Business Risks in the Pharmaceutical Industry Essay

Business Risks in the Pharmaceutical Industry - Essay Example Manufacturers of generic pharmaceutical products in countries like Asia and Latin America are challenging the company's patents and trademark protection. 2. Exchange rate fluctuations are a major concern for a company with headquarters in the U.K., operations in 45 countries, 64,200 employees of whom 60% are based in Europe (AstraZeneca, 2005, p. 16), 49% of sales from the U.S. and Canada, and 30 manufacturing sites in 20 countries buying and selling raw materials from different sources using a variety of currencies (AstraZeneca, 2005, p. 14), although they are minimizing this to avoid currency fluctuation effects. The company reports in U.S. dollars, so a stronger dollar will have a negative effect on its bottom line due to lower dollar revenues on sales in foreign currencies. Although AstraZeneca mitigates currency risk, it does not "seek to remove all such risks (AstraZeneca, 2005, p. 155)." The company, with a $1.1b fixed interest rate debt, is exposed to interest rate risk due to fluctuations in market interest rates. By converting fixed interest debt to floating rate (AstraZeneca, 2005, p. 91), every one hundred basis point (on e percent) rise in interest rates means the company pays $11m more. 3. Uncertainties of developing new products from the Research and Development (R&D) pipeline affects not only AstraZeneca but the whole pharmaceutical industry, which spends an estimated $1 billion over at least ten years to launch a new drug (KPMG, 2005, p.6), which includes losses incurred in developing drugs that do not even reach the market. Companies need to launch new drugs to replace those with expiring patents, marketing exclusivity or trademarks (Bate, 1997, p. 230-231). 4. AstraZeneca is the 9th largest pharmaceutical company in the world (Fortune, 2005) and competes with bigger companies with more resources for R&D and marketing. It also competes with biotechnology companies developing similar products. Increasing regulations in Europe, the Americas, and Asia (Clifford and Flochel, 2005) that put caps on drug prices directly or indirectly lead to low revenues and margins. 5. The company is at risk of paying higher taxes if existing U.K.-recognized double tax treaties are revoked for any reason. Fortunately, these treaties are holding but the risk of being taxed more than once for the same revenue is real. 6. AstraZeneca had a product liability scare in 2004 with Crestor, an anti-cholesterol drug. As the recent experience of Merck with Vioxx has shown, adverse publicity depresses the stock price and wipes out a portion of potential revenues (Bate, 1997, p. 287-288). 7. AstraZeneca's reliance on other companies for raw materials and services expose it to supply chain risks. If these third parties do not deliver, the company suffers stoppages in production, late deliveries, and lost revenues as the market switches to similar drugs. 8. The pharmaceutical i

Barclays Retail Banking in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Barclays Retail Banking in India - Essay Example Analysis of Environment 5 1.1. PEST Analysis 5 8 1.2. Industry Life Cycle 8 2.0. Competitive stance of Barclays in India 9 2.1. Porter’s Five Forces 9 Section 2 13 2.1. Scale and Scope 13 2.2. Analysis of Strategy 14 2.3. Evaluation of Sustainability 15 References 17 Bibliography 21 Introduction After realising the potential of the emerging markets, many internationally operating business institutions have shifted their focus from developed economies to developing economies, such as China, Russia, and India (Raman, 2009). Following the trend, Barclays Bank Plc, which is by its origin an England-based financial institution, decided to expand its business in India in the year 2006. Conversely, the organisation had already entered the market almost 30 years before the commencement of retail banking in the economy (Barclays, 2011). The paper focuses on the business environment of Barclays Bank Plc in India and services rendered by the company in the economy. With this concern, the paper discusses the macro-economic factors existing in the Indian Banking Sector through PEST analysis. It also intends to identify the strategic alliances adopted by the company with the assistance of Porter’s Six Forces analysis and evaluate its appropriateness in overcoming the challenges existing in the economy. With the objective to analyse appropriateness of the strategies adopted by the company, the discussion of the paper presents a comprehensive outlook of the current status of the industry in the economic region. It also represents the various facts regarding the strategic behaviour of the company. Section 1 1.0. Analysis of Environment 1.1. PEST Analysis Political Factors The Indian political system has a great influence on the commercial sector of the economy. The current scenario of the political environment in India possesses few advantages and disadvantages which in turn can affect the banking sector to a large extent. For instance, the economy possesses a wel l-structured regulatory framework to control commercial banking and on the contrary a high inflationary rate which is most likely to have an effect on the growth of the banking industry (The Times of India, 2010). Moreover, in the current fiscal year the government of India have subscribed to recapitalise the public sector banks in order to assist them in achieving a target of 15% in terms of outstanding loans (Scribd, 2011). One major reason which can be identified in this context is the growing concern of the political leaders in the economy to improve the financial market trends with an objective of stimulated economic growth. This reformation will certainly make the competition fiercer in the market and thus affect the operations of Barclays in India. Economical Factors The GDP rate of the economy is recorded to continuously increase and currently figures around 5.75% (as was recorded in March 17th 2011). According to the economists, the economic growth rate shall persist to inc rease in the next few years (Ganesh, 2011). The interest rate of the economy is forecasted to continue on a high percentage (i.e. 5.75%). However, the inflationary rates of the economy are also recorded at an increase with 9.30%. Interest Rates of the economy currently figures to 5.75% and thus reflects a challenging business environment (Ganesh, 2011; Trading Economics, 2011). The economic situation of

