Information and computer technology on banking Essay Example for Free

Information and computer engineering on banking EssayFor over a decade, the rapid advancement in information and parley technology has significantly affected the banking industry. The banking sector has embraced the use of technology to serve its clients faster and also to do more with less. Emerging technologies rescue changed the banking industry from paper and branch based banks to digitized and networked banking services. Unlike before, broadband internet is cheap and it makes the transfer of data easy and first-year. Technology has changed the accounting and commission system of wholly banks. And it is now changing the way how banks are delivering services to their customers. However this technology comes at a cost, implementing all this technology has been expensive simply the rewards are limitless. The banking sector was one of the first to embrace rapid globalization and benefit significantly from IT development. The technological revolution in banking started in th e 1950s, with the installation of the first automated bookkeeping machines at banks. This was well before the other industries became IT savvy.However, in Bangladesh the revolution started in 1990s. Present Status A good enactment of technology driven services are provided to the customers by the Private Commercial avows (PCBs), Foreign Commercial coasts (FCBs)and Nationalized Commercial Banks (NCBs). The FCBs operating in Bangladesh like Standard Chartered Bank and HSBCare the pioneers to introduce technology driven banking facilities. Thesebanks provide services like ATM, debit card, credit card, Point of Sale (POS)services, internet banking, resound banking, any branch banking, ElectronicFund tape transport (EFT).Along with these services Standard Chartered Bank isproviding KIOSK service to its customers. Among the local banks, the PCBs are ahead of the NCBs in providingtechnology driven banking services. A limited number of technology drivenservices are being provided by th e private Islamic banks in Bangladesh. For sending foreign remittance NCBs and some PCBs are working collaboratively with mobile phone service operators. Application of computer based services in BangladeshElectronic Fund Transfer (EFT), SWIFT and MICR cheque are being provided by all the banks. All the banks except Uttara Bank are providing any branch banking to the customers. All banks kick in debit card facilities for their clients except Citi Bank NA. First Security Islami Bank Limited, Uttara Bank Limited and Citi Bank NA have no own ATM booth. First Security Islami BankLimited is going to establish their own ATM booth. They have already selected the palce for 100 ATM booth and expect to launch within very short possible time.

Peter Paul Rubens Essay Example for Free

Peter capital of Minnesota Rubens EssayThe most sought-after painter in Yankee Europe during the seventeenth century, Peter Paul Rubens, was also a diplomat, linguist, and scholar. His dramatic artistic style of the seventeenth century is now called baroque, a term manifestly derived at a later time from ornate jewelry set with irregular pearls. At its most exuberant, the baroque involves restless motion, startling color differentiates, and realistic clashes of light and shadow. Rubens was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to Jan Rubens and Maria Pypelincks.Born the son of a lawyer and educated at a Jesuit school in Antwerp, Flanders, Rubens learn classical and modern languages. He spent the years 1600 to 1608 studying and working in Italy. Returning to Antwerp, he continued to travel as both courtier and painter. His retell visits to Madrid, Paris, and London allowed him to negotiate treaties while accepting royal commissions for art. One of Rubens major innovations in procedur e, which many later artists have followed, was his use of small oil studies as compositional sketches for his large pictures and tapestry designs.Rather than merely drawing, Rubens painted his modelli, or models, thereby establishing the color and lighting schemes and the distri hardlyions of shapes simultaneously. Rubens managed a very large studio in Antwerp, training many apprentices and employing independent colleagues to help execute specific projects. Among his mature collaborators whose baroque works are on view in the National header of Art are Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens, Jan Brueghel, and Frans Snyders. Rubens style tremendously influenced baroque painters throughout Europe, even those such as the German-born Johann Liss who had no documented contact with the master.Liss The Satyr and the Peasant, for instance, is Rubensian in its lively gestures and telling expressions. Painted during the 1620s in Italy, it illustrates a tale from Aesops Fables in which an immortal satyr helped a peasant find his way through a winter storm. The goat-legged creature was astonished when the man put his chilled hands to his mouth to warm them. In thanks for the satyrs guidance, the peasant invited him home to eat. The satyr was further perplex when the man blew on his spoon to cool the hot soup.The satyr jumped up in disgust at human hypocrisy, proclaiming, I will have postcode to do with someone who blows hot and cold with the same breath The Fall of Man Rubens copied many of Titians paintings. Part of Rubens greatness was due to his eager study of primarily masters and his ability to combine their techniques with his own style. The Fall of Man is an interesting example of a work after Titian, that is very close to the original but in which Rubens has changed some details. The red parrot in the tree is not in Titians painting.The colors in Rubens painting are more yellowish and Rubens has in truth improved Titians painting by giving Adam a more natural pose. In fact, Adam looks a lot like Rubens himself. When Rubens made this painting, he had just met his second wife-to-be, Helene Fourment. She was only 15 years old at the time. Adoration of the Magi Religious paintings were fashionable during the time of Peter Paul Rubens and were nearly unceasingly reverential. Adoration of the Magi is a good example of how delivery boy was expected to be venerated in art.A painting of 99 inches by 133 inches, Adoration of the Magi is an oil on canvas painting that features a group of figures, who are waiting in turn to pay homage to the newly born Jesus. It is painting that was created by Rubens in 1616 and 1617. The Power of Christ The Virgin Mary is depicted holding up Jesus as an elderly magus kisses the babys feet. Rubens clearly shows that Jesus is no normal child, as quite apart from the large group of people who have come to see Christ, the infant Jesus is seen touching the head of the elderly magus as a sign of acknowledgment of the old man s devotion.Rubens also adds power to the image and of Jesus himself, with the ethnic mix of the visitors. This suggests that the men have traveled from many different part of the world to witness seeing the baby Jesus and are not all, in fact, magi. The age of the men and the way they are dressed indicates men of power, and, consequently, their minuscule adoration of Christ gives the work an added weight. Though the expression of the figures in the painting are almost universally serious, there is one man who appears to be pull a face and acts in a way many adults would normally act on seeing a baby.The Virgin Mary, thus far, looks very serious, almost severe, but she is concentrating on Jesus not coming to any harm, as he is standing upright to receive the line of visitors. The Propaganda Element As with most religious paintings of the early seventeenth Century there could be said to be an element of propaganda in Adoration of the Magi, as it is really showing the power of the Church. It is painting that is saying that however powerful leaders may be, the Church is more powerful than any earthly empire. The fact that there is little light in the painting gives it an bloodline of mystery, as one wonders if some figures are deliberately hidden.Some of the visitors to the stable are also partly hidden by other visitors. The horse to the go forth of the painting infers that animals are also part of the kingdom of God. Adoration of the Magi currently hangs in the Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lyon, France. VENUS IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR Peter Paul Rubens presented his Venus in Front of the Mirror as the ultimate symbol of beauty. She is aware of the viewer in a mirror that frames her face like a portrait. Great play is made of the sensual reproduction of her skin and silky hair, which is further enlivened by the contrast with the dark-skinned maidservant.The few costly accessories, otherwise decorative additions to elaborate clothing, emphasize the figures nakedness. The sensual qualities of the painting are created by Rubenss subtle painterly approach. He alternates sketchy brushstrokes, pull over the ground like a transparent veil, with compact areas, painted in great detail. One particularly attractive feature of the picture is the contrast between the goddesss encounter with the viewer, which seems to occur almost by chance, and the representation of her beauty, as if conceived for a spectator.The mirror that Cupid holds up for the goddess reveals an additional level of meaning the construction of Venus, which reveals her beauty to the viewer, becomes a symbol of painting that competes with nature to produce an image that is as real as possible.

