Monday, December 30, 2019

Prison Overcrowding Crisis - 1317 Words

A jail is a facility designed to confine a person after being detained or before a trial. A prison is built to house individuals for a long period of time. A jail is also known as a detention facility. A prison is known as a correctional facility or penitentiaries. Regardless of their name, the functions stay the same: to incarcerate and condemn criminals. America the land of the free has the highest incarceration rate. Furthermore, prisons are overcrowded due to the â€Å"war on drugs† and the â€Å"three-strike† law. Individuals are sent to prison for nonviolent crimes. The affect that it has on taxpayers’ money and the affect that it has on families is immense. There is a solution to solving the prison overcrowding crisis and it begins with†¦show more content†¦3). Nixon, wanted to redouble efforts against the sale, distribution, and consumption of illicit drugs. Nixon quoted Abraham Lincoln as stating, â€Å"No one was above the law or below the l aw† (as cited in DuVernay, 2016, 14:14). There was an outcry for law in order and Nixon expressed it perfectly that drugs were becoming a â€Å"war† and they had to fight. Nixon stated, that American’s public enemy number one in the United States was drug abuse (as cited in DuVernay, 2016, 17:03). Cory Green and co-founder of H.O.L.L.A observed (2016) that when you create a situation where people are terrified you can always justify putting people in prison cells (as cited in DuVernay, 2016, 28:22). When you create a sense of fearfulness and anxiety people are going to react to those emotions. Therefore, hundreds of thousands of people were being sent to jail for low-level offenses for simple possession of marijuana which makes half of our federal inmates. According to the attorney and author Bryan Stevenson (2016), â€Å"[America] decided to deal with drug addiction and drug dependency as a crime issue rather than a health issue† (as cited in DuVernay, 2016, 16:49). In addition, in the 1980’s a new drug emerges, crack cocaine. Civilians were no longer viewing them as criminals but as animals, beast, and monsters that needed to be control. For example, Marc Mauer noted that in record time Congress constructed and established a mandatory sentencing penalties for crack that were muchShow MoreRelatedThe Problem Of Prison Overcrowding1572 Words   |  7 Pagesthe ongoing water drought crisis†¦all of which are major dilemmas in California. One major dilemma, however, is often ignored. Over the past 30 odd years, California’s prison population has grown by 750 percent (â€Å"California’s Perpetuating Prison Crisis†). As this percentage perpetuates to make substantial gains, inmates are suffering in confinement cells, officials are negotiating over the issue, and the public is protesting to make their opinions count. The prison crisis has continued to grow overRead MoreArticle Report On Overcrowding Of P rison Overcrowding1074 Words   |  5 Pages Clark, Charles S. Prison Overcrowding. CQ Researcher 4 Feb. 1994: 97-120. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. This article discusses overcrowding in the United States prison system, due in part to mandatory prison sentences. Additionally, this article also discusses the challenges in managing the overpopulation of prisons and gives an objective look at solutions, to include building more prisons, to combat overcrowding. While the author does not include information about himself and his qualifications, hisRead MoreTheu.s. State Prison System965 Words   |  4 Pagesproblem in the Unites State Prison system because of overcrowding. First I am going to talk about what cause the overcrowding in the Prison system. After that I will talk what are the affect we are facing now days for overcrowding in the prison system. Than what should we do to stop prison to get overcrowding and how is going to help out society. Now we going to talk about the reason why our prison is overcrowding in the United State. According to (â€Å"What Causes Overcrowding,† 2011) the first main reasonRead MoreThe Most Pressing Problem For The Prison System1571 Words   |  7 PagesMost Pressing Problem for the Prison System is Overcrowding Introduction The prison service has to deal with many issues throughout the whole system, including young people in custody, racism in prison, drugs and drug use for examples. There are many more. This essay talks about overcrowding and its contributing factor in being one of the major challenges facing HM prisons. A number of other issues the prison service has to face overlap and are linked to overcrowding such as suicides and riots.Read MoreAnnotated Bib1556 Words   |  7 PagesInstitutional Conditions and Prison Suicide: Conditional Effects of Deprivation and Overcrowding. The Prison Journal, 85(4), 490-515.doi:10.1177/0032885505282258. Sage Publications. The article studies the correlation between violence, mainly suicide, and the effects of prison overcrowding as it relates to prisoners, the economy and communities outside of prison. The author uses national data on prisons in the U.S in order to show the consequences such as suicide that prison overcrowding causes. The authorRead More235764916 CJA 394 Week 1 Criminal Justice Overview Paper SAMPLE page only1665 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Select one of the following issues: †¢ Racial profiling †¢ Prison overcrowding †¢ The war on drugs †¢ Increased use of technology †¢ Cultural diversity Write a 1,050- to 1,705-word paper addressing how your selected issue affects the criminal justice system as a whole. †¢ Describe some of the change(s) the criminal justice system as a whole has made in response to the issue you selected. †¢ Include your opinion on whether the changes are sufficient. Should more changes be made, and if so, what changesRead MorePrison Overcrowding : The United States1535 Words   |  7 Pages 2017 Prison Overcrowding The United States has the highest number of incarcerated individuals than other countries. Offenders are arrested every day for minor and major offences such as murder. America is hard on crime. When someone breaks the law the criminal justice’s system seeks an eye for an eye. Prison overcrowding has become a major problem in the United States, it is very expensive to house an inmate and there are other methods to punish offenders without sending them to prison for extendedRead MoreThe Negative Effects Of Prison Overcrowding1361 Words   |  6 Pagesmany prison in the United States, but all the prison are being overcrowded by inmates. What is prison overcrowding? Prison overcrowding is exceeding the numbers of inmates and not having enough beds and space for the inmates (Stohr Walsh, 122). When prison is overcrowded, this means there are less officers in the prisons to take care of the inmates, which becomes a safety concern. Many prisons are over capacity but yet they ar e still taking in inmates and making the situation worse. Prison overcrowdingRead MoreOvercrowding Of Prisons And Its Effects On Inmates1389 Words   |  6 PagesOvercrowding in Prisons In the United States, the increasing population within prisons contribute to the stress regarding the security of correctional facilities’ and the negative effects on inmates. Overcrowding can be defined as a space with a concentrated number of objects or people in a space beyond comfort. According to Verne Cox, PhD, â€Å"as a group of prison researchers summarized, in the 1980s [...] crowding in prisons is a major source of administrative problems and adversely affects inmateRead MorePrison Systems Do Not Control The Number Of Prisoners Sent1286 Words   |  6 PagesMiguel Molina Professor Nikki Drago Crimes in America 26 March 27, 2016 Overcrowding in Prisons The prison systems do not control the number of prisoners sent to jails. However, they have to deal with the consequences of this fact. In the last twenty years, all over the world, it is experienced a rapid increase in the number of prisoners. This growth is not limited to any particular type of jurisdiction or political system - it is observed in all regions of the world. According to the incapacitation

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Human Growth Hormone Is A Big Problem Essay - 1783 Words

