Observers Paradox

Introduction The observer’s paradox is also known as the Hawthorne effect in social sciences. In sociolinguistics, it was first coined and observed by William Labov when he studied variation and style in speech. He designed the famous sociolinguistic interview meant to get information about language.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Observer’s Paradox specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this interview, he emphasized on four structural parts that the interviewee was requested to do. The first was to read a list of minimal pairs; which was followed by reading a list of words in isolation. Thirdly, the interviewees were required to read aloud a short narrative; and finally engage in a conversation about their lives. This paper aims to analyse issues that arise from observer’s paradox and attempt to present ways that sociolinguists can minimize their impact. Observer’s paradox is sues Observer’s paradox as a problem lies in the process of investigating language style and usage among individuals through speech collection. In the process, a sociolinguist sets out to account in the best possible way about the variations occurring between what people say against what they believe they say. Interviewees perceive that their intelligence is being sort, and hence they alter their speech to suit these notions. As a result, the sociolinguist as a field expert faces the problem of non-reality. He cannot discern whether what the interviewee is real or not hence the idea of unknowable. A double bind situation occurs since what the sociolinguist wants to know can only be known through observation which is subject to change. The interviewee speech performance is influenced by the presence of the interviewer hence observer’s paradox (Crowley, 2007). The observer’s paradox issue has repeatedly been the subject of scholarly interest in ethnographic lingui sts. This has especially been in the study of language sensitivity in the social situation context. The sociolinguist who is also an interlocutor forms a critical component in the process since he is responsible for the interactional role. A sociolinguist can only collect targeted speech on a daily basis in order to obtain reasonable amounts for analysis. This is meant to overcome observer’s paradox. The interviewer can only engage fully in the conversation as a participator at the lowest level. This means that his social relationship in the process allows for the most minimal effect to the linguistic data collected (Meyer, 2005). There needs to be an effective strategy laid down in the form of roles and procedures that outline what the interaction roles are for the interviewer. As a fact, the team interviewer contradicts this role hence the name interlocutor. His relationship with the social group under investigation needs to be present before any interpretation of any lingu istic behaviour is explained to seek for certain senses.Advertising Looking for critical writing on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The observer’s paradox also throws into light the question of social class between the interlocutor and the informant. In cases where the two are of unequal status, the informant takes the higher side and thus this influences the information collected. This results to information that reflects self-importance or even looks down effect unto the interlocutor hence any attempt to analyse the data results to wrong conclusions (Stockwell and Trask, 2007). In cases where the interlocutor is of higher social status, the effect to the informant would be either that of aspiration to illustrate same social status to that of the interlocutor’s or one that is too affected by inferiority effect. In these two scenarios, the interlocutor does not have the best information to analyse la nguage in the social group since already it has been affected by his presence. Another issue that arises in the observer’s effect is the problem of bilingual social groups. In such social groups, it is very difficult to maintain an interactional conversation between two people due to the process of code switching. Informants keep on switching to the other codes available hence this becomes a challenge to the smooth flow of the desired speech language. At times, both the interlocutor and informant are of the same social group and ethnicity. In this case, code switching is influenced by the need to fulfil the cultural demands of politeness hence promoting code switching. Again this problem is aggravated by the problem of status equality between the two persons (Wei, 1994). The issue of age is also another observer’s paradox area of concern in the field interview. The informants have their own views about age. If an interlocutor is of a lower age than the informant, chanc es of false linguistic data collected are high. This is even compounded by issues in gender variations. The informants and the interlocutor may influence the responses in the conversations to suit a certain gender hence observer’s paradox effect. The informants may think that the interlocutor is interested in studying their knowledge hence they may give misleading data that result to flawed analysis of the language in the social context (Crowley, 2007). Education is also an issue that is raised in the process of a sociolinguistic interview. Speakers who have lower levels of education differ significantly when compared with those with high levels of education. The education level of the informant and that of the interlocutor may at times be very different hence promoting a situation where the informant’s responses are impacted greatly.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Observer’s Paradox specifically for you for only $16. 05 $11/page Learn More The interlocutor at the same time may despise an informant who has very low levels of education. This may create an unnatural relationship between the two. This leads to production of unnatural speech that does not qualify to the intentions of the process of sociolinguistic study of language variations in social groups. The observer’s paradox comes into play when the cultures of the informant and the interlocutor are at extreme ends. In this case, the informant may find it difficult to interview a culture that is superior just as it would be to maintain professional equality when dealing with one that is lower than his (Aarts, and McMahon, 2006). The other regards ethnicity in the sense that different ethnic languages may pose problems to an interlocutor interested in collecting linguistic data. This problem is seen in the context of social relationship or rapport that the interlocutor must create in order to set out a conversational sett ing for effective collection of data (Crowley, 2007). Sociolinguists have attempted to minimize the effect of observer’s paradox trough different techniques and measures. Arising issues from such techniques include ethics in the process among others. Ethics means refers to accepted codes and standards of procedures in behaviour in a given set up or society. Informants who give misleading information leading to incorrect recordings breach the ethics of truth and honesty at all times. The