Summary Workshop - Research Method Class Coursework

Summary Workshop - Research Method Class - Coursework Example Critical discourse analysis incorporates linguistic and critical theory concepts. The investigation has increasingly been centralized to the task of understanding the society and the human behavior. Discourse analysis has become an essential element in various fields of study due to its feature characterizing post- modern features (Somekh and Lewin 2011). According to Seale (2004a), methods of textual analysis are relevant to a variety of research projects. There has been greater urge for understanding the origin of knowledge, and its presentation mode. Further, with global development, societies and economies become increasing taking a bearing towards global production and incorporation of information, knowledge and human services. Therefore, Social Studies try to understand the changes and projected outcomes in the future by undertaking research studies incorporating discourse analysis. From the researcher’s point of view, using disclosure analysis, a number of compelling po ints can be outlined regarding the kind of practical research devised (Seale 2004b). Disclosure brings out a variety of statements of consideration providing a language for presenting certain mode knowledge. Seale (2004a) explores disclosure analysis in relation to three main stages of the process of the research study. The first one involves data collection, which is a quantitative method of studying textual data. Content analysis incorporates a standard model of research design. Starting with the topic of research formulation, the researcher seeks to establish a given population of interest for a study and outlines a considerable sample from it (Seale 2011a). In this regard, the data to be analyzed is based on a sample of texts, rather than sample of people. Secondly, the research proceeds to coding and analysis of data collected. The relevancy of data coding comes in the sense that it incorporates coming up with data representation to enhance analysis. This eases organization dat a; a large number of data gets organized into a manageable form (Seale 2004a). Data coding is objective in helping to answer unclear queries about the content analysis thus, reinforcing and instilling confidence in the research method (Seale 2004b). Lastly, we have the presentation of analyzed research findings. This involves giving out findings based on researchers’ perspective on the research topic and the outcome of the study analysis. Critical approach to discourse research aims at linking the textual data, with the underlying power structures in the society through discursive practices, from which the text of the study was drawn. The researcher’s aim lies in identifying categories, themes, ideas, roles and views in the text under study. Discourse analysis finds it importance in understanding the social interactions though the objective of the research varies from one investigator to the other. This depends on the aim of investigation with regard to an individual r esearcher. References Seale, C. (ed), 2004a. Social Research Methods: A Reader. (eBook). London: Routledge. pp. 226-228. Somekh, B. and Lewin, C. (Eds), 2011. Theory and Methods in Social Research. (eBook). (2nd ed.) London: Sage. pp. 34-40. Seale, C. (ed), 2004b. Researching Culture and Society. (eBook). London: Sage Publications. pp. 207, 241- 242, 397, 406-407 2. Ethnography According

Final test Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final test - Essay Example The passage reveals that she accepts this fact, and decides to live the submissive role. 2. â€Å"No, dearest Georgiana†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This passage has been taken from Natalie Georgiana’s â€Å"The Birthmark†. This passage tells about Aylmer’s discontentment with the little birthmark that Georgiana had on her cheek. He believed that his wife’s beauty was imperfect due to that birthmark. This passage points out the discontentment of man, and also the imperfection of human beings. The perfect beauty of Georgiana’s was made imperfect by way of the birthmark, which implies that only God is perfect, and human beings can never become perfect. This passage also reveals that man is very thankless toward the blessings of God. No matter how much God blesses man with, he is always complaining and looking for faults instead of appreciating positive things. 3. â€Å"Live with your head†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This passage is from Ralph Ellison’s â€Å"Battle Roya l†. This passage is very significant as it portrays a very important theme: compliance. The grandfather is advising his grandson that the only way he can survive in the white-dominated society is compliance. He should never show open rebellion against the discrimination. He should pretend to be okay with the demeaning racism he would be experiencing in the future life, and should sit back and see what happens. However, the advice of the old man is based upon self-denial. The narrator wishes to be true to his self throughout, but the words of his grandfather echo in his mind and teach him treachery. 4. â€Å"She saw the man’s face†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This passage has been taken from Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find†. This passage contains the redemption and epiphany the grandmother shows for the first time in the whole story, and this is what makes this passage so significant. She used to live in her own world of selfishness and indif ference, where she is not ready to consider the importance and views of others around her. But she comes to realize this just before she is going to die. Her head gets cleared for a moment, and she understands the Misfit and his inner person. But it is too late. In short, the passage is about sudden self-realization of one’s self-centeredness. Part II- Essay Questions Q. 1: Symbol in â€Å"The Hand† Colette has not only described the spiritual dominance of the husband in the short story â€Å"The Hand†, but has also described how physically dominant was he, by giving special focus on his hands. Hand depicts power, control, masculinity, and aggression. â€Å"†¦powerful knuckles and the veins engorged by the pressure on his arm† (Colette, qtd. in Meyer 241) shows how powerful the hands of the husband are, which basically portrays the height of male dominance. The powerful hands, the hair on the arms, and the wife’s feeling of lying with an anima l, all shows the animal-like fierceness and ruthless dominance exhibited by the husband. She thinks of the hands as â€Å"apelike†, and calls them â€Å"claws†, which strengthens the symbolic meaning of hand. At one point, the wife describes hand as â€Å"offended, reared back and tensed up in the shape of a crab and waited, ready for battle† (Colette, qtd. in Meyer 242), which again depicts the animal like ferocity and domination. The man can make his hand defensive when the wife feels disgusted. This shows the level of prowess and cleverness the