Culture of the Penan Tribe

Culture of the Penan Tribe The review that I would like to made among the 5 tribes that acted by the Bruce Parry is the Penan tribe. First of all, I would like to introduce briefly about the character of Bruce Parry. Bruce Parry is an activist that venture into the most remote area of Sarawak state in Malaysian Borneo. He believes that the only ways to knows more about the culture anthropology and knowledge for a tribe is to have a participant observation in his fieldwork. Participant observations mean that living within a given culture for an extended period of time, and take part in its cultural daily life in all its richness and diversity. The Penan is a nomadic aborigine that roved on the land of Sarawak Borneo and some other parts on Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan. Nowadays, the number of Penan had officially stated approximate to 10,000 people and around 350-500 of them are nomadic that scattered over Ulu Baram, Limbang, Tutoh and Lawas of Sarawak. (Figures retrieved from: http://www.survival-international.org) The present Penans are consisted with settled, semi-nomadic and total nomadic communities that fully depend on the forest products. In Penan society, the natives are highly developed in an egalitarian society and little gender division. It means that the social stratification among the man and women are almost equal. For instance, the man and women shared most of the chores among them. Such as, gathering the forest product and extracted sago from the sago palms, but they are still some part of chores that dominated by male, for example, hunting in the forest. Penan is a group of native that practiced the ritual of Molong which means that never take more than necessary. The majority of the Penan natives are work as nomadic hunter-gatherers. The nomadic Penan usually moves in group that consisted approximately 40 people included children and old people. They do not stayed for a long time in a particular place. The period of time that they stay is depend on the resources at the place that they stayed and when the resources became fewer, they will choose other suitable places and moved again. The nomadic Penan native that lived in the forest was very much depending on their traditional diet-Sago that starch from the Sago palm. Once, the Sago palms are matured and fully grown, the sago palm trees will be cut down. The leader of the collecting sago palm will make sure an amount of sago starched is enough for each family and kept adequately for their supply. After that no more sago palm will be chop down until they are ran out of food. Besides that, the Penan native also preys on wild animals like wild boars, mouse deer and monkeys. The hunters hunt by using a blowpipe, made with the Belian wood and carved out with a bone drill. The poison darts that they used are made from the sago palms tree bark and on its tip; the Penan dipped it with kind of powerful poisonous latex that extracted from a tree from the forest. However, the Penan natives also cultivate the planting of paddy and domestic animal breeding for their own foods not for sales. Furthermore, I would like to discuss briefly about the Penan culture. Culture can be defined as a learned behavior in any particular society includes those ideas, techniques and habits which are passed on by one generation to another in a sense, a social heritage and which are virtually a set of solutions to problems that, in the course of time, others have met and solved before. (Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philp Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard, and Andrew Webster, 1987, page 11) The nomadic Penan move in groups and they have their own clan territories, the groups are consisted of a family of five or six members and some family even consisted of 30 people. The nomadic Penan will leave their old selap (huts) and move to another domain of forest when their sago supplies are exhausted. The majority of the roofs are tarpaulins and there are seldom roof made by giant palm leaves. In the aspect of material cultures, only Penan elders dress in traditional dress, which called chawats means that the loin cloths, and wearing large holes in their earlobes. Nowadays, the Penan natives are making the tattoos by themselves which is almost like prison tattoos. Only few Penan now go in barefoot, most of them are wearing cheap plastic boots with rounded studs to protect their foots. In addition, I would like to discuss about the Penan traditional weapons that are used for hunting. For example the Penans blowpipes which is used for hunting wild animals. The another name for blowpipe is called keleput, are approximately 6 feet long and made from one solid piece of iron wood. Secondly, the process of making the Penan poison darts is cutting off the bark of the tajem tree to extract milky latex that is warmed over a fire to produce the poison. The poison darts can cause lethal arrhythmias to the animals. Blowpipe darts are made from palm fronds with light weight. Darts with metal tips which cut from tin cans are used for bigger size wild animals like deer and bearded pig. The last weapon used by Penan hunters is knives. The Penan hunters are carrying two knives. The first knife is called a poeh, is large and machete-like. The second knife is called darhad which is much smaller than peoh and is used for cutting meat, whittling blowpipe darts and fine work. Both knive s are carried close together with the Penan hunters. Besides that, in the aspect of religion believe for Penan native, the Penan have been converting their animism belief to Christianity since in the 1930s. According to the functionalist Emile Durkheim, religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden beliefs and practice which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them. (Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn, 2006, page 390) However, some of the Penan native still having a strong believe in myths and spirits. The Penan leaders still practice the ritual of blood pacts with neighboring tribe when doing the political agreement. The ritual of blood pacts was believed that anyone who breach of this pact will cause to vomiting of blood and a violent death. Moreover, in the aspect of economic for Penan native, most of the Penan are work as a hunter gatherer in forest and selling the main resource of the forest which is sago. The economy can be defined as a system of production, distribution, and consumption of resources, including the cultural belief that supports economic processes. During the colonial times, the British government will arrange trading missions called tamu close to the forests of the Penan to offered forest products like damar (now used in eco-paints), rattan mats and baskets, rhino horn, gaharu wood (or eagle-wood), wild rubber, monkey gallstones (for Chinese medicine), bills of hornbills, and deer antlers. These items were traded for manufacturing goods like knives, cooking pots and shotguns. None of these forest products are now abundant, but many Penans will sell surplus meat to logging camps. The Penan native also sold the high quality gaharu from gaharu tree but that can take years to accumulate. Gaharu is used a s incense, for medicinal and religious purposes, and as a perfume in the Middle East countries. For the division of labor for Penan, the man will always go for hunting and the woman will generally gather the sago from the sago palm tree and do the house chores. The pattern of economic subsistence for Penan native is foraging and horticulture. For instance, they are foraging in groups for wild plants and hunting for wild animals like wild boar and mouse deer. However, some Penan hunter still practicing the pedestrian foraging which means that the hunters are diversified hunting and gathering on foot. For the horticulture, they also rear some chickens, pigs, and monkey outside their house. The Penan native also having symbolic interactionism when they are hunting inside the forest. According to the principal ontological claim of symbolic interactionist is that reality is not immutable or fixed but is constantly being recreated or achieved through the meaningful interaction of individuals. (Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philp Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard, and Andrew Webster, 1987, page 521) Symbolic interactionism means that the interaction among people, how people use symbols in communication and interaction to establish meaning, develop their view of the world, and communicate with one another. The Penan natives have their own forest sign language. For example, a bent twig stuck in the trail may simply delivering the direction of the hunter is going. The complex arrangements of cut twigs, sticks and folded leaves means that delivering the message to the Penan native about anything from the state of the hunting locally to the others hunter whether they are in go od mood or not. Furthermore, the Penan native also facing social changes in the Penan society. In general terms social change refers to the changes in the nature, social institution, social behavior or social relations of a society, or other social structures. According to Barbara Marliene S. Mary Ann A. Schwartz (2006) social change was defined as the time when external events happened, such as war and conquest and culture contact and diffusion, or environmental factors or internal events, such as innovations, invention and population shifts. For instance, in Penan society, the Penan native was influenced by the cultural diffusion from western, such as wearing t-shirt and jeans, cooking pot and cups made from western and lastly some of the hunter are using shotgun for hunting instead of using the blowpipes. The collective action also occur among the Penan natives toward the government when the logging company keep on cutting of the tree in Penan forest without paying any compensate and development to the Penan area. For example, many blockades were set up in attempt to stop logging operations on their land. Unfortunately, the efforts were hard to carry on and the situation turns bad with vast scale of clashes between the indigenous community and the state supported logging company. The Penan native also facing social changes because of the the geography and climate. It is because, the Penan natives is dealing with the survival problems inside the forest. Their food becomes hard to attain and the inhabited environment was contaminated because of the serious logging happened in Penan forest. These kinds of situation makes their natives life in the jungle becomes tough and unease. So, the member in the group is keep decreasing due to migration. Migration refers to the movement of people into or out of a geographical area (Barbara S Mary A, 2006). So, in future, many youngsters who grew up in the nomadic group will choose to move out from the community and headed to the life style in the city. It is because the young people rather choose a spouse from the city than they own people that stayed in the group. In the aspect of development in Penan society, the Penan native did not want any development from the government to them and they just want their own traditional life remains. According to Hunt, E. F. Colander, human being appears to be basically conservative and the human mind and personality are so constituted that once people beliefs, attitudes, and patterns of behavior, they have difficulty in changing them. (Hunt, E. F. Colander, D.C. 2005, page 90) The statement above have shown that why the Penan natives reject the development from government. However, the logging company which could bring development and economic rises to the country have also cause a lot of negative impact to the Penan natives. For instance, the poorly planned logging trails had caused the issues of earth erosion, landslides and the silting of watercourses happened. The situation had affected the functional relation among the Penan and the forest. The big trees which were removed had cause the Penan native hard to gather and hunting for their foods. Lastly half of the habitat of Penan native was being demolished. In the aspect of family in Penan society, the Penan natives are having closure group of marriage, it means that the Penan native will only married each other which is in their own tribe. According to Murdock, family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults. (James Fulcher, John Scott, 2007, page 447) Most of the family in Penan society is nuclear family and extended family. Nuclear family refers to a domestic unit composed of a man and woman in a stable marital relationship, with their dependent children, and the extended families refer to where more than one generation of husbands and wives cohabit with their offspring. (Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philp Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard, and Andrew Webster, 1987, page 253) Most of the family member in Penan was built in extended family where the Penan natives live and work together inside their huts. In the aspect of gender in Penan society, gender can be defined as a term that has psychological or cultural rather than biological connotations. If the proper terms for sex are male and female, the corresponding terms for gender are masculine and feminine; these latter might be quite independent of biological sex. (Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn, 2006, page 304) The Penan natives are having their gender identity through the gender socialization. According to Ann Oakley, gender socialization is how socialization in modern industrial societies shapes the identity and behavior of girl and boys from an early age. (Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn, 2006, page 316) For instance, the Penans male when they are born they have to be a hunter-gatherer and do some rough work or learning the skill of doing rattans. The female who are born will have to do the h ouse chores with their mother and do the fine work like collecting sago or fruits. As a conclusion, the social changes have caused a lot of conflict among the Penan tribe and the government. Individual, groups, communities are reluctant to change and facing big struggle to adjust from the life style and conditions that they had used with, so many aspects in life have to be considered. At the same time the society have to differ themselves to maintain existing conditions. The Penan resists change because of their romanticized notion of traditional values and the good old days. (Barbara S, Mary A, 2006) For example, the Penan people valued their forest habitat and their traditional rituals very much and fear of losing each of them caused them hesitated to receive changes. So, the phenomenon of the Penan resistance is natural and it is common if they persisted in their objection. References: James Fulcher, John Scott. 2007. Sociology: Third Edition. United States. Oxford University Press Inc. Robert Van Krieken, Daphne Habibis, Philip Smith, Brett Hutchins, Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn. 2006. Sociology Themes and Perspectives: 3rd Edition. Australia. Pearson Longman. Tony Bilton, Kevin Bonnett, Philp Jones, Michelle Stanworth, Ken Sheard, and Andrew Webster. 1987. Introductory Sociology: 2nd Edition. Mackays of Chatham PLC, Kent. Barbara Marliene Scott Mary Ann A. Schwartz. 2006. SOCIOLOGY: 2nd edition, Making Sense of the Social World. Allyn and Bacon Pearson. Elgin F. Hunt David C. Colander. 2005. Social Science: An Introduction To The Study Of Society. James H. McDonald. 2002. The Applied Anthropology Reader. Allyn and Bacon Pearson. BBC Tribe of Penan from the website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/tribes/penan/index.shtml, retrieved at 1 April 2010 Figures retrieved from the website: http://www.survival-international.org, retrieved at 4 April 2010.