Influence of Money and Media on Elections

Influence of Money and Media on ElectionsDuring elections, electoral networks drive the every vote counts campaign, notwithstanding the voter appeal is lost due to the high value placed in high-proficiency media and the conniving, slick participation groups that use propaganda to persuade voter turn-out. There lie down numerous problems in the world of political science. Nasty campaigning and slamming ones opponent have become a commonplace in todays society. The root of these distinct problems doesnt stem at a time from the scenes themselves, but rather the subject field committees for the Re worldly concernans and Democrats that represent them. The bills which is spent by the massive institutions to their partys candidate in each election is overwhelming, but also impacts the public persona which is seen through the exorbitant and high-priced media campaigns that seduce public interestThere are very specific rules that are governed rigidly regarding campaign financing. in time the major national committees for the Republicans and Democrats have found ways around this system. The campaign financing rules are simple. Individual people are permitted to give $1000 per candidate per election, whereas interest groups are allowed to donate up to $5000 per candidate per election. In comparison to the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by both major parties, these are relatively small amounts of money. These national committees of the major parties use non-federal accounts to accumulate what is known as indulgent money. There are no limits on how much a party can fall at local levels for grass roots party building. The money in the non-federal regulated accounts is funneled to states, which are used to endorse or bash one of the candidates. to each one major political party spends soft money in places where they have available seats in office and where they know they can retain them. This allows them to master more political influence in Congress. If a party feels they cannot steal a seat from the other party, the committee is less likely to spend soft money to keep up. The significance of this is that the candidate who spends the most money often wins. Though the large corporations and interest groups are the source of the influence, the political candidate is the daring that the American people see to represent their party. This reality has caused voters to doubt whether their individual vote even counts. With each election, more Americans feel that the ultimate cause of who wins is dogged by the amount of political wealth and media attention they have acquired.The solution to the problem is simple reform of the laws which govern campaign financing. While the answer whitethorn be simple to achieve, the solution is quite a different story. The major parties control the lawmaking body of the United States. Many of these congressmen owe their political postal service to what is known as soft money. This soft money comes from in terest groups and major corporations leaving the legislators in a very tough position. However if they were to reform the laws, the roles of these interest groups and the money of these corporations would be greatly diminished. It would provide a level playing field in all congressional districts around the nation.Eliminating soft money from politics would be to restore purity in a sense to the political process. Reforming the laws would ensure that political parties can not influence elections through money. It would also hamper interest groups and large corporations from controlling large aspects of todays government. For instance, the new law could set limits on how much money can be spent on idiot box and radio advertisement. When this amount of money has been reached, the candidates could use no more political money for this type of advertisement. By the same token any amount of money could be spent on pamphlets and brochures. Educating voters on the issues and specific candi dates stance on those issues is more alluring than oppressing and berating ones political opponent through media advertisement. This would allow the American people to decide based mainly on the issues presented, not through biased media influence.Campaign finance reform is a very hot topic. It seems that many people are jumping on the bandwagon hoping for some good press when a law is finally passed. With our most recent 2008 election, the candidates were undoubtedly fighting for votes in a close election, since the two of them set a record in soft money spent during an election. We need to fight to make politics just about prevalent issues and leadership once again and take our country back from large corporations and interest groups that have assumed control through their large resources and persuading media influence.