School will be used. Human growth hormone is a small protein which is made by the pituitary gland and is then sent into the bloodstream (Harvard Medical School). Human growth hormone is a prescription drug that is given through an injection (Harvard Medical School). Some people take human growth hormone as a precaution for a deficiency in the amount of growth hormone they have in their body. When people get these injections, they have â€Å"better protection from fractures, increased muscle mass, and improved energy† (Harvard Medical School). Consequently, those people take it for low growth hormone, but most athletes just take it to improve their muscle mass. Athletes doping on human growth hormone is a big problem which is why Major League Baseball has put a ban on it, but if they look at studies that have been done they would see that human growth hormone does not improve athlete’s performance. In California, a study was done on human growth hormone where people rec eived an injection of the steroid for twenty days. Once, the study was done it was proved that when given a daily dose human growth hormone over that time a person gained an average of 4.6 pounds of lean muscle (Harvard Medical School). This shows that human growth hormone does have some impact on the body, but it does not make a person completely transform their body all at once. Moreover, even though they gained lean muscle, the study also proved that the hormone did not improve their athletic performanceShow MoreRelatedWe Must Stop The Slaughter House1007 Words   |  5 Pagesonly one being hurt by this unfair treatment. Humans are also being hurt by this. Namely dairy cows have been given hormones that are used to increase the production of their milk. There are at least six growth hormones that are commonly used by the U.S. dairy industry. An example of these hormones is recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) and recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) (Bovine Somatotropinâ⠂¬ ). rBST was made based on the growth hormone that is naturally produced in the pituitary glandRead MoreA Study On Cushing s Syndrome1708 Words   |  7 Pagesrare disease, which develop very high levels of a hormone called cortisol in the body. The syndrome was discovered by Harvey Cushing in 1932. Cushing’s disease, which is a form of Cushing’s syndrome, is responsible for increased morbidity and mortality and the signs and symptoms of that disease are usually non specific and that is why the person with those signs has to do some several tests to find out. It can cause a lot of problems to the human health but with the proper treatment can bring positiveRead MoreThe Effects Of Beef On Cattle Farms1490 Words   |  6 Pagesfarms in the United States, it is common to utilize hormones and other additives on cattle in factory farms. Farms often feed animals hormones to quicken the slaughtering process. Although the factory farms sell a surplus amount of cattle t o stores, cattle are being treated unfairly and inhumanely. Cattle in farm factories are subject to the injection of hormones, harsh environments and poor physical treatment. Due to the utilization of hormones, abuse of cows and monopolization of cattle factoriesRead MoreSelf Esteem And Body Image Problems1491 Words   |  6 PagesLow self-esteem and body image problems are too much to handle alone for some teens. A few may become depressed and lose interest in activities or friends. Some go on to develop eating disorders or body image disorders, or use alcohol or drugs to escape feelings of low worth. It can be tempting to compare ourselves with others. The trouble with that is, not everyone grows or develops at the same time or in the same way. Media images and other outside influences can affect ones psyche. Some parentsRead MoreShould We Continue Do Produce And Consume Milk?1528 Words   |  7 Pagesbegun to find that the drinking of milk has caused a change in the human genome over time. The future of the milk market is another area to investigate. The demand for milk continues to grow, as does the market which can affect us in many different ways including, economic, health, environmental, and ethical. After researching, I have concluded that from an ethical standpoint the production of milk is not worth risking the problems it causes to the animals during production. It may be beneficial toRead MoreMeat: Is It Safe? Essay1198 Words   |  5 Pageshow the cattle was raised. Many farmers today administer hormones into their livestock to increase weight gain, and to boost milk production in dairy cows. Though these hormones are beneficial to the meat and dairy industry, these injections may prove to be harmful to the consumer. Unless the cattle in which your steak was butchered from w as organically raised you may be asking for a side of health problems with your meal. The use of hormones in livestock dates back to the early 1930’s. It was discoveredRead MoreSteroids in the World of Athletes and Sports1603 Words   |  6 Pagessteroids. There are repercussions for PED use in major league baseball, which have cut down on the substance abuse by players but have nowhere near eliminated the problem. Steroids have a long-term, negative effect on the human body. These effects range from cardiovascular problems to mental and psychological issues such as rage and anger problems. Steroid use has been linked to increased alcohol consumption, marijuana use, cigarette smoking, and narcotic use (Buckman, Farris Yusko, 2013). Many athletesRead MoreGmo s Stand For Genetically Modified Organism Essay1060 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"GM crops are commercially available and planted on more than 40 million hectares across six continents† (FAO). â€Å"Activists, worried about GMOs being released into the biosphere, have destroyed test plots in at least four continents. (FAO). Another big concern about GMO’s negative impact upon the environment is that the pollen from GM crops, and trees can contaminate nearby crops and wild plants. Varieties of corn in Mexico have been found to have some contamination with in it, along with many othersRead MoreAre Gmos Harmful Or Harmful?1115 W ords   |  5 Pagespose a different health risk, but it all comes down to the same idea: they can be very harmful. GMOs are included on this long list of things that can pose a risk to one’s health. GMOs, because of their unnatural modifications, create several health problems that could be reduced or completely avoided by consuming non-GMO products. GMOs are very harmful to one’s health, but in order to understand what they do to one’s health, it must first be stated what a GMO is and why they are produced. â€Å"GMOs, orRead MoreAntibiotic Resistance As A Worldwide Health Risk Essay1729 Words   |  7 PagesGupta authors in the article, â€Å"Antibiotic Resistance Spreads Internationally Across Borders†, state that â€Å"ABR develops when bacteria are exposed to antibiotics either during treatments in humans or animals or through environmental sources contaminated with antibiotic residues† (12). Therefore, ABR is causing humans with bacterial infections, unable to treat infections because of the resistance to the antibiotics. Discussed in the article, ABR is â€Å"Spread beyond those administered antibiotics occurs

Saturday, December 14, 2019

History of Rev War Free Essays

The cry of soda enquired into: Educational analysis in seventeenth-century New England. History of Education Quarterly, 13(1), 3-22. Lang, Harry G. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Rev War or any similar topic only for you Order Now Genesis of a Community: The American Deaf Experience in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. In J. Van Clever (Deed. ). The Deaf History Reader. Washington, DC: Gladdest university Press, 2007. 1 . The American Indian view of the colonial missionaries’ influence on the â€Å"education† of the Indian is how the colonial missionaries changed their norm behaviors where they had to change their beliefs to the â€Å"European culture† (Colonial Missionaries and Their schools, 2004, p. 1 5). Also, they correlated the Indian dally life of cleanliness, lack of discipline for the children (Colonial Missionaries and Their Schools, 2004, p. 1 5). I feel that the quote that said by H. G. Wells was relevant to the Indian communities at that time period since the colonial missionaries changed and controlled the Indian lifestyle by Glenn them better education and lifestyle. The article, Colonial Missionaries and Their Schools, explained that most of the Indian children who were taught by the missionaries were separated from their parents nice the Indian parents did not understand the influence that the missionaries had for the Indian children (p. 16). One point was mentioned In the article about how confused the Indians were when they were the victims of the missionaries and â€Å"Christians† cheated and sexually abused them since they were preached about the missionaries’ practice and cheated and sexually abused were not allowed (Colonial Missionaries and Their Schools, 2004, p. 6). The situation where the Indian were cheated and sexually abused by the missionaries and â€Å"Christians† led catastrophe in hat they were taught by the missionaries. 2. The religion played a special role in the Puritan efforts to establish formal schooling in America by set up a high educational standard where their children are successful as their par ents are. Puritans did not accept any failures. (The cry of Soda enquired into: Educational analysis in seventeenth-century New England,1973, p. ) We are experience the same thing today without much of religious involvements. The parents today want to see their children to succeed In their education and have bright futures. Also, parents Ely on teachers and school to help their children In academic where the teachers are constantly encouraging the children to go for their dreams by dream big. Teachers of the deaf can learn from the Puritan educational efforts about literacy by continuing to encourage the deaf students to read and write where they can eventually Improve their English. 3. People with disabilities during the asses and early asses were treated badly where they were chained to the wall since the people did not know how to take care of them. People with disabilities were treated like an here doctors who had better knowledge knew how to take care of them where they were also being observed based on their behaviors. From reading about Isaac Kilojoules, Matthew and Sarah Pratt, Andrew Brown and Jonathan Lambert, I learned that all of them became part of a religious and the Puritans accepted disabilities for who they are without any Judgments. Also, the church did allow deaf marriages without any restriction. 4. Sign language in the American colonies before the Revolutionary War show that it was only used in the level of abstraction and used tit the people who were already here in America after the generation that founding of Plymouth colony. Before Revolutionary War was the time period where sign language as American Sign Language, history of deaf literacy before the education for the deaf was established. Sign language gave the deaf American colonies the ability to communicate with each other. Sign language gave the deaf the abilities to have education and be able to understand what being learned. 5. The efforts that the deaf children where educated in the American colonies were that they were sending o school like Broadsword Academy or private education. The deaf children were known as deaf and dumb during that time period, but each one had the abilities and skills in different academic areas. For example, John Boiling was good at Geography and Arithmetic Globe and the father of Charles Green reported after Charles two years at Broadsword Academy has â€Å"improvement in the construction of language, and in writing; he has made a good beginning in arithmetic. † Children who were private education like William Mercer was able to succeed in his life since he had the skill for minting which was found through the years located. How to cite History of Rev War, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Case Study ABB Group - Fall in Revenues and Net Income

