vital skill for farmers and, in some countries, a form of art. Other countries have strict laws on the qualifications needed to treat animals and ensure that scientific methods are used to care for them. The science of animal husbandry, called animal science teaches us to care for the animals in relationship of their nutrition, habitation and reproductive physiology. Historically, certain sub-professions within the field of animal husbandry are specifically named according to the animals that are cared for. The common features of these animals are measured from their utility point of view. Horses are mainly used for aristocratic sports in modern times. Sheep cater the need of our clothing as well as meat and indigenous milk. Similarly domestic; no mechanized hens give us natural egg and meat. They all supply chemical free natural manure to grow vegetation when reared in a single sight. They need enough air through ventilation, adequate food management, water and other medical care in the farm. Frequent grazing in the wilder pesture land for both horses and the sheep yield natural ambience of their development each horse need at least ten by two metre space for their housing with enclosed food stock. A domestic hen needs minimum of two square feet area with hey ricks for living and similar area for laying eggs and hatching. They need to be taken care from reptiles and cats through adequate fencing. An Ideal site of accommodation of Horses, sheep and Hens surrounded by open areas Partitioned storied baskets for hens to live in The half walled with light grilled airy home of the 500 laying hens in the common nestle Stable of 50 horses in individual rooms of half walled accommodation with separate doors for each through the out side walls There are contrasting views on the ethical aspects of breeding animals in captivity, with one debate being in relation to the merits of allowing animals to live in natural conditions reasonably close to those of their wild ancestors, compared to the view that considers natural pressures and stresses upon wild animals vindication for captive breeding. The production of livestock industry has been practiced for centuries but is controlled by legislation today. Animal rights groups are playing vital role in the protection, welfare and conservation of the ever needed friends of humans HORSE BREEDING Horse breeding refers to reproduction in horses and particularly the human-directed process of planned mating of animals. While feral and wild horses breed successfully without human assistance, it can be beneficial to domesticated horses. Humans can increase the chances of conception, a successful pregnancy, and successful foaling. The male parent of a horse, a stallion, is commonly known as the sire and the female parent, the mare is called the dame. Both are genetically important, as each parent provides 50% of the genetic makeup of the ensuing offspring, called a foal. The word "colt" refers to a young male horse only; "filly" is a young female. Though many amateur horse owners may simply breed a family mare to a local stallion in order to produce a companion animal, most professional

Thailand: Economic Growth Achievement and Challenges

Thailand: Economic Growth Achievement and Challenges Introduction Thailand is the second largest economy in South East Asia with the population 67.7 million people (CIA 2014). Thailand economies grew at 7 per cent or more for 25 years, in the period of 1960-1997 with no single recession. After big crash, Asian Financial Crises in 1997, Thailand successfully recovered by strong growth contributed by massive export and private consumption (Phongpaichit et.al 2012). Consequently, this growth can lead to increased income per capita of Thailand. As a result, World Bank (2011) changes the classification of Thailand as an upper-middle-income with GNI per capita US$4,210 in 2011. However, after progressing in many macroeconomics indicators and growing importance in Asia’s geopolitics, Thailand experienced a slowdown starting from 2008. The slowdown begins by Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008 affects in the export demand. Then, big flood in 2011 makes a lot of manufacture industries halt their production. Subsequently, political uncertainty makes Thailand experienced economic sluggish down from 7 per cent and stable in medium growth rate 3-4 per cent from 2008-2011 (Phongpaichit et.al 2012). The political unrest, has a direct impact on the tourism industry of Thailand, where the number of foreign visitors went down and impacted on decreasing 2 percentage points of GDP in 2010 (Time 2010). This trend of moderate growth is lower than its ASEAN counterparts like Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia as emerging economy that can grow more than 5 per cent. Furthermore, Thailand competitiveness also fallen from rank 28 in 2006 and now rank 38 among 148 countrie s in 2013-2014 (WEF 2013). To be brief, gloom in Thailand economy potentially can be in the long run if there is no change in pro-growth policies with current political volatility. The main culprit of recent decelerate of economic performance is Thailand political unrest. This wavering situation during 2006 to 2011 creates uncertainty, although they have long experience of political conflict during a century. This is because recent coups and power changing escalation is getting worse. According to World Competitiveness Report (WEF 2013) reveals four main problems in Thailand competitiveness is corruption, government instability/coup and policy instability and inefficient government bureaucracy. Other fundamental cause of decreasing trend is human capital quality cannot support dynamic economic demand and subsequently slowing the growth and potential problem in the future development. After long periods Thais society has a challenge of persistent inequality of educational opportunity. Besides, in demographic aspect Thailand society now become an ageing society with the change in population proportion (UNFPA 2006), which is older society is getting higher percentage and a fall in the proportion of productive population which they will work and pay the tax to running the economic activity. Based on UNFPA (2006) prediction, The proportion of senior citizen in total population will rise to 14.0 per cent in 2015, 19.8 per cent in 2025 and approximately 30 per cent by 2050. One most significant aspect that affects the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declining is because Thailand economy is highly impacted by external shock in large economies such as U.S and European Union. Thailand dependency on export demand from those countries make Thailand economy vulnerable in global shock. Now the government needs new ideas and vigorous innovation capacity to create broader market given the current dynamic global market competition. Key issue: Political uncertainty, inequality of income and education and new capacity for global competition. Options to accelerate growth Thailand current strategy with the philosophy of economy â€Å"Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy† is trying to establish the growth in modest rate (OECD 2013). With that philosophy and considering recent evidence of economic slowdown and political turmoil, Thailand policy-makers have to put some change in their initial policies and institutions towards getting â€Å"sufficient† and sustained growth. A lot of options (but inconclusive) of strategy are provided by consensus like Washington Consensus (cite), Beijing Consensus and Commission on Growth and Development (Commission). Some of the Commission recipes are suitable to Thailand’s situation. Commission (2008) encourages countries to focus on export promotion and industrial policy, ensuring equity and equality of opportunity and redistribution of government (to keep accountability), enhance regional development by encouraging unity not uniformity and leads to labour mobility. Next, countries should fight corruption through competition, feedback and evaluation. Additionally, economist that well known with his middle income trap phenomenon, Kharas and Kohli (2011), suggest that in the middle income countries (including Thailand) to elevate from their level by doing some steps. First, change from diversification to specialization in production. Second, transform from physical accumulation of factors to productivity-led gro wth. Third, from centralized to decentralized economic management. The Priority: Reform in increasing the equity and the quality of education In the case of Thailand, the reform to reducing inequality of access of good education is the most important reform that Royal Thailand Government should implement. This reform is important because three reasons. First, to create equality and improve the quality of education is in line with the Thailand’s vision. Seconds, reducing the gap and disparities are critical to reduce the political instability and break the binding constraint. Third, reform in education equality is a tool for laddering middle-income economy to higher income economy in industrial development towards export. Reform in education equity policy is in line with the vision of Thailand as â€Å"A happy society with equity, fairness and resilience† as narrated in the Thailand’s eleventh Medium Term Plan. Since is well planned by the government, there is no problem in the budget. Education budget is nearly USD 14.7 billion in 2012 that constituted 4 per cent of its GDP in 2011. This number is greater than high income countries in ASEAN like Singapore’s that only 3.2 per cent of its GDP. With such huge figure Thailand doing good performance in school enrolment of every level. Surprisingly, the tertiary education rate is the highest in ASEAN (OECD 2013). However, these decent gross enrolment rate only enjoyed by the youth live in capital, Bangkok. Students who are living in remote and poor region cannot access education facility because the cost of transportation and other non-tuition cost. Thus, the gap between the grades of students from rural and urban areas is far too wide . Another issue is inequality between private and public schools make no incentive for the private sector to provide services in education. OECD estimation shows that cost of schooling in private school is two and half of public sector (OECD, 2013). In creating political stability narrowing the gap between rich and poor in access for education and health are prerequisites. In Thailand context, OECD (2013) reports that the north-eastern region is the area with highest poverty incidence while the central region and Bangkok are the lowest, two poles of political power this day that keep escalating the unrest. This binding constraint among inequality-political unrest-economic slowdown should be broken. Rodrik (1998) finds in his research in how multiple countries suffer severe after 1975 had divided societies and weak conflict-management institutions. Reform in more advance education is required for diversify new domestic demand and new export demands. Advance education also important engines for middle income countries to transform their economy toward service sectors. Based on recent sources of Thailand’s export data shows that real contribution of goods export is 57 per cent compare to service 12 per cent (World Bank 2011) with machinery/electrical, rubber, and transportation as leading commodities (OECD 2013). With those leading commodities Thailand need to diversify into other commodities to get new market. Eichengreen et.al (2013) find that country with high level of participation in secondary and tertiary education has less likely face slowdowns. Similarly, countries with high-technology products have a relative bigger contribution in exports is less vulnerable trapped in economic slow-moving. Study from OECD (2013) reveals that the education index have positive influence in variables that promoting growth like: tota l factor productivity, high-technology exports and competitive industrial performance (CIP). How to realizing this education equalization reform? At first, Royal Thailand government should manage education accountability. Accountability is a key in for the first step in the mission in narrowing education gap. Thailand requires improving and sustaining an effective education system that can be monitored and evaluated. Tangkitvanich (2013) an expert at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), asserts there is an inefficiency of education budget into highly spend teacher salaries post that is not translated into improvement in teacher’s performance. This lost can be consequences in equality of opportunity into society. The next stage is directing education in the more skill-mismatch, coherence with agricultural and Industrial Policy. Bhaopichitr (in Parpart 2013), senior economist at the World Bank, argues that Thailand have two problems in education system. First, now Thailand faces shortage of highly skilled workers. Second, the problems in allocation when high skilled labour put in the wrong position. In the Thailand current circumstances, it may be tempting to focus the policy into short-run return. However to maintain focus policy to enhance growth in is better pay-off when calculating long-run political stability and strong human capital as a foundation of growth. Policies that Thais government can do is to encourage upward mobility from the bottom society, i.e poor, in northern and southern regions, invest in regional education development to make sure every citizen get the good quality of education. These reforms should be attached with is coupled reforms in school governance and incentives to promote accountability. This step more likely includes with better social safety net programs. Royal Thailand government need to make sure their investment in education equity is a sound policy reform that transforms the expectations and aspirations of every citizen in Thailand. References CIA 2014, The world factbook, Viewed: 17 August 2014.  https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/th.html>. Eichengreen, B, Park, D, and Shin, K 2013, Growth slowdowns redux: new evidence on the middle-income trap, NBER Working Paper No. 18673. Kharas, H and Kohli, H 2011, What is the middle income trap, why do countries fall into it, and how can it be avoided, Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies 2011 3: 281, Viewed: 16 August 2014, http://eme.sagepub.com/content/3/3/281>. OECD 2013, Structural policy country notes, Viewed: 16 August 2014, http://www.oecd.org/dev/asia-pacific/Thailand.pdf>. Parpart, E 2013,’Economists share views on Thailands biggest problems’, Viewed: 16 August 2014, http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Economists-share-views-on-Thailands-biggest-proble-30220283.html>. Phongpaichit et.al 2012, Looked in the middle income trap: Thailand’s economy between resilience and future challenges, Friederich Ebert Stiftung. Rodrik, D 1998, Where did all the growth go? External shocks, social conflict, and growth collapses, Viewed: 15 August 2014. http://www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/ research/d.rodrik_jeg_where.did.all.the.growth.go.pdf>. Tangkitvanich, S 2013, ‘Teach Thais to think’, Viewed: 15 August 2014. http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2013/09/17/teach-thais-to-think/>. The Commission on Growth and Development 2008, The growth report: Strategies for sustained growth and inclusive development, Washington D.C, World Bank Publications. Time 2010, ‘Thailand tourism devastated by political unrest’, Viewed: 17 August 2014, http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1982555,00.html> UNFPA 2006, Population ageing in Thailand: Prognosis and policy response,Viewed: 17 August 2014. http://thailand.unfpa.org/documents/thai_ageing_englishversion.pdf>. WEF 2013, Global competitiveness report, Viewed: 17 August 2014,  http://www3.weforum.org/docs/ WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2013-14.pdf>. World Bank 2011, Thailand economic monitor, Bangkok, World Bank. World Bank 2011, ‘Thailand now an upper middle income economy’, Viewed: 15 August 2014. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2011/08/02/thailand-now-upper-middle-income-economy >.

