Teaching Mathematics and Science in Schools

The way teachers go about their teaching; each day in their classrooms is reflected as ‘teaching style’ or ‘approach’. This approach is better understood when the teachers are observed while they teach. Some teachers prefer activities for children associated with the curriculum, allowing students to chose their activity and complete it by themselves. Some other teachers would want the class to be attentive to them for most of the time. Certain teachers would like students to work in groups. Thus the methods adopted in the teaching-learning process is broadly reflective of the teacher’s viewpoint of what is ‘learning’ and how it should be brought into children.The process of learning is more successful when children are fully involved with the subject or topic of their learning. This is all the more important when teaching science. Life sciences involving plants and animals; and non-living things are real and can be felt. Experiencing the reality through interaction, makes science not only more interesting, but also easier to understand. Mathematics on the other hand involves a bit more abstract level.Yet, the symbols, signs and figures associated with mathematics with which children work, are self-created reality. In their effort to learn science and mathematics, children proceed further into the subjects, than just at the surface or base encounter. They analyze and interpret the object of focus and attempt to understand ‘how it works’, ‘why its required’ etc. Thus the child begins to develop reasoning for the facts it sees or understands. It may be the development of a new concept, or altering a previously thought concept, or even rejecting an assumption held till then. The teacher  who wants to interestingly engage children in learning science and mathematics must personally sense excitement in learning so as to share it with the children.The teacher should approach the topic of learnin g and the query asking children in a balanced and parallel manner. The teacher must be sensitive to the requirements of the children and help them to see relationships and understand explanations. For teachers to be proficient and confident in their teaching, it is essential that they understand the triple interactions involved in learning. The teacher must be conscious that while the child is interacting with him or her, the child is also simultaneously interacting with the focused subject. The focused subject or subject matter interacts with both the teacher and the child; while the teacher also interacts with the querying children and the focused subject.It is important to know the development of a child’s understanding and ability to reason, with their growth. Such an understanding is absolutely necessary in developing appropriate contents. For instance in the grades K-4, a child associates a comparison, a description, or a manipulation for all objects, it sees around. Al though the child doesn’t understand the science of motion while in this grade; activities like pulling, pushing, dropping of objects gives the child an idea of the cause of motion and its control.Similarly sound, heat, light, magnetism, electricity are broadly perceived through learning, observation and experimentation. However, the child would not be able to identify elements of temperature, magnetic forces, static electricity etc. In the grades 5 to 8, the concept of energy is developed through investigations into the properties of light,  sound, electricity and magnetism. In these grades, there is a considerable shift towards quantitative aspects of subjects. In the 9 –12 grades, students are geared up completely to deal with motion, force, energy; being familiar with theoretical observations and laboratory investigations (NJSC). Here they understand the reasoning behind the laws of motion and why energy is conserved. They are also capable of dealing with technolo gical designs and its problems, using the concepts and principles learnt.The association of brain functioning and educational practices is increasingly becoming an important factor in education. Brain-based findings have been closely monitored by specialists involved in education. The findings of cognitive neuroscience research has considerable bearing on the methodology of education. A new approach connecting brain functioning with education was emphasized in 1983. Leslie Hart, in his book ‘Human Brain, Human Learning’ suggested that by ignoring the brain functioning of students, the success of students is not achieved to its fullest potential.The philosophy of the newly developed ‘brain-based’ education is that the brain is used for everything we do; we should therefore know more about it and use it effectively. Contemporary models of brain-based education are multidisciplinary, relying on several disciplines like psychiatry, psychology, cognitive science , sociology etc. Brain plays an important role in the effect of classroom groupings, assessments, physical activity, lunchroom foods etc. Schools’ can affect students’ brain in several ways including through social conditions, stress, nutrition etc. These factors induce brain-based  influences by altering cognition, memory and attention.Neuroscientists Gerd Kempermann and Fred Gage discovered that the new neurons in the brain are intensely associated with memory, mood and learning. The process of neurons can be enhanced through good nutrition, low stress and proper exercise. The brain has the ability to remap itself due to its neuroplasticity (Jenson, 2008). This process can be influenced through reading, meditation, skill-building, career and technical education, and thinking skills, which contribute to student success.The importance of physical education is also emphasized by brain research. Cognitive scientists, physiologists, educational psychologists and physica l educators have strongly endorsed this view. Today more and more schools of education are incorporating the knowledge gained from brain research. Harvard University’s Mind, Brain and Education or MBE program produces postgraduates and doctors who eventually get engaged in interdisciplinary positions, both in research and practice.A report by the National Research Council Committee in September 2006, on the state of K-8 science education, has determined that science instructions offered in schools today are outdated. These are predominantly based on research findings of about three to four decades early. The report offers groundwork for the next reforms and is based on the recent understandings of how children learn, and recommends a narrower and better focus on important areas of science. It seeks to improve professionalism among teachers and have each aspect of instruction and  learning, better integrated with each other.The Council’s Committee on Science Learning, responsible for science learning in kindergarten to eighth grade had reviewed both, the reforms undertaken in science education in the last decade and the recent understandings of learning and cognitive science. The committee emphasized that young children are capable of intricate thinking and that each student develops an individual understanding of the nature around him. It also stated that the current debate on the importance of teaching content versus teaching process skills, should be put aside and both be replaced by interweaved aspects of science expertise.The committee has suggested that the curriculum, instruction and assessment should be properly integrated with the focus of fewer, central elements in each discipline, rather than surface level study of a wide topic. It points out that the current science education is based on relatively old assumptions. The current science education underestimates children’s ability of complex thinking and is more attributed to dif ficulty level in children rather than their ability.For instructions to be successful, teachers need to have a sound understanding of the subject, know how to teach it effectively and also be familiar with the recent research on student learning (AIP, 2006). Proper, effective instructions can clear misunderstandings and bring understanding closer to perfect. The instructions should include student encounters with science in a sequentially designed and strategic way. Students identified as proficient in science must be capable of explaining the scientific perception of the natural world. They need to be capable of introducing andn  analyzing scientific explanations, understand all aspects of scientific knowledge development, and participate in science-based exercises/discussions.The role of philosophy in developing the intellectual skills of children has been widely acknowledged. The induction of philosophy into the high school academic curriculum is gaining momentum, emphasizing n ot only the importance of the subject among them, but also the capability of the children for philosophical thinking. Dr. Matthew Lipman (1991), a philosophy professor at Montclair State College in New Jersey, emphasized that bringing philosophy into schools would only enhance the educational experience of children.The argument here was, philosophy could contribute to critical thinking, which is vital for all other subjects. Empirical evidence also shows that the cognitive and academic skill of children is vastly improved by teaching them reasoning skills early in life, banking on children’s natural inquisitiveness and sense of wonder. Obviously, such development would also contribute to the understanding of science and maths.It is estimated that about half the secondary teachers in the United States quit teaching within five years. Studies on the selection and services of secondary science and maths teachers reveal their inhibitions of isolated profession, lack of mentoring and dwindled prospects (KSTF, 2005).It is also important to address these issues, for the success of teaching and learning reforms. The new methods of education for school  children, particularly for maths and science should reflect the latest research into children’s ability and brain functioning. Engaging children in philosophical dialogues, also contributes to their ability of sophisticated thinking.REFERENCESAmerican Institute of Physics. (AIP, 2006) NRC Report Finds Much of Current K-8 Science Teaching Outdated.   FYI Number 142: December 20, 2006 [Electronic Version] downloaded on 24th Feb. 2007 from https://www.aip.org/fyi/2006/142.html