( Ontological Arguments ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

( Ontological Arguments ) - Essay Example The conceptual analysis of the cause of the universe based on cosmological argument helps in establishing the important facts about the existence of the universe and its being. The argument starts from three premises; Premise (1) is notably true since something cannot come out of nothing. According to metaphysical intuition there has to be some cause for the existence of something. It is thus very reasonable to argue that there is a requirement of a causal explanation for the existence of the universe even for the atheists. This is because if they believe that the universe began at the Bing Bang, then the universe must have had the potentiality to exist in the first place. And since there is nothing that had existed prior to the Bing Bang, then the potentiality of the universe’s existence rested in the power of God who made it possible. As such, this premise is true as we can confirm it in our realities and also the scientist naturalists can sense in it. Premise (2) holds that an actual infinite cannot exist. This is because as infinite temporal regress of events causes intolerable absurdities and therefore it cannot exist. History is made of events leading up to each other sequentially and, therefore it is very possible to add to history making its existence potentially infinite. However, it can only be potentially infinite as opposed to being actually infinite. This argument is frequently objected on the basis of the second premise which is deemed problematic both scientifically and philosophically. This is because opponents state that if the universe has an infinitely distant starting point, then one should be able to transverse from the starting point to the present. The common logic is that if there is a finite distance which connects sequential events in the past, then it can be easily transversed, which is not the case here. This objection is further worsened by the fact that the cosmological argument presupposes

The Government Should Not Cut Education Budgets To solve Its Financial Research Paper

The Government Should Not Cut Education Budgets To solve Its Financial Problems - Research Paper Example The proposed way to give the United States a continued competitive edge in today’s complex world is to give students in the U.S. an excellent education. Educational funding should not be used to solve the national budget crisis because: 1) money needs to be cut from the national defense budget, which is overcompensated; 2) education is too important to be relegated to lesser funding; and 3) cutting the budget for education will promote an elitist society because many people will see an education as a privilege and not a right. A Bloated National Defense Budget Defense spending being cut could be the solution to solving not only the nation’s budget crisis, but could also be used to funnel more money into education as a result. More money for the budget would then allow one to logically then conclude there would be more money for education in the national budget. "Consistent with US military needs and declining threats, defense spending will be cut [emphasis added], which will help reduce the deficit and provide funds to invest for economic growth."1 Unfortunately, military spending in the United States has gotten out of control. â€Å"Government control over the military's budget is also deficient, because the government lacks the ability to estimate the army's needs and to evaluate the manner in which its budget is utilized.†2 First when Pres. George W. Bush invaded Iraq without consulting Congress or the international community, he pledged American troops to eight years of combat in Iraq—from which the country still has not recovered. It has been ten years that the United States has been engaged in combat in Afghanistan as well. Both wars have drained the U.S. of its budget surplus which was in effect when Pres. Bill Clinton left office. That surplus quickly dwindled with the advent of the two wars. If less money was spent on wars and more money was pumped into education, perhaps schools all across the country would not require rest ructuring due to failing Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks since the advent of the No Child Left Behind Act. America, frankly speaking, must prioritize in order to realize what is really important—having an educated public to make good decisions, or keeping the American people safe from all the possible dangers of the world by getting involved in every major conflict in the globe that could potentially endanger vested U.S. interests. These are difficult choices but they must be made, because the country’s energies are being divided in a haphazard fashion. Education: Too Important to Ignore The problems began when President Bush got elected to office in 2000 and started whittling down the surplus Bill Clinton had left behind when he left the office of the President—severely making cuts to education. â€Å"[President Bush’s] budget cut†¦funding for elementary and secondary education, denying 3.2 million children the extra reading and math help they were promised by the so-called No Child Left Behind Act.†3 Although President Barack Obama came to office in January of 2009 promising â€Å"change,† unfortunately he is also making cuts to education, including grants for history. â€Å"The President’s fiscal year 2012 budget request for the Department of Education once again eliminates Teaching American History Grants (TAH) as a separately funded program†¦

