Over-cutting the forests of Indonesia, Philippines and Sabah Essay

Over-cutting the forests of Indonesia, Philippines and Sabah (Malaysia) - Essay Example Yet, clear cutting, deforestation, and over cutting of the timberlands has resulted in severe shortages of lumber in countries such as the Philippines where 9 percent of the forests were cleared in the period 1980 thru 1990 (Ascher 13). There are a myriad of forces at work that create a climate where short-term gain outweighs the sound long-term management of a countrys natural resources. Flawed government policies and a failure to understand the implications of the economic driving forces has resulted in forest ove4r cutting in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The generic and overly simplistic viewpoint that over cutting the forests in under-developed nations is a combination of greed, corruption, and ignorance marginalizes the effect of government policy. While it is true that these can have a significant effect, such as Malaysia where over $1 billion was unaccounted for in 1994, it is more often the well-intentioned, though misguided, government policies that result in forest mismanagement. In addition, governments have failed to enact strict enforcement and accountability policies that would limit the influence of special interest groups and hold government officials more responsible for the budget. Ascher illustrates the extreme case of Indonesia where President Suharto engaged in the "off-budget pursuit of development strategies ranging from downstream wood products to aerospace" as well as "†¦motives such as political campaign finance and personal aggrandizement" (81). The redistribution of resources without sound budgetary con trol disrupts pricing as well as contributing to over production. One of the more clearly misguided efforts at managing the forestry sector output has been the proliferation of export bans of raw timber around the world. The Indonesian economy lost $400 million in 1981-82 when it banned the export of raw timer in an effort to spur