Hotspur and Hal is the main theme in Henry IV part one Essay

The contrast between Hotspur and Hal is the main theme in Henry IV part one and creates an enthralling play. Hal and Hotspur are total opposites in some ways but when examined more closely one sees that their moral values are the same. They are both ambitious and determined to succeed but only one can prevail. At the beginning of the play Henry IV draws a clear contrast between Hotspur and his son, whose reputation is sullied by â€Å"riot and dishonour†. The king then goes so far as to wish they had been exchanged when infants, so strongly does he feel the difference between them. There are many examples of the way that the two cannot exist at the same time. Hal and Hotspur are both heroes who want to win. Falstaff is the other main character in the play. Falstaff has a totally different view on honour to that of Hotspur. This is shown in Act II when Falstaff runs away from the two robbers, he values his safety much more than his reputation. Hotspur would never think about doing anything like that he would prefer to fight. In between these two extreme ideas of honour is Hal Throughout the play Shakespeare juxtaposes from one scene to another. One scene may be very solemn and serious and then the next scene amusing. For instance Act II scene iii is not one of merriment and mirth, Hotspur talks about the rebellion and how serious it is getting. The next scene, Act II scene iv, shows Hal in the tavern joking with Falstaff. Shakespeare juxtaposes to show the contrast between Hal and Hotspur. The juxtaposition shows how each hero copes with the situations that they find themselves in. It also shows how two people have different qualities and they are two different types of leaders. Shakespeare is asking what qualities does a good leader possesses As his nickname suggests, Harry Percy is an impulsive and reckless character that acts first and thinks later. His bravery and rashness are the two qualities constantly commented on by the other characters in the play. Henry sees Percy as a young god of war, â€Å"Mars in swathling clothes† and says he is acknowledged by all as the holder of â€Å"military title capital†. He is regarded as the greatest soldier in Europe. On the whole it is his bravery which impresses them most, for them he is the epitome of honour, the living example of those chivalric values to which a noble youth should aspire. By the end of the play however, we have had an opportunity to see Hotspur in perspective and our judgement of him is not so favourable. We realise that, brave and likeable as he is, his pursuit of honour is dangerously obsessive, so much so that it leads him to threaten the peace and unity of the kingdom. His cause however is right, Mortimer has more right to the throne than He nry. He is very proud and would hate to look anything but the best. At the conclusion of the play Falstaff reduces honour to an empty concept. For Falstaff life is valuable and must be preserved at any price. He sees the brave Sir Walter Blunt’s corpse and exclaims â€Å"There’s honour for you† Yet he confesses a moment later, that he has deliberately allowed his men to be killed in order to line his own pockets. † Give me life; which if I can save, so; if not, honour comes unlooked for, and there’s an end† Falstaff’s version of honour licenses him to do anything so long as his own life is preserved. If we are in doubt that Falstaff’s honour is as dangerous and empty an idea as Hotspur’s, then we are finally convinced by his shocking mutilation of Hotspur’s corpse. The irony, of course, is that Falstaff commits this cowardly act in order to gain the rewards of the honour he despises. Between the two extreme attitudes to honour is the figure of Hal. At the beginning of the play, as his father points out, his reputation is the very opposite of Hotspurs. As the play goes on Hal begins to present a changed public image. The rebel Veronon describes his preparations for war in terms which depict Hal as the very soul of honour. Being honourable doesn’t make you a good leader it is the opposite in fact. Hal is a good leader and he is quite dishonourable, Hotspur is the epitome of honour but isn’t a good leader. To be a good leader you need to be able to use rhetoric and be very cunning and a bit dishonest. Hotspur is none of these and this is why he is not a good leader. Hal is the central character in the play and in his progress to maturity we see a princes education as he learns the nature and responsibilities of kingship. Hal has a reputation for being part of a low life circle that spend most of their time getting drunk, womanising and thieving. Hal is sly and sneaky; this is shown in his soliloquy at the end of Act 1 scene ii. He says that he is aware of the nature of his tavern companions but will put up with their idleness for a while. He will imitate the sun by allowing himself to be covered with clouds, so that when he reappears it will be amazing, â€Å"My reformation glittering o’er my fault shall show more goodly and attract more eyes† In some ways this is quite childish and immature. For just as Hotspur is over anxious to monopolise honour, Hal here seems over anxious to present his reformation in the most dramatic way. Hal has no pride in himself until his reformation when he becomes the prince he should be. Hotspur shows his dislike for rhetoric and his love of truth in Act III. Glendower talks of disturbances of a heavenly and earthly nature at his birth â€Å"at my birth the front of heaven was full of fiery shapes†, Hotspur contradicts these comments. Glendower continues talking about how he is magical. Here Hotspur shows his impetuous side by saying to Glendower, â€Å"let me not understand you then: Speak it in Welsh†, meaning that no men speaks better Welsh (talks nonsense and brags). Hotspur doesn’t like the way Glendower uses rhetoric relentlessly. He prefers to speak the straightforward truth. From this childish exchange we gain further insight into Hotspur’s character, he cannot bear to think that someone else could share glory and honour with him. This also shows that he would prefer to speak the truth rather than made up stories. Hal on the other hand loves to talk in rhetoric and uses it all of the time. He is very good at using language to get his own way. This is shown in Act III scene ii. In this scene we see the King and the Prince together for the first time. The King says that Hal must have been sent by God to punish his own â€Å"mistreadings.† The King can’t understand why in spite of his royal blood Hal is so attached to vulgar pleasures with his unfavourable companions â€Å"such barren pleasures, rude society†. Hal is hurt and in a subdued and repentant mood replies that he is not guilty of everything that he is charged with. He says that the stories are malicious gossip and asks for forgiveness â€Å"As well as I am doubtless I can purge Myself of many I am char’g withal†. The King then goes on to talk about how little respect people have for Hal and how he has lost his place on the council â€Å"thy place in council thou hast rudely lost†. Hal is obviously hurt by the extent to which he has lost his father’s affection and respect and in a passionate speech swears he will redeem himself and kill Hotspur, â€Å"I will redeem all this on Percy’s head†. We know that Hal is very cunning so he might actually be pretending that he is hurt by what his father says so that he can win back his affections. In this scene we see an aspect of Hal that makes him a good leader. He can use rhetoric and acting to get his own way. This is something that Hotspur never does as he prefers to be up front and honest. This is a very important scene for other reasons besides the rhetoric and the reconciliation of the King and the Prince. Here we are made aware of the essential part that the rivalry plays in Henry IV Part 1. In the very first scene of the play we noticed how Henry compares the two, to Hal’s disadvantage; Hotspur is everything he would like his own son to be. Hal and Hotspur are each conscious of the others pursuits; in Act 1 Scene iii Hotspur calls Hal â€Å"that same sword-and-buckler Prince of Wales† While in Act II scene iv Hal characterizes Hotspur as a murderous hothead. Neither judgement reveals the respect they feel for each other. Now we see that their rivalry is to be crucial to the salvation, not only of Hal’s character, but of the kingdom. The personal and political threads of the play are entwined, and we are prepared for the climax, the single combat of Hal and Hotspur in Act V In Act V scene v. When they are about to fight Hal says Hotspur is â€Å"a very valiant rebel† but that they can no longer share in glory. Two stars cannot move in one course and England cannot have â€Å"a double reign† of Hal and Hotspur. It shall not replies Hotspur, â€Å"for the hour is come, To end the one of us† This really shows the great respect that they have for each other. Shakespeare is saying that to be a good leader you need to be able to use language to your advantage. In Act IV scene I we see one of many scenes that show how impatient and impetuous Hotspur is. Hotspur receives a letter from his father saying that he will not be bringing troops as he is sick. Hotspur exclaims that Northumberland’s sickness infects the whole enterprise, â€Å"Tis catching hither, even to our camp† This has greatly reduced the number of troops available for fighting and really they should postpone the attack until other soldiers arrive. Hotspur says that his father’s absence will make their business seem all the more heroic and daring (thus adding to his own honour), â€Å"It lends a lustre and more great opinion, A larger dare to our enterprise†. So they decide to go ahead with the attack against the wishes of Worcester. For Hotspur war is not regarded as something terrible and destructive but is simply a means of more glory. At the end of Act I Scene ii he shows his immature attitude, â€Å"O, let the hours be short, Till fields and blo ws and groans applaud our sport!† Hal is in no way impatient and impetuous, Hal is scheming and thinks about what he has to do rather than rushing in. He knows what he wants this is shown in his soliloquy in Act I. This is one of the reasons why he is a really good leader. He doesn’t get flustered, he holds his cards close to his chest. Hotspur has a bad temper that flares up over of the slightest thing. He is depicted as a fiery red head who acts first and thinks later, even his name suggests this. In Act I scene iii Hotspur is in the court with the King. Hotspur is refusing to give the King any prisoners unless he pays ransoms for Mortimer who has been captured. The king refuses saying that Mortimer is a traitor â€Å"redeem a traitor home, Let him starve on the Welsh mountains† This is too much for Hotspur who flies into one of his tempers and exclaims â€Å"revolted Mortimer†. He tries to explain that Mortimer fought bravely for the king â€Å"Those mouth wounds, which valiantly he took, When on the gentle Severn’s sedgy bank†. Henry doesn’t listen and departs from the court. Hotspur is beside himself with rage; he wants to express his feelings even at the risk of his own safety, and attempts to follow the King â€Å"An if the devil come roar for them, I will not send them† he will not give up the prisoners. He is restrained by his father, but continues to rant. This is the reason that the rebellion begins. Hotspur doesn’t think straight when he is in one of his tempers and is lucky that his father was there to restrain him. This is also an example of the way that Hotspur takes action rather than thinking about it. Hal is cool headed but can be nasty towards Falstaff. He knows that one day soon he will have to break his ties with Falstaff. Deep down Hal knows that Falstaff is a thief, and a king cannot be friends with him. As the play draws on Hal drifts slowly away from Falstaff. In the midst of the battle Falstaff offers Hal a bottle of wine instead of a weapon, Hal angrily throws it back, underlining the desperate circumstance by his question â€Å"is it a time to jest and dally now†. Hal has realized when play must stop and serious life begin, but Falstaff has not. A number of times during the play Hal blames Falstaff of corrupting him but it is the other way round. Hal is the corrupter. In act V scene iv Falstaff stabs Hotspur’s dead body and pretends that he has killed him. He says that Hal is lying and did not kill Hotspur. Hal isn’t angry with him and even offers him help. This shows that Hal has not completely tired of Falstaff’s company. He is torn between princely leadership and princely fun. Hotspur is extremely ambitious. He believes that he can do anything he wants to. He believes he can â€Å"pluck bright honour from the moon†- â€Å"An if the devil come roar for them I will not send them†. This shows how Hotspur has the utmost confidence in himself. Sometimes his ambition can over rule reason. His main ambition in life is to get honour. Since he wants to monopolize honour, he must defeat any possible rival, in this case Hal. Hotspur rebels against the king because he feels that his honour is threatened by the Percy’s association with what he calls â€Å"this ingrate and cankered Bolingbroke†. He doesn’t wants to be King. He is just trying to do what he believes is right. Mortimer is the rightful King and even though to rebel is wrong in this case it is right. But what is honour. In act V Falstaff explicitly states his notion of honour. He wittily reduce honour to an empty concept. The difference between Hal and Hotspur is that Hal’s attitude to honour is neither obsessive nor unreflective. Hal certainly wants to gain honour and defeat Hotspur, but he does not lack a sense of proportion or of the human cost of war. When Hal makes his challenge it is as much â€Å"to save blood on either side†. When Hotspur wishes for single combat with Hal I feel that he does so because it might increase the glory for him if he wins. We first see Hotspur’s private life in Act II scene iii. At his castle in Northumberland where he has received a letter he is not happy about. His wife Kate enters and shows her concern for him. In this scene we see a tender side of Hotspur we have not seen until now and will not see much of again. She is worried about why for the past few weeks he has been so distant and preoccupied â€Å"For what offence have I this fortnight been A banish’d woman from my Harry’s bed†. Hotspur changes the subject, but it is brought straight back up by Kate. He says that this is a world for battles not for love. When Hotspur tells her he does not love her, Kate seems upset by this and is not sure if he is joking or not. But, says Hotspur, when he is on his horse then he will swear he loves her â€Å"And when I am o’ horseback, I will swear I love thee infinitely†. He reassures her, saying â€Å"Whither I go, there shall you go too†. This view of Hotspur with his wife allows us to see that he is not completely rash and unfeeling. Most noblemen wouldn’t let their wife’s near the battle field but Hotspur wants her near and she is going to follow the next day. His exchanges with his wife reveal a tender and affectionate aspect of his character, an aspect that he represses in pursuit of honour. Hal has a different social life to Hotspur. He spends most of his time in the tavern with his friends. He drinks and plays practical jokes on other people. He is very quick witted and loves to use rhetoric. There is no sign of him having any lady friends as he was probably too busy drinking. Falstaff is a womaniser but there is no reason to make us believe that Hal is too. He never seems to get anxious or get cross; he is too cool headed. Hotspur seems to be over confident, he always seems to be sure that he is right and that the rebels will win. He doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve and covers up his feelings so that it doesn’t make him look weak, but deep down or subconsciously he is quite nervous about the rebellion. This is shown in Act II scene iii. In his sleep he has murmured of war and weapons. His wife says â€Å"In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch’d and heard thee murmur tales of iron wars† Hotspur might look confident on the surface but deep down is he. Hotspur is a great competitor and doesn’t like to lose, he wants to reign supreme. Hal doesn’t like losing, this is another reason that Henry IV part 1 is such a great play. The rivalry is phenomenal and neither wants to lose but only one can triumph. Hal on the other hand is quietly confident about everything that he is going to do. This is shown in the soliloquy in Act I. As the play goes on he becomes more and more self-assured. In Act II Hal becomes extremely confident, in some ways over confident, after he has listened to his father telling him that he is failing him Hal states that he will kill Hotspur. It is a bit presumptuous of him seeing as Hotspur is the greatest soldier in Britain at that time. Hal must have spent time training and learning how to fight when he was younger or he must have been learning in between being in the tavern, he knew that his time would come. Throughout the play Shakespeare asks questions about leadership and what characteristics you need to have to be a good leader. Shakespeare exaggerates Hal and Hotspurs faults, this is because he is querying political power. He is hinting that all political power is corrupt. What is power and how do you get it? He shows that the better leader will be the one that can use language to manipulate people. Hotspur has some very good characteristics but he is not a good leader. Hotspur needs to play the political game, you can’t be honest and be a good leader. The play also shows that you will get punished if you rebel. The characteristics that your must have to be a good leader are being dishonourable, using language to great effect, being ambitious but not shouting about it, being dishonest and being very cunning. These are the qualities that Hal posses, even though Hotspur is probably the better person morally he has not got the characteristics to be a good leader.