Media and the People :: essays research papers

Many tragedies, deaths and other popular actions take place everyday around the world, and we the people, count on media to cover these accounts in full detail. News articles and the media are two topics that go hand-in-hand with each other when discussing the perception of a world topic. Giving the media this power to describe the account also gives them the power to one-side any particular story. Often false accusations are made and wrong people are blamed, for no other reason than the media pointing fingers in wrong directions. The media also has the power to confuse, for as one media program might cover an account to be the blame of one man and another media program to be blame of another. The media has been given too much power with influencing the thoughts of people across the world. Take in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The war with Iraq has sparked many different views and perspectives in the media world. Such popular topics of discussion with broadcasters and reports have been: Is Busch to blame? Is the War really necessary? Is the US sticking its nose where it shouldn’t be? And so the list goes on forever and ever. With such a popular international topic such as this, the media has the power to break it down to every little aspect as long as the viewer is interested. Who is the decision maker, who is the one that chooses who is truly at fault? How do we know the media doesn’t change views based on which country its news is broadcasting in? With America at war with Iraq, do American televisions say Iraq kills 10 U.S. soldiers, while an Iraqi one states that U.S. invades country to take over?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The heart of any media article or report is in the tone, perspective, and content. Although both of these articles are one two different specific sub-topics, they are both on the same topic; and with sharing the same topic they also both share the same tone. They both share the same perspective of a guilty Iraq. As for the content; they are mostly similar except that the second article, â€Å"Pentagon: 110 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq†, is a little more enlightened towards the U.S. taking some blame. The two pieces of media material I have reviewed share many similarities yet many differences in tone, perspective and content. Both of these pieces cover basically the same topic of the war in Iraq. Media and the People :: essays research papers Many tragedies, deaths and other popular actions take place everyday around the world, and we the people, count on media to cover these accounts in full detail. News articles and the media are two topics that go hand-in-hand with each other when discussing the perception of a world topic. Giving the media this power to describe the account also gives them the power to one-side any particular story. Often false accusations are made and wrong people are blamed, for no other reason than the media pointing fingers in wrong directions. The media also has the power to confuse, for as one media program might cover an account to be the blame of one man and another media program to be blame of another. The media has been given too much power with influencing the thoughts of people across the world. Take in   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The war with Iraq has sparked many different views and perspectives in the media world. Such popular topics of discussion with broadcasters and reports have been: Is Busch to blame? Is the War really necessary? Is the US sticking its nose where it shouldn’t be? And so the list goes on forever and ever. With such a popular international topic such as this, the media has the power to break it down to every little aspect as long as the viewer is interested. Who is the decision maker, who is the one that chooses who is truly at fault? How do we know the media doesn’t change views based on which country its news is broadcasting in? With America at war with Iraq, do American televisions say Iraq kills 10 U.S. soldiers, while an Iraqi one states that U.S. invades country to take over?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The heart of any media article or report is in the tone, perspective, and content. Although both of these articles are one two different specific sub-topics, they are both on the same topic; and with sharing the same topic they also both share the same tone. They both share the same perspective of a guilty Iraq. As for the content; they are mostly similar except that the second article, â€Å"Pentagon: 110 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq†, is a little more enlightened towards the U.S. taking some blame. The two pieces of media material I have reviewed share many similarities yet many differences in tone, perspective and content. Both of these pieces cover basically the same topic of the war in Iraq.

Evolution of Community and Public Health Nursing Essay

Identify a minimum of 3 major events (or influences) in the evolution of community and public health nursing and describe how each event led to advancement of the field. For each event, describe the following: Key health issues at the time Perspectives and goals of community and public health nursing Roles and functions of community and public health nursing Community and public health partnerships at the time Event or Influence: No Child Left Behind Act signed into law (2001). Key health issues Over 50% failure rates noted throughout several states in the United States (Education Week, 2011). Perspective/goals Guaranteeing the quality of public education for all children in the United States with measures to hold schools accountable for their student’s progress by expanding the role of standardized testing (Frontline, 2013) Role/functions School nurses are affected indirectly by the heightened emphasis on accountability for achievement in public education. They actively promote and support achievement for all students in specific ways and help to provide a safe school environment (Costante, C., 2006). Health partnerships School administrators and school nurses come together to promote the well being of all children thus, promoting healthy lifestyles in order to children to perform to the best of his or her ability in school. Ensuring immunizations are up to date as well as supporting preventive screening. How did this event (or influence) advance community and public health nursing? Communication between families and the school district with the help of  school nurses increased the awareness of the importance of health goals. Communication increased with student websites. Promoted school nurse (Advanced Practiced Nurse) with the skills to provide primary health care to children of all ages in schools, thus improving the health and well being of children and adolescences (Keeton, V., Soleimanpour, S., & Brindis, C., 2012). Event or Influence: Balance Budget Act of 1997 created a new program to enable states of offer health insurance to children of low-income and uninsured families. Key health issues Children of low-income were uninsured therefore not receiving proper medical care for health screenings and immunizations as well as treatment for diseases such as pediatric diabetes (Balance Budget Act, 1997). Perspective/goals Projected to achieve gross federal Medicaid savings of $17 billion over those next five years and $61.4 billion over the next ten years from signing (Schneider, A., 1997). Role/functions Public health nurses were seen as having a vital role to achieve improvements in the health and social conditions of the most vulnerable populations (Kulobok, P.A., Thatcher, E., Meszaros, P.S., 2012). Health partnerships Coordination with other public and private programs providing coverage for low-income children. Assistance in helping families enrolling children in such programs. How did this event (or influence) advance community and public health nursing? Although this act helped budget finances for health care coverage for children of low income, it also advanced networks to promote primary care and preventive health care services also brought change in Medicare reimbursement practices (Allender, J., Rector, C., & Warner, K.,2014). Event or Influence: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Act was passed (1974) Key health issues Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is defined by the CDC as â€Å"the sudden  death of an infant less than one year of age that cannot be explained after a thorough investigation is conducted, including a complete autopsy, examination of death scene and review of the clinical history.† Perspective/goals To understand the underlying causes and mechanisms of the syndrome and provide prevention methods to reduce the risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Role/functions The role of the community and public health nurse would be to promote education for prevention and support for those who have had a loss due to SIDS Health partnerships National Institute of Child Health and Human Development focuses on the need for community resources. Coming together to develop educational programs to help with understanding of SIDS, preventions as well as risks. How did this event (or influence) advance community and public health nursing? The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Act helped provide information to the community through research and help understand risk factors thus reducing the incidences.