Question: Choose one oil field service provider and report on its position in the sector. The report should cover the period from the beginning of 2014 to the present day. The report should analyse the current state of the chosen oil field service provider, and then consider the strategic options available to that provider. The report should include the use of appropriate academic model(s) when considering the strategic options available to the chosen firm. Answer: Introduction The study elucidates the concept of strategic management procedure in oil and gas industry with the help of a case study. ABB (ASEA Brown Boveri) Group is one of the well known Swiss multinational corporation and oil field service providers. The company operates around 100 countries in the areas of automation technology, robotics, and power. Moreover, it is successfully placed in 158th rank in the Forbes Ranking List (Abb.com. 2016). As per the record of 2015, the total number of current employees is 140,400. The service they provide include oil and gas, chemicals, power, metal, minerals, pharmaceuticals, marine, pulp and paper, turbo charging etc. In seven business units, they have segmented their business operation and services. However, here the study concentrates on the two of its business units that are Oil, and Gas Chemicals (Abb.com. 2016). Figure 1: Logo of the company (Source: Abb.com. 2016) The below table demonstrates the financial position of ABB Group in the present market. 2013 2014 2015 Orders $38,896M $41,515M $36,429M Income from operations $4,387M $4,178M $3,049M Revenues $41,848M $39,830M $35,481M Net income $2,907M $2,594M $1,933M Cash flow from operating activities $3,856M $3,845M $3,818M Table 1: Financial report of ABB Group of past 3 years (Source: Abb.com. 2016) From the above table, it is shown that the amount of orders they received has been declined in the prior year comparing to the past year of 2015. Besides, the total incomes from the operations and revenues have also been decreasing since the year 2013. Hence, the net income also declined from $2,594M to $1,933M in that year. Furthermore, the cash flow of the company has also slowed down. This indicates that the company fails to implement effective strategy management policies in the present situation. As per the mission statement of ABB Group, they aims to improve their business performances, drive innovation, employ skilled and experienced workers. Moreover, they aim to lower the environmental impacts in order to provide social benefits. Besides, their vision is to enhance the use of electric power and increase their productivity as well. They have wide geographic base along with broad product portfolio that create the strength point to acquire comparative advantages over its competitors. Strategic Management of ABB Group As per the viewpoint of Aguinis, Edwards and Bradley (2016), Strategic management is an approach that helps to specify the objectives and ultimate goal of the organisations. Through this process, the organisations develop various policies and plan in order to attain those objectives and fulfil organizational purposes. Carroll, Primo and Richter (2016) added that it is the process of strategy formulation, evaluation as well as implementation in the business operations to achieve a sustainable position in the market. Engert, Rauter and Baumgartner (2016) have put a different viewpoint that strategic management is a competition based theory that helps to maximize the profit. The organisations build certain strategies to develop sustainable competitive advantages over their competitors. Through gaining competitive advantages, they are able to enhance their revenues as well as profit and reach themselves in a better market position. As mentioned by Dandagi et al. (2016), strategic alliance is an effective policy in which an agreement is signed between two or more organisations in order to achieve common objectives. Merger and acquisition (MA) is an effective form of strategic alliance where the business organizations and their business units are merged or transferred. ABB Group has established a global commercial alliances with the company Samsung SDI last year (Abb.com. 2016). In this case, merger strategic approach is applied rather than acquisition. As both the companies are doing well in their business market, none of them takes over another company. As per the merger strategic approach, they jointly made a new entity with new management procedure to enhance both of the businesses. On contrast, following the acquisition approach, ABB Group would have ceased Samsung SDI or ceased by the company. There financial statements shows that neither of the company need to pursue acquisition approach in present scenari o. It has been found that this certain strategic alliance is made to promote micro grid solutions globally. As micro grid systems comprise energy storage solutions, ABB Group engaged themselves in this join forces with the leading manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries. In today's developing and emerging market, micro grid applications are enhancing in a rapid manner (Rothaermel 2015). In ABB Group's next level strategy, it is identified as the key growth area that they should focus on. In this strategy alliance, ABB Group acts as the parent company which enable Samsung SDI to make an effort to keep on the world's best ESS company. On the other way, other strategic approaches are there that include joint venture and diversification which are not followed by ABB Group. The reason behind not pursuing the joint venture approach is their different management styles and organizational relationship with other companies. Besides, it has been predicted by ABB Group that tactical decisions can be made because of raising any kind of misunderstanding about their individual roles in business market. On contrast, diversification is not followed as it needs to add new infrastructure and business operations which would increase the total expenditure of ABB Group. Merging approach helps ABB Group to enhance their growth and acquire competitive advantages over its competitors. If they would not have considered the merger strategic approach, they might confront strong competition from the rival companies. They have sensed that their business might confront strong competition which can create issues in their sustainable growth. This is the reason behind merging with the business of Samsung SDI. ABB Group has categorized the fields of strategic management by incorporating Mintzberg's 10 Schools of Thought. Ten schools of thoughts Strategies The Design School Through the SWOT analysis, the strategies are formulated. It has been found that their major weakness is shortage of liquidity. Their huge cash flows create the opportunity to increase their acquisitions of business operations. The Planning School In this section, the strategies are clearly formulated as well as controlled. Their parenting style helps them in setting different plans for different units. The Positioning School It defines that the organisation creates strategies and planning to make a position in the top of the competitors' market position. The Entrepreneurial School As per this particular school of thoughts, the strategies are formulated in a visionary process. The Cognitive School It is a mental process of strategy formulation. The managers of the organisation pursue this particular thought of school at the initial stage of strategic management. The Learning School This specific school of thought is not pursued by the organisation. The management body of the organisation does not pay close attention on the time limitation. The Power School It defines that the strategies are formed and implemented by the stakeholders where the power of the organization is generated. The Cultural School In this school of thought, the strategies are formed in fundamentally collective and cooperative process. The Environmental School As it is less useful for strategy formulation, the organisation provides less importance to this school of thought. The Configuration School The organisation needs to transform their decision making structure in new innovative techniques. Table 2: Applications of Mintzberg's 10 Schools of Thought (Source: Preez, van der Merwe and Matthee 2014) Strategic Analysis According to Nguyen (2015), Porters Five Forces model is an effective strategic management tool to identify where the power of the business lies on. Moreover, it helps to indicate the current competitive position of a business and the position where they can move into. The five forces are Power of the Suppliers, Power of the Buyers, Competitive Rivalry, Threats of Substitution, and Threat of New Entrance. Power of the Suppliers: Ghandat (2015) stated that the uniqueness of the services and the products increases the power of the buyers. As the power of the suppliers increases, they achieve the power to drive up the price of the product they deliver to the organizations. Power of the Buyers: In today's growing competitive market, the consumers have the power to drive the product price down. In some cases, the organizations offer their products at lower possible price in order to retain their customers and capture the market more (Dobbs 2014). Competitive Rivalry: Lee, Kim and Park (2012) stated that the ability of the competitors and the ability of own business determines the strength of the business over the rival firms. Threats of Substitution: According to Nguyen (2015), the consumers tend to shift another product or brand when they have much purchasing options in their hand. More availability of substitute products leads the organizations to confront more challenges in obtaining competitive advantages. Threat of New Entrance: The profitability business attracts new firms in the market and thus the competition in the present market increases in a rapid manner (Ghandat 2015). Therefore, the individual firms need to apply strong protection to their unique techniques in order to prevent new entrances. In the context of strategy management, Medarac, Vignali and Vignali (2016) stated that Ansoff Matrix is an essential tool of planning process that represents a framework to help the management body in formulating growth plans. In this marketing strategy, four main growth alternatives are defined that include Market Penetration, Market Development, Product Development, and Diversification. Market Penetration: Veseli, Aziri and Veseli (2012) opined that in this particular market strategy, the organizations tries to enhance their market share in the present market scenario. Through innovative promotion and distribution strategy, the organizations increase their sales by offering existing products in the existing market. Market Development: The market development strategy defines that the organizations offer their existing products in the new markets by expanding their business (Schawel and Billing 2012). The businesses with unique product technology have the ability to leverage their business in the new markets. Product Development: In the strategy of product development, the organizations make plan to produce and deliver new products in the existing market (Medarac, Vignali and Vignali 2016). Through investing in the research and development and implementing innovative techniques, the firms achieve growth from the existing market. Diversification: The diversification marketing strategy defines the process and planning of delivering new products in new markets (Banerjee 2016). Apart from the above mentioned two marketing strategies, another strategy analysis process is there that helps the organizations to analyze the macro environmental factors. The influential factors of PESTEL analysis include Political factor, Economical factor, Social factor, Technological factor, Environmental factor, and Legal factor (Yksel 2012). The political factors define the current political situations that affect the business. The factors include political stability, trade policy, trade restrictions, labor law, other4 government policies etc. Rachet (2014) added the economical factors influence the business operation most. Changes in rate of interest, inflation rate, exchange rate, economic growth are the factors that are considered in strategy planning process. According to Yksel (2012), the social factors are the beliefs and attitudes of the local people. The rapid increase in technology drives the firms to confront more challenges in attaining competitive advantages over the competitors. Moreover, the increasing scarcity of raw materials aware the firms about the future shortages and thus environmental factors get high importance in present market. Apart from this the legal factors also affect the business process that includes product safety, advertising standards, consumers rights and laws etc. Relationship between the models The above section demonstrates three models of strategic analysis that helps to analyze the current market situation. Here, it is important to mention that the models are interlinked with one another to some extent. Through analyzing the market by Porters model the organizations can Ansoff matrix marketing strategy. Porters Model shows where the business has weak points and where they can dominate. In this respect, it is possible to consider a particular strategy that discussed Ansoff Matrix. At the same time, it is also essential to analyze the PESTEL factors that affect the present business or might affect the organizational operations in future. Through determining the current market outcome or predicting the future, the organizations are able to take proper decision to resolve issues and making growth. Moreover, The PESTEL analysis helps to reduce the threats and enhance the opportunities that an organization has experienced through Porters analyzing process. Justification of chosen analysis process The above discussion is based on three effective strategic management models that help the researcher to understand the need of strategic management tool in the present business scenario of ABB Group. The researcher assumes that among the above mentioned three models, Porter's five forces model would help the business in acquiring its ultimate objectives. As per their mission statement, their prime objective is to enhance the business operations through incorporating innovative ideas and techniques. Moreover, skilled and experienced workers will be employed in order to strengthen the human resource. The reason behind choosing Porters' five forces model is that this particular strategy management tool would help them to determine the power of their business along with the threats they have in present situation. Through analyzing the current business scenario, they would able to enhance use of electric power. The researcher has found that the Ansoff matrix only concentrates on products and markets. Whereas, the Porter's model covers the entire field of an business operations. Enhancing product quality and business market is not enough to achieve all the objectives that they set. On contrast, PESTEL analysis is an effective tool to analyze the business in a broader way. However, the researcher has analyzed that the business has a strong market position in the world market. Their present strategies are made by considering as well as determining the macro economical factors. Therefore, the researcher assumes that Porter's Model would help them to lead their business towards growth. Moreover, it is expected that the present issues that they have would be resolved in upcoming years. Through analyzing the business of ABB Group by Porter's five forces model, it has been found that the power of the suppliers of the respective organization is high. The suppliers have high bargaining power over the price of the products because of the low number of the suppliers (Quintino, Loureno and Catalo-Lopes 2016). It has been mentioned that in the competitive market, the buyers have high bargaining power to reduce the product price. This is one of the reason of reducing oil price in the present situation. However, they provides high barrier to the new entrants. They have strong protection over their unique techniques that prevent the new firms to implement same strategy in their business (George et al. 2016). Moreover, high profitability of ABB Group attracts new firm in the market. They receive low threat of substitute products because of their brand name. Though, the competition with the rival firms is high in respect of product price and technologies. This particular strategic model helps them to identify the strength and weakness of the industry. It has been found that both the bargaining power of the suppliers and the buyers are high. This is the reason behind reduce in income and profit along with declining cash flow (van der Weshuizen and West 2016). Apart from this, they are able to know the biggest threat they have in the present is from its competitors. The goods and services offered by the competitors might attract the customers of the respective company. Recommendations After analyzing the business, the researcher here brings out a number of recommendations that would help the organization resolve the problems they have in present. In the prior section of this assignment, it has been discussed that how the Porter's five force strategic analysis helps the organization to achieve their ultimate goal. In that context, the researcher suggests that the organization should implement new techniques and policies in order to bring innovation in their business. New technology implementation in the rival firms might create major challenge in an unsolved stage in the long run. Thus, apart from incorporating new technology, the researcher suggests to enhance the employability skills in order to obtain competitive advantages. At the initial section of this assignment, it has been demonstrated that the company face issues in maintaining the increase in orders, revenues, income from operations, net income and cash flow. This indicates that the organization is facing major operational issues in the present situation. In this context, the researcher recommends that invest more capital in research and development. This would help them to achieve their vision of enhancing the use of electric power. Further, it would increase the productivity as well as supply of oil and gas. Moreover, their strength point in broad geographic base product portfolio should be maintained in order to keep a sustainable position in the competitive market. Conclusion This particular study concludes that ABB Group is confronting issues in enhancing the revenues and net income as well. This might make them face serious constraint in the upcoming years. Furthermore, the study has analyzed the present business of the organization through Porter's five forces tool. It brings out the face that they have strong brand power but the less power over the product price. This is the reason that they face certain difficulties in raising the income curve. At the end of the study, the researcher has provided some suggestions in order to help the organization to achieve their mission and resolve the current issues. Reference List Abb.com. (2016). ABB Group - Automation and Power Technologies. [online] Available at: https://www.abb.com/ [Accessed 28 Mar. 2016]. Aguinis, H., Edwards, J.R. and Bradley, K.J., 2016. Improving Our Understanding of Moderation and Mediation in Strategic Management Research.Organizational Research Methods, p.1094428115627498. Banerjee, B., 2016. Why Innovate?. InCreating Innovation Leaders(pp. 3-24). Springer International Publishing. Carroll, R.J., Primo, D.M. and Richter, B.K., 2016. Using item response theory to improve measurement in strategic management research: An application to corporate social responsibility.Strategic Management Journal,37(1), pp.66-85. Dandagi, S., Bhushi, U., Bagodi, V. and Sinha, D., 2016. Strategic management of technical university: structural equation modelling approach.Journal of Modelling in Management,11(1). Dobbs, M.E., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates.Competitiveness Review,24(1), pp.32-45. Engert, S., Rauter, R. and Baumgartner, R.J., 2016. Exploring the integration of corporate sustainability into strategic management: A literature review.Journal of Cleaner Production,112, pp.2833-2850. George, R.A., Siti-Nabiha, A.K., Jalaludin, D. and Abdalla, Y.A., 2016. Barriers to and enablers of sustainability integration in the performance management systems of an oil and gas company.Journal of Cleaner Production. Ghandat, S.T., 2015. Indian Natural Gas Scenario and Analysis of Shale Gas with PorterS Five Forces Model.Available at SSRN. Lee, H., Kim, M.S. and Park, Y., 2012. An analytic network process approach to operationalization of five forces model.Applied Mathematical Modelling,36(4), pp.1783-1795. Medarac, H., Vignali, G. and Vignali, C., 2016. Improving relations between business strategy and marketing tactics.International Journal of Business and Globalisation,16(1), pp.50-65. Nguyen, T.T.T., 2015, June. Porters five forces reconsideration: Model of joint MBA programmes and schools fusion in the industry of Management Education as a counter point of competitive environment model. InLA BIENNALE 2015 COOPERER. Preez, J.D., van der Merwe, A. and Matthee, M., 2014, September. Enterprise architecture schools of thought: An exploratory study. In2014 IEEE 18th International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference Workshops and Demonstrations (EDOCW)(pp. 3-12). IEEE. Quintino, A., Loureno, J.C. and Catalo-Lopes, M., 2016. Evaluating Price Risk Mitigation Strategies for an Oil and Gas Company. InComputational Management Science(pp. 3-8). Springer International Publishing. Rachet, B., 2014. PESTEL analysis and Porters Five Forces For Innocent Drinks Company.Docs. school Publications. Rothaermel, F.T., 2015.Strategic management. McGraw-Hill. Schawel, C. and Billing, F., 2012. Ansoff-Matrix. InTop 100 Management Tools(pp. 22-24). Gabler Verlag. van der Weshuizen, J.P. and West, M., 2016. Cross-Functional Maintenance And Logistics Business Process Integration: Lessons From A Large Oil And Gas Company.Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR),32(2), pp.401-416. Veseli, N., Aziri, B. and Veseli, T., 2012. Are marketing strategies implemented by SMEs in the Republic of Macedonia?.Romanian Economic Journal,15(46bis), pp.137-152. Yksel, I., 2012. Developing a multi-criteria decision making model for PESTEL analysis.International Journal of Business and Management,7(24), p.52.