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

UNIT 5 - Essay Example When management carries out its duties effectively by attaining desired results, then that defines doing things the right way. On the other hand, when management does things efficiently, that is accomplishing set goals in the required way, then that is doing the right thing. Setting measurable goals such as budgets and production levels gives the manager a chance to analyze reasons for missing certain goals. Reasonable and measurable goals help managers to expose reasons that results into struggles of working staff. In addition, measurable goals help in preventing miscommunication among members of the organization. Without measurable goals, employees morale decreases because staff members feel that they work without direction. It, therefore, is through setting up of measurable goals that employees prove to their managers their worth and goals. Every project goal has its critical dimensions. Three of these critical dimensions include cost, scope and schedule of the project in question. For any project, the manager must put into consideration cost of materials that the entire project may require. Secondly, the required release date of the project makes it necessary for a manager to treat schedule with significance (Sanzo et al.,  2012). Finally, project managers also need to take care of the project scope. Project scope involves performance requirements and any other set features in the project goal. The most common types of project manager’s charts are the PERT Chart and Gantt chart. Both PERT and Gantt charts help managers to plan their projects in a manner that enables the project team to visualize the project as a whole or in part (Bowen, 2014). However, PERT and Gantt display varied contrasts. Gantt charts describe tasks dependencies, onset and ending times for project tasks while PERT charts describe parallel activities and that are sequential. Gantt charts mainly depict simple related tasks whereas PERT charts focus on

International Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International Marketing - Assignment Example We can also view it as â€Å"the action of acclimating a firm’s activities to international surroundings.† 1Strategy is the resolve of the fundamental long-standing goals of the business venture, and the embracing of courses of action and allotment of resources essential for carrying out these objectives. It consists of incorporated decisions, proceedings or tactics that will aid to realize goals. Brand strategy is used as a sunshade term to indicate the expansive range of strategic options open to the firm, together with both managerial and purposeful management strategies, product/market approaches, and diversification strategies. Main Body Step 1: Coca Cola brand topped in the 2010 list of Global Inter-brands and as the senior marketing consultant working for the brand, I hereby present a report that seeks to answer a digit of questions. Step 2: The Coca Cola brand has overtime played a vital role in the mother company’s international expansion. A coherent and viable global brand architecture is a vital constituent of the firm’s general worldwide marketing strategies because it provides structural basis for levering sturdy brands into foreign markets, ensuring assimilation of acquired brands in adding up to rationalizing the company’s adapted global strategies in branding. ... he global media, global retailing and outright movement of persons, goods and entities across international borders/territories has changed brand markets to constituents of emerging integrations that have not been in the picture before. Consequentially, a global firm like Coca Cola has concentrated on coordinating and integrating its existing strategies and methodologies in marketing across global markets. 3A vital element in Coca Cola’s International marketing strategy is the strategic branding policy that it has adopted overtime. A Strong brand like Coca Cola has helped the mother company to ascertain the firm's identity in the market, and develop an unyielding consumer franchise plus providing a weapon to defy growing retailer clout. The brand has also provided the root for other brand extensions, which further strengthen the firm's souk position and enhancement of value. 4In international markets arena, an important brand strategy for the firm is has been to use the same b rand name in different countries, leveraging brand strength across these established boundaries and maintaining local brands that respond to variant customer preferences in the local setups. A related issue has been the branding level that needs maximum emphasis, that is, corporate/house or product-level brands or a jumble of both. The innermost responsibility of branding in defining the firm's distinctiveness and its pose in intercontinental markets means that it is decisive to expand explicit and formidable international brand structural designs. This is implying identifying the dissimilar echelons of branding contained by the firm, the actual number of manufactured brands at each level on top of their product market and geographical scope. A crucial element in this branding structure is the

The relation between Estate Taxation and Equitable Crowth Research Proposal

The relation between Estate Taxation and Equitable Crowth - Research Proposal Example The changing structure of the federal estate tax has significant impact on the state estate tax revenue as well as the economic growth within the United States of America. The reverting of the federal estate tax to the pre-2001 structure is likely to have serious impacts on the economic growth of the United States of America. Estate tax within USA is understood on the basis of administrative simplicity and compliance costs, revenue sufficiency, economic efficiency, and equity. These elements are the epicenters in analyzing the impact of estate tax on economic growth within the USA. Estate tax has significant impact on the economy based on savings and capital investments. The higher the estate tax, the less the savings and capital investments thus affecting economic growth. Lower estate tax rates encourage more investments whilst reducing the revenue that the federal or state government obtains from the estate taxation, thus leading to significant impacts on economic growth within the USA. Nonetheless, in order to understand the impact of estate tax rates on economic growth, there is a need for extensive and detailed research. In order to carry out a more detailed and in-depth research, the following provides background and hypothesis to be used as well as the literature review. Literature review is used in this paper to provide deeper understanding, validity, and reliability of the research. In addition, the research contains methodology that provides an overview of the procedure employed in ensuring that adequate research is conducted, enough data is collected, and an efficient and effective data analysis. The research analyzed the data using STATA statistical tool. The finding and data analysis section provide a deeper and in-depth understanding of the topic based on the collected data. The paper winds up with discussions, conclusions, and recommendations. Background and Hypothesis As Americans decide between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in this fall’s presidential election they choose between two men with divergent ideas about estate taxation. Right now, estate taxation policy puts a 35 percent tax rate after a $5 million exemption, a rate it has been at since 2010. It was that year that a loophole in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (the â€Å"Bush tax cuts† in political parlance) caused the complete elimination of the estate tax. In the preceding decade, there was a 45 percent tax rate with a $3.5 million exemption. President Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress support reverting current rates to 2009 levels. Mr. Romney, the Republican challenger, favors completely eliminating the estate tax. If no action is taken before the end of this year, a policy even more draconian than Mr. Obama’s will kick in. Under the â€Å"default† plan, the rate would be 55 percent and the exemption $1 million. Figure 1 Estate tax 1997-2013 (projected) Year Estate Tax Exemption Top Estate Tax Rate 1997 $600,000 55% 1998 $625,000 55% 1999 $650,000 55% 2000 $675,000 55% 2001 $675,000 55% 2002 $1,000,000 50% 2003 $1,000,000 49% 2004 $1,500,000 48% 2005 $1,500,000 47% 2006 $2,000,000 46% 2007 $2,000,000 45% 2008 $2,000,000 45% 2009 $3,500,000 45% 2010 $0 0% 2011 $5,000,000 35% 2012 $5,000,000 35% 2013 $1,000,000 55% This author hypothesizes that estate taxation rates –

The weakness of using Fackbook and Twitter for consumer engagement Essay

The weakness of using Fackbook and Twitter for consumer engagement with the firm - Essay Example The other extra duties of this individual or individuals include monitoring as well as responding to questions and comments robbing marketing department off necessary hands on personnel in keeping the company afloat (Hu, 2011). This is especially a problem for small companies or start-ups with limited resources. In this sense, social media presents a weakness in increasing a firm’s running overheads without necessary guarantee for increased revenue. Facebook and Twitter may pose a weakness in a firm’s engagement with its customers due to having a wrong strategy for online branding (Kuzgun, 2013). This could put the firm at a viral social disadvantage and could even end up damaging the firm’s reputation. Few people will most probably notice mistakes made offline, but when the mistakes regarding a firm’s portrayal are made online, they are immediately noted by many and spread over the net. This is aggravated by the fact that bad news or negativity on Facebook and Twitter trends faster than good news for gossip is considered juicy while normal news is boring. The online interactive media like any other Information Technology field is highly prone to threats of hacking or malicious compromise of content (Thomases, 2010). The hackers may be out to malign the firm and jeopardize its online marketing efforts through posting false tweets. There has been evidence and news of hackings into Facebook and Twitter accounts of established and renowned companies sending the message across the business world that really no firm is invisible. This loophole mat cost the firm its reputation negating the intentions to use social media in the first place. Social marketing is also seen as somewhat intrusive. Some ardent members on Facebook and Twitter feel that advertisement placement through collection of member information from these sites is intruding on their privacy and that confidentiality is compromised. This causes marketing efforts to be met

