Critically consider psychological explanations of love Essay

There are three psychological theories of love, The Three Factor Theory of Romantic Love, Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love and Romantic Love and Attachment. The three factor theory of romantic love suggested by Hatfield and Walster, recognises two types of love, passionate love and companionate love. Whilst passionate love can be seen as an intense physiological arousal which involves a longing for the other person, companionate love is more a feeling of affection towards those whom we feel deeply about. Hatfield and Walster propose a theory to explain passionate love based on three factors; physiological arousal, appropriate love object and cultural exposure. The authors see love as a label that is placed on someone that we are physiologically aroused by. Experiencing this arousal will cause a person to state it is because of love, since this is what our culture teaches us happens when we are in love. This theory receives support from research by Dutton and Aron. In this study, male participants were interviewed on a high or low suspension bridge, by an attractive female. The results supported the prediction that those males interviewed on a high bridge felt more sexual attraction to the woman, presumably because they experienced stronger physiological arousal. The males on the lower bridge felt less physical attraction, presumably because their physiological arousal was not as strong. It is possible that this theory could explain certain experiences such as love at first sight. However, since most people seem to fall in love gradually, this would suggest that for the majority of individuals, the label, love, comes first rather that the physiological arousal. The theory is also more applicable to western rather then eastern or collectivist cultures. Sternberg defines love as – intimacy (sharing mutual understanding and emotional support), passion (involves physical attraction and sexual desire) and decision/commitment (involves the short-term decision that you love someone and a longer-term commitment to maintain that love). These three components of love can be combined in different ways to produce seven varieties of love; liking, infatuation, empty love, romantic love, compassionate love, fatuous love and consummate love. These seven types of love form a triangle. Consummate love being in the center as it is the strongest form of love since it involves all three components. Sternberg believes that people have two different types of triangle. The first is based on an individuals own theory of love and is formed in a cultural context from watching television, observing parents, reading books, including listening to fairy tales when young. The second triangle is based on the individuals’ current relationship. According to Sternberg when two triangles are similar, relationships tend to be more successful. The theory has practical applications – it is possible to measure the components in the two parties and then analyse the differences in the types of love shown by each partner. It helps pinpoint areas where change and compromise may be necessary. However, the components are rather vague, especially commitment, and it is therefore difficult to judge the basis on which one person decides to love another. Hazan and Shaver proposed that romantic relationships are attachment relationships, and that individual differences in adult attachment style, mirror those found by psychologists who studied attachment styles such as Ainsworth. So rather than love being formed in a cultural context, Hazan and Shaver believe that love originates from a person’s early relationship with a primary caregiver. This theory developed out of two earlier pieces of research by Ainsworth and Bowlby. Ainsworth’s strange situation and the observation that children have three different styles of attachment – secure, insecure/anxious resistant and insecure/anxious avoidant. Bowlby’s belief that the mother’s behaviour towards the child creates an internal working model that leads the infant to expect the same in later relationships. According to Hazan and Shaver, later love relationships can be predicted from a child’s attachment style. So therefore a secure child who had a positive image of a caring mother will have relationships in later life that are friendly, trusting and more enduring. A child classified as insecure/anxious resistant will have conflicting memories of the mother, both positive and rejecting, causing relationships in later life to consist of emotional highs and lows, with moments of jealousy and concerns whether their partners really love them. Insecure/anxious avoidant children will remember their mother as cold and rejecting and have relationships in later life where they fear being close to someone and believe love is not necessary for happiness nor is it long lasting. Hazan and Shaver’s research receives support from a number of studies in that there does seem to be a relationship between early attachment experiences and later attitudes and behaviour to love for example Feeny and Noller 1990. However the research has all been correlational in this area, so it cannot be claimed that early attachment causes later relationships behaviour. The relationship between the two could be caused by another factor. Kagon believes this other factor to be the temperament of the child. Infants are born with certain temperaments which determine the quality of their early relationships and these innate or genetic factors affect relationships throughout life. The three psychological theories of love provide partial explanations for this most intense of human emotion. Whilst Hatfield and Walster believe love to be a state of strong physiological arousal, Sternberg and Hazan and Shaver believe that love originates from a persons early relationships with a primary caregiver.

Evolution of Leadership Models

What is leadership? And how has the theory on leadership developed? Greenwood (1993) paints an interesting if somewhat surprising picture as he reviews the development of leadership theory from the turn of the twentieth century onward. Greenwood (1993) describes how in the early 1900s the Father of Scientific Management, Frederick Taylor while not directly writing about leadership in his description of the role of the supervisor introduced the matter of traits and its link to situation.He did so as he described the ideal traits to be found in an effective foreman even while acknowledging that no one person would have all those characteristics and so there was the need for by dividing the work into specialized areas. Further, from the nineteenth century Thomas Carlyle examined the characteristics of great men â€Å"positing that the rise to power is rooted in a heroic set of personal talents, skills or physical characteristics† (Heifetz, 1998:16).At the start of the twentieth c entury, other scholars (Bird, 1940, Tead and Metcalf, 1920, Barnard, 1938), also affirmed that successful managers have certain traits. However, in 1948 Stogdill’s seminal work highlighted the inconsistencies in the trait theory studies significantly dismantled the theory noting that: The evidence suggests that leadership is a relation that exists between persons in a social situation, and that persons who are leaders in one situation may not necessarily be leaders in other situations†¦. Stogdill, 1974 cited in Greenwood, 1993:7Interestingly, Davis (1934) referring to traits noted there was no checklist for success but stated that leadership characteristic â€Å"they are necessarily a function of the characteristics and requirements of the leader and the particular situation, as well as the innate capacities of the executive himself† (Davis, 1937 cited in Greenwood, 1993:8). By 1955 Koontz and O’Donnell building on his work posited that the trait theory was of little promise noting that leadership involved the power of persuasion upon followers and that the quality of leadership was impacted by certain nvironmental factors. Leadership theory was also influenced by human relation considerations, which emerged around about the same time. These thinkers made the link with leadership as it relates to the leader’s ability to connect with people, to empathise, develop teams and to delegate and emphasized that the follower was central and leadership focused on the needs of the follower. So while the movement did not develop a leadership theory it introduced the linkage between individual needs, observations and group dynamics and appropriate styles of leadership behavior.Blake and Mouton challenged Davis’s theory of behavior stating that â€Å"the dimensions needed for an effective description of operational conduct are attitudinal variables, not behavior variables† (cited in Greenwood, 1993:13). Using the managerial gri d and attitudinal variables the writers posited that there was one best way to lead but differing tactics depending on the situation. This premise is not supported by the situational theory, which focuses on many leadership styles which depends on the situation.In many ways situational theory is a convergence of many schools of thought; although the path to its development has been ‘messy’ and sometimes circuitous. The theory is based on â€Å"leadership effectiveness †¦ strongly tied to a leader being demanding and simultaneously sensitive to the needs of the followers† (Greenwood, 1993:14). It predicts leadership performance based on interaction between leadership personality and the leaders control of the situation. In this regard, the theory is a variance with Blake and Mouton’s view of one best style.Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s (1973 ) classical work supports the contingency theory and described seven leadership styles, which were employed de pending on interrelatedness of three key issues: forces in the manger, the subordinate and the situation. As noted by the writers. the successful manager of men can be primarily characterized neither as a strong leader nor as a permissive one. Rather, he is one who maintains a high batting average in accurately assessing the forces that determine what his most appropriate behavior at any given time. Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1973:180) Situational Model versus LMXThe situational approach has evolved into a situational leadership model, which combines the four styles of leadership linked with the nature of the task and the performance readiness of the individuals to determine the most appropriate leadership style. Performance readiness is based on two principal issues ability and willingness. By combining the leadership styles with performance readiness continuum matrix one is able to match performance readiness with leadership style. So for instance a low performance readiness (R1) wou ld require a telling style (S1) (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2008).The work of Armenakis, Harris & Mossholder (1993) writing on creating readiness for organisational change provide a framework of readiness and urgency, which is related to the Situational Model and supports the premise that readiness is linked to leadership style. On the other hand, the LMX theory (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) is a more recent theory, which examines the three domains of leadership; that is leader, follower and relationship in order to increase predictability of leadership practices. It incorporates operations and relationship in the leadership process.However, Stage 3 Leadership Making and Stage 4 – Team Making two important elements of the leadership process are still evolving. In my opinion, while the concepts are of interest it has not yet matured sufficient to be a useful tool when compared to the Situational Model. In summary, the situational model while not the end all and be all of leadersh ip theory provides a useful tool for practitioners to apply in their professional practice. Concluding remarks I am amazed at the state of leadership theory despite the many years of intense study. Such is the complexity of the issue.In my own professional practice I often adopt a leadership style that is in line with the contingency theory. With my team the style based on the model tends to be S2 while with some of the pilots countries where there is a concern with preparedness ranging between R1 and R2 I tend to adopt a telling or selling leadership style. Additionally, given the time limitation on the project readiness of the stakeholders can generally be described as low readiness/high urgency. I am not in apposition to replace staff so I will have to rethink my communication strategy ( Armenakis, Harris & Mossholder, 1993).I start where I began what is leadership? In a sense I know more about what leadership is not. It is not about traits or personalities nor is it leader focus ed. Leadership in many ways is still an art, it is relational, reflexive, intuitive and is a state within, which the leader and follower are inextricably linked. Denise Forrest Bibliography Armenakis, A. A. , Harris, S. G. & Mossholder, K. W. (1993) ‘Creating readiness for organizational change’, Human Relations, 46 (6), pp. 681-703. Graen, G. B. , & Uhl-Bien, M. 1995) ‘Relationship-based approach to leadership: development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective’, The Leadership Quarterly, 6 (2), pp. 219-247. Greenwood, R. G. (1993) ‘Leadership theory: a historical look at its evolution’,Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 1 (1), pp. 4-19, Heifetz, R. A. (1998) ‘Values in leadership’. In: Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, pp. 13-27. Hersey, P. , Blanchard, K. H. & Johnson, D. E. (2008) ‘S ituational leadership ®Ã¢â‚¬â„¢: In: Management of organizational behavior: leading human resources. 9th ed. New York: Pearson International, pp. 132-157. Leana, C. R. (1986) ‘Predictors and consequences of delegation’, Academy of Management Journal, 29 (4), pp. 754-774. Raelin, J. A. (2003) Creating leaderful organizations: how to bring outleadership in everyone. San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler. Tannenbaum, R. & Schmidt, W. H. (1973) ‘How to choose a leadership pattern’, Harvard Business Review, 51 (3), pp. 162-180. Evolution of Leadership Models What is leadership? And how has the theory on leadership developed? Greenwood (1993) paints an interesting if somewhat surprising picture as he reviews the development of leadership theory from the turn of the twentieth century onward. Greenwood (1993) describes how in the early 1900s the Father of Scientific Management, Frederick Taylor while not directly writing about leadership in his description of the role of the supervisor introduced the matter of traits and its link to situation.He did so as he described the ideal traits to be found in an effective foreman even while acknowledging that no one person would have all those characteristics and so there was the need for by dividing the work into specialized areas. Further, from the nineteenth century Thomas Carlyle examined the characteristics of great men â€Å"positing that the rise to power is rooted in a heroic set of personal talents, skills or physical characteristics† (Heifetz, 1998:16).At the start of the twentieth c entury, other scholars (Bird, 1940, Tead and Metcalf, 1920, Barnard, 1938), also affirmed that successful managers have certain traits. However, in 1948 Stogdill’s seminal work highlighted the inconsistencies in the trait theory studies significantly dismantled the theory noting that: The evidence suggests that leadership is a relation that exists between persons in a social situation, and that persons who are leaders in one situation may not necessarily be leaders in other situations†¦. Stogdill, 1974 cited in Greenwood, 1993:7Interestingly, Davis (1934) referring to traits noted there was no checklist for success but stated that leadership characteristic â€Å"they are necessarily a function of the characteristics and requirements of the leader and the particular situation, as well as the innate capacities of the executive himself† (Davis, 1937 cited in Greenwood, 1993:8). By 1955 Koontz and O’Donnell building on his work posited that the trait theory was of little promise noting that leadership involved the power of persuasion upon followers and that the quality of leadership was impacted by certain nvironmental factors. Leadership theory was also influenced by human relation considerations, which emerged around about the same time. These thinkers made the link with leadership as it relates to the leader’s ability to connect with people, to empathise, develop teams and to delegate and emphasized that the follower was central and leadership focused on the needs of the follower. So while the movement did not develop a leadership theory it introduced the linkage between individual needs, observations and group dynamics and appropriate styles of leadership behavior.Blake and Mouton challenged Davis’s theory of behavior stating that â€Å"the dimensions needed for an effective description of operational conduct are attitudinal variables, not behavior variables† (cited in Greenwood, 1993:13). Using the managerial gri d and attitudinal variables the writers posited that there was one best way to lead but differing tactics depending on the situation. This premise is not supported by the situational theory, which focuses on many leadership styles which depends on the situation.In many ways situational theory is a convergence of many schools of thought; although the path to its development has been ‘messy’ and sometimes circuitous. The theory is based on â€Å"leadership effectiveness †¦ strongly tied to a leader being demanding and simultaneously sensitive to the needs of the followers† (Greenwood, 1993:14). It predicts leadership performance based on interaction between leadership personality and the leaders control of the situation. In this regard, the theory is a variance with Blake and Mouton’s view of one best style.Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s (1973 ) classical work supports the contingency theory and described seven leadership styles, which were employed de pending on interrelatedness of three key issues: forces in the manger, the subordinate and the situation. As noted by the writers. the successful manager of men can be primarily characterized neither as a strong leader nor as a permissive one. Rather, he is one who maintains a high batting average in accurately assessing the forces that determine what his most appropriate behavior at any given time. Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1973:180) Situational Model versus LMXThe situational approach has evolved into a situational leadership model, which combines the four styles of leadership linked with the nature of the task and the performance readiness of the individuals to determine the most appropriate leadership style. Performance readiness is based on two principal issues ability and willingness. By combining the leadership styles with performance readiness continuum matrix one is able to match performance readiness with leadership style. So for instance a low performance readiness (R1) wou ld require a telling style (S1) (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2008).The work of Armenakis, Harris & Mossholder (1993) writing on creating readiness for organisational change provide a framework of readiness and urgency, which is related to the Situational Model and supports the premise that readiness is linked to leadership style. On the other hand, the LMX theory (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) is a more recent theory, which examines the three domains of leadership; that is leader, follower and relationship in order to increase predictability of leadership practices. It incorporates operations and relationship in the leadership process.However, Stage 3 Leadership Making and Stage 4 – Team Making two important elements of the leadership process are still evolving. In my opinion, while the concepts are of interest it has not yet matured sufficient to be a useful tool when compared to the Situational Model. In summary, the situational model while not the end all and be all of leadersh ip theory provides a useful tool for practitioners to apply in their professional practice. Concluding remarks I am amazed at the state of leadership theory despite the many years of intense study. Such is the complexity of the issue.In my own professional practice I often adopt a leadership style that is in line with the contingency theory. With my team the style based on the model tends to be S2 while with some of the pilots countries where there is a concern with preparedness ranging between R1 and R2 I tend to adopt a telling or selling leadership style. Additionally, given the time limitation on the project readiness of the stakeholders can generally be described as low readiness/high urgency. I am not in apposition to replace staff so I will have to rethink my communication strategy ( Armenakis, Harris & Mossholder, 1993).I start where I began what is leadership? In a sense I know more about what leadership is not. It is not about traits or personalities nor is it leader focus ed. Leadership in many ways is still an art, it is relational, reflexive, intuitive and is a state within, which the leader and follower are inextricably linked. Denise Forrest Bibliography Armenakis, A. A. , Harris, S. G. & Mossholder, K. W. (1993) ‘Creating readiness for organizational change’, Human Relations, 46 (6), pp. 681-703. Graen, G. B. , & Uhl-Bien, M. 1995) ‘Relationship-based approach to leadership: development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective’, The Leadership Quarterly, 6 (2), pp. 219-247. Greenwood, R. G. (1993) ‘Leadership theory: a historical look at its evolution’,Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 1 (1), pp. 4-19, Heifetz, R. A. (1998) ‘Values in leadership’. In: Leadership without easy answers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, pp. 13-27. Hersey, P. , Blanchard, K. H. & Johnson, D. E. (2008) ‘S ituational leadership ®Ã¢â‚¬â„¢: In: Management of organizational behavior: leading human resources. 9th ed. New York: Pearson International, pp. 132-157. Leana, C. R. (1986) ‘Predictors and consequences of delegation’, Academy of Management Journal, 29 (4), pp. 754-774. Raelin, J. A. (2003) Creating leaderful organizations: how to bring outleadership in everyone. San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler. Tannenbaum, R. & Schmidt, W. H. (1973) ‘How to choose a leadership pattern’, Harvard Business Review, 51 (3), pp. 162-180.