Best Practices for Social Science Writing Essay

When social scientists write their research papers, they usually discuss the methods that they employed in gathering and analyzing their data and the results that they were able to generate using these methods. They however seldom concentrate on the writing process itself (Cuba, 1997). Writing in the field of social science requires the use of insight and research to better understand and make concrete observations and findings about the various behavioral elements. There are many methods of conducting social science studies namely through observations, interviews, surveys and case studies. However, when one starts writing the research paper that would embody these pertinent findings, the writer usually faces the challenges that many social science writers encounter. These problems include the complexities of achieving clarity, the potential for committing biases, writing in the first-person perspective, the use of quotations and in-text citations to support the analysis, and formatting styles particular to the field of social sciences. When writing one’s own research paper, it is important for a scholar in the field of social science to have a grasp of the basic writing techniques peculiar to social science in order to produce an academic paper that is relevant, informative and worth reading. The prevalence of search engines and the use of the World Wide Web have made it easier for scholars nowadays to conduct their studies and research with ease and in an expeditious manner. The libraries and other academic centers which make available to the public the latest references has also contributed to a great extent to achieving academic quality of various writings. Complexities in Achieving Clarity Like any other field of study, effective writing requires constant practice. This entails continuous process of writing, editing and rewriting ideas and use of words to convey these thoughts clearly to the intended audience (Cuba, 1997). Oftentimes, students of social science put off writing their research paper until they have completed doing all their research and compiled their bibliography. This practice however sometimes leads to insufficient time in writing the paper itself. In order to achieve clarity when writing a social science research paper, Hult (1996) enumerated the two components that must be considered: rhetorical question and organization. The components of a rhetorical situation include 1) the writer’s purpose; 2) the writer’s persona; 3) the potential readers or audience; 4) the subject matter and; 5) the appropriate language or tone (Hult, 1996). In starting the research write-up, the writer must determine the purpose of his paper and he must be able to define it clearly throughout the entire paper. The purpose need not be complex. A simple purpose will do so long as the readers can have a grasp of what the research is all about. Writers in the field of social science must also avoid writing in the first-person persona as this will affect the objectivity of their research. Identifying the intended audience will also help the writer in deciding what specific issues to discuss and what areas to avoid. For example, a person writing in the field of political science will have to consider political analysts as his potential readers. The subject matter is the most important aspect of the rhetorical situation (Hult, 1996). A writer must carefully select his thesis statement and decide from the materials gathered what facts must be included as well as those which need not be discussed. Furthermore, the research writer might also consider providing a glossary of terms when writing on a technical subject in order to make it easier for the readers to understand the language and tone of the research paper. Omitting Biases and Avoiding First Person Writing Style It is not uncommon practice in the field of social science to write using the first person persona. Writing from the first person perspective however indicates subjectivity in arriving at one’s own research findings and this in turn diminishes the objectivity of the research. In order to be more persuasive, the writer must couch his paper from a third person perspective so as to avoid the impression that he is impelled more by his own biases rather than reporting the facts gathered from relevant data. Omitting biases should be the foremost consideration of every social science writer because this field requires objectiveness and keen understanding of the facts and data. Unlike writers in the field of literature who have unbridled discretion to unleash their feelings and emotions in their papers, social science writers are bound by their duty to report the facts as they appear and not as they think it should be. The field of social science is primarily detail-oriented and must be supported by relevant, empirical, and reliable facts. In order to avoid biases, the writer must always dwell on the facts gathered and must use relevant sources to support his findings. Primary and secondary sources play an important role in the persuasiveness of one’s research work because the extent of the credibility of a research paper is to a great extent determined by the depth of research done by the researcher to support his study. The writer must also avoid labeling his chosen population or individual participants to avoid offending the readers. When dealing with a particular ethnic group or race, it is advisable to call them as they would like to be called. In order to avoid language biases, use the terminology applicable in the research itself. For example, when reporting on a study conducted on two types of participants, it is advisable to describe them according to how they were classified in the given study provided the labels are in themselves not offensive per se. Minimizing the Use of Quotations A writer’s source material must be in the form of paraphrases and summaries. However, paraphrased materials must still be properly documented either through in-text citations or footnotes or endnotes. Hult (1996) added that putting source material in your own words will improve the flow of your paper since the paraphrased style will blend with your own writing style and will thus contribute to its consistency. Minimize the use of direct quotations. The use of too many direct quotations distracts the reader and it also minimizes coherence of the writing style. It also leaves the impression that the writer knows little about his topic and is in fact relying heavily on what others have come up with (Hult, 1996). What the writer can do is paraphrase or summarize the portion of the materials used and document it properly. If using direct quotes cannot be avoided, the following principles are helpful in incorporating them smoothly in the research paper. First, when using quotations with four lines or less in length, enclose them with quotation marks and incorporate them in the text. Second, quotes should be introduced using the verb tense which is consistent with the tense of the quoted material. Third, change the capital letter to lower case and vice versa, within the quote if necessary. Fourth, enclosed in brackets the letter or words inserted inside the quoted material to separate them from the quoted material itself. Fifth, use ellipsis to signal that a material has been omitted from the quote. Sixth, punctuate the direct quote as it appears from the original. Seventh, a period or a comma which is part of the quote should be placed inside the quotation marks. Eighth, use a colon to introduce a quote which is more than one sentence or if the introductory material prior to the quoted portion is too long. Ninth, use a comma for short quotes (Hult, 1996). Using In-text Citations to Support Analysis A researcher who intends to make use on in-text citation in his write-up should keep in mind the American Psychological Association (APA) style which requires the use of past tense or present perfect tense when referring to earlier research materials. For example, it is incorrect to say â€Å"Smith (2008) states that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  when referring to Smith’s research findings. Instead, the researcher must employ the past or present perfect tense; hence, the in-text citation should appear like this: â€Å"Smith (2008) stated/has stated that†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In-text citations must follow the author-date format under the APA citation style, e. g. , (Smith, 2008) and a complete documentation of the source must appear in the reference list. Electronic sources are cited in the same manner as citing a printed document, e. g. , (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, 2008). For sources with no date available, place â€Å"n. d. † (meaning â€Å"no date†) after the author’s last name, e. g. , (Smith, n. d. ). Formatting Expectations A writer must see to it that his paper is professional in appearance. This is not to say however that attention to format should be every social science writer’s foremost consideration. It is also equally important to confer with your instructor as to what should be the appropriate format style for the particular paper. When preparing the paper, it is best to be conservative when it comes to formatting style rather than be ostentatious and vulgar, thus making the paper look less serious and informal. Hence, margin must not be justified on both side of the page but only on the left side only. The American Psychological Association (APA) is the most commonly used citation style format in the field of social sciences. The guidelines provided under the APA provides a useful tool in writing research papers, using in-text citations and reference page and using footnotes or endnotes. Under the APA formatting style, page headers are required to be placed in the upper right-hand of every page. This page header must contain the first two to three words of the title followed by the page number. The title page should already show include the page header. A running head must also appear on the first line of the title page flush-left. On the upper half of the page, centered, the full title of the paper, the name of the writer and university or affiliation must be indicated (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, 2008). Research papers are normally comprised of the title page, the abstract (if appropriate), the main body, the references, and the appendixes (if appropriate). The abstract need not be written for short research papers but for published research reports, an abstract is always required regardless of the length of the paper (Hult, 1996). Appendix may be used to include raw data and other information that need not appear in the main body but is likewise important in the research paper. It is located after the reference page and is labeled sequentially in letters. The reference page must include all the sources used in the research paper. The sources must be in alphabetical order by author’s last name and need not be numbered. Conclusion Writing is a necessary aspect of social research (Cuba, 1997). A good research means that the writer gave great effort in collecting and organizing his data as well as in organizing his findings in a coherent and scholarly manner suitable to the academic community he intends to present his study to. In preparing the research paper, every writer in the field of social science must consider the pertinent style guides applicable. The writing process is an analytic strategy that can only be improved through practice. This necessarily means that every social science researcher preparing his paper must open to revisions. The first draft must not be the final paper. Every writer must be also be willing to take constructive criticism from his colleagues because all too often, a writer cannot see the errors of his own work unless others point them out. Letting others read your research paper will help you in assessing some of the loopholes in your own arguments. Writing in the field of social sciences is an important aspect of the research itself because the manner in which a given study is presented contributes to the persuasiveness of the one’s findings and output. As such, it is important to be familiar with the writing techniques, styles, and formats applicable in your field of research so as to avoid mistakes and errors in presenting your research. The APA citation format style is a helpful tool in the social sciences and every scholar in this field must familiarize himself this formatting to avoid the inconvenience of revising and rewriting the research paper. The social science paper must be formal as to its structure and form and the writer must avoid using first person persona that is usually employed in the literary field. The sentences must be well-crafted and concise and must clearly reflect in a coherent and thorough manner the findings of the researcher without the need of extravagant words or details. Social science research writing is a challenging task for every writer. It requires practice and hard work just like collecting the data itself. It is an inevitable part of every researcher’s academic life and it cannot be avoided. Hence, every researcher must be familiar with the format and style peculiar to this field in order to increase the success of one’s research paper. References Cuba, Lee (1997). Short Guide to Writing About Social Science (4th Ed. ). Addison-United States: Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. Gerring, John, Yesnowitz, Joshua & Bird, Stephen (2004). General Advice on Social Science Writing. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://people. bu. edu/jgerring/documents/Adviceonessaywriting. pdf Hult, Christine (1996). Researching and Writing in the Social Sciences. Boston, Allyn and Bacon. Hess, Diana (2007). From Banished to Brother Outsider, Miss Navajo to An Inconvenient Truth: Documentary Films as Perspective-Laden Narratives. Social Education 71 (4), 194-199. McDonald, Susan, MD. Social Science Writing Guide. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://www. emayzine. com/lectures/writing. htm Mullen, Carol (2006). Best Writing Practices for Graduate Students: Reducing the Discomfort of the Blank Screen. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://cnx. org/content/m14054/latest/ Przeworski, Adam and Salomon, Frank (1995). The Art of Writing Proposals: Some Candid Suggestions to Social Science Research Council Competitions. Social Science Research Council. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://fellowships. ssrc. org/art_of_writing_proposals/ Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (19 June 2008). APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved August 2, 2008 from http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/560/01/http://Web address for OWL resource. Watts, Michael. The Holy Grail: In Pursuit of the Dissertation Proposal. Institute of International Studies. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved August 1, 2008 from http://globetrotter. berkeley. edu/DissPropWorkshop/process/InPursuitofPhD. pdf

Incomplete Thought Writing Mistakes

Incomplete Thought Writing Mistakes Incomplete Thought Writing Mistakes Incomplete Thought Writing Mistakes By Mark Nichol Writers sometimes sabotage their efforts to express themselves by leaving key information out of a sentence, resulting in confusing statements. Each of the following examples suffers from obfuscation due to one of more missing words. Discussion after each sentence explains the problem, and a revision provides a solution. 1. It has been called one of, if not the best film Smith has directed. This type of error, frequently committed by professional and amateur writers alike, is the result of an attempt to create a parenthetical parallel, one that fails because the sentence lacks all the necessary elements. In most attempts of this type, an additional comma would follow film, to set off the parenthetical, but the sentence is syntactically invalid when the supposedly expendable parenthetical is omitted; the result is â€Å"It has been called one of Smith has directed.† The flaw here and in similar erroneous constructions is that the key phrase must be repeated, appearing in both the main clause and the parenthetical: â€Å"It has been called one of the best films, if not the best film, Smith has directed.† (Remove the parenthetical, and the main clause is syntactically sound: â€Å"It has been called one of the best films Smith has directed.†) 2. Lenders should proactively assess their ability and success in providing capital to minorities and their communities. The mistake here is the writer’s assumption that ability and success are parallel, but each word is merely the basis of corresponding phrases that must be extended and located appropriately: However, not only do they require distinct prepositions, but providing is the correct inflection of the verb only in reference to success, so the sentence must be further revised for it to make grammatical sense: â€Å"Lenders should proactively assess their ability to provide, and success in providing, capital to minorities and their communities.† (To avoid the parenthetical phrase, revise as shown here: â€Å"Lenders should proactively assess their ability to provide capital to minorities and their communities and their success in doing so.†) 3. The product’s naturally occurring electrolytes are significantly higher than other brands. Other brands are erroneously compared with electrolytes; the comparison should be between the electrolytes in one product and the electrolytes in other brands, so either electrolytes or a pronoun representing it, plus the preposition in, must be inserted into the sentence: â€Å"The product’s naturally occurring electrolytes are significantly higher than those in other brands.† 4. Financial institutions are no longer required to implement the rule and retain the option of including mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts. This sentence does not intend to express that two requirements for financial institutions have been lifted; the intention is to state that one requirement has been lifted, while an option has been retained. To indicate that these are separate points, the sentence should be structured to consist of two independent clauses separated by punctuation and a conjunction: â€Å"Financial institutions are no longer required to implement the rule, and they retain the option of including mandatory arbitration clauses in their contracts.† 5. Most categories show decreased totals compared to our results from last year. The equivalents here are not totals in most categories and results from last year; they are totals in most categories this year and totals in most categories last year. That equivalence is expressed simply by inserting the pronoun those and the preposition in before the phrase describing the comparison: â€Å"Most categories show decreased totals compared to those in our results last year.† 6. Machines are so much better at analyzing large volumes of data than people. The implication is that machines perform analysis of large volumes of data better than they perform analysis of people, but the point is that machines outperform people in analyzing large volumes of data; to clarify the correspondence between machines and people, simply tack a verb onto the end of the sentence: â€Å"Machines are so much better at analyzing large volumes of data than people are.† 7. Contracting teams may also want to identify contracts just below that threshold but that would be profitable if renegotiated at higher rates. â€Å"That is† or â€Å"that are† (or that followed by another â€Å"to-be† verb form), like that itself, are sometimes optional in a sentence, but if one of two corresponding phrases is preceded by such a phrase, the other must be as well: â€Å"Contracting teams may also want to identify contracts that are just below that threshold but that would be profitable if renegotiated at higher rates.† Alternatively, the sentence may be revised to convey correspondence with other wording: â€Å"Contracting teams may also want to identify contracts just below that threshold but potentially profitable if renegotiated at higher rates.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Useful Stock Phrases for Your Business EmailsDifference between "Pressing" and "Ironing"Sit vs. Set