Pathophysiology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Pathophysiology - Essay Example This can be as a result of consumption of poor diets or unhealthy lifestyle (Timby & Smith, 2005). Disorders leading to left-sided congestive heart failure can be seen in both children and adults. In children, it can be caused by birth defects involving the heart and heart muscles such as abnormal heart valves or blood vessel connection. In adults, such disorders include hypothyroidism and other inherited heart conditions that can lead to cardiomyopathy. High blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, obesity and coronary artery diseases are other risk factors for left-sided congestive heart failure (Hobbs & Boyle, 2014). According to Robinson, N. E., & Sprayberry (2009), the most common symptom for left-sided heart failure is fatigue, weakness or faintness as a result of insufficient supply of oxygen to the body. Other symptoms include shortness of breath due to excess fluid accumulation in the lungs, decreased urine production and abrupt weight gain due to excessive fluid retention and cough that contains frothy or bloody mucus. Right ventricular systolic dysfunction could occur as a result of left-sided congestive heart failure

Compare and Contrast Nike vs. Adidas' Business Operations Research Paper

Compare and Contrast Nike vs. Adidas' Business Operations - Research Paper Example The founder of the company, Adi Dassler intended to offer superior quality equipments to every single athlete. The product offerings of Adidas ranges from apparel to footwear to accessories related to every kind of various sports. However, the company designs products that are mainly associated with football, training, running and basketball. The brand was acquired by Salmon group in the year 1997 and the company came to be known as Adidas-Salmon AG. In the year 2006, the group acquired Reebok which was perceived to be highly advantageous for Adidas. Reebok was also a well known name in the sports industry. With the combination of two such reputed brands, the new group was expected to attain a higher degree of competitive advantage in the industry. The group was expected to cater with an increased variety of products accompanied with a strong existence across athletes, leagues, teams and events. The Adidas group engages above 42,000 employees across the globe. The group also has abov e 170 subsidiaries which assures the availability of its products across the world. The group’s sales along with distribution of products have been categorized in four global regions which are North America, Latin America, Europe/Emerging markets and Asia/Pacific. The group deals in sportswear and footwear as well and is known to be amongst the biggest suppliers of Europe. The group is also observed to dominate quite a number of sports events being reputed as the ‘Olympic brand’ in Sydney. The sale of the group was stated to reach a record high in the year 2000 (Adidas Group, â€Å"At a Glance the Story of the Adidas Group†). 1.2. Nike Nike Corporation deals with developing, designing and global marketing of products ranging from apparels and accessories to footwear and sport equipments. The company is known to cater about 18,000 retail stores with its products across the United States. It also makes available its products in about 200 different countries with the combination of independent licensees, distributors and subsidiaries. The athletic footwear range of Nike is particularly designed for the use of athletes; however, few of the products from this range are used for leisure as well as informal purposes. The company designs its products for all age group of women, men and children. The popular group of products that has the highest sales is basketball, cross-training, running, women’s and children’s shoes. The company also designs and markets footwear that are required for outdoor actions like golf, baseball, bicycling, wrestling, aquatic activities, other recreational and athletic uses, tennis, soccer, football, volleyball, cheerleading and hiking among others. Nike is also involved with selling sports related equipments which entails majority of the mentioned groups, lifestyle wear that are athletically enthused and others. The competitive advantage of the company is stated to be its constant innovations in the field of apparels, footwear and equipments as well. The company attains this competitive edge with the help of its Research and Development team which is technologically quite advanced (Dermesropian & Et. Al. â€Å"NIKE†). 2.0. Sales & Supply Chain Management 2.1. Sales & Supply Chain of Adidas The suppliers of Adidas are trained in a way so that they comprehend the significance of setting up and synchronizing the organizational system of management along with ways and methods of proper communication. The easy and

Challenges Facing Organizational Leaders In Nigeria Dissertation

Challenges Facing Organizational Leaders In Nigeria - Dissertation Example The significance of this study is to create awareness of the challenges facing the organizational leaders in the private sector in Nigeria, as well as develops strategies, which could make the organizational leaders in Nigeria more adjusted to the ever-shifting environment that they operate in. Correspondingly, an appraisal of past works in this part did not yield any concrete results. This presumes that past investigations on leadership analyses in Nigeria did not pay close interest to this part of social occurrence, or investigators in Nigeria had not taken it as a fragment of their academic lists that is worth investigating. This analysis will offer a compass to steer future investigations in this part of social occurrence. Moreover, the challenges confronting organizational frontrunners in Nigeria cannot be disconnected from the happenings within the country, as well as environmental pressures operating within Nigeria. This investigation will function as a facilitator for economic growth and social revolution within Nigeria, as well as provide the example, which can be tailored in organizational settings, which have the same cohesion with the Nigerian setting. The study of leadership is an intricate endeavor, which requires sound theoretical framework and engagement of perspectives from different disciplines for thorough exposition. This purpose of this study is to investigate the challenges facing the organizational leaders within the private sector in Nigeria and how the challenges could be obliterated. This chapter provides the theoretical framework for this study by combining the concepts of leadership systems and organizational change. The key proposals of these theories are considered against the backdrop of challenges leaders face an organizational system.

“The Seven Storey Mountain” by Thomas Merton Essay Example for Free

â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† by Thomas Merton Essay Introduction Thomas Merton went through a significant conversion in his youth and turned into a prominent Catholic author and spiritualist. His autobiography â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† discusses his life from childhood to adult and the conversion to Roman Catholicism and entry into a monastery.   The title and the sequence of this book were enthused by Dante’s â€Å"The Divine Comedy†. Merton’s autobiography is divided into three parts: The first describes his life without God (â€Å"Hell†); the second, the beginning of his search for God (â€Å"Purgatory†); and the third, his baptism and entrance into a monastic order (â€Å"Paradise†). Discussion Thomas Merton’s autobiographical work â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† marked the true beginning of his outstanding literary career. Seven years before, he came into the Trappist abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. Inspired by his abbot; Dom Frederic Dunne, Merton wrote his biography in order to explain his conversion from a non-believing Anglican into a transformed to Catholicism who left a promising educational career in order to join a secluded monastery. (Merton, 121) In the last several years of Merton’s life, he wrote comprehensively on such varied subjects like warfare and tranquility, the civil movement, racial and social discrimination, Eastern and Western monasticism, and the associations between conventional Christian values and the contemporary world. Merton divided his autobiography into three sections. The first part deals with the years between his childhood and the physical collapse he suffered in 1936. The second section explains his extensive period of convalescence, his transformation to Catholicism in 1938, and his choice in late 1939 to join a institution. The last part discusses his views previous to and subsequent to his entrance in the Gethsemani Monastery. The heading of Merton’s autobiography depicts the seven levels in Dante’s Purgatory. (Zuercher, 67) The celestial elegance allowed him to shift from the lowest to the highest degree of divine knowledge. The book â€Å"Seven Storey Mountain† explains in a clear and unassuming way Merton’s steady transformation from a conceited and indifferent youngster into a keen and mature believer who retrieved satisfaction as a meditative preacher. From the time of its publication in 1948, the book â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† has affected many readers in a positive way. (Merton, 129) The author in the starting of the book â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† describes himself as a captive of a worldly and selfish world. This evaluation of the new world to a reformatory has struck most of the readers as extreme. The well-known British writer Evelyn Waugh published a well modified story of â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† in the title Elected Silence in 1949. Waugh removed what he thought as the overstatement in both Merton’s way and his judgment of the world out of his monastery. Even though Waugh improved many parts of the text in Merton’s book, Merton