Theoretical Criminology Mid-Term Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Theoretical Criminology Mid-Term - Assignment Example It is, however, worth noting that these ideas about natural reality were not scientific, but rather based on mere observation of nature (Cullen & Agnew, 2006). Good and evil were thought to exist in the natural world. It is worth noting that the developments of legal definitions as well as the treatments of crime are founded on the attempts to understand the natural explanations for crime in the physical world. Under the spiritual explanations of crime, the feudal lords in Europe during the middle age designed ways, which they thought the guilt or innocence of an individual could be indicated. One of such methods included trial by battle. In this method, the victim or a family member of the victim would fight with the offender or a family member of the offender. It was believed that God gave victory to the innocent party. Trial by ordeal was introduced in which the accused person was subjected to a painful and difficult situation (Tierney, 2006). The guilty party would die with pain and agony while (through God’s protection) the innocent party would go through such an ordeal unharmed. The aforementioned method was replaced by compurgation a method that involved the accused calling twelve individuals who were reputable in the society who would then swear that the accused person is not guilty. The idea of prison today emerged from the earlier concept of isolating the criminals in cell s where some were subjected to manual labor while others were given the bible to read (Tierney, 2006). The natural explanations for crime generally use events as well as objects found in the world for purposes of explanation what ensues. The divine sanction of the law in the traditional society provided a justification of natural explanations for crime. It is due to this that the rule of kings became natural law, as it was considered to be by divine right. The material and physical world are still used by social scientists in the modern society to seek natural explanations of

Summries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Summries - Essay Example The significance of modern training can also be witnessed in the 1970’s Rhodesian war (Grossman 178). It is also stated that the new loss of associates and adored leaders in war can cause violence on the battlefield. The chapter explains that 2% of males will execute without remorse or regret if forced or given a valid reason (Grossman 180). Also, Marshall’s World War II figure of a 15-20% firing rate complement’s the 2% figure. Dyer’s World War II figure of 1% of U.S Army Air Corps fighters being responsible for 40% of deaths is seen to be general in keeping with the 2% figure. The DSM-III-R also states that the incidence of anti-social personality disorder among American male is almost 3%. Despite not being usually used in armies, armies have succeeded in using psychopaths in war. It is stated that both genetics and environmental processes contribute to aggression. Finally, Carl Jung claims that archetypes can motivate people by channeling their libidina l energy (Grossman

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE PAPER - Essay Example According to Cleary (143), some people who do not suffer from any mental illness hurt themselves and others; however, suffering from psychiatric conditions increases the likelihood of a person doing self-harm. Individuals with personality disorders of any kind are at high risk of hurting themselves; including dual personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. In addition, phobias to various common phenomena cause people to harm themselves in one way or the other, as is depression caused by many pressures of daily living. Schizophrenia reduces a person’s ability to distinguish between real and imagined things, thereby causing a person to harm self or others. In addition, schizophrenic patients tend to be suicidal especially if the patients are young and know what the disease will do to their lives. Final in the list of mental disorders is Munchausen Syndrome, though it results in self-harm to a lesser extent. Recent studies have shown that terminally ill patients ar e also at risk of committing self-harm or suicide in extreme cases, for instance, HIV/AIDS patients. Psychologically, self-harm is caused by any form of trauma including childhood abuse, bereavement, and abusive relationships. Autism may cause patients to harm themselves, while other factors in life in may also contribute, including poverty and unemployment. Lesch-Nyhan syndrome is the only genetic conditions that result in self-harm; however, genetics predisposes a person to conditions like stress and depression that may cause a patient to self-harm. Alcoholics are the most predisposed drug users to self-harm, accounting for over 60 percent of drug users who do so. Harming oneself due to drug influence may occur when a person is abusing the drugs, due to the addiction, or because of withdrawal symptoms resulting from attempting to stop the habit (Laye-Gindhu and

Communicable Diseases for District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia Assignment

Communicable Diseases for District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia - Assignment Example Health officials moved with speed to intervene such that by 16th November, the number of deaths significantly dropped to 5,000. The epidemic was one of the worst in the American history. The influenza had a high virulence hence not easy to contain. The influenza is believed to have been transmitted by sailors in Norfolk (Dinh et al., 2006). About 200,000 people were reportedly infected within the first month of the outbreak. The District of Columbia was hit by the dengue fever epidemic in late September, 2010. By October 1st, 160 cases had been reported. The dengue fever spread exponentially such that by October 8th, about 2000 people had been infected with the flu. 450 victims of dengue fever were reported by mid October (Modis et al., 2004). By the third week of October, 750 people had been infected with the virus. The dengue fever was feared to become a pandemic in the rural areas and along the border. It took the intervention of the health and State authorities in Columbia to warn the people about the high prevalence of the fever along the borders since the disease is mostly transmitted through water and humidity (Gubler, 2002). To effectively contain the disease, there was need for the government of Columbia to work hand in hand with the authorities in regions neighboring Columbia. There was an Ebola outbreak in Reston, Virginia in 1989. An outbreak spread relatively fast; however it was nonlethal to humans. Several lab monkeys died, though. Many people tested positive. It was a unique Ebola outbreak in the U.S. history. Although the Ebola virus could only kill monkeys, it was a major health scare (Geisbert et al., 1992). Fortunately, the U.S. authorities were able to move with speed to contain the Reston virus. Patients exposed to the virus never really got sick. Many Americans viewed the Reston crisis as a health horror. Health officials who tried to contain the situation were exposed to the virus, albeit

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 86

Summary - Essay Example Participants were sampled from three regions: Bakony, Tolna and Baranya, and the capital region and 150 participants were selected from each group and questionnaires administered. The sample was representative. The study identified ethnic identity matrix for noting varieties of german orientations, established differences between members of the ethnic group and recommends sensitivity to communication in marketing to different ethnic groups and sub groups. Care is however necessary, especially when marketing to the German minority, because of their sensitivity that establishes contingencies such as â€Å"inadvertent stereotypes, biology and genetics, and ethnocentric bias† (Sas and Kozma, 2009, p. 96). Implementing mainstream marketing with the target population identified one theical issue that is unavailability Germans’ preferred foods. The study concludes that ethical marketing is a viable strategy in Hungary (Sas and Kozma,