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Oedipus The King Nature Essays - Oedipus The King, Oedipus

Oedipus The King Nature The Blind nature of Oedipus One of the main themes in Oedipus the King is blindness. Not just physical blindness, but intellectual blindness as well. This issue is an effective contrasting method for Oedipus at different points in the play. By saying "blindness", however, is a little misleading. It can be broken down into two sections: Oedipus's ability to "see", and his willingness to "see". The word "see" can be used in both contexts. Throughout the play, these two details are always at the center of the play. In the beginning of the play, Oedipus has perfect sight or vision. However, he is blind and ignorant to the truth about himself and his past, which relates to the idea of "truth v.s. appearance". He desperately wants to know, and to understand, but he cannot. At this point, it is obvious what Oedipus's action must be to overcome the blindness. Ironically, into the play is introduced a prophet, Teiresias, who is physically blind, but who has great mental power. This justifies Oedipus as a man ignorant to the true appearance of things - this blind man can "see" the truth about Oedipus, yet Oedipus, in all of his physical perfection, cannot. Brocco 2 Oedipus does have tragic flaws, which are standard in the Greek tragedies. Oedipus has a tragic flaw, which brings him to his end. Although it cannot be summed up into one word, there is evidence that his flaw may be ignorance or blindness to his own fate. This is true because we see Oedipus trying to avoid his fate, which was that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother, but he ran away from his homeland. Only if he had stayed then he may have been able to try to take his fate into his own hands, but instead he fulfilled the prophecy. Oedipus had changed dramatically throughout the end of the play. After realizing his flaw of fleeing his fate and actually killing his father, he was desperate to find the truth. In his case though, he wanted to see the truth and he finally got that chance. After marrying his mother and becoming aware of all that had happened he went into despair. After knowing that he couldn't see the truth and wasn't aware to understand what happened, he made himself blind. He didn't want to see the truth and he wanted to run away after all that has happened in his life. Tiresias told Oedipus his fate and predicted his physical blindness would soon come forth, "You are a poor wretch to taunt me with the very insults which everyone soon will heap upon yourself" (lines 408 - 410). He said this because of Oedipus' attitude towards it. This was when he didn't want to believe a blind man, a man that couldn't see what he could see and he thought Tiresias wouldn't be able to understand everything that was going on. Unfortunately for Oedipus he was completely wrong. This is where the roles are reversed and he becomes the blind man who has seen more than he wanted to. Brocco 3 It is evident that he is more reluctant to accept his fate than in the beginning of the play. This goes along with the fact that him blinding himself is dramatically appropriate. This was due to the fact that he didn't want to know the truth anymore and wanted to get away in a sense. Oedipus the King was Sophocles' attempt to show the Greek God's that they could not avoid the dealings of the gods, or they may be forced to have a plot against the people he should love the most. Jocasta, his mother/wife, was in this way, a victim. Even though she brought it upon herself, by not telling Oedipus that she knew of his fate, it was at this moment when she became aware of her punishment. In desperation at this point, she kills herself. Oedipus the King is a true tragedy in the sense that fate and Oedipus' own tragic flaw combined through the play to bring about his downfall. What makes it much more tragic though is that the events were, for the most part, out of Oedipus' control. When Oedipus speaks to Jocasta, it is very clear that she knows about his fate and what just might happen if he finds out. He basically says to her, How can you say that, when the clues to my birth are in my hands? The only

Monday, November 25, 2019

The Miracle Worker By William Gibson.

The Miracle Worker By William Gibson. Annie's Positive Influence On Helen, Captain Keller, Kate, and JamesThis essay displays Annie Sullivan's positive influence on Helen, James, Kate, and Captain Keller from the book The Miracle Worker by William Gibson. The Miracle Worker is a story that shows the strength and power of human will and its ability to triumph over the most devastating handicaps. During the course of the story Annie Sullivan makes extensive changes in the lives of the members of the Keller family.Foremost, Annie's most tremendous impact is on the main character of the story, Helen Keller. Annie not only teaches Helen to communicate with the environment around her, but at the same time she teaches her the proper etiquette of a human being without her disabilities. But that was not the case before she arrived at the Keller household. Before Annie had come to the Keller's, Helen was a child lost in her physical disabilities, and trapped inside a useless body, unable to communicate comprehensively with anyone or anything.Helen Keller with Anne SullivanShe understood almost nothing, and had no code of civility. A legible example of this behaviour was when Helen would pace around the table during supper time, sniff gratuitously at her family member's dishes and taste their food openly without anyone noticing or paying even the least significant amount of attention to her doings (This is a good exposition that the Keller family has never taken the time to show Annie right from wrong). A quote from the novel which supports this information is "While this background talk is in progress, Helen is working around the table ultimately towards Annie's plate, she messes her hands in James's plate, then in Keller's, both men taking it so for granted that they hardly notice." (Pg.54, The Miracle Worker, by William Gibson, Bantam Books,

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Potential Rewards and Risks of Strategies for International Essay