Video games and aggression Essay Example for Free

Video games and aggression Essay Violent computer games such as ? rst-person shooters (e. g. , ‘‘Counterstrike’’) have repeatedly raised the suspicion of parents, teachers, politicians, and scientists alike. Given the increasingly realistic portrayals of violence and the substantive training of (virtual) aggressive acts in these games rather than the passive observation of violence in movies, many have been alarmed by the wide-spread use of these games [Smith et al. , 2003]. The discussion resembles the previous debate on the effects of passive violence exposure in TV and movies [Bushman and Anderson, 2001], and in line with psychological theories on aggression and based on empirical evidence, similar conclusions have been drawn regarding side effects of violence exposure in computer games: Most authors would conclude that a clear consensus has been reached that a noticeable causal in? uence of playing violent video games on aggressive behavior and dispositions—of young people in particular—exists [Carnagey and Anderson, 2004]. Nevertheless, the number of studies establishing a causal link between aggresr 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. siveness and interactive media such as violent computer games remains relatively small in comparison to studies on passive media exposure. Evidence is particularly scarce with regard to whether latencybased measures of cognition, so-called implicit measures, are useful for detecting any changes in aggressive cognition as a consequence of exposure to video games. Implicit measures may be particularly suited to uncover the processes how playing violent and nonviolent video games affects a player’s automatic cognitions. Implicit dispositions could play a key role in spontaneous and impulsive aggressive tendencies in the short and long run. Conventional wisdom holds that a substantial part of aggressive behavior is carried out in the absence of cognitive ACorrespondence to: Matthias Bluemke, Psychological Institute, University of Heidelberg, Hauptstrasse 47-51, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany. E-mail: Matthias. [emailprotected] uni-heidelberg. de Received 15 October 2007; Revised 15 September 2009; Accepted 29 September 2009 Published online 26 October 2009 in Wiley InterScience (www. interscience. wiley. com). DOI: 10. 1002/ab. 20329 2 Bluemke et al. resources or in situations where people lack behavioral control (e. g. , after alcohol consumption). Obviously, aggression does not always re?ect actions in line with one’s conscious reasoning or explicitly endorsed attitude toward aggression and violence. Those dispositions that relate to lesscontrolled aspects of human behavior, rather than deliberate behavior and intended actions, may be addressed by the term ‘‘implicit personality’’ [Banse and Greenwald, 2007; Perugini and Banse, 2007]. The Media Violence Exposure–Aggression Link Psychological theories that predict increases in aggression after (repeated) media violence exposure are plentiful. Not a single psychological theory predicts positive outcomes, neither in the short nor in the long run—except for the catharsis hypothesis which until now suffers from empirical con? rmation [Bushman et al. , 1999]. Among the most important mechanisms for short-term effects are (1) associative priming of existing aggressive beliefs, well-encoded scripts, and angry emotional reactions [Berkowitz, 1993], (2) emotional arousal upon observation of violence and excitation transfer [Zillmann, 1978], and (3) simple mimicry of aggressive scripts [Huesmann and Kirwil, 2007]. Long-term effects are most prominently considered to be a consequence of (1) observational learning of new social scripts [Huesmann, 1988], (2) development of beliefs supporting aggression or hostile schemas that accompany expectations in social interactions [Anderson and Godfrey, 1987; Huesmann and Kirwil, 2007], as well as (3) conditioning of aggression-promoting emotions [Bushman and Huesmann, 2006]. Long-term emotional desensitization to violent scenes may also occur [Carnagey and Anderson, 2004]. Empirical evidence in favor of the aforementioned theories is abundant. As the violent video game debate has had a precursor in the debate on the effects of TV-violence, related evidence on the hypothesized link exists. Longitudinal research on the effects of TV-violence has shown that the amount of viewing TV-violence in childhood predicts young adults’ self- and other-reported aggression much more than childhood aggression predicts young adults’ TV-violence consumption [Huesmann et al., 2003]. Owing to the activity of the gamer, violent computer games may be more harmful than passive exposure to media [Carnagey and Anderson, 2004]: A hostile virtual reality, higher number of violent scenes in the games, symbolically enacting Aggr. Behav. cruelty instead of perceiving it, reinforcement of atrocities, replacement of aggression-inhibiting tendencies—all of these are matter for concern [Gentile and Anderson, 2003]. Based on meta-analyses of several studies, Anderson and Bushman [2001] inferred a substantial causal effect of computer game violence on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognitions and emotions, cardiovascular arousal, as well as on (reduced) helping behavior [Anderson, 2004; Anderson et al. , 2003]. Even if only a small effect existed outside the laboratory, Bayesian logic proves that, due to the high base rate of people consuming large amounts of video game violence, consequences on a societal level would be drastic. In sum, our understanding of the matter has developed to the point where investigating the mediating mechanisms and exploring the moderating variables becomes more important than establishing any effects themselves. This having said, the same does not apply to a relatively new class of theories and measures. So far, few studies in aggression research have dealt with implicit cognition and even fewer have utilized newly developed implicit measures of aggressive dispositions in media violence research. Automatic Aggression-Related Cognitions and Impulsive Aggressiveness Dispositions Beginning with Schneider and Shiffrin [Schneider and Shiffrin, 1977; Shiffrin and Schneider, 1977], the distinction between automatic and controlled processes has become quite common. Huesmann [1988, 1998] applied the distinction between automatic and controlled processing to aggressive behavior [see also Dodge and Crick, 1990]. Also the general aggression model [Anderson and Bushman, 2002] distinguishes thoughtful action from impulsive behavior. The most extensive application of automatic processes to social behavior in general has been laid out in the re?ective–impulsive model (RIM) [see Strack and Deutsch, 2004, for an in-depth discussion]. The model summarizes many ? ndings on human automaticity based on implicit measurement procedures. RIM allows for the mutual in? uence of two cognitive systems in producing human behavior: one associative and one re? ective system, but interconnections between both systems exist. That automatic processes can be held at least partly responsible for the emergence of aggressive behavior is not a new insight [see Todorov and Bargh, 2002, for an overview]. Situational priming of mental constructs in the range of few hundred. The In? uence of Computer Games 3 milliseconds, even below the subliminal threshold, reliably biases people’s perceptions of ambiguous behavior, and it can guide the selection of behavioral options [Berkowitz, 2008; Dodge and Crick, 1990; Zelli et al. , 1995]. Depending on whether the situation activates the concept of rudeness or the concept of politeness, the likelihood to interrupt a conversation partner changes—without mediation by an intentional stance [Bargh et al. , 1996]. What is less obvious from our discussion so far is how each of the re? ective and impulsive pathways can be predicted. All the models allow automatic associations as dispositions to behavior. Based on spreading activation in semantic networks, associations ef? ciently predispose the organism to the spontaneous selection of behavioral scripts. Importantly, behavioral impulses can be at variance with one’s personally endorsed standards, or social norms, and this may be the case even without the person being aware of it. Whether deliberate re? ection or impulses will determine behavior, depends on the cognitive capacity and motivational resources for self-regulation, which themselves might be impaired due to temporal or chronic in?uences [Baumeister et al. , 2000; DeWall et al. , 2007; Fazio and Towles-Schwen, 1999; Muraven and Baumeister, 2000]. With the notion of spreading activation in mind implicit measures have been developed that try to tap into automatic associations in the range of a few hundred milliseconds [Fazio and Olson, 2003]. It was shown that explicit measures, which are based on deliberation and reappraisals, mainly determined behavior under re? ective control, whereas implicit measures predominantly predicted impulsive tendencies and behavior in less-controlled situations [Friese et al., 2008; Hofmann and Friese, 2008; Hofmann et al. , 2008]. The latter ?nding does not contradict the idea that clever explicit measurement procedures can likewise uncover automatic in? uences in a broad sense. Behavior is the product of both types of processes to a sizable extent, and the situation is responsible for moderating their relative impact. The question is whether the idea of associative networks and priming procedures can be exploited in the domain of aggression, as it has been done in other domains, so that assessing interindividual differences in people’s proneness to impulsively aggress becomes feasible. Assuming automatic aggressive dispositions and using implicit measures to detect them is in line with recent calls to integrate neo-associationistic approaches into explanation and prediction of aggression. In doing so, both classic theoretical and newer paradigms are combined [cf. Berkowitz, 2008; Bushman, 1998]. Connecting Implicit Measures, Violent Video Games, and Aggression Research We suggest that implicit measurement techniques1 could be a useful addendum to the agenda of aggression research. In contrast to traditional explicit measures such as questionnaires, implicit measures do not rely on conscious self-report, but on the measurement of hard-to-control spontaneous associations. They typically draw on reactiontimes in categorization tasks within a few hundreds of milliseconds, that is, within the fraction of a second where also automaticity effects can be observed. Implicit measures are considered to be less susceptible to distortion by demand characteristics, social desirability, and other biasing factors such as low levels of introspection [Degner et al., 2006]. Crucially, due to the limited time for responding, information processing in implicit measures differs distinctively from responding to a questionnaire so that both types of measures display their merits, particularly when predicting different kinds of behavior: Dissociations between implicit and explicit measures in predicting impulsive and controlled behavior typically result [Asendorpf et al. , 2002; Hofmann et al. , 2007], and treatments can affect the associative and re? ective level independently [Gawronski and Bodenhausen, 2007]. Heavy players of violent video games may claim to be immune to side effects, and at the re? ective level this may hold, but at the associative level the picture may look quite different. Owing to the nature of the game, impulsive behavior and automatic associations, aside from intentions, could be reinforced in violent computer games. Uhlmann and Swanson [2004] observed exactly such a predicted increase of aggressive cognition after 10 min of playing a violent computer game in the lab, when aggressiveness was measured objectively via response latencies in an Implicit Association Test [IAT; Greenwald et al., 1998]. Other research shows that these IATs are predictors of impulsive aggression which cannot be explained by Throughout the article we stick with the common name ‘‘implicit measures’’ for indirect, latency-based measures. Note that the ideas that the constructs proper reside at an implicit level, or that the associations themselves need to be acquired implicitly, have been given up, and there is no doubt that most measurement procedures cannot be deemed implicit [Blanton et al. , 2006; Fiedler et al. , 2006; Karpinski, 2004]. Aggr. Behav. 1 4 Bluemke et al.self-report and observer ratings [Banse and Fischer, 2002; Gollwitzer et al. , 2007]. As the study by Uhlmann and Swanson [2004] is, to our knowledge, the only published research that investigated the in? uence of violent computer games on cognition as assessed by the IAT, let us describe their main ? ndings. Playing a ? rst-person shooter increased implicit aggressiveness. Despite being convergent with theory, some doubts remain. The lack of a nonplaying control group does not permit a conclusion whether the violent game raised aggressive cognitions or whether the playing control condition caused participants to become more peaceful. Then, Uhlmann and Swanson’s games presumably differed with regard to the elicited physiological arousal and involvement. The nonviolent game (‘‘Mahjongg’’) was a puzzle that differs from the violent game (‘‘Doom’’), a ? rst-person shooter, in terms of excitation, task complexity, competition, and frustration. The missing equivalence prohibits inferring a causal link [Anderson et al. , 2004]. Arousal confounds need not pose a problem for explicit measures of aggression, yet applying speeded-classi? cation tasks after playing arousing games might have affected sorting performance in the IAT. As a consequence, group differences may re?ect blurred measurement, rather than changes in cognition proper. Study Aims We had two aims in mind when planning this study: First, a conceptual replication of Uhlmann and Swanson’s [2004] study seemed in place, while simultaneously controlling for arousal and task differences of the games. Second, given the small number of studies on the causal impact of violent and prosocial electronic games on implicit measures, we wanted to extend the data basis: We expected that playing a violent game should prime aggressive cognitions, whereas playing a peaceful game should prime peaceful cognitions.mouse and ? ring at them with mouse clicks. In the peaceful game participants watered as many sun? owers popping up in the woods at the same rate and pace as the soldiers in the violent condition. An abstract game required the clicking of colored triangles without any meaning attached to these triangles, but with identical timing parameters and reinforcement stakes. This allowed us to examine whether violent content and watering sun? owers distinctively sway associations as compared with a control condition. Finally, nonplaying participants worked on a reading task of a nonarousing newspaper report, constituting a baseline for potential arousal differences due to playing vs. not playing. In line with Uhlmann and Swanson [2004], we predicted that, controlling for pretest differences among participants, the implicit aggressive selfconcept should be highest after ? rst-person shooting, followed by abstract gaming, then by sun? ower watering. Implicit measures should be particularly informative on alterations of associative structures. Associating oneself with violent acts should give rise to aggressive cognitions, whereas associating oneself with peaceful acts should render peaceful associations active. As we kept the virtual environment, the psychomotor task, and the gaming parameters constant, we also expected that the level of physiological arousal among the three game conditions should converge. This circumstance would demonstrate the equality of the game contexts and render explanations of post-treatments effects in terms of plain arousal differences improbable. Sample A sample of 96 students at Heidelberg University of various majors took part in a study on the in?uence of computer games on (unspeci? ed) cognitive performance parameters in exchange for course credit or a chocolate bar. After controlling for high error rates [20% of errors at most in the critical IAT and Single-Target IAT (ST-IAT) blocks; see Greenwald et al. , 1998], 89 participants (68. 