Critically evaluate at least two different theories of autism Essay

Critically evaluate at least two different theories of autism - Essay Example And while in the mentioned films the problem of integration of people with autism in society is considered, modern medical researchers are not less concerned with the problem of uncovering the biological causes of autism. But this task is far from being an easy one, as can be judged from the fact that there are currently several tens of various theories that pretend if not to discover the single cause of autism, but at least to offer clues as to autism`s most fundamental physiological roots (Novartis Foundation, 2003, pp.8-9). In this regard, let us overview and critically evaluate several theories of autism, each of which highlights different biological mechanisms that are suspected to lead to this developmental disorder. In general, theories of autism emergence can be divided into large categories. One group of theories, such as for instance opioid excess theories, views autism as a consequence of certain inborn abnormalities; another group, like for example viral infection theories or the approach that accentuates the increased intestinal permeability, links autism with some acquired abnormalities; and there is a group of theories that aims to investigate the possibility of connection between autism and external factors of influence, such as the effects produced by certain types of vaccines. As can be immediately seen, the range of possible causes of autism is quite diverse. To better asses each type of approaches to autism study, we will overview the mentioned opioid excess theories, the viral infection theory, and the theory of the autism origin due to standard vaccinations of children. The opioid excess theories of autism emphasise abnormalities in the complex workings and influences of opioids and opioid-like substances in the human organism, and particularly in the brain. Natural opioids produce various effects upon the processes of hormonal regulation, especially if there is an

Media ethicss Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Media ethicss - Essay Example For Aristotle, proper understanding of and grateful attitude towards wealth, honor, virtue, pleasure, and friendship is what is needed for human to live well. Through appropriate behavior and good upbringing, one must learn the ability to understand, choose, and decide which conduct is best for an occasion. This, of course, should be supported by logical reasoning --- a power that all human beings are capable of. Aristotle also believes that practical wisdom cannot be acquired by following general guidelines. Through practice, every individual should learn the social, emotional, and reflective skills that allow him/her to act in ways that are appropriate for each unique event (Bertrand, 22). Per Kant, it is the cause for doing a certain action, rather than the outcome of the deed, that gives it a moral value. Kant's renowned statement regarding duty is "Act according to the belief that you choose and can do so as to make it your entire principle." (Bertrand, 45) On the other hand, countering Kant's principle on ethics is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the thought that a behavior's role in producing advantage for all is the moral value of the deed. Advantage for all involves the summed pleasure or satisfaction for everybody. It means that the outcome establishes the value of any behavior --- the ends justify the means (Bertrand, 25). PluralPluralism Pluralism is about different values. This ethics model asserts that there are several differing values existing in a diversely peopled world. These values are called duties, and they are unspoken guidelines so every individual's behavior will not threaten other people's happiness and life (Patterson and Wilkins, 12). This ethics model acknowledges the unique roles people play in their every day lives, and the similarly differing values people believe in based on these diverse roles in the society (Bertrand, 29). Commutarianism Commutarianism, on the other hand, places social equality as its guiding principle (Patterson and Wilkins, 14). As every individual is a part of a larger society, it asserts that every one should be sensitive to the consequences of their every action. These actions, must be beneficial not only for themselves, but for the entire society. Communitarianism stresses the relationship of the individual to the society and the correlation of the different social systems --- economic, legal, etc. This ethics model is applicable in evaluating the role of the media in the society, since per Patterson and Wilkins, it enhances the accomplishments of the media as a whole and eliminates possible rivalry among them (15). Surname 3 Ethical Issues in Reporting the Truth Chapter 2: "Taste in Photojournalism" and "Too many Bodies, Too Much Blood" In this case studies, the media had a hard time reporting the truth due to differences in moral sensibilities. A photo journalist may have a hard time distinguishing what is right and moral and what is considerate and moral. Pluralism is very obvious in this case study as different individuals who play different roles may value things at different levels. What may be deemed as a responsible publishing of a photo to warn society may be considered harsh or insensitive towards the feelings of the photo's