Potential Rewards and Risks of Strategies for International Organisations - Essay Example Planning and preparation of strategies for an organisation become very crucial as those, at times, determine the fate of the organisation. Globalisation is the modern approach of business. Many organisations operate their business globally providing it with huge market to operate. In the present context, the strategies of an organisation are quite developed which mostly deal with the overall development of the business enterprise, generally focusing on the growth of the organisation, nationally and internationally. Strategies can be referred to the set of plans which are prepared and developed by the higher level of management of the organisation. This paper involves with the reasons behind the preparation and usage of strategies by the organisation. It also includes the means of strategies used by the organisations for their international operations (John & Gillies, 1996). Reasons behind the International Businesses Usage of Strategies Strategies are prepared by an organisation with an intention to deal with any unfavoured consequences, if occurred, in future context and so to grow the business in both future and present context. A well planned strategy helps to organise and to allocate the available resources of an organisation into a distinct and feasible position focusing on the internal competencies and drawbacks. Strategies prepared by the organisation are expected to anticipate changes in the environment and the moves taken by intelligent competitors (John & Gillies, 1996). ... Strategies are prepared by the organisations with various intentions. Quite a few strategies are prepared by the organisations which operate its business nationally and internationally. Strategies once prepared help an organisation to achieve a clear sense of direction for the business which also helps the organisation to take a forward view and establish a clear set of objectives and goals. Strategies prepared by the management have proved to be helpful for the better functioning of the business as they provide important integrating and co-ordinating function for the companies operating largely in context of economy. Strategies are prepared by the internationally functioning organisation to ascertain the marketing trends and to help the organisation by supporting it with sustainable growth. Strategies help the organisation through this role of co-ordination to minimize intra-organisational conflict including tensions in headquarters and relationships among subsidiaries. The higher l evel managers of organisation prepare strategies as it serves as a guide to action, providing a framework for the companies functioning and operating their business worldwide to take operational and administrative decisions. The strategies encourage the corporate performance by maximising strengths and opportunities, minimizing weaknesses and treats. Strategies enable an organisation to respond successfully to the uncertainty, complexity and competitiveness of the international business environment encountered by firms of increasing global scope (Mintzberg, 2003). Preparation of the strategies is done by the management with great attention. There are various required fields where

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Arab-Israeli war Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arab-Israeli war - Essay Example When they left their homeland, they dispersed to different European areas while carrying their identity with themselves. They ended up being quite successful and their success resulted in anti Jewish sentiments. The Jewish community experienced rejection throughout the world and during the 638 AD, the land recognized as Jerusalem was taken over by the Ottoman Empire and Muslim rule was observed in this area. Later in 1517, the region of Palestine was captured by the Ottoman Empire and during the period of 1897 the congress of the Zionist started protesting for a homeland of the Jewish community in the region of Palestine. Later during the World War I, British obtained support from the Arab community by promising them a separate land which even included Palestine in return of their support during the war to defeat turkey which was supporting the Germans in the war. Three years later, the British even promised Jews for a separate homeland in the region of Palestine. Before this promise , the region was divided between France and Britain. In this division France secured the regions of Syria and Lebanon and Britain secured the regions of Iraq and Jordon while an agreement was made to internationalize the region of Palestine. After the war, British failed to keep its promises and Jews started migrating to the region of Palestine. ... er in size and more amount of land was assigned to the Jewish community because of sympathies the UN had for Jews due to their experience during the Holocaust. The first wave of war that took place between Arabs and Jews was an outcome of the creation of independent state from the Jews and this region as recognized as Israel. Due to this Arabs started fighting against Israel and took hold of a small region recognized as the Old City of Jerusalem. This war led to a ceasefire, but after the first four weeks of this Cease fire, the Jews made advancements and another cease fire took place. Then in the August of 1948, the war started again and a cease fire was observed during 1949. Due to this, Arab refugees gained refugee in camps created on the borders of Israel which is another cause of the entire conflict. This led to the division of the entire region into three parts with Jews covering major portion of the region. In 1956 Jews again started war over Egypt and later cease fire took pl ace but by that time Jews had taken over the Gaza strip along with Sharm el Sheikh. Later Jews returned these pieces of land by getting into an agreement through which they could access Gulf of Aqaba (Tucker 850). The Jews even banned the return refugees and this is one of the long term reasons due to which Arabs hate the Jews to date. Later more land was captured by Jews during 1967, but it was later returned as enforced by United Nations. Approximately 20 years later, Palestinian uprisings started to take place in the region of Gaza Strip and these uprisings were called as Intifada. These uprisings were conducted by people of all ages and in these uprisings, the Israeli army was stoned by the protestors. As feedback, Israeli army started killing children who were protesting and a three

Monday, November 18, 2019

Paul and Wives Submission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Paul and Wives Submission - Essay Example Paul. Will a realised soul like him compromise the revelations of the gospel? The real problem with all revelations, including the present issue under discussion related to the inferior status of women, is elsewhere. These revelations are not made at the mind level, but transcending the mind. At that level what is revealed is perfect and no one can imagine duality there. All realised souls reveal the same truth from their levels. Just as the sun and the moon are one and the same for all individuals practicing different faiths, the ultimate truth is the same for all men and women and for the entire humankind. But the mind-level preachers, mullah, pundits and the so-called intellectuals interpret it from the level of their spiritual progression and hence the differences crop up. Interpretations about the truth vary, but truth in in itself is Immutable. A common individual who thinks from the mind-level is unable to comprehend the profound and deep meaning of a particular word or a phra se uttered by the realised soul. Various interpretations crop which result in arguments and counter arguments. In the heat of such arguments the real issue is lost sight off. The context in which the revelation is made has some bearing, but truth is beyond all limitations of time as well. Go through the arguments of John Temple Bristow on Paul and Wives submission. He writes, â€Å"Perhaps Paul was torn between the ideal and realities of his time. Perhaps he compromised the gospel in order not to upset the social structures of his age. Perhaps Paul could not escape his own background and culture or perhaps Paul gave a good line in public, but in private revealed his own disdain regarding women.†(Preface, x) Bristow make the careful and repeated use of the word ‘perhaps’ and I give full credit to him for treading carefully while trying to comment on the revelations of Paul on this sensitive subject. This viewpoint is one that of an intellectual and has been elucid ated here just to restate the position of mind-level interpretations and the pitfalls involved in such procedure. Mr. Bristow has erred in his judgment about the stand of St. Paul, relating to the status of women. Whatever are the realities of time, a Realized Soul will not employ shortcuts to gain followers for his viewpoints. He will stand by truth on his assertions on any topic, irrespective of the consequences. I believe that women are equal to men and yet I’m wrong. Let’s assume for a while, from the secular point of view that men and women are equal. From the spiritual standpoint, women are more equal as compared to men. How can one treat women as equal to men? God has created her, given her the status of more equal. Nobody can take that right away. It is the woman who gives protection for the initial nine months to the divine creative force of the future of humanity, male or female. St. Paul is aware of this position and one cannot expect a divine personality to make mistakes in divine interpretations about man-woman status. Expressing his dilemma about the stand of St. Paul on this issue, Bristow admits his confusion and writes, â€Å"We were also taught that women, according to Paul, are to obey their husbands and to be subject to male leadership.