The Nature of Victory in a War on Terrorism :: September 11 Terrorism Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   While President Bush has proclaimed a "war on terrorism" and taken measured steps in a strategic battle against terrorist groups, most prominently al Qaida, American citizens have been living lives far removed from his proclamation.   The American people have responded to the September 11th "act of war" with an outpouring of democratic rhetoric and bizarre acts of patriotism1.   Sadly, our proud demonstrations have truly ignored the reality of ensuing war. Americans have donated blood and established funds for firefighters' families, while failing to look outside of our nation with any intention of understanding the grounds for popular terrorism in Arab and Muslim states.   The American public refuses to accept that we are a nation at war because we are fighting against a culture of Islamic extremists instead of a tangible state that we can define in our minds.   Moreover, we are at war with a group of people that we do not understand and are disincli ned to learn about.   While the government of the United States fights a war, using diplomacy, financial traps, and of course, missiles and bombs, the American people must fight a war against our ignorance of the enemy.   Additionally, the American people must fight against the propaganda and war hysteria that surrounds us in our own nation in order to identify our genuine role in the war on terrorism.        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     A true victory over terrorism does not lie in a successful military campaign or the destruction of one powerful terrorist network; a true victory lies in a global understanding of Arab culture and a willingness to accept certain values embraced by Arab and Muslim nations.   As our nation launches offensives against the Taliban and al Qaida, we must realize that there will never be a way to militarily or violently defeat every terrorist group in the Middle East, even if our nation may be successful in destroying al Qaida and deposing the Taliban.   There are simply too many terrorist organizations to effectively fight, owing to the popularity of the groups amongst citizens of Middle Eastern states.   The eradication of violent Islamic extremist groups will only come with the appeasement of impoverished, disgruntled, and deeply angry Arabs and Muslims.   This is something that we, as private citizens, cannot leave solely to the c harge of our national government;   in fact, this is something which our government alone cannot accomplish.   The United States will never win a "war on terrorism" if American citizens are unwilling to participate in the daily struggle against the socioeconomic and political conditions that spawn popularly supported terrorism within Middle Eastern states.

Gender Inequality Essay

Gender can be defined as the socially constructed roles and duties society constructs, assigns and expects of males and females on the basis of their biological and physical characteristics. Gender is learnt, not permanent and differs from one community to another. Gender roles and responsibilities are found in all spheres of society be it economic, social, political or religious. Gender roles are affected by age, social class, ability, ethnicity and race. The gender roles help society to determine men and women access to rights, resources and opportunities. Gender in this perspective is not just a concept, but about perceptions and understanding concerning the affiliation between males and females in society and how gender influences their attitudes, behavior and responsibilities. Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment of men and women that are against the legal and constitutional requirement such as the human rights provisions as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Hum an Rights of 1948 & The Convention on the Eradication of all forms of discrimination against females (1979). Most countries have, however, fallen short of entitling human rights and freedoms to everyone in society regardless of their sex (Michael 12). Gender inequality varies from developed countries to developing countries. Also considering that the world is comprised of different tribes and races that have distinct values and beliefs, gender inequality will vary with the same intensity. Such inequalities include the professional obstacles that women encounter in their workplaces. It is evident that women’s lack of leadership positions because such roles are considered to be meant for men. Those who are mothers may be penalized or discriminated for taking time off to attend to their children. The controversial issue concerning gender inequality is the need to acknowledge the unequal power relations between men and women in society and to work for greater gender equality and the advancement of women. It does not only mean the identification of specific areas that are important for women’s advancements, but also attempts to introduce a dimension of gender in all activities. It also means there is recognition of how important it is to work with both men and women to change the existing gender relations. According to the United States Census data, there is a gender wage gap in which women earn 77 cents for each dollar earned by a man. The gap is a matter of concern that has prompted  President Obama to announce the Paycheck fairness Act on Equal Pay Day. However, according to the one of the lead economist the statistics behind the gender wage gap are flawed. The flawed statistics have acted hindrance and distracter to the legislator and concerned public from finding the solutions that would solve the real problem-the gender jobs gap. The Census data that give the 77 cents on dollar comparison is based on aggregate earning of men and women thus ignoring job choice, education, experience, industry, and other factors that contribute to a person’s wage. If a comparison is made between men and women with the same background such as education and experience, same employer, among other the gender gap disappears. The reasons why the gender job gap exists is the due to low number of female occupying high executive levels and director positions. Men also are earning higher than women despite being in the same senio r-level jobs. The choice of work is a major that determine potential earnings. Men tend to take relatively high-paying jobs in engineering and IT, while women take low-paying jobs like education and human resources. The gender gap persists because men and women choose to pursue different careers (Autor et al, 2008). The gender job gap can be closed, if women are encouraged to pursue high-paying career in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. Legislation should be formulated to bridge the gap in men and women career choice. An enabling environment should create in the workplace where women can be empowered and helped to rise to top executive positions. Comparing the job to job is not tenable solution in addressing the gender wage gap; more need to be done to bring women earning close to that of men (Juhn et al, 2014). Gender inequality also involves feticide and infanticide. For instance, in India and China, a male child is more appreciated than a female child. Parents have to find out the sex of the baby they are carrying so as to decide whether to terminate the pregnancy or kill the child after its birth (Kristoff, 69). One of my family members in China, my cousin who has a bias th at boys better than girls. I was very angry that he convinced his wife went to abortion because his wife pregnant with a girl when I knew he did that. He explained that China has the birth control policy and he just want to a boy to continue his family name. In the legal area at China, it wasn’t involve in crime for what he did. However, in the ethical area, he deprive his wife’s thought and the  baby who didn’t has chance come to the world. I think he against the humanity and nature. There are also a number of organizations in society that play key roles in the construction of gender. These organizations need to be gender sensitive so as to ensure they continue in the positive construction of gender equality. Such organizations include the family, the most imperative socializing proxy, school, media and religion. Several theoretical perspectives exist that tend to explain the origin of gender inequalities. Radical feminists argue that the gender inequalities arise from the biological differences among individuals that produce a form of social organization that equip men and women with the different roles they play in society. For example, women are handicapped by their biology in terms of pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding that makes them dependent on men. This dependence creates an une qual power relationships and power psychology. They also argue that, in every society, a high value is placed on culture rather than nature. Through culture, supernatural forces can be sought in order to achieve success, hence it is considered a means by which humanity governs and regulates nature. Women are seen closer to nature than men because of their social roles as mothers and reproduction (Hekman 52). Men, on the other hand, participate in activities such as warfare, politics that involve culture. This makes them better to women. From a Marxist perspective, gender inequality arose during the earlier stages of development when there was ownership of private property. Men gained control over the women and property hence the patriarchal system of family where property was passed down through the male’s line. Marxists thought this would change with the capitalist system but women still continue to be disadvantaged compared to men. On the contrary, liberal feminists approached gender inequality in a more elaborate way. They argued that nobody benefits from the existing gender inequalities since both men and women are harmed by inequalities. While women do not get opportunities to develop their talents and become successful and skilled members, men are also denied the o pportunity of having a close relationship with their children. Gender inequality is caused by the general credence that males are superior to females; because of this idea, women have spent some significant amount of years suffering under their counterparts. Males also tend to be more emphatic and absolute because of their natal hormones or intuitive  intellect. Sexual discrimination is also another major cause of gender inequality where women are viewed by men as just sex objects rather than real human beings with standards and morals. Other general contributing factors of gender inequality include unequal power relations, assumptions about male and female behavior, insufficient laws against gender inequality, cultural, traditional and religious practices. I became aware of this problem through the campaigns that the government and other Non-Governmental Organizations have held. Their efforts are directed towards ensuring that gender inequality is minimized all over the world. Awareness is being created among women where they get to be educated on their rights and freedoms (Hurst, 96). The women are being empowered through sponsoring women projects as a way of generating income that makes them less dependable on women. The media is al so playing a vital role on the sensitization of ways of minimizing gender inequality in the societies. Higher education in universities and colleges also promotes women support and all levels of society. The government is doing everything in its power to increase the productivity of women by initiating income generating projects. However, they do not take into account that women are already overburdened with work, they do not control family budgets and many of them have difficulties of freedom and movement. It is evident that the informal sector has limited employment opportunities and these projects will not be taken with the seriousness it deserves despite having the ability to empower the women. It is also easy to mobilize individuals or groups for a specific goal such as a political action or assisting members who are in need. In this case curbing, the menace of gender inequality in the society will be of great help. This is because it has charged most nations more harm than good. Most people have depicted that certain duties and tasks are to be performed by certain persons making gender imbalance. Heavy duties are usually dedicated to men while the simple ones are left to the females creating a huge difference in genders. Until all these issues are addressed there is no way that the nation and the globe will ever achieve gender balance. Work cited Michael G. Peletz, Gender, Sexuality and Body Politics in Modern Asia. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian studies, 2011. Kristoff, Nicholas D. (August 23, 2009). â€Å"The Women’s Crusade.† New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2011. Burstein, Paul. â€Å"Equal Employment Opportunity: Labor Market Discrimination and Public Policy.† Edison, NJ: Aldine Transaction, 1994. Hekman, David R.; Aquino, Karl; Owens, Brad P.; Mitchell, Terence R.; (2009) An Examination of How Racial and Gender Biases Influence Customer Satisfaction. Autor, D. H., Katz, L. F., & Kearney, M. S. (2013). Trends in US wage inequality: Revising the revisionists. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(2), 300-323. Juhn, C., Ujhelyi, G., & Villegas-Sanchez, C. (2014). Men, women, and machines: how trade impacts gender inequality. Journal of Development Economics, 106, 179-193.