Adaptive Value Of Homosexual Behavior Sociology Essay

Adaptive Value Of Homosexual Behavior Sociology EssayStudies into the organic evolution of pieces and fundamentally any organism in the world clearly prove that the concepts and tenets of growthary Theory argon much much complicated than the common, simple idea of selection of the fittest. The subject of manity is no different in this distinction even into forward-looking society, human fashion has been in heated debate to uncover whether it is much a result of heredity or environmental factors. Homosexuality as a biological concept and the definition I will be exploitation refers to same-sex sexual behavior between members of the same gender. Understanding Evolution, and natural selection as an extension of it, will help to clarify and comprehend how homosexuality fits into this role model of ideas. Modern evolutionary possibility incorporates some(prenominal) Charles Darwins observation that there is heritable variability in traits and that variants best suited to an e nvironment are more plausibly to be passes on (natural selection) as well as Gregor Mendels work on how that variation is inherited to further generations. Most importantly natural selection acts on pheno events which are observable and often measurable expressions of a trait (Stinson, Bogin and ORourke 824). Phenotypes are not purely a result of genes they also include (most importantly) the influence and interaction with the environment. When individuals go a phenotype that is proceedsous in an environment, often this results in an adaptation where their genes are most likely to survive and they are able to reproduce to rear alleles to the next generation (Stinson, Bogin and ORourke 7). Behaviors, as we are seeing with the increasingly developing field of Sociobiology, are often a result of both biological and brotherly comp geniusnts. As clinical psychologist Frank Muscarella points egress when behaviors commonly exhibited by humans kitty be expected to pretend brookd t o survival and reproduction in the evolutionary past those genes that influence the behavior will spread (Muscarella, Fink and Grammer 394).In regards to homosexuality, and male homosexuality specifically, this behavior fits well into this model because there is increasing cause that there are both genetic and brotherly aspects that predispose individuals to homosexual behavior. A common misconception about homosexual behavior is that it is both a lofty occurrence and it is inherently deleterious because same-sex sexual acts do not result in offspring yet the commonality of homosexual behavior in itself indicates that there is an evolutionary factor selecting for it. In reality homosexual behavior is and can be seen in countless species in the world. Biologist Bruce Bagemihl in his compilation of studies on animal homosexuality shows that homosexual behavior occurs in more than 450 different kinds of animals worldwide, and is found in e genuinely study geographic region and ever y major animal group (Bagemihl 12). Similarly biodiversity specialist R.C. Kirkpatrick in his research cataloged the geographical distribution of forms of homosexual behavior in a variety of human populations or so the world (Kirkpatrick 387). So it is safe to presume that there are other factors that play into the adaptation of homosexual behavior, some may have more of a physical evolutionary basis, while others more related to amicable evolutionary mechanisms but many theories have become potential explanations of this seemingly paradox of evolution that occurs quite often within and between species.The important distinction is that homosexuality, like many traits, isnt attributed to one model or theory. Multiple theories attempt to help to apologise how a behavior attributed to something as seemingly ironic as non generative sex contributes to an adaptive advantage in human evolution. One of the first and oldest hypotheses revolves around the theory of kin selection where se lection is made for increasing inclusive fitness by increasing the reproductive fitness of kin (since parents and siblings share fifty share of their genetic material). Another similar theory revolves around the ideas of reciprocal altruism and an adaptive advantage of homosocial behavior. Lastly, a more recent theory proposes a more physical genetic basis revolving around sexual antagonism, the theory organism that the same genes that promote homosocial behavior in males is beneficial to the reproductive potential of relatives.II) sept selection TheoryKin selection theory operates on the assumption that there is some genetic basis for homosexuality and genes for it are maintained in a population by homosexuals increasing their inclusive fitness by contributing to the reproductive success of relatives, in theory these kin would then have a better chance of reproducing and of carrying foreword genes common to both the homosexual and his kin (McKnight 129). Unfortunately I believe l ack of data has led to this supposal being prematurely discredited by many researchers. On the other hand inconsistencies and the lack of data as Ive seen is more due to the types on environments the studies are being done in. A study on the role of homosexuality in males using data from London residents found that there were no meaning(a) differences between straight and homosexual men in general familial affinity, generous feelings (willingness to provide financial and emotional resources), and benevolent tendencies (Rahman and Hull 462). However modern western and industrial societies are vastly different than the historical environments where much of human evolution has taken place. Taking into account the length of time we can track homosexual behavior has persisted, its most likely that this adaptation is a result of a specific type of environment and cultures that are more lesson of ancestral environments will likely give us a better case study. A enormous case study by evolutionary psychologists capital of Minnesota Vasey and Doug VanderLaan also tested this theory Samoan Pacific Islanders within Samoan culture there is a gender category of men called faafafine that tend to be exclusively attracted to other adult men, an excellent parallel to exclusive homosexual behavior (Association for Psychological Science). They found that the faafafine are much more altruistically wedded toward their nieces and nephews than either Samoan women or heterosexual men (Association for Psychological Science). On the surface it doesnt seem like kin selection alone is enough to jump the costs of forgoing direct reproduction, yet more and more data is proper evident that a combination of biological and social mechanisms may contribute to offset these costs. Again specialist Kirkpatrick helps us understand the forces that may be at work kin selection operates on three basic assumptions (1) that homosexual behavior reduces individual reproductive success, (2) that l ineages with homosexuals have greater reproductive success than lineages without, and (3) that homosexual behavior is typically seen in individuals of low reproductive potential (Kirkpatrick 391). The troika observation that this behavior is seen in individuals with low reproductive potential is an important aspect of our next theory.III) Reciprocal Altruism and Homosocial BehaviorAltruistic behavior is essentially any behavior of an individual that benefits another unrelated individual at a cost to its own reproductive fitness. As an extension of this, reciprocal altruism assumes that this cost is offset by the likelihood of the return benefit (Trivers 35). Applied with research on homosexual behavior there is strong evidence that this type of behavior is an evolutionary benefit for social relationships and is closely linked with survival. This theory has become known as the Alliance Theory and supposes that same-sex sexual behavior may have reinforced same-sex alliances, which co ntributed directly to survival and indirectly to reproduction (Muscarella, Cevallos and Siler-Knogl 771). An important and vital aspect of this theory is to recognize that homosexual behavior does not rebate the occurrence of heterosexual behavior. In fact as Muscarella points out individuals in many species including humans both heteroerotic and homoerotic behavior have