I Am Legend Analysis Essay Example

I Am Legend Analysis Essay Example I Am Legend Analysis Paper I Am Legend Analysis Paper Essay Topic: I am Legend Novel Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a brilliant scientist, but even he could not contain the terrible virus that was unstoppable, incurable and manmade. Somehow immune, Neville is now the last human survivor in what is left of New York City and maybe the world. But he is not alone. He is surrounded by the Infected victims of the plague who have mutated into carnivorous beings who can only exist in the dark and who will devour or infect anyone or anything in their path. For three years, Neville has spent his days scavenging for food and supplies and faithfully sending out radio messages, desperate to find any other survivors who might be out there. All the while, the Infected lurk in the shadows, watching Neville? s every move, waiting for him to make a fatal mistake. Perhaps mankind? s last, best hope, Neville is driven by only one remaining mission: to find a way to reverse the effects of the virus using his own immune blood. But his blood is also what The Infected hunt, and Neville knows he is outnumbered and quickly running out of time. MY THOUGHTS. From my personal point of view for Smith to play a character thats alone throughout an entire film and to pass it off so well, he deserves a round of applause. What attracts me to the film so deeply is not just the story but the elegance of how well the film adapts and plays out. The audience are straight away emotionally connecting with Robert Neville (Smith) and i found myself striving for him to find the viral cure and some means means of civilization. The audience are teared through themes of honour, pride, passion, love, hate, determine, i felt as though i was close to shedding a tear many times throughout the film. Up until the very end of the film things got gradually worse for smith. For me the most sad but beautiful shot in the entire film is when Roberts god Samantha gets killed and smith drives off in his SUV. The camera pans out from Smith to show a spectacular view of road and cars just justifieing how alone Smith really is in the world and how emotionally, mentally and physically lonely he is. Not only is he the last man in New York but his only means of interaction that happened to be with his dog are also lost, even the most manly of men became in touch with the femanine side there. Overall i rate this film 9. 5/10, to me the only downside to the film was that i found it to be a little short in length. My favourite aspect has to be that ironic contrast of Robert Neville not only living inside New York but in Washington Square. In Henry James Novel Washington Square the characters within the novel loose everything they have and own much like Robert does. Within the novel only one character composes them self (Catherine) and strives for what she believes in. Catherine wont and doesnt let her farther take control of her. Robert Neville wont let everything destruct and leave the world to fray, I wont let this happen. Catherine and Robert share many comparisons in character and are unquestionably alike. Bear in mind I am legend was wrote after Washington Square. A definate must see film, real action, real emotional and plenty of determination. KP. Analysis The Will Smith blockbuster I Am Legend was an undeniable box office success. Having set the record for the highest grossing December opening ever ($77. 2 mil. ), it is safe to say that audiences everywhere loved the film. Yet there were many who were left feeling cold and empty with the rather incongruous ending. Why was there this sudden tangible shift in the narrative during the last 10 minutes? It wasn’t until the recent release of an alternate version of the film on DVD that those who were left bewildered in the theaters finally found the ending they had hoped for. So why was one version so much more emotionally fulfilling than the other? Hollywood executives are terrified of downer endings and this was, without a doubt, a bona-fide Tragedy. In this version, Neville (Will Smith) not only failed to find a cure, he also came to discover that he was responsible for murdering hundreds of sentient and evolving beings who were fully capable of that all important human quality love. Despondent and disgusted with himself, he could do nothing more than crumple to the floor in shameful hopelessness. http://storyfanatic. com/2008/04/08/i-am-legend-analysis/

An Introduction to Psychological Warfare

An Introduction to Psychological Warfare Psychological warfare is the planned tactical use of propaganda, threats, and other non-combat techniques during wars, threats of war, or periods of geopolitical unrest to mislead, intimidate, demoralize, or otherwise influence the thinking or behavior of an enemy. While all nations employ it, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) lists the tactical goals of psychological warfare (PSYWAR) or psychological operations (PSYOP) as: Assisting in overcoming an enemy’s will to fightSustaining the morale and winning the alliance of friendly groups in countries occupied by the enemyInfluencing the morale and attitudes of people in friendly and neutral countries toward the United States To achieve their objectives, the planners of psychological warfare campaigns first attempt to gain total knowledge of the beliefs, likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities of the target population. According to the CIA, knowing what motivates the target is the key to a successful PSYOP.   A War of the Mind As a non-lethal effort to capture hearts and minds, psychological warfare typically employs  propaganda to influence the values, beliefs, emotions, reasoning, motives, or behavior of its targets. The targets of such propaganda campaigns can include governments, political organizations, advocacy groups, military personnel, and civilian individuals. Simply a form of  cleverly â€Å"weaponized† information, PSYOP propaganda may be disseminated in any or all of several ways: Face-to-face verbal communicationAudiovisual media, like television and moviesAudio-only media including shortwave radio broadcasts like those of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty or Radio HavanaPurely visual media, like leaflets, newspapers, books, magazines, or posters More important than how these weapons of propaganda are delivered is the message they carry and how well they influence or persuade the target audience.   Three Shades of Propaganda In his 1949 book, Psychological Warfare Against Nazi Germany, former OSS (now the CIA) operative Daniel Lerner details the U.S. militarys WWII Skyewar campaign. Lerner separates psychological warfare propaganda into three categories:   White propaganda: The information is truthful and only moderately biased. The source of the information is cited.Grey propaganda: The information is mostly truthful and contains no information that can be disproven. However, no sources are cited.Black propaganda: Literally â€Å"fake news,† the information is false or deceitful and is attributed to sources not responsible for its creation. While grey and black propaganda campaigns often have the most immediate impact, they also carry the greatest risk. Sooner or later, the target population identifies the information as being false, thus discrediting the source. As Lerner wrote, Credibility is a condition of persuasion. Before you can make a man do as you say, you must make him believe what you say.† PSYOP in Battle   On the actual battlefield, psychological warfare is used to obtain confessions, information, surrender, or defection by breaking the morale of enemy fighters.   Some typical tactics of battlefield PSYOP include:   Distribution of pamphlets or flyers encouraging the enemy to surrender and giving instructions on how to surrender safelyThe visual â€Å"shock and awe† of a massive attack employing vast numbers of troops or technologically advanced weaponsSleep deprivation through the continual projection of loud, annoying music or sounds toward enemy troopsThe threat – whether real or imaginary – of the use of chemical or biological weaponsRadio stations created to broadcast propagandaRandom use of snipers, booby traps, and improvised explosive devices (IEDs)â€Å"False flag† events – attacks or operations designed to convince the enemy that they were carried out by other nations or groups In all cases, the objective of battlefield psychological warfare is to destroy the morale of the enemy leading them to surrender or defect.   Early Psychological Warfare While it might sound like a modern invention, psychological warfare is as old as war itself. When soldiers the mighty Roman Legions rhythmically beat their swords against their shields they were employing a tactic of shock and awe designed to induce terror in their opponents.   In the 525 B.C. Battle of Peluseium, Persian forces held cats as hostages  in order to gain a psychological advantage over the Egyptians, who due to their religious beliefs, refused to harm cats.   To make the number of his troops seem larger than they actually were, 13th century A.D. leader of the Mongolian Empire Genghis Khan ordered each soldier to carry three lit torches at night. The Mighty Khan also designed arrows notched to whistle as they flew through the air, terrifying his enemies. And in perhaps the most extreme shock and awe tactic, Mongol armies would catapult severed human heads over the walls of enemy villages to frighten the residents. During the  American Revolution, British troops wore brightly colored uniforms in an attempt to intimidate the more plainly dressed troops of George Washington’s Continental Army. This, however, proved to be a fatal mistake as the bright red uniforms made easy targets for Washington’s even more demoralizing American snipers. Modern Psychological Warfare Modern psychological warfare tactics were first used  during World War I. Technological advances in electronic and print media made it easier for governments to distribute propaganda through mass-circulation newspapers. On the battlefield, advances in aviation made it possible to drop leaflets behind enemy lines and special non-lethal artillery rounds were designed to deliver propaganda. Postcards dropped over German trenches by British pilots bore notes supposedly handwritten by German prisoners extolling their humane treatment by their British captors. During  World War II, both Axis and Allied powers regularly used PSYOPS. Adolf Hitlers rise to power in Germany was driven largely by propaganda designed to discredit his political opponents. His furious speeches mustered national pride while convincing the people to blame others for Germany’s self-inflicted economic problems. Use of radio broadcast PSYOP reached a peak in World War II. Japans famous Tokyo Rose broadcast music with false information of Japanese military victories to discourage allied forces. Germany employed similar tactics through the radio broadcasts of Axis Sally.   However, in perhaps the most impactful PSYOP in WWII, American commanders orchestrating the leaking of false orders leading the German high command to believe the allied D-Day invasion would be launched on the beaches of Calais, rather than Normandy, France. The Cold War was all but ended when U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly released detailed plans for a highly sophisticated â€Å"Star Wars† Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)anti-ballistic missile system capable of destroying Soviet nuclear missiles before they re-entered the atmosphere. Whether any of Reagan’s â€Å"Star Wars† systems could have really been built or not, Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev believed they could. Faced with the realization that the costs of countering U.S. advances in nuclear weapons systems could bankrupt his government, Gorbachev agreed to reopen dà ©tente-era negotiations resulting in lasting nuclear arms control treaties.   More recently, the United States responded to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks by launching the Iraq War with a massive â€Å"shock and awe† campaign intended to break the Iraqi army’s will to fight and to protect the country’s dictatorial leader Saddam Hussein. The U.S. invasion began on March 19, 2003, with two days of non-stop bombing of Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad. On April 5, U.S. and allied Coalition forces, facing only token opposition from Iraqi troops, took control of Baghdad. On April 14, less than a month after the shock and awe invasion began, the U.S. declared victory in the Iraq War.   In todays ongoing  War on Terror, the Jihadist terrorist organization ISIS – the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria- uses social media websites and other online sources to conduct psychological campaigns designed to recruit followers and fighters from around the world.