Should Global Interests Be Placed Ahead of National Interests Essay

Should Global Interests Be Placed Ahead of National Interests - Essay Example This proliferation of globalization has totally changed the concept of business, and its role not only in defining the respective economies, but also shaping cultural, political and social values. It is argued that we are fast losing our unique identity and the concept of global citizenship instead of nationalist attitude is fast gaining momentum. Global identity has transcends all geographic boundaries and has defined mass behavior and consumption patterns. It has resulted in globalization of businesses, economies, societies and even to some extent, globalization of human capital. This paper aims at studying whether global interests should be given priority over national interests? What is more beneficial? Is there any clash between the interests of the two? Discussion Globalization is argued as the most contested concept that refers to the shrinkage of time and space. Manfred Steger defined globalization as â€Å"A social condition characterized by tight global economic, political , cultural and environmental interconnections and flows that make most of the currently existing borders and boundaries irrelevant.† There can be many different social manifestations of globalization. One perspective can be about individualism, competition and capitalism while other can be about cooperation and communal norms. It gives globalization an indeterminate character. The term globalization refers to a social process that transforms our present social identity that is bounded with nationality into a global identity. What we observe today is global cities like New York, London, and Tokyo etc that has transcended regional, local and national boundaries. This global imagery is growing people’s perception of belonging to a global community (Steger). What we are experiencing right now is a period of global change. People all around the globe are affected by common economic, political and social and environmental changes. Hence globalization has economic, social and environmental dimensions. These global changes include increased competition, fluctuating interest rates, advancements in technology, ecological and climate changes, the fall of communism, rise of China, and the growing ethnic violence. Each individual is affected in some way by all these global changes. These global changes have made the globalization inevitable. These interconnected global change are neither omnipresent nor a uniform process. Its impact has also varied greatly in intensity from country to country to country and individual to individual. Its implications are often unexpected and consequences can be good or bad depending on the setting (Schaeffer). Globalization makes the distance or location irrelevant or at the least very less important. Ideas, technology, books, capital and human resource etc has transcended all geographical boundaries. It travels very easily, fluidly at an unimaginable speed. In fact its geographical location has become irrelevant, and it even d oes not have to move from one place to another. The main driving forces behind this aspect of globalization are technological and economic forces. This delocalization aspect of globalization has its political and cultural implications as well. It includes all aspects and manner in which social life is alienated from its local context. Vulnerability of national boundaries has also increased as a result of globalization. Flow of capital, knowledge

Impact of Culture on the performance of the virtual groups Essay

Impact of Culture on the performance of the virtual groups - Essay Example It is implied, that the culture of virtual groups is defined by the level of their education, as the tests will be made among students through the period of two semesters. It is necessary to consider the impact of culture through each of the four decision-outcomes criteria separately, making common conclusion. For the aims of the work it will be necessary to describe the AST in details, making special references to its potential connection with the issue of cultural impact, it will be necessary to define the context in which the notion of culture will be considered as well as distinguish the exact methodology and analysis methods. The work will be useful for the students studying in the sphere of computer sciences. The present research represents high relevance as the issues of culture in various aspects of human life acquire new meaning when applying them to the new technologies.

Currency and Thai Baht Essay Example for Free

Currency and Thai Baht Essay Assessing Future Exchange Rate Movements 1. How are percentage changes in a currency’s value measured? Illustrate your answer numerically by assuming a change in the Thai baht’s value from a value of $0.022 to $0.026. ANSWER: The percentage change in a currency’s value is measured as follows: where S denotes the spot rate, and St −1 denotes the spot rate as of the earlier date. A positive percentage change represents appreciation of the foreign currency, while a negative percentage change represents depreciation. In the example provided, the percentage change in the Thai baht would be: That is, the baht would be expected to appreciate by 18.18%. 2. What are the basic factors that determine the value of a currency? In equilibrium, what is the relationship between these factors? ANSWER: The basic factors that determine the value of a currency are the supply of the currency for sale and the demand for the currency. A high level of supply of a currency generally decreases the currency’s value, while a high level of demand for a currency increases its value. In equilibrium, the supply of the currency equals the demand for the currency. 3. How might the relatively high levels of inflation and interest rates have affected the baht’s value? (Assume a constant level of U.S. inflation and interest rates.) ANSWER: The baht would be affected both by inflation levels and interest rates in Thailand relative to levels of these variables in the U.S. A high level of inflation tends to result in currency depreciation, as it would increase the Thai demand for U.S. goods , causing an increase in the Thai demand for dollars. Furthermore, a relatively high level of Thai inflation would reduce the U.S. demand for Thai goods, causing an increase in the supply of baht for sale. Conversely, the high level of interest rates in Thailand may cause appreciation of the baht relative to the dollar. A relatively high level of interest rates in Thailand would have rendered investments there more attractive for U.S. investors, causing an increase in the demand for baht. Furthermore, U.S. securities would have been less attractive to Thai investors, causing an increase in the supply of dollars for sale. However, investors might be unwilling to invest in baht-denominated securities if they are concerned about the potential depreciation of the baht that could result from Thailand’s inflation. 4. How do you think the loss of confidence in the Thai baht, evidenced by the withdrawal of funds from Thailand, affected the baht’s value? Would Blades be affected by the change in value, given the primary Thai customer’s commitment? ANSWER: In general, a depreciation in the foreign currency results when investors liquidate their investments in the foreign currency, increasing the supply of its currency for sale. Blades would probably be affected by the change in value even though its Thai customer’s commitment, as the sales are denominated in baht. Thus, the depreciation in the baht would have caused a conversion of the baht revenue into fewer U.S. dollars. 5. Assume that Thailand’s central bank wishes to prevent a withdrawal of funds from its country in order to prevent further changes in the currency’s value. How could it accomplish this objective using interest rates? ANSWER: If Thailand’s central bank wishes to prevent further depreciation in the baht’s value, it would attempt to increase the level of interest rates in Thailand. In turn, this would increase the demand for Thai baht by U.S. investors, as Thai securities would now seem more attractive. This would place upward pressure on the currency’s value. However, the high interest rates could reduce local borrowing and spending. 6. Construct a spreadsheet illustrating the steps Blades’ treasurer would need to follow in order to speculate on expected movements in the baht’s value over the next 30 days. Also show the speculative profit (in dollars) resulting from each scenario. Use both of Ben Holt’s examples to illustrate possible speculation. Assume that Blades can borrow either $10 million or the baht equivalent of this amount. Furthermore, assume that the following short-term interest rates (annualized) are available to Blades: Currency Dollars Thai baht Lending Rate 8.10% 14.80% Borrowing Rate 8.20% 15.40% ANSWER: Depreciation of the Baht from $0.022 to $0.020 1. Borrow Thai baht ($10,000,000/0.022) 2. Convert the Thai baht to dollars ($454,545,454.50 million Ãâ€" $0.022). 3. Lend the dollars at 8.10% annualized, which represents a 0.68% return over the 30-day period [computed as 8.10% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. After 30 days, Blades would receive ($10,000,000 Ãâ€" (1 + .0068)) 4. Use the proceeds of the dollar loan repayment (on Day 30) to repay the baht borrowed. The annual interest on the baht borrowed is 15.40%, or 1.28% over the 30-day period [computed as 15.40% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. The total baht amount necessary to repay the loan is therefore (454,545,454.50 Ãâ€"(1 + .0128)) 454,545,454.50 10,000,000.00 10,068,000.00 460,363,636.40 5. Number of dollars necessary to repay baht loan ($THB460,363,636.40 Ãâ€" $0.02) 6. Speculative profit ($10,068,000 – $9,207,272.73) 9,207,272.73 860,727.27 Appreciation of the Baht from $0.022 to $0.025 1. Borrow dollars. 2. Convert the dollars to Thai baht ($10 million/$0.022). 3. Lend the baht at 14.80% annualized, which represents a 1.23% return over the 30-day period [computed as 14.80% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. After 30 days, Blades would receive (THB454,545,454.50 Ãâ€" (1 + .0123)) 4. Use the proceeds of the baht loan repayment (on Day 30) to repay the dollars borrowed. The annual interest on the dollars borrowed is 8.20%, or 0.68% over the 30-day period [computed as 8.20% Ãâ€" (30/360)]. The total dollar amount necessary to repay the loan is therefore ($10,000,000 Ãâ€"(1 + .0068)) 5. Number of baht necessary to repay dollar loan ($10,068,000.00/$0.025) 6. Speculative profit (THB460,136,363.60 – THB402,720,000.00) 7. Dollar equivalent of speculative profit (THB57,416,363.60 Ãâ€"$0.025) 10,000,000.00 454,545,454.50 460,136,363.60 10,068,000.00 402,720,000.00 57,416,363.60 1,435,409.09