been important social aspects for most of our evolutionary history (Muscarella, The Evolution of Homoerotic Behavior in Humans 53). Same-sex sexual behavior in humans likely contributed to survival by reinforcing social alliances by forming social ties, overall survival of members would be directly increased as well as lower status individuals increasing their reproductive fitness by gaining access to mates through a higher ranked member. Average reproductive success increases by adapting to include a top level of homosexual behavior (Kirkpatrick 389). This type of relationship can be seen in both chimpanzees and g orillas where lower status males that form same-sex alliances with higher status males both increase their survival potential and in many cases increase reproductive potential due to the higher status male allowing reproduction with female person members ( (Muscarella, The Evolution of Homoerotic Behavior in Humans 61) (Kirkpatrick 397)). Its likely that genes predisposing behaviors for altruistic behavior, which are a clear adaptive advantage especially in complex social species, are at least to a certain extent the same genes that influence homosexual behavior.IV) Antagonistic PleiotropyGenetics in particular are a complicated study because in many cases genes have multiple effect, these can be based on stages of life and even have separate effects regarding different sexes of the same species. Regarding antagonistic pleiotropy, being the concept that a beneficial effect to one group can have detrimental effects in another, there are two situations that revolve around the same co ncept. In the first theory it assumes that there is some reproductive advantage to having homosexual alleles in heterosexual or bisexual men, while at some point this becomes a disadvantage as reproductive potential passes the peak level. Likely this advantage relates to an immediate reproductive advantage by directly enhancing sex drive or some other aspect of sexual performance (McKnight 76). This creates a great environment for case studies and twin studies in particular are excellent to examine whether this is a plausible explanation. In a twin study carried out on a large number of participants heterosexuals with a non-heterosexual twin tended to have more opposite-sex partners than do heterosexual twin pairs indicating that genes trusty for homosexual predispositions likely have a reproductive benefit in heterosexuals (Zietsch, Morley and Shekar 424). Similarly, the next situation proposes that the same genes responsible for homosexual behavior in men are also responsible for higher fecundity in female relatives. Using pedigree demographics comparing both the maternal and paternal line of 98 homosexual and 100 heterosexual men and their relatives, evolutionary psychologist Andrea Camperio-Ciani found that female maternal relatives of homosexuals have higher fecundity than female maternal relatives of heterosexuals and that this difference is not found in female paternal relatives (Ciani, Francesca and Capiluppi, Evidence for Maternally Inherited Factors Favouring Male Homosexuality and Promoting Female Fecundity 2217). This along with a second study that found this trend in even first time mothers supports the theory of homosexuality as antagonistic selection where the same genes selected for higher fecundity in females promote homosexual behavior in males (Iemmola and Camperio-Ciani 393).V) ConclusionsIts obvious that the evolution of male homosexuality as an adaptation has many facets, understandably its just as complicated as any human social behavio r, but we are gaining ground on understanding the genetic and social implications of behavior and how evolution has shaped these in humans. Overall however its becoming more a more evident that the survival of a human predisposition for homosexuality can be explained by sexual orientation being a trait that is influenced by a number of pleitropic genes (Miller 45). For this reason a singular theory is highly unlikely to be sufficient to explain something as complex as homosexuality multiple theories then likely contribute to the overall model. A gene for altruism, and as an extension homosexuality, likely plays a very important role in Kin selection theory and it is also probable that sexual antagonism helps offset the cost of non reproductive behavior. No one theory will be sufficient, but with the combined perspectives and research of genetics, sociobiology, psychology and other disciplines the adaptive benefit of this behavior will become more understandable.

Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations | Paper Analysis

Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations Paper compendTask to evaluate the explore design, methods of selective information collection and out(p)line, and whatever separate ethical or philosophical issues that arise in the specified research publisher.IntroductionThis assignment will focus on the exertioning constitution entitled Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations (Bradbury et al, 2000). It will identify and analyse the research design, methodology, selective information collection and analysis contained inside the write up. thither will also be an assessment of philosophical and ethical issues as well as a comparison with other documents of a similar nature. The paper is a comparative project examining how children move in and out of want.Research DesignThe agents of this paper atomic number 18 concerned with child privation and how children in divergent countries move in and out of beggary. They importanttain that state welfargon provision operates much ef fectively to reduce child poverty when it has prior research acquaintance of what causes children to move in and out of poverty The research uses standard relative poverty definitions and examines the mobility rate of the poorest fifth of children from, Britain, the USA, Germ either, Ireland, Spain, Hungary and Russia. It is usual at the design stage of a project to decide what approach one is going to take to the research. This is because different epistemological and philosophical assumptions ar an in presentnt part of both approach to research ( Bryman, 2004). At a general take the study is an inter-societal comparison of the dynamics of poverty. Inter-societal comparisons look at the similarities and differences which countries display. Numbers of such studies countenance been under taken, a well cognize recent one of these is Esping-Andersons (1990) research into the welf ar regimes of different countries. Comparative studies have a long history in sociology, e.g. Webe rs work on religion (1930, 1965) and Durkheims work on suicide (1952). Comparative studies ar a big part of research into poverty, whether this is the traditional nonion of poverty as a lack of dispos commensurate in sum, or whether it is the more contemporary concept of social exclusion (Berghman, 1995). Bradbury et al (2000) acknowledge that they have taken a rather broad brush approach in their study and that there ar any(prenominal) problems with this, nevertheless they maintain that charting the f baseborn in and out of poverty cross nationally is useful for policy do that aims to reduce the number of children who are poor. The researchers believe that studying poverty from the vantage point of children needs microscopic or no justification because children represent a lands future. It might be argued however, that is a rather Eurocentric view and whitethorn not necessarily be held in all the countries in the study. The researchers further defend their choice of method i n the following government agencyComparisons crosswise countries put forward a reference point for assessing the results for any single country, for example whether a particular statistic is large or small. Cross-national analysis also raises provocative questions round whether differences in outcomes are due to, say, differences in policy regimes or differences in population characteristics. Of course the usefulness of crossnational analysis relies on having good information, and making information comparable may require compromises in the depth of analysis which would not be required in a single country study. (The trade-off depends on the number of countries considered.) Our paper illustrates the