Analysis of Theoretical Perspectives, Research Methodologies and Methods Essay Example

Analysis of Theoretical Perspectives, Research Methodologies and Methods Essay Example Analysis of Theoretical Perspectives, Research Methodologies and Methods Paper Analysis of Theoretical Perspectives, Research Methodologies and Methods Paper According to the Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry â€Å"postmodernism is an attitude toward the social world at the current stage of its historical development- more of a diagnosis than a theory† (Schwandt 1997, 201). Using this definition â€Å"Children and the Revolution† most comfortably fits into the theoretical perspective of postmodernism. This becomes obvious in the very first lines of the article when the author states her opinions in terms of the current social atmosphere (Craig 2006, 125). More evidence of this theory is found in Craig’s statement that â€Å"we have had half a sex revolution† (2006, 126). Craig seems to be presenting her ideas in this article in order to correct a social assumption that the time and effort of child rearing has become more equal among the sexes, but as her study shows, it has not. This research also fits best within the concept of survey research, even though the researcher herself did not perform the surveys, but used survey information collected from the Australian Bureau of Statistics in their 1997 Time Use Survey (TUS) instead (Craig 2006, 128). Considering the depth of the TUS and the breadth of the number of the individuals that completed the survey as well as the completion rate because of mandatory cooperation with government research such as this, Craig’s analysis of this data is likely to be much more complete and accurate than if she were to conduct her own survey (Craig 2006, 129). Craig’s methods seem to be a comparative analysis, or cross-case analysis (Schwandt 1997, 46). Single cases of individuals’ time spent in certain activities were collected on both male and female, and parent and non-parent participants. These reports of activities and time spent were then averaged according to group, and then compared; male vs. female, parent vs. non-parent (Craig 2006, 129). In contrast, â€Å"Time and Labour† seems to take the more or less rather raw data that Craig offers on time spent in child care for fathers and asks analyzes this a little deeper. The theoretical perspective used in this article seems to be interpretivism. Dermott takes into account the same kind of information that Craig has presented and determines that not only is there a disparity in the actual time spend in child care between men and women, but there seems to be a distinct difference in the psychological frame of mind between mothers and fathers. Dermott looks at the social constructs behind being a â€Å"good worker† and a â€Å"good father† as far as time investment in each activity (Dermott 2005, 91). This research seems to imply that, not only do fathers spend less time in caring for their children, but they do not feel that spending an amount of time equal to that of the mother is necessary for them to achieve the same degree of esteem. Though the methodology that Dermott uses could be considered the same as Craig’s since they both use direct survey-type material straight from their participants, it would be more accurate to say that Dermott is using a heuristic inquiry approach. On the surface both Craig and Dermott are investigating the same phenomenon, just on opposite ends of the spectrum. However, Dermott’s departure from simply analyzing the hours spent in childcare can be seen in such places as on pages 93-94 where she begins by stating that â€Å"Feeling responsible† was one cited reason why the men participating in the study chose to spend more time at work than with their children. Dermott’s investigation of why there is a discrepancy between the role of men and women in rearing children is what makes her work more heuristic than simply a survey. Dermott’s methods are also in contrast to Craig’s since her methodology requires a deeper, more personal look at her subjects than a collection of recorded numbers can provide. Clearly, through various quotes taken directly from her subjects, Dermott has used an interview method to obtain her research material. When comparing the two articles, Crotty’s discussion of the four elements of social research becomes quite poignant (Crotty 1998, 1). Ultimately Craig and Dermott are researching almost identical topics, though they are focusing on the different genders in the same topic. Craig’s approach expresses the discrepancy, but focuses on showing that raising children is, in fact, a major financial and temporal burden, and the women take the brunt of the temporal responsibility as well as play a major support role in the financial responsibility. She shows how this has actually evolved over the years through the change in women’s roles in society. Dermott, on the other hand, addresses the same topic, but explores the reasons behind the disparity. Interestingly enough, Dermott’s research serves as an extension of Craig’s work, though it also shows that the men have the same problem with the one-sided sexual revolution by stating that, though men are being inc reasingly expected to spend more time in child care their roles as the main support of a family have not changed enough to keep up with this trend (Dermott 2005, 92). This stands both in opposition and in explanation of Craig’s statement that though women have entered the workforce in huge numbers the expectation of them taking the majority of the domestic and child care responsibility has not changed (Craig 2006, 126). It is because of the subtleties in the development of the four elements that these two researchers could approach practically the identical topic and yet develop such different perspectives that provide unique information about the topic.