Effects of Education Context on Curriculum

Effects of Education Context on Curriculum 1a How can the curriculum offer and delivery vary according to the education and training context or purpose? The education and training context in this instance varies according to community outreach venues, specifically chosen to reach the parents of children needing ESOL teaching, who have low levels of first language literacy and so require potentially different means of supporting language learning. Different approaches to curriculum design are going to influence how the teacher develops the syllabus or the scheme of work, because this will affect how they select each topic to be taught, how sequence topics and themes, language stages, based on whether this is a process or product based syllabus, notional/functional syllabus, Communicative Syllabus, Top-based syllabus.[1] For example, a content-based syllabus, based maybe on grammatical structure, would be organised according to sequencing structures, while a communicative syllabus might be more functional or based on identified needs. Syllabus design is one of the means by which teachers can approach the process of facilitating language learning[2]. However, in language teaching, syllabus design has been largely neglected. Curricula are ways of organising learning, indicating lesson content and learning progress, while syllabuses are much more concerned with what actually goes on in the classroom, forming part of ongoing development, review and refinement of the syllabus[3] to meet the needs of the learner while satisfying the requirements of the institution or awarding body. Syllabus design is the selection and grading of content, and is argued to also relate to the selection of tasks and materials[4]. Because of the complexity of language learning, selection of tasks and selection of content may be different than in other types of learning.[5] â€Å"Lesson planning involves reinforcement with frequent feedback on learning, delayed feedback, allowing trial and error, and praise, marks and prizes.†[6] All o f these means of ordering learning are focused on what and how the ESOL student will learn.[7] In this context, the focus is on ESOL Keeping up with the Children – Family Learning, and so the curriculum is designed with this in mind, but the needs of learners in ESOL can vary, including a more academic approach, such as ESOL in FE[8], or intensive ESOL training for Job Search, or Vocational ESOL (eg ESOL embedded in something else, like Catering). This would then require a more functional syllabus which would be focused much more on vocabulary, and schemes of work would take this into account, practicing key elements of communication rather than simply grammar. Dynamic language learning is more complex than simply the repetition of sounds, words and sentence structures, and so the communicative approach may be much better suited.[9] However, all of these approaches could also potentially serve to help ESOL students integrate into the social world as well.[10] However, the syllabus design and development in this case is also constructed within the requirements of the awarding body, thus requiring that students learn sufficient and in the right manner to meet the assessment requirements, and develop a general English vocabulary which covers personal details and experiences, work, education training, housing, family and friends, health, transport, weather, buying goods, leisure, UK society. The scope of such learning is significant, and cannot all be developed in one term, but the provision of vocabulary lists, and the implementation of constructive methods of learning can be built into the syllabus to allow for ongoing linguistic development which builds upon learning session by session.[11],[12] 1b  How might the different approaches to curriculum design you have outlined influence the outcomes for individuals and groups? The kinds of outcomes which relate to the curriculum here include looking at what skills, vocabulary and language structures will have been learnt in the different educational settings or contexts[13]. For example, the work or occupational based ESOL courses will be limited to the kinds of vocabulary which relate to work activities and practices, and will be quite specialised, while the kinds of programmes which are to do with family learning are likely to relate more strongly to more practical language which can be used in the home and in key scenarios such as learning how to communicate with school teachers and other people about the child. But over-defined objectives can limit learning, rather than support the dynamic forms of learning which are often more suited to ESOL.[14] One of the problems is that the primary contexts for learning, particularly if they are very specialised, such as the occupational learning context, or even learning English as a tourist, can lead to bad habi ts, because language learning is a process of developing attitudes and habits.[15] Thus the habits that have been developed in one context, may benefit or hinder the use of language and the learning and development of further language skills in another setting. However, supporting a degree of learning awareness and self-direction in learning is important, and depending on whether the curriculum is didactic or communicative, this could be more easily achieved or else become more difficult. A communicative approach is much more focused on the needs of the learner, and so is more dynamic, and more likely to foster self-direction in language learning. [16] Self-direction and the identification of structural regularities in language, such as learning applied grammar, can be enhanced by more directed learning approaches, or by a mixture of content-focused syllabi and communicative approaches[17], which has been the author’s experience in their current context. Despite the strengths of different approaches, the context of learning is very significant in how and how well students learn.[18],[19] However, language learning curricula, and the impacts of different approaches to teaching and learning, are still relatively poorly researched, and it would be useful to have more, diverse research and case studies which identify what kinds of approaches have been proven best in which settings.[20], [21] References Armitage, A., Bryant, R., Dunhill, R., Hammersley, M., Hayes, D., Hudson, A., Lawes, S. (1999) Teaching and Training in Post-Compulsory Education, Open University Press. Brillinger, K. (2003) From Theory to Practice: Creating Intermediate ESL Reading Materials Based on Current SLA Research and Theories, Newsletter of the Association of Teachers of English as a Second Language of Ontario, 29(3), 1-6 Burns, A. (2006) Surveying landscapes in adult ESOL research, Linguistics and Education, 17, 97–105 Curzon, L. B. (1997), Teaching in Further Education: an Outline of Principles and Practice, (5th ed.). London: Cassell. Dagenais, D. Beynon, J. and Mathis, N. (2008) Intersections of Social Cohesion, Education, and Identity in Teachers, Discourses, and Practices Pedagogies: An International Journal 3 (2) 85 – 108. Ewald, J.D. (2004) A classroom forum on small group work: L2 learners see, and change, themselves. Language Awareness 13 (3) 163-179. Ferris, D.R. (1994) Lexical and syntactic features of ESL writing by students at different levels of L2 proficiency. TESOL Quarterly 28 (2) 414-420. Lochtman, K. (2002) Oral corrective feedback in the foreign language classroom: how it affects interaction in analytic foreign language teaching International Journal of Educational Research 37 (3-4) 271-283. Long, M. (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In Ritchie, W. and Bhatia, T. (eds) Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (413-468) San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Morgan, B. (1997) Identity and intonation: linking dynamic processes in an ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly 31 (3) 431-450. Morrice, L. (2007) Lifelong learning and the social integration of refugees in the UK: the significance of social capital, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 26(2), 155-172 Reece, I. and Walker, S. (2000). Teaching, Training and Learning: a practical guide. Sunderland: Business Education Publishers. Roberts, C. Baynham, M. (2006) Introduction to the special issue: Research in adult ESOL, Linguistics and Education, 17, 1-5 Rogers, A. (1996), Teaching Adults, 2nd edition, Buckingham: Open University Press. Widodo, H.P. (2006) Approaches and procedures for teaching grammar. English Teaching: Practice and Critique. 5 (1) 122-141. Zamel, V. and Spack, R. (2006) Teaching Multilingual Learners across the Curriculum: Beyond the ESOL Classroom and Back Again. Journal of Basic Writing (CUNY), 25 (2) 126-152. 1 Footnotes [1] Nunan, D. (1988) [2] Nunan (ibid) [3] Nunan (ibid) [4] Nunan (ibid) [5] Zamel, V. and Spack, R. (2006) [6] Reece, I. and Walker, S. (2000). P 106 [7] Armitage, A., Bryant, R., Dunhill, R., Hammersley, M., Hayes, D., Hudson, A., Lawes, S. (1999) [8] Curzon, L. B. (1997), [9] [10] Morrice, L. (2007) [11] Morgan, B. (1997) [12] Lochtman, K. (2002) [13] Burns, A. (2006) [14] Reece and Walker (ibid) [15] Reece and Walker (ibid) [16] Rogers, A. (1996), [17] Widodo, H.P. (2006) [18] Long, M. (1996) [19] Ewald, J.D. (2004) [20] Roberts, C. Baynham, M. (2006) [21] Brillinger, K. (2003)

Choroidal Neovascularization :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Choroidal Neovascularization If you had to give up one of your five senses, which would it be? Would you give up your ability to see? A startling number of people lose their eyesight due to an eye disorder known as choroidal neovascularization. And soon I may be one of them. Although there is no known cure for this unfortunate disease, studies have been conducted to find the appropriate surgical treatment. The outer portion of the 2.5 cm human eye is composed of three primary layers of tissue. The outermost layer is called the sclera, which acts as a protective coating. Within this layer the transparent cornea is present in the front area of the eyeball. Under the sclera is the choroid where the majority of blood vessels and the iris are located. The light-sensitive layer is known as the retina. As mentioned, the choroid contains most of the eyeball's blood vessels. It is also the layer prone to bacterial and secondary infections. Choroidal neovascularization is a process in which new blood vessels grow in the choroid, through the Bruch membrane and invade the subretinal space. Because there is currently no medical treatment for this disease this abnormal growth can easily lead to the impairment of sight or complete loss of vision. Three main diseases that cause choroidal neovascularization are age-related macular degeneration, myopia and ocular trauma. The Wisconsin Beaver Dam Study showed that 1.2% of 43-86 year old adults with age-related macular degeneration developed choroidal neovascularization. The study also proved that choroidal neovascularization was caused by myopia in 5-10% of myopes. Ocular trauma, another cause of choroidal neovascularization, is for reasons unknown found more often in males than females. More than 50 eye diseases have been linked to the formation of choroidal neovascularization. Even though most of these causes are idiopathic, among the known causes are related to degeneration, infections, choroidal tumors and or trauma. Among soft contact lens wearers choroidal neovascularization can be caused by the lack of oxygen to the eyeball. Unlike age-related macular degeneration, age is irrelevant to this cause. Although no medical treatments have proven to be a cure for choroidal neovascularization, particular antiangiogenic substances such as thalidomide, angiostatic steroid, and metalloproteinase inhibitors are currently being tested. Through surgical testing, partial removal of choroidal neovascularization proved to be useless. Therefore the focus has been placed on photodynamic therapy, a procedure approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The Get All Intelligence System :: essays research papers

The Get All Intelligence System The Get All Intelligence System is a unique multi-dimensional online database. It is an analytical tool for gathering, managing, distributing and analyzing data to improve strategic and tactical decision making. With this system each cell within a branch office can work fully autonomous or executing multiple simultaneous courses of action. Your company will now be able to benefit from corporate data by transforming it into information crucial to your executives decision-making process. The Get all database has numerous advantages over other systems; it has a quick, efficient, cost-effective, rapid response due to the direct down link connectivity. This 3-D system is used to support over 15,000 users worldwide. The Get All Intelligence System will be a NT based program and able to be crossed to Unix based systems if needed. The Get All Intelligence System is dynamic and easy enough to handle the end user requests by allowing the transformation and reconfiguration of intelligence to fit everyone's unique needs. This program is so flexible that it includes the ability to add as many columns that is needed. Information from The Get All Intelligence System is supplied to employees based on their own research requests. Depending the results of your request, it might offer a proposition to alternate the courses of action to its operators. This will reduce unnecessary information and wasted time especially when time constraints are critical. With a click of a button, your managers and sales cell can look at their own gathered information by product, by product line, or by customer. Managers can use The Get All database to look at statistics in their region and compare them with invoiced statistics from that day, including year-to-date and month-to-date analysis. Regional managers will have access to their regi on's data only. The headquarters office will be able to access any information that is collected by any branch office. Business intelligence is only a coffee cup away. The installation process will be simple containing a self-running, 25-minute tutorial installation CD and a complete software documentation package. The design will be simple with only one data set created. It will perform as if it has been configured with thousands of data sets. Only one IT computer programmer will be required. A few codes will be needed to ensure secure connections can be incorporated on unsecured machines. The security features ensure appropriate access to all sales analysis data at any and every level within the business.

Abandoning Satan Essay -- Essays Papers

Abandoning Satan In Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, the author employ’s several different themes to suggest a tone of tragedy. Those include abandonment, tragic flaw, and the punishment exceeds the crime. The two main characters, Victor Frankenstein and his monster, are deemed as tragic heroes in Shelly’s novel. Webster defines a hero as â€Å"a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.† Frankenstein and his monster each have their own levels of tragedy. Shelly also supplies each character with flaws and imperfections. The punishments for creating the monster are greatly harsher than the crime of creating it. Abandonment is the first main theme in the novel. Abandonment is defined as â€Å"to give up completely and to desert†(Webster 1). Both Frankenstein and his creation go through several different episodes of abandonment. Frankenstein abandons his family, his creation, and his homeland. The monster abandons his non-evil state of mind, and then society. Young Victor abandons his monster because of its wretchedness. What began as a man ends up a mockery, and a â€Å"hideous being of gigantic structure†(Tropp 62). Victor barely even thinks twice about leaving his creation. The shear ugliness of it took over all thought of whether it could be good or evil or if it needed anything. The monster had â€Å"no father [to watch his] infant days† and, â€Å"no mother to bless [him] with smiles†(87). The monster was a â€Å"poor, helpless, miserable wretch,† with no one to turn to (72). When the creation woke up Victor instantly left the building. T he creator never saw his creation after that until he was detained by it. The creation was left to â€Å"struggle with a child’s blindness, added to a student’s thirst for knowledge† (23). Frankenstein’s next episode of abandonment tears him away from his family. Victor leaves home to go study at college. In the mean time his family and his beloved Elizabeth got left out of his priorities. He wished to exert â€Å"his own selfhood† over others (Walling 45). Frankenstein, â€Å"so deeply engraved in [his] occupation,† never ceased to think about his family. He thought only of himself and how to command the powers of life as he worked so diligently on his creation and studies. He misses seven years of his family’s life in consequence to his actions. ... ...to be destroyed by it (Tropp 56). Frankenstein shows to depart from â€Å" his dream of becoming godlike in direct proportion to his failure to love† his family and his work (Walling 45). The monster has flaws man cannot have or posses. The monster is demonic and Satan-like. He is the â€Å"monstrous double of Lucifer† (Tropp 68). The monster turned from archangel to arch destroyer. â€Å"In Paradise lost, after the meeting a Pandemonium, Satan decides to fly to earth and inspect gods latest creation. Taking the form of a cormorant, he perches on a tree in Eden and secretly observes Adam and Eve in the garden. After the monster has left the shepherd’s hut, traveled to a village, and been driven out in a hail of stones, it hides in a hovel where it can secretly observe the lines of a noble family reduced to poverty† (Tropp 72-73). This passage tells how the life of Satan and the monster are parallel. When the monster â€Å"reflected that they had spurned and deserted me anger returned† (101). Satan feels the same type of torment as he spies on Adam and Eve. The interplay of Frankenstein/Monster is somewhat like the relationship between Lucifer/Satan.