CB Analysis

There was definitely a gap between these two States, ultimately creating a need for food (Sabina, 246). B) What product and brand did you choose? In this class thus far we have definitely learned that products can always be copied or replaced, but brands are often unique and timeless. May have chosen a simple Subway sandwich without even getting the entire value meal, but I chose to go with a brand that is known to always have fresh vegetable options, with quick service. C) What type of value did this purchase provide? At the time, purchasing this Subway sandwich proved very valuable to me.I was in a rush to head to class and needed to fuel my body with something hat could give me some substance to work through the rest of the day. Though just a sandwich, it was very necessary that I eat to continue my long day of studying and meetings. D) What was the type of risk involved with this purchase? The biggest risk involved in me purchasing this Subway sandwich was that it might not have the freshest toppings, and that the customer service might be slow. I knew when I was going to purchase my sandwich that the risk of me losing money or regretting my decision to buy the sandwich would be relatively low.Ultimately, I view this purchase as a low-risk purchase. E) What evaluative criteria were used? We learned from our book that evaluative criteria are attributes consumers consider when reviewing alternative solutions to an issue or problem (Fabian, 355). In this situation, my problem was that I was starving and in a time crunch in between classes. When I was choosing Subway as my meal of choice, I knew that potential benefits would be that it would be a healthy meal in a quick time frame. Considered going to Jimmy Johns, but it was quite a bit of distance from my apartment and I didn't have time for that.The criteria used were proximity to my apartment, price, and quality. ) Did you conduct an internal or external information search? Why or why not? I used internal in formation search, involving me retrieving knowledge about products or services from my memory (Fabian, 248). Because this purchase involved such limited decision-making, felt confident in my ability to use my past experiences at Subway to decide that I should go back there for the same, quick service. Was confronted with a need to satisfy my hunger, and I knew I could rely on myself given the time constraints. ) If you conducted an internal information search, explain your evoked set (consideration set), your inert set and your inept set. My consideration set consisted of Jimmy John's, a close sandwich alternative with great customer service. Subway marketers might want to consider why it is G's always has the best customer service, but in this case Subway won me over because of their proximity to my apartment. To be honest, did not have an inert set, or any alternatives to which was indifferent to (Fabian 249); Subway was the perfect place! One option I considered to be apart of my inept set was the Korean restaurant next to the Subway.It was unacceptable for me to even consider due to me not wanting o try out a new restaurant that appeared to take a long time to get waited on. H) What was the cost of this information search? Please explain your answer in detail, don't just give an estimated dollar figure. The monetary cost of this information search was free. Having said that, I do consider the cost to this information search to have been the time spent making the decision about where and what should eat. As was going through what little alternatives there were to Subway, I may have been wasting time I could have been using to study and prepare for class.Luckily, there was not too much mime wasted deciding how to satisfy my hunger, but there definitely was at least some low cost associated with my internal information search. This information search did turn into me buying the sandwich, so it did influence that small purchase. B. Extended Decision Making Pur chase-Apple phone 6 10/1/14 a) What was the need (actual state vs.. Desired state)? To be honest, really did not have a true need for a new phone, so my actual state was that I had an older phone that was working completely fine, but I did not have the new phone 6.My desired state was to own the newest Phone, because I always love using the latest Apple products. As our book pointed out, states Often change (Fabian, 247). Someone may have, at one time, been satisfied with a cell phone they had, until one day a newer, cooler version comes along and is the new desire. B) What product and brand did you choose? Chose to purchase a cell phone, but most of my money goes for paying for the Apple brand. Paying for the Apple brand is not only paying the company for their uniqueness, but it is paying for me to have brand satisfaction with my mobile device.Products that buy often become instantly meaningful, but t is the Apple brand that lasts longer and becomes more and more meaningful over t ime. C) What type of value did this purchase provide? This purchase of an phone provided me with a value that truly satisfied my need to have the latest technology and the most efficient APS. Like I mentioned before, I really am an avid Apple user, and I enjoy being able to quickly pull up any information for classes or companies that I am recruiting for. Additionally, I really believe that the monetary value will hold for the most part over the next year-?if kept in good condition. ) What was the type of sis involved with this purchase? The biggest risk in buying the phone 6 was that it might not be all that it added up to be, and therefore not worth what paid for it. I would like to consider that I minimized my risk when I chose to do research on the Internet and saw whatever pros and cons there were on the new phone. Having said all this, my risk definitely increases the more money and time put into a good (unlike a sandwich). E) What evaluative criteria were used? The attributes I considered when comparing the phone 6 to the Samsung Galaxy phone, were size, price, speed, sound, quality, and appearance.It would take quite some phone to pull my brand loyalty away from Apple products, but think it is always necessary to keep my options open when brainstorming solutions to my problems or needs (Fabian, 256). F) Did you an external information search because I wanted to ask an expert, or in this case, research the Internet's various sources (Fabian, 249). Chose the Internet as my number one source because of how easy it is to obtain information and it takes me less time to comprehend a report when it is in a compiled list like I found online. G) If you conducted an external information search, explain how oh did this using terminology.When I conducted an external information search, I really already knew what my evaluative criteria were. Typed in the search engine a question such as â€Å"How big or attractive is the phone 6. † I was immediately presente d with the newest reviews on the phone, and faced information overload after awhile. Began not being able to assimilate all of the information. It made me think that I may want to be more specific with my future searches (Fabian, 249). H) What was the cost of this information search? Please explain your answer in detail, don't just give an estimated liar figure.The cost of this information search was the time I spent researching on the Internet. Fortunately, I did not have to spend too long evaluating the phone, but like I said before did get a little overwhelmed. Though the search was free, I probably sacrificed time I could have been getting some reading or homework done for all of my classes. This information search did eventually turn into me purchasing the new phone, so it did indeed lead me into paying something. 2. Psychological Variables Charley Burger and Fry 9/25/13 One of the best deals on campus is on Thursdays at Charley.Their burger ND fry basket is not only huge in si ze, but it is only $4. 99. This Thursday was one of the best nights because I had turned in a big proposal for class due right before I went to dinner. Because I was in such a great mood, my self esteem for the night was at an all time high, encouraging me to treat myself to dinner (Fabian, 117). Struck There have been many days thus far where have had to rely on caffeine to allow me to get my homework and studying done. There are many variables that have encouraged me to purchase coffee, including my own awareness and have the proximity and convenience of Struck.Getting coffee often served as a motivation for me to study even more. There were nights my anxiety was actually calmed down knowing I could rely on Struck being right in the Winter Garden to help me get through all of the homework. Really love the high relationship quality and loyalty I have with Struck (Fabian, 25). 3. Social Influence Cottage Inn Pizza 9/13/14 This Saturday was a football Saturday where we were tired and so upset about the Michigan loss to Notre Dame that we decided to order pizza. TO be honest, I wasn't even hungry, but I decided to follow the group and pitch in to order the pizza.When in a social environment, I really don't need much persuasion for many small purchases, as it often easier to go with crowd (Fabian, 149) Bush's Grocery Store 9/5/14 This was the Saturday of syllabus week, meaning it was our last chance to enjoy life before glasswork picked up. My friend Garage not only suggested that we go to her sister's apartment complex, but that we go buy groceries to throw a big cookout. Decided to conform to what she wanted and help purchase groceries at a place had never been (Sabina, 140). 4. Purchase Influence Bolos Mediterranean Chicken Schwartz 9/1 0/14When was in the Sessile Cafe, I was just buying a soft drink when a friend of mine came up and said I should try the Chicken Schwartz because it is Mediterranean Wednesday. The biggest influence in this purchase situation w as my friend's word of mouth information. This information was sudden, but had he not informed me Of this deal I would have never made the purchase (Sabina, 161). Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt 9/7/14 My friend Jacob works for a Flock Tag company who was running a special where if you signed up for a Flock Tag Card, you would get free frozen yogurt from Orange Leaf.The promotion, or purchase influence in this case, was what ultimately lured me into becoming an Orange Leaf addict and this trip being one of many trips (Fabian, 320). 5. Buying Patterns When looking at my complete journal, I definitely have recognized a couple of buying patterns. The first, and most obvious was the purchase of Struck coffee more and more as the weeks went on. This is partly because of the fact that the seasons have changed and it has been cooler. I also attribute it to the subliminal persuasion using their aroma as pass by the Struck in Ross (Fabian, 53).The second buying pattern that I have recognized is th e purchasing late at night on Thursdays and Friday. Those two days are by far the most expensive days of the week for me (Fabian, 328). 6. Post-Recession Consumer The biggest part of the article that pertained to my consumer behavior habits was when it talked about the consumers being more saws and aware of marketing techniques (Gerbera, 3). I feel as if I have grown increasingly aware of how businesses can manipulate naive buyers into spending marked up goods. Looking back at my purchases, I really feel that was never misled into purchasing something shouldn't have.The article said â€Å"Generosity binds a company to its community and its stakeholders (Gerbera, 4). † Couldn't agree more with that quote. When a Struck employee or a worker at a grocery Store goes the extra mile to put a smile on my face or assist me, I feel more and more consumer loyalty and allegiance to the business. 7. Changes After looking through and observing my buying behavior, don't see myself making a ny changes to my purchasing habits. The worst habits that I had or the days where would spend the most amount of money really weren't something that I considered to be that bad in the scope of things.