Stegoceras - Facts and Figures

Stegoceras - Facts and Figures Name: Stegoceras (Greek for roof horn); pronounced STEG-oh-SEH-rass Habitat: Forests of western North America Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (75 million years ago) Size and Weight: Up to six feet long and 100 pounds Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Light build; bipedal posture; extremely thick skull in males About Stegoceras Stegoceras was the prime example of a pachycephalosaur (thick-headed lizard)a family of ornithischian, plant-eating, two-legged dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous period, characterized by their extremely thick skulls. This otherwise sleekly built herbivore had a noticeable dome on its head made of almost-solid bone; paleontologists speculate that Stegoceras males held their heads and necks parallel to the ground, build up a head of speed, and rammed each other on the noggins as hard as they could. (They may also, secondarily, have used their heads to butt away the flanks of encroaching tyrannosaurs, though we have no objective proof of this behavior.) The sensible question is: What was the point of this Three Stooges routine? Extrapolating from the behavior of present-day animals, its likely that Stegoceras males head-butted each other for the right to mate with females. This theory is supported by the fact that researchers have discovered two distinct varieties of Stegoceras skulls, one of which is thicker than the other and presumably belonged to the males of the species. (However, some paleontologists dispute this theory, noting that such high-speed collisions would tend to be disadvantageous from an evolutionary perspectivefor example, a dizzy, concussed Stegoceras could easily be picked off by a hungry raptor!) The type specimen of Stegoceras was named by the famous Canadian paleontologist Lawrence Lambe in 1902, following its discovery in the Dinosaur Provincial Park formation of Alberta, Canada. For a few decades, this unusual dinosaur was believed to be a close relative of Troodon (which was actually a saurischian rather than an ornithischian dinosaur, and thus resided on an entirely different branch of the dinosaur family tree), until the discovery of further pachycephalosaur genera made its provenance clear. For better or for worse, Stegoceras is the standard by which all subsequent pachycephalosaurs have been judgedwhich is not necessarily a good thing, considering how much confusion still exists about the behavior and growth stages of these dinosaurs. For example, the presumed pachycephalosaurs Dracorex and Stygimoloch may have been either juvenile, or unusually aged adults, of the well-known genus Pachycephalosaurus and at least two fossil specimens that were initially assigned to Stegoceras have since been promoted to their own genera, Colepiocephale (Greek for knucklehead) and Hanssuesia (named after the Austrian scientist Hans Suess).

Application paper 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Application paper 1 - Essay Example Correspondingly, the fundamental features of the theory will be elaborated in this thesis, along with their application in the real life experiences. Criticisms of the theory will also be paid due significance in context to assess the applicability of the theory. DISCUSSION Key elements of the theory. SCT, as described by Griffin (247-250), is a universal theory within the broad framework that accounts for human communication. Precisely, SCT focuses on learning the sharing process of emotions and values in a small group, defining those as fantasies. The SCT communication is also used to observe the cohesiveness of a small group, wherein it is assumed that individuals will tend to dramatize their messages to a larger extent when confident in the group. Notably, communication is used to create a bond between small groups of people. The theory revolves around the emotions and fantasies of the people in a group wherein the conceptual framework of the theory attempts to analyze shared sym bolic meaning, which lies at the fantasy theme a person desires. The conversation begins with a fantasy of a person and continues with different opinions of the people in the group. SCT also helps to identify the symbolic reality that the member of the group shares through his/her conversation (Young, â€Å"Bormann's Symbolic Convergence Theory†). As argued by Griffin (247-250), SCT can be extremely useful to obtain critical understanding of the views and the thoughts of different persons in a group. SCT is principally based on the ideas of the member in a group who exchange their fantasies in order to formulate a cohesive group framework. The fantasies involve the emotion of the person supported by the group; it helps to understand the feeling and emotions of different individuals. Contextually, the fantasy chain can be considered as a positive response to the initial fantasy by the member of the group. It is in this context that symbolic convergence helps to form a cohesive bond and create a sense of togetherness in the group through the symbolic communication as described in SCT. The views and opinions of every individual are given emphasis based on the initial fantasy. Conceptually, SCT aids to recognize how the group associates, interacts and offers a way of inspecting small group culture. Also, this theory also makes it easier to understand who the active member is and is supporting the theme of the fantasy, building a fantasy chain (Young, â€Å"Bormann's Symbolic Convergence Theory†). A brief background of the situation. It was a normal working day when I, with my colleagues, was discussing about the upcoming salary hikes that were to be declared on the basis of our performances throughout the year. Undoubtedly, everyone in the group had great expectations and desires with the salary hike. In the middle of the conversation, one of my colleagues suddenly fantasized that with the aid of his increased salary and some help from loan facilitie s, he plans to purchase a duplex in one of the posh areas of the US within the next two years. This fantasy statement made the atmosphere in the work environment much informal, where the conversation was turning to a more comfortable level and