Final †Project and Program Risk Management Essay

This type of management may take on an informal or formal approach, but risk management is essential for every project. Risk Management is not a well accepted standard practice since it points out negative aspects of projects, and there are numerous inhibitions that restrain the dynamics of risk management. According to the Wikipedia, a free web-based encyclopedia, the Project Management Institute (PMI) is a non-profit professional organization with the purpose of advancing the state-of-the-art of project management. The company is a professional association for the project management profession. The PMI sets standards, conducts research, and provides education and professional exchange opportunities designed to strengthen and further establish professionalism. The Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI() has established a six-step set of processes and practices for the risk management process as documented below: 1. Risk Management Planning: project risk infrastructure is established and a project-specific risk management plan is generated. 2. Risk Identification: events with potentially positive and negative impacts are clearly described. 3. Risk Qualifications: risks are evaluated according to nonnumeric assessment protocols. 4. Risk Quantifications: risks are evaluated according to numeric assessment protocols. 5. Risk Response Planning: strategies to deal with or precluded risks are evaluated and communicated. 6. Risk Monitoring and control: risk management and response plans are put into action. b) Why do professionals mandate Risk Management? Professionals mandate Risk Management in organizations since risk sometimes becomes a secondary issue. This secondary issue occurs since the hope that Project Managers will be able to handle issues and problems as they occur. Since risk remains a secondary issue until an organization’s luck runs out or a profitable opportunity is missed, professionals take a more proactive approach to risk identification and mitigation by applying Risk Management Process and Practices. Based on statistical information, unfavorable risk events eventually occur in good projects without a way to identify and mitigate risk. The Project Manager suffers the repercussions of such type of failure; therefore, professionals mandate Risk Management and support its practices in effort to mitigate risk. . Explain the Delphi Technique and steps for effective application. a) Explain the Delphi Technique. When expert interview techniques are not an option, the Delphi Technique provides an alternate means for extracting information from subject matter experts (SMEs) without pressuring or forcing them to provide much needed information. Many SMEs prefer not to participate in data-gathering processes; therefore, the project manager ( facilitator) applies the Delphi technique to collect information directly from the SMEs without infringing on their schedules. This technique allows the facilitator with directed follow-up capability from experts after peers have been consulted so the highest quality of information is extracted from the experts. b) Steps for Effective Application. To obtain effective information from the Delphi Technique, the Project Manager must posses the ability to generate the original questions to present to the experts and to clarify the information from the experts as it is received. The following six (6) major steps will increase the chances of a successful technique application: 1) Identify experts and ensure their participation 2) Create the Delphi instrument 3) Have the experts respond on the instrument 4) Review and restate the responses 5) Gather the experts’ opinions and repeat 6) Distribute and apply the data The Delphi technique is a time-consuming process, but this technique is promising in extracting information from experts who might not otherwise contribute to a project’s body of knowledge. 3. Explain the Crawford Slip Method (CSM). The Crawford Slip Method (CSM) is a classic tool used to combat the negativism inherent in team members while attempting to identify risk and risk information-gathering for a particular product or process. CSM offers a variety of advantages over other information-gathering techniques, in particular, the ability to aggregate large volumes of information in a very short time period and the complete avoidance of groupthink. CSM is not the hardest risk management technique to apply when properly facilitated. A clearly established question is defined by the facilitator and provided to all qualified participants. The participants then document their response to the clearly established question on a slip of paper. Providing the same clearly established question to the participants again, they document their response to the question on a slip of paper again. This process is repeated ten (10) times using the same clearly established question to better extract all of the unknown information available from the participants involved in the product or process. The initial slips of paper are usually very similar in content; however, as the process repeats itself, the later slips of paper tend to generate identification of issues and risks that could have been overlooked without repetition. The strength of Crawford Slip Method is efficiency. 4. Define SWOT Analysis and their selection criteria. a) Define SWOT Analysis. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis Technique is a directed risk analysis that identifies risks and opportunities within a higher-level organizational context rather than a project’s narrow vacuum.

Impact of Media on Socio-Cultural Values and Social Institution in Indian Society