5% females) remained in the sample. 2 Mean age amounted to 24. 64 yrs (SD 5 5. 35). Most participants were skilled in computer usage and gaming: Many reported owning a Personal Computer (N 5 86), Sony Playstation (9), Microsoft Xbox (2), or a Nintendo Gameboy (9). Daily computer usage was 2. 53 (SD 5 2. 65) hr on average, and the average weekly consumption of video games 2 METHOD Hypotheses We compared three groups, relative to a control condition, with regard to changes of aggressiveness following violent gaming, nonviolent gaming, or not gaming at all. In the violent game, participants acted as ? rst-person shooters and targeted a virtual weapon at hostile soldiers, popping up in a virtual wood, by moving the hairlines of the gun with the Aggr. Behav. Owing to technical problems, the recording of one participant’s physiological data failed. The In? uence of Computer Games 5 summed up to 5. 16 (SD 5 7. 90) hr. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions under the constraint of keeping gender proportions across the conditions equal. This resulted in 6–8 males and 14–16 females in each condition. Independent Variable Although the control group encountered a reading task, that is, an article from the German magazine ‘‘DER SPIEGEL’’ which was judged as emotionally neutral, the experimental groups encountered one of three computer games. Irrespective of the speci?c treatment condition, the virtual environment (a forest scene) and the actions (a left-side mouse click of the right hand) were identical (Fig. 1). In the violent game, participants were exposed to a war scenario that required shooting enemy soldiers from a ? rstperson perspective in order to score high. Soldiers returned ? re if they were not eliminated immediately. The goal was to shoot as many enemies as quickly as possible by ? ring at them with mouse clicks (hits), before they ? red back and disappeared, resulting in score losses (misses). The mean rate of soldiers per minute could be determined by the programmer and was kept constant across participants (and conditions), but the program implemented a random component with regard to timing and location of the targets so that players could not routinely counter the attacks. Misses after the fraction of a second resulted in being injured and decreased the score, signaled by a different sound than for hits, which were visually emphasized by blood spills. By contrast, in the peaceful game sun? owers popped up in the same wood in the same speed like the soldiers in the violent game, yet the players’ task was to water the ?owers with their watering can, else they ‘‘died’’ visually due to water shortage. Whenever this happened, a ‘‘sad’’ sound occurred and reminded a participant to water the sun? owers continuously and fast. On success, a player’s score increased, as indicated by a sound of accomplishment. Misses resulted in the same loss of points as in the violent game. Finally, in the abstract game participants removed the colored triangles that popped up in the woods by pinpointing them with a small cursor triangle before clicking the mouse button. Acoustic and visual signals added relevance to hits and misses. Dependent Variables Big ? ve. A German 40-item version of the International Personality Item Pool [IPIP40; Goldberg, 2001; Hartig et al. , 2003] provided a basic description of personality in terms of the ? ve-factor model: extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness [John and Srivastava, 1999]. Both the ? ve-factor structure of the IPIP40 as well as its construct validity have been demonstrated beforehand [Buchanan et al. , 2005]. We used the IPIP40 in order to control for pretest differences among the sub-samples. Internal consistencies of the scales were adequate, Cronbach’s a 5 . 74–. 90. Aggression questionnaire. We administered Buss and Perry’s [1992] 29-item aggression questionnaire [BPAQ; German version by Amelang and Bartussek, 2001] to control for pre-existing group differences and to investigate postexperimental changes of aggressiveness. The German version ? ts the well-validated four-factorial structure: physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility [Herzberg, 2003; von Collani and Werner, 2005]. Reliability of the sub-scales, a 5 .62–. 78 (. 67–. 85), Aggr. Behav. Fig. 1. Screenshots of the violent, peaceful, and abstract game (printed in greyscale). 6 Bluemke et al. and the total scale, a 5 . 85 (. 87), proved adequate (post-test values in brackets). Implicit Association Tests. The computerbased IAT and its derivate, the ST-IAT [Karpinski and Steinman, 2006; Wigboldus et al. , 2004; unpublished], were administered as implicit measures of cognitive antecedents of impulsive aggression, known as the aggressive self-concept [Banse and Fischer, 2002]. In the IAT, the main dependent variable, response latencies, resulted from two sorting tasks that cross the two focal attribute concepts—aggressive and peaceful—with the two target categories, self and other. After 20 practice trials for attributes and targets each, 40 stimuli of both targets and attributes had to be categorized (see Table I; Block 4–7): In one block self1peaceful (and other1aggressive) were mapped to identical response keys, in the other block the category– response-key assignment reversed, self1aggressive (and other1peaceful). Stimuli were randomly drawn from one of the four categories. Both blocks were administered in counterbalanced order across the sample to control for block order effects. The difference between the mean response latencies of the two critical blocks (i. e. , IAT effect), served as an index of the association of the self to the aggressive vs. peaceful pole of the dimension. Typically faster responses for the self1peaceful than for the self1 aggressive block result. Hence, when taking individual block differences of zero milliseconds as a reference point, positive IAT scores indicate a peaceful self-concept and negative IAT scores indicate an aggressive self-concept. Previous studies showed that IATs predicted the amount of violent game playing [Uhlmann and Swanson, 2004], accounted for unique variance in the aggression of ice hockey players as indicated by penalty time-outs [Banse and Fischer, 2002], and detected the impact of a social competence intervention [Gollwitzer et al. , 2007]. Because of the criticism pertaining to the relative nature of the IAT [Blanton et al. , 2006; Fiedler et al. , 2006; Karpinski, 2004], we additionally applied an aggressiveness-ST-IAT that omitted the contrast category other, as it is unclear what exactly testtakers associate to an unspeci?ed IAT category, such as other. The measurement of latencies, the block structure, and the stimuli of the two critical blocks remained the same as in the IAT, yielding one compatible block with self1peaceful on the one key and aggressive separately on the other key, and one incompatible block with self1aggressive (peaceful separate). The simpler task structure usually decreases latencies, but, crucial for the calculation of block difference scores, across both blocks there is Aggr. Behav. always one uncoupled category. For nonrelative target objects, such as the self-concept, an ST-IAT may contain less nuisance variance than an IAT. In our own pilot study, a self-concept ST-IAT re? ected past violent video game exposure better than an attitude-toward-aggression-IAT, probably as a result of range restriction of the true-score variance of participants’ evaluative associations in the latter measure [Bluemke and Zumbach, 2007]. Successful ST-IAT applications have shown that the ST-IAT can do almost as good in psychometric terms as the IAT. Nevertheless, research on this tool is still warranted as the evidence for the usefulness of an aggressiveness-ST-IAT is scarce. We reduced the in?uence of the asymmetric nature of the task by drawing 10 self-related stimuli, 11 stimuli of the coupled category, and 14 stimuli of the unpaired category, resulting in 35 stimuli per critical block and an almost equal number of left-hand and righthand responses [40 vs. 60%; see Table I, Block 1–3; cf. Bluemke and Friese, 2008; Friese et al. , 2007]. 3 The ST-IAT always preceded the IAT so as not to prime the category other before taking the ST-IAT. Irrespective of whether participants encountered the compatible or the incompatible block ? rst, they received the same order of blocks for the post-test. Latencies were treated according to the D5-algorithm regarding the treatment of missing data and error penalties [Greenwald et al. , 2003], resulting in metrics equivalent to z-standardized scores or d-scores. Thus, ST-IAT and IAT effects are expressed in units of an individual’s standard deviation pooled across both (task-speci? c) critical blocks. Individual differences were assessed with boundary reliability, a 5 . 68 (. 64) and . 64 (. 73). Again, to summarize, positive IAT or ST-IAT scores indicate a peaceful self-concept and negative IAT or ST-IAT scores indicate an aggressive self-concept. Physiological arousal parameters. As we wanted to preclude any arousal differences between groups, we assessed heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) as parameters of emotion-related physiological arousal by using the Biopac student lab PRO 3. 6. 7. [e. g. , Carnagey et al. , 2007; Clements and Turpin, 1995; Malmstrom et al. , 1965]. The measurement procedure was divided into six sections. Data were continuously gathered, and aggregates of 30-second intervals were analyzed for each of the following phases: a baseline immediately after 3 The disproportionate number of categories in the ST-IAT prevents that both the number of left and right key-strokes and the number of peaceful and aggressive stimuli in the two critical blocks can be balanced. We chose a solution between both extremes. TABLE I. Structure of ST-IAT and IAT Including (ST-)IAT Items (Translated From German) Block 2 Initial combined task (here: compatible) Others Self Me You Mine Yours I Self They Their Them My Others Self Me You Mine Yours I Self They Their Them My Target-concept discrimination Initial combined task (here: compatible) Reversed target discrimination Block 3 Block 4 Block 5 Block 6 Block 7. Sequence Block 1 Task Attribute discrimination Task instructions Stimuli Aggressive Peaceful Compromise Fight Agree Blow Reconciliation Give in Hurt Revenge Hit Make peace Number of trials 10 aggressive 10 peaceful Aggressive Peaceful1Self Me Fight Agree Mine Blow Self Reconciliation Give in Hurt I Revenge Hit Make peace My Compromise 14 aggressive 11 peaceful 10 self-related 10 self-related 10 other-related 10 10 10 10 Reversed combined task (here: incompatible) Aggressive1Self Peaceful Me Fight Agree Mine Blow Self Reconciliation Give in Hurt I Revenge Hit Make peace My Compromise 11 aggressive 14 peaceful 10 self-related Aggressive1Others Peaceful1Self Me Fight Agree Mine Blow Self Reconciliation Give in Hurt I Revenge Hit Make peace My Compromise 10 aggressive 10 peaceful 10 self-related 10 other-related self-related other-related self-related other-related Reversed combined task (here: incompatible) Aggressive1Self Peaceful1Others Me Fight Agree Mine Blow Self Reconciliation Give in Hurt I Revenge Hit Make peace My Compromise 10 aggressive 10 peaceful The In? uence of Computer Games 7 Note: Within the task instructions, spatial position of the categories indicates the left or right response key. Target and attribute stimuli alternated in critical IAT blocks (here: depiction of an arbitrary sequence of stimuli). Aggr. Behav. 8 Bluemke et al. attaching the electrode (Pre-1), a pre-treatment baseline (Pre-2), a treatment phase subdivided into one early, one mid-term, and one ? nal interval (T1–T3), and a post-treatment phase before the detachment of the electrode (Post). Procedure After entry in the lab, we obtained written informed consent that participants might randomly end up in a violent game condition and stressed that they could opt out at any point in time without giving any reasons. None of the participants used this option, neither in response to the initial information, nor during the course of the experiment. At ? rst, participants reported on socio-demographic variables, and then took a personality questionnaire related to the ? ve-factor model, before they encountered baseline measures of an aggression-speci? c questionnaire, an ST-IAT, and ? nally an IAT. Next, the experimenter attached the devices for measuring HR and SC at the index ? nger of the left hand. Following a short introduction to the randomly chosen game condition, participants played, or read, for a period of only 5 min. Arousal measurement continued until a re-test of the aggressiveness questionnaire was completed, but the devices were detached before we administered the implicit measures a second time. Subsequent to questions on computer usage [derived ? from Krahe and Moller, 2004], the session ended by ? careful debrie? ng of participants. In sum, all phases lasted about 30 min altogether. Z2 5 . 04. Scores of BPAQ subscales likewise did not change (all F-valuesr1. 21). Arousal All groups displayed a typical pattern of initial excitement and habituation (Fig. 2). As expected, when testing the equivalence of games in terms of physiological arousal, according to a 4 (experimental condition) A 6 (time: Pre-1, Pre-2, T1, T2, T3, and Post) analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measurement on the latter factor, no group differences on HR emerged, Fo1 (Z2r. 01). Importantly, there was no interaction between time trends and experimental treatment, Fo1 (Z2r. 03). Running the same analyses on SC as a more sensitive measure of arousal also showed no reliable differences between groups, Fo1 (Z2r. 03), and time trends were not moderated by experimental condition, Fso1 (Z2r. 02). As could be expected, the violent game showed a slight numerical increase in SC (from Pre-2 to T1). We therefore examined each of the six measurement occasions separately. Only at the beginning of the play (T1) did signi? cant variation exist, F(3, 84) 5 5. 04, P 5 . 003, Z2 5 . 15. Post hoc tests according to Tukey (HSD) revealed that the violent game resulted in somewhat higher excitement compared with the abstract game and the reading task (Psr. 01). Importantly, violent and peaceful games did not differ signi? cantly, P 5 . 14. Only 1 min later, the initial startle-like reaction had vanished (Fo1 at T2). Implicit Measures The impact of games was analyzed by a onefactorial ANOVA on change scores between IAT pre- and post-test (Table II). Replicating the ? ndings by Uhlmann and Swanson [2004], type of game signi? cantly in? uenced implicit aggressiveness, F(3, 85) 5 2. 93, P 5 . 04, Z2 5 . 09. 4 Introducing participant sex as a control factor resulted in an interaction between sex and game content, F(3, 81) 5 3. 33, P 5 . 02, Z2 5 . 11. Whereas change scores did not differ as a function of sex, Fo1, the impact of game content became clearer at the same time, F(3, 81) 5 4. 00, P 5 . 01, Z2 5 . 13. The pattern of IAT change scores and the signi? cance of the contrasts between games within sex indicated that the sex by game interaction was particularly driven Introducing Order of Block Compatibility did not change conclusions on the game factor, F(3, 81) 5 2. 92, P 5 . 04, Z2 5 . 10, other Fso1. Also using BPAQ pretreatment scores as covariates in ANCOVA models did not alter the conclusions, though some of the covariates tended to explain small portions of IAT variability, PsZ. 08, Z2sr. 04. 4 RESULTS Explicit measures To preclude any pre-existing group differences, we examined the Big Five personality scores before treatment. According to a multivariate analysis of variance on the IPIP40 scales, participants were comparable F(15, 249)o1, Z2 5 . 04, regardless of the speci? c Big Five scale, Fsr1. 26, PsZ. 30, Z2sr. 04. We also checked whether the random assignment to experimental conditions worked by analyzing trait aggressiveness. As expected, neither before, Fo1 (Z2 5 . 03), nor after the treatment, F(3, 85) 5 1. 36, P 5 . 26, Z2 5 . 05, did substantial group differences in self-reported aggressiveness on the BPAQ total scale exist. Replicating Uhlmann and Swanson’s [2004] ? ndings, trait questionnaires did not respond to video play, according.