Friday, November 15, 2019

The Personality And Academic Achievement

The Personality And Academic Achievement ABSTRACT Chemistry achievement is one of the major interests of educators. Educational psychologists have been always concerned to identify the factors that affect students achievement. The emphasis continued to change and shift from one aspect to the other from time to time. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of students personality and attitude on Chemistry achievement. Data were collected by self-prepared survey instrument. The opinions of personally approached 780 secondary school students of government, semi-government and private school sectors were surveyed through stratified random sampling. Data was analyzed by calculating mean, and by applying one way ANOVA. The results revealed that Gender, Family Type, School sectors, Parents Education, and Choice of Course have significant effect on chemistry achievement. Findings of study also revealed that out of five sub-factors of personality, the two sub-factors (Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience) effect signific antly on students having 50-80% marks achievement in chemistry. From 81-90% the significant determinant of chemistry achievement is the sub-factor Achievement Motivation and above 90% marks the significant predictor of Chemistry Achievement is sub-factor Motivation. The research will benefit Educators, Curriculum developers, Teacher, Parents and students. Findings of the factors influencing academic achievement will help educators to develop fair academic curricula that can compensate for known weaknesses a student might carry in the classroom, and those that can nurture a students strengths. Keywords: Attitude towards chemistry; Personality traits; Chemistry Achievement; Openness to experience; Conscientiousness; Motivation; Achievement Motivation. Introduction Academic achievement represents the understanding of the student about different concepts and skills developed in different subjects. In most of the countries, parents usually desire that their children show high level of academic achievement which sets a lot of burden on children, teachers, schools and in general the whole education system. Thus the whole education system revolves round the academic achievement of students so, the schools set a lot of time for helping students to achieve high grades. Academic achievement may be influenced by different factors like intelligence, study habits, and attitudes of students, socio economic status, motivation, opportunities, and different characteristics of their personality. Academic achievement is considered as a core standard to measure students total potential and capabilities of learning. Hence academic achievement occupies a very vital place in our education as well as in the learning process. Achievement is the major outcome of education, the level to which a student, teacher has accomplished their educational goals. According to Crow and Crow (1964) academic achievement is reflected by the extent to which a skill or knowledge has been acquired by a person from the training imparted to him. Previous studies in science education revealed that students at all levels struggle to learn chemistry, but most of them remain unsuccessful (Herron, 1975; Nakhleh, 1992; Sawrey, 1990). Knowledge of the factors that influence academic success has important implications for learning and education. Academic success is strongly influenced by individual differences in personality and attitude. Literature Review Personality and Academic Achievement: Personality is the basic area of study for psychologists. Hall and Lindzey (1991) state that personality may be defined in terms of characteristics or abilities, that are highly representative of an individual and is an important part of the overall impression created on others. According to Pervin, and John (2005) Personality comprises of unique set of characteristics that define an individual feelings, way of thinking, and behavior. Personality is a person set of relatively stable characteristics that account patterns of behavior, in various situations each individual in some ways is different and in some ways is unique. There is much concern about the science achievement of the students in high schools recently. Accordingly a strong emphasis is currently placed on improving the quality of science education (Morrel Lederman, 1998). A widely used personality model, McCrae and Costas NEO Five Factor Model, or Big Five Model (1990), comprises of Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience and Agreeableness. Recent studies show that Big Five traits measurement is powerful enough to explain a moderate percentage of the variance in academic achievement (Blickle, 1996; Rolfhus Ackerman, 1999). The relationship between Extraversion and academic achievement shows that Extravert students perform better in primary schools where as introverts perform well in secondary schools and university (Eysenck Cookson, 1969). Introverts are benefited in written exams, while extraverts have an advantage in oral exams (Chamorro- Premuzic Furnham, 2003a; Furnham Medhurst, 1995). Table 2.1: Characteristics of Big Five Personality Traits Big five traits Characteristics Sample Items Extraversion Impulsive, Ambitious, Social, Caring, optimistic, Confident I learn more through cooperating and discussing with my classmates. Agreeableness Friendly, helping, trusting, Kind, Cooperative Kindhearted, Supportive. I realize that helping my classmates in chemistry benefits me. Conscientiousness Hardworking, Motivated, well organized, dutiful, achievement-oriented I strive to achieve excellence in everything I do. Neuroticism Nervous, Sensitive, disturbed, confuse, distract I cannot understand the imaginary concept of Chemistry. Openness to Experience Open-minded, Inventive, Curious, Imaginative, Innovative I am always willing to accept the new experiences of Chemistry. Neuroticism is the condition of fear, nervousness in stressful conditions i.e., exams (Hembree, 1988; Siepp, 1991). Neuroticism leads to poor self-concept (Wells Matthews, 1994) and low self-estimated intelligence (Furnham, Chamorro-Premuzic, and Moutafi, under review). Chamorro-Premuzie and Furnham (2003) found that Neuroticism may impair academic achievement or has no significant associations with academic achievement (Puklek Levpu[scaron] [caron] ek Zupan[caron] i[caron] 2009a).Openness to experience is significant predictor of academic achievement(Bratko et al., 2006; Laidra et al., 2007). Openness to experience and agreeableness are positively related to academic achievement (Lounsbury et al., 2003; Farsides Woodfield, 2003). Researchers have shown significant associations between Conscientiousness and academic achievement in school (Noftle Robins, 2007) because careful, organized, hardworking, and achievement-oriented students may expect to succeed in academic settings. Attitude and Academic Achievement Osborne et al. (2003) state that attitudes are the feelings, beliefs, and values held about an object, in terms of chemistry may be enthusiasm about chemistry, perceptions of chemistry, and the contribution of chemistry to society or scientists. Thus attitude play a vital role in fostering long-lasting learning and to determine students academic achievement. Affective characteristics are considered as an important domain of attitude so in this study we select seven affective characteristics that are motivation, interest, confidence, enjoyment, importance, anxiety and achievement motivation. Table.2.2: Characteristics of Affective Domain of Attitude Scale Description Sample Item Enjoyment Fascinating, Exciting, Fun, Interesting, Attractive, Captivating Chemistry lessons are interesting and fun to study. Anxiety Worry, Nervous, Fear, Confuse, Uncomfortable Chemistry usually makes me feel uncomfortable, nervous and confused. Importance Useful, beneficial, Advantageous, Helpful, Aware Chemistry is useful if the topics are connected with our daily life. Interest Aware, Curious, Like, I am interested to know about the new researches in chemistry. Motivation Inspiration, Reinforcement, Stimulation, Encouragement When I fail in Chemistry course, it encourages me to try much harder to do well in Chemistry. Confidence Success, Sureness, Sef-reliance I am sure I can learn and can do advance work in Chemistry Achievement Motivation Extent to which students are motivated to achieve their goals. I get good grades in Chemistry than any other subject. An examination of literature on attitude and chemistry achievement reveals conflicting results (Shibley et al., 2003; Turner and Lindsay, 2003). While some claim a low correlation between attitude and achievement, others claim the two are strongly positively correlated. Wei-nburghs (1995) meta-analysis of the research suggests that there is only a moderate relation between attitude and achievement. Previous researches show the effect of affective characteristics of attitude on academic achievement. Skaalvik and Rankin (1995), Egitimidergisi, (2007) found that motivation is correlated with academic achievement. Academic achievement is most likely to occur when learning is self-directed and students are motivated (Ryan, Connell, Deci, 1985). Furthermore, researchers have found that motivation leads to engagement in academic tasks, which is related to achievement (DeCharms, 1984; Dweck, 1986). Interest is an individual predisposition and a psychological state of mind, which is important for cognitive engagement, learning, and achievement (Ainley, Hidi, Berndorff, 2002; Pintrich Schunk, 2002). Krapp approach interest in two different point of views, Personal and situational interest. Personal interest is topic-specific, persists over time (Schiefele 1991). However, situational interest is aroused as a function of the interestingness of the event or object and it is also changeab le and partially under the control of teachers (Schraw, Flowerday, Lehman 2001). Interest is related to students devotion, goals, and depth of learning (Hidi Renninger, 2006). Interests increase when students feel competent, so even if students are not initially interested in a subject or activity, they may develop interests as they experience success. (Stipek, 2002). Whitfield (1979) reported chemistry and physics as the least enjoyable subject. Analysis indicates that there is significant mean difference between Grade 9 and Grade 10 students attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject on enjoyment and importance dimensions (Can Boz, 2012). Achievement motivation is correlated with academic achievement (Camara, 1986). Individuals academic achievement depends not only on their motivation to achieve but also on whether they expect to achieve and whether they fear failure. Students work hard when they perceive a reasonable chance to succeed than when they perceive a goal to be o ut of reach (Atkinson, 1964). Demographics (Gender, School Sector, Parents Qualification, Choice of Course) and Academic Achievement: Previous studies demonstrate that achievement in science is gender dependent. Male and female students achievement in science is significantly correlated (Schibeci and Riley 1986, Weinburgh 1995). Previous research revealed that boys outperform girls in science in most countries (Pinchas 1988, Wang Staver 1995). Gender differences in science achievement test scores have not typically been large when compared. However, recent studies on gender differences in science achievement reported a change in pattern, thus reporting either no gender differences (Ventura 1992, Calsambis 1995) or girls outperforming boys in science (Young and Fraser 1990, Soyibo 1999). Fraser-Abder (1990) investigated the effects of gender, school-type (single-sex or coeducational schools, private denominational or government schools), parental occupation, and socioeconomic status on science achievement in Trinidad. Fraser-Abder found that girls scored significantly higher than boys on the science test. Zappala ( 2002) argue that the type of school a child attends influences academic achievement. Schools according to Sentamu (2003) are social institutions in which groups of individuals are brought together to share educational experiences and such interactions may breed positive or negative influences on learners. Parents education is positively related to students academic achievement. This is supported by Dills (2006) and Owens (1999). Considine and Zappala (2002) Kwesiga (2002) reveal that School sector (public or private) is linked to academic performance of students. Parents who scaffold learning experiences and provide support to their children when needed early in childrens lives may prepare their children for school entry and provide basis for them to benefit from educational activities (Pianta Egeland, 1994; Pianta et al., 1990; Pianta et al., 1997). Parents own behavior as well as joint family activities have been shown to influence childrens academic motivation and behavior ( Chen, Lee Stevenson, 1996; De Garmo, Forgatch Martinez, 1999; Grolnick Slowiaczek, 1994; Heiss, 1996). Authoritative parenting, has positive effects on how students approach the demands they face in school (Bradley et al., 2000; Gutman Eccles, 1999). Interest and attitude of learners towards the subject plays a decisive role for the success of the learner. Students choose course by their interest are believed to be highly motivated to learn than students placed in a department without their interest. High motivation is a factor which can lead students to a better achievement. Studies done by different authors disclosed that motivated students perform better academically than unmotivated ones (Bank and Finlapson, 1980; Broussard and Garrison, 2004; Sandra, 2002). Significance of the Study Attitude towards Chemistry and personality traits vary over time and effect academic achievement of students in different ways. Previous studies show that attitudes and personality towards Chemistry achievement are cultural dependent. Culture varies between and within countries. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume large number of variations in students achievement in chemistry reported from different parts of the world. Gender role varies in different cultures; it is therefore likely that chemistry achievement is gender dependent. Chemistry achievement is one of the major interests of educators. Although being not very frequent affective characteristics are studied together with personality and achievement in chemistry education. However studies based on Affective Characteristics and Achievement or on Personality and Achievement is found separately but combine study of all these three factors is not found in chemistry education. Prior research has established that both personality traits and attitude are associated with academic achievement. However, not much is known about the joint influence of personality traits and attitude on learners Chemistry academic achievement. In the current study, researcher sought to fill in this gap in the literature by directly examining the relationship between personality, attitude and academic achievement. Three major research questions were investigated: (1) what is the relationship between secondary school science students Big 5 personality traits and affective characteristics of attitude on their Chemistry academic achievement? (2) How demographic factors (age, gender, family type, school sector, choice of course and educational levels of parents) influence Chemistry academic achievement of secondary school science students. (3) Are the Affective Characteristics of Attitude depends on each other? Methods Development and Validation of Instrument To investigate the aim of this study, the first step was to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire for measuring students personality trait and attitudes toward chemistry achievement. Rather than translating an attitude and personality questionnaire among those available in literature, we constructed a new questionnaire, in order to be more relevant to the curriculum and conditions applied in the Pakistan schools. The questionnaire was prepared on the basis of Likert scale type. It was prepared by keeping in view different aspects of the problem. All participants completed a 37-statement investigator-developed questionnaire. The Questionnaire includes six demographic variables as well as two factors (Personality Attitude). Six demographic variables are included that elicits respondents background information. All participants were asked to rate each item using a five-point scale where a 5 represented strongly agree and a 1 represented strongly disagree. The ratings for all statement on each scale are summed, and a higher score indicates more obvious trait characteristics. All items were written in a structured alternative format design to reduce the tendency to give socially desirable responses (Harter, 1982). The pilot testing was done on a sample of 50 students. The reliability of the research instrument was 0.84 and level of difficulty of questionnaire was moderate. Procedures The authors obtained authorization from school administrators to conduct the study. Through individual meeting communications were provided to the school counselors (or classroom teachers) to explain the purpose of this study and the research instrument. Students were recruited through voluntary participation. There were 780 students who participate in this study. The investigators administered the Questionnaire to consenting students either during classes. Before administering the survey, the purpose of the study and the procedures to complete the Questionnaire were explained to the students. Students understanding of the survey was verified and questions about the survey were answered. Data Analyses Quantitative analysis was performed with the help of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Mean and one way ANOVA was applied on the data to investigate questionnaire in terms of personality traits and attitudes toward chemistry. Effect of Gender and Family Type on Students Chemistry Achievement Figure 1 illustrates a significant effect of Gender and Family Type on students Chemistry Achievement. Figure indicates that Male students have the mean value 3.66 and are high achievers in chemistry as compare to female students having mean value 3.60, while students belongs to Nuclear Family have the mean value 3.65 and are high achievers in chemistry as compare to students who belongs to Joint family system having mean value 3.62. Figure 1: Mean values of Class, Gender and Family Type on the basis of secondary school students Chemistry Achievement. Effect of School Sector on Students Chemistry Achievement Figure 2 shows a significant effect of School Sector on students Chemistry Achievement. Figure indicates that the Private school show highest mean value 4.14 of Chemistry Achievement while the Government School show lowest mean value 2.78 of Chemistry Achievement and Semi-Government School show moderate mean value 3.98 of Chemistry Achievement. Figure 2 shows Mean values of School Sector on the basis secondary school students Chemistry Achievement. Effect of Father Qualification on students Chemistry Achievement Figure 3 indicates that the students whose Father qualification is Masters show highest mean value 4.17 of Chemistry Achievement and the students whose fathers are Uneducated show lowest mean value 2.34 of Chemistry Achievement as compare to the students whose father qualifications is Matric, Intermediate, Graduation and Masters. Figure 3 illustrates a positive significant effect of Father Qualification on secondary school students Chemistry Achievement. Figure 3 shows Mean values Father Qualification based on secondary school students Chemistry Achievement. Effect of Mother Qualification on Students Chemistry Achievement Figure 4 indicates that the students whose mother qualification is Masters show highest mean value 4.21 of Chemistry Achievement and the students whose mothers are Uneducated show lowest mean value 2.37 of Chemistry Achievement as compare to the students whose mother qualifications are Matric, Intermediate, Graduation and Masters. Figure 4 illustrates a positive significant effect of Mother Qualification on secondary school students Chemistry Achievement. Figure 4 shows Mean values of Mother Qualification on the basis of Secondary School students Chemistry Achievement. Effect of Choice of Course on Students Chemistry Achievement Figure 5 illustrates a significant effect of Choice of Course on Students Chemistry Achievement. Figure indicates that the students who choose chemistry for Better Academic Accomplishment show highest mean value 3.93 of Chemistry Achievement and the students who choose chemistry Out of Interest show lowest mean value 3.36 of Chemistry Achievement. Figure 5 shows Mean values of Choice of Course based on secondary school students Chemistry Achievement. Sum of Squares (df ) Mean Square F-values (p-values) Post hoc (p-values) 51%-60%Vs. 61%-70% 51%-60%Vs. 71%-80% 91%-100%Vs. 50% below 50% 91%-100% Vs. 51%-60% 91%-100% Vs.61%-70% 91%-100% Vs. 71%-80% Extraversion Between group 2.445 (5) 0.489 1.136 (0.340) Within group 333.101 (774) 0.430 Agreeableness Between group 5.249 (5) 1.050 2.196 (0.053) Within group 369.982 (774) 0.478 Conscientiousness Between group 8.395 5 1.679 4.180 (0.001) -0.2453 (0.015) -0.2992 (0.001) Within group 310.866 (774) 0.402 Neuroticism Between group 4.343 (5) 0.869 1.485 (0.192) Within group 452.680 (774) 0.585 Openness to Experience Between group 10.273 (5) 2.055 3.661 (0.003) -0.55686 (0.009) -0.34645 (0.048) -0.31730 (0.042) -0.38241 (0.005) Within group 434.327 (774) 0.561 -0.15460 (0.017) Personality Between group 2.616 (5) 0.523 3.044 (0.010) Within group 133.024 (774) 0.172 Table 3: One way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc for multiple comparisons of Chemistry Achievement on secondary school students Personality trait Effect of Personality Traits on Students Chemistry Achievement Table 3 indicates that there is no significant effect of secondary school students Personality trait Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism on Chemistry Achievement. Table 3 also reveals that there is significant effect of secondary school students Personality trait Conscientiousness on Chemistry Achievement. From the Tukey Post Hoc Test of Multiple Comparisons reveals that the students who got marks 61%-70% and 71%-80% show more Conscientiousness that the students who got 51%-60% marks. Table 3 also specifies that there is significant effect of secondary school students Personality trait Openness to Experience on Chemistry Achievement.Tukey Post Hoc Test of Multiple Comparisons reveals that the students who got marks 50% below 50%, 51%-60%, 61%-70% and 71%-80% show more Openness to Experience than the students who got 91%-100% marks. Table 3 also illustrates that there is significant effect of secondary school students Personality on Chemistry Achievement.Tukey Post Hoc Test of Multiple Comparisons reveals that the students who got marks 71%-80% show more Personality than the students who got marks 51%-60%. Sum of Squares (df ) Mean Square F-values (p-values) Post hoc (p-values) 81%-90% Vs.51%-60% 81%-90%Vs. 61%-70% 91%-100%Vs. 50% below 50% 91%-100% Vs.61%-70% 91%-100% Vs. 71%-80% Interest Between group 3.199 (5) 0.640 0.857 (0.510) Within group 577.815 (774) 0.747 Motivation Between group 12.250 (5) 2.450 3.923 (0.002) -0.61783 (0.005) -0.33498 (0.042) -0.36734 (0.015) Within group 483.388 (774) 0.625 Enjoyment Between group 5.923 (5) 1.185 1.197 (0.309) Within group 766.010 (774) 0.990 Confidence Between group 4.141 (5) 0.828 1.790 (0.112) Within group 358.069 (774) 0.463 Importance Between group 2.379 (5) 0.476 0.832 (0.527) ) Within group 442.382 (774) 0.572 Anxiety Between group 5.907 (5) 1.181 1.419 (0.215) Within group 644.330 (774) 0.832 Achievement Motivation Between group 12.150 (5) 2.430 3.637 (0.003) 0.36081 (0.015) 0.28473 (0.033) Within group 517.194 (774) 0.668 Attitude Between group 1.168 (5) 0.234 0.671 (0.646) Within group 269.496 (774) 0.348 Table 4: One way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc for multiple comparisons of Chemistry Achievement on secondary school students Affective Characteristics of Attitude Effect of Attitude on Students Chemistry Achievement Table 4 also indicates that there is no significant effect of secondary school students Interest, Enjoyment, Confidence, Importance, and Anxiety of Chemistry lessons. Table 4 indicates that there is significant effect of secondary school students Motivation towards Chemistry on Chemistry Achievement. Tukey Post Hoc Test of Multiple Comparisons it is evident that the students who got marks 91-100% show more Motivation as compare to students who got 50% below 50%, 61%-70% and 71%-80% marks. Table 4 illustrates that there is significant effect of secondary school students Achievement Motivation towards Chemistry on Chemistry Achievement.Tukey Post Hoc Test of Multiple Comparisons revealed that there is significant effect of secondary school students Achievement Motivation on Chemistry Achievement. The students who got marks 81%-90% show more Achievement Motivation than the students who got 51%-60% and 61%-70% marks. Table indicates that there is no significant effect of secondary school students Attitude towards Chemistry on Chemistry Achievement. Inter-relationship between different sub-factors of affective attitude Variable r- value Sig. Enjoyment and Interest 0.765 0.000 Interest and Motivation 0.694 0.000 Interest and Confidence 0.623 0.000 Interest and Importance 0.574 0.574 Interest and Anxiety 0.031 0.389 Interest and Achievement Motivation 0.666 0.000 Motivation and Enjoyment 0.566 0.000 Motivation and Confidence 0.824 0.000 Motivation and Importance 0.476 0.000 Motivation and Anxiety 0.014 0.687 Motivation and Achievement Motivation 0.464 0.000 Confidence and Importance 0.500 0.000 Confidence and Anxiety 0.009 0.793 Confidence and Achievement Motivation 0.445 0.000 Importance and Anxiety 0.008 0.834 Importance and Achievement Motivation 0.407 0.000 Anxiety and Achievement Motivation 0.196 0.000 Table 1 shows that r-ratio (0.765) SO, there is strong positive relationship between secondary school students Interest in chemistry and students Enjoyment in learning chemistry lessons. r-ratio (0.694) indicates strong positive relationship between secondary school students Interest in chemistry and students Motivation in learning chemistry lessons. r-ratio (0.623) illustrate the strong positive relationship between secondary school students Interest in chemistry and students Confidence in learning chemistry lessons. r-ratio (0.574) is not significant at pà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤0.05 level of significance and there is no significant relationship between secondary school students Interest in chemistry and they do not know the Importance of chemistry lessons. r-ratio (0.031) is not significant at pà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤0.05 level of significance so,there is no significant relationship between secondary school students Interest in chemistry and their Anxiety about chemistry lessons. r-ratio (0.666) il lustrate the strong positive relationship between secondary school students Interest in chemistry and students Achievement Motivation about chemistry lessons. Table 1 also shows that r-ratio (0.566) shows the moderate positive relationship between secondary school students Motivation about chemistry and students Enjoyment of chemistry lessons. r-ratio (0.824) represents strong positive relationship between secondary school students Motivation about chemistry and students and Confidence about chemistry lessons. r-ratio (0.476) shows the intermediate positive relationship between secondary school students Motivation about chemistry and Importance of chemistry lessons. r-ratio (0.014) is not significant at pà ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤0.05 level of significance So, it is evident that there is no significant relationship between secon