various strengths and weaknesses of taking a cross-national perspective (Bradbury et al, 2000, p.7-8).The pens thus express a generally held view that comparative research does have integral strengths and weaknesses, the following analysis hopes to turn out whether or not the s trengths of this research project outweigh any weaknesses it may have..Methods of Data CollectionThe primary data source for this study is circuit card data drawn from the seven nations involved. This data is largely household survey data and is thereof the income levels are those pass watern by heads of households. The researchers maintain that there study is complementary to one undertaken by Dun finish et al (1993). The studies differ in that Dun fire et als work constricts on the family as the unit of analysis whereas Bradbury et al (2000) concentrate on the child. The units of analysis are children under the age of 18. The data apparels refer to the early 1990s1 with the most recent year being 1996. The researchers want to use the data to compare poverty dynamics mingled with one year and the next, so they looked at data from two years across the seven nations. The data sets differ, with quartette countries, Germany, Hungary, Britain and the US providing data spanning fiv e years and data from Germany and the US spanning ten years. This means that whatsoever countries receive a deeper analysis than others because they collect more data. The income figures provided by households are use as the income of the child with relevant adjustments for household needs. Table 1 below gives a summary description of each of the data sets used.Bradbury et al, 2000 pps 10-11This flurry gives an overview of the data that the researchers used in their comparative study. The researchers chose the following features from which to compare the data for different countriesthe type of longitudinal survey, the period to which incomes refer, the definition(s) of income available, and two statistics summarising sample surface (Bradbury et al, 2000, p.11).The chieftain indicator of whether a child is living in poverty and how a child moves in and out of poverty are the income stones throws that are available. The researchers point out however that there are differences bet ween countries on how this is assessed i.e. whether income save is before or after any deductions for tax etc. They acknowledge that such differences have clear implications for differences in poverty dynamics but they do not elucidate what this is.2 This lessens any faith that one might have in their methods of data collection because there is no explanation of how this affects poverty dynamics. Income is recorded as net except in the case of Ireland and the US. The researchers say that net income for Britain finishnot be recorded in all cases and this causes a reduction in sample size, with possible resulting implications of difference (?).Only two countries, Spain and Russia, provide evidence of household expenditure in summing up to household income and arguably this is a weakness in the data set as levels of expenditure may differ widely from country to country and is a great indication of the distinction between absolute and relative poverty (Giddens, 2001).3 Again this mi ght evidence greater discrepancies across nations if more of such data were available and this will raise questions as to the reliability of the findings of the study.The study only uses disposable income as a measurement of poverty, In a wiz this is a step back in terms of theoretical development as Berghman (1995) has give tongue to the focus has shifted from alone financial poverty to whether a soulfulness can fully participate in the society to which they belong. This is not referred to in Bradshaw et als study and as such might be said to evidence a weakness in their choice of conceptual indicators. While the measure did work for the variables that the researchers were interested in it is nevertheless a narrow way of measuring child poverty. This is especially the case when one considers the researchers acknowledgement that they have no single comparable method of measuring income across the seven nations and this raises questions nearly the internal validity of their meth ods.Data Analysis TechniquesThe study uses quantitative data and the study is quite large victimisation household panels from seven nations. The researchers argue that this not only provides them with a cross national comparison of how and why children enter and leave poverty but also allows for any serious discrepancies between nations to be set. The number of households selected for the analysis is between 1 and 2 thousand per country (see table one above). Statistical comparisons are made between child poverty rates, their relative income levels and income contrariety. The statistics are similar to those put up in an earlier chapter but no details of this are given. Arguably, one wonders why they mention any similarities here as they thus go on to say thatthey are not fully comparable because there are differences in the definition of the income measure, the year referred to ,the sample, and in most cases even the survey (this is true in Britain, Ireland ,Spain, and the US) (Bradshaw et al, 2000, p.13).4The researchers say that they use the median income of children to measure material well being but because their data set and methodology are rather convoluted they have to explain what this is.5 Their usage of a median is questionable as they later say (p.15 ibid) that median income levels provide no guide to how incomes vary among children. Their use of arithmetical averages is also questionable as this can obscure the existence of very high and very low incomes, a fact which they also acknowledge.Their methods include the use of a statistical technique kn avouch as the Gini coefficient6 The technique is named after the person who developed it, an Italian statistician called Corrado Gini.7 The use of the Gini coefficient does tend to show whether income inequality is increasing or decreasing and so it is often used in comparisons between countries. However, its capacity to measure inequality is also determined by how disposable income is dealt with an d this information is not available. It is arguable therefore whether the use of the Gini coefficient gives an accurate representation of the data.The use of the Gini coefficient tends to suggest that income inequality for children is substantially different across the seven nations. Western Europe has lower inequality levels than do Russia and America, and there may be further discrepancies here because the Russian data also provides details of household expenditure and this is missing from the American data. Bradshaw et als (2000) findings show that with the Gini coefficient income inequality in Germany stands at 0.3 part in America and Russia it is 0.4 a rise of 10 percentage points which the motives say is larger than the overall income inequality of Britain and the United States throughout the whole of the 1980s. However, further questions are brocaded as to the reliability of the data from the US because the US Census Bureau shows that the calculation of the index of the US was changed in 1992 this led to an upward shift of 0.02 in the coefficient making comparisons after that period misleading.8Bradshaw et al (2000) claim that their major finding is a significant (but not total) uniformity in patterns of income mobility and poverty dynamics across the seven countries. The key exception is Russia, where the economic transition has led to a much higher degree of mobility (Bradshaw et al, 2000, p.6).Having said this, the authors later go on to demonstrate that rather than there being significant uniformity, there are considerable differences between the seven countries. Their findings indicate that the US has the highest rate of income inequality which affects the income mobility but as has already been indicated American figures after 1992 may be misleading. Another factor that understands their finding snarly is that the data for all countries is only available for two years, for some five and for two countries it is available over ten years, as the authors admit longer time spans significantly affect the dynamics of poverty. Income mobility is greater in those countries where the most data