Workplace writing as a factor of everyday professional communication

Workplace writing as a factor of everyday professional communication The article titled what we learn from writing on the job by Lester Faigley and Thomas Miller mainly addresses the importance of having the designers of college curricula take into consideration the importance of inculcating writing skills for the future benefit of their students.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Workplace writing as a factor of everyday professional communication specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The two authors assert that college graduates should be able to write at a certain level of proficiency which should also be in tandem with their respective professions. The authors argue that as much as most of the professional writing is learned on the job, it is the prerogative of the trainers to ensure that the graduates they produce are worth the professional accreditation they are given. The authors argue that the literacy crisis can easily be linked to tertiary institutions of learning abolishing their writing classes. The study conducted by the two authors to establish the importance or academic training in writing reveals that individuals who are proficient in writing also tend to be effective in delivering oral presentations. The authors conclude that writing is gradually being regarded as just one of the established methods of communicating instead of the fundamental basis on which professionalism is grounded. I completely agree with the authors’ opinions that the abolition of writing classes should be attributed to the literacy crisis. This is primarily because I have personally discovered that the less I am required to write, the less I feel motivated to involve myself in learning through literary texts. This is particularly because the rapid technological changes in the communication have made it easier to pass a message across without necessarily involving the written text. For instance, I can easily get the same information about Nelson Mandela from watching a docu mentary as I could have obtained from reading one of his anthologies. The article titled writing in the professions by Anne Beaufort is primarily an analysis of the evolution of the research process as a factor of workplace writing. The author points out the relevance of the topic on professional writing by outlining a number of articles that have been written by various on the scholars on the same topic.Advertising Looking for essay on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Beaufort explains that before the advent of computers workplace writing was held in high regard with most employers demanding that potential employees have proper writing skills. She then goes ahead to point out that with revolutions happening in every aspect of society, workplace writing evolved to factor in some amount of conscious deliberation and composition. This, according to her was necessitated by the realization that individuals in management who did not possess proper writing skills ended up becoming liabilities to the enterprises owing to their inefficiency. The impact of technology on the writing approaches of various professionals has also been underscored. Beaufort has included an analysis of writing in professions ranging from accounting at the International Monetary fund (IMF) to air traffic control. Her sole aim in this extensive exemplification is to show a correlation between writing and technological changes. The author comes to the conclusion that students need to know how to appropriately apply research skills depending on the situation that they find themselves in. I support Beaufort’s conclusion because it is easy to note the importance of research in each and every profession. As such, tutors and instructors should strive to ensure that there students develop proper research and analytical skills for the sake of effectiveness in their future careers. The two articles both touch on the i mportance of students developing proper writing skills for the purpose of future effectiveness at the workplace. However, the articles are not specific on which elements of learning need to be worked on and this leaves room for more research. Below are two questions whose analysis would provide guidelines as to the particular changes that need to be made to the education and professional system in order to create effective workers.

Word Choice Eventually vs. Ultimately - Proofread My Paper

Word Choice Eventually vs. Ultimately - Proofread My Paper Word Choice: Eventually vs. Ultimately â€Å"Eventually† and â€Å"ultimately† have plenty in common. Both are ten letters long. Both have â€Å"-ly† at the end. And, crucially, both refer to something that happens (or is expected to happen) after a certain period of time. It’s this final overlap which causes most confusion, with some people using â€Å"eventually† and â€Å"ultimately† interchangeably. However, there is an important difference, so you won’t want to mix up these words in your written work. Eventually (Some Time Later) We’ll begin with â€Å"eventually,† which generally means â€Å"some time later† or â€Å"finally,† especially after a prolonged delay: The queue was long, but we reached the front eventually. If you queue for too long, petrification can set in. It can also be used more generally to indicate an unspecified amount of time, even where no specific delay occurs: I’m new to ballet, but I’m hoping to eventually turn professional! In both cases, â€Å"eventually† emphasizes the passage of time, either in relation to something that has happened or that is expected to happen. Ultimately (In the End) â€Å"Ultimately† can mean â€Å"finally† or â€Å"in the end,† too, but specifically refers to the finishing point in a process or series of events: Although it seemed benign to begin with, the virus ultimately spread to other countries. A second meaning of â€Å"ultimately† is to indicate something as a fundamental or basic fact: Ultimately, tiddlywinks is a game of thrills and spills. Tiddle that wink! [Image: Hannes Grobe]Even in this second use of â€Å"ultimately,† there is a strong sense of finality, as it suggests something is beyond dispute or conclusive. Eventually or Ultimately? When used to mean â€Å"finally,† there are situations in which â€Å"eventually† and â€Å"ultimately† can be used interchangeably. However, even then, each word emphasizes something different. If we say something happened â€Å"eventually,† it’s usually the passage of time we are stressing. Hence â€Å"eventually† is normally used when describing something that happens after a delay. If we say something happened â€Å"ultimately,† on the other hand, the emphasis is on finality, so this term is best saved for referring to something that happens at the end of a process. For example, the ultimate fate of all sausages. When â€Å"ultimately† is used to mean â€Å"fundamentally,† moreover, it’s even more important to use the correct term, since â€Å"eventually† wouldn’t make sense in this context.

Orwells Writing Rules Are Made to Be Broken

Orwells Writing Rules Are Made to Be Broken Orwell’s Writing Rules Are Made to Be Broken Orwell’s Writing Rules Are Made to Be Broken By Mark Nichol George Orwell, author of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, has been celebrated far and wide (including on this site) for his essay â€Å"Politics and the English Language.† The moral force of his argument is undeniable: Orwell, a socialist, witnessed the, well, Orwellian, tyranny of the Soviet Union and feared the power of propaganda and the insidiousness of authoritarian obfuscation, hence his passion for clear, simple writing. Toward the end of this justifiably influential tract, Orwell exhorted readers to adhere to six commandments about writing. However, as he himself wrote in a subsequent paragraph, â€Å"I have not here been considering the literary use of language, but merely language as an instrument for expressing and not for concealing or preventing thought.† Beyond that caution, though, literal adherence to his dicta is inadvisable, and to some extent I disagree with each of them. 1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Certainly, many figures of speech such as â€Å"bite the bullet,† â€Å"push the envelope,† and â€Å"go the extra mile† should be sent to the metaphor retirement home, and I’ve warned about buzzwords, but not every common figure of speech has worn out its welcome. They can be especially catchy when used in punny contexts: A government agency turns over a new leaf about deforestation, a rock band plays musical chairs with its lineup, a pharmaceutical company’s setback is a bitter pill to swallow. 2. Never us a long word where a short one will do. Utilization of sesquipedalian vocabulary unquestionably mitigates comprehension, but never is dishearteningly uncompromising. Better to advise minimizing multisyllabism. But must I always write do in place of accomplish? Spread instead of disseminate? Try in favor of endeavor? That’s an oddly totalitarian rule, coming from Orwell. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Um, is always really necessary in that sentence? And â€Å"Omit a word† is more concise than â€Å"cut a word out.† But omit has more letters than cut. Do you see where this is going? The answer is, too far. Striving to attain Hemingwayesque conciseness is appropriate for assembly instructions, and journalistic writing should be as transparent as possible, but Bill Bryson never met an adjective or an adverb he didn’t like, and if anyone’s complained about that, I haven’t read the grievance. In moderation (or, in Bryson’s case, in excess), modification is merited. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. The case for active language is often strong. But passive constructions are acceptable when the actor in a sentence (in the following sentence’s case, the â€Å"seer†) is not significant: â€Å"Punk music can be seen as a reaction to the overblown theatricality of disco and arena rock.† And sometimes the object is more important than the subject. Yes, favor active voice, but don’t categorically prohibit occasional passive structure. 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. Am I prohibited from referring to an eminence grise, in favor of â€Å"power behind the throne† or â€Å"puppet master†? The French phrase for â€Å"gray eminence,† or â€Å"gray man,† is admittedly somewhat pretentious, but it’s also a rich metaphor and if you don’t know what it means, after you look it up, your word-hoard is in turn enriched. Likewise, scientific terminology and topic-specific jargon can become tiresome, but it’s often appropriate in moderation. 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. I disagree with this rule as well. Better, I say, to break any of these rules you like, but only after you acknowledge that each has its justifications and if you remain alert, in your writing, to abuses of the English language they caution against. But â€Å"Orwell, or else† is a policy that smacks of rigidity. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Is Irony? (With Examples)Ten Yiddish Expressions You Should KnowDouble Possessive