Factors Influencing Brand Loyalty Among Notebook Users

Factors Influencing Brand Loyalty Among Notebook Users In this new era of globalization, the rapid development of the technology is growing so fast and more challenge to manufacturers or marketers. A huge number brand of notebook was in the market and more competitive among the manufacturer. It is easily to customers or users to switching to another brand if they feel not satisfied with current brand and choose the better notebook brand. So this study was to determine the factors that influencing brand loyalty among notebook users. The data was collected by questionnaire survey at Universiti Utara Malaysia. This study found that satisfaction is the most factors that can influence users loyal to the notebook brand. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of Study In this era of globalization, rapid development in technology is not something strange and familiar to us. Advances in telecommunications, information system and society knowledge is in line with changes occurring in technology. Furthermore, in this 21st century, the international community has shifted from the industrial era into the era of information technology without borders. As well as the growth of new technology devices such as mobile phones, laptops, cameras, and others where many additional features offered in these devices. Once a notebook may be categorized as luxury goods, but with the times as well as improved quality of life we can have it. Notebook technology is one of the tools that community choose because of the characteristics who are always renewed by the marketers. Notebook are designed as a tool that is easy to carry anywhere, small and light to be placed on a individual lap when using it. Manufacturers often refer to laptop as notebooks, this is to avoid warm thigh complaints from customers and consequent opportunist liability suits (Wikipedia, 2007). The use of laptops is very wide so that the whole world. The rapid growth in the technology sector is also effect increasing the number of competitors in the market. This cause-marketers and also academicians or practitioners focus on customer decision making in the purchase of a portable PC industry (Nasir, et al., 2006). To satisfy the customer would be something quite challenging in the modern business world. What customers want and how they think are the questions often played in the minds of marketers or companies. Complex in users mind contribute to volatility in profits. When customers loyal to a brand or company, they indirectly help them expand market share, increase bottom line and sustain companys advantage. Brand shows a reputation of a companys through their products or services. Brand is also a sign that memorable in the minds of customers. The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of prototype, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers, and to differentiate from bear fight them of the competitors (Kotler, et al., 2009). Brand can become the heart of marketing and business strategy. Success of the brand is able to generate profits by attracting new customers and retain existing customers. With the brand, it is a sign of the signal in some level of quality which the buyer is satisfied with the easy to choose any of the products. Brand loyalty provides a forecast of demand for the company and may also explain the willingness of customers to pay for higher price. Although competitors are easy to duplicate the process and product design, they are not easy to match the description in the individual and the organization from year to year in any marketing and product development. Therefore, the brand became a very influential in the world competition. ListenRead phoneticallyAccording to Malaysia Laptop (2008), top ten notebooks for October 2008 are: Compaq Presario CQ40 Acer Extensa 4620Z Acer Aspire One Acer Aspire 2920Z HP Pavilion dv5 HP Pavilion dv2700 Acer Aspire 4530 Apple MacBook ASUS Eee PC 1000H Dell Latitude E6500 In 1986, battery powered portable computers had just 2% worldwide market share. But today, notebooks are becoming increasingly popular, both for business and personal use (Economics, 2005). In 2008, it is estimated that 145.9 million notebooks were sold and in 2009 the number grow to 177.7 million. The third quarter of 2008 was the first time when notebook PC shipments exceeded desktops, with 38.6 million units versus 38.5 million units. 1.2 Problem Statement Notebook were originally considered to be a small niche market and were thought suitable mostly for specialized field applications such as the military, accountants and sales representative. But today, notebooks are becoming more popular for student and general use. In addition, new products of notebook launches to the market, acquisitions and mergers in the sector, rapid developments in the nano technology, integrated wireless networking and decreased price make the customer are more influence to buy a notebook (Nasir et al., 2006) which at the same brand or may switch to other brand. This study intended what are the factors that influence notebooks users to be loyal of the notebook brand. 1.3 Research Questions Bases on the discussion earlier in the background of the problem, the research question developed will be: Does price influence brand loyalty among notebook users? Does brand name influence brand loyalty among notebook users? Does promotion influence brand loyalty among notebook users? Does features influence brand loyalty among notebook users? Does satisfaction influence brand loyalty among notebook users? 1.4 Research Objective The objectives of this research are: To determine whether Price influence brand loyalty among notebook users. To determine whether Brand Name influence brand loyalty among notebook users. To determine whether Promotion influence brand loyalty among notebook users. To determine whether Features influence brand loyalty among notebook users. To determine whether Satisfaction influence brand loyalty among notebook users. 1.5 Significance of Study In general, this study is to help marketers and consumers in order to develop more effective marketing strategies. This study also allows us to identify what is the real motivation that exists inside of every made of purchase and what is needed by the user. Therefore, more efficient marketing activities will be implemented. Marketers also can predict the reaction shown by the user of their marketing strategies that has been implemented. And marketers can look whether the strategies that are practiced can maintain the customer that are loyal to their products and also can attract other customers to buy their products. This study is expected to provide useful information in marketing to attract the loyalty to the brand. 1.6 Scope of the Study The study was conducted that involving notebook user. In this study, questionnaire will be formed and it will be complemented by the notebook user. In addition, the collection of secondary sources is also used in this study. This includes the findings of several studies carried out by several previous researchers, journals, books and resources derived from electronic media such as the internet. 1.7 Limitations of the Study Since this study includes some students at the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), the results of this study is more relevant applied to the student in UUM. These findings did not reflect the entire population of notebook users in Malaysia as a whole, the factors influencing brand loyalty among notebook users. This study was carried out in a relatively short period, time constraints also exist. If this study can be implemented in the longer term, the material or related information can be increased in further. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter review literatures in the context of this study. In this section, discussion will be based on the brand loyalty and factors that influence brand loyalty such as price, brand name, promotion, features and satisfaction among notebook users. Research framework and research hypothesis are also discussed in this chapter. 2.2 Brand Loyalty Loyalty reflects the strength of the relationship between individual attitudes and repurchase. It contains a number of objectives in planning marketing strategies and describes the development of fundamental importance in maintaining a competitive advantage. For example, customers remain loyal to the brand of the same product, the suppliers or services providers in the long term and not easily changed. They also showed their loyalty to the brand by spread kindness to others. Listen Read phonetically Brand loyalty is a commitment by consumer to repurchase or continue to using the current brand. It can be look by the repeated buying in a variety of market context such as product, service, and store. Loyalty is thought to be important for market practitioners for a number of reasons such as generating greater profits, brand extension and increase market share (Thiele Mackay, 2001). Building brand loyalty requires investment in marketing programs that are target to the current and potential customer. Consumers that are loyal only repurchase the same brand even there is an alternative brand in the market. Marketers often pay attention to identify the characteristics of brand loyal consumers and the degree of brand loyalty of consumers so that they can directly and effectively focus their marketing and promotional strategies on these consumers who share similar characteristics among the large population (Lau, et al., 2006). Previous study shows that the brand loyalty is measured by behavioural and attitudinal loyalty. Typically, brand loyalty is defined with reference to either attitudinal or behavioural components (Bennett, et al., 2007)). Behavioural loyalty measures defined brand loyalty in terms of the actual purchase observed over a time period and attitudinal loyalty measures are based on stated preferences, commitment or purchase intention (Thiele Mackay, 2001). A variety of factors also have been found to impact the development of brand loyalty. Lau, et al., (2006) found that brand name, style and promotion are the key brand factors of customer loyalty. Others authors have reported that advertising, price and brand have a significant impact on brand loyalty (Othman Ping, 2006). Sales encounter satisfaction, in turn, leads to brand loyalty by enhancing brand attitude and salesperson loyalty (Brexendorf, et al., 2009). 2.3 Factors of Brand Loyalty 2.3.1 Price Price is one of the important factors that affect on brand loyalty. Consumers with high brand loyalty are willing to pay for a high price for their favourite brand, so their purchase intention is not easily affected by price. In addition, customers have a strong belief in the price and value of their favourite brands so much so that they would compare and evaluate prices with alternative brands (Sidek Yee, 2008). Dovaliene Virvilaite (2008), state that price is one of the most flexible marketing mix elements that can be quickly changed, after changing specific product and service characteristics. People with higher incomes and higher product involvement willingly pay more for features, customer service, quality, added convenience and the brand name (Kotler, et al., 2009). Price variations for consumers favourite brand may only affect their purchase quantity but not their brand choice decision. Consumer satisfaction can also be built by comparing price with perceived costs and value (Lau, et al., 2006). The results from the previous study show that price have a significant to influence on brand loyalty (Lau, et al., 2006; Sidek Yee, 2008; Othman Ping, 2006). Based on the above discussion, the first hypotheses should be as follows: H1: There is significant and positive relationship between price and brand loyalty among notebook users. 2.3.2 Brand Name The brand name is quite often used interchangeably within brand, although it is more correctly used to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of any product. In this context a brand name constitutes a type of trademark, if the brand name exclusively identifies the brand owner as the commercial source of products or services. Famous brand name can disseminate the benefit of product and lead to higher recall of an advertised benefit than a non-famous brand name (Kotler, et al., 2009). They are many unfamiliar brand names and alternatives available in the market place. Consumers may prefer to trust the major famous and popular brand name (Lau, et al., 2006). These prestigious brand names and their image attract consumers to purchase the brand, affect repeat purchasing behaviour and reduce price related switching behaviours. Consumers are more sensitive to brand name and usually used it in buying decision. This lead to the second hypothesis: H2: There is significant and positive relationship between brand name and brand loyalty among notebook users. 2.3.3 Promotion Promotion is one of the four elements of marketing mix (product, price, promotion, distribution). It is the communication link between sellers and buyers for the purpose of influencing, informing, or persuading a potential buyers purchasing decision. Promotion includes the use of advertising, sales promotions, personal selling and publicity (Kotler, et al., 2009). Promotion is an important element of a firms marketing strategy. Advertising induces brand loyalty in consumers who would otherwise purchase the cheapest alternative on the market. Firms first invest in advertising, and then compete in prices for the remaining brand indifferent consumers (Chioveanu, 2008). Sales promotions are typically viewed as temporary incentives that encourage the trial of a product or service (DelVecchio, et al., 2006). Promotion was considered as one of the most important factors in determining a consumers brand loyalty (Sidek Yee, 2008). Therefore, the third hypothesis is developed as follows: H3: There is significant and positive relationship between promotion and brand loyalty among notebook users. 2.3.4 Features Features are qualities or characteristics of the product or service. According to decision making model, consumers process the environmental cues; the physical factors of the product, psychosocial cues such, such as advertising, and consumers put these cues into a set of perceptions that shape their preferences (Hong Lerch, 2002). Based on these preferences, consumers make their choices subject to situational constraints, such as price and people evaluate various objective features when buying an IT product (Hong Lerch, 2002). Nasir et al., (2006) find that features are a factor that influences consumers laptop purchase decision. Hence, the fourth hypothesis shall be as follows: H4: There is significant and positive relationship between features and brand loyalty among notebook users. 