Health, Safety and Environmental Legislation for Engineers Assignment

Health, Safety and Environmental Legislation for Engineers - Assignment Example ISO ISO abbreviated as â€Å"International Organization of Standardization† is the world’s largest organization that develops, authenticates and publishes international standards (ISO 2010a). It was founded on February 1947 and it is a non-governmental organization that has national standard institutes of 163 countries and has its central secretariat in Geneva Switzerland (ISO 2010a). Now the question arises, what actually ISO does and how they make standards and who want to follow those standards? ISO develops certain standards for educational, industrial, business and commercial organizations that not only ensure the quality of their product but also draws a framework for the developmental activities to be performed in those organizations (ISO 2010a). These standards ensure that the products and services are high quality, safe, reliable efficient and environmental friendly. This set criteria of standards help public to get satisfied with the products and services that are following these standards and thus overall consumption and usage become more reliable and efficient (ISO 2010a). There is a long procedure for making ISO standards but we take a brief and helpful review of that. ISO develops any standard on demand and need of that standard by a stakeholder or industry sector. The proposal for the new standard is placed before a Technical committee of ISO for majority vote and further discusses this with their members in developing and developed countries (ISO 2010a). After getting positive response from every corner standard is made by technical committees that have experts from industrial, technical and business sectors. Every organization that wishes to have more efficient working environment, safer and cleaner product manufacturing, reliability and creditability uses ISO standardization and certification (ISO 2010a). ISO14001 ISO14001 is one of the standards of series of 14000. 14001 not only provides a standard for products and services to any educational, industrial, business and technical organizations but also helps them in setting a framework for environmental friendly activities (ISO 2010b). It enables organizations to develop, maintain and improve environmental management system and it is applicable to those areas of organizations that have significant impact on environment or which can control environment by their industrial or business activities. ISO14001 is an international standard that allows any organization to improve and enhance their environmental impact (ISO 2010b). Any organization that desires a certification of its environmental management system by a third party organization and want to reduce or eliminate the services causing negative impact on environment can use ISO14001 (ISO 2010b). In addition to providing environmental friendly and efficient framework activities to the organizations, there are a number of other benefits that can be achieved by organizations after getting certification of ISO 14001. ISO14001 makes organizations position stable by ensuring them reliable to stakeholders. It defines organization as innovative to customers and business partners. It helps organizations in managing their environment

Law of Tort Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Law of Tort - Essay Example 369).It is the considered opinion of some scholars that these conflicting interests do not admit of any balancing. Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights deals with the right to privacy. The right to freedom of expression is dealt with under article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Human Rights Act 1998 requires a fair balance between these two contesting needs. The presence of a serious social requirement is essential for limiting freedom of speech. All the same, UK privacy case law has been seen to favour the right to privacy. This causes substantial commercial and practical difficulties. Thus, book publishers and photo journalists face considerable difficulty in their work. Thus, in Cream Holdings Ltd and others v Banerjee and others the lower court granted an injunction. This was aimed at suppressing information regarding the corrupt practices in vogue in the Cream Holding Ltd. On appeal to the House of Lords, this decision was reversed. However, c onsiderable difficulty had to be undergone by the defendant, in order to bring these corrupt practices to the notice of the public. ... These drawbacks to the English legal system have resulted in several cases being filed against the UK in the European Court of Human Rights (Harlow, 2005, p. 128). In defamation cases, public funding is not provided. This makes it difficult for an individual, with limited means, to defend an action initiated by a multinational corporation. This was the unfortunate situation in McDonalds v Steel and Morris. This unfavourable situation has been rectified to some extent by the introduction of conditional fee arrangements. Due to this arrangement, a much greater number of people have been enabled to make defamation claims (Harpwood, 2008, p. 397). Thus, in Dering v Uris, the jury awarded a nominal amount as damages to the claimant. Dering had been a physician at the infamous Auschwitz during the Nazi regime. It had been proved that Dering was guilty of serious war crimes. However, he successfully established that some of the accusations made against him by Leon Uris, were defamatory and false. Similarly, in Plato Films v Spiedel a trifling amount was awarded as damages for similar reasons (Harpwood, 2008, p. 397). Thus, in Hamilton v Al Fayed, the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the trial court judge. The latter had not awarded costs orders against them, as per the provisions of section 51 of the Supreme Court Act 1981. An instance where a very high cost was incurred, related to that of Taylforth v Metropolitan Police Comr and The Sun Newspaper. In this litigation, the claimant had to pay around ?500, 000 as costs, for a hearing that lasted 11 days. Furthermore, a libel claim initiated by the Body Shop’s Anita Roddick, resulted in a cost of ?1 million to the claimant (Harpwood, 2008, p. 370). In Reynolds v Times