The media, known as the fourth pillar of democracy, has a huge impact on the society. The effects are of course, positive as well as negative. Media is such a powerful tool that it literally governs the direction of our society today. It is the propeller as well as the direction provider of the society. Opinions can change overnight and celebrities can become infamous with just one wave by the media. The growth of media as an industry has accelerated over the past few years with new forms such as DVD and the internet changing the way we, the audience, consume and receive media.In an interdependent and globalized political world, the challenge of the media is to provide extensive coverage of global politics and to examine the impact of these influences in specific national contexts. The mass media has a role to influence socio-political and cultural settings. Numbers of researchers have been conducting studies worldwide to investigate what they might contribute to an understanding of the economic and other factors that influence mass media, and how the media in turn influence the political climate and the democratic process in modern democracies.Mass media is considered one of the principal agents for societal development, democracy and good governance. Media critics claim that at times mass media has not played the role that it should have played and have played in the hands of few vested interests. The researchers have also pointed out that mass media influence vary from country to country depending upon socio-political and cultural settings. There are many different theories about how mass media influence people's attitudes, worldview, and behavior.The mass media is considered to be the backbone of democracy that influences sociopolitical developments. However, there is a growing concern that the mass media in many countries is not fulfilling these functions properly due to inherent socio-cultural barriers. These days, there are already numerous types of Mass Media. This includes Audio recording and reproduction (records, tapes, cassettes, cartridges, CDs), Broadcasting Media (Radio, Television, Cable) Film (Cinema, DVDs), Digital Media (the Internet, Mobile Phones, Satellite), Publishing or the Print Media (Books, Newspapers, Magazines) and Video games.Today we are going to discuss five types of media. They are as follows: 1. Newspapers 2. Magazines 3. Yellow pages 4. Radio 5. Television 6. Internet Out of these, Newspapers, TV, Radio are traditional modes of mass media whereas Magazines, Yellow pages and Internet are modern modes of mass media. Explanation of the different types of media with the advantages and disadvantages: Newspapers: Newspapers are one of the traditional mediums used by businesses, both big and small alike, to advertise their businesses.Advantages Disadvantages †¢ Allows you to reach a huge number of people in a given geographic area †¢ You have the flexibility in deciding the ad size and placement withi n the newspaper †¢ Your ad can be as large as necessary to communicate as much of a story as you care to tell †¢ Exposure to your ad is not limited; readers can go back to your message again and again if so desired. †¢ Free help in creating and producing ad copy is usually available †¢ Quick turn-around helps your ad reflect the changing market conditions.The ad you decide to run today can be in your customers' hands in one to two days. †¢ Ad space can be expensive †¢ Your ad has to compete against the clutter of other advertisers, including the giants ads run by supermarkets and department stores as well as the ads of your competitors †¢ Poor photo reproduction limits creativity †¢ Newspapers are a price-oriented medium; most ads are for sales †¢ Expect your ad to have a short shelf life, as newspapers are usually read once and then discarded. You may be paying to send your message to a lot of people who will probably never be in the mar ket to buy from you. †¢ Newspapers are a highly visible medium, so your competitors can quickly react to your prices †¢ With the increasing popularity of the Internet, newspapers face declining readership and market penetration. A growing number of readers now skip the print version of the newspaper (and hence the print ads) and instead read the online version of the publication. Magazines:Magazines are a more focused, albeit more expensive, alternative to newspaper advertising. This medium allows you to reach highly targeted audiences. Advantages Disadvantages †¢ Allows for better targeting of audience, as you can choose magazine publications that cater to your specific audience or whose editorial content specializes in topics of interest to your audience. †¢ High reader involvement means that more attention will be paid to your advertisement †¢ Better quality paper permits better color reproduction and full-color ads †¢ The smaller page (generally 8 ? y 11 inches) permits even small ads to stand out †¢ Long lead times mean that you have to make plans weeks or months in advance †¢ The slower lead time heightens the risk of your ad getting overtaken by events †¢ There is limited flexibility in terms of ad placement and format. †¢ Space and ad layout costs are higher Yellow Pages: There are several forms of Yellow Pages that you can use to promote and advertise your business.Aside from the traditional Yellow Pages supplied by phone companies, you can also check out specialized directories targeted to specific markets (e. g. Hispanic Yellow Pages, Blacks, etc. ); interactive or consumer search databases; Audiotex or talking yellow pages; Internet directories containing national, local and regional listings; and other services classified as Yellow Pages. Advantages Disadvantages †¢ Wide availability, as mostly everyone uses the Yellow Pages †¢ Non-intrusive Action-oriented, as the audience is actually lo oking for the ads †¢ Ads are reasonably inexpensive †¢ Responses are easily tracked and measured †¢ Frequency †¢ Pages can look cluttered, and your ad can easily get lost in the clutter †¢ Your ad is placed together with all your competitors †¢ Limited creativity in the ads, given the need to follow a pre-determined format †¢ Ads slow to reflect market changes Radio: Offers a wide range of publicity possibilities. It is a mobile medium suited to a mobile people.It reaches the bedroom and breakfast table in the morning and rides to and from work in the car, lulls us to sleep at night and goes along to the beach, to the woods and on fishing trips, a flexibility no other medium can match. Advantages Disadvantages †¢ Radio is a universal medium enjoyed by people at one time or another during the day, at home, at work, and even in the car. †¢ The vast array of radio program formats offers to efficiently target your advertising dollars to narro wly defined segments of consumers most likely to respond to your offer. Gives your business personality through the creation of campaigns using sounds and voices †¢ Free creative help is often available †¢ Rates can generally be negotiated †¢ During the past ten years, radio rates have seen less inflation than those for other media †¢ Because radio listeners are spread over many stations, you may have to advertise simultaneously on several stations to reach your target audience †¢ Listeners cannot go back to your ads to go over important points †¢ Ads are an interruption in the entertainment.Because of this, a radio ad may require multiple exposures to break through the listener's â€Å"tune-out† factor and ensure message retention †¢ Radio is a background medium. Most listeners are doing something else while listening, which means that your ad has to work hard to get their attention. Television: A medium that permits the use of the printed world, spoken word, pictures in motion, color, music, animation and sound effects all blend into one message, possesses immeasurable potency.Television has become a dominant force, the primary source of news and entertainment and a powerful soapbox from which citizens protests can be communicated to the nation and the world. This medium has greatly altered national election campaigns and has diminished the role of the political parties. Events made large by TV shape public opinion worldwide. Advantages Disadvantages Television permits you to reach large numbers of people on a national or regional level in a short period of time †¢ Independent stations and cable offer new opportunities to pinpoint local audiences †¢ Television being an image-building and visual medium, it offers the ability to convey your message with sight, sound and motion †¢ Message is temporary, and may require multiple exposure for the ad to rise above the clutter †¢ Ads on network affiliates are concentrated in local news broadcasts and station breaks †¢ Preferred ad times are often sold out far in advance Limited length of exposure, as most ads are only thirty seconds long or less, which limits the amount of information you can communicate †¢ Relatively expensive in terms of creative, production and airtime costs Internet: The Internet or the World Wide Web is indeed a wonderful and amazing addition in our lives. The Internet can be known as a kind of global meeting place where people from all parts of the world can come together. It is a service available on the computer, through which everything under the sun is now at the fingertips of anyone who has access to the Internet. Advantages Disadvantages E-mail: E-mail is an online correspondence system. With e-mail you can send and receive instant electronic messages, which work like writing letters. Your messages are delivered instantly to people anywhere in the world, unlike traditional mail that takes a lot of time. †¢Access Information: The Internet is a virtual treasure trove of information. Any kind of information on any topic under the sun is available on the Internet. The ‘search engines’ on the Internet can help you to find data on any subject that you need. †¢Shopping: Along with getting information on the Internet, you can also shop online.There are many online stores and sites that can be used to look for products as well as buy them using your credit card. You do not need to leave your house and can do all your shopping from the convenience of your home. †¢Online Chat: There are many ‘chat rooms’ on the web that can be accessed to meet new people, make new friends, as well as to stay in touch with old friends. †¢Downloading Software: This is one of the most happening and fun things to do via the Internet. You can download innumerable, games, music, videos, movies, and a host of other entertainment software from the Internet, most of which are free. Personal Information: If you use the Internet, your personal information such as your name, address, etc. can be accessed by other people. If you use a credit card to shop online, then your credit card information can also be ‘stolen’ which could be akin to giving someone a blank check. †¢Pornography: This is a very serious issue concerning the Internet, especially when it comes to young children. There are thousands of pornographic sites on the Internet that can be easily found and can be a detriment to letting children use the Internet. Spamming: This refers to sending unsolicited e-mails in bulk, which serve no purpose and unnecessarily clog up the entire system. These are the different types of Mass Media in this 21st century, the global generation era where digital globalization is taking place perpetually, and the forms of Mass Media is increasingly widespread and expectantly procreating. M edia technologies are becoming an important aspec t of today’s society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. Media is commonly defined as being a channel of communication.Radio, newspapers, and television are all examples of media. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Since many people use media very frequently, it is obvious to assume that it has affects on people. According to the text book Media Now, â€Å"media effects are changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior that result from exposure to the mass media,†. This leaves us with many unanswered questions about media and its influences.While resurgent India seems to be high on the global media agenda, powered as it were by the economic boom, the national media too has witnessed exponential growth. Tracking this growth in a meaningful perspective is imperative since its s pread and reach have been mired in socio-political and cultural barriers. The complexities that limit the growth of the Indian media story are based on a heady mix of poverty, bias, economics, and the inherent trappings of a religious philosophy that find echo in the fatalistic suppositions of Hinduism.With minimal impact to change the state of the nation, the barriers that come in the way of the free flow of information need to be tackled with more alacrity and awareness, lest the growth gets sucked into the vortex of its own limitations. The advertisement-driven consumerist mooring that is propelling the flawed Indian info-age communication story seems to be a pointer in this direction. Media’s impact on society can be judged from three perspectives – social, economic and political. Social Impact: ) Generating awareness on various social evils like dowry, female foeticide and infanticide etc. this has led to the decline in the incidence of them 2) Bringing into focus any atrocities faced by weaker sections of the society. This has brought in a sense of security to the weaker sections. Majority groups fear to do any harm to them. In the long run this will bring peace and tranquility among communities. 3) Generating awareness on good practices like health, hygiene, nutrition etc thereby improving the living standards. ) Media is responsible for the success of green revolution in India during 60's by popularizing the usage of high yielding varieties, fertilizers, pesticides and other farm management techniques. Green revolution has improved the living standard of poor by enhancing their incomes. Many new entrepreneurs from weaker sections of the society emerged. This has enabled them to rise in the social ladder and stay on par with the so called upper castes. 5) Media is responsible for generating pan India identity and enabling people to loosen their parochial and narrower identities. ) Media has been showing in new employment opportunities that are available in the market. This has enabled a common man with requisite skills to grab them. 7) Media is responsible for sensitizing our administrators on various issues. 8) Media is responsible for spreading in latest fashion visa-a-versa dressing style, cosmetics, hair styles etc. Variation of Music: India is made up of several dozen ethnic groups, speaking their own languages and dialects; as a result, folk music plays an essential role in uniting people of the same dialect group who may be far apart geographically.An example is the folk music of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Bhojpuri music. It serves as a means of communication as the lyrics of the songs often cover recent cultural changes and events; as well as religious content. Television & Drama: The television and print revolutions have granted access to these forms of media to the masses across India. Villages often have their own newspapers and access to television is readily available to the majority. Bollywood cinema is n ot restricted to the urban community and is in fact highly popular with the rural masses.Changes in forms of media & communication Cassette & Compact Disks: In Cassette Culture, Peter Manuel tells how a new mass medium, the portable cassette player, caused a major upheaval in popular culture in the world's second-largest country. The advent of cassette technology in the 1980s transformed India's popular music industry from the virtual monopoly of a single multinational LP manufacturer to a free-for-all among hundreds of local cassette producers. The result was a revolution in the quantity, quality, and variety of Indian popular music and its patterns of dissemination and consumption.Impact of Television:- It is nearly impossible to establish the precise number of people with access to a television set in â€Å"the poor world †, as James Murdoch, chief executive of STAR TV Group told a cable conference in India; due to the fact that individual cable subscribers sometimes pass on the service illegally to an entire neighborhood. â€Å"Moreover, in parts of the developing world, large numbers of people often crowd into one house or cafe to watch television, a factor that is hard to quantify†. Caste Line:-Caste lines have been blurred in the quest to gain access to information; which in itself is not a bad thing. Television watching, especially in the rural areas has become a communal event and it is not uncommon for TV owners to position their television sets such that they are facing the open door; allowing members of other caste groups to sit outside the home and enjoy the shows . Similarly, in villages where there is one common, government-provided television set, members of the village gather around to watch communally.This is especially the case for religious programs as well as those related to agriculture. Indian Norms:- Other than changing the social structure and norm, the media revolution has also contributed to the disintegration of so-cal led ‘Indian norms'. Movies such as â€Å"Monsoon Wedding† are an ideal demonstration of the culture shock faced by many young Indians today. There is a chasm between traditional values of chastity and dressing conservatively and the TV values of stylish and often skimpy dressing and more liberal values, including dating before marriage and other ‘western norms'.Differences between Culture and the Dominant Social Paradigm:- Culture, exactly because of its greater scope, may express values and ideas, which are not necessarily consistent with the dominant institutions. In fact, this is usually the case characterizing the arts and literature of a market economy, where, artists and writers have been given a significant degree of freedom to express their own views. Just as traditions have gone ‘out of fashion’, it seems that many beliefs have done so as well.Television has reached a stage where even religious discourse is broadcast, negating the need for te mple visits and religious-social gatherings. Infrastructure and the mass media influenences that it has brought with it have created a culture where person to person interaction has nearly stopped. Information is relayed to us through media channels, radio, television, books and newspapers. Lack of Credibility The first inherent barrier is the lack of credibility on the part of mass media in putting up typical examples of life style, consumerism and public behavior.By subtly promoting and supporting the â€Å"me, mine, myself† culture, the mass media have managed to alienate themselves from the bulk of society. The expectation of any major impact of mass media messages on the society at large is futile. Media technologies are becoming an important aspect of today's society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Philosophical disregard of moralsThe general Hindu Indian philosophy makes people believe that salvation lies at individual level, and practicing daily prayers, rituals, fasts, penance, attending religious discourses etc. can help people atone for whatever wrongs they have done or are perceived to have committed. Mass media are still not central to people's natural behavior but remain an external influence, never internalized and experienced. Mass media are perceived as an entity doing its job (of spreading information, news, messages, entertaining and so on) whereas people in general go about their lives.Impact on Agriculture and Family Planning Movement On the agriculture front, the mass media impact played a significant role in taking forward the message of high-yielding agricultural practices. â€Å"Green revolution†, a nationwide campaign to increase food grain production to help India become self-sufficient in food, was lauded across the media and its gains were discussed at length. An evaluation report prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in 1994 and quoted by M. R.Dua says: â€Å"Television has positively