is available it is therefore arguably the case the only significant comparison of income mobility is that between America and Germany. The ways in which the data is analysed, is, like the rest of this paper, rather complex. It is not always easy to decide when they are talking about method and when they switch to data analysis techniques as the information tends to be rather mixed together. The complexity of this paper makes it difficult to assess what the authors may have missed in their analysis, while the authors claim a number of findings from the research there is also evidence to suggest that they could have found the contrary.ConclusionAnalysing this research paper has been a problematic task. The authors continually refer back to other papers/chapters in the collection of which this paper is a part but because they do not give enoug h information on what they are referring to it might be argued that it is pointless referring back to work that is not available for comparison. The structure of this paper is confusing it does not give clear indications as to when it goes from research design, to data collection, to analysis. Discussion of the issues is ongoing and at times repetitive. There are significant weaknesses in this paper, there is little watchword of ethics as they use secondary data analysis but by their own admission there are significant differences and discrepancies in the data and this leads to the view that the both the reliability and validity of the methodology and findings are questionable. On the positive side the researchers do recognise that there are weaknesses in the data set and that this may affect the findings. There are points where the researchers (arguably at least) make claims for their data that are difficult to substantiate e.g. that there are significant similarities between patt erns of income mobility across the seven countries. This claim does not really hold up in view of their further analysis of the data which lists the differences between countries. In sum to this much of the data relating to the US could, according to the US Census Bureau, be misleading. Finally the constant referring back to other papers without elucidating the issues does not help the researchers to make their case and their use of income as a major conceptual indicator does not really tell the reader how poverty affects the lives and well being of the children who are meant to be the focus of the research.BibliographyBerghman, J. 1995 Social Exclusion in Europe Policy, context and analytical framework inRoom, R. ed Beyond the Threshold The Measurement and Analysis of Social Exclusion University of Bristol, Policy PressBradbury, Bruce, Stephen P. Jenkins and John Micklewright (2000), Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations. Innocenti Working Paper, No. 78 Florence UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.Bryman, A 2nd ed. 2004 Social Research Methods Oxford, Oxford University PressDuncan, G.J., Gustafsson, B., Hauser, R., Schmauss, G., Messinger, H., Muffels,R., Nolan, B., and Ray, J.-C. (1993). Poverty Dynamics in EightCountries. Journal of Population Economics, 6 29534.Durkheim, E. 1952 Suicide London, RoutledgeEsping-Anderson 1990 The Three Worlds of Welfare capitalism Cambridge, PolityGiddens, A 4th ed 2001 Sociology Cambridge, PolityWeber, M. 1930 The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism London, George Allen and UnwinWeber, M., 1965 The Sociology of Religion London, Methuenhttp//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient accessed 28/4/06http//www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/ie6.htmlhttp//hampshire.edu/apmNS/design/RESOURCES accessed 28/4/061Footnotes1 This is the terminology used by the researchers see page 10 of the study2 This working paper apparently forms part of a collection of such papers on child poverty. The researchers continually refer back t o issues mentioned in other papers without elucidating what these issues are.3 Again the paper refers back to issues covered in other papers without indicating what these issues are.4 For example, the UK figures in BJM Chapter 3 (the UK is defined as Britain and NorthernIreland) are based on the Family Expenditure Survey while the results for Britain in this paper arebased on the British Household Panel Survey.5 By median income for children we mean the median of the distribution of children, ranked bythe value of equivalised income of their household (p, 15 ibid).6 This is a measure of inequality of distribution which is often used in the measurement of income levels. It is a measure between 0 and 1 where 0 corresponds to fatten equality and 1 to complete inequality7 http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient accessed 28/4/068 http//www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/ie6.htmlTen Critical Traits of convention Dynamics Article AnalysisTen Critical Traits of host Dynamics Artic le AnalysisWith the industrial revolution and latest globalisation effects, competitive nature of businesses has increased more than ever. In edict to survive in this newfangled competitive world, businesses must find solution to their problems faster and also it is more important to do their work more effectively. With that companies have identified that collaborationism or in other words, separate or police squad works will find more creative solutions for the problems that they are facing as modern day businesses. Therefore more and more companies nowadays use teams as a part of their organisational strategies.On the other hand as the Article has mentioned in its introduction, the issue is, putting some people together and expecting them to work effectively as a group would rarely work. Therefore understanding the term Group Dynamics and Group Processes and effectively get it on them in groups is becoming more important.The hold Ten Critical Traits of Group Dynamics which was written by Helene F. Uhlfelder who is a PhD holder in educational psychology has acknowledged the importance of identifying and improving the Dynamics of groups and teams in organisations in order to improve their effectiveness and performance. Further the author has introduced 10 critical traits that can be used to categorize group dynamics. Finally the member has mentioned the importance of assessing groups regularly in order to find issues that are facing groups and how those traits can be used to improve group dynamics in order to build effective teams.Main objective of this assignment is to retell the given article giving my opinion on the main argument of the article. For that task various sources will be researched including text books, online journal articles and some other web sites. And the complete article will be summarized in a critical manner giving my views on prerequisite points using the research findings and my own experiences on the subject matter.The Main Argument of the ArticleThis article mainly discusses the importance of 10 traits that have been identified by the author, which can be used to categorize dynamics of groups. match to the author these traits can be used to identify any areas that groups need to improve and areas that they are good at. The author argues that by doing so groups or teams will be able to work together more effectively and increase their performance levels.When analysing the article it can be seen that the author has successfully explained her argument more clearly with providing examples and covering many supplementary topics which are required to further clarify and make it easy to understand the main argument for the audience.Helene Uhlfelder has covered many technological terms like Group Dynamics, Group Process, and has defined the difference between Group and Team before explaining about the 10 critical traits.Although the article has explained group dynamics and group process before explaining wha t is group and team, as I believe in order the article to be more logical the author could have explained terms like Group and Team first. If the author has assumed that the readers having the knowledge about those terms then she could not have covered them later. Anyhow to begin with explaining the term group and team would be appropriate.Group and TeamThe term group is defined in the article as situations where two or more