Experience paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Experience paper - Essay Example This Basilica had been here since 1718.and what makes it more interesting is the fact that Pope John Paul II had visited this Cathedral in September 1987. The next thing that I seemed to register was the beauty of this immense structure. It is known to be one of the famous landmarks in New Orleans and had steeples that majestically looked over the green of the church compound. The sculpture of General Andrew Jackson was situated just outside the entrance of the church. The floor was marked with black and white tiles of marble and was flanked on either side by the pews that held the Bible, for all those who wanted to use them. The entrance of the Basilica had the sculpture of an angel holding a bowl of ‘Holy Water’, on either side. I saw some people dip their fingers in it and made a sign of the cross on their forehead with the water. Very soon, the pews were filled with people who maintained a peaceful silence before the proceedings could begin. The participants were mos tly between the age group of 40 – 80 yrs. There were also some younger people who came to attend the service. Most of the people were dressed in formals but there was a minority who wore casuals too. In the center facing the audience, was a huge altar that was aesthetically decorated with flowers and candles on silver candle-sticks were placed on a beautiful laced altar cloth. Surrounded by scented white flowers was a huge Bible that was edged in gold. Chandeliers were lined over the pews and there were many sculptures of Apostles in addition to an idol of Jesus on the Cross. The ‘celebrant’ for the day was Father William Mastry, who began the solemn mass with the words - ‘The Lord said, â€Å"At the end of the world behold I come to do your will O’ God. Hallelujah. He requested the Almighty for forgiveness for all the sins that we have committed. A reading was done from the book of Prophet Isaiah. The next reading was from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke. The intercession was followed by a very interesting sermon by the priest about living in a world of celebrities. He explained that A celebrity is someone who is ‘famous for being known’ for things that may be good or bad. A good majority of people spend a lot of money and resources, just so they can be visible in the public eye or in the limelight. There is a constant fear in people for being ‘old news’. He states that for those who fear obscurity should take a look at Mother Mary, who was unknown and from a small place but yet, was chosen by God to bring Jesus into the world. He stated that Mary was strong enough to be obedient. Obedience means to listen, to hear†¦ Many marriages and friendships fall apart and die because people these days are not humble enough to listen to the other person. He said to give God a human face, in whatever we do and wherever we are, be it a hospital, prison or at home. Following the sermon, the mass proceed ed into the offering of ‘Bread and Wine. The bread is believed to be the body of Christ, while the wine is the blood of Christ. The priest blessed these gifts with prayer and the congregation participated by answering the prayer. After blessing, communion took place with people coming to the center in lines and receiving the bread given by the priest on their tongue. They returned with their heads bowed and continued their personal prayer of thanking God for his blessings. The things that had been used for

Statistical Analysis of Stock Indices Research Paper

Statistical Analysis of Stock Indices - Research Paper Example On the other hand, according to Pelaez (1999, 232) 'there are many ways to forecast economic series, including extrapolation, econometric models, time-series models, and leading indicator models'. For the issue under analysis in this report, the test for unit root is considered as the most appropriate tool for evaluating the given data series from the Stock indices. The methodology applied has been considered as most appropriate after a thorough consideration of the specific subject involved. A technical overview on the nuances of the unit root test is presented followed by the analysis of the Stock indices given in SPSS v14.0. This method will enable the presentation of both the theories and the practical application using reliable software to ease the process and eliminate errors. Guido (2001, 164) says that 'the composite intrinsic value measure does not appear to be an adequate measure of a stock's or portfolio's value' in his experiment to compare the US and the Australian markets. Several possible reasons are offered for this difference, including the differing market structures, the use of a different index or the use of alternate statistical tests'. In the light of the above arguments, it is clear that for the data set under analysis it is essential to use a strong statistical tool to identify the relationship between the given stock indices. Dickey-Fuller statistic tests for the unit root in the time series data. Pt is regressed against Pt-1 to test for unit root in a time series random walk model, which is given as: Pt = r Pt-1 + ut (1) If r is significantly equal to 1, then the stochastic variable Pt is said to be having unit root. A series with unit root is said to be un-stationary and does not follow random walk. There are three most popular Dickey-Fuller tests used for testing unit root in a series. The above equation can be rewritten as: D Pt = d Pt-1 + ut (2) Here d = (r - 1) and here it is tested if d is equal to zero. Pt is a random walk if d is equal to zero. It is possible that the time series could behave as a random walk with a drift. This means that the value of Pt may not center to zero and thus a constant should be added to the random walk equation. A linear trend value could also be added along with the constant to the equation, which results in a null hypothesis reflecting stationary deviations from a trend. To test the validity of market efficiency, random walk hypothesis has been tested. Unit root test has been conducted on Pt, natural log values of indices price data by running the regression equations of the following type: D Pt = d Pt-1 + ut (3) D Pt = a + d Pt-1 + ut (4) D Pt = a + dPt-1 + b t + ut (5) where, a is constant term and b is the coefficient of trend term. The null hypothesis for each is: H0: d = 0 (viii) The null hypothesis that Pt is a random walk can be rejected if calculated t is greater than the tabulated t. From the aforementioned it is clear that the test for unit root is a reliable analytical tool to test the consistency of the data series. In case of the stock market indices we are analysing, the test for unit root is a reliable tool to test the extent to which the index is speculating. The output from the autoregressive analysis for unit root test reveals that the behaviour of the stock indices it is clear that "OMXCOPENHAGEN" and "MADRIDSEGENERAL" have

Globelaztion context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Globelaztion context - Essay Example hat people have slept on the geo-economics lies, and then everyone must be ready to find out if the world is flat as the lies state without wasting time. The author also states how if found out by accident how the earth if flat. He found out the truth according to lies late February last year. Friedman (2005) has used the interview while creating a discovery channel program to justify what Indians believe about the earth being round or flat. The video is for a lecturer who is talking about the global health of two hundred countries two hundred years ago and beyond. He states that having data is not enough but it very critical to make them presentable enough that people can understand. To do so, he talks about the animation of data in real space. Using the real space animation uses different color in presenting countries. The size of the color also shows the size of the population. The speaker also talks about the life expectancy of persons in different countries. The speaker also talks about the factors that have led to the development of some countries. Again, the speaker identifies the impact of the world war to the development of many nations. The speaker has categorized the global competition of the nations in years from 1810 up to the now identifying the development strategies and the factors that affected the countries. The author also defines the closing of the economic gaps between countries and identifying factors that have contributed to the closing of the

Define and give examples of downwards, upwards and horizontal Essay

Define and give examples of downwards, upwards and horizontal organizational communication. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different forms of c - Essay Example Downward communication is the most studied form of communication in the business organization. As Downward communication is the most widespread form in organizations as those at the top have the facilities and status for instigating communication. They also have a greater require doing so and are definitely less inhibited about taking such action. at times written messages are issued by top executives to all levels of the organization. though this presents the kind of deformation that takes place when oral messages are sent down the line, employees are conditioned to believe that communications must come through their immediate supervisors. while they don't, employees quickly instigate to lose respect for the supervisors (Jeanette W. Gilsdorf; 1998). If you choose to communicate directly, there is the problem assuring that you do not alienate the layers between yourself and the person you are communicating with. You must also be careful of what you say so as not to countermand or cause confusion from what more immediate supervisors have said (Ferrell, March 10, 1998). Several writers, like Marshall McLuhan in The Medium Is the Massage, have explained how media influence the receiver's perceptions of the message. Douglas Brush asserts, "A ten-minute videotape of a chief executive officer announcing a new corporate policy imparts hundreds of times more information than an audiotape of that same message, which contains hundreds of times more information than a printed text of the message." (Brush, pp. 10-11). Downward communication moves from superior to subordinate, whether from the chairman to all employees of the company or from one superior to one subordinate. It is the main form of communication in corporations. More media carry more messages down the management chart than take them upward or horizontally combined. That is not to say that formal communications in the business organization are typically downward or even vertical. Most are horizontal. However most formal ones are downward, as one writer notes: "It is obvious that the bulk of communication in most organizations is downward--directing, instructing, explaining, and the like. The passing on of orders, policies, and plans is the backbone of managerial communication." (Jose R. Goris, Bobby C. Vaught, John D. Pettit Jr, 2000) Katz and Kahn list five purposes of downward communication: 1. Specific task directive: job instructions. 2. Information designed to produce understanding of the task and its relations to other organizational tasks: job rationale. 3. Information about organizational procedures and

Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Human resource management - Essay Example While feasibility studies for establishment of alliances find it important to discuss and evaluate the matters concerning technology, marketing, ownership and management structures; human resources is thought to be a subject that can be discussed, after the negotiations are finalized and alliance deal is signed. (Drouin, 2001). While issues of coordination between the workers and managers of two alliance partners remain unresolved, studies have confirmed that companies devote only around 4% of their time for resolving such issues. In addition, the differences between workforces of alliance partners can pose complex problems, incase people from different nationalities and ethnic background are involved. (Adler&Ghadar, 1990____________________________________________________Footnotes: For example, high failure rate has been recorded among the American expatriates, as American firms neglect specific procedures required for selection and training of their personnel, for working with international assignments Alliances and joint ventures are distinctly different in working style and management as the unitary domestic companies have particular style of management and human resources functional practice. The issues arise when people from different cultures have to undertake common responsibilities for discharging required functions and job responsibilities under a joint venture functional style. According to Shenkar and Zeira , an international joint venture can have eight different employee groups that have distinct characteristics. These would include executives from host-parent headquarters, host-parent transferees, host–country nationals, third county expatriates having foreign parents, parent country expatriates, third country nationals recruited directly by the IJV, third country expatriates having parents of host country nationality and foreign headquarters

Spatialization Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Spatialization Paper - Assignment Example The Chinese city of Beijing, is a good example of the impact that globalization has on the people and the environment. While the concept made it possible for multinational companies (MNCs) from United States and United Kingdom to seek cheap manufacturing plants owing to cheap labor costs, it has experienced a fair share of problems related to generation of immense pollution and the contamination of the environment especially from the toxic greenhouse gases emitted from the factories. For these reasons, it is important to assess the impact of contemporary globalization in the city of Beijing and determine whether it is turning the city into a meaningful region or reaping it apart. The large population in the Chinese city of Beijing is a good factor for cheap labor (Piron, 2006). Many factories are located in the city because it provides a large population of unemployment. Besides, the country does not have effective labor regulatory organizations that can push these factories to provide appropriate and standardized salaries and work conditions for its employees. Many employees are hired on contractual basis. Although these put the life of the workers at jeopardy, it provides an ample position of companies to generate huge revenues. One many factor that impart negatively on the city is the generation of pollution. Chinese cities have the worse pollution records in the world. Rapid industrialization in the cities that deals with the manufacturing industries like hey facilities, heavy industries, the cement processing, and steel works. These industries form the integral part of the country’s development agenda and the prosperity of the nation (Marginson a nd Gugielmo, 2010; Brewster et al., 2004). These industries use coal, oil and other forms of non-renewable forms of energy that generates huge amounts of greenhouse gases, which accumulates into the atmosphere. The effects of contemporary globalization have lured

Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Human resource management - Essay Example While feasibility studies for establishment of alliances find it important to discuss and evaluate the matters concerning technology, marketing, ownership and management structures; human resources is thought to be a subject that can be discussed, after the negotiations are finalized and alliance deal is signed. (Drouin, 2001). While issues of coordination between the workers and managers of two alliance partners remain unresolved, studies have confirmed that companies devote only around 4% of their time for resolving such issues. In addition, the differences between workforces of alliance partners can pose complex problems, incase people from different nationalities and ethnic background are involved. (Adler&Ghadar, 1990____________________________________________________Footnotes: For example, high failure rate has been recorded among the American expatriates, as American firms neglect specific procedures required for selection and training of their personnel, for working with international assignments Alliances and joint ventures are distinctly different in working style and management as the unitary domestic companies have particular style of management and human resources functional practice. The issues arise when people from different cultures have to undertake common responsibilities for discharging required functions and job responsibilities under a joint venture functional style. According to Shenkar and Zeira , an international joint venture can have eight different employee groups that have distinct characteristics. These would include executives from host-parent headquarters, host-parent transferees, host–country nationals, third county expatriates having foreign parents, parent country expatriates, third country nationals recruited directly by the IJV, third country expatriates having parents of host country nationality and foreign headquarters

Where Should We Look to Find the Causes of Educational Inequalities Essay Example for Free

Where Should We Look to Find the Causes of Educational Inequalities Essay In this essay, I will be attempting to explain where I believe the causes of educational inequality lie. I will be focusing on 3 of the reasons that I believe there are such deep rooted inequalities in the education system. I believe that gender, ethnicity and class have the biggest impact on inequality in education. These are the issues which I will be discussing. The statistics are daunting, as Asthana, A (2010) states: boys are falling behind girls in 11 out of 13 learning categories by the age of five and Caribbean pupils are three times more likely to be excluded than any other ethnic group. I have chosen to focus on gender, ethnicity and social class in my essay, though these are by no means the only problems within the education system. I will start by discussing gender and educational inequality. Gender inequalities in education The impact on child attainment Women have always been allowed formal education, though formal education for all children has only been an ideal since about the mid-19th century. There were always a large proportion of people of both sexes who could not read or write, and many for whom formal education never went beyond basic reading and writing and simple arithmetic. Practical skills were more important for most people. Girls in ancient Greece and Rome for example, were educated, it was normal for women to be able to read and write, though most would not have had the same degree of education as boys. For girls, learning the practical skills to run a household would have been the most important part of their education. But some women did manage to make their mark as writers; Sapphos poetry was admired more than any other poet in ancient Greece except for Homer. Girls were often educated at home, though in medieval times for instance there were schools that educated children of both sexes. And upper-class girls sometimes went as boarders to nunneries. Among the upper classes it was commonplace for girls to be more literate than boys, because reading and writing were usually regarded as effeminate pursuits, a boys proper occupation was warfare. Grammar schools were normally only for boys, and in England, universities were open only to male students, though the proportion of boys who went there was tiny compared to the number who go today. Education for girls was of a fairly low standard during the 17th and 18th centuries, but from the early 19th century in America, and the mid-19th century in the UK, it was increasingly the case that all children were expected to attend school. Although boys and girls went to the same schools, they were not in the same classes and certainly were not taught the same subjects. Girls learnt subjects such as embroidery, needlework, music and writing as it was thought more important for them to study ‘accomplishments’ rather than academic subjects. Although a lot has changed regarding the differences between boys’ and girls’ education, there are still some issues that concerns us; the gender gap for example. The gender gap is the difference in attainment with boys and girls. In recent years, there has been a lot of worrying about the growing gap in attainment between boys and girls. By the age of 5, 53% of boys had reached the expected writing level compared with 72% of girls. They then underachieve at GCSE and not as many go on to university. Even once there, they are less likely to achieve a 2:1 or a first (Asthana, A 2010). Some contribute boys’ lower attainment to the changing notions of masculinity and differing attitudes to schoolwork. As Renold, E (2001) stated, many boys learnt the hard way early in their school careers that studiousness and academic success conflict with conventional forms of hegemonic masculinity. Renold (2001) then goes on to argue that as a result of the contradictory masculinities produced by the school, the boys invented an array of strategies and techniques to avoid what were perceived as ‘non-masculine’/ or ‘feminine’ classroom behaviours and to disguise both their desire for and the achievement of, academic success. As Connell (1996, cited in Renold, E 2001) claims, when he discusses ‘gender strategies for schools’, existing patterns of gender relation can only be altered or changed by paying close attention to the ‘dynamics of masculinity’, especially the means by which alternative masculinities are construed (peer support/ collectivity) and resisted (gender and sexualised bullying). Another issue is, of course the same sex school debate. I believe that Co-educational schools are better for children as it teaches them things that are not on the curriculum. It teaches kids maturity with members of the opposite sex. We can logically conclude that members from a coeducational school are generally more understanding of their opposing sex than those who are in a single-sex school. This doesn’t apply to students who have no siblings or are in relationships. It applies to the vast majority of students with any form of schooling. A sibling only has one personality, a girlfriend or a boyfriend only possess one personality. One must be able to understand and cope with members with different personality types to be counted as mature. Also, in a co-ed school, pupils form more diverse relationships. More diverse friendship types would supposedly lead to a bigger and better social life, which is important to have for school students as they progress in life. The logic behind this reasoning is that once you are in the working force, you must be able to deal with anyone that you work with, work for and assign work to. In the real world, we are not separated from the opposite sex so why are we separated in schools? Ethnicity and Inequality in education Ethnicity and inequality of education has always been, in my opinion, a delicate subject. There’s always the possibility of appearing racist or as though discriminating in some way. Rob Meyers (1994) when talking of educational inequality states; â€Å"with the passing of slavery, equality of education was one of the rights formerly held back that was now for Black people to take advantage of. With this equal starting ground, social integration would be a realizable dream. Yet after over 120 years, equality of education had been denied to Black children, thus preventing them from the amount of financial success white children have in life after school. Through benign neglect and the goal of some to find a genetic link to race and intelligence, Black students have been railroaded into low end jobs and inescapable poverty. As Bowles and Gintis have stated, the purpose of education is to preserve the existing class structure. Since the abolition of slavery, racist whites have used the educational system to keep their thrones and to keep blacks poor. Ideas of minority inferiority are spread, and the misinformed fall into the trap of believing that race determines intelligence, using skewed test data to help support their ideas. † Although I’m sure Meyers work has some implications of truth, I don’t believe that this is all about racism and it certainly isn’t all about black children. There are ethnic minorities from all over the globe who experience educational inequality and discrimination. For example, while some ethnicities like Caribbean boys receive negative discrimination I. e. teachers thinking that they won’t perform to as high a standard as the other children, thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, other ethnicities such as Chinese girls receive positive discrimination; teachers thinking that they will be able to perform naturally higher than other students for example, thus putting added stress and pressure on the students. Though one could argue that the fact Asian girls excel is not due to positive discrimination but because their families, friends and societies value hard work, discipline and educational achievement. It is however, very important to maintain high expectations for all students, no matter the race, social background or ability. In the UK, there is evidence that points toward black Caribbean pupils being excessively moved into for lower tier maths and science exams at age 14. Strand (in press, cited in Twining 2012) has shown that black Caribbean students are the only ethnic group to be regularly under represented, relative to white students in entry to higher maths and science test tiers. Furthermore, this under-representation is not a by-product of their lower prior attainment; nor of variances in gender, social class, and a wide range of contextual variables. Strand concludes it is possible that teachers’ conclusions of black Caribbean students’ academic possibility may be distorted by observations of their behaviour as more challenging than it actually is. This may, in turn, lead to a inclination to miscalculate their academic capability (Twining 2012). While black Caribbean children (especially the males) have been consistently labelled as being the underachievers in secondary level education, research has shown that white working class males actually make up around half of the number of low achieving school leavers (Kingdom and Cassen, 2007; Cassen and Kingdom 2007, cited in Twining, 2012). As Asthana (2010) convincingly states, â€Å"Once it was a story of black and white, in which racial discrimination was a major driving force. But in tomorrows report, the story of ethnicity is a complicated one – in which poor black boys underachieve, as do those from Irish Traveller families, but poor Chinese girls overachieve; Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities see different outcomes to Indian ones; and there is a growing group of mixed race children who in themselves have complex outcomes. Other issues students from other cultures face is the need to conform to British culture. I believe that the classroom would be a more efficient place to learn if students were allowed to incorporate knowledge from their cultures into it. Or perhaps teachers should be trained to understand other cultures and to try to teach students by referring to things they may have learnt in their communities.