Emergency Response to Nuclear Disasters Research Proposal

Emergency Response to Nuclear Disasters - Research Proposal Example Nearly three million people live within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of an operating nuclear power plant.1 Nuclear power plants use the heat generated from nuclear fission in a contained environment to convert water to steam, which powers generators to produce electricity, also producing by-products in the wake of this procedure like, radiation and release radioactive particles into the air which can be harmful to people, animals, crops, and the environment overall. Mutation of humans and animals, deaths of plants and infection of various species resulting in an entire food chain getting irrevocably poisoned, severely erosive acid rain, contamination of the water cycle and air as radioactive particles diffuse into the surrounding regions are some of the many devastating effects that disrupt the ecosystem of our planet. Although the construction and operation of nuclear power plants are closely monitored and regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), accidents at these plants are possible due to flaws in the design of the power plant, human error of the operators and electrical engineers involved etc. The worrying thing about these power stations is that when something goes wrong due to human error or a fault not fixed, an irreversibly massive accident can occur destroying many kilometers of area in its vicinity, contaminating it almost forever. The magnitude of its effects is determined by the amount of radiation released from the explosion, wind direction and speed, and weather condition. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945) nuclear bombings, two of the most famous nuclear accidents at these power stations occurred at the Chernobyl reactor 4 (Ukraine - 1986) in the former Soviet Union and the Three Mile Island (US - 1979) reactor 2 in the United States. Categorized as the most intense nuclear disaster ever, the Chernobyl nuclear explosion (1986) destroyed the unit in its entirety and released an incredible amount of radiated fallout, into the environment resulting in about 600000 deaths due to radiation exposure as revealed by IAEA and WHO studies with 56 direct deaths off the explosion. The 4000 cancer deaths due to exposure to nuclear carcinogens are just a meager part of the expected 100000 fatalities. The after effects of this nuclear power plant disaster were Nuclear rain in places like Ireland as the radioactive fallout traveled over an extensive geographical area spreading all through the Western Europe in just a span of 1 week resulting in contamination in large areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Four square kilometers of pine land forests turned brown and died in addition to numerous animal deaths and the remaining badly poisoned with thyroid and reproductive problems, now known as the 'Red Forest'. However, the later g enerations did not suffer these problems. About 336000 people's evacuation, resettling due to this tragedy and the horrendous large scale loss of life and lifestyle pose nuclear power catastrophe as one of the most irreversibly destructive threats in this contemporary society of technological development where precautions and safety measures direly need to be adopted to avoid a bigger loss.The Kyshtym (1957) disaster in a Russian nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Mayak, the Windscale fire (UK - 1957)

Part of a Marketing Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Part of a Marketing Plan - Assignment Example In addition to this a SWOT analysis has also been undertaken to analyze the relative areas of strengths and weakness of the company as well as its areas of opportunities and threats. Finally the study concludes with the formulation of a set of SMART objectives that can help the company generate sustainable competitive advantage in the turbulent business environment. The present era of globalization has created a scenario of intense competition among the market players to grab a share of the market. The present study would analyze the business strategy of an Australian Trans National company with regards to the strategic aspects pertaining to business expansion. The organization selected for the study is Foster’s Group Ltd that is a multinational firm based in Australia. Foster’s is a company that is engaged in the manufacture and sale of beer and soft drinks. The company mainly concentrates on its brewing business and is known for being a reputed brand across the world for its quality and perception of the brand. The company since its inception in 1888 has presently grown to about 2300 employees alone in Australia having a dedicated presence in about 45 different nations across the globe. The company is also listed on the bourses of Australian Stock exchanges (Foster’s Group, 2011). Environment plays a crucial role in the functioning and sustainability of any business organization. The mission of Foster’s group is to promote global enjoyment and fun (Funding Universe, n.d.). In this regard the company has a business model that enables in the manufacture and sale of quality beverages with a huge portfolio spanning across varied tastes. The company also has dedicated presence across nations that helps generate a fulfillment of the objectives and mission of the company on a global scale. (Fosters Group-a, n.d.). In addition to beer the company also manufactures other alcoholic and

Standardization and Adaptation Marketing Strategies Essay

Standardization and Adaptation Marketing Strategies - Essay Example The first strategy is standardization, commonly referred to as â€Å"standardization when necessary†. This is a marketing policy that involves the use of the same product, distribution networks, promotion and prices in all markets. This marketing strategy is employed to increase the quality of products and to streamline the distribution channels. It also uses same product promotion tactics and prices in virtually all environments. Brands such as Coca-cola, Nike, and Levis have used this marketing strategy in their global markets. Coca-cola, for example, sells the same product in all countries throughout the world. Standardization is normally embraced by companies who view the world as a global village where the consumers have same tastes, needs and desires and hence they use same product and strategy in all the markets. Adaptation strategy is the other approach that is has been used in marketing. This strategy entails adjusting products, distribution channels, promotion tactics as well as prices to every kind of market that a company operates in. This line of attack does not view the market as homogenous. It takes into consideration differences in culture, taste, consumer behaviour, government policies and infrastructure in every market. The users of this strategy, therefore, adjust their products, brands, design and labels to conform to a different environment, consumer behaviour and competitiveness. Factors such as national identity, language and climate are also considered in this approach. An illustration of a product that has clinched the adaptation strategy in its global market is cell phone manufacturer Nokia. The firm has over the years established its handsets to conform to the market needs. This has enabled Nokia to fully satisfy the needs of each of its local markets that could have otherwise remained unsatisfied had the company not used this approach. Adaptation strategy helps fully respond to the needs of the local consumers by using specific prices, distribution channels and promotion tactics based on the characteristics of the market.     

What are the features of a gendered approach to new media Illustrate Essay

What are the features of a gendered approach to new media Illustrate your answer with examples from cyberfeminism - Essay Example The gendered approach to new media shall be discussed based on cyberfeminism and some examples of how it applies to new media. According to Sadie Plant (1997), cyberfeminism is a completely post-human insurrection. It is said to refer to a reaction of a new system which incorporates women and computers in relation to the global perspective and obvious reality of patriarchy which usually subjugates such women (Plant, 1997). In this case, there is a coalition of goods against masters, in this case, an alliance of women and machines (Bassett, 1997). Such ideal considerations between women and machines have also been observed in the VNS Matrix and its Cyberfeminist Manifesto for the 21st century. Rosi Braidotti (1996) also declares that cyberfeminism has to support a system of affirmation with women engaging in cyberspace in order to ensure that it would not be marked by men and their penchant for male domination. Under such context, there is a need to eliminate the previews views of fem inism, popular in the 1970s. Cyberfeminism declares that 1970s feminism is often guilt-inducing, anti-sex, and based on political correctness. Such 1970s feminism is also not relevant to women’s conditions in new technologies (Braidotti, 1996). However, in the actual setting, cyberfeminism has also included other applications of feminist movements like strategic separatism, social as well as language theory assessment, and the establishment of new images for women on the internet to resist persistent sexist stereotypes, strategic essentialism, and similar concepts (Plant, 1997). The rejection of historical feminism is an issue because it relinquishes also the new ideals, aligning itself with fears and stereotypes about feminism. In scanning internet content, majority of the popular feminist agitation presently apply by women on the net includes a cybergrrl-ism in all its incarnations including webgrrls, guerrilla girls, bad grrls

Health Care for All Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Health Care for All Americans - Essay Example With this respect, this paper will critically expound on the basic reasons as to why health care should be to all Americans. Across America, there are many people from one side struggling to make both ends meet and on the other coping with a broken health care system. In addition, there are those who live completely without health care, others are striving to pay the hiking costs of Medicare, and more of them are joining the ranks of those uninsured. Agreeably, this is a shocking and terrible situation for super power like America! This growing health care crisis is not just a problem that should worry only the affected, but also places an endangering burden to the rest of the Americans as well. Furthermore, due to economic issues, small businesses are finding it difficult to insure their employees due to competitive and skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums. Most worrisome, much of the funds spend on health care services disappears through inefficiency and massive waste. Even Unit ed States tops the globe in health care expenditures (Collins 15). The administrative costs swallow 1 dollar out of every 4 dollars set aside for health care needs. That is not all, medical errors result to loss of lives of 100,000 Americans every year. With that follows a $100 billion dollar loss via drug prescription errors alone. Causes of Health Care Disparities in America Factors leading to health care disparities in the US vary and at the same time interrelate. Different groups have different underlying rates of illness due to environmental factors, generic predisposition, or lifestyle choices. They express different types of care-seeking behavior due to cultural beliefs, trust in the health care providers, and linguistic barriers (Herbage and Devanport 8). The ability of an individual to pay as well as his location and management of health care services influences all these factors. Race and ethnicity are significant factors determining whether an individual stands to receive care, whether an individual receives quality care, and assesses health care outcomes. Even after adjusting insurance income and status, racial and ethnic minorities tend to have limited access to heath care and receive lower quality of health care compared to non-minorities. Not surprisingly, the Americans’ top two concerns of healthcare are its increased costs and lack of access. Cognitively, today the cost of health care insurance is high and increasingly unaffordable even to working families. Documented evidence reveals that 6.2 percent of all US bankruptcies in 2007 related to medical expenses (Halvorson 7-8). People with medical insurance covers filed 78 percent of these bankruptcies whereas low-income uninsured majorities filled 38.3 percent of the same bankruptcies. In 2008, uninsured Americans were 46.3, a report released by the US Census Bureau. This figure represents 16.2 percent of the US economy, depicts that health care is the largest industry in the US, and emp loys more than 14 million people. Additionally, this impeding problem stretch to show that racial and ethnic disparities in health care persists even when comparing groups of similar socioeconomic status (Barr 87). For example, the