2.3.5 Satisfaction Satisfaction is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. The impact of satisfaction on loyalty has been the most popular subject of studies. (Ha, et al., 2009) state that power of satisfaction significantly lies in its ability to reinforce brand loyalty formation. Similarly, the satisfaction had a significant influence on loyalty (Kuusik Varblane, 2009). A minor change in satisfaction can lead to a substantial change in loyalty increment. Moreover, a small increase in customer satisfaction boosted customer loyalty dramatically (Bowen Chen, 2001). The customers will feel satisfied when the goods are beyond their expectation and otherwise when their expectations are beyond the goods actual condition (Sheng Liu, 2010). The discussion leads to the development of the fifth hypothesis: H5: There is significant and positive relationship between satisfaction and brand loyalty among notebook users. 2.4 Theoretical Framework The dependent variable in this study is brand loyalty. The independence variables are price, brand name, promotion, features and satisfaction. CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction The research methodology involved the administration of questionnaire on a sample of accounting students. This section outlines the operational definition, instrument and measurement of variables, data collection and sampling 3.2 Research Design Aspects of the study include demographic factors like gender, race, education level, age, and notebook brands that respondent have (Part 1) while Part 2 is to assess the factors influencing brand loyalty among notebook users. The questions in part 2 are divided into six key dimensions of price, brand name, promotion, features, satisfaction and brand loyalty. Unit of analysis in a study comprised of individuals, groups, organisations and societies. Unit of analysis is a key feature that will be analyzed in an investigation. Individuals selected as the unit of analysis in this study in which students from UUM, Sintok. It is to examine the factors that influence them to be loyalty to the notebook brand. This study using a survey method whereby questionnaire form will be used because it is more beneficial than other methods of data collection such as interviews and observations. Questionnaire will be distributed to UUMs students because most of the UUM students use notebook for their learning. 3.3 Operational Definition Price the degree to which the notebook users that price  can influence them be loyalty to notebook brand. Brand Name the degree to which the notebook users that brand name  can influence them be loyalty to notebook brand. Promotion the degree to which the notebook users that promotion  can influence them be loyalty to notebook brand. Features the degree to which the notebook users that features can  influence them be loyalty to notebook brand. Satisfaction the degree to which the notebook users that satisfaction  can influence them be loyalty to notebook brand. 3.4 Instrument and Measurement of Variables The questionnaire was divided into two parts. Part 1 of the questionnaire consists of demographic information such as gender, age, and education level. Part 2 contains questions on factors which influence brand loyalty such as price, brand name, promotion, features and satisfaction. It also contains a question on brand loyalty. The entire question in Part 2 using a five point Likert scale (1= strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree). 3.5 Data Collection Data collection is divided into primary and secondary data. Primary data is from original source. Secondary data is data collected by previous researchers. In this study, data secondary as journals, reference books and the Internet data collected to obtain an overview of the study. Secondary data also provide an initial overview for researchers and makes a deeper study. Primary data is used to help answer research questions and test hypotheses based on studies objectives. So, to test this hypothesis, a questionnaire was chosen as the primary method of data collection. Beneficial uses of these questionnaires are: Help researchers get the data easily. Information in a simple questionnaire to be encoded. Advantages to the scientific research on which measurements are valid and reliable. Easily answered by the respondents. Data can be obtained by mail, this means that research can be conducted even though the extent of geographical breadth. More efficient when compared to the interview method. Respondents answer truthfully honest answer without fear (Hair, et al., 2007). 3.6 Sampling Hair, et al. (2007) defined a few procedures in the sampling process. The procedures are: Defining the target population. Choosing the sampling frame. Selecting the sampling method. Determining the sample size. Implementing the sampling plan. The population in this study consisted of all students of UUM with the number of 31, 251 students are PhD students from about 1,186 students, a total of 44 Graduate Diploma students, Graduate After Diploma total of 780 students, a total of 4,030 Postgraduate students and the Undergraduate student is about 25,211 students. The sample in this study is the Undergraduate and Postgraduate students of UUM COB. Respondents were selected by convenience sampling in which samples are available to choose to participate in this study and may provide necessary information. Convenience sampling was chosen because of time constraints inherent in this study. The population or the unit of analysis for this research will be the College of Business (COB) students in Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM). These COB students of UUM were chosen because COB has a large number of students under them. 3.7 Data Collection Method The questionnaire will distribute to COB students. Responses given by COB students in answering questionnaire is the most important resource in term of data collection. Findings of this study are one of the instruments that can measure the factors influencing brand loyalty among notebook users. 3.8 Method of Data Analysis Some statistical analysis was used to analyze the data in this study. All data were analyzed using the statistical package for social science (SPSS) software version 12.0. Descriptive analysis was used to see or understand the demographics of the respondents in this study. This method was also used to examine the dimensions of the study variables. To test the reliability of each factor influencing brand loyalty, the Cronbach coefficient alpha is used. The size of the correlation coefficient is used to quantitatively describe the strength of the association between two or more variables. The Pearson correlation was also used to measure the relationship between two variables. This analysis explains the positive or negative relationship between the two variables. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the dependent variable and several independent variables. It determine the relative importance of others independent variable in predicting the dependent variable. CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 4.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the findings derived from data collected by the respondents who participated in this study. This chapter will also discuss the descriptive analysis for respondents demographic, the reliability of the factors and multiple regression analysis. 4.2 Respondents Demographic This study has a total of 31 respondents. Respondents demographic were asked in Part A that is gender, race, education level, age and notebook brand. The summarizing of the result from this part is show in Table 4.2.1 below. The table show that the ratio of both genders is 25.8% for male and 74.2% for female. So the percentages of female students are higher than male students. The results also show the race of the respondents where Malay consists of 17 students (54.8%), Chinese consists of 9 students (29.0%) and Indian consists of 5 students (16.1%). In education level, the number of undergraduate students that involves in this study is 22 students (71.0%) and postgraduate are 9 students (29.0%). And in age distribution, Table 4.1.1 shows that the higher percentage was 74.2% for 24 years and below, 22.6% for 25-35 years and 3.2% for 45 years and above. The result also show that most of the respondents use Compaq brand that consist of 9 students (29.0%) followed by Acer brand that consist of 8 students (25.8%). For HP brand consists of 5 students (16.1%), Dell brand consists of 3 students (9.7%), Toshiba and Lenovo brand consists of 2 students (6.5%) and last one is FTEC and Sony brand that only 1 students (3.2%). Demographic Variables Frequency Percent (%) Gender Male 8 25.8 Female 23 74.2 100.0 Race Malay 17 54.8 Chinese 9 29.0 Indian 5 16.1 100 Education Level Undergraduate (degree) 22 71.0 Postgraduate (master) 9 29.0 100.0 Age 24 years and below 23 74.2 25-35 years 7 22.6 45 years and above 1 3.2 100 Notebook Brand HP 5 16.1 Compaq 9 29.0 Dell 3 9.7 Acer 8 25.8 Sony 1 3.2 Toshiba 2 6.5 Lenovo 2 6.5 FTEC 1 3.2 100.0 4.3 Reliability Tests In this study, the reliability test is used to measure the coefficient and consistency each variables. The internal consistency reliability showed by coefficient alpha, also referred to as Cronbachs alpha. Hair et al., (2007) show the guidelines for the reliability as rules-of-thumb to interpret alpha values (Table 4.3.1). Table 4.3.1 Roles of Thumb about Cronbach-Alpha Coefficient Alpha Coefficient Range Strength of Association Poor 0.6 to Moderate 0.7 to Good 0.8 to Very good > 0.9 Excellent From the test, it was found that the Cronbach alpha for price factor is 0.567 from 4 variables item. For brand name factor, each of the 4 variables item to total correlation at moderate strength is 0.655 and for promotion factor the Cronbach alpha is at 0.635 from total correlation of 4 variables item. In features factor, each of the 4 variables item to total correlation was at moderate strength is 0.692. The Cronbach alpha for satisfaction factor is 0.909; total correlation of 5 variables item and for brand loyalty, the Cronbach alpha was 0.943 from 4 variables item. Table 4.3.2 illustrates the Cronbach alpha of the variables. Table 4.3.2 Cronbach Alpha of Variables Variable Cronbach Alpha Price 0.567 Brand Name 0.655 Promotion 0.635 Features 0.692 Satisfaction 0.909 Brand Loyalty 0.943 4.4 Hypotheses Testing To test the hypotheses in chapter 2, the Pearson correlation was use. This Pearson correlation can measures the linear association between two metric variables. It was range from -1.00 to +1.00 and zero representing no association between the two metrics variables. -1.00 and +1.00 show the perfect correlation or association between the two metrics variables. The correlation can be positive or negative depending on the direction of the relationship between the variables (Hair et al., 2007). 4.4.1 First Hypotheses H1: There is significant and positive relationship between price and brand loyalty among notebook users. The result show that correlation between price and brand loyalty is -0.641 and the significance level is 0.000. It is found that price have a negative relationship with brand loyalty which the significance level is small (p If the notebook providers increase the value of the price, it influenced the notebook users not to stay or loyal to the same brand because the price is more expensive that before and price not the factor that influencing brand loyalty among notebook users. Table 4.4.1 Correlation between Price and Brand Loyalty Price Loyalty Price Pearson Correlation 1 -.641(**) Sig. (2-tailed) . .000 Loyalty Pearson Correlation -.641(**) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 . ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 4.4.2 Second Hypotheses H2: There is significant and positive relationship between brand name and brand loyalty among notebook users. The result show that correlation between brand name and brand loyalty is 0.538 and the significance level is 0.002. It is found that brand name have a positive relationship with brand loyalty which the significance level is small (p In other words, if the notebook providers more emphasizes on their notebooks brand name it can increase the users loyalty to the brand because they believe that the brand is reputable, prestigious and attract them more to purchase from the same brand. So brand name can influenced brand loyalty among notebook users. Table 4.4.2 Correlation between Brand Name and Brand Loyalty Brand Name Loyalty Brand Name Pearson Correlation 1 .538(**) Sig. (2-tailed) . .002 Loyalty Pearson Correlation .538(**) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .002 . ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). 4.4.3 Third Hypotheses H3: There is significant and positive relationship between promotion and brand loyalty among notebook users. The result show that correlation between promotion and brand loyalty is 0.422 and the significance level is 0.018. It is found that promotion have a positive relationship with brand loyalty which the significance level is small (p Promotion is need for all the marketers to introduce their product or services to the customer. So, if the notebook provider more emphasis on their promotion, the number of loyal customer to their brand more increases. It shows that promotion one of the factors that influencing brand loyalty among notebook users. Table 4.4.3 Correlation between Promotion and Brand Loyalty Promotion Loyalty Promotion Pearson Correlation 1 .422(*) Sig. (2-tailed) . .018 Loyalty Pearson Correlation .422(*) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .018 . * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). 4.4.4 Fourth Hypotheses H4: There is significant and positive relationship between features and brand loyalty among notebook users. The result show that correlation between features and brand loyalty is 0.383 and the significance level is 0.033. It is found that features have a positive relationship with brand loyalty which the significance level is small (p < 0.05). This means it is failed to reject the hypotheses of there