been useful in increasing knowledge regarding new farm technology. The farmers who viewed television programs gained more or less the same amount of knowledge irrespective of age, education and farm holding†. Dua also quotes another study by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (IARI) having â€Å"convincingly shown the effectiveness of television in imparting technical information to farmers â€Å"television has proved to be effective in creating a favorable attitude among farmers to adopt recommended practices and in inducing their actual adoption. Impact of Advertising Among all mass media constituents, advertising has a noticeably greater impact than news and entertainment media as evident by the immediate impact of good or b ad advertising on FMCG sales. Huge popularity of ad punch lines (doondhte reh jaoge meaning you'll keep looking for the stain, safedi kii chamkar, meaning the lightning of whiteness, both hugely popular punch-lines of advertisements for detergent cake and powder), glaring appearance of hoardings of popular brands in villages and small townships.There is apparently an eagerness to follow advertising messages and a reluctance to follow social impact messages. Studies conducted by market research organizations have also indicated that there is a positive impact of media exposure particularly that of television on consumer behavior. Increased rationality in consumer's decisions due to media contact is proved irrespective of the place where the media are induced. How does mass media influence young people? The media makes billions of dollars with the advertising they sell and that we are exposed to.We buy what we are told to be good, after seeing thousands of advertisings we make our buy ing decisions based on what we saw on TV, newspapers or magazines to be a product we can trust and also based on what everyone else that we know is buying and their decision are also based on the media. These are the effects of mass media in teenagers, they buy what they see on TV, what their favorite celebrity advertise and what is acceptable by society based on the fashion that the media has imposed them. There are some positive and negative influences in young people.Here is a positive influence example, if there is a sport that is getting a lot of attention by the media and gains popularity among your friends and society, you will more likely want to practice the sport and be cool with all your friends. The result is that you will have fun with your friends and be healthier because of the exercise you are doing. However a negative influence in teenagers is the use of cigars by celebrity movie stars, the constant exposure of sex images, the excessive images of violence and exposu re to thousands of junk food ads.Young people are in a stage of life where they want to be accepted by their peers, they want to be loved and be successful. The media creates the ideal image of a beautiful men and women and tells you what are the characteristics of a successful person are, you can see it in movies and TV. It’s a subliminal way to tell you that if you are not like them you are not cool yet so it’s time to buy the stuff they buy and look like they look. Another negative influence in teenagers that has grown over the last years is anorexia and obesity.There are millions of adolescents fighting obesity, but at the same time they are exposed to thousands of advertisements of junk food, while the ideas image of a successful person is told to be thin and wealthy. Also more women are obsessive with losing weight even when they are not obese; there are many thin women that want to look like the super models and thin celebrities so they engage in eating disorder s which lead to severe health issues and even death. Conclusion: Other than dress; many other aspects of culture have been sacrificed in favour of western influences.Folk music and travelling singers have given way to cassettes and compact discs; nautanki shows have dissolved under the pressure and competition brought forth by television and cinema. The traditions of storytelling have also taken a back seat due to cassette playbacks of discourses and the ease with which printed material is cheaply available. Economic Impact: 1) Media is responsible directly for providing employment opportunities and thereby increasing the living standards of the people. 2) Media spreads awareness of a new product launched by a company through advertisements and product reviews.This will increase the demand of industrial goods thereby promoting industrialization and increase in GDP. India's language newspapers enjoy a relatively new entrepreneurial prowess. A mutually convenient relationship between the owners and capitalists keeps a financial balance between local/regional and national spheres in both private and public sectors. â€Å"Like coral in a reef, newspapers grew and died in a process inseparable from the creation of a ‘public sphere' in the classical liberal sense.Individual proprietors sometimes brought to their newspapers a crusader's zeal for a particular cause or a diehard's loathing for a rival† (Jeffrey 105). The Second Press Commission in 1982 tried to liberate the press from the monopoly houses. In 1995 the Audit Bureau of circulations had 165 newspapers as members, with a combined circulation of about 16 million copies a day. The top ten newspapers control roughly 50 percent of daily circulations in all languages. Bennett Coleman and the Indian Express own roughly 20 percent of daily circulations.While capitalists sustained national newspapers, the big houses, Dalmias, Jains, Goenka et al. , monopolized and corrupted free journalism. The family and caste controlled small newspapers regionally maintain their freedom from big monopolies, thriving on their loyal supporters in north and south India. Diversity of ownership is reflective of cultural variation in India's multilingual landscape. Twenty-one newspapers control two-thirds of all circulations. Inevitability of Poverty & a Feudal MindsetA large percentage of people are still not well-off enough (according to 2001 census figures, the population living below poverty line is a worrying 26. 10 per cent) to enjoy the fruits of free mass media. Concerns for a stable job and a decent living are more important for them as compared to any message against a social evil reaching them through the mass media. In this situation, anything else may be immaterial to him, even if it is a positive message about availability of free educational facilities for children of underprivileged classes.A feudal mindset continues to prevail among people across the socioeconomic strata. While the s uper-rich treat the upper middle class with contempt, the latter reserve the same treatment for those below the hierarchy. This manifests in people's attitude towards the media as well. Those who are slightly better off, would never bother about what the mass media say (except perhaps the commercial announcements or advertisements). Strongly Self-Centered Lives Material growth in the last two decades has led to dilution of values within family and in society.Becoming successful in their own small way–even if it is a petty roadside stall selling vegetables–is what matters. And to that end, messages on how to make lives better matter little. For example, if the roadside stall is an encroachment on a road and even if the mass media reports scream daily that those encroachments are a punishable offence, the stall owner is unmoved. He continues to sell his ware at the same spot and even if forcibly removed one day, he comes back the next day. The authorities, too, tire of t his game of hide-and-seek and give up.We can see such sights all across the Indian towns and cities. In a general atmosphere that of lax rules and where one can get away with offence has made the people become more selfish than they naturally are. The erosion of authority of law and establishment and the general lack of a culture of punishment have added to this environment of general disregard for ethics. Mass media, again, have a limited role to play in making people change their attitudes. Impact of Television on the Indian Population.Ever since the advent of modern communication technology that has allowed people around the world to communicate ever so easily, the world itself seems like a smaller space. Broadcasting is an especially effective manner through which millions of people are able to become unified on the basis that they are common recipients of a particular message. One of the most powerful transmitters of these messages is of course the television; programs of which can be seen around the world to serve many purposes.In most contemporary societies, television is a highly influential medium of popular culture and plays an important role in the social construction of reality. The effects of television should therefore be recognized as having the ability to alter social, economic and political situations in its places of propagation and beyond. I will be exploring these cultural shifts in detail pertaining to India, a developing nation undergoing a grand cultural shift in part due to the rapid growth of satellite television in the 1990’s and its programming.Television is unlike any other medium of mass communication in that its social effects are prominent, and able to prompt substantial change. The strong cultural influence of television on developing nations can therefore be linked to the following factors as outlined in the book â€Å"Media and Social Changes: the modernizing influences of television in rural India. † First, tele vision programming is easily accessible and inexpensive, which is mainly due to the fact that Indian television is sold inexpensively around the world after profits in its home market have already been made.Television’s potency is also a result of its broad scope and diversity of programs which therefore makes it appealing to almost anybody. Yet another reason for television’s mass appeal is its benign presence, which allows viewers to be in control of what they watch, how much they watch and when to watch it. Ultimately, it is these factors that propel the reliance on the medium which has the power to inflict many societal changes in developing nations such as India.Through the examination of diverse groups in India such as rural villagers, youth, women and the middle class, I intend to illustrate the vast social and cultural changes taking place in a culturally rich country, in large part due to the relatively recent popularity of television throughout the country. A ccording to statistics the population in India was: In 2000, it was 1,003 million people. In 2001, it was 1,019 million people. In 2002, it was 1,050 million people. In 2003, it was 1,060 million people. In 2004, it was 1,080 million people. In 2005, it was 1,094 million people.In 2006, it was 1,110 million people. While almost 75 percent of India’s one billion people live in villages, their thoughts and actions consequently have a large influence on the country’s social, political and economic state. One of the most prolific changes in village life which can be linked directly to the influence of television is rise of consumerism in rural India. Just as we are enveloped with advertisements and endorsements which propel us to purchase that which we deem necessary, the same is true in rural India in which such things as blue jeans and hand cream have become necessities.Villagers themselves acknowledge this growing need: â€Å"I want many things that my parents never ha d. I want a motorcycle and a nice colour TV; I want to eat mutton once a week instead of three times a year†. Through this illustration, it is evident that needs are certainly growing and it is due to television and advertisements that the economically dependent third world is now being internally pressured to make shifts that may not be financially possible yet incredibly desirable. Another growing desire of the rural Indian population is to become urbanized, leading to a shift in behavior and relationships.Not only do these villagers want to mimic the representations of their urban counterparts by changing their attire and consumer goods, their attitudes are also altered as a result. Such phenomenon can be seen as a positive shift which allows modern attitudes to flourish, through which more sensitivity and emotion are finding their ways into the rigid caste system and competition, therefore adding sentimental value to various relationships. In the case of rural parts of dev eloping nations, mediation may also be useful as a way of educating villagers about their own country.The programs that are seen by the villagers are those which are produced in India yet reflect a Western undercurrent of values and lifestyles. The rural audience is therefore able to learn about other parts of their own country, which is useful due to the fact that many do not venture far from their village for touring purposes. Although touring the country may not be prioritized, with the glamorization of urban life through the media, many villagers are moving to urban centers in search for a better life. The mplications of such a shift are obvious in that the villages that are being abandoned are at a disadvantage, yet the urban cities have nothing to gain other than more overcrowding. Although the middle class in India is generally more urbanized and therefore more in touch with the globalizing effects of media, they resemble the villagers in terms of the effects of television on their daily lives. While villagers are enticed with what is outside their village, the urban middle class is able to see the correlation between the foreign and national trademarks. Multinational companies consistently attempt to associate their products with signifiers of the Indian nation, for instance through sponsorship of the Indian Olympic team in the 1996 Olympics or through more subtle references to specifically Indian conditions such as the monsoon season†. While conglomerates such as Pepsi and Coke are striving to merge the Indian identity with their brands by sponsoring sporting events and relying on Indian celebrity endorsements, the Indian audience fails to see that what they see as sponsorship for India’s pride is actually a mere scheme to boost consumerism.It is therefore evident that just as the rural class is becoming increasingly commoditized, the middle class urban population is no different. Although many televised advertisements tug on the national ized heartstrings, many direct correlations are also made between Indian cities and North Indian or European ones. In this sense, the existence of the Indian city dwellers is being justified on the basis of their city’s comparison to Western cities. It is through these processes that Indian’s are made to feel that they are being recognized, but the concern is whether this recognition is strong if it is formulated through comparison.While many of these discrete messages are being transmitted through television and advertisements, they are transforming into ideals; and, just as the rural population is in search for an urban setting, the urban dwellers are looking towards Western societies for opportunity. According to static’s result India spends so much for their TV advertisements. In 2002 US $718 million was spent out of US $ 37,682. In 2003 US $848 million was spent out of US $ 44,413. In 2004 US $ 899million was spent out of US $ 51,812. In 2005 US $1,034 mill ion was spent out of US $ 61,478.In 2006 US $1,189 million was spent out of US $ 67,672. The effects of commercialism cannot be underestimated. Today’s children are besieged by manipulative commercial messages day in and day out, on TV, and even at school. Companies hire psychologists to help them target children and manipulate them; this is called the â€Å"art of whine-making. † The bombardment of commercial messages has created a sense of chronic dissatisfaction in children and, many psychologists think that is has contributed to the increase in teen depression. In terms of programming, television shows are either Indian or Indian imitations of them. Programs targeted specifically at the middle class are often characterized by a hybridized language which combines Hindi and English. This mixture, termed ‘Hinglish’ by the popular media, combines Hindi and English in different television shows†. Through this very example it is evident that Westernize d ideals are seeping into Indian mainstream media through the use of television. Moreover, an important shift to consider is that while English is becoming increasingly predominant, the non-English speakers are being marginalized and degraded in their own home country.Secondly, the predominance of Hindi as the main language on television weakens the diverse languages spoken in India which have contributed to its cultural heritage for centuries. One of the most prominent examples of the hybrid of Indian and Indian culture is through the phenomenon of MTV and youth culture in India. â€Å"The two main foreign-owned music television channels operating in India, News Corporation’s Channel [V] and Viacom’s MTV have followed a market strategy of aggressive â€Å"Indianization. This has taken the form of programs featuring Indian film songs and music videos†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Although it may hold true that television which is geared towards youth may support Indian entertainment , these channels directly model the Indian versions of them; therefore, enforcing a global Indianized culture upon middle-class Indian youth. Consumerism is extremely prominent among this group due to the cultural icons represented through music videos and advertisements, along with their parent’s willingness to support such spending.This seems to hold true as a characteristic of youth culture across the globe, which raises the question of whether this global identity was created to homogenize this particular group. Yet another concern that satellite television and its growing Western influence has brought about is the generational reformation of these viewers. â€Å"†¦ graduate students of classical dance and mainly Telugu Channel [V] viewers and say that they have frequently experienced discomfort (and so have their parents)because of the growing trend of obscenity in Telugu film songs (including nudity, suggestive body movements, and â€Å"double-meaning† lyri cs). Families were once able to enjoy programs without any discrepancy among parents and children, the ever growing influence of Western ideology that ‘sex sells’ in the media has transgressed into the Indian market, and led to reformation of the family unit, creating obvious distinctions between tastes. The new trends in television broadcasting may therefore effectively deconstruct the family unit as the Western ideals transgressing through Indian television are slowly creating gaps within the home.Some young viewers of these provocative music videos seem to think that due to their promiscuous nature, that these television programs are also being aired in the West; however, it is this misconception that demonstrates the young Indian’s desire to be recognized by its Indian counterparts. This ideal requires placing cultural regulations on the backburner, meeting and enjoying Westernized standards and masking them with an overarching Indian identity, all in a subco nscious attempt to escape that very identity. Study has shown Television viewing occupied 10. 