thought that the polished and sophisticated way chosen by Waugh could not appropriately put across to the audience his intuitive response to his knowledge before and after his transformation. Merton wanted the readers of â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† to know that his life would have been worthless if he had not got the gift of belief from God; his conversion had drastically transformed his perception of the world. The book â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† has been favorably compared to such classic autobiographies as those of Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, Saint Augustine, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Such praise of Merton’s autobiography is entirely appropriate because he also analyzed with almost brutal honesty the weaknesses and strengths of his character. Merton never attempted to mislead his readers by presenting himself in an overly positive light. His subjective analysis of his own life never seems artificial. His consistent attempt to understand the true motivation for his moral choices persuades his readers both to respect Merton’s perception of the world and to appreciate the universal elements in Merton’s spiritual and psychological growth: The chronological structure of this autobiography enables the reader to understand the gradual changes which caused Thomas Merton to convert to Roman Catholicism and then to enter a cloistered monastery. (Zuercher, 71) Thomas Merton had a difficult childhood. He was born near the Spanish border in the French village of Prades on January 31, 1915. His parents were both artists, and they moved frequently. His mother, an American, would die in 1921 and his father, a New Zealander, would die nearly ten years later. Merton spent his childhood and adolescence in France, England, Bermuda, and the United States but never felt at home anywhere. The artificiality and selfishness of modern society depressed him. Because of his profound sense of alienation, Merton yielded too many self-destructive urges: After he joined the University of Cambridge in 1933, he began to drink heavily and then fathered a child out of wedlock.   His previous mistress and their son both would die during a Nazi air attack on London. During writing his autobiography, Merton thought of a friend from Cambridge who had committed suicide. He was certain that only the love of God had sheltered him from the same destiny and that he had achieved nothing constructive all this time he had spent in England. He went to America in 1934 and then never came back to Europe. In the first section of â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain†, the misery and isolation which many people experience after the dreadfulness of the Holocaust and the devastation of World War II is strongly and emotively expressed. In the second section of â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain†, Merton disclosed that he required celestial grace and the ethical support of his friends both in order to nurture spiritually. Once Merton reached America, he registered at Columbia University, where he met two professors, Mark Van Doren and Dan Walsh, who intensely persuaded his personal growth. Van Doren trained Merton to think seriously, to give importance to truth for itself, and to disbelieve all types of baseless reasoning. Sarcastically, Merton had never planned to meet Van Doren. In the commencement of his junior year at Columbia, Merton went to the wrong classroom by mistake. (Zuercher, 81) When Van Doren came in and started talking, Merton decided to take that course in its place and gave up history course which he actually wanted to take. Merton thought of this unexpected accident as part of a divine plan to help him understand the gift of faith. Van Doren, who was a Protestant, became one of Merton’s best friends, corresponding with him for years and often visiting him at Gethsemani. Even though he did not share Merton’s religious beliefs, Van Doren strongly supported both his conversion to Catholicism and his decision to enter the monastery. Whenever he had personal problems, Merton knew that Van Doren would be there to help and guide him. Another close friend from Columbia was Robert Lax. He encouraged Merton to take a course on medieval Scholasticism which Dan Walsh, a visiting professor of philosophy from Sacred Heart College, was to teach at Columbia. Walsh taught Merton that no opposition need exist between the acceptance of traditional Christian beliefs and the philosophical search for truth. After he became a Catholic, Merton spoke to Walsh of his interest in the priesthood, and Walsh suggested the Trappist monastery in Gethsemani. At first, Merton rejected this suggestion, but within two years he would become a Trappist. Most of his friends at Columbia were not Catholic. Nevertheless, they attended his baptism in 1938. Eleven years later, his Columbia friends would travel to Gethsemani for his ordination. Friendship enriched Merton’s life and gave him the inner peace which he needed in order to accept the gift of faith. (Merton, 135) Whatever their religious beliefs; his readers can identify with Merton’s thoughtful analysis of the close link between friendship and the search for happiness. The third part of â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† describes his reasons for entering the Cistercian monastery and the great joy which active meditation brought to him there. After considering a few religious orders, he at first left the confined life. Nonetheless, after many conversations with his friends from Columbia and two retreats in Cistercian monasteries, Merton drew a conclusion that only the meditative life would allow him to grow spiritually. He wrote to Gethsemani and was accepted for what he was: a scrape whom the free gift of faith had transformed into a fervent believer. At Gethsemani, Merton would experience for the first time the pleasures of true emotional and intellectual satisfaction. When Merton reached Gethsemani on December 10, 1941, he saw the words Pax intrantibus (peace to those who enter) inscribed over the entrance gate. In Merton’s mind, this Latin greeting defined the paradoxical nature of the monastic life. The numerous and often-petty rules in a contemplative order are in fact designed to bring monks inner peace by freeing them from the artificiality of the materialistic world. (Zuercher, 82). Therefore, the peace he wished to acquire was the wisdom to accept everything as part of the divine plan. Yet this trust in divine providence would soon be severely tested. Only a few months after his arrival at Gethsemani, he was called to his abbot’s office. Merton’s brother, John Paul, then a sergeant in the British army, had come to the abbey in order to receive religious instruction, wanting to be baptized as soon as possible. By a curious coincidence, Father James Fox, who would serve as Thomas’ abbot and spiritual mentor from 1948 until early 1968, was asked to prepare John Paul for baptism. As his newly baptized brother was walking away from the monastery, Thomas suddenly realized that they â€Å"would never see each other on earth again.† Within a year the recently married John Paul was killed in action. Thomas coped with his grief first by praying and then by writing â€Å"Sweet Brother, If I Do Not Sleep.† His complete acceptance of divine benevolence persuaded Thomas that John Paul’s â€Å"unhappy spirit† had finally been called â€Å"home† by God. Only a brief epilogue, â€Å"Meditation of a Poor Man in Solitude† follows this powerful analysis of the last meeting between Thomas Merton and his only sibling. (Giroux, 145)    Reasons for Conversion Merton’s religious themes are centered in pre-Vatican II Roman Catholic spirituality and theology, but much of his writing concerns universal Christian ideas. A chief theme is the importance of grace. Life is empty without God and offers only empty pleasures and inescapable woes. Modern society enslaves its members with distractions and material goods; self-sacrifice can help people distance themselves from the false promises of the world. According to Merton, only through the sanctifying grace of God, which is the full participation in God’s life that supports us to good actions, peace and happiness can be found. (Merton, 147) Natural goodness is transformed by grace to bring us and others closer to God. Grace thus saves us and allows us to become our best selves. As Merton experienced it, conversion was preceded by grace-filled moments provided by good people, reading and contemplation, and the inspiration of an â€Å"inner voice† that directed him to carry out his thoughts. However, even baptism was not sufficient for true conversion. After his baptism, Merton continued acting as he had previously. Only after a while did he realize that conversion means conversion of every moment of each day, of turning toward God in thought and action constantly. Conversion means disregarding the concerns of the world, even denying pleasures to one’s self. (Zuercher, 87)   Conversion means abandoning the self to the will of God; understanding this led Merton to decide to join a monastery and become a priest. True happiness and true freedom come from giving all to God. The giving is easy and the rewards are great, says Merton. While this involves a kind of loss of self, in the end it allows for growth of the real self in God. Conclusion Merton’s life and that of the narrator of â€Å"The Divine Comedy† followed a same sequence. That narrator begins the poem in the middle of his life, and Merton wrote â€Å"The Seven Storey Mountain† in the middle of his life; he died at the untimely age of fifty-three. Works Cited Giroux, Robert. The Seven Storey Mountain. 50th anniversary ed. Introduction by. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1998. pg 145. Merton, Thomas. The Seven Storey Mountain. Harvest Books; Anv edition (1999). ISBN-10: 0156010860. pg 98-210. Zuercher, Suzanne. Merton: An Enneagram Profile. Notre Dame, Ind.: Ave Maria Press, 2001. pg 58-99.