Pride And Prejudice Essay -- essays research papers

Pride and Prejudice: Marriage Essay written by Maria Engstrom Introduction For this essay, I chose to read the perhaps most famous book by the English author Jane Austen. During the reading I was thinking about which theme I should choose to write about and analyze, and eventually I felt that marriage was the central keyword in the book. I will concentrate on the situation of the daughters in the family, since these are the best described in the novel. My dealing with different ideals and problems within a marriage will be illustrated with examples from the text. Analysis "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life." This is a quote from Charlotte Lucas, one of the female characters in the novel, and a quote which very well exemplify the general feelings against marriage for the period and the people in upperclass England. Marriage is central for all characters in the novel: not just daughters and sons, but parents, aunts, uncles and everybody else who has some interest in the subject. Though it is of course most in the interest of the daughter herself to get married, the interests of the own family can be important for the choice of husband and wife. It is not appropriate for the daughter to choose whoever she likes for her husband, which she- if she wants a happy marriage- is not very likely to do. I will discuss the reasons for the careful choice of a proper husband below. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" This is the first line in the novel, which clearly shows the connection between money and marriage. It lies in the interest of a woman to marry a man with a fortune, or at least some good deal of money. The husband is meant to support his wife, since he is the one with a profession and she is not (something that will be discussed further down). So, naturally, personal attractions are weighed against financial considerations. This is why Mrs. Gardiner does not think Wickham a ve... ...connection was a permanent one since divorces were very uncommon during this period (and misfortunate for the family's good name, one can imagine). One way for a husband to divorce his wife would be on grounds of sexual infidelity on the wife's hand. This was, however, not an easy path to a divorce. Except from getting the permission of the Parliament to sue the wife, these different steps costed a good deal of money, which lead to only the rich being able afford divorces. Conclusion Marriage is the main subject in the novel, as well as for people of this period. The maybe most important condition for a happy marriage is money besides love family relations. The situation of the women in the novel does not allow them any kind of deviant acting since a happy marriage is the only goal for them. Though this is the general atmosphere in the novel, I would like to end my essay with the words of Mr. Bennet to his daughter Elizabeth on her accepting Mr. Darcy's proposal, which stand like an anti-thesis of the otherwise general view of the perfect marriage: "He is rich, to be sure, and you may have more fine clothes and fine carriages than Jane. But will they make you happy?"

Black Humor Essay

Is death a laughable matter? Or Christ? Or maybe inhumanity? No. In most situations, people do not laugh at any of those subjects. However, in Kurt Vonnegut’s anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, he laughs at all of them through the use of black humor. Vonnegut uses black humor as a way to criticize societies in all of his novels, but most notably in Slaughterhouse-Five (Klinkowitz). He uses black humor to criticize peoples’ glorification of war and make humor of death, Christ, and inhumanity. Vonnegut uses an array of situations to ironically make death humorous. Such as when Billy is training to become a solder, his father is shot to death by a friend while deer hunting back home. When Billy is in the hospital recuperating from a plane crash, his wife rushes to the hospital, she has an accident, tears off the exhaust system, arrives at the hospital and dies from carbon monoxide poisoning. Vonnegut uses these examples of situational irony in order to make the reader laugh at such tragedies when really there is nothing to laugh at. After the Dresden fire-bombing Edgar Derby is tried and executed in Dresden, which was firebombed and 135,000 innocent people died in one night, for attempting to steal a teapot. All of these situational ironies and all deaths are narrated by a simple phrase, â€Å"So it goes†. This simple phrase pushes the reader to laugh at the ironic parts of life, even if it is death. And Billy can’t change anything in his life because, â€Å"Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present and the future† (Vonnegut 60). His happiness or success in his life can only exist in his imagination through his time travels because he knows when and how he will die. The novel ends with the destruction and searching for bodies in Dresden and Billy being released from a prisoner of war status, juxtaposed images of life and death. Because Billy finally is free, he has his life back, whereas all the people in Dresden have their lives taken. The death of thousands and the release of a soldier from POW status are definitely not something humorous, however Vonnegut provides the reader with such contrasting ideas in order to elicit a smile or chuckle. This is complete black humor because black humor is â€Å"combining the morbid and grotesque with humor and farce to give a disturbing effect and convey the absurdity and cruelty of life. † (Black humor) Not only does Vonnegut use black humor to convey death, Vonnegut also criticizes inhumanity through the use of black humor in order to illustrate that death must be accepted but not inhumanity through his use of Roland Weary. Roland Weary is an insane, revenge driven soldier who takes joy in the suffering of others. For example, he feeds a dog a steak with a cut up spring in it in order to get revenge on the dog for biting him. He talks to the dog almost as a child would when he tells the dog â€Å"I’m not mad,† (Vonnegut 139) and states that â€Å"he believed me† (Vonnegut 139). Because Vonnegut portrays Weary as a child by using â€Å"doggy,† which is similar to the diction of a small child, he juxtaposes a childlike character to the inhumanity of the torture that Weary is inflicting on the dog. He compares the innocence of Weary’s diction to Weary’s psychopathic actions. Vonnegut also makes Weary’s inhumanity humorous through his fascination with his triangular blade that â€Å"makes a wound that won’t close up. † (Vonnegut 37) The torture the blade would inflict is made comic by the affection Weary has for it, juxtaposition, between the torture of the blade and the love and obsession Weary has for it, Vonnegut is â€Å"regarding human suffering as absurd rather than pitiable† (Webster’s) in this situation in order to produce such black humor. Vonnegut also laughs at Jesus when most people hold religion to be sacred. Vonnegut describes Christ as â€Å"dead as a doornail† (Vonnegut 203) after he is hung on the cross. This is humorous because Vonnegut compares a huge spiritual icon, Christ, to the bare basics that hold our society together and held Jesus on the cross, nails. The comparison is so ridiculous that it provides a comic purpose and the reader has to laugh at it. The situation also provides a possible source of Billy’s illusion of being unstuck in time, since he is reading about a time traveler in one of Kilgore Trout’s books this may be the point in his life where he gets the idea of being unstuck in time. Vonnegut also goes on to show the lack of interest the Tralfamadorians have in Jesus Christ, the person they are truly interested in is Charles Darwin. Because he taught that â€Å"those who die are meant to die and that corpses are improvements. † (Vonnegut 210) This contrasts the ideas that humans have of death as a negative sad thing and instead teaches that by dying everyone else is better off. This is absurd and humorous because people are devastated by death yet, he is saying that death is great and people benefit from it. Vonnegut uses black humor in many cases in Slaughterhouse-Five to in a way satirize, however he never provides a solution so it is not truly satire. He simply criticizes society and makes the reader think of his or her own solution. Vonnegut wants the reader to realize and act on the idea that the only way we can’t overcome war and deaths in war, is by removing the glorification of killing in war while not providing a solution or way to change the current societal standards.

Comparison of AvantGarde Formal Art work essays

Comparison of AvantGarde Formal Art work essays A Comparison of Formal and Avant-Garde Artwork Modern art is a unique creation all its own, and since its beginnings there have been two very distinct groups present. They are the Formalists and the Avant-Garde. The Formalist group believes in the literal representation of the art work. They value the form used, whether it be how the colors are stressed or the techniques used, over the idea behind the art work. The Avant-Garde artists on the other hand are more interested in the creation of art in order to challenge what exactly art is and can be. They have tried to break down the boundaries of what I selected Piet Modrian for as the artist I looked at regarding Formalism. His work seemed to change over a period of time. His Woods done in 1910 showed a typical painting of the forest. By typical I mean that the depiction of the forest was done to look like a forest on the canvas. The next piece of Tree done in 1911 showed a more abstract form of trees while you could still detect on a lot of movement within the painting. The shapes and negative space between the lines is what became more important in his work. He then created Composition with Trees in 1914. This piece as his previous ones was even more abstract and was honing in on the form of the painting. Later he created a piece known only as Composition, removing the trees and woods all together from the title. He was trying to create the essence of nature using rectangles and simplifying lines to their primary essence. He also used more primary colors versus his previous works done in black and white. This idea that Mondrian was using while creating his works of art was one of the ideas that Clement Greenberg was dealing with in his works. Greenberg said that the actual painting over the form is what makes the art work abstract.1 Greenberg believed that on...