9% of an adolescent time that is about 12 hours per week. 0% of this viewing occurred at home, 73% was done with other family members including 7% with grandparents, uncles, or aunts. This indicates that TV viewing is a typical family activity. Adolescents’ rates of viewing were correlated with mothers’ rates of viewing, with rates for both higher when mothers were unemployed. Adolescents’ TV rates were also correlated with fathers’ rates and with fathers’ type of unemployment. Study has prove, during TV viewing adolescents reported lower than average challenge, worry, and paying attention and higher than average choice, clam and relaxation.In short TV viewing of the middle class Indian youth is a relaxed antidote to the stress of the day that they share with their families. Television has a major impact on toddlers it influences their viewing habits throu ghout their lives. Since toddlers have a strong preference for cartoons and other programs that have characters that move fast, there is considerable likelihood that they will be exposed to large amounts of violence. Children do not become full-fledged â€Å"viewers† until around the age of two-and-a-half. As toddlers, they begin to pay more attention to the television set when it is on.They develop a limited ability to extract meaning from television content. At the age of eight, children are more likely to be sensitive to important moderating influences of television content, and will not become more aggressive themselves if the violence they see is portrayed as evil, as causing human suffering, or as resulting in punishment or disapproval. However, they are especially likely to show increased aggression from watching violent television if they believe the violence reflects real life, if they identify with a violent hero, or if they engage in aggressive fantasies.One major group which television watching has effected is the age group between 5-13 years of age. Television violence is accompanied by vivid production features; preschoolers are predisposed to seek out and pay attention to violence—particularly cartoon violence. It is not the violence itself that makes the cartoons attractive to preschoolers, but the accompanying vivid production features. With this preference for cartoons, preschoolers are being exposed to a large number of violent acts in their viewing day.Moreover, they are unlikely to be able to put the violence in context, since they are likely to miss any subtlety conveyed mitigating information concerning motivation and consequences. Preschoolers behave more aggressively than usual in their play after watching any high-action exciting television content, but mostly after watching violent television. Television watching and physical activity both are related to obesity. However this has been investigated mainly in children. Te levision viewing takes up 10. % of an adolescent’s time (about 12 hours per week) study proves. Children get glued to the television and do not exercise. They watch one program after another without giving them self’s a break. They do not even have half an hour to do any kind of physical activities. This finally results in obesity. Political Impact: 1) Media has been bringing out corrupt practices practiced by our political leaders. This has enabled people to make more rational choices when electing their representatives. 2) Media has been a major force in mobilizing people during elections. India is the cradle of human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, grandmother of legend, and great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only† -Mark Twain Yes, indeed the most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are in India. We are the worldà ¢â‚¬â„¢s largest democracy and an emerging force in the field of communication, science and technology.After combating recession, India is back on the path of growth and development but with challenges ahead like Carbon Emission reduction, Reforms in Judiciary, Progress of the Industrial sector etc†¦ In this scenario an analysis of the towers of strength of India will provide a strong basis for realizing our opportunities and threats in the future. Mass Media has always played a vital role in the functioning of democracy in India and exploring into these avenues will definitely play a major role in solving the problems pondered upon India. Background:On 26th January 1950 when the Constitution proclaimed India as a â€Å"sovereign socialist secular democratic republic†, the word democracy became a part of us. From then on Religion, Caste, Population, Development, International issues, Education, Poverty, Corruption, Economy, Politics†¦anything happening in our nation was linked with Democracy. A vibrant democracy attracts and filters-in the most competent ones in our country to govern and eliminates the not- so -competent. Truly, democracy in India is wider than the beautiful description of Abraham Lincoln-It is lot more than a form of government of the people, for the people and by the people.The role of democracy in India is to fulfill the dream of every true patriot in India i. e. to live in a â€Å"Great India†, a strong and prosperous one. On the other hand portraying the life of Indian people the media won the hearts of millions in India. Enjoying complete freedom the media took up the responsibility to make people aware of everything going around them whether it is good or bad. It is not amusing that the only thing in India which is trusted by everyone is Media. Even Mass Media has travelled a long way from the late 1700’s and far beyond the era of Radio Broadcasting.Mass Media in India had to resist immense pressure from t he government to be what it is today. The press had to face oppression during the freedom struggle as it was being successful in carrying out its duty to create a feeling of nationalism among the people during that time. Today in terms of Media, India is the second largest market in the world for newspapers, 18th largest country in broadband Internet users and 8th in the list of countries by number of television broadcast stations.All of this achieved when Media has been free and independent with only few regulatory bodies at the realm. THE ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN INDIAN DEMOCRACY: Every man needs food, clothing, healthcare and shelter for his physical survival. Similarly communication is regarded as an indispensible factor for the social welfare of people. In this 21st century every individual is keen to be updated with the latest developments in all walks of life. It is here where the mass media comes into the picture which aims to reach out to a very large audience.It carries out i ts functions through advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations and political communication. Mass media is now considered as an effective tool for advocating business and social concerns. But what role does media and information play in a democratic society need to be examined as there is still a dispute regarding the significance and magnitude of mass media in Indian society. Every citizen is entitled to have free access to the knowledge and information they require.The democratic political system depends on the efficient, accurate, and complete transmission of social, political, and cultural information in society People should be able to discuss matters of public interest with their equals in order to influence the actions taken in our nation. This ensures genuine participation of individuals in matters of public interest which is in fact the essence of democracy. Thus mass media forms an integral part of democracy as it contributes to those factors that are intrinsic t o genuine democracy.Democracy believes in the empowerment of individual and media facilitates it through communication and ensures freedom of expression and freedom of conscience. Democracy and mass media are the two essential components of Indian life. It has accomplished the task of transforming the lives of the people. But to what extent has Indian lives progressed and what advancement has the nation achieved is a matter of concern. Like every coin which has two sides the effects of mass media in Indian democracy has brought in serious advantages as well as disadvantages.We need to understand the role and functions of media in our nation and the significance of media in democracy. There is a need to analyze mass media and democracy in relation with each other to comprehend the impact of these core aspects. AN OPTIMISTIC APPROACH: A democratic society permits freedom of speech and expression. We Indians have the freedom to think, freedom to write, freedom to discuss with others, f reedom to explain, freedom to criticize and freedom to dissent. Democracy demands the fulfillment of every citizen’s right to expression.Media facilitates the process of empowerment of individual by providing an arena for public debate and by reconstituting private citizens as a public body in the form of public opinion. Nowadays, media provides a platform for every individual to exercise his right of being heard. Innovative talk shows and public discussions organized by the media is now playing a major role in the enforcement of the right of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(a) of the constitution. Media in India has tried every possible means to satisfy the democratic ideals.For example, during elections voters are educated and informed to the point where they are able to understand the most important political issues. During all these years the Indian mass media has successfully performed the following functions: †¢ Supporting objective news and informative programs so that people can make quick decisions. †¢ Cultivating alternative media, so that multiple voices and opinions will be heard. †¢ Mobilizing popular participation in the transition process. †¢ Multiplying the impact of transition activities by disseminating information on successful local peace and participatory efforts.Let it be any natural calamity or any other disaster we find our reporters there risking their lives to give us information regarding the events taking place in every nook and corner of the world. There are many instances of Media turning out to be real investigators in cases like the murder of Jessica Lal, Priyadarshini Matoo case, Best Bakery scandal etc. If the media didn’t take the initiative to bring out the truth before the public then justice wouldn’t have prevailed. The efforts of the media are always concentrated towards lifting the veil to ensure righteousness in society.It uses effective techniques lik e sting operations, opinion polls etc to portray the reality. Whether it is newspaper, television or internet the objective of every media is to collect, analyze, verify and present information regarding current events, trends, and various other issues of this democratic nation. Democracy believes in protecting the rights of the citizens and limiting the powers of the government. It intends that no one should be discriminated on the basis of their race, religion, ethnic group, or gender. It directs that no one should be arrested, imprisoned or exiled arbitrarily.No one in a democratic society should be denied their freedom without a fair and public hearing by an impartial court. No one may be taxed or prosecuted except by a law established in advance. The idea of democracy lays in the fact that no one is above the law, not even a king or an elected president. Above all the law is fairly, impartially, and consistently enforced, by courts that are independent of the other branches of government. The contribution by mass media for upholding the above principles of democracy in our society is remarkable.WHEN MONEY RULES OVER MORALS: â€Å"Tell me, why is the media here so negative. Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? † -Dr. Abdul Kalam This observation made by our former President is very true. It is a very sad fact that every morning we have to begin our day with negative news.Indian mass media often has a tendency to exhibit gossip, scandal and violence. The aim of mass media is to sensationalize every piece of information rather than sensitizing them. The Media is usually focused on the lives of celebrities and reality shows instead of concentrating on events of national importance. The lack of media literacy among the pubic also makes matters worse. With the increase in the number of competitors in mass media nowadays we find that a wide range of topics are being discussed among the public.The common man and the celebrities express their opinion, but usually there is no measure taken after that. The issues discussed become stale and after a week a new storyline creeps in bringing in hope and opening up a new avenue. Gone are those days when preferences were given to the selection of news. Media does not believe in newsworthiness anymore. There is a wide opinion among people that media is no more interested in creating citizenship. At times media fails in its duty to provide public sphere for dialogue and interaction among the citizens.Political parties started their own channels to highlight their achievements and political news was more about personalities than about their ideologies. In the absence of serious debate, voters are left with paid political propaganda containing only meaningless slogans making them disinterested and cynical about politics and losing faith in demo cracy. Forgetting its responsibility to educate the masses media is busy transforming citizens into spectators by offering them pure entertainment. What happened in most of the cases is that Global Competition and profit motive made media forget about democracy.The interests of the advertisers did not coincide with readers, listeners and viewers. Advertisements occupied the pages in newspapers. Media was concentrated on promoting an event or a latest movie which is yet to be released so as to increase its box-office collection. If media was left with the option of choosing between either its functions or its survival it would have chosen the latter. Democratic values and principles were to be buried if advertisement rules media Money ruled over morals and media was no more interested in veracity. CONCLUSION:After analyzing the role of media in our democratic society we have come to the conclusion that all these years since its establishment the mass media has worked for the progress and development of our country. All its activities were concentrated to see a fully fledged democratic Indian society. But observations also prove the fact that mass media nowadays prefer to sensationalize news. Media is losing interest in promoting democratic values and principles. Mass media corporations are now concerned about improving the financial position of their organizations.If this continues India can never fulfill its dream to be a developed nation by 2020. So the question arises: What next? Well first we need to realize the fact that the problem is neither with the media nor the democratic principles. Media gives us entertainment because we demand it. Media cannot be blamed alone for its depicting people’s preferences. So first the attitude of the public should be changed. We should not be bothered about timely pleasure instead our focus should be on long term projects which would take our country to new heights. If you are given the opportunity to express what you want from the media†¦ ust think for a while and then decide what you really want. If the media also tries to sensitize news and takes initiative to accomplish its social responsibilities then no one can stop our country from being a strong powerful democratic nation. I nformation on the latest happenings reaches people in just a matter of minutes. The vision of media reaches even the remotest corners of the country and makes sure that everyone is aware of what is going on in the country. The easy and swift availability of any given information makes media one of the most reliable sources for forming public opinion.It bridges the gap between the leaders and the masses by becoming their channel of communication. It brings into open the innumerable achievements that are going on in the country. Media gives ordinary people the power to reach out to the society as a whole. It can make heroes out of ordinary men. The media acts as a deterrent on corrupt practices and keeps a chec k on the working of the government. Media has significantly promoted social causes like literacy, health management, anti-dowry practices, discouraging female feticide, AIDS awareness, etc.Media can adversely affect the thinking capability of individuals and instill negative or destructive thinking patterns in the society as a whole. As already said before, media has the power to form and alter opinions. This means media can portray an ordinary thing so negatively that it may force people to think or act in quite the opposite way. Media glorifies violence and contains graphic descriptions or images. When viewed by the vulnerable portion of the society, i. e. , the children, it can have grave effects on their upcoming and thinking patterns.The media can sometimes go out of the way in advertising or glorifying certain issues. Usually, a bad or detrimental message is packaged in a glorious way and is made accessible to the public. Movies that depict filthy rich thieves who don’t bat an eyelid before killing someone or extorting someone and the getting away with it, sure give entertainment to people. At the same time, it encourages them to act in a way that promises adventure and thrill in life. This way, media glorifies the bad aspects of people and encourages them to act in forbidden ways.One particular article which examined the portrayal of women in Indian television states, â€Å"Although many of the programs continued to relegate women to the role of either the glamorous host or the traditional housewife, there were many examples of non-traditional roles for women. † Whereas traditional roles are still portrayed, and certain qualities are equated with feminism, the diversity in female roles can be viewed as an indication that women now have choices to fit into those roles that appeal to them. Through television, a range of options are presented, therefore reflecting the potential flexibility of women’s lives.The concern that arises in th is case is the harsh reality of Indian culture that is caught between two contradictory gender role portrayals which may either promote female independence, or discourage it altogether. It is therefore important to consider those women who desire liberation, and are held back because they don’t coincide with traditional norms and expectations. In recent years, viewers of Indian film and television have witnessed a shift from portrayals of females as innocent and subordinate in nature, into independent sexual beings.While India’s strong traditional heritage has always been significantly characterized by the traditional roles of women as homemakers and mothers, the portrayal of women on television has challenged this ideal, and therefore cultivated a new perception of womanhood for the Indian woman. â€Å"In the 1990s, the Indian ideal of female beauty changed to become more aligned with the Western concept of ‘thin is beautiful’. This change can be unhealt hy because the average female Indian body type generally includes large hips. It is therefore evident that the increasing popularity of Western norms through television can be equated with the changing attitudes of Indian females and their bodies. The concern here is obviously the potential damage these ideals may inflict upon the health and self esteem of women exposed to such figures. The very concept of woman has been revolutionized by the integration of Western ideals and practices that are seeping into Indian-produced television. Conflicts are therefore surfacing which pertain to the issues of female identity.Similarly, with the recent uproar of music-based television, Indian youth culture is flourishing into an ‘Indianized’ group which depends on Western ideals to propel their tastes. This consequently, is creating drifts within the nuclear family structure, and producing a generation gap. The urban middle class, as well as rural villagers are also affected in tha t they now utilize commodities as a signifier of rank, and these commodities are determined by conglomerate advertising through mainstream India television. Socially, one of the greatest problems plaguing India today is the consequences of Indianization.Indian’s have eroticized the culture of India to such a degree where they do not realize that they are constantly consuming high priced merchandise at the expense of their own enriched diverse culture. The Indian economy is so motivated by the capital gain from multinationals that they often try to counterbalance the impact of the western images by enforcing radical Nationalistic themes. The growing popularity of television in all parts of India is therefore making way for a homogenized Indian culture whose cultural identity is becoming ever so fragil