Marx Materialist Conception of History

Marx Materialist Conception of History What is materialist about Marxs view of history? Introduction Marx himself never fully outlined his materialist theory of history, though ‘it occurs in fragmentary form in all his early work written during the years 1843-48, and is taken for granted in his later thought’ (Berlin, 1979: 56) thus it was left to later theorists to deduce it from his early work. In order to understand what is ‘materialist’ about Karl Marx’s view of history we must first situate his theory within the context in which he worked, for in developing his materialist theory of history Marx was heavily influenced by the theories of Hegel: for not only was Hegel the dominant philosopher in Prussia at the time, but Hegel also influenced Marx in his choice of doctoral dissertation. He chose a study of the materialist philosophies of Democritus [†¦] and Epicurus, a Hellenistic philosopher who wrote under the shadow of Aristotle in precisely the same way as the Young Hegelians seemed to be under the shadow of Hegel (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 487). Indeed, Marx has often been linked to the group referred to as the ‘Young Hegelians’ (Williams, 2003: 489) and which included Bruno Baure, Max Stirner, Ludwig Feuerbach and David Strauss (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 485-489) even though Hegel was long dead by the time Marx started his studies. Believing, as I do, that it is not possible to understand Marx’s materialism without first understanding Hegel’s idealist view of history, in the first section I provide a, very brief, overview of Hegel’s philosophy of history. In the second I examine Marx’s theory of history, demonstrating how he overturns Hegel’s idealist schema so that instead of being driven by ideas for Marx history is driven by inherent tensions within the mode of production: it is class based (Berlin, 1979: 59) and therefore materialist. In the conclusion I summarise my argument, highlighting the commonalities between the thought of Hegel and Marx whilst concluding that whilst Heg el was indeed an idealist, Marx’s view of history was undeniably materialist in that it was ultimately concerned with productive relations but, nonetheless, Marx remained idealistic in his methodology due to the influence of Hegel on his work. Hegel and Historical Idealism Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), pre-eminent philosopher at Jena, Heidelberg and later Berlin Universities (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 409) came to dominate German Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century. He was himself heavily influenced by previous philosophers, including Rousseau (1712-1778), Descartes (1596-1650), Kant (1724-1804), Herder (1744-1803) and those thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment (see Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 412-421). Hegel developed his ‘comprehensive’ theory of history through an in-depth examination of religion,[1] for he believed that religion, rather than being irrational, was ‘the way in which men generally achieve the consciousness of their being’ (Hegel in Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 416). For Hegel, history is the process of the unfolding of the ‘eternal, universal Spirit’ (Berlin, 1979: 57) toward absolute knowledge or self-consciousness: that is, down through history man has been increasingly freed from nature or necessi ty via the dialectic, ‘a constant logical criticism’ (Berlin, 1979: 58; Taylor in Marx and Engels, 1985: 8). Hegel thus argued that it was possible to identify in each historical epoch a dominant set of ideas and its negation (Taylor in Marx and Engels, 1985: 8), later termed thesis and anti-thesis, the emerging synthesis being progress. His view of history is therefore teleological and stagist; he believed it to be rational and progressive, moving toward improvement in distinct steps through the actions of ‘world historical individuals’ (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 419; 480). For Hegel then, history is driven forward by ideas; it is, ultimately, idealist: ‘all change is due to the movement of the dialectic, that works by a constant logical criticism, that is, struggle against, and final self-destruction of, ways of thought and constructions of reason and feeling’ (Berlin, 1979: 58). Further, Hegel, following Rousseau and influenced by the Ancient Greeks, believed that true freedom was to be found through, rather than against the state, thus opposing the negative freedoms of liberal thought (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 415, 424; 463): he argued that law and rights are products of man’s mastery over nature, rather than a continuation of the rights of nature as in Locke (Hinchman, 1984: 25), and that therefore equality is created in society via the act of mutual recognition (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 440) and which he illustrates with the mythical encounter between the master and the slave.[2] Therefore, for Hegel, the state is not oppressive, but li berating as it presents the means by which ‘man’ is able to realise his own freedom. It was both this idealism and this freedom via the state that Marx, following Feuerbach, sought to invert. Marx and Historical Materialism So, for Hegel, history or social change was the result of tensions between different ideas, between thesis and anti-thesis. Karl Marx (1818-1883) however, via his critique of Hegel, was to overturn this theory, turning the idealist schema into a materialist one: for Marx, rather than history being the result of ideological tension it was the result of tensions between the classes (Berlin, 1979: 59): in short, he sought to invert Hegelian idealism ‘the weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons, and material forces must be overthrown by material force (Marx, 1975: 251) in that he believed it was not ideas that drives history but the relations of production (Marx, 1975: 384). In short, Marx believed that it is practical activity by real humans that counts, and not the conceptual activity of Hegel, and it is economic history that is most important of all (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 500; 513): in short his history was materialist. Following Hegel, Marx believed that the ‘history of humanity is a single, non-repetitive process, which obeys discernable laws’ (Berlin, 1979: 57), but he disagreed with Hegel’s idealism, following the critique of Hegel by Feuerbach in believing that such idealism was in fact a ‘mystification’ (Berlin, 1979: 57) he instead argued that the point of philosophy was to change the world (Marx, 1975: 244-245): ‘Philosophers have only interpreted that world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it’ (Marx in Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 512) via praxis, or practical philosophy (Bottomore, 1979: 6). Further, unlike Hegel, Marx did not believe that Religion was ‘the way in which men generally achieve the consciousness of their being’ (Hegel in Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 416), but instead was made by man; it is an ‘inverted consciousness of the world [†¦] at one and the same time the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering [†¦] it is the opium of the people’ (Marx, 1975: 244, original emphasis). He also distanced himself from Hegel’s dislike of the empirical sciences (Berlin, 1979: 67); instead his practical philosophy seeks, like the empirical sciences, to be emancipatory. He argued that, when examining each historical epoch, it was possible to isolate the key tension; that is, like Hegel who argued that thesis and anti-thesis pushed history forward, for Marx it was a key socio-economic tension which led to revolution and so pushed forward history: ‘the ancient world gave way to the medieval, slavery to feudalism, and feudalism to the industrial bourgeoisie’ (Berlin, 1979: 64). In short: ‘all history has been a history of class struggles, of struggles between dominated and dominating classes at various stages of social development’ Marx and Engels, 1985: 57). Thus, rather than the actions of the ‘world historical individuals’ of Hegel (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 480) for Marx it was the actions of an entire class in the future this was to be the proletariat that drives progress: ‘one particular class undertakes from its particular situation the universal emancipation of society (Marx, 1975: 254). Each revolution in the past, itself the result of the classes’ material circumstances, or the mode of production, had contributed to historical progress. Thus, rather than the idealist history of Hegel, for Marx history is materialist; it is the result of actual conflict in the real world, conflict which is the result of material forces (Taylor in Marx and Engles, 1985: 9; 18). Hegel’s idealism becomes, under Marx, a method (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 489) which reveals that while the state may make men formally free, this freedom is in fact only abstract (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 492-493) as people are actually embedded in the relations of production and are therefore unequal. Conclusion I have simplified Marx’s philosophy here, and thus missed the importance of thinkers such as Rousseau, Voltaire, Saint-Simon, Bauer and the Scottish Enlightenment on the development of this thought (Bottomore, 1979: 4-11; Hampsher-Monk, 2001). Also, some authors, including Althusser, have argued that Marx should be divided into early and later Marx (Williams, 2003: 491); with the early stage representing his humanist phase, whilst the later his ‘mature’ work, being where he developed his materialist, social scientific view of history (Williams, 2003: 491). In this essay, however, I have concentrated on his early work in order to demonstrate the materialist nature of his understanding of history: I have done this for two reasons; firstly, I feel that to divide Marx’s philosophy into early and late stages misses the continuity of his thought; secondly, by concentrating on his critique of Hegel, a critique to which he does not return to in his later work, I ha ve been able to demonstrate both his continuation of, and opposition to, the idealism of Hegel’s philosophy of history: for while Marx undeniably sought to overturn Hegelian philosophy, ‘the framework of the new theory is undeviatingly Hegelian’ (Berlin, 1979: 57). Indeed, recent scholarship appears to stress the continuity between Marx’s and Hegel’s thought: ‘Marx and Hegel can be usefully read as sharing a common emancipatory theory of human social history, tempering any putative epistemological break between them’ (Williams, 2003; 495-495). Both believed that poverty was the result of commercial society, rather that the result of misfortune or individual failings and that such poverty entails alienation (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 456-457); both are positive when describing organizations in which men pursue common goals, for Hegel via the corporation (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 459) for Marx via the establishment of communism (Marx and Engles, 1 985). However, whereas for Hegel history was driven forward by ideas and the actions of ‘world historical individuals’ (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 480), for Marx it was to be the actions of an entire class, the proletariat, that would drive progress and bring about communism and whilst both theorists share a concern with alienation, for Marx this alienation is the result of material forces: ‘the process by which man creates things out of nature, comes to be dominated by those creations, but will finally overcome that alienation through recovering control of his own (material) creations’ (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 499). For Marx, therefore, history is ultimately materialist. Bibliography Berlin, Isaiah (1979 [1973]) ‘Historical Materialism’, Karl Marx, Bottomore, Tom (Ed.), Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 56-68. Bottomore, Tom (1979 [1973]) ‘Introduction’, Karl Marx, Bottomore, Tom (Ed.), Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 4-42. Hampsher-Monk, Iain (2001 [1992]) ‘G.W.F. Hegel’ and ‘Karl Marx’, A History of Modern Political Thought: Major Thinkers from Hobbes to Marx, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 409-482; 483-561. Hinchman, Lewis P (1984) ‘The Origins of Human Rights: A Hegelian Perspective’, The Western Political Quarterly, Vol.37, No. 1, pp. 7-31. Marx, Karl and Engles, Friedrich (1985 [1888]) The Communist Manifesto, Introduced by Taylor, A.J.P. (Ed.), Moore, Samuel (Trans.), London: Penguin Classics. Marx, Karl (1975) ‘A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction (1843-4)’ and ‘Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts’, Early Writings, Colletti, Lucio (Ed.), Livingstone, Rodney and Benton, Gregory (Trans.), London: Penguin, pp. 243-257; 279-400. Williams, Michael (2003) ‘Review Article: Marx and Hegel: New Scholarship, Continuing Questions’, Science and Society, Vol. 67, No. 4, pp. 489-496. 1 Footnotes [1] Art, religion and philosophy all represented, for Hegel, the development of the consciousness, with art being intuition in material form, religion ‘truth in a veil’, while philosophy was self-reflection (Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 476). [2] In this encounter, which is a life and death struggle for mutual recognition, the loser becomes the ‘slave’ as he submits to the others will rather than face death, while the winner becomes the ‘master’: he has obtained the recognition of the slave but only by becoming dependant on the slaves labour. The slave becomes a labourer, but recognises his own worth through his own labour: he experiences self-hood through his impact on the physical world. The master’s selfhood is confirmed by the slave’s submission, but it is a negative identity; in order to attain true self-hood the master must recognise the other as equal. Society is thus the result of mutual recognition (see Hampsher-Monk, 2001: 426-427; Hinchman, 1984).

Heritage of Blue Highways Essay -- Blue Highways

Heritage of Blue Highways In the country travelers' Bible, Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon takes a journey into his Native American heritage as well as into the heart of American culture. As a person of mixed ancestry, Least Heat Moon wishes to seek the history and experiences of his past in his travels. He is especially interested in the Native American element of his heritage because he had no knowledge of his ancestry as he was growing up. At the point at which he begins his journey, after being a student and scholar of Renaissance literature, Least Heat Moon is able to identify more freely with his past ("Whispers..." 58-60). After completing his exploration, Least Heat Moon rewrote the manuscript of his book six times and struggled to find literary agents and publishers. Eventually Least Heat Moon changed the title of the book to Blue Highways, and his luck began to change. Throughout several stops within the book, Least Heat Moon relates episodes in the history of his Native American ancestors' lives and experiences. He even changed his name from William Trogdon to his Native American title: William Least Heat Moon. The author explains, "My father calls himself Heat-Moon, my elder brother Little Heat-Moon. I, coming last, am therefore Least" (4). He took the name in order to identify with his ancestry and to honor his Native American kinsmen. However, one critic thought the changing of his name to be less than genuine saying, "It does not come from Osage country but from Boy Scout make-believe" ("Whispers..." 58-59). Even though William Least Heat Moon knew very little about his Native American past, he was able to recall a long-forgotten family story about one o... ...er the Nez Perce were forced out of here in the eighteen seventies and the Army sold off their horses" (250). Least Heat Moon often tells how the Native American way of living was not harmful to the land and how their ways were quickly overtaken by the dominating white ways of today. Throughout Blue Highways, William Least Heat Moon identifies many Native American traditions as well as his own Native American ancestry. Even though Least Heat Moon changed his name to clearly identify with his Native American ancestry, he didn't choose it in order to forget about his other lineage. He explains, "I will choose for heart, for spirit, but never will I choose for blood" (5). The main goal of his trip was to head for undiscovered parts of America, but it also provided the chance for Least Heat Moon to connect with his Native American past.

Fishing :: essays research papers

For those who are curious about fishing, but never seem to have any luck, here are a few simple guidelines to follow which will have you reeling them in in no time. Catching fish can be really easy to do if one has the correct equipment, location, weather, and presentation. First, when fishing, equipment is very important. It would not be prudent to bring knife to a gunfight, and fishing is just the same. When catching 500 lb. swordfish in saltwater it is important to not bring an ultra-light fly rod. The first step to having the correct equipment is identifying the species to be targeted. Let’s say the target is black bass. Then it id important to have a bait-casting reel with 15 to 20 lb. test line, and a heavy action rod with plenty of length for good hook set. Now I’m not saying it is impossible to catch a bass on lighter tackle, and there is probably fun to be had doing it as well. It is just that this is the most efficient way. Lures and or bait are also extremely important pieces of equipment when fishing. Some examples of lures for black bass would be spinners, jigs, plastic worms, top-water lures, and buzz baits. Bait for black bass fishing would be live minnows, crawfish, or worms, and some dead baits work too such as cut pieces of shad. Once all the equipment has been taken care of, the location is the next concern. Fishing in a puddle in the driveway will not be very productive. The location will depend on what kind of fish one wants to catch. Once a species has been determined, a location should be easy to find. Again let’s say the target is black bass. Several types of bass can be caught in fresh water creeks, lakes, rivers, and ponds up to certain latitudes. Any of these fresh water sources should hold bass if it has been stocked, if it has a tributary, or if it has been established for a number of years. It is important to make sure that the location you are fishing has the type of fish you are fishing for. Weather plays a key role in whether or not fish will be caught. Wind affects the distance and direction that the lure or bait can be cast. It is very difficult to cast with any accuracy in a high wind.