Ancient Egypts 1st Intermediate Period

Ancient Egypt's 1st Intermediate Period The 1st Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began when the Old Kingdoms centralized monarchy grew weak as provincial rulers called nomarchs became powerful, and ended when the Theban monarch gained control of all Egypt. Dates of the 1st Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt 2160-2055 B.C. Herakleopolitan: 9th 10th Dynasties: 2160-2025Theban: 11th Dynasty: 2125-2055 The Old Kingdom is described as ending with the longest-reigning pharaoh in Egyptian history, Pepy II. After him, building projects in the cemeteries around the capital of Memphis stopped. Building resumed at the end of the 1st Intermediate Period, with Menhotep II at Deir el-Bahri in western Thebes. Characterization of the 1st Intermediate Period Egyptian intermediate periods are times when the centralized government weakened and rivals claimed the throne. The 1st Intermediate Period is often characterized as chaotic and miserable, with degraded art- a dark age. Barbara Bell* hypothesized that the 1st Intermediate period was brought about by a prolonged failure of the annual Nile floods, leading to famine and collapse of the monarchy. But it was not necessarily a dark age, even though there are bragging inscriptions about how local rulers were able to provide for their people in the face of great adversity. There is evidence of thriving culture and the development of towns. Non-royal people gained in status. Pottery changed shape to a more efficient use of the pottery wheel. The 1st Intermediate Period was also the setting for later philosophical texts. Burial Innovations During the 1st Intermediate Period, cartonnage was developed. Cartonnage is the word for the gypsum and linen colored mask that covered the face of a mummy. Earlier, only the elite had been buried with specialized funerary goods. During the 1st Intermediate Period, more people were buried with such specialized products. This indicates that the provincial areas could afford non-functional craftsmen, something that only the pharaonic capital had done before. Competing Kings Not much is known about the early part of the 1st Intermediate Period. By the second half of it, there were two competing nomes with their own monarchs. The Theban king, King Mentuhotep II, defeated his unknown Herakleapolitan rival in about 2040, putting an end to the 1st Intermediate Period. Herakleapolis Herakleopolis Magna or Nennisut, on the southern edge of the Faiyum, became the capital of area of the Delta and central Egypt. Manetho says the Herakleapolitan dynasty was founded by Khety. It may have had 18-19 kings. One of the last kings, Merykara, (c. 2025) was buried at the necropolis at Saqqara which is connected with the Old Kingdom kings ruling from Memphis. First Intermediate Period private monuments feature the civil war with Thebes. Thebes Thebes was the capital of southern Egypt. The ancestor of the Theban dynasty is Intef, a nomarch who was important enough to be inscribed on the walls of Thutmose IIIs chapel of royal ancestors. His brother, Intef II ruled for 50 years (2112-2063). Thebes developed a type of tomb known as a rock-tomb (saff-tomb) at the necropolis at el-Tarif. Sources: Bell, Barbara. The Dark Ages in Ancient History. I. The First Dark Age in Ancient Egypt. AJA 75:1-26.The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. by Ian Shaw. OUP 2000.

To whoose homecoming does the play refer essays

To whoose homecoming does the play refer essays To Whose Homecoming Does The Play Refer? In the play The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, a family deals with the unexpected return of the eldest son and his wife, Ruth, on a visit from America. The rest of the family were unaware that Teddy had taken a wife. The arrival had a profound effect on each member of the family who are an unusual group consisting of an aging father, his two sons and his younger brother. Because of this unexpected event we see the intricacies of the relationships of the family and how these develop and change. The homecoming does not necessarily bring about change in a good way if viewed as a whole. If certain characters are looked at individually though, we see many things that happen are positive for that person. The play would seem to centre around Teddy as he was the one returning home to his family. In fact, the attention is focused on Ruth. Maxs first reaction to her is abusive and he immediately calls Ruth a tart: Weve had a stinking pox-ridden slut in my house all night. This shows us how Max views women as he has never even set eyes on Ruth before this meeting. His words do not shock anyone and appear to be perfectly acceptable and normal. Even Teddy does not seem to surprised about this and although he does protest he is not particularly forceful. He seems to realise that there is no point in arguing with his father as he would not listen and I suspect that Teddy is used to his fathers ignorance and anti-female words. Ruth also does not try to defend herself or get upset. She is totally calm and surveys the scene silently with the same confidence she had expressed with Lenny the night before. From the very beginning of the play we are given an idea of their attitude to women. We learn that there is no woman in the household because Maxs wife Jessie had died. It later becomes clear that Lenny is a pimp and owns flats in whic...

Bill Clinton Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bill Clinton - Essay Example ed States because the US enjoyed a relatively high prosperity during his term progressive laws such as State Children’s Health Insurance Program and agreements such as North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA. Because of these achievements, he ended his term with one of the highest approval rating of all times. His presidency however was tainted with a scandal involving an intern named Monika Lewinsky between the period 1998-99 that led to an impeachment trial initiated by the House of Representatives and later acquitted by the Senate (www.infoplease.com, nd). The started by the was filed by Paula Corbin Jones on May 6, 1994 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas when he allegedly made sexual advances to her when he was still a governor of Arkansas. Judge Susan Webber Wright however decided in favor of President Clinton on April 1, 1998 and a settlement was made on November 13, 1998 (infoplease.com, nd). The lawyers of Ms. Jones again presented witnesses to the lawyers of President Clinton to continue the allegations against the President’s pattern of deceit. It was alleged that Monika Lewinsky had sexual relationship with the President. Among the witnesses presented was Monika Lewinsky whose name was presented by Linda Tripp a confidant of Monika Lewinsky who was also a White House staff. Tapes of various conversations relating Monika Lewinsky’s contracts with the President was presented. Monika Lewinsky’s lawyers however issued a sworn statement on her behalf in which she asserted that she had never had a sexual relationship with the President. To quote the affidavit; I have never had a sexual relationship with the President, he did not propose that we have a sexual relationship, he did not offer me employment or other benefits in exchange for a sexual relationship, he did not deny me employment or other benefits for rejecting a sexual relationship (Rutgers University, 2014). For his part, President

Aspects to the Priestly Cosmology of the Letter to the Hebrews Essay

Aspects to the Priestly Cosmology of the Letter to the Hebrews - Essay Example There are several chapters in the book of Hebrews that are primarily devoted to the early Christians’ view of cosmos. One of the aspects of priestly cosmology in the book of Hebrews is found in the author’s description of Melchizedek priesthood which the author largely considered to be raised by eternal life and is superior to Aaron’s priesthood (Heb.7.11-19). As the Melchizedek, Jesus was believed to have the power to rescue his people from the power of evil. The role of Jesus Christ is, therefore, to restore the true temple (Barker, 2004, p. 11). Another possible aspect of priestly cosmology in the epistle is the imagery of the temple. Throughout the book, there are a number of instances where various practices in the temple such as the offering of sacrifice are described. Incarnation and resurrection are also presented as some of the ways through which human beings can become divine and move to the eternal world which is believed to be the true temple. Scholar s agree that the aspects of cosmology depicted in the book of Hebrews fit well in the world of the first century. For example some of the elements of cosmology contained in the Epistle include the description of the metaphysical dualism between the natural world and the highest heaven. Scholer (1991, p.17) also concurs that the Epistle was generally meant to exalt Jesus Christ as the high priest and son of God. The contemporary view of cosmos is, however, based on the today’s astronomical understanding of the universe, rather than the on the aspects of priestly cosmology found in the Letter to the Hebrews. This paper discusses the various aspects of priestly cosmology in the Epistle of Hebrews, its comparison to the contemporary world view of cosmos and the potential insights which can be used in teaching Christianity faith. Comparison between priestly cosmology and the contemporary view of cosmos Cosmology is generally concerned with the origin, organization, structure, as w ell as the beauty of natural laws that ensure order in the universe. The contemporary view of cosmos is based on the today’s astronomical understanding of the universe, rather than the on the aspects of priestly cosmology found in the Letter to the Hebrews. As opposed to the first biblical view that the earth and heaven are the center of the universe, several discoveries have proven that the sun is the center of the solar system and the vast cosmos. On the other hand, the theological view of cosmos depicted in the Epistle of Hebrews is based on the belief that God is the maker of the universe and Jesus is seen and his true manifestation (Hughes, 1997, p.45). Jesus Christ is seen as the perfect son of God and is the source of salvation to humanity. The book also highlights the first century’s understanding of cosmos with regard to God controls the universe. Throughout the letter to Hebrews, Jesus is depicted as high priest, son of God; everything brings out the aspects of the beginning of the universe that is from creation to the eternal end (Bruce, 1990, p.79). Irrespective of the views attributed by individuals in the modern world, it remains clear that there is a spiritual being that ensures order in the universe and to whom we all attribute our origin from. Science alone has failed to explain this and in the context of spiritual wellbeing, this is God whom Christians put their faith