Impact of nationalism on america Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Impact of nationalism on america - Essay Example The actions that the members of a nation take when seeking to attain (or sustain) self-determination (â€Å"What is Nationalism?†). The nationalism brings up questions about the concept of nation which is usually defined in the terms of common ethnicity, origin or cultural ties. While an individual’s membership in a nation is oftentimes considered as voluntary. It also bring forth questions about whether or not self-determination should be understood as necessitating having complete statehood with complete authority over the domestic and international associations. Nationalism arises from the idea that the nation, in contrast to the nation—state is formant of aboriginal people to an area. It is also the longest-lasting and most prudent government. Nationalism was the most powerful and successful political force of the 19th century which emerged from two main sources which were the Romantic Exaltation of ‘feel’ & ‘Identity’ and the libera l requirement that a legitimate state be based on ‘people’ instead of a dynasty e.g. God or imperial supremacy. Both these movements were middle class movements. (â€Å"What is nationalism?†). The pros of nationalism are many. One of the main factors of nationalism is that it sets a sense of unity among the groups of nation no matter with which country it belongs to. It gives a feeling of belonging as people tend to work for the betterment of the state which lets people come together with common interests and achieve their ultimate goals. Nationalism also serves to unite a group of people, enabling them to make economic, political, and social progress. Unluckily however, nationalism has many cons too. It can often cause divergence between various nations, leading to war. When nationalism leads nations towards aggressiveness and certitude it leads nations towards destruction. The cons also include risking isolation from other groups of people who do not share the same land, and not profiting from their capability and goodwill. Over the past 10 years, a new nationalist movement has come into sight and gained huge strength in United States of America. It’s the new ‘white nationalist’ movement which brought the potential to disturb the already frail race relations. Shunning violence, this movement seeks to expand its influence primarily through the persuasion & argument embattled at the white Americans aggrieved over racial double standards, high black-on-white crime rates, and race based affirmative action policies. The new white American nationalism movement has been energized by advocacy of multiculturalism as well. Some of the many names of the white nationalists that we know about today are Don Black, David Duke, Paul Fromm, Norman Lowell, Robert Jay Mathews, Revilo P. Oliver and William Luther Pierce. Due to the emphasis on the group self determination; multiculturism has brought white nationalists with justification f or advocating a corresponding form of white camaraderie. The members of white nationalism are different from the other nationalism groups and are cultured, intelligent and usually hold impressive academic degrees from America’s premier colleges and universities. This new breed of white racial advocate is a far cry from the populist politicians and hooded Klansmen of the Old South who fought the losing combats for separation and white superiority. History has seen many countries suffering from the effects of nationalism; it has brought

Health Care for All Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Health Care for All Americans - Essay Example With this respect, this paper will critically expound on the basic reasons as to why health care should be to all Americans. Across America, there are many people from one side struggling to make both ends meet and on the other coping with a broken health care system. In addition, there are those who live completely without health care, others are striving to pay the hiking costs of Medicare, and more of them are joining the ranks of those uninsured. Agreeably, this is a shocking and terrible situation for super power like America! This growing health care crisis is not just a problem that should worry only the affected, but also places an endangering burden to the rest of the Americans as well. Furthermore, due to economic issues, small businesses are finding it difficult to insure their employees due to competitive and skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums. Most worrisome, much of the funds spend on health care services disappears through inefficiency and massive waste. Even Unit ed States tops the globe in health care expenditures (Collins 15). The administrative costs swallow 1 dollar out of every 4 dollars set aside for health care needs. That is not all, medical errors result to loss of lives of 100,000 Americans every year. With that follows a $100 billion dollar loss via drug prescription errors alone. Causes of Health Care Disparities in America Factors leading to health care disparities in the US vary and at the same time interrelate. Different groups have different underlying rates of illness due to environmental factors, generic predisposition, or lifestyle choices. They express different types of care-seeking behavior due to cultural beliefs, trust in the health care providers, and linguistic barriers (Herbage and Devanport 8). The ability of an individual to pay as well as his location and management of health care services influences all these factors. Race and ethnicity are significant factors determining whether an individual stands to receive care, whether an individual receives quality care, and assesses health care outcomes. Even after adjusting insurance income and status, racial and ethnic minorities tend to have limited access to heath care and receive lower quality of health care compared to non-minorities. Not surprisingly, the Americans’ top two concerns of healthcare are its increased costs and lack of access. Cognitively, today the cost of health care insurance is high and increasingly unaffordable even to working families. Documented evidence reveals that 6.2 percent of all US bankruptcies in 2007 related to medical expenses (Halvorson 7-8). People with medical insurance covers filed 78 percent of these bankruptcies whereas low-income uninsured majorities filled 38.3 percent of the same bankruptcies. In 2008, uninsured Americans were 46.3, a report released by the US Census Bureau. This figure represents 16.2 percent of the US economy, depicts that health care is the largest industry in the US, and emp loys more than 14 million people. Additionally, this impeding problem stretch to show that racial and ethnic disparities in health care persists even when comparing groups of similar socioeconomic status (Barr 87). For example, the

Expectations manipulate the reader Essay Example for Free

Expectations manipulate the reader Essay How does Dickens Presentation of Pips threatened childhood in chapters 1-8 of great Expectations manipulate the reader? Great expectations is a book written by Charles Dickens, and was first published in 1861. Charles Dickens was a Victorian writer and also a social commentator during the time. The novel Great Expectations commentates on lower class life in the Victorian era. The book is mainly based on social criticism. The novel is about a boy called Pip who has a cruel start to life, living with his mean sister and her husband. With many people indifferent to Pips life, Pip starts with low expectations wanting to go to prison. Afterwards his life changes when he is described as a common labouring boy, eager to change this he also changes his expectations in life and from wanting to go to prison, or becoming a blacksmith he wants to become a gentleman and have a high status. Throughout the novel we are manipulated into feeling sorry for Pip. The events in his life, the people he meets and the way he is treated from childhood till he is grown up. Pip is an orphan at the beginning of the story, this and the factors such as that his parents are dead make us feel sorry for him. He also lives with his sister who is a harsh and beastly woman and treats him horridly. We are first introduced to Pip whilst he is a child. While in the graveyard he meets an escaped convict who treats him harshly. One of the ways that Dickens manipulates us during this is showing how unprotected and weak Pip is. After each question he tilted me over a little more, so as to give me a greater sense of helplessness and danger (chapter 1) this quote shows how feeble Pip is. We are later manipulated even more by the way his sister treats him. Contempt and hatred are just some of the ways that could be used to describe her attitude towards him. Hence he is a lonely, weak boy who has no parents. Mrs Joe applied Tickler to its further investigation. She concluded by throwing me I often served as a connubial missile. She beats Pip and acts as if he is nothing but a mere slave to her and must do as he is told or she willHow does Dickens successfully link Magwitchs appearance in Chapter one with his return in Chapter Thirty-nine in Great Expectations? Great Expectations is set in the 1800s, for gentlemen of that time, life was rich and full of beautiful houses and places. Because they didnt have to work they spent their days chatting, going to dinners and just having fun. But for the working class, they had to always be thinking of ways to make money and always working to secure their next meal. This novel was serialised, which meant that the story was published part by part and so, many groups of people would gather together to read the story. They could then tell each other what they thought was going to happen in the next couple of chapters. To make the audience want to read the next couple of chapters, Dickens had to end each chapter with a cliff hanger. The central protagonist in this novel is Pip. In the first chapter we learn that Pips parents are dead and so he lives with his sister and her husband. We also learn that he had 5 other brothers and sisters who have also died as their five mini gravestones or rocks are beside Pips parents grave. He frequently visits his parents grave even though he has no memory of ever seeing them. He paints a picture in his mind of his mum and dad. In this chapter we get to meet Abel Magwitch who will become a central figure in Pips life. Dickens successfully uses pathetic fallacy in both Chapter One and Chapter Thirty-nine to create a negative tension. In Chapter One, he describes the weather with negative adjectives such as sting, torn, and growled. These all give negative connotations to the reader to create the bad tension in the weather. He also uses the onomatopoeia like shivers and shuddering to show how the weather is affecting people. He also uses the word shuddering again in Chapter Thirty-nine providing an obvious link in the weather. Dickens uses the adjective angry more then once to show that whatever is going to happen wont be good. In Chapter Thirty-nine, Dickens hints at negative events by using the simile, like discharges of a cannon which also ties into Chapter One because it is signalling that an escaped convict could be entering the story again because a cannon would sound whenever a convict had escaped. Dickens describes the weather as stormy and wet, stormy and wet which uses repetition to push across how bad the weather is. He also says, mud, mud, mud which is a list of three, which is a very convincing technique to help set the scene for Magwitchs return.