Subject-Object Relation in Mullâ Sadrâ’s Theory of Knowledge :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Subject-Object Relation in Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Theory of Knowledge ABSTRACT: Dividing knowledge to knowledge by presence and knowledge by representation, Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢ treats the subject-object relation with regard to each one of them differently. In the former, the subject is united with the object, or rather they are one, and the reality of knowledge is this very unity. In this type of knowledge, there is no medium. Such unity culminates, on the one hand, in knowledge by presence comprehensively and completely conveying the objective reality, and in its untransferability on the other. By contrast, in knowledge by representation, the subject experiences another kind of relation to the object of knowledge thanks to the presence of a medium in the subject’s mind, called "mental form." Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢ considers mental forms as the mental existence of the same quiddities (mà ¢hà ®yyà ¢t) existing in the external world. The only difference is that they have another type of existence. In this essay, I argue that this approach is congruent with the principality of quiddity, which is rejected by Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢. To be consistent with the basic pillar of Mullà ¢ Sadrà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s philosophy, viz., the principle of existence, I hold that one should begin with the continuity of existence through mental, imagery and external worlds from which the mind abstracts the same quiddity, not vice versa. The problem of the interaction between subject and object in the process of cognition is a crucial issue in a theory of knowledge. Cognition, a unique window on the objective world, has captured the attention and motivated research and debate by scholars in a wide variety of fields over millennia. In all discussions regarding the phenomenon of knowledge, one question has always been raised no matter what the approach, method or focus of inquiry employed. For Kant, the distinction between nomenon and phenomenon and the determination of categories were major concerns. For the psychology of sensation and perception, the search continues for scientific methods to settle the extent to which an individual vis à   vis the environment effects the content, as well as the form, of sensory perception. In the tradition of Islamic philosophy, discussion revolves around the relation between ‘à ¢lim and ma‘là »m (knower and known). The question, expressed more precisely is: How much of what we know can be credited to objective reality per se, and how much is the creation, influence, or interference, of our mental power? It might also be asked how much and in what ways this influence alters the reality of the object of our cognitive system.

Nike Sweatshops Inc Essay

Ethics refer to what is defined as right or wrong in the morality of human beings and social issues are matters which could directly or indirectly affect a person or many members of a society. In this case study, Nike has been accused of subjecting employees in their subcontracted factories overseas to work in inhumane conditions for low wages. The CEO and cofounder of Nike lamented that â€Å"The Nike product has become synonymous with slave wages, forced-overtime and arbitrary abuse.† Initially, the firm purchased two shoe-manufacturing facilities in the United States but eventually had to shut them down due to tremendous loss in profits. Today, practically all of Nike’s factories are subcontracted and located in countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, China and Thailand, where the labour costs are significantly lesser than those in the United States. The founder of Vietnam Labour Watch, Thomas Nguyen, inspected several of Nike’s plants in Vietnam in 1998 and reported cases of worker abuse. At one of these factories which he inspected, a supervisor punished 56 women for wearing inappropriate work shoes by forcing them to run around the factory in the how sun. Twelve workers fainted and had to be taken to the hospital. He also reported that workers were allowed only one bathroom break and two drinks of water during each eight-hour shift. The ethical and social issues in this case are that Nike unethically takes advantage of these labour markets because it provides them with a higher profit. Nike should also be held responsible for what happens in factories they do not own to a certain degree because low-cost manufacturing has always been their strategy in the market. Although they do not directly own these factories, they should take the initiative to be socially responsible and monitor the minimum working conditions as it would reflect on the company’s image. A living wage is defined by the wage which allows the earner to afford basic needs such as food, shelter and other necessities of life. The labour cost of manufacturing a shoe is $2. 43 while the consumer pays $65 for it. Nike could still afford to pay its workers a living wage without raising its prices to the consumers. Realistically, the wage guideline of the FLA seems more feasible as it is based on a fixed statistic of minimum wage as required by law or the average industry wage, whichever is higher. That being said, the minimum wages of some developing countries are too low and would not provide the benefits of a normal living for the employees. Therefore, the guidelines of the WRC seem more appropriate to me and it would be considerable to take into account the wages of a normal-income employee and follow that guideline. It is unethical for Nike to pay endorses millions of dollars while its factory employees receive a few dollars a day. Sure, it is important for them to market their products and using celebrities and spokespeople would cost tons of money but there are many other ways for them to market their products without the need to exploit the conditions of employees in third world countries. All other major athletic shoe manufacturer also contract with overseas manufacturers albeit to various degrees. Athletic shoe firm New Balance Inc. is somewhat of an anomaly as it continues to operate five factories in the United States. However, New Balance has developed a different marketing strategy in comparison to Nike. They do not use professional athletes to market their products. Instead, they choose to invest in product research and development. New Balance also makes most of their shoes in the United States, paying workers over 30 times what Nike workers get in Vietnam, yet they still make a profit. To achieve corporate social responsibility, Nike should seriously consider the impact of their company’s actions on society. It is an obligation to take actions that protect and improve the welfare of society as a whole, along with their own interests. They should be responsible for the legal, social and philanthropic aspects of its subcontracted factories. They are not paying their employees the legal minimum wage, caring about the working conditions and welfare of these employees and just not taking into consideration the well-being of others. Ten years ago, the company had been subjected to negative press, lawsuits, and demonstrations on college campuses alleging that the firm’s overseas contractors’ subject employees to work in inhumane conditions for low wages. With the introduction of the fair labour association and worker rights consortium, Nike is slowly trying to improve the working conditions on subcontracted factories and hopefully in 10 years, they would be able to re-establish themselves as a morally acceptable company. Nike could have observed the ethical and social guidelines of how an organisation should be managed. They should not have hired minors under 16 to work. And instead of purchasing two shoe-manufacturing facilities in the United States, Nike could have just purchased one plant and see how their operations went before thinking about purchasing another plant. When the firm finally saw success in 1980, eight years after the company was founded, and became the largest athletic shoe company in the world, they could have finally purchased the shoe-manufacturing plants in the United States and it would probably have been a success, without having the need to subcontract factories and cutting the cost of labour just to have a bigger profit. This in turn would not have caused so much negative press that the company has had to deal with so far. For future references, Nike should learn from their past mistakes and treat the subcontracted employees morally, pay them a better wage and improve their working conditions. They should also better manage their subcontracts and not just use them as proxies for Nike to distance themselves from taking any responsibility for the way their factory workers are treated. The subcontractors are considered stakeholders in the organisation and Nike, as the manager, should make it their concern as to what is happening in these factories. Bad press will take a long time to subside and what Nike can do from now is to acknowledge its past errors and become more socially responsible for the sake of their future. Colleges and universities have direct ties to the many shoe and apparel companies that contract with overseas manufacturers. Most universities receive money from athletic shoe and apparel corporations in return for outfitting the university’s sports teams with the firm’s products. What motivates them is the bad image they could be portraying when they wear the firm’s apparel. They could be seen as promoting the cause for sweatshops. The United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) organisation was formed in 1998 and led by former UNITE summer interns. The USAS staged a large number of campus demonstrations which protest against the university’s contract with Nike due to the firm’s alleged sweatshop abuses. More than 100 students demanded that the university not renew its contract with Nike and rallied outside the office of the university’s chancellor. More than 50 other universities staged similar protests and sit-ins. The reason why their activism is not widespread is because it is hard to get a viewpoint from them that does not reflect that of UNITE. It was claimed that Nike owes $2. 2 million in severance pay to workers in Honduras when two Nike factories were closed. When hounded over their exploitation of workers, Nike released a statement that they are â€Å"deeply concerned†, but cannot assume any responsibility for the actions of their â€Å"subcontractors†. In my opinion, Nike should pay the severance owed. Although they do not own the factories, they are still involved with the overall management and well-being of the workers. At the end of the day, the subcontractors are under the employment of Nike and should be responsible for the employees. Despite its controversial record on the issue of sweatshops and monitoring labour practices abroad, Nike has been the recipient of a variety of corporate social responsibility recognitions over the past several years. Many of these awards are for issues other than their labour practices abroad. They have been named as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2010 for Corporate Responsibility magazine and one of 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World in 2009. Nike has appeared to be taking actions for mishandling the sweatshop issue as well as they could have and for not adequately monitoring its subcontractors in overseas operations until the media and other organisations revealed the presence of sweatshops. They seem to have realised their mistake of not being socially responsible and are trying to make amends for their wrongdoings.