Development Needs analysis (explanation and justification)(personal Essay

Development Needs analysis (explanation and justification)(personal develop) - Essay Example It is a self-reflective process of metacognition. The evaluation of one’s skills in strategic learning is a critical part of the school curricular program. It entails the student reflecting on the abilities, strengths and weakness in the tackling of the everyday work at school. Since historical times at the invention of the formal education system, teachers used academic performance as the driving tool to determine the excellence for the students. Conveniently, this provides a framework and a record of results that reflect on the student is thinking capabilities. However, this makes the students less equipped in handling day-to-day life situations. Time to time, oral presentation in class gives a reflection of the oratory skills of the students and can be harnessed and perfected for good public speaking skills. In addition, make-up, and personal tutorials help to build the culture of critical thinking as the student are engaged in the explanation of the answers. It offers a better platform for the students to assess their personal capabilities in their academics and general mindset. The teacher can capitalize on this by asking the student a one on one question to evaluate how well they answer the questions. My learning culture is very progressive putting into consideration the previous class evaluations. I am not blowing anything out of proportion and being a victim of the Lake Wobegon effect of thinking beyond my capabilitie s. Despite not putting the best of effort due to the co-curricular activities, I still manage to register excellent scores. It has culminated from the fact that I represent the school in much of the outdoor curricular activities. I have attended student-led conferences in which I presented an article before the teachers and the parents. It gave me opportunities to reflect finally on my oratory skills that I have been practicing over a period. I had a well-prepared portfolio prior to the conference day that assisted and guided me

Inventory management at WAL-MART Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Inventory management at WAL-MART - Case Study Example It also succeeded due to its global strategies. It became the first private-sector company in the world to have employed over one million personnel. It provides large spacious, wide, neat, brightly-lit aisles and shelves stocked with area for people to look around and provide a variety of goods. The average size of a Wal-Mart store is 107,000 square feet (www.walmart.com). Each store employs about 225 people. The employees are called associates as they hold value for the company (Frat Files). The stores feature a variety of quality, value-priced general merchandise, including (www.walmart.com): Wal-Mart operates each store, from the products it stocks, to the front-end equipment that helps speed checkout, with the same philosophy: provide everyday low prices and superior customer service. Lower prices also eliminate the expense of frequent sales promotions and sales are more predictable. Wal-Mart has invested heavily in its unique cross-docking inventory system. Cross docking has enabled Wal-Mart to achieve economies of scale which reduce its costs of sales. With this system, goods are continuously delivered to stores within 48 hours and often without having to stock them. This allows Wal-Mart to replenish the shelves 4 times faster than its competition. Wal-Mart's ability to replenish theirs shelves four times faster than its competition is just another advantage they have over competition. Wal-Mart leverages its buying power through purchasing in bulks and distributing the goods on its own. Wal-Mart guarantees everyday low prices and considers them the one stop shop. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT at WAL-MART Just-in-time inventory (JIT) is the concept of only carrying as much inventory as needed to supply to customers or consumers. Many companies are using JIT to reduce inventory costs and increase gross profits (Damiano, 2005). It makes more sense for companies to use their dollars elsewhere, rather than tying them up in inventory that is just sitting in a warehouse. Wal-Mart's inventory philosophy focuses on getting the good out of the shelves and into the customers hand in the quickest and most cost efficient way as possible and Wal-Mart is a paragon of such efficiency. JIT (Just in Time) is an inventory management technique invented by the Japanese. The first users of this technique are said to be the Toyota people and to this day, this technique is being effectively used by them. The concept behind JIT is that it optimizes the production process byreducing waste and keeping negligible inventory (Epps, 1995). Inventory has a holding cost in terms of keeping the excess inventory in warehouses whose rent has to be paid thus increasing the cost of the inventory. As a retailer, Wal-Mart has been able to achieve respectable leadership by using this technique to reduce the holding costs and decreasing wastages. The most important factor in having a Just-In-Time inventory system is to have the best logistics system in place. This includes having clear transport routes,