Comparing and Contrasting PCs and mainframes Essay Example for Free

Comparing and Contrasting PCs and mainframes Essay Before the existence of personal computer or PC, there is minicomputer or microcomputer, the term â€Å"computer† simply referred to mainframes. Mainframes and personal computers have changed drastically over the years but their core functions and systems have stayed the same. The mainframe is used to connect multiple users for large organizations, while personal computers are generally used for a single user. The more drastic changes for mainframes and personal computers have been the increase of speed, memory, and the reduction of size. Mainframes use to be the size of buildings, now they are the size of a normal Intel blade server system. Last time when you need to access the mainframe you need to use a terminal for data entry or retrieve certain data. Then, the idea came to off load some of the processing from the mainframe and place it on a personal computer. Compare A mainframe is not much difference from a personal computer. There are many similarities between mainframes and personal computers which stands to reason since one evolved from the other. Both mainframes and personal computers have one or more central processor units, a huge number of memory, one or more busses, and one or more I/O systems. Another similarity between the two is that they are both IBM-based systems and similar hardware is used to build them. They can also perform some complex calculations, applications and handle multiple programs. Another area is that both require operating system to work and also to handle and optimize all the I/O systems or modules. Differences Although they are much similarity between the mainframes and computer as mention above, the similarity stop there as they are many differences too. Mainframes cost much more in terms of thousands of dollar than a normal personal computer or server. The mainframe nowadays takes up less space and less power consumption compare to a server farm task to do the same job. As mention (Shurkin, 1996), Transaction processing jobs run constantly in real-time and must be available more than 99. 99% of the time. The reboots and lock-ups common with PCs are simply not acceptable. Thousands of individual users can log in simultaneously from a variety of sources such as computer terminals, ATM, or Internet web sites, and complete a single transaction. Time-sharing jobs can be started when needed from a computer terminal by authorized users who then use the mainframe as their own big PC. Finally, batch jobs are started automatically by the system at regular times according to a strict predetermined schedule. Batch jobs are used to do the periodic processing required on the data being received from transaction and time-sharing jobs. Closing the accounting books at month-end or copying disk files to tape for backup are examples of batch type processing. The OS or Operating System in a mainframe such as from IBM z/OS which is the successor to the IBM OS/390 can run Multiple Virtual Systems (MVS). The new IBM z/OS support WebSphere ® Application Server on z/OS, and also the new zFS (System z File System) Direct I/O capability in z/OS. This help to enhance performance improvements to the system, and also provide an easier Parallel Sysplex functionality (IBM, September 2011). In an article by (Barnett G, 2010) stated that the mainframe is best suited for enterprise cloud computing as it is easily able to handle hundreds of complex applications or programs, and most important able to run hundreds of environment in a single physical footprint and easily deliver the 247 availability that our customers demand. Conclusion (Doerbecker Patterson, 2002), stated that the role of the mainframe has gradually changed from that of a data processor to that of a server, with the processing being done on the users PC. It has also been modified to interface to the Internet through the addition of TCP/IP protocols, Unix, and Java programming, to enable businesses to connect to their customers over that network. Once the only form of business computer available, the mainframe has survived the PC revolution and maintained an important function in commercial computing.