Examining The Philosophers Mahatma Gandhi And Socrates Religion Essay

Examining The Philosophers Mahatma Gandhi And Socrates Religion Essay As philosophers Mahatma Gandhi and Socrates have approached a moral life differently because of different perceptions held by each. Socrates was one of the great Athenian philosophers. In childhood he worked as a sculptor because he did not belong to a rich family. He is described as an ugly, poor, and unwashed man who was more concerned with moral purity than external appearance. Some of the characteristics of Socrates include ignorance, and thoughtful. Socrates was one of the influential thinkers in the fifth century whose enthusiasm to careful reasoning changed the entire enterprise. Socrates in his forties, tried to answer some of the difficult questions about the world around him. Some of the questions he asked such as what is virtue? What is justice? and what is truth? Socrates looked at these questions with a different perspective compared to other people. Socrates believed in civil obedience. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi believed in civil disobedience. Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi was from a small state in western India Porbandar, also known as Sudamapuri. Due to the sacrifices Gandhi made for Indians the people in India called him Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma means great soul and Gandhi means grocer. Grocer was Gandhis family occupation in the early days. Gandhi belonged to the religion Hinduism. Some of the characteristics of Mahatma Gandhi include patience, tolerance, and honesty. He was a shy person and never talked to anybody in his school. He was an honest person, as exemplified by a school incident. One day, the educator inspector came to his school to inspect the students education. He gave some spelling words to write down on paper. Since Gandhi misspelled the word the instructor asked him to copy the right answer from someone else. However, Gandhi did not like to copy. He never did copying in his life; these incidents represented his honest and truthful nature. Socrates and Mahatma Gandhi not only differed in personal characteristics but they als o have a different perspective in trying to answer difficult question about the world around them. For instance, in order to gain rights Socrates follows civil obedience and in contrast Mahatma Gandhi follows Civil disobedience. In comparison to Mahatma Gandhi Socrates tried to answer the difficult questions about the world in different ways. Socrates questioned people about the world around them and on the other hand Gandhi made some philosophical quotes in order to help Indian people gain their rights in India. For instance, Socrates has a foundational place in the history of ideas in spite of not having written anything. He is considered one of the philosophers who have altered how the philosophy itself is envisaged. Socrates did not write anything because he believed that knowledge is something which is living and a thing that can be shared by interacting with people. The method of Socratic philosophical inquiry consisted in questioning people and proving to them that their original assertion is wrong and making them work through questions into a contradiction on the positions they have asserted. Plato was the student of Socrates who has written the book The Apology of Socrates. In Greek the title is cal led Apologia Socratous. It is the oldest existent document of Greek Philosophy. With the title, many readers refer to it as an apology however the title is ambiguous because in Greek apologia means defense. Socrates simply defends the way he lived his life but does not apologize for anything he has done during his lifetime. In the text The Apology of Socrates the Socrates says First, then, its right for me to make my defense, Athenians, against the first of the false accusations made against me and against my first accusers, and then against the later ones and the later accusers. Many have accused me before you, and have done so for a long time now, though they didnt say anything thats true (43b). In 399 BC Socrates was charged of refusing to recognize the gods which was recognized by the state and for corrupting the young Athenians. In other words, people believed that Socrates was trying to corrupt young Athenians about god. He was stood before a jury which consisted of five hundred people of his fellow Athenians. In the text, he is defending himself in front of 500 Athenians saying that many people have accused me, but no one said anything which was true. With the Socratic Method he offended many great powerful Athenians. Since he created a lot of powerful enemies they brought him to trial thinking that they could make him beg for mercy. It did not work out but instead Socrates ended up insulting the jury by elucidating how ignorant they are, Socrates was mean, ugly, and outspoken but like Mahatma Gandhi he always wanted to be truthful. Socrates looked at the things in the world differently compared to other people. In the trial for the life of Socrates he astounded the listeners by being found guilty and destined to death in spite of his energetic defense. In the text The Apology of Socrates the Socrates says And so, members of the jury, you should be optimistic about death and think about this one truth, that no harm comes to a good man in life or in death, and his problems are not neglected by the gods (65d). Since Socrates held different perceptions about the world. He says that nothing can harm a good man neither in life and death. After hearing both sides the jury asked the members to vote on the guilt of Socrates. Since a lot of people voted for him that he was guilty he was sentenced to death. Socrates was given a chance to determine his penalty but Socrates wanted to be punished for his actions. Therefore, the jury sentenced him to death. According to Athenian law, they prescribed him to drink a cup of hemlock. Hemlock is like poison. While dying he believed that dying now and escaping from the problems was good for him. On the other hand, Gandhi was not like Socrates. He was calm, thoughtful, and observant. After finishing his studies, he returned to India for a short period of time. Again he went to South Africa because he was unable to obtain a job in India. At first, he traveled in the train, because he was not prepared for the racial intolerance. Since his color was black he was thrown out of the train. An incident in the train shaped his actions for years. During that period of time British controlled South Africa. He was abused, and all Indians suffered similar treatment. Gandhi stayed in South Africa for twenty one years to fight for his civil rights and won many concessions for his fellow Indians. He believed that if they can gain rights with nonviolence then why be violent and harm others and ourselves. In order to fight for truth and gain rights he gave rise to Satyagraha. Satyagraha is divided into two words which Satya and agraha. Satya means truth and agraha means to follow the principl es of truth. Satyagraha was a tool used for nonviolence and civil rebelliousness which is the appropriate methods for obtaining political and social goals. In the text Mahatma Gandhi- Selected Political Writings the Gandhi says Satyagrahi does not inflict pain on the adversary; he does not seek his destruction. A Satyagrahi never resorts to firearms. In the use of Satyagraha, there is no ill-will whatever. Satyagraha is pure soul-force. Truth is the very substance of the soul. That is why this force is called Satyagraha (52). According to Mahatma Gandhi a person who is Satyagrahi does not harm the opponent with violence. Since Mahatma Gandhi believed in non-violence he gave rise to satyagraha and ahimsa. In the book Mahatma Gandhi-Selected Political Writings Mahatma Gandhi also says Our shastras seems to teach that a man who really practices ahimsa in its fullness has the world at his feet, he so affects his surroundings that even the snakes and other venomous reptiles do him no harm (40). The word Ahimsa symbolizes non-violence. In the soul of every human being there are many things that we have to fight against such as fear, ignorance, anxieties, and stress. But according to Gandhi the outer fight should be avoided. In the Bhagavad-Gita the holy book which belong to the religion of Hinduism. Lord Krishna asked Arjuna to fight in order to deracinate ignorance. However, fighting is necessary only on some occasions when it is the explicit will of god. According to the text any person who practices ahimsa w ith truthfulness nothing can harm them not even harmful creatures such as snakes and reptiles. If a person is a follower of ahimsa then the person should love their enemy. Ahimsa is non-violence but also includes truth and courage. During the lifetime of Socrates he questioned people about the world around them and died because of his ignorant behavior. Socrates chose death because he did not wanted to break the law of the city and also held a belief that since he was a good man nothing can harm him. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi fought for the rights of Indian people without spreading violence and practicing Satyagraha and Ahimsa. He did not die of ignorance instead he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse. He killed Gandhi because according to him Gandhi was betraying India by negotiations with Pakistan to stop the war which was going on. He was the great soul that will live among Indians. Both Socrates and Mahatma Gandhi not only differed in personal characteristics but also they have a different perspective in trying to answer difficult question about the world around them. Socrates was ignorant but he always believed in truthfulness as Mahatma Gandhi. Both philosophers approached a different moral life. Gandhi died for the people and Socrates died because he wanted to without breaking the law of the city.