Concept of Figuration: An Analysis

Concept of Figuration: An Analysis Figurational Sociology The concept of figuration grew out of Norbert Eliass best-known work, The Civilizing Process (Elias, 1939/1994). This work provided an analysis of how the European nation state emerged. It analysed social behaviour in modernity, and particularly social interactions. Split into two parts, the work first focussed on an analysis of manners to provide a description and understanding of the way in which modern norms underlying social interactions had developed. The second part of the book looked at how the nation-state had been built in the twentieth century. What Elias was most interested in, the central thesis of the book, was that it was possible for forms of social discipline manners and social norms to be translated into aspects of individual self-discipline (Olofsson, 2000). For Elias, then, there is a clear connection between a tendency towards state centralisation and the development of modern social manners. This is what he called the civilizing process. This essay, therefore, examines the concept of figuration, its theoretical roots in the study of court society, its modern form and the criticisms that have been levelled against it. As will be seen, the argument over the usefulness of the concept of figuration has been highly contested and strongly polarised (Featherstone, 1987). At the heart of Elias work are a number of concepts figuration is best understood within these. The concepts are interdependence, functional differentiation, self-control and power differences. Social change for Elias mostly results from the effects of functional differentiation. This is an idea shared with writers like Marx who placed the division of labour at the centre of his theory. For Elias, though, this functional differentiation leads to increasing levels of interdependence (Olofsson, 2000). Elias argued that the coercive power of societies emerges out of increasing interdependence. This brings the discussion to the concept of figurations. In order to explain these, Elias uses the example of court society (Olofsson, 2000). He argues that in court society calculation is an important process which individuals must engage in to negotiate with each other as the king communicates with his aristocracy. Because of changes in economic factors, many courts in Europe saw a shift of power from the aristocracy to the king. The power each member of the aristocracy had, therefore, depended on their relationship with the king. In order to survive, aristocrats had to play by certain rational rules that developed. These were based on the complex interdependency between the individuals and the fact that they were playing long-term power games with each other. An important component in playing these long-term power games was being able to control impulses. Because of the number of people in the court, the chains of interdependence were long and complicated. This required planning, attempting to predict the future and saving. Elias called this complex relationship between the king and the court a figuration. A figuration is characterised by asymmetrical power relations amongst a network of individuals. The court situation can, therefore, only be understood in terms of how the individuals relate to one another. Four critical propositions about the figurational approach are extracted from Elias work by Goudsblom (1977). These are firstly that human beings inevitably exist in relationships of interdependence with each other. As a result of this interdependence, complex dynamics emerge which shape many aspects of development and change the ways in which peoples lives develop. The second proposition is that these figurations are constantly changing and being transformed. The third is that these social figurations are not essentially planned but emerge from the interdependencies. Fourth, figurations provide an important cause of the development of human knowledge. In order to better understand the idea of figurations, Elias used various metaphors from games (Olofsson, 2000). Games are useful to analyse because the interactions between the players are not just a result of the absolute strength of each player, but of the relationship between the strengths of the two players. One example is two chess players pitted against each other. If one of them is significantly stronger than the other, then she will be able to control the manner of the victory as well as the actual victory itself. If, however, the levels of skill are much closer then the manner of victory will be much more uncertain and emerge from the interaction between the individuals. What this metaphor shows is that the power differences between two individuals have an important effect on the relationship. Chess only normally involves the relation between two players, but society obviously involves the relations between many more players, all with varying levels of power. Shifts of power differences in society can be seen in the way the upper and lower classes interact. The lower classes have, for example, increased their level of organisation in order to increase their level of power in negotiating with the upper classes (Olofsson, 2000). One of the questions Elias wanted to address was how people continue to interact in generally peaceful ways when there is so much animosity in, for example, power relations (Loyal Quilley, 2004). Models used to answer this question should have a number of characteristics. These are firstly that social processes cannot be analysed in terms of aggregations of components. Secondly the models work to both mould and constrain the behaviour and habitus of individuals. The strength of the idea of figuration for Elias was that it was able to access ideas of what society was about more effectively than other methods in sociology (Krieken, 1998). Specifically it tends not to emphasise the dichotomy often present in sociological literature between the individual and society. Instead it places the emphasis on how human beings are interdependent. Society was not most usefully thought of as a totality or a whole system of individuals. Society for Elias was the way in which people interweaved with each other (Krieken, 1998). The advantage of this view was that it didnt downplay the agency of the individual at the expense of societys control and helped to show how peoples individuality melded together to form networks of interdependence. One important theoretical aspect of figurations that Krieken (1998) points out is that they can continue without the existence of the same individuals but they completely cease to exist if there are no individuals at all. Krieken (1998) argues that Elias concept of figuration has been extremely important for sociology. One of its major strengths is the avoidance of the dichotomy between structure and agency. Although the distinction has been questioned many times in sociology, it is often still treated by sociologists as though it were real. Krieken (1998) points out that some have argued Elias concept of figuration should be placed alongside of the idea of structure. Mouzelis (1993) argues for avoiding abolishing this distinction. He argues for designating relations between actors in terms of figurations, relations between institutions as institutional structure and plain structure when analysing the interaction between institution and individual. Krieken (1998) does not, however, agree with this three-way distinction. Krieken (1998) argues instead that Elias used the concept of figuration to subsume all these categories of analysis. This means that figuration includes the analysis of what is traditi onally called the structure of society. Habitus is also an important concept in Elias theory of figuration. Habitus refers to the idea that each individual has their own set of personal preferences, attitudes, beliefs, expectations and rules. Habitus comes from a persons community and family experience and through their own experience of life as they grow up. For Elias, though, this habitus develops in an essentially shared manner (Krieken, 1998). Individuals grow up in society and their personal characteristics are, to a certain extent, moulded by those around them. Through this collective moulding of individuals, the nature of collective behaviour is formed. The ideas of habitus and figuration lead to a further important concept in Elias theory. That is that the way in which a persons habitus is formed is called psychogenesis. This, then, can only be properly understood when it is considered in relation to social relations or sociogenesis. Theoretically and methodologically, therefore, Elias was arguing against the separ ation of sociology from psychology. Each has important complementary effects on the other, so it is hard to get a clear picture of the full human being if both are not considered together. Elias ideas have vital implications for the way in which sociologists carry out their research. Krieken (1998) identifies two particular characteristics of Elias theory that are a challenge to some types of sociology. First is the focus of figuration on social relations which points to the fact that an individual cannot be analysed in isolation. Individuals can only be understood, even in isolation, argued Elias, in terms of how they relate to other people, as that is how people are formed. Thinking about humans without the relational element has a huge array of possible associated mistakes. For Elias, the analysis of power especially fell foul of the tendency to see power as a thing in itself rather than as arising from social relations (Krieken, 1998). This led, he thought, to all sort of misunderstandings. To be understood effectively, power should be seen in reciprocal terms. Elias argued that power was often analysed as though it only flowed down from above. A figurational analy sis, however, also points to the reciprocal effects flowing up from below. The second major characteristic of Elias theory is that it focuses on processes (Krieken, 1998). Figuration, therefore, cannot be seen as a static phenomenon, but as something that evolves and emerges over time. What had happened in sociology, however, argued Elias, was that there had been a reduction of social phenomena to particular states. Communities, families, individuals, all should be analysed as though in a state of flow, rather than statically. The use of figurations could be used to analyse these flows as long as there was not a reduction to a simple argument of causality. For example, Elias argued that a particular figuration made other, later figurations possible although it did not guarantee they would happen. Analysing society using a series of static conceptual categories, therefore, was precisely what Elias did not agree with (Rojek, 1986). Instead a process theory of sociology encourages analysis in terms of movement. This type of approach has a character quite oppos ed to many in sociology. Figurational sociology can be seen as extremely useful as a reaction to six dominant paradigms in sociology (Arnason, 1987). First Marxs work is limited by its concentration on the economic areas of life, whereas Elias figurational sociology is applicable to all areas. Against Durkheims idea of norms, Elias argued these do not represent fundamental units but rather the question should be asked in terms of power relations. For Elias, these questions should be addressed using a long-term analysis. Examining the functionalist approach, Elias found that trying to explain social structures in terms of the needs of the system was ineffective. The functionalist account is lacking because it finds it difficult to account for the fact that systems are interlinked at all levels. As has already been seen, Elias argued against a structuralist approach. The reductionist approach also had problems for Elias as society, he believed, could not be understood at this level. Finally, Elias took issue w ith individualism, the idea that it is possible to analyse society in terms of individual behaviour (Arnason, 1987). This is replaced by Elias with a focus on power relations and the analysis of figurations. A number of methodological injunctions develop naturally from Elias theory of figurations; these are examined by Loyal and Quilley (2004). The first is that sociologists should not think about either individuals or society as in any way static or fixed. An effective analysis emerges which sidesteps arguments over macro- or micro- level explanations. A further dichotomy which Loyal and Quilley (2004) present as being avoided by Elias work is that of mind-body duality which has crept into sociological work. The idea of figuration draws attention to habits of language in which processes are often reduced to states. The focus of figuration, however, is on using language that has the meaning of motion and flow built into it. The danger for sociologists of automatically adopting the available language of states is a misunderstanding of the processes occurring in society. This view was influenced by the work of Whorf (1956) who argued that language fundamentally affects the perceptions of t he members of the society that speak it. Finally, Elias believed that some measure of distance was required from society in order to be able to analyse figurations effectively. A Critique of Figurational Sociology While much of the commentary on Elias figurational approach discussed so far has been complimentary, his work has a number of critics. Layder (1986) argues that many of Elias claims about the benefits of his approach to sociology are vastly exaggerated. As a result, argues Layder, Elias tends to focus on trying to solve problems that dont actually exist. Layder (1986) starts by considering Elias focus on the static categories used in language as well as the idea that positivistic notions of causation are inadequate. The concept of figuration is used to challenge these ideas by Elias. In addition, underlying Elias concept of figuration is the idea that it transcends long-running arguments in the philosophy of the social sciences such as that between induction and deduction and rationalism and empiricism. Layders (1986) first criticism is that Eliass figurational approach does not transcend previous approaches. One reason for this is that Elias uses only the worst examples from disciplines so that he can easily demolish their explanatory power. Elias critique of social psychology and psychiatry assumes that all its approaches are atomistic. It doesnt, for example, take into account the wide variety of approaches such as those which do, indeed, focus on the effects of society on the individual and are not so atomistic. Symbolic interactionists, for example, highlight the way in which the ordinary, everyday processes of social interaction build to create what is called society. Mead (1934), an important theorist in this approach, emphasised the importance of socialisation and social interaction. For Layder (1986), then, the concept of figuration does not provide any additional explanatory power. Layder also argues that Elias does not demonstrate exactly how the idea of figurations provi des a better explanation of society. In criticising the concept of figurations, Layder (1986) argues that Elias makes a number of philosophical mistakes, some ontological and some epistemological. Layder describes figurations as generalised depictions of the social ties between individuals that Elias argues cannot be analysed outside of individuals. Figurations, though, must have some meaning outside of the interactions of individuals; otherwise it would not be possible to talk about them in an abstract sense. This is not, of course, to suggest that figurations only have meaning outside of actual interactions. For Layder, then Eliass mistake is to argue that a figuration does not have both a manifestation as a social practice as well as existing as an idea about that particular social practice. If the ideas did not exist it would be impossible to talk about the things themselves in an abstract sense. For Layder, then, the very discussion of social practices as figurations proves that they exist outside of the actions th emselves. What Layder allows Elias concept of figuration is that it does provide a useful descriptive tool. Although it doesnt transcend alternative explanations advanced by those working within structuralist and functionalist models, it can provide a useful way of examining interrelations between people. These analyses would, however, in Layders view, be useful in addition to those insights from structuralist or interactionist perspectives, they wouldnt supplant them. The weakness of using the concept of figuration is that it tends to ignore actual people, in deference to their networks of social relations compared to, for example, the analysis provided by interactionism which is very much focussed on social actors themselves. In this sense, it is again difficult to argue that figuration provides an approach transcending interactionism and other schools of thought. The second major criticism that Layder (1986) makes of Eliass concept of figurations relates to their rejection of objectivist structures. As discussed, figurational sociology sees social processes as fundamentally fluid and avoids reductionism Elias claims that this is an insight that helps the figurational analysis transcends other approaches. Against this idea, Layder (1986) argues that many phenomenological and interactionist schools of thought are based on the idea of social relations as a process. But, Elias does not compare his theory to these approaches, preferring to pretend they dont exist. Instead, figuration is compared with the theory of Talcott Parsons as an example of an objectivist theory. Elias takes Parsons idea that society is essentially in an unchanging equilibrium and states that this is the way society is seen from an objectivist viewpoint as a static system. In this analysis one of the mistakes Layder (1986) thinks Elias has made is to create a false dichoto my between static and fluid analysis as though there is no intermediary point. In doing this Elias claims that theories such as Parsons cannot explain processes, which, argues Layder, they can. Indeed, in concentrating on long-term processes, Elias does not allow an effective analysis of short-term processes. The third major criticism which Layder (1986) levels at Elias is that the concept of figuration lacks explanatory power. Rather than helping to explain what lies behind social changes, Layder argues that it merely provides a description of what is happening. When looking for the causes of figurations, Elias presents more figurations. Criticism of the concept of figuration has also come from Rojek (1986). In particular Rojek (1986) examines the way in which Elias talks about the accumulation of scientific knowledge. As briefly noted earlier, Elias argued that the quest for knowledge was not immune to the power of figurations. Indeed he thought it was a mistake that philosophers of the social sciences tended to make that assumed there was one model of the way science should be conducted. One particular claim that has been made for the usefulness of figurational sociology is that it provides a link between micro and macro approaches (Mennell, 1980). Layder (2006) argues, however, that using figurations as the linking between the macro and micro approaches just serves to blur the differences between the two. The character of social relations is quite different depending on its manner for example a face-to-face encounter is different from sending and receiving an email. Within Elias approach each of these would be considered aspects of figurations. Layder (2006), however, argues that each of these creates different levels of reflexivity and therefore requires a different analysis. For Layder (2006), Eliass figurational approach deflects attention away from a number of important factors. Institutions, for example, have important effects on the behaviour of people but this is difficult to analyse by thinking in terms of networks of connections between people. Further, when analysing social organisation in the form of groups, a figurational approach can deflect attention away from the nature of the ties between people, preferring instead to focus on their actual existence and their particular form. A false criticism that Elias makes of sociology generally by way of his figurational approach is that not enough emphasis has been given to the interaction between society and the individual Layder (2006) argues that this interaction is practically the founding idea of sociology. The challenge for sociology is in working out where to split the society from the individual. A problem which Elias work shares with sociology more generally is that a socially constructed model makes it difficult to understand the uniqueness of an individual. A complete lack of barriers between individuals leads to the conclusion that people have no individuality themselves. While it is not helpful to focus too much on the individual, it is also problematic for a complete understanding to give too little focus to the individual. Layder (2006) argues that, like extreme social constructionists, Elias theory of figuration is in danger of completely eradicating the individual as a legitimate object of study. Figurational Sociology and Sport In order to further assess the usefulness of the concept of figuration and see the benefits and criticisms in action, it is instructive to examine an example of its practical application. The principles of figurational sociology have been applied in a number of different areas, but one particularly popular area is that of sport. Figurational sociology has been used to try and understand football hooliganism, the growth of professional sport, the globalisation of sport and finally initial process of sportization (Murphy, Sheard Waddington, 2002). To take one example in this line of analysis, Dunning and Sheard (1979) examine the development of rugby. They explain the increased professionalism of the sport in terms of a societal move towards functional democratisation. This process leads to greater levels of competition, so that rugby players can no longer play just for fun. Instead, it is necessary to be highly committed to the sport in order to be recognised as successful. Because of the increased interconnectedness of individuals, it is no longer possible for athletes to play for themselves; instead they have to play for their countries (Dunning Sheard, 1979). This analysis helps to explain professionalism in rugby and the advantages of a figurational approach can be seen. Societal changes are examined here in terms of figurations and this provides a useful analysis and explanation of changes. In contrast, Murphy et al. (2002) point out that one of the criticisms of the figurational approach to sport is that it has ignored gender issues. Hargreaves (1992) argues that the figurational obsession with detachment has meant the analysis of sport has readily accepted a notion of sport as dominated by men. Even while Murphy et al. (2002) argue that this absence of the analysis of gender in figurational sociology is not a result of its theoretical limitations, from the criticisms already described the opposite can be argued. Particularly, as Layder (2006) points out, the figurational approach is weak on the analysis of the individual. Conclusion Elias made many claims for his concept of figuration. He claimed that it transcended previous approaches to sociology, rose above false dichotomies and helped sociologists focus on human beings as fundamentally involved in a network of interrelated relationships. Methodological injunctions also flowed naturally from Elias theory: e.g. focussing on processes rather than categories or states and establishing a distance between the researcher and the subject. Considering the criticism levelled at Elias work by Layder, however, it is difficult to see that these claims for a transcendent sociology are justified. Elias frequently misrepresented or ignored the work of sociologists he was apparently transcending as well as making serious epistemological and ontological errors. While both the advantages and disadvantages of the figurational approach can be seen in the area of sport sociology, it is hard to argue that Elias work stands up to Layders criticism. Perhaps the strongest criticism i s that figuration is merely a descriptive rather than an explanatory approach. For that reason, the usefulness of Elias concept of figuration is limited. References Arnason, J. (1987). Figurational Sociology as a Counter-Paradigm. Theory, Culture Society, 4(2), 429-456. Elias, N. (1939/1994). The Civilizing Process: The History of Manners and State Formation and Civilization. Blackwell. Dunning, E., Sheard, K. (1979). Barbarians, gentlemen and players: a sociological study of the development of rugby football. London: Martin Robertson. Featherstone, M. (1987). Norbert Elias and Figurational Sociology: Some Prefatory Remarks. Theory, Culture Society, 4(2), 197. Goudsblom, J. (1977). Sociology in the Balance: A Critical Essay. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Hargreaves, J. (1992). Sex, gender and the body in sport and leisure: Has there been a civilizing process? In E. Dunning C. Rojek (Eds.). Sport and leisure in the civilizing process: Critique and counter-critique. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Krieken, R. (1998) Norbert Elias. London: Routledge. Layder, D. (1986). Social Reality as Figuration: A Critique of Eliass Conception of Sociological Analysis. Sociology, 20(3), 367. Layder, D. (2006). Understanding Social Theory. London: Sage Publications. Loyal, S., Quilley, S. (2004). Towards a central theory: the scope and relevance of the sociology of Norbert Elias. In: S. Loyal S. Quilley (Eds.). The Sociology of Norbert Elias. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mead, G. (1934). Mind, Self and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Mennell, S. (1980). Sociological Theory, Uses and Unities. London: Nelson. Mouzelis, N. (1993). On Figurational Sociology. Theory, Culture Society, 10(2), 239. Murphy, P., Sheard, K., Waddington, I. (2002) Figurational sociology and its application to sport. In: J. Coakley E. Dunning (Eds.). Handbook of sports studies. Sage Publications. Olofsson, G. (2000) Norbert Elias. In: H. Andersen, L. Kaspersen (Eds.). Classical and Modern Social Theory. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Rojek, C. (1986). Problems of Involvement and Detachment in the Writings of Norbert Elias. The British Journal of Sociology, 37(4), 584-596. Whorf, B. (1956). Language, thought and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. J. B. Carroll (Ed.). Massachusetts: MIT Press