data analysed forth from such recordings becomes flawed due to such issues in the process on the part of the informant or interlocutor doing it knowingly (Kastovsky and Arthur, 2000). Any attempts to collect data using hidden recorders breaches the questions of ethics since a sociolinguist cannot get any data secretly in his research. The speaker must know at all times that he or she is being recorded otherwise it becomes illegal in any part of the world. The fact that the informant is a frien d or family does not give the right to record them secretly. This is because it only leads to breach of trust resulting to damaged relationships. The attempt to decrease the effect of observer’s paradox emanates from the desire to present quality work rather than quantity. This means removing the human informants in the process of research, of which it is not possible (Stockwell and Trask, 2007). Another issue an interview related to observer’s paradox concerns the questions and how to ask them. The process of interviewing is guided by questions that are structured to get the most natural display of linguistic data. Interviewers must learn the questions that must change the interview to the friendliest of all. The interviewer must thus keep in mind that besides being a researcher and a fieldworker he is also a speaker and a hearer in the conversation.Advertising Looking for critical writing on linguistics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The interviewer must thus use strategies like volunteering personal experiences, reacting and responding to new issues as well as following conversations to where the informant directs them. The questions must be developed according putting in mind that they must elicit data and create a conversation setting (Aarts, and McMahon, 2006). Questions that elicit emotions have been found to be favourable in some situations as opposed to others. Therefore, the interviewer must use his social skills to allow flexibility in order to determine a successful interview process. In terms of setting the roles, the interviewer should present an interview that encourages the interviewee to offer information through closer relationship rather than a distant one. In this role, the interviewer sets up a setting which allows him to behave as a learner rather than an expert hence every question leads to another which is related. The interviewee must get interested in the informant in order to produce a r elationship that is supportive and building. Information disclosure in the field work is concerned with letting the informant understand the purpose of the research. This is usually not possible since quite a number of informants do not understand issues in linguists that are under study. In an interview, this is an important aspect to and it should be kept minimum. When informants are told the purpose of the study, there is a possibility of a speaker’s influence is possible. This may lead to performance bias that can be conscious or unconscious hence the problem of informed consent (Kastovsky and Arthur, 2000). The practicalities of the time range that an interview can last are also other issues raised by the observer’s paradox. Labov in Crowley (2007) wrote that it should last between one to two hours. Determination of how long it should take must be dependent on what forms the subject of interest in the interview. This is because different linguistic data demands va rying amounts of time for considerable data recording. Also, the issue of breaking familiarity with the interviewer in order to present a situation that is familiar determines the time and extent of an interview. In practice, interviewers use a repetitive strategy that involves the same informant for a period of a long time. Conducting interviews in a repetitive manner, which spans for a long period, has often in practice been a measure to minimize the impact of observer’s paradox upon the process. Repetitive interviews create an environment that promotes conversation rather than an interview’s formal setting. Accurate transcription of data recorded from the field work is another issue of concern. The difficulties arising from transcription are based on the fact that no account can include everything recorded. The transcription may lead to the inclusion of any amount of contextual data hence the potential infinite extent of the problem. This problem is also aggravated by time and cost. In addition, the interaction of human and machine contributes to the aggravation of the problem. Further arising from this issue is the problem of the subjective interpretation to recorded data that only leads to the truth which is intended by the purpose of inquiry that plays the judge and the audience (Murphy, 2010). The recorded data may be influenced greatly by background noise and interruptions that negatively impact on the quality and clarity of such data. This presents problems in transcribing phases as tedious time is wasted while the quality of the information gotten is susceptible to alterations and changes not meant to be present. Therefore, there must be efforts to change these issues in order to get the best process when recording information. The issue of transcription extends to the methods of collecting data (Thierberger, 2012). The instruments used to record data have sometimes been observed to contribute to the observer’s paradox effect. Th is is when they attract attention that changes the informant’s natural language elicitation. However, at other instances, materials used to record data present the problem of applicability to modern data analysis. These instruments may lead to time wastage due to their incompatibility hence also affecting the quality by falling below efficiency standards. On the same issue, the materials that are used to record may not be comprised in terms of quality and durability. This may necessitate the need for extra and constant care. If this lacks, the effective process of the interview may fail, and this leads to waste (Penke and Rosenbach, 2007). Minimizing the effects of Observer’s Paradox Sociolinguists have been concerned with reducing the effects of observer’s paradox in efforts to collect natural speech from an informant. As noted the observer’s paradox is brought about by the presence of the field worker, a recording device and the task itself and thence m inimizing strategies must revolve directly or indirectly to these issues. These may include modifying the interview, the topics to be discussed in the activity, as well as the situations in the processes (Thierberger, 2012). Stockwell and Trask, (2007) wrote that using protocols that engage the informants in emotionally involving responses, recoding events that are public and being recorded helps to minimize the potential of interference in the process of research. Labov in his quest for this solution observed that there was a need for the interlocutor to make process most friendly upon the informant. This was through participative observation where the informant becomes part of the conversation hence reducing the formality of the interview process. Another approach requires the interviewer to enlist the number of informants to more than one (Thierberger, 2012). In the process, the participants engaged in more natural speech between themselves rather than with the interlocutor hence resulting recorded data becomes empirical. This strategy result in a casual speech where the relationship between the informants is not restricted by formality issues or other constrains of the stranger effect. Another strategy for minimizing the observer’s paradox involves increasing the number of interviewer’s in order to improve the dynamics of recording sessions as well moderation settings in the process. The presence of two interviewers allows the generation of ideas and topics in a wide context hence make the process natural (Chambers, 2003). A third strategy involves removing the interviewer in the process although this has issues in the recording process. Macaulay’s in Meyerhoff (2006) notes that research onto two pairs of adolescents who were left alone to engage in a conversation led to more data gathered quickly from a number of speakers as compared to the classic interview. It was effective based on the fact that the interview took the natural, conv ersational approach. In this case, the interviewer was actively removed from the process although there are methodological issues to consider. As already mentioned, overcoming the observer’s paradox may be achieved through repetitive friendly interviews. Such interviews maintain a rapport hence including familiarity in the process. The moment familiarity is included in an approach then the sociolinguist enjoys a process that records almost casual speech. This gives data which is factual and helpful in understanding the variations in language as espoused by different social groups. Moderating questions to suit a certain setting, as well those that have been known to demand most natural display, is another way to minimize the observer’s paradox. Informants would respond to questions by giving insights on linguistics’ features of their language if they are correctly designed. In addition, the amount of time that an interview should take is also an effective strateg y since the interviewer can avoid time ranges that are tiresome or inappropriate. This helps to minimize the observer’s paradox on the informant hence resulting to the desired information. Sociolinguists should avoid disclosing the purpose of research study due to the problem of bias that comes with informed consent concept (Thierberger, 2012). In terms of differences in ethnicity, it has been observed sociolinguists who use family and friends achieve corpora quickly and from a large audience. Sociolinguists may use interviewers whose ethnic orientation coincides with the informant for effective, natural speech data collection. This is workable based on the fact that an interview where the conversation approach is employed leads to success. Age difference is also another issue in the observer’s paradox which sociolinguists must try to overcome. It can be solved by first laying down the procedures and regulations that should be followed in a research process. In this fi rst approach, the researcher identifies his target in terms of ages and thus the deliberate choice of the interviewer must be put into concern in order to coincide with the average age of the target interviewee (Thierberger, 2012). Education levels are another issue which sociolinguists must resolve to overcome consciously. Where education levels are varying the observer’ paradox can be overcome by applying the use of different languages in the process. The application of such languages helps to involve informants in less-engaging language thus reducing the problem of the language barrier. The interviewer goes down to the level of the informant to take the position of a fellow companion. This is as opposed to an educated stranger who is aloof to the lowest social groups’ level of understanding and perspectives. Another universally acclaimed way to minimize observer’s paradox effect is the use of participative observation. The sociolinguist in this case takes to anthropological dimensions by spending time in the speech community in order to gain the social closeness while at the same time investigating the language. This method creates familiarity although it has its problem in terms of interference and influence (Meyer, 2005). The problem of transcription is solvable through the application of standard procedures in recording and transcription. These standards should be put in place in considerations of the study intended, as well the purpose. At the same time, this helps to decide on the materials that support long lasting storage of information. This would solve problems of lost data due to wear and tear, and obsoleteness. The instruments used for such recordings should not be seen to contribute to the observer’s paradox effect. Thus, sociolinguists may utilize modern, efficient, as well as portable recorders in order to minimize this effect. Conclusion The paper focuses on the aspects that arise from the observer’s paradox . This is done from the perspective of the interviewer, the interviewee as well as the interview process. The three are involved in explaining issues like education, age, gender, ethnicity, and language. Others describe issues like data transcription and recording. After the issues, the paper checks the different ways each one of them can be solved by sociolinguists. This is in an effort to overcome its challenge hence reducing or mitigating observer’s paradox. Reference List Aarts, B and McMahon, MSA 2006, The handbook of English linguistics:  Volume 36 of Blackwell handbooks in linguistics, John Wiley Sons, Oxford. Chambers, JK 2003, Sociolinguistic theory: linguistic variation and its social significance  Language in society, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. Crowley, T 2007, Field Linguistics: A Beginner’s Guide, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Kastovsky, D and Arthur M 2000, The history of English in a social context: a contribution to historical sociolinguistics, Vo lume 129 of Trends in linguistics: Studies and monographs, Walter de Gruyter, New York. Meyer, GP 2005, Synchronic English linguistics, Gunter Narr Verlag, Tubingen. Meyerhoff, M 2006, Introducing sociolinguistics, Taylor Francis, New York. Murphy, B 2010, Corpus and sociolinguistics: investigating age and gender in female talk, Volume 38 of Studies in corpus linguistics, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Florence. Penke, M and Rosenbach, S 2007, What counts as evidence in linguistics: the case of innateness, Volume 7 of Benjamins current topics, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Florence. Stockwell, P and Trask, L 2007, Language and linguistics: the key concepts, Taylor Francis, New York. Thieberger, N 2012, Linguistic Fieldwork, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Wei, L 1994, Three generations, two languages, one family: language choice and language shift in a Chinese community in Britain Volume 104 of Multilingual matters, Multilingual Matters, FranfurtLodge. This critical writing on Observer’s Paradox was written and submitted by user Dayton Ortiz to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Pollution Control

Efforts to improve the standard of living for humansthrough the control of nature and the development of new productshave also resulted in the pollution, or contamination, of the environment. Much of the world's air, water, and land are now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. Because of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution. Nearly all aspects of industrialized society lead to uncontrolled pollution that needs to be stopped The branch of science that deals with how living things, including humans, are related to their surroundings is called ecology. The Earth supports some 5 million species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. These interact and influence their surroundings, forming a vast network of interrelated environmental systems called ecosystems (Hardy 2002). The arctic tundra is an ecosystem and so is a Brazilian rain forest. The islands of Hawaii are a relatively isolated ecosystem. If left undisturbed, natural environmental systems tend to achieve balance or stability among the various species of plants and animals. Complex ecosystems are able to compensate for changes caused by weather or intrusions from migrating animals and are therefore usually said to â€Å"be more stable than simple ecosystems† (Hardy 2002). A field of corn has only one dominant species, the corn plant, and is a very simple ecosystem. Drought, insects, disease, or overuse easily destroys it. A forest may remain relatively unchanged by weather that would destroy a nearby field of corn, because the forest is characterized by greater diversity of plants and animals. Its complexity gives it stability. The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in hum... Free Essays on Pollution Control Free Essays on Pollution Control Efforts to improve the standard of living for humansthrough the control of nature and the development of new productshave also resulted in the pollution, or contamination, of the environment. Much of the world's air, water, and land are now partially poisoned by chemical wastes. Some places have become uninhabitable. This pollution exposes people all around the globe to new risks from disease. Many species of plants and animals have become endangered or are now extinct. Because of these developments, governments have passed laws to limit or reverse the threat of environmental pollution. Nearly all aspects of industrialized society lead to uncontrolled pollution that needs to be stopped The branch of science that deals with how living things, including humans, are related to their surroundings is called ecology. The Earth supports some 5 million species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. These interact and influence their surroundings, forming a vast network of interrelated environmental systems called ecosystems (Hardy 2002). The arctic tundra is an ecosystem and so is a Brazilian rain forest. The islands of Hawaii are a relatively isolated ecosystem. If left undisturbed, natural environmental systems tend to achieve balance or stability among the various species of plants and animals. Complex ecosystems are able to compensate for changes caused by weather or intrusions from migrating animals and are therefore usually said to â€Å"be more stable than simple ecosystems† (Hardy 2002). A field of corn has only one dominant species, the corn plant, and is a very simple ecosystem. Drought, insects, disease, or overuse easily destroys it. A forest may remain relatively unchanged by weather that would destroy a nearby field of corn, because the forest is characterized by greater diversity of plants and animals. Its complexity gives it stability. The reduction of the Earth's resources has been closely linked to the rise in hum...

The Odds of Winning the Lottery

The Odds of Winning the Lottery What are the chances that the lottery ticket that you’re holding in your hand is a winner? This sort of question is an applied probability problem. With millions of dollars on the line, it would be good to have a solid answer. What are the odds of winning the lottery? How Does The Lottery Work? To answer this sort of question we need to know how a lottery works. In lotteries, a person plays by buying a ticket with a choice of numbers from a certain range. At a specified time the organization running the lottery randomly generates numbers from this same range. The grand prize, sometimes worth several millions of dollars, is awarded for matching all of the numbers. In some lotteries, lesser amounts are paid for matching all but one or two of the numbers. Those are the generalities, but we need to know the specifics of the game that you purchased a ticket for. These specifics will calculate the exact probability that you have of winning. A Sample Game One game, known by various names such as Daily 4 or Pick 4, involves choosing four numbers from 0 to 9. The order of these digits is important, so 1234 is a different choice of digits than 1243 or 1324. The probability of winning this lottery is given by determining the total number of ​four-digit numbers possible. Since each of the numbers is chosen independently and there are ten choices for each, the total number of four digit numbers is 10410000. This means that the probability of winning is 1/10000 0.01%. Games of this sort typically do not pay that much and are not what people associate with winning the lottery. A typical payout for a $1 bet on a lottery such as this is $5,000. While this sounds good who wouldn‘t want to multiply their money by 5000 realize that on average you would have to play thousands of times to make winning likely. Another Lottery Game Another type of lottery game pays more if you win it, but it is much harder to win. An example is where six numbers are chosen from 1 to 48. Here the order of the numbers is not important, and so we need to calculate a combination. We can choose six number from 48 in a total of C(48, 6). By the combination formula this number is 48!/(6!42!) 12,271,512. As matching all of these numbers perfectly accounts for one of these combinations, the probability of matching and winning millions is 1/12,271,512. How Likely Is It? So those are the numbers, is there any good way to interpret them? Let’s look at the millionaire game and its probability of winning at 1/12,271,512. Winning this is very unlikely. To be assured of a 50% chance of winning you would need to buy over eight million different tickets. The number 12,271,512 is roughly that of the population of the entire metro area of Los Angeles, California. So the probability of winning the lottery is the same as running into a particular person, chosen in advance while walking the streets of LA. Another way of looking at this is to look at other probabilities. Numbers are somewhat hard to come by, but it’s been estimated that 100 people a year in the U.S. are struck by lightning. With the current population at 307 million, the probability that you will be struck by lightning this year is 100/307,000,000 1/3,070,000. So you’re four times more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the lottery. Sure, some people win millions in the lottery. It’s just very likely that it’s not going to be you.

Study Skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Starbucks Negative Points Essay Example for Free

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Narrative in the Chronicles of a Death Foretold Essay -- essays resear

Narrative in the Chronicles of a death foretold The novel consists of a detailed history of the circumstances of the murder taken by the narrator, a journalist and former friend of the victim, twenty-seven years after the incident in question. The long range effects of this murder on the citizens of the town in which it occurs, and their unspoken involvement in the crime itself, are revealed in the course of the narrator’s history. The novel tells the story of the narrator's return to the Colombian town to resolve the details of the murder. First person narration throughout, narrator himself is like a detective, exploring ideas, comments. The story itself is based on a real occurrence, but the novel, while seemingly journalistic, uses unreliable information as often as it presents the reader with the facts of the murder. He does not ever clarify whether or not Santiago Nasar was guilty of the crime he died for. It is not given whether Santiago was really d 1 who took Angela’s virginity. In addition, the novel does not "chronicle" the events as the title leads the reader to expect that it will-the narrative shifts between the past and the present. Because the novel does not answer many questions, it accurately shows the reader how confusing all of the events surrounding the murder were when it occurred. It is a novel tat makes d reader think because the reader has to put all d aspects of murder together bit by bit continuously while reading thus keeping him engrossed in d story. In real life, nobody is ever sure whether the crime had taken place or not. Different people will have different angles of viewing d same crime. The same is true for the narrator he tries to gather as much info as possible about d killing fm ... ...stion of guilt. The town knows that the vicario boys are guilty. Somehow they still have a viable defense. The boys claim that they did these things to get back the honor that Nasar had stolen from them. The Vicario brothers' belief that their sister was done wrong was brought upon by this honor, along with racial and social tension. The dangerous path of both honor and religious faith caused Santiago's untimely death. This was seen as good reason by the town, but it is clear that the boys still have to answer to God. In full, Marquez questions the motive of society. Maybe he is saying that one should stop worshiping something simply because is in front of him and put more faith in his beliefs. Stop putting so much emphasis on a single event and focus on the whole. After all, all of the single events in our lives will eventually lead up to one single moment.

Use of space, levels and proxemics for blood brothers

For example. When Mrs. Lyons (Vivienne Carlyle) didn't want Mrs. Johnston (Marti Webb) near the baby. Carlyle was positioned stage right in relation with Mari Webb who was staged left. Carlyle moved back away from Webb to show that she didn't want her near the child and in doing that, she clutched the child close to her. Carlyle effectively used the idea that she didn't want Webb. Webb Carlyle Audience Another example is when Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie (Simon Wilmot) become friends and Mrs. J ( Webb) finds out! Mickey is send inside and I noticed that Webb used very close proxemics when talking to Simon. This showed the Love of a mother to her son that she had given away and hadn't seen for a long time although Simon is not aware at this point! I also felt the use of levels was used effectively by the Narrator (Keith Burns) as he linked the actors with the characters. For Example, when he was at the top of the background, looking down at the actors, it seemed as if he was in control. Especially because he was the one who tells what happens in the story. And I though use of spacing was also good as they used the background which blocked the depth of behind the sheets and the actual size of the stage. For Example. When the Scene was taking place at Mrs. Lyons house, they brought background forward which made the stage look very smaller. Another example is when they Split the stage in to two scenes. It was cross cut from one area to the other. As shown in the diagram.

Is Wal-Mart Good for America? Essay

This direct quote from Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, was placed at the top of their website to nform its consumers of their general management philosophy. It is meant to instill a feeling of comfort that such an enormous multinational retailer still manages to hold on to its small town founder’s values. Provide people with the lowest possible prices on items that they need, whatever the cost. This slogan of always providing the lowest prices has made Wal-Mart the largest retailer on the planet and they generate billions of dollars in profit annually. But is Wal-Mart good for America? On the surface it would seem that providing a customer with an item at the lowest possible revailing question, one must more closely examine the mechanisms by which Wal- Mart is able to provide merchandise at such bargain basement prices. Providing people the lowest possible prices, whatever the cost. In this case, these low prices are being provided at the cost of the environment, Wal-Mart vendors, Wal-Mart employees, and even the American taxpayer. As the â€Å"Wal-Martization† of America is forcing businesses to outsource their Jobs oversees Just to stay solvent, it creates a problem here back home of people not being able to pay their bills and maintain adequate living standards. Is Wal-Mart creating the greatest good for the greatest number? Or are they Just creating the greatest good for their executives and investors? This reflection paper will attempt to analyze and answer these questions as we dive deep into the culture of Wal-Mart and its effect on society domestically, as well as globally. The two dominant points of view used to analyze corporations and their overall purpose could be summarized by the terms â€Å"stockholder† and â€Å"stakeholder† management. The former was championed by the well-known economist Milton Friedman. He believed that â€Å"a corporation’s primary and perhaps ole purpose is to maximize profits for stockholders†¦ † (Arnold, Beauchamp ; Bowie, 2013) Friedman would view Wal-Mart as a corporation that acts solely in the best interest of their stockholders. Wal-Mart is notorious for not paying their employees very high wages and not offering much to their employees in terms of retirement benefits and health care coverage. At least when compared to other successful competitors such as Costco, Wal-Mart clearly comes up short in this department. The latter point of view mentioned was made popular by Edward Freeman in his essay, â€Å"Managing for Stakeholders. In it he argues that â€Å"the primary responsibility of the executive is to create as much value for stakeholders as possible, and that no stakeholder interest is viable in isolation of the other stakeholders. (Freeman, 2007) When we speak of stakeholders, we are referring to the five basic groups that stand to gain or lose from corporations. These groups are customers, suppliers, employees, the local community and the stockholders. Freeman argues that no one stakeholder’s interest should be taken at the expense of the others and that all must be considered by a corporation when it comes to making the best decision. While the â€Å"Friedmanite† view has been seen as the classical dominant view on corporations and their purpose, the stakeholder view on management has been gaining speed over the last thirty years and cannot be underestimated or undervalued these days as companies struggle to stay competitive in a massive global economy. In terms of all stakeholders involved, both Friedman and Freeman would agree that Wal-Mart is acting in the best interest of their stockholders primarily. This benefit to the shareholders is at the expense of all the other stakeholders. The customers will suffer due to the lack of uality of items purchased. Wal-Mart outsources a great deal of their production to China to save on labor and production costs. As a result, the common saying â€Å"you get what you pay for† holds true. These items that Wal-Mart sells in their stores tend to be of inferior quality, and that â€Å"quality’ is passed on to the consumer. The employees suffer because they are not able to earn a decent wage to live on. According to an article written by Wayne Cascio, Decency Means More Than â€Å"Always Low Prices†: A Comparison of Costco to Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club, he indicates that â€Å"The age is hardly enough to live on these days with gas prices where they are and the average cost of living going up. I know I couldn’t live on 10 dollars per hour. These low wages actually end up costing the American tax payer in the forms government assistance programs such as Medicaid and food stamps. In a study conducted by the Institute for Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, â€Å"taxpayers subsidized $20. million for medical care for Wal-Mart employees in that state alone. † (Cascio, 2006) Suppliers suffer because they are forced to accept the ontracts that Wal-Mart offers them to provide their products in their stores that essentially eat up their profits. The local community suffers because when a new Wal-Mart is built, smaller stores struggl e to stay competitive due to the fact they cant keep up with the prices that Wal-Mart charges for their product. They do not have the ability to outsource production and so they eventually go out of business. While Friedman and Freeman would believe that Wal-Mart is primarily serving the interests of their stockholders while disregarding all other stakeholders, John Boatright would ffer an alternative hypothesis on the issue. In his article, what’s wrong-and what’s right-with stakeholder management, he argues that â€Å"†¦ a business organization in which managers act in the interest of the shareholders can also be one that, at the same time, benefits all stakeholder groups. † (Boatright, 2013) He goes on to provide his definition of what a firm is and what their purpose should be. Boatright defines a firm â€Å"†¦ s a nexus of contracts between a legal entity called a firm and its various constituencies, which include employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and other roups. † (Boatright, 2013) It is believed that by each group providing their own services in a Joint effort with a firm, that the greatest financial return will be achieved. From Boa tright’s point of view, he would view the business philosophy of Wal-Mart as one that does benefit all the stakeholders. Customers benefit by having more purchasing power. They can walk into a Wal-Mart and purchase more items than they could at any other retailer.

The Italian Job Research Paper Example

The Italian Job Research Paper Example The Italian Job Paper The Italian Job Paper which at the time would have been considered a precious vehicle. During the car chase in The Italian Job (1968), it is so obvious that all the teams planning has rendered them unmatchable, as the Italian police cannot keep up with their seemingly superior driving. The three minis drive through the streets of Venice, surprisingly chased by only one police car which stands no chance in catching them all of course but it certainly makes a good comedic stunt sequence. As the cars drive up an arched monument which conveniently splits in three, the police car follows, and when the cars are at the ends of the arches the policemen stupidly get out of their car only to be chased back in by the minis who then drive back down. This is an excellent example of how silly the Italian authority is represented. In the 2003 The Italian Job, the first escape is more calculated by a series of events (compared to the 1968 version), and is definitely more elaborate. The team of thieves is creating a getaway diversion on a speedboat in the narrow water-lanes of Venice. They are spectacularly successful, although it is later revealed that it was the double-crossers (Steve Frezelli played by Edward Norton) plan together with the Italians, to make it seem as thought theyd been beaten. In the original movie, there is almost never any doubt of their success, and their well planned escape with the gold is even accompanied by a jolly music in the background which already gives the idea of triumph. Character representations usually revolve around a selection of people, except in the case of the racial minority in The Italian Job. In both versions of the film there is a black man pertaining to the group of villains brought together by one leader (in both cases Charlie Croker). In the original version the black man has a very minor role as the rarely seen driver, but in the eyes of the audience he would probably be remembered as the guy who prevented a surely successful end to the movie. Towards the end, when the truck he was driving goes half off the road (i. . hanging from a cliff) the audience may subconsciously place the blame for this accident on him despite the fact that the other accomplices where creating a lot of distraction by celebrating their success. In the modern version of the film, there is also only one black person with a central role, except this time he has a more vital presence and more dialogue. Left Ear (played by Mos Def) takes on the part of the explosives expert which therefore immediately gives him more of an intelligent part than the other black character. Regardless of this improvement in the ideologies surrounding black people, during the scene in which the team are discussing their plans for their rich futures (believing that everything had undoubtedly gone as planned), Handsome Rob and even Lyle have cool plans for how to spend their money (involving women and sex), but Left Ears only dream is to do something sensible and buy a house in Spain with a room for just his shoes. This may not necessarily be a negative representation, but certain audiences may believe it to be unrealistic. The ending to the 1968 The Italian Job is unconventional and leaves the audience with a cliff-hanger which has had critics commenting on since release. There are no hints as to whether they will get out of the mess richer, or all dye trying. Whereas the modern version has been criticized for their conventional happy ending, in which everything turns out predictably well for the good guys (which are actually thieves).

4New †The First Blockchain Ecosystem

4New – The First Blockchain Ecosystem In developed and ordinary societies, waste management essentially implies the gathering, keeping, treatment and transfer of waste so as to render them innocuous to human and animals’ life – the nature and environment in general. It could likewise be said to be the sorted out and efficient dumping and diverting of waste through or into landfills or pathways to guarantee that they are discarded with consideration regarding adequate general wellbeing and environmental shield. Legitimate waste management will bring about the decrease or aggregate end of contamination. In Nigeria, managing waste transfer has turned into a noteworthy worry in spite of a few endeavors by progressive governments and private associations toward that path. That is why it is a common sight across the country today to see heaps of festering waste dumps in relatively every alcoves and crevices. Private lofts, markets, conduits, roadways, boulevards and undeveloped plots of land have been swung to waste dumps for some family units. No big surprise numerous say that in Nigeria, waste increments in a geometrical movement and accumulation and transfer is at an arithmetical movement. Why all these problems when waste can be recycled to produce energy? With this let me present to you a solution. 4NEW is the worlds driving eco-accommodating, substantial, blockchain ecosystem controlled by waste to power control plants. The idea is very basic, the procedure of refining waste products into water and organic materials makes power which is unrestricted and uninhibitedly accessible for use or deal to the national lattice or connected to work mining forms at an on location mining ranch. Having a one of a kind chance to apply this finite lifetime supply of power to its coin called KWATT with the symbol KWATT. Each KWATT Coin will have the limit of 1 kilowatt of power for multi-year. Not at all like different organizations, which offer comparative administrations, 4NEW is remarkable as in there will be no charges of energy expenses for mining, while the main cost to a coin holder is the cost of the coin. Clients will be at freedom to choose which coins or coins they might want to put their KWATT Coin power towards to mine. The choices will comprise of the best twenty minable coins, which will consequently point the important measure of hash rate towards mining that coin. Yields will be executed to the record related with your 4NEW Wallet and with the KWATT coin; they will have the capacity to stake their tokens on the system enabling customers of capacity to use the staked coins to process crypto exchanges for monetary standards, for example, Bitcoins, Bitcoin Cash, E thereum and Dash among others. Depending on the waste to energy show idea, 4NEW is being paid for waste handled and the sales of by-products, for example, manure, organic materials and clean water, with start-up expenses to this system financed by the mint piece deal, and the plants overhead subsidized with money flow created from gathering of waste and income from offer of side-effects. At the point when appropriately kept up to run reliably with negligible downtime for 92% of yearly hours without irregularity, contingent upon the setup of the plant 4NEW can profit by other income streams as entryway expenses, Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROC), Feed-in Tariffs (FiT), and Renewable Heat Incentives (RHI) utilizing diverse innovations and procedures including Combustion, Gasiï ¬ cation, and Anaerobic Digestion.

Dante, Inferno, Canto II, line 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Dante, Inferno, Canto II, line 7 - Essay Example It is also important to identify the information that is being conveyed. It is important to note that an author needs to identify messages that will answer the social gap within the society. An author needs to identify the problems within the society and try to give a solution through literary work. Dante Inferno has disseminated vibrant information to most readers (Puncher 2012). It is also important to highlight that a literary work must always aim at changing the society. This entails correction of bad behaviors within the society. An author has a vibrant platform to communicate vibrant messages to many people. This is due to high number of readers in the country. Social vices within the society can be corrected vibrantly using literary work. Dante inferno has highlighted numerous vices within the society (Puncher 2012). Empowering the society is a very vibrant factor. Literary needs to have the values to empower the youth in the society. In this case, most youth who are talented in writing will motivated to explore this rich field. Dante inferno has highlighted this aspect (Puncher