People Express Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

People Express Case Analysis - Essay Example & development (T&D) of skills, employee relations, retention and motivation strategies, workplace culture and delegation of power, authority and responsibility. People Express indeed adopted some far reaching HRM practices to achieve organizational goals. The most powerful motivator of the workforce was the requirement to become shareholder of the company in addition to being an employee. Next the company encouraged team work in which 3 to 4 employees were teamed together so that time waste in coordinating work effort could be reduced and employees would be motivated by team spirit. In addition to these employee friendly work practices and motivators a number of others were also adopted. However the organizational outcomes were poor and questionable. In the first place People Express’s HRM practices were purely based on the textbook theory. Secondly motivation related HRM practices ignored productivity. In other words these HRM practices at people Express were poor growth drivers. For instance work teams don’t on their own produce efficiently simply because they are allowed to be self-reliant. In fact at People Express, work teams tended to be smugly satisfied with their own performance in the absence of standards of reference. Performance of work teams has to be measured against relative performances of others and this requires common standards to be set up on a priority basis. Broader level of employee participation, minimal hierarchy, in-house expertise and problem solving and job rotation practices were good measures but they were not backed by a system of performance-based metrics. The airline was operating in a relatively competition-free and regulation-free domestic market then. However, with the ever increasing threat of competition the airline HRM practices at People Express were oriented towards creating a pleasant work environment without a set of well defined corporate goals. Effective HRM practices must be aligned with organizational outcomes

Value of Outdoor Play in the Early Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Value of Outdoor Play in the Early Years - Essay Example ldren are spending a considerable amount of time in the settings that pay attention to the structured education as well as recreational activities and therefore leave very little time for the children to participate in the plays that are self-initiated. Outdoor play cultivates all the aspects of the development of the children and it develops a foundation of physical, social, emotional as well as intellectual skills that are needed for success in schools as well as in life. Play that is characterized by pretending encourages communication and therefore enhances skills that are needed in communication, role playing as well as perspective taking while developing the skills that are needed to solve problems which include persuading, compromising as well as cooperating (Mayesky, 2009, p. 128). Learning that takes place outside the classroom has the advantage of supporting the development of a lifestyle that can be perceived to be healthy since it gives children the chance to take part in physical activities which involve freedom and movement while encouraging a sense of wellbeing. It also allows them to have contact with the natural world while availing to them experiences, which are specific to the outdoors that may include exposure to the weather as well as different seasons. It also goes a long way in the development of skills that are needed for dealing with problems while developing a sense of creativity as well as opportunities that will enhance imag ination, ingenuity and

Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity Program (C.A.F.E.) Essay

Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity Program (C.A.F.E.) - Essay Example According to the research findings, Starbucks has not been left behind and has also joined the campaign to make the livelihood of the people better through the Starbucks Coffee and Farmer Equity Program (C.A.F.E.) practices program. Environmental care and sustainability form the basis of a positive society, a fact clearly reflected through C.A.F.E. This program ensures that the coffee firm outsources its raw materials in a sustainable way that safeguards the lives of the farmers and the environment. Through this program, Starbucks gives back to the community through developing their lives and making them self-reliant and empowered. However, this program does not work in isolation. The initiative works in similar dynamics like the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) initiative in two main dimensions. First, they both empower civil organizations in regulating the activities of their jurisdictive organizations. More so, they help in achieving line sustainability missions for the people in their areas of operation. This paper compares the two initiatives in terms of the two main areas of similarity in order to know their effectiveness. Both initiatives have hugely empowered the civil groups as regulators in their social responsibility plans. First, they have done so by outsourcing some of the services from the civil groups. Starbucks, for example, has outsourced the carbon sustainability area to SCS Global, which sets the standard for their carbon sustainability limits. SCS Global is also tasked with setting the standards for other sustainability initiatives that are undertaken by Starbucks in order to ensure that the organization is acting within correct limits of sustainability. On the other hand, according to Dacy, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has outsourced their initiatives to social groups in the United Kingdom that deal with forest initiatives and school in order for them to help in regulating the level of sustainability that they push into the forestry. Fo rest Stewardship Council (FSC) has also outsourced to government-sponsored forest rehabilitation centers to enhance the scope of sustainability of the initiative.

Argument research task Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Argument research task - Essay Example The writers tries to give reasons how racism have a negative effect to a society and an individual who is discriminated based on racism. The first premise can be supported by the fact that the jobless rate among the whites is 6.6% while that of blacks is 12.6%, according to a study conducted by Pew Research centre. The same research supports the second premise as it indicates that black people are denied basic right such as quality education, decent housing and police brutality. The fact that the writer wrote the article based on reason that racism is still a menace in this modern society, makes the reason valid and good. The first premise is aimed to portray how blacks suffers racism while the second premise can be supported by the reason that blacks are denied basic rights like right to access public transport. The article can be said to be a sound argument because the conclusion absolutely follows from true premises presented in the article; the premises state that racism is likely to be subjected to black people. The conclusion should be accepted because racism has a negative impact to the society. The write has also used hyperbole to show how racism is despicable such as â€Å"face of Europe’s horror at shameless racism.† Generally, the article can be said to be in the form of deductive argument since the conclusion follows from the premises. From the two premises there is one logical conclusion, which indicated that blacks are still prone to racism in this modern world. The modern world is characterized aspects such advance technology like trains and sporting activities like football which is supposed to unite people regardless of race. The writer’s point of view is that racism is reality in this modern world and should be stopped. Negative effects of racism are severe to a society, and to an individual, which can be illustrated by the manner in which the man was instilled fear. Logically, racism should

Value of Outdoor Play in the Early Years Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Value of Outdoor Play in the Early Years - Essay Example ldren are spending a considerable amount of time in the settings that pay attention to the structured education as well as recreational activities and therefore leave very little time for the children to participate in the plays that are self-initiated. Outdoor play cultivates all the aspects of the development of the children and it develops a foundation of physical, social, emotional as well as intellectual skills that are needed for success in schools as well as in life. Play that is characterized by pretending encourages communication and therefore enhances skills that are needed in communication, role playing as well as perspective taking while developing the skills that are needed to solve problems which include persuading, compromising as well as cooperating (Mayesky, 2009, p. 128). Learning that takes place outside the classroom has the advantage of supporting the development of a lifestyle that can be perceived to be healthy since it gives children the chance to take part in physical activities which involve freedom and movement while encouraging a sense of wellbeing. It also allows them to have contact with the natural world while availing to them experiences, which are specific to the outdoors that may include exposure to the weather as well as different seasons. It also goes a long way in the development of skills that are needed for dealing with problems while developing a sense of creativity as well as opportunities that will enhance imag ination, ingenuity and

Argument research task Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Argument research task - Essay Example The writers tries to give reasons how racism have a negative effect to a society and an individual who is discriminated based on racism. The first premise can be supported by the fact that the jobless rate among the whites is 6.6% while that of blacks is 12.6%, according to a study conducted by Pew Research centre. The same research supports the second premise as it indicates that black people are denied basic right such as quality education, decent housing and police brutality. The fact that the writer wrote the article based on reason that racism is still a menace in this modern society, makes the reason valid and good. The first premise is aimed to portray how blacks suffers racism while the second premise can be supported by the reason that blacks are denied basic rights like right to access public transport. The article can be said to be a sound argument because the conclusion absolutely follows from true premises presented in the article; the premises state that racism is likely to be subjected to black people. The conclusion should be accepted because racism has a negative impact to the society. The write has also used hyperbole to show how racism is despicable such as â€Å"face of Europe’s horror at shameless racism.† Generally, the article can be said to be in the form of deductive argument since the conclusion follows from the premises. From the two premises there is one logical conclusion, which indicated that blacks are still prone to racism in this modern world. The modern world is characterized aspects such advance technology like trains and sporting activities like football which is supposed to unite people regardless of race. The writer’s point of view is that racism is reality in this modern world and should be stopped. Negative effects of racism are severe to a society, and to an individual, which can be illustrated by the manner in which the man was instilled fear. Logically, racism should

The Evolution of the Banking Industry Essay Example for Free

The Evolution of the Banking Industry Essay At independence, there were only two foreign banks, Barclays and Standard Chartered Banks that were dominant players in the country. Naturally, their operations were structured to support the colonial economy. Research indicates that the Bank of Gold Coast was later split into Ghana Commercial Bank and Bank of Ghana in 1957. In contrast to the existing Foreign Banks GCB was set up to provide banking services to a wider populace of Ghanaians and to support the development agenda of the indigenous government. Research indicates that the National Redemption Council, (military government) as part of its indigenization policy acquired 40% ownership in the two foreign banks but his did not change their business strategy. The main complaint against the foreign banks was that their lending policies were too conservative. During the PNDC era, two foreign banks were licensed that’s BCCI and meridian Biao. The BCCI collapsed in 1991 with a large foreign Exchange liability it could not manage. Meridian Biao almost collapsed in 1995 due to an imprudent foreign exchange exposure to its distressed parent company. After the return of democratic rule in 1992, two Malaysian Banks were licensed. The two were Metropolitan and Allied Bank and International Commercial Bank. Besides, a South African Bank, Stanbic Bank, was also licensed. The collapse of two Ghanaian banks, that’s Bank for Housing and Construction and Co-operative Bank confirmed that the financial sector required effective management of risks. The assurance was however that the new regulatory regime was more effective and so it was unlikely that such bank failure could occur again. Banks with foreign equity participation became stronger and more profitable by the year 1990. Financial experts have argued that the collapse of BCCI and near collapse of Meridian Biao raises question about how well foreign banks are insulated from the difficulties of their parent companies. An IMF study of the banking industry in 2003 stated that Ghana’s market structure was slightly less competitive than that of Nigeria and Kenya. Nigeria is however a huge economy as the economy of Ghana grows at a faster pace, private Foreign Direct Investment facilitated by Nigerian Banks may play a key role if well directed. Indications are that Ghana will become the financial hub of West Africa soon. Due to common historical experiences, Ghana appears to be a natural next step for Nigerian businesses seeking to expand their operations beyond Nigeria. Foreign Banks in Ghana include Barclays Bank, Standard Charted Bank SG-SSB, Ecobank Ghana Limited and UT Bank. Others are International Commercial Bank, Stanbic Bank, Standard Trust Bank, Zenith Bank and the Guaranty Trust Bank. The rest are Intercontinental Bank, Access Bank Ghana and Sahel Sahara Bank.