Effects that single-parenting has one children Essay

Family defined by Sara McLanahan (1994) is the basic social group united through bonds of kinship or marriage, present in all society. Ideally, the family provides its members with protection, companionship, security, and socialization. The structure of the family and the needs that the family fulfills vary from society to society. Historical studies have shown that family structure has been less changed by urbanization and industrialization than was once supposed. McLamaham (1994) mentioned in a seminar at Urban Institution Press. The nuclear family was the most prevalent preindustrial unit in the West and is still the basic unit of social organization. The modern family differs from earlier traditional forms, however, in its functions, composition, and lifecycle and in the roles of husbands and wives. The changes in family structure that children experience during their lives are not without consequences. Western societies have found that children from mother or father-absent homes manifest a number of internal and external effects including; sadness and depression, delinquency, aggression, sex role difficulties, early initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy, as well as poor social and adaptive functioning and low self esteem as reported by Princeton sociologist Sarah McLanaham (1994). Additionally children who frequently move from one residence to another, in the process of child shifting, also exhibit problem behavior. Child-shifting, a common sequel to parental absence in Jamaica, require children to adjust physically to their new environment but also, and of greater consequence, to adjust emotionally. The children of incarcerated woman, though relatively few in number, require special consideration because of the effects of this more unique type of parental separation. A recent report by sociologist Dr. Aldrie Henry-Lee found that women worried about their children’s well-being but thought their relationships with the  children were not affected. (2009) Psychologist Marinna Ramkissoon, in her research on the interaction between Jamaican fathers and their children, investigated two aspects of the father-child relationship: physical absence and psychological absence. Psychological absence refers to the father’s absence in the minds of their children based on emotional inaccessibility, lack of responsibility and indifference to the welfare of their children. Physical presence necessarily promotes psychological presence, but physical presence and psychological absence can lead to expressive rejection and greater psychological damage. As shown in Ramkissoon’s research and that of others, while the composition of the family is important to children, how the family functions to support children is more important to children’s development. Family supporting children’s development is commonly called parenting. In western society, this is largely the role of biological parents. However, in the varying family structures presented in Jamaica, and indeed in the Caribbean, the terms â€Å"family† and â€Å"parenting† have much broader contexts. In fact, Cherlin and Fursterberg (1994) state that the single-parent family is the fastest growing family structure in America. This statistic is no different from the situation in Jamaica. STATIN indicates that there is an almost 12% divorce rate in Jamaica as of 2012. This separation of unions must result in children living with only one biological parent or none at all. Furthermore, the statistics indicate that the total number of births between 2001and 2012 is525, 578 while the total number of marriages for the same period is only 264,506. This is a vague representation of the number of children born outside of marriages and possible unions. Family structure is hypothesized to directly influence children’s psychological well-being by affecting family processes, such as parent-child relationships and parental conflict, background variables, such as income, and individual characteristics, such as mother’s psychological well-being. Thus, family processes and other variables are predicted to mediate the effect of family structure on children’s psychological well-being.  Furthermore family processes are predicated to have the largest impact on children’s psychological well-being (Acock and Demo, 1994). With knowledge of the importance of family forms on children, this research has to be conducted to determine specific impacts. In conclusion, the family is the main unit in society. As you can see my sources has a different point on this topic. Sarah McLanaham found out that modern family differs from earlier traditional form, which she highlighted by indicating the change in its functions, composition and lifecycle and in the role of husband and wives. There are some effects that children from a mother or father- absence homes such as depression, delinquent, teen pregnancy etc. on the other hand Marinna Ramkisson in her research believe that there are two aspects of the father-child relationship which are: physical absence and psychological absence. Aims and Objectives The aims of the study are to: Develop knowledge regarding the concept of family, its roles and functions. Find out the factors that affect the development of children who live without one or both biological parents. Find out if children who grow up in a two-parent family with both biological parents present do better on a wide range of outcomes than children who grow up in a single-parent family. Provide evidence for the creation of effective family structures for children and families. The objectives are to: Establish the effects of single parenting on children. Determine if there is a difference between children living with one biological parent and those living with none. Introduction The family is often been regarded as the cornerstone of society. In premodern and modern societies alike it has been seen as the most basic unit of social organization and one which carries out vital tasks, such as socializing children. Most sociologists assumed that family life was evolving as modernity progressed, and the changes involved made the family better suited  to meeting the needs of society and of family members. The structure of families traditionally hinges on relations between parents and children, between spouses, or both. Consequently, there is substantial variation in family forms around the world, varying from culture to culture. The most common form of family structure in the Western World is monogamy, which is the practice of having only one spouse at a time. A variety of other family structures exist. According to Wright and Wright (1994) the family is the foundation of human society. Families are one of the strongest socializing forces in life. They teach chi ldren to control unacceptable behavior, to delay gratification, and to respect the rights of others. Conversely, families can teach children aggressive, antisocial and violent behavior. The primary function of the family is to reproduce society, both biologically, through procreation, and socially, through socialization. In the following decades, social changes seemed to be undermining traditional families. Rising divorce rates, cohabitation before marriage , increasing numbers of single parent families and single-person household, and other trends have all suggested that individuals may be basing their lives less and less around conventional families. But the question still remains â€Å"What are the effects that Single-parenting has on Children?† Problem Statement Single-parent families can no longer be viewed as non-traditional families. These families are all around us today. Children in Jamaica grow up in a variety of family structures. Single parent and two-parent families are created and recreated through marriage, divorce, remarriage, cohabitation, and birth outside marriage. Single- parent families are the fastest growing family structure in Jamaica. The effects of a single-parent home on a child’s behavior can be far-reaching and impact several areas of life, including academic achievement and social behaviors. The purpose of this research is to investigate the question the effect that single-parenting has on children. The Research Design The study will be about seeking the effects that contribute to children  living in a single family in Red Shop community. Social Survey will be used as the research method. Social Surveys are usually large-scale research projects that collect standardized data from a large cross-section of the population. The methodology used is Quantitative Research. Quantitative Research generates numerical data or data that can be converted into numbers. In terms of sampling method, Probability Sampling, to be more specific, Simple Random Sampling will be used to carry out the research. Questionnaires will be presented to collect data that is needed for the research. A Questionnaire is a number of pre-set questions that can contain open-ended, fixed choice or a combination of both types of questions. These are what will be done to find an answer or answers relating to the topic. After a careful analysis, the data will be presented in the form of graphs. Sample Selection The population of the Red Shop entails both males and females, young and old. Simple Random Sampling will be used to carry out the research. This will be the most basic way of selecting a sample. This is a subset of a statistical population in which each member of the subset has an equal probability of being chosen. The researcher will be choosing the sample from the population using no particular order or method. A sample is a subset of a population. There are ten persons in the sample. This comprises of both males and females between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five years that are single parents. . Data Collection Instrument For this study, a questionnaire will be used. A questionnaire is a research instrument consisting of a series of questions and other prompts for the purpose of gathering information from respondents. Although they are often designed for statistical analysis of the responses, this is not always the case. The questionnaire was chosen over the other types of surveys in that it is cheap, does not require as much effort from the questioner as  verbal or telephone surveys, and often has standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. Dear Sir/Madam, This is a survey carried out in the Red Shop community to determine the effect that single-parenting has on children. The information collected will play a vital role in the completion of my Internal Assessment. Of importance is that this questionnaire requires your honesty. This is not a test and there are no wrong or right answers. Furthermore, total anonymity is ensured as you are not required to give your name or address. Your responses in this survey will be confidential. Most of the questions can be answered by a tick in the box, specify instructions are given where necessary. Thank you for your time and cooperation. Questionnaire You are kindly asked to provide truthful answers to the questions below. All the information will be kept strictly confidential; as such you are not required to insert your name as a mean of protecting your identity. 1. What gender are you? Male Female 2. What age group do you belong? 19-21 22-25 3. What ethnic group do you belong? Chinese Mixed African West Indies 4. What is your work status? Employed Part time Worker Unemployed 5. What causes you to be a single parent? Divorce Separation Partner is dead Prefer to live on my own 6. What are the consequences you face as a single parent? Financial problem Emotional problem Economic challenges Social challenges 7. How do you think your child/children feels when one parent is absent from their lives? Sad Depress Unloved 8. What are the consequences your child/children face? Depression Teen pregnancy Low self esteem Early initiation of sexual activity 9. How often does your child see the other parent? Once a week Every 2 weeks Every day Never 10. Is the other parent of your child/children involved in their lives? Yes No Presentation of Data The questionnaires were issued to ten persons who live in the Red Shop community. These ten persons comprises of five males and five females. When asked for their age 60% were in the age of 22-25 years and 40% of the sample was below that age group. On the questionnaires, the following questions were asked. When ask what gender are you, twenty percent said male and eighty percent said female. When asked what some consequences your children faces are, thirty percent said sexual activity, forty percent said low esteem and fifteen percent said teenage pregnancy and depression. When asked what are some consequences they face as a single parent, majority said financial problem which is indicated by fifty percent and minor said economic problem which is ten percent. When asked what are the causes of single parents in the community eighty percent said separation and ten percent said divorce and five per cent of the sample said they prefer to live on their own or partner is dead. Analysis of Data The questionnaires were issued to ten persons who live in Red Shop These ten persons comprise of five male and five females. When asked for their age 60% of the sample was between the ages of 22-25 years. 40% of the sample was below that age group. In Figure 1, 80% of the respondents were female and 40% of these respondents believe their children have a low esteem because of the absence of one parent, (Figure 2). This could be that they see the absence of one parent as a stress in their life, also impact on their live in a negative way. Also, they see more females in the household than males. This could be  that males find the role of a father is not important in a child’s life and can not find time to express themselves the way they want to or that they find themselves to be unimportant because not many mothers in the family household need the presence of the father or the mothers may be in a visiting relationship with someone else and don’t want to invite the males. Therefore it would not be a problem for men to be in the child/children life because in most societies, it is usually the men who would provide for the family. On the other hand, there are those who do not think there is a problem with a family without one parent absent. This could be that the parent that is present can provide both economically and financially. Also, persons would find it a problem for more women being present in the family homes than men. Apart from that, 50% of the sample says that with a parent absent they are facing financial problems. From the sample it is seen that it’s the females who are going through this challenge, (Figure 2). This could be that men are less likely to work and finance their child/children than how women would. Most of these women are unemployed so they can not provide for their child/children. Therefore, most of these respondents from the sample become single mom/dad because of separation. The respondents seem to be in a visiting relationship than in a common law marriage or the child/children born wasn’t intended. Findings, Discussion of Findings and Conclusion It was found that the Red Shop Community needs to implement a program to highlight the presence of both parents in a child’s life. Sessions among males, reasoning sessions among the males and females and some fun activities that would encourage them to come to the program that will be held. Also the community needs to be more cooperative and help these people who can not afford to provide for their child/children. This allows the males in the community to feel more comfortable of expressing themselves the way they want to and not having the feeling as if they are going to be run away from the other parent. Nevertheless, it was agreeable to what Psychologist Marinna Ramkissoon, 2009 had said, there are two aspect of father-child relationship. These are physical absence and psychological absence. Psychological absence refers to the father’s absence in the minds of their children based on emotional inaccessibility, lack of responsibility and indifference to the welfare of their children. Physical presence necessarily promotes psychological presence, but physical presence and psychological absence can lead to expressive rejection and greater psychological damage. Additionally, the child/children that are living in a single parent home in the Red Shop community are likely to be face by many consequences. They also need guidance and love from both parents it is not being provided by both parents to them. According to Sarah McLanaham (1994), the changes in family structure that children experience during their lives are not without consequences. Western societies have found that children from mother or father-absent homes manifest a number of internal and external effects including; sadness and depression, delinquency, aggression, sex role difficulties, early initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy, as well as poor social and adaptive functioning and low self esteem. In conclusion, it all seems that women are more likely to be worried about their child’s well being more while the men are most likely to be rational. Women can be rational too, but they tend to overlook the logic when given a choice between the two. For some of the females, they would at least consider their child’s life important than theirs but for some males, they would not consider that because they are too busy trying to be tough. Also, it is the male that always have the money to provide for their child/children financially. Bibliography McLanahan, Sara. (1994). â€Å"Growing Diversity and Inequality in the American Family.† In R. Farley (Ed). State of the Union: American in the 1990s. New York: Russell Sage Foundation Cherlin, Andrew. (1992). Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Haralambos, M., & Holborn, M., (Eds). (2004). Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: Harper Collins Publishers Ltd.