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Celtic Druids :: European History Essays

Evidence of the Celts first came about 400 BCE from Northern Italy. More evidence or encounters were found during the young Roman Empire. Many of the accounts we hear of them come from Greek and Roman writers, such as Julius Caesar and Diodorus. There were various tribes to this group, many of them called Galli by the Romans and Galataoir Keltoi by the Greeks, these terms meant Barbarian. The Greek word Keltoi was what Celts came from, this is the reason the C is pronounced as a K. As languages went there was one language that tied all of them together, Old Celtic which is the descendent of the original Ur-Lnaguage. "Welsh, Breton the language of Brittany, in France- and the variants of Gaelic spoken in Ireland and Scotland are all Celtic languages"(Stokstad 485). Celtic Druids Evidence of their culture is basically archeological, it has also come from oral tradition, dating back to shortly before the fifth century AD. Knowledge of all the Druids besides the Celtic ones has been found from and around the third century BC to the fourth century AD. Blacksmithing was an important craft to the Celts. Tools of knives, shears and axe-heads were made to stock patterns across the Celtic World. Iron was also used to make decorative and functional pieces which were very elaborate. Iron again was used for spears, swords and defensive mounting of wooden shields. Bronze workers used a lot of copper and tin to make their intricately designed ornaments. The theme of the Celtic warrior played an important part, with the practice of single combat, the warriors feast and the prize of severed heads of defeated foes. Writing in the Celtic society was sort of restricted, it was not used for imaginative or traditional literature. Before the Roman conquest a state of conditional literacy intermittently existed among the Gaulish upper classes (Piggott 51). Greek letters were occasionally used. However in Celtic societies other than the Druids it seemed opposite. Greek Letters were used in the Book of Mathew, Book Of Kells , in Stoktads book there is an example of how finely the craftsmanship is with the Chi Rho Iota page. This translated into "Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about" (Mathew 1:18).Many abbreviations of Latin words were used as well which had to be memorized by scribes. The page seems abstract at first glance but if you look closely you can see the fine detail of figures in it.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Customer Lifetime Value in Movie Business Essay

Unlike other industries, the marketing scenario in media and entertainment industry such as movie or music business are more unpredictable and unstable. In terms of movie industry, which differs from typical product category, nevertheless, provides a variety of interesting multiple-genres products serving different audience herds for entertainment. The diffusion is quite rapid and the product life shell is extremely short, even though reversioning or rerunning might take place. Correspondingly, the customer lifetime value is relatively low and difficult to estimate. The brand loyalty doesn’t make too much sense in this area whatever giant movie studios or indie films, the audience goes for a movie based on their personal preference or word-of –mouth communications (both online and offline). Thus a lot of customer churn happen in movie industry and â€Å"nobody knows anything† theory occupies, which leads to a unstable and insignificant retention rate. As a result, we cannot utilize the formulation II regarding retention rates in book to estimate CLV here. Instead, if we use the first formulation, a series of hypothetical figures are required. Based on database from NATO(National Association of Theater Owners), the average customer goes for movie 5 times a year. A movie fan maybe watch film every week. The average ticket price per year is around $7.5. However, the variable cost for ticketing and acquisition cost per cost are unknown. However, the concept of CLV still of great significance to movie industry that 1) It comes up with the concept of customer segmentation. We should treat different customers differently. For instance, to implement rewarding incentives or promotion to retain those diehard moviegoers that value much to the business. It is also an effective method to gathering audiences’ information and data. 2) Multiple marketing strategies are required to promote a single product( one movie) and maximize the profitable value. Besides, the entertainment industry should try to embrace the â€Å"free† model in the digital time, for instance, to create spin-off products related to the movies as another revenue stream.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Among vs. Amongst

Among vs. Amongst Among vs. Amongst Among vs. Amongst By Ali Hale Summary: Among and amongst are interchangeable terms. Among is more common in modern writing. Americans tend to always use among, while in the UK both among and amongst are used. Although we’ve covered the difference between Among/Amongst in another post on Daily Writing Tips (spoiler alert: there isn’t one), you might still be wondering which word would work best in a particular context. One of our readers, Tania Botha, asked: â€Å"When (if ever) must one use â€Å"amongst† – I systematically use â€Å"among† in my own writing and change it when editing other people’s texts, because â€Å"amongst† seems so old-fashioned. Is there a rule?† If you’re American, you may find that you pretty much never hear â€Å"amongst† – in the UK, where I live, it’s a little more common. (I often heard it in school from teachers instructing us to â€Å"talk amongst yourselves† while they prepared the next bit of the lesson). To answer Tania’s question: there’s no situation where you must use the word â€Å"amongst†, but there are contexts in which it might make sense to use it. If you’re writing a medieval fantasy story, or a piece of historical fiction, â€Å"amongst† could fit well with your tone. For instance: As Tarquin stood amongst the great trees of the ancient forest In the depths of the castle, amongst the detritus of the feast But if you’re writing a news or feature article, or a piece of modern fiction, â€Å"among† is probably a better fit. For instance: â€Å"Australia’s cheap, dirty petrol ranks among the worst of the OECD nations† (The Guardian) â€Å"Six hotels in Llandudno have been named among the best in the UK.† (BBC News) So yes,  amongst  can seem old-fashioned – but it’s still grammatically correct as an alternative to  among. It’s up to you to select which you prefer: if you’re British or Canadian, â€Å"amongst† is unlikely to stand out as especially unusual; if you’re American, it’s almost certainly going to seem oddly old-fashioned unless you’re using it in an appropriate context. Examples of â€Å"Amongst† and â€Å"Among† in Literature In 19th century literature, there are plenty of examples of the use of the word â€Å"amongst† – both from British writers and American writers. Here are a few examples from Jane Eyre, by the English writer Charlotte Bronte. â€Å"Amongst† appears quite frequently: â€Å"I heard a wild wind rushing amongst† â€Å"Flowers peeped out amongst the leaves; snow-drops, crocuses, purple auriculas, and golden-eyed pansies.† â€Å"I lingered till the sun went down amongst the trees, and sank crimson and clear behind them.† But â€Å"among† is also used fairly often: â€Å"She peered at me over her spectacles, and then she opened a drawer and fumbled among its contents for a long time, so long that my hopes began to falter.† â€Å"The company all stared at me as I passed straight among† â€Å"I trode on an edging of turf that the crackle of the pebbly gravel might not betray me: he was standing among the beds at a yard or two distant from where I had to pass; the moth apparently engaged him.† American writers used â€Å"amongst†, too. In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain uses it frequently: â€Å"Pretty soon I heard a twig snap down in the dark amongst the trees- something was a stirring.† â€Å"Tom poked about amongst the passages, and pretty soon ducked under a wall where you wouldn’t a noticed that there was a hole.† â€Å"My heart jumped up amongst my lungs.† Again, you’ll also find â€Å"among† being used (though surprisingly infrequently – there are only two instances of it in the whole novel, compared with 37 of â€Å"amongst): â€Å"I struck for the light, but as soon as he turned the corner I went back and got into my skiff and bailed her out, and then pulled up shore in the easy water about six hundred yards, and tucked myself in among some woodboats; for I couldn’t rest easy till I could see the ferryboat start.† â€Å"Then I slipped down to the ground and crawled in among the trees, and, sure enough, there was Tom Sawyer waiting for me.† Ultimately, then, it’s entirely up to you whether you use â€Å"among† or â€Å"amongst†. If, like Tania, you’re editing someone else’s work, you might want to draw their attention to the fact that both words mean exactly the same thing – but that â€Å"amongst† can sound old-fashioned (particularly to American readers). Otherwise – choose whichever word best suits your context and, perhaps, the rhythm and cadence of your sentence. Among vs Amongst Quiz For each of the following sentences and contexts, choose whether among or amongst would be a better fit. 1. Once [among/amongst] the top companies in America, Widgets Inc is now facing bankruptcy. among amongst 2. These tips should help your website rank [among/amongst] the best in the world. amongst among 3. Johannes huddled [among/amongst] the fallen bodies, praying that he wouldnt be seen. among amongst 4. Erica swore. Surely her car keys had to be somewhere [among/amongst] all the clutter on the kitchen counter. among amongst 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 Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing Light50 Idioms About Meat and Dairy ProductsOppose and Opposed To