people coming together in order to achieve a common purpose. Further it is mentioned that in a group people should interact each other, depend on each other and they should have a task to realize.According to the article the team also a group, that is in a work environment. The author has mentioned various characteristics that are possessed by teams.It is and intact social system with boundaries. Therefore who is in the team and outside the team can be clearly identifiable. There is interdependency among members.Members are collectively responsible for the tasks to be performed.Operates in an organisational context and therefore members have relationship with other members of the organisation.It is obvious that the author has comprehensively explained the terms group and team using various sources and in different contexts like systems terms. exactly she has overlooked the theory of group formation, which could have added great value addition to the article. As the author has mentioned various stages during some parts of the article, it would be a necessary part to be explained.Group FormationAccording to (Luthans, 2008) there are five stages that are generally recognized as stages of group formation.Forming this stage is characterized by uncertainty and confusion. Members are testing the appropriate behaviour for the team.Storming in this stage leadership will be determined. Intragroup conflicts are common.Norming Members settle down into abidance and cooperation.Performing The group will perform the task that they were grouped.Adjou rning After the task is completed group will disband.Group Dynamics and ProcessAccording to the author either positive or negative, group dynamics exists in every group and hence teams. Although authors definition about group dynamics and processes a crisp confusing at the end of that particular section she has given a simple explanation to identify those terms distinctly.According to that group processes are simply referred to as specific processes used by group members and leaders whereas group dynamic is defined as forces and dynamics of the group as a whole.It is found in literature research that the term Group Dynamic has been defined in many different ways. According to (Forsyth, 2010) it was first defined by Kurt Lewin, as the processes of the ways groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances. According (Luthans, 2008) another view on group dynamic identifies it from the viewpoint of the internal nature of groups like how they are formed, structure and pro cesses, how groups function and affect its membersAfter explaining basic definitions and concepts the author moves her discussion into the main content of this article, the 10 critical traits.Ten Critical TraitsAccording to the author, using 10 critical traits approach it is possible to characterize group dynamics and identify issues that are pillowcased by groups. Those 10 critical traits include, safety, inclusion, free-interaction, appropriate level of interdependence, ropiness, trust, conflict resolution, influence, accomplishment, and growth. Helen Uhlfelder has explained them comprehensively using examples to make them easy to understand by the readers.Safety according to this trait team members need to feel safe within their teams and members of the team should be safe from any disruptive behaviour of other team members.Inclusion all members should be allowed to participate with equal opportunities. Everyone should be taken as members of the group and efforts should be ta ken in order to include new and quiet members.Free interaction there should not be any restrictions on which members interact with which members and every member should be allowed to interact with others. According to the author teams can become less effective when only few members are allowed to interact with the leader.Appropriate level of interdependence there should be an appropriate balance between individual needs and group needs. It is mentioned there the important of sand of belonging and affiliation that comes from being interdependence as well as maintaining individual identity.Cohesiveness members should feel as they are a part of a team. Without the attraction of cohesiveness a group can fall apart. Therefore it is very important that members having a bond or affiliation among them.Trust team members should trust each other and they should trust the leader. There should be consistency between what they say and do.Conflict resolution as any team could face conflicts at any stage there should be a way to resolve those conflicts in order to continue the team work.Influence there should be ability for team members to influence other members. They should be able to motivate each other. If there is no method to influence members through usage of requite and punishment productivity could be minimized.As the author has mentioned it is very important to make sure that influence will not be confused as control because controlling can lead to group problems.Accomplishment team should be able to complete its tasks. They should possess skills, knowledge to do their tasks. If they cannot perform their duties defeat would lead to conflict.Growth As in any situations group members should have opportunities to grow. Also as a team they should be able to learn and growth. other than boredom can result in failure in the group.When looking at those traits it is obvious that those traits in nature would help teams to achieve its goals by eliminating group is sues. But one weakness of this finding is that the author has not ranked the order of importance of these traits. Perhaps one could argue that these all could be as important. But according to my point of view some traits are certainly superior or more important than others. For example cohesiveness, conflict resolution, etc. could be more important than growth or influence, because first, the group must work together and achieve their goals. Other things like growth, etc. comes next to that.However it can be clearly said that these 10 traits would (although few traits could be more important than others) help groups or teams to achieve their goals and improve performances.Benefits of 10 Critical TraitsAccording to the author these 10 traits can help teams or groups in great ways by helping them to identify weaknesses and strength of their group dynamics.Therefore she suggests that organisations can use a form that includes those 10 critical traits in order to evaluate teams. Accor ding to the article teams can be assessed in 5 lots continuum. Also it is important to assess teams on regular basis in order to keep and improve their performance levels.As the author explains, this evaluation can be done by any person who is not in the team, given that he has required evaluation skills. Further it is noted there that this asshole can be used to evaluate a team in any development stage and find out their dynamics and processes in order to improve them.There are several steps that need to be taken after evaluation is done,The assessor should meet team members and provide reasonableness for the score that they have got for each criterion.Appropriate actions should be taken for traits that are scored below 3. Action plans can be implemented to resolve issues.Team should go along scores over 3 and reinforce them in order to retain and improve performance.Last step is to follow this procedure regularly again and again after agreed time period.As I understand this i s the most important part of this article, because this can be really used by any team in real world to improve their performances. Instructions are clearly given using examples. Therefore nobody would find any difficulties in implementing this.Ultimately through this procedure teams will be able to improve group dynamics and group processes and will be able to build mesomorphic teams and improve their performance level.But there are some drawbacks in this method itself as it has not addressed all issues that could affect the performance of groups or teams.Shortcomings of the 10 Traits MethodWhen analysing the article in depth it is clear that the author has failed to identify some of the important aspects of group and team management that are identified by other researchers and authors. Those aspects could directly affect the outcome of the group in terms of performance and effectiveness.For an example phenomenon like groupthink and groupshift that could hinder the ability of the group to come into quality decisions by evaluating alternatives objectively. According to (Robbins, Millett, Waters-Marsh, 2004) groupthink is related to the group norms. It describes that with the pressure from group to conformity group may eliminate unusual, minority or unpopular views from evaluating when making decision. Groupshift is a situation where when group arriving at a decision they could go for more risky decision as members initial positions are exaggerated toward more extreme positions.Further (Robbins, Millett, Waters-Marsh, 2004) has identified many factors that could affect group performances than the group dynamics that have been identified by the author of the article through her 10 critical traits. Size of the group, availability of resources for a group to perform, effects of social loafing, etc. could affect the outcome of groups greatly.From the shortcomings mentioned earlier it is clear that the phenomenon of groupthink could clearly contradict with cohesi veness trait that she has mentioned in the article. She has mentioned that cohesiveness as an important dynamic in performance. Without cohesiveness a group can fall apart. But she has failed to mention the cook of cohesiveness because as mentioned earlier, extreme cohesiveness can cause groupthink and ultimately affect the effective decision making in the group.ConclusionPutting some people together and expecting them to work effectively as a group would rarely work. Therefore understanding the term Group Dynamics and effectively manage them in groups is important.The author of the article has mainly discussed the importance of her 10 traits method in categorizing group dynamics in order to identify and manage any areas that a group/team need to improve or they are good at. The author argues that by doing so groups or teams will be able to work together more effectively and increase their performance levels.The article has organized its arguments in a logical manner and has introd uced many theories and concepts that need to understand the main argument of the article. Apart from few adjustments that I suggested in the analysis part of this assignment, it can be concluded that the author has succeeded in those aspects. Further the article has written in simple English that is a good point because readers will be able to understand the content of this article easily. In addition to that the author has provided lot of examples to make readers understand complex theories and concepts more clearly.When critically evaluating the article, it is found that those 10 critical traits are actually important and very hardheaded in evaluating and managing group performances except for few drawbacks that were discussed in the body of this assignment. Those drawbacks include the failure to mention some of the important aspects that could affect the performance of groups, like groupthink, the size of the group, effects of social loafing, etc.Finally it can be concluded that if any organisation follows the method that the author has suggested to evaluate group/team dynamics and manage them with taking care of the additional points that I have mentioned earlier, organisations will be able to increase performance and effectiveness of their groups/teams.

Barbaric and Cruel Childrens Songs :: essays papers

My sense of humor today was influensed by song song parodies that i sang as a child. Wether I relied it or not, much of it was satirical. Satire is my most favorite form of comedy. Unfourdunatly, sometimes I would learn the words of the sportsman before the actual lyrics. When I was in second or third grade, during a christmas vespers servise, the church started to babble Joy to the World. I was very brainsick because I knew the song, I sang Jubilatly through the first verse, but then there was asecond verse that I had never comprehend before, I did however roll in the hay another verse which went something likeJoy to the worldMy teachers DeadWe barbequed her heaadWe disembowed her bodyAnd flushed it down the pottyAnd hertz and round it goesAnd round and round it goesAnd round and round and round it goesMy mother had a diffret opinion about how the song went and as a result we had a little chat about when it was aproprae to sing certain songs, and which songs there was never an approprate time to sing. Another song in which was never an approprate time to sing was a version we three kings that made to a greater extent sense tan the actual one. When I was in elementary school orient are sounded like one word, and I had no idea where Orientar was or which star the Yonder star was, basicly the whole song was jumbled words until my third grade class was sitting at the cafateria eat tables, waiting for lunch and I heard an uproar of laughter at the bench across from me, and being a nosey third graded, as third graders are turn in to be, I absolutly had to know what they were laughing at. A little third grade boy had sung for his group of admirers the absluly most creaive, humrus thing that we hat ever heard in our entire lives or at least in the past five minutes, he sang for us a very soulful rendition of the once jibberish song about the kings from Orientare to a song where the kings smoked a loaded rubber cigar that exploded, who christmas could be so mu chfun? Little did I realise how intimately related christmas was to school. For instance, rather than decking the halls with bows of holly, we could Deck the halls with gasoline and then light a match and watch it gleam.

Gender Inequality in the 1970s Essay -- women, solutions, stereotype, g

There is no upper limit to the risks men are willing to take in order to succeed, and if at that place is an upper limit for women, they will succeed less. (Clay Shirky, 202) Shirky, the author of A Rant about Women argues that women must become more aggressive and demanding to ultimately achieve their goals. No matter how society reacts, men take on any action, bypassing the Golden Rule to achieve their goals and desires. On the other hand, women lack this procedure in their anticipate for self-promotion, as Shirky argues. However, in Chisholms speech Equal Rights for Women, Chisholm argues that the undeniable reason for gender inequality in the 1970s, was the lack of opportunities women were given in the workplace. Chisholms pedestal includes the reason women werent treated with equal respect as men, was because women werent given the chance. Both authors battle the reason for gender inequality equally demonstrating how this social problem existed only assortediating on the re asons. In this essay I will argue that Shirkys position on gender inequality is stronger based on the anecdotes he provides of women asserting themselves to become more successful additionally providing a solution for women to become more aggressive. In the 1970s, when a woman walked into an interview, she was questioned if she can type. This occurs because of the class that women usually occupy the scummyer standard jobs the less important ones, in other words. The positions women usually occupy include secretaries, librarians, and teachers, because women are viewed as incapable of deny job options such as managers, administrators, doctors, lawyers, and Members of Congress. As Shirley Chisholm declares in her speech, The unspoken assump... ...unately still exists today. Both Shirky and Chisholm work at publicizing this issue to society, however represent different reasons for why this issue exists. Shirky believes women are not as aggressive in demanding self-promotion as well as equality, while Shirley believes the root of gender inequality is the low amount of opportunities women are given in the workplace in comparison to men. While I consider Shirkys argument stronger, I still oblige with Chisholms argument based off of the job position evidence she provides. Based off both articles, women need to become more arrogant and self-seeking to rightfully demand what is theirs, no matter what the consequence. Men can do it, so why cant women? Works CitedChisholm, Shirley. Equal Rights for Women. Washington D.C., may 21, 1969Shirky, Clay. A Rant about Women. Shirky.